Scarlet Hollow: Episode 1
Episode 4 is here, and a patch to Episode 1
Episode 4 is out now. You can play it—as well as Episodes 2 and 3—by purchasing the game in Early Access.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1609230/Scarlet_Hollow/
We're not charging for individual episodes as DLC — rather, you just buy the game for $20 (or whatever your sale price is) and all future episodes are unlocked as free updates when they release.
We made some changes to Episode 1 in the process, and have updated the build on this page to reflect those changes as well! Biggest change at this point is a re-work of the Mystical trait.
Cheers,
Tony and Abby
Scarlet Hollow Episode 4 Trailer and Release Date
We're nearing the home-stretch of Episode 4's development, so we figured it'd be high time to announce a release date and share a new trailer.
Episode 4 is set to release on November 22nd. I feel like we say this every time there's a new release, but it's also a long one. The