Made Marion

Made Marion Development Update, November 2024
over 1 year ago – Wed, Nov 20, 2024 at 04:34:40 PM

One Month Since Will

Happy one-month anniversary to Marion and Will!  Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by our Tumblr and Discord to offer their thoughts and send in a few typos that were the result of some 3am writing sessions.

I'm currently completing a small patch that will fix a few typos, a small blocking issue in the Itch.io build of the game, add the final version of the final Will CG, and expand Robin's love scenes to better match the length of Will's (and the length that they will be from now on). It's been delayed a bit past my original plan due to real world challenges like difficult election results that had me taking time to care for my nearest and dearest in the USA, but it will be out soon!

I'm also outlining and idea boarding John's route. It's going to be quite the contrast from Will's, in which two young scions yearning to have control over their own destinies came together. In John's route we have the meeting of two responsible young people who were forced by circumstance to grow up before they were ready.

John is kind, protective, and can be stubborn in his own way. Despite technically being Robin's second, he's used to being the captain that steers the ship. So is Marion. When they meet, will she take it as an opportunity to let go and be protected for once, or will she challenge John's need to always act as the bulwark between the world's dangers and the people he loves?

Your choices will lead to different kinds of love and different kinds of struggles as you work toward the Challenge or Compromise Ending.

Art Team Priorities

While I get my stuff together on the patch and John's route, here's what our artists are up to:

Arrapso (Sprites, CGs) is creating some sprite models that are not wearing their trousers, for when I have sprites zoomed in during love scenes in which they're supposed to be naked. We still won't be showing anything below the waist, but some of our gents have some fairly high waists on their trousers and the visible belts were bugging me.

Lawrichai (cut-ins, lore intro) is concentrating on the animated lore intro. We've decided to make it a full animated movie instead of doing smaller animations in-engine, so Lawri has picked up Live2D and is animating away!  I'm excited to see what she puts together!

Here we have some cool, possible Fae Lord sketches for the intro:

Sandra (backgrounds, creatures, cut-in assist) has finished all the backgrounds I currently need, and with FIFTY BGs plus many variations, I'm doing my level best not to need any more! We only have one more creature to design (Lord Geoffrey's favorite hunting hound), so she has graciously agreed to help us with cut-ins so that Lawrichai can focus on the lore intro and love scene illustrations.

Happy Holidays!

We will be taking December off from updates, so I should have some nice John route news to share when we return mid-January, 2025.  I hope you all have a lovely holiday season, or if the holiday season is not lovely for you, that you persevere and are able to take time for yourself.

Whoops, Will's Route is ALMOST out!
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Oct 19, 2024 at 11:51:41 PM

Sorry folks, sleep deprivation hit me and I hit "Publish" second too soon.

Will's route is currently being uploaded to Steam and Itch.io and should appear within the next 30-60 minutes.  Thanks for your patience!

Version 2.0EA, Will's Route, Released!
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Oct 19, 2024 at 11:49:26 PM

Will's Route Has Been Released!

The Scarlet Blade is here!  Made Marion Early Access v. 2.0 is out and available on Steam and Itch.io. All backers should have received their game keys last year when Robin's route came out. If you never redeemed your key and cannot find it, message me on Kickstarter and I will send you a link to it.

Patch Notes:

Will's route has been added! Will is a Sherwood love interest and can be chosen from the Sherwood Common Route.

We now have a notification system when a new Love Interest PoV scene has been unlocked. Love Interest PoV scenes can be found in Extras off the Main Menu. When a new one has been unlocked, you will be notified upon your first return to the Main Menu.

Make sure to check the Misc. section in Love Interest PoVs after finishing one of Will's good endings. There's a secondary character with his own PoV scene now.

Will's route is complete except for a single CG (full-screen illustration) at the end of Will Chapter 4a, which is a placeholder (albeit an attractive one). The final CG will be uploaded in Early Access v. 2.1, which should be uploaded in the next couple weeks.

Changes Based on Feedback:

Along with adding the Love Interest PoV notifications, the biggest piece of feedback that we received from Robin's route was that readers wanted longer love scenes. I am happy to oblige! Will's scenes are longer and more detailed than Robin's were.

This means I will be revisiting Robin's love scenes for version 2.1, extending them in the interest of equal time.

You may also notice that Will's sexy cut-ins (only viewable to players who have explicit text turned on - the game's default) are more colorful and less shadowy than Robin's. We will also be revisiting Robin's cut-in at some point before launch, changing to the improved style and adding a second pose so there are separate cut-ins for each unique ending. This is not guaranteed for version 2.1.

Made Marion Mega-Guide:

As I've been focusing all my attention on getting Will's route complete, the Mega-Guide hasn't been fully updated yet. I will be giving it some nice shiny updates along with adding Will's content and route guide this week, and will send out a notification when it's ready.

I'm very proud of what we've done with Will's route. I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to reach out on Kickstarter, Discord, or Tumblr anytime!

p.s. I do recommend the bad endings, particularly in Will's chapter 4s. There are some unique experiences there that hint at some deeper mysteries in the game. :D

Will's Final Beta Is Live
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Oct 19, 2024 at 03:25:36 AM

Enter the Scarlet Blade, Beta Edition

Good morning, everyone!

92,000 words later, Will's route is complete, coded, and the final version of the beta test has been uploaded. That's only one full day to experience the chapter 4s before launch, but we made it!

Beta Patch Notes:

1. Will Chapter 4a and 4b have been added, completing his route
2. All art assets included except Sexy Silhouette 1 and CG 4 (Ending CG, Chapter 4a). They will be completed tomorrow and included at launch.
3. Love Interest PoV Scenes can be unlocked in beta testing but are not yet complete. They will hopefully be complete by launch (as many as I can get in there) or added in a patch very soon after launch.
4. Will's Route Launch confirmed for Sunday, October 20, Midnight Pacific (probably a bit before then).

The nitty gritty of beta patch notes can be found in our Beta Issues Tracker. There shouldn't be anything particularly spoilery in there if you're curious and want to take a look.

Hope our Beta Buddies enjoy, and for everyone else, look forward to Sunday!

Made Marion: Will Route Release Date
almost 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 06, 2024 at 02:09:52 PM

Will Arrives October 20!

Hi everyone! We're now in Beta Phase 2 of Will's route, which contains Will Chapters 1-3. I'd love to hear more from our fine beta backers if any of you have the time to do a playthrough and visit us on Discord.

Will's release date will be October 20, a bit past the first-half-month release window, but I wanted to make sure our testers have enough time with the Chapter 4s once they're complete, as well as to get together the extra bits and bobs like the Mega-Guide content and the Love Interest Point of View scenes.

Speaking of which, from now on players will receive a notification when they return to the Main Menu after unlocking a Love Interest Point of View scene. We noticed that not everybody was aware they existed (I guess not everyone excitedly checks Extras menus like I do!), so now you can't miss it!

I'll also be adding our first "Misc." point of view scene from the PoV of one of our minor characters. It will be unlocked upon finishing either of Will's good endings. There won't be one of these on every route, but they're another way for me to show what some of our characters have been doing behind the scenes.

The final change I'm making based on feedback from our first Early Access release is that the love scenes in Will's route will be longer than the ones in Robin's were. I heard y'all loud and clear, you want a lil' more smut and I'm happy to provide!  I will go back and (ahem) lengthen the scenes in Robin's route as well.

I'll be sending out one more notification when the full Beta is available for Will's route, and after that, we'll see you October 20!