project-image

Made Marion

Created by Velvet Cupcake Games

A romantic visual novel inspired by the legends of Robin Hood. Step into the shoes of Lady Marion as she becomes entangled in a battle for the future of Nottingham. Fight for freedom and fall in love!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Made Marion March 2023 Development Update: Enhanced Demo Available
over 3 years ago – Fri, Mar 31, 2023 at 09:38:48 AM

Made Marion: Enhanced Demo Release

Hi everyone!  I am so, so sorry. In my sleepless state last weekend after posting in a zillion places, I completely forgot that I hadn't posted a Kickstarter update.  So here it is!

The Enhanced Demo Is Out!

Here's your chance to see all the awesome things we've been able to add to the game thanks to all of your assistance!

Download the Enhanced Demo on Steam

Download the Enhanced Demo on Itch

Marion is standing with a gorgeous, purple-hued stranger in a darkened room. The stranger says, "Clever? Mysterious? Fashionable? Or perhaps... Nibirian?"

Major Enhancements:

  • Sherwood Chapter 2 - Get ready to have some swordy fun with the lads!
  • Accessibility Options Screen - Easy Access to Font Changes, Voicing, and Animation Toggles
  • Ambient Sound
  • New Sprites for Major Characters
  • Sprites for Secondary Characters Like Theo and Nell
  • Cut-in Graphics in Several Scenes
  • Animations for Combat and Magic
  • Super Cool Tarot Cards
  • More Backgrounds
  • ...and probably a few things I've forgotten!

Known Issues:

  • Full-Screen ("CG") Illustrations Not Complete. A few sketch versions can be seen in Nottingham. All love interests will eventually have a CG in their first common chapter.
  • Gui's hat has gone walkabout. It will return in the final game!
  • The Extras section is not available in the demo. It is for full-game unlockables.
  • Some facial expressions may not display correctly upon rollback.
Marion and Will are facing off on the Sherwood practice grounds. She holds a shortsword and a round shield. He holds a saber in each hand. He says, "You're not ready at all."

Pre-Orders Available!

Got a friend who missed the Kickstarter and wants to pre-order Made Marion at a discount?  We have pre-orders available at 10% off the final price!

Pre-Order Itch Keys Here

Pre-Order Itch Keys, Steam Keys, and the Mega-Guide Here

Moving Forward

In April I'll be focusing 100% on the main routes, preparing for a hopeful Early Access release of the three Sherwood routes in October!  See you next month!

Enhanced Demo Beta Has Begun!
over 3 years ago – Sat, Mar 18, 2023 at 07:44:08 AM

Made Marion Logo

Good morning everyone!

Our quick beta test for the Enhanced Demo has begun!  Beta backers, you should have a code in your inbox. If you don't, check your spambox (the code will come from Backerkit) and let me know if you can't find it.

Please let us know if you find any issues, and I hope you enjoy the enhancements we were able to make thanks to our Kickstarter funds!  The demo will be available to everyone on March 24, so you'll be seeing me in your inboxes again at that point!

BETA incoming this weekend!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Mar 14, 2023 at 10:20:18 AM

Made Marion Logo

Hey all!  

This is a message for our beta backers, sorry I can't separate them out for their own message since beta wasn't attached to a specific tier.

BETA is coming this weekend!

Want to be among the first to experience our enhanced demo? There are a ton of changes, including a brand-new Sherwood Chapter 2. Wanna find out why Layton isn't a love interest yet? Have a sparring match with the boys? Pet a kitty?  You can do it all!

This will be a quick beta to make sure nothing explodes, so I'm not doing a formal feedback setup.  I'll send out keys Friday night or Saturday morning, so watch your inboxes!  And if you see anything wonky, please visit our beta channel on Discord to let us know!  Quoting the text in the relevant area is helpful, or taking a screenshot and sending it.

If you're not on Discord, you can always send any feedback via DM on Twitter (I've opened them again) or as a message (not an ask, please, just DM me) on Tumblr.

Watch your inboxes and see you soon!

A slightly-alien looking youth with red hair and vibrant green eyes greets you. They say, "Hey-nonny-no! I'm Roan, here to welcome you to the Made Marion Enhanced Demo. Don't mind me breaking the fourth wall; I was born fae, so I have some special abilities."
We have a more fun demo intro than just a blank screen this time! Don't worry, they don't break the fourth wall in the actual game. ;)

Made Marion Special Bulletin: Big News!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 01, 2023 at 04:00:04 PM

Made Marion logo, now with party sparkles

So Much Big News!

Why are there party sparkles on our logo today? Because we've got a ton of cool stuff coming up at the end of March.  Here we go!

The Storyteller's Festival

We have been selected as a participant in the The Storyteller's Festival on Steam from March 25-April 1!  There are a lot of super cool-looking games featured in this festival (both visual novels and other kinds of narrative-focused games), and we're proud to be part of it all. We're taking this opportunity to do some major stuff for the project!

