Scarlet Hollow News

[p]Happy New Year!
[/p][p][/p][p]
Keeping this update short, since we are in the thick of development right now, but things are coming along great with Episode 5! Right now, we're continuing to hack away at the middle third of the chapter, but we're rapidly approaching the point where it will finally be time to move on to the climax.

Here's where we are, in numbers:[/p]

• [p]Over 140,000 words of script have already been fully implemented for the episode. That's writing, art, music, sound design, code, and bugfixing, all essentially locked in. For reference, that is about as much content as there was in all of Slay the Princess on release.[/p]
• [p]723 sprites have been finished, as well as 64 backgrounds.[/p]
• [p]11 new tracks of music have been finished.[/p]

[p]If you want to check out what's finished, preview builds are available for the Alpha Tester tier on our Patreon, which also has a dedicated section on our Discord to discuss new content and help us eliminate bugs before release.[/p][p]Episode 5 has a lot of branching and player agency in it, and it's also the first time the story can become locked in to early conclusions, though these endings will still have additional content waiting for them in The Final Chapters. They'll also be heavily (diegetically) signposted, and it will be difficult to reach these branches accidentally. This will be the most replayable Episode to date, with many routes to explore with the same start of chapter save file.[/p][p]One thing I'd also like to highlight in this update is what the remainder of Scarlet Hollow's development is going to look like. While the game is still going to have seven Episodes, the last two are really just a single unit, split into two chapters. They'll be released as a single update together, and it's best to view Episode 5 as the penultimate "Episode," as well as the game's final cliffhanger. So this will be the last opportunity to hop on the train while still leaving room to theorycraft alongside the community. This also means that the conclusion of Scarlet Hollow is probably closer than you think![/p][p][/p][p]All the best, and Happy New Year! We're almost there.[/p][p]Abby and Tony[/p]

[p]Hey folks, here with another development update!

First thing's first, we're getting close to having another alpha build ready! We'll be distributing builds for the middle section of the episode piecemeal, on a route-by-route basis as we finish them. The first of these builds will contain the longest, most complicated sections of the middle of the episode (and of the entire game so far!), so after it's live, we should be able to start moving more quickly with new content.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This first build, compared to the last, should contain:[/p]

• [p]Several hundred new sprites.[/p]
• [p]Several new backgrounds.[/p]
• [p]Multiple new tracks of music from Brandon.[/p]
• [p]Over 50,000 words of new content.[/p]

[p]If you'd like to be a part of the testing community, including playing through the currently available build of Episode 5's opening, you can do so by joining the Alpha Tester tier on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/abbyhoward
[/p][p][/p][p]On top of making progress on getting the middle of the episode release-ready, we also spent a lot of time this month pre-emptively finishing audio-visual assets and implementation for the chapter's finale. It's a pretty ambitious sequence, so we wanted to make sure we gave it the time it needed for polish free from the crunch of the release's final sprint.[/p][p]We're really happy with how it's turned out, and we're excited for you to see it!

Best wishes and happy holidays!
Tony and Abby[/p]

[p]Hey folks!

Another month, another update, and wow do we have a lot of progress to share with you!

First and foremost, in case you missed it, Episode 5 finally has a release date! Your return to the Holler is set for Friday, February 13th 2026, on Valentine's Day Eve. We announced this release date with a painstakingly animated trailer put together by our dear friends over at SmallBu Animation, and you can check it out here:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]We've also finally released our first alpha build to our testers. All in-all, it contains:[/p]

• [p]34 brand new backgrounds.[/p]
• [p]270 brand new sprites[/p]
• [p]About 70,000 words of total content.[/p]
• [p]6 new tracks from our maestro, Mr. Boone.[/p]

[p]Even though we call these builds "alphas," this section of the chapter is bug-tested, and effectively locked and finalized. While it's hard to get a full sense of scope, I'd say this means that roughly the first quarter of the episode, in terms of density, is essentially finalized.

If you're interested in trying the beginning of the episode early, you can access this build through the relevant tier on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/first-scarlet-5-142499990

Joining this tier also gets your name added to the alpha tester section of the credits when the next update rolls out!

No pressure to join, but the option is there.

We also wanted to use this update to talk about a small retroactive change we're making to pre-existing romance content. In the current live build, romance options essentially fully ignore your character's gender, but as time went on, we felt like writing their scenes this way stripped them of a little bit of character.

You can still date any of our romance options regardless of your character's gender, but there's now a little extra dialogue referencing their preferences and history to make things feel a bit more organic.

This applies to:

Oscar
Stella
Kaneeka

And it will also apply to Sybil and Doctor Kelly in the future. But we'll leave the details for you to discover once the new update drops.[/p][p]
Reese is too touch-starved to care, Wayne knows what he wants (you), and Avery is chill with anything.

We're also excited to share that our vocalist, Amelia Jones, will be contributing her immense talents to a handful of tracks for the chapter.[/p][p]
Work continues to go well, and we look forward to sharing more with you as we continue to progress.

Best wishes,
Tony and Abby

[/p]

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]"You two can be the family you were always meant to be, free from the sins of generations past, if you let me do what needs doing."[/p][p][/p][p]Hey folks![/p][p][/p][p]After years of your patience, we're thrilled to announce that Scarlet Hollow Episode 5 finally has a release date: February, Friday the 13th, Valentine's Day Eve. And what better way to celebrate than with a breathtaking animated trailer put together by our dear friends at SmallBu Animation.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you all so much for being the best community we could ask for, and for supporting through so many years of development. Episode 5 is going to be monstrously big, with well over 200,000 words of intricately branching dialogue and reactive narrative for you to make your way through.[/p][p][/p][p]If you've yet to pick up the game, it's on sale right now on Steam, and the entire first chapter is free for you to explore to your heart's content.[/p][p][/p][p]
Each chapter in Scarlet Hollow has a self-contained story that fits into a larger overarching narrative. An anthology of many games where your character and their choices carry on.[/p][p][/p][p]If we've yet to see you in the Holler, we hope to host you soon, and if you're a regular guest, we can't wait to welcome you back home.[/p][p][/p][p]Best wishes, and until we meet again, very very soon,[/p][p]Abby and Tony[/p]