Crimson Veil News

Version 5.2 is now done! Hooray!! I just sent out the pre-release version to my testers so that I can pad out a few bugs before it's released. That means that the latest version will be released next Sunday 6/11/23 to all of my patreon supporters, at the usual update time (8 P.M. EST). If any of you are still interested in being added as an NPC for this update, be sure you become a tier 4 patron by this Wednesday 6/7/23. If you are unsure where your custom NPC's location is, be sure to check the .txt file titled "level 4 patron locations" in the game's root folder. You'll find your name and location there. If you have any other concerns or questions about this perk, feel free to send me a direct message or email ([email protected]). I usually respond pretty quick.

https://www.patreon.com/MKRUdesign


The public release on Steam and Itch.io will be on 6/25/23, so the cutoff to be added as an NPC in that version will be Wednesday 6/21/23.

Thank you all so much for your patience during this update cycle! I hope you're all looking forward to finally returning to the vampire route next week. See you all then!

I’m finally back from my vacation! The return trip home was a tiring experience. The late night flight was delayed by a few hours, so I returned home at around 10 AM, my time. I wanted to post a short bonus update last week, but I was pretty exhausted and jet-lagged...

(Also I wanted to play Zelda since it came out while I was gone…)

Here’s a few pics I took during my cruise!



Seeing actual mountains like this is a real treat for me. My home state is pretty flat, so this sort of view is extraordinary to see in person! My inner cabin even had a virtual balcony!

It was a neat addition… if it didn’t glitch out to the windows screen every night at 2 AM.
It felt very appropriate to work on the Terror of the Seas quest while actually out at sea. I did however, get fairly seasick on the second night, so that wasn't very fun.



I am, however, happy to be back home. The chaos of travel always tires me out. I feel like I need a vacation after my vacation! Overall, I had a pretty good time but I think I'm done with sea travel for a few years at least.

Anyway, onto what you’re really here for!

I’m finishing up the last few scenes for the update. These take place after the Terror of the Seas quest and are just some small interactions with your new thralls. The other scene I’m finishing is the mermaid bad ending, which I wanted to write after all the art for it was finalized. I’ve also decided that the first side quest will become mandatory to complete as a requirement for Chapter 3. Not only to formally introduce contracts into the vampire route, but obtaining a ship will become necessary for future story events…

The cruise did give me some time to work on art, and I’ve got a whopping 3 art previews to share with you this week after my absence! Each with multiple versions! Here are a few teasers!







The full versions of the art are currently available for all my $5 and up patrons. Check it out if you want to help support me.

https://www.patreon.com/MKRUdesign

I’m working on the finishing touches on the last illustration for this update and some minor revisions to character portraits. But, we are getting close to the release of the latest update! I hope you’re excited to experience some new content in the vampire route!

That's all I have to share with you this week. Until next time everyone

Howdy everyone! I’ve got a smaller update today as it’s been rather hectic this week while I’ve been preparing for my big trip. Still, I feel like I’ve gotten to the point in development where most of the things I can share are somewhat spoilery. The scenario for the second side quest is mostly finished. From there, I just need to test the entire vampire route’s scenario for any new bugs that may have come up during the development of this update and finishing up any remaining art.



A mental note that I want to put in writing this week is that going forward, I plan on having two development versions available to me at all times. What I mean by this, is that if a critical error occurs with a public release and I find out about the issue late, I want the time it takes for the patch to roll out to be much shorter. There is currently a major bug in the Steam release with the Casino Quest. While I have already patched it on the upcoming version, Steam players still have to deal with it and wait for it to release and that's not fair to them. By backing up the project file for the public releases, I can roll out patches in a timely manner by fixing the error in that project, instead of the current version. This may be something obvious and something I should have been doing from the start, but hey I’m just one guy and I’m figuring things out as I go along!

As I stated in a previous update, regarding my upcoming trip, I will be away from work for the next two weeks. I will return with weekly updates on May 28th. I plan on working on the game during this period. I will have limited access to the internet, but I will do my best to reply to any comments and questions sent my way. It’s going to be nice to have some quiet time to sit back and focus…

Lastly, let me share the teaser for this week: An underwater shot of a Mermaid Mila. Really fun to work on, especially with the colors. (Do any artists still do MerMay? I remember that was a thing a while back)



The full version is currently available for all my $5 and up patrons. Check it out if you want to help support me.

https://www.patreon.com/MKRUdesign

That's all I have to share with you this week. See you all on the 28th!

The Countess in Crimson quest is now completely done, down to the small details. It’s been a really fun quest to make with a bunch of small details that I hope players will find during their time with it. Scripting for the second quest is now well in progress, but I don’t have anything earth shattering to share on that front this week aside from it progressing as usual.

Steady progress gameplay wise, so let’s get to this week’s teaser: Mila munching on a juicy maid



The full version has 2 images and is currently available for all my $5 and up patrons. Check it out if you want to help support me.

https://www.patreon.com/MKRUdesign

That's all I have to share with you this week. Until next time everyone!

This week was mainly spent working on completing those new illustrations. I have 4 more illustrations to get through out of 11, so I’m making some good progress. Work on the game’s end was spent on some smaller things, namely text on interactable events within the Rosenblad Estate.

Now that the Countess in Crimson quest is nearly complete, I’m starting to shift focus to the second quest, Terror of the Seas. The majority of the maps are done, as I have stated before. It’s a matter of finalizing some of the rooms, laying out the puzzles, and finally scripting the events. Truth be told, I’ve gone back and forth on how exactly I want the scenario to play out. As I was drafting the scenario, I realized that having Mila control a crew of pirates with a ship would be handy for a future scenario. But how would a crew of vampire pirates sail during the day? To resolve this conundrum, I decided to use this opportunity to instead explore a facet of vampirism that was only briefly touched upon. The concept of a blood thrall.


One of the earliest Bad Endings has Mila turned into a thrall, which can remotely perform tasks for a vampire, seemingly even during the day. Here are the ground rules I’ve established for them:

A thrall is born when a hypnotized victim is continuously bitten and healed of vampirism by a master vampire (through holy water or some other means). Thralls are addicted to getting bitten by the vampire that caused those bites. Though they are not undead themselves, the bodily fluids of a thrall can corrupt other humans and make them thralls of their master vampire. Thralls also grow an appetite for blood, though they do not need it to survive. Thralls can be better controlled than a hypnotized victim, and perform tasks more naturally than hypnotized victims can in a tranced state. Thralls can blend into society and do a vampire’s bidding during the day and remotely. A thrall can also be manipulated into not realizing they are a thrall, creating a sort of “sleeper agent” out of the victim. A thrall’s control can only be broken if the master vampire is destroyed and even then, the thrall will go into withdrawal, longing for their master long after they are dead. Widowed thrall’s often seek ways to revive their master or somehow become vampires themselves to continue their bidding in some way. This behavior can be treated with extensive therapy, however the victim’s bodily fluids will remain infected, unbeknownst to them. In rare cases this can cause multiple humans to turn into a thrall if the master vampire is resurrected.

Having a thrall around seems rather useful, so why have there been no examples of other thralls up until now? In most cases, having a victim turn into a vampire is more satisfying as a bad ending. But, I feel that the vampire route is the perfect place to reintroduce this concept!

Lastly, I have this week’s art teaser. This is for the Countess in Crimson’s Bad Ending:



The full version is currently available for all my $5 and up patrons. Check it out if you want to help support me.

https://www.patreon.com/MKRUdesign

That's all I have to share with you this week. Until next time everyone!