Crimson Veil News

Another big task off the To-Do list this week! The previously mentioned Slime Queen quest has now been fully implemented into the game! Going into this update, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with the new slimegirl content, aside from just really wanting to include it. I mostly had loose ideas and a character design to go with. This week I sat down to think about how I could differentiate this quest from the ongoing slime quest of the main route!

This quest is slightly more involved than going around whacking slimegirls for jellies. After obtaining the quest, discovering Queen Oozora’s location, and then defeating her, you’ll gain access to a new area which you will be able to frequent throughout the course of the game. The Sticky Arena!



Indeed, this is an arena in which you are pitted against three randomly assigned Slimegirls. You can fight as many as you want or none at all, but defeating all three will yield a random prize! These range from all manner of slime jelly, to exclusive optional equipment for your party!



Seeing as you can use this arena as often as you like (for a paltry fee) this is also another excellent location to work on improving your bond level with your Pets!

Each of these slimy warriors is matched with your current level, much like with Ophelia, so depending on when you choose to tackle this quest, these lesser slimes could wind up stronger than the Queen! Watch your back, because anyone defeated in the arena is added to the Queen’s slimy collective…


I have the full version of this illustration currently up on my patreon for all $5 and up members!

https://www.patreon.com/MKRUdesign

With that last bit of content behind me, it's just about time for me to do another playthrough and check that everything works and my goal for this week is to send a copy of the update to testers. The time for release is fast approaching. I hope you’re all looking forward to it!

That’s all I’ve got for you this week. Until next time, everyone!

How are you all this fine Sunday? This week, I suffered from one of the worst stomach bugs I’ve had in a decade. I was completely out of commission on Wednesday and Thursday. Could it have been something I caught while I was out the previous weekend? Possible, but I didn’t feel like heading to the hospital to find out! (waaaay too expensive!) I’m fine now, so no worries there!

Just yesterday, I finally finished up the Chapter 3-V scenario, Casino Quest, and the quest logs for everything in the update! The Casino Quest in particular was a chore that I had been putting off for a while because navigating through all the variables was giving me a headache… But, it’s done and tested, on my end at least. Let’s see what my testers find when they play through it.

Scenes currently have placeholder art while I finish working on them. I’ve got a few more to sketch out, but thankfully I’ve got another work break coming up the following week that should give me the time I need to finish that up. Speaking of art, I’ve got a new preview here for you of some art I recently teased of the high class and elegant Sigrun.



Definitely need to mess around with her more in future updates! I have a 2 image set of her, as well as another set of character portraits with her in a “more hindered” position.



Kinda spoilery, but it's there for all my $5+ patrons to enjoy a bit early.

https://www.patreon.com/MKRUdesign

Playing chapter 3-V from start to finish was enjoyable for me and after such a long of not contributing to it’s main plot, I’m satisfied with where the story is headed. I hope you’ll all agree when you get around to playing it next month.

Until next week everyone!

How’s everyone doing? This week I peered through my list of highest-tiered patrons and crafted the NPCs of everyone I hadn’t gotten around to yet. If you became a tier 4 patron between the release of the last update and this one, your NPC can be found somewhere within the new area of Fallholt! I also finished the last scene that takes place in this update’s dungeon, So I just have one more scene to go for the story and then tweak a few other side quest scenes.



This month is going to be focused on cranking out the illustrations, which I’ve only briefly worked on. This week I worked on two of them and though I’ve made good progress, they’re not finished yet. But, you can check out a cropped preview of this scene with Cassie, ditching her dorky glasses:



And this rather spicy expression on Sigrun’s face:



On that note, I can’t forget to mention that tomorrow is Crimson Veil’s 5 year anniversary! I posted version 1.0 back in 2019! It’s crazy how time flies! I’ve prepared an illustration for the occasion, which I will be sharing on patreon and twitter tomorrow, so be sure you’re following me on one of those platforms to check it out!

@MaikeruUrashima

Lastly, I will be out on a work business trip next weekend, so there will be no Weekly Update next Sunday. However, I have prepared something a little different to go live that day at the usual time, for my $5 and up Patrons. I’m curious to see if you’ll like it.

Well, that’s all I have for you this week. Until next time, everyone!

Still working on scripting events, but I’m now able to play up to the dungeon of the update itself! Just a few more scenes to go! A friend of mine told me that he was recently replaying the game on Steam and suggested something that I’ve decided to implement into the game. For certain puzzles that are a bit esoteric, I’ve highlighted keywords to make the clues more obvious. This can be seen in the very first dungeon, the Cliffside Library. The clues that give you the combination are now bright and blue!



A few of you have asked me if a certain feature would be returning to Fallholt with this update. I am happy to confirm that the casino will be added in. Mila will have the opportunity to obtain the ability to summon Aeriseth once again by completing the side quest. Even better, if you already defeated Aeriseth in the main route, you will skip the fight entirely!



However, should you choose to fight her and lose, you’ll get a slightly different ending than you would in the main route. Aeriseth can’t convert Mila and make her a succubus anymore, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have another use for her…



I currently have an alternate preview of the succubus corruption scene for all my $5+ patrons. Take a look if you’re curious.

https://www.patreon.com/MKRUdesign


Well, that’s all I have for you this week. Until next time, everyone!

This week I continued working on scripting events. I feel like this update might turn off some players with how much exposition there is compared to the sexy stuff. Not that it isn’t there, just that it’s mostly relegated to exploration and side content. There’s lots of lore that I want to dump and I’m trying to keep the pacing at a good level to accommodate for players who are impatient or don’t like to read (like me!)



I’ve already mentioned in previous updates how I adjusted scenes from the original script when adapting them into the game. Like making dialogue into a full-on scene instead of just two portraits talking to each other. I know that can get boring for some people, so I’m doing what I can with the rpg maker engine to make scenes as lively as possible. One scene that I have been working on that has a lot of moving parts is this scene where Mila meets with Anja for the first time:



This scene is extra challenging, since the dialogue differs slightly depending on whether the player completed chapter 3 in the main story or not. It may seem like a simple dialogue change, but there are a few instances like this in the update that I’ve needed to take into account that’s made this dev cycle feel longer than usual. No matter what the player decides to do, the dialogue in scenes like this need to end in the same conclusion (or close to it where it doesn’t diverge drastically).

Oh, I didn’t even mention Anja’s personal guard, the White Knight. This masked figure is one of few words.



She is a loyal ally of the Queen and protects her from the shadows fiercely. Getting on the Queen’s bad side while her knight is near is an easy way to get reduced to ash…

There’s no character portrait preview, because even I don’t know what she looks like behind the mask! I guess we will all have to wait and see, won’t we.

I still feel like I’m on track to release this in April. It just feels overwhelming when I think about all of the small things I need to do all at once. I’m focusing on getting the toughest parts out of the way first, and right now, that’s scripting these events. I want to sketch out some illustrations this week. Hopefully with the extra day I have from the long weekend, I’ll have enough time to churn one out.

That’s all I’ve got to share with you this week. Until next time, everyone!