A few weeks ago we published a news post that we are in need of voice actors for the two main characters in Saint Kotar. The response to the call was beyond our humble expectations, as during the next several weeks we’ve received more than 300 applications!
Cheers, today we celebrate as we made the final decision!
For the role of Benedek we’ve recognized a perfect fit in the voice of Mike Bodie, a talented actor whose portfolio includes AAA titles such as, among others, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, Wolfenstein 2, The Division 2 and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
Nikolay will be brought to life by the talent of Michael Schwalbe, an experienced voice actor whose portfolio includes an amazing range of titles such as Devil May Cry 5, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Slay the Spire, Shadowverse and many more.
We are incredibly proud and excited to have such amazing talents on board with us, and we cannot wait for you to hear our characters come to life!
Voice over actors needed!
Red Martyr Entertainment is looking to hire male voice actors for the roles of two main characters in Saint Kotar: The Yellow Mask.
Roles: Main characters - Benedek Dohnany and Nikolay Kalyakin
Type of work: Paid
Requirements:
male actors with a voice suited for characters in the 30-40 age range
highly proficient in spoken and written English
high level of acting abilities
skilled to express emotions and different mental states
There is no set deadline for the applications, but the recording needs to start as soon as possible (in the next few weeks). If you think this is the perfect role for you or happen to know anyone to whom it might be, please contact us right away at jobs@redmartyr.com for further information.
We look forward to your applications!
New trailer, new screenshots and new description!
Why the silence?
Over the past year we decided to put a halt on our PR activities due to unforeseen technical difficulties we’d faced. Until the problem was fixed we decided the best course of action would be to remain silent in order to avoid giving the community a false hope for a release. During that time we’ve received several messages from fans with raising concerns about the project’s status. We’ve felt frustrated and angry at ourselves, but at the same time we knew we were on the right track so we kept working in the shadows.
The good news
The time has finally come to tell you the good news - we can confirm that the playable demo of Saint Kotar, titled The Yellow Mask, is well on its way and the development is coming to a conclusion. We updated the whole Steam page and edited the description (all of them: ENG, GER, RUS and ITA), published a new set of screenshots (take a look in the gallery) and added a brand new trailer (seen below as well as in the gallery) to show you the progress and give you a glimpse into this mysterious world. We still don’t have a release date, as we want to be sure everything’s in its place before announcing it, but that day is fast approaching!
[previewyoutube="7ZkdWsanZh4;full"]
Up to an hour and a half of playtime
To remind you, the release of the demo will coincide with the launch of the Kickstarter campaign. The Yellow Mask covers just the beginning of the whole story, and to be able to let you play the rest we’ll need additional funds. It’s important to note that the demo will have an hour to an hour and a half of playtime, with a branching story where your actions and words are fateful and affect two plotlines. We’re more than confident when we say that the long wait will be worth.
Another good news
We have also undergone a rebranding process, changing our studio name from Tanais Games to Red Martyr Entertainment. The decision to rebrand wasn’t an easy one but we felt it was needed and the right time to do it is now. It flourished from a desire to turn the page and start fresh, leaving behind our past mistakes while nourishing the knowledge and experience we gained by doing them. We explained everything in a detailed news post on our new eye-catching website: What happened to us?
From now on we will be posting regular updates and news here on Steam, on our website, as well as on all our social media outlets. We’re back, we’re here and we’re not going away anymore. The demo is coming and going stronger than ever before!
State of the project
For some time now we've been receiving questions about the status of Saint Kotar: The Yellow Mask, most of them expressing worry about the successful delivery of this demo, as well as the full game that would follow a successful Kickstarter campaign.
We know that we've been radio silent for the past couple of months, but there's no reason to worry; this is only because all of our efforts are concentrated on finishing the demo as soon as possible – we want to show it to you as badly as you want to play it, and we've been working diligently towards realizing this goal day after day (weekends being no exception!).