The Enhanced Demo & Enhanced Demo Beta

Our three Sherwood love interests, John, Robin, and Will, are standing center stage. Robin asks, "So! Who would you like to work with, milady?"

We will be releasing our enhanced demo for the festival. What's different from our current demo?  Tons, including our all-new Sherwood Chapter 2 content!  This will make the entirety of our two common routes available to play for free (but we're still keeping the prologue a secret that only our beta players will experience before release).

  • New sprites
  • Ambient sound
  • Additional backgrounds
  • Cut-ins and animations
  • Accessibility options like text resizing and the ability to disable different kinds of animations
  • Some preview CGs (Nottingham side - final CGs for both sides added later)
  • All-new Sherwood Chapter 2!

We'll be holding a brief beta test before the demo goes live. It should start sometime between March 15-20.  Beta backers, keep an eye on your inboxes!

Storyteller's Festival Stream

I will be joining fellow Canadian and awesome streamer OhThatNatalie to stream Sherwood Chapter 2 and have a casual interview during the festival. We are scheduled for 4pm Pacific time on March 26, and I'll be posting links to the stream on our socials!

Pre-Orders Opening!

We will also be opening pre-orders on Steam and itch.io.  The pre-order price will be 10% off the final price. That's a bit more expensive than the special backer price (depending partially on the whims of currency conversion between then and now - I had to base price our KS tiers in CAD, but the game itself will be base-priced in USD), which was about 20% off. 

The base release price will be $30 USD (so pre-order is 10% off that). It will be set manually on itch and will use Steam's automagic regional pricing, so non-US customers can feel free to compare and see who nets you a better deal - I don't mind!

Tell your friends, tell your family, heck, be like my dad and tell your model railroad club! Links incoming (I will need to make a new itch.io page for the final game and its pre-orders) in the March Development Update.

Early Access Is a Go!

After running polls on our Discord (nearly all Kickstarter backers) and Tumblr (our general fan community), there was plenty of interest in an early access release - 75% of our Tumblr voters, in fact.  That means that all backers and pre-order customers will have access to our Early Access builds. The first one will feature the completed Sherwood paths: Robin, John, and Will. We are aiming for an October Early Access release, more on that in the coming months!

March Development Update Timing

In order not to inundate your inboxes, I will be delaying our March development update to March 24. That way I can post all the relevant links to this good stuff when it's released!  See you then!

Made Marion Development Update: February 2023
over 3 years ago – Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 03:07:37 PM

Made Marion Development Update: February 2023

Made Marion Logo

Big News #1

We have a few big things in the works for Made Marion right now!  First of all, I've been thinking of how to make sure y'all can experience the game ASAP after the disaster that was 2022 delayed our development.  I'm considering releasing the game Early Access when the three Sherwood routes are complete, then adding each Nottingham route as it is completed.

This would mean that Robin, Will, and John will definitely be available in 2023, and as many of the others as I can finish as well. It's Geoffrey and Gui's route that is most likely to slip into 2024 because they're a whole thing that's going to take some time on my part. It'll be worth it!

If we release Early Access, all of our backers will receive their game keys at that point. Like with most (all?) Early Access titles, you'll own the entire thing as soon as you redeem your key and all updates are free. All routes will be complete when they are released Early Access, no cliffhangers. We will still hold beta tests before all Early Access releases! Your beta feedback is extremely important to me!

I'd like to gauge how popular this will be before I fully commit, so I will be running polls on Tumblr and Discord. All backers can join our Discord channel by following this link. If you don't have a Discord or Tumblr account, feel free to reply to this update on KS or itch.io and say whether you'd be interested in reading our routes Early Access or if you'd prefer to wait until all routes are out.

Vote in the Tumblr poll here!

Big News #2

We have some even bigger news that I can't talk about until after March 1, so we will be releasing a special bulletin in the first week of March. Keep an eye out for it!

Sparkles and Sussy Droods

Look whose new sprite has joined the Sherwood gang! It's Layton Tuck!

Robin, John, and Will are gathered to meet with Marion. Druid Layton Tuck stands in front of them, resplendent in his updated spritehood.

Have you tried wandering around on your own at the Sherwood bonfire yet?  When our enhanced demo releases, I recommend it if you'd like to see more Tuck Faces(tm). Oh, hey, comparing these two screenshots is also a nice example of how our nighttime shading works. It's subtle, but I think it makes a difference.

Layton Tuck and Marion are standing before the Sherwood camp bonfire. He has a smirk on his face and is saying, "Aye, and you like it."  She does.

Finally, as Meissa's full sprite has been added to the game, they have a fun little addition. When they're working their more powerful magics, they get a little taste of the stars surrounding them.

See you soon!

Stay tuned to our special March bulletin for some major news!