We are extremely grateful for the patience you've already shown, and we hope to repay it sooner rather than later. However, we thought it best to keep all the new details under wraps until everything is finalized. You can also help us by wishlisting the demo if you already haven't, and designating appropriate tags for it here on Steam. That way, it’s more likely that it will reach an interested audience - you can do it with the help of the little ‘+’ sign in the tags section to the right!
As always, you can rest assured that we'll be sharing whatever new developments we can as soon as they are ready. Until then, stay tuned!
Going forward
In our previous post, we informed you that we would need more time in order to get Saint Kotar: The Yellow Mask up to the level of quality we deem satisfactory. While we cannot divulge the full details of what goes on behind the scenes, we can provide you with some reasons why the mentioned longer wait is worth it.
Let's start with the art department. The intention is for the final game to have a hefty number of locations you will be able to visit; we want this number to be high, but never achieved at the expense of quality, a goal we can more easily reach with the additional time provided. Of course, only some of these will be shown in the demo; we can't share too much, but we definitely want to pique your interest. We have already doubled down on polishing the scenes (and their resident characters) that will find themselves in the demo, and they will soon be ready. The level of detail our talented artists put into these is truly astounding, and they are making sure each of those details are precisely where they need to be to achieve absolute immersion.
We are also preparing a Saint Kotar-themed comic book! It covers part of the game's background story and will be available as part of our Kickstarter reward tiers. Set during the witch hunts of 15th century Europe, it explores the ominous reasons behind the panic that drove people to such acts.
A small excerpt from the comic book
Art assets are an important background for the equally important story. Considering it is the very foundation of our game, our scenario is still being worked on to guarantee an adventure worth your time. With our characters rounded out and their purpose set, the coming period will serve as an ideal opportunity to finalize the construction of a reasonable and compelling narrative around them, one that leaves no room for plot holes or blandness. We achieve this type of work largely through Articy Draft; a piece of software which permits creation of the game's scenario and gameplay itself, logic and puzzles included. While the demo is naturally a priority, the outline for the rest of the game is also being realized through these means to ensure the demo aligns correctly with it.
Branching dialogue creation in Articy Draft
When all of this is ready, we can complete the integration of the game into our engine of choice, Unity, which serves as a technical background for implementation of our work in Articy. Afterwards, we will be able to evaluate and review how all of its elements behave together. This is the point where your help comes into play; as mentioned, our newsletter subscribers and Discord server participants will both have the one of a kind opportunity to playtest the demo with us! If you don't want to miss out, subscribe to the game's newsletter list or join our Discord server by following this link: http://www.saintkotar.com/#blog
Current state and plans for the near future
Hey, dear followers, here's a short update about the game's current state!
Our recent technical overhaul for Saint Kotar took more time than anticipated, but it won't stop us from coming through with our vision. The Kickstarter campaign is actually entirely ready, waiting only for us to finish the demo, alongside which we will launch it.
Some of the things that remain to be completed include recording sessions for our voice actors, as well as some technical work in Unity and playtesting. This last requirement is something you may be able to help with as well! As the demo begins to draw near, subscribers of our newsletter and participants of our Discord server will both have an exclusive chance to aid us in straightening out those final hitches by testing the demo before its release!
We will be able to decide on a Kickstarter and demo release date in the following months, and we will let you know about it as soon as possible on all our outlets, including here on Steam.
If you want to learn more in depth about the project's progress and plans for the future, check out our latest blog: http://www.tanaisgames.com/blog-post/plans-for-the-near-future
Last, but not least, check the image below that showcases progress on one of our scenes and characters:
Russian and Italian languages.
Dear community, we are happy to announce that Saint Kotar: The Yellow Mask will be available at launch in English, German, Russian and Italian! As a consequence, the game website (http://www.saintkotar.com/) and Steam store page are now fully localized into these languages as well.
Spanish and French are being considered, but right now chances are slim to get them for the demo. One thing is sure, if the upcoming Kickstarter campaign ends successfully, the full game Saint Kotar will have all of the already available languages plus the two aforementioned!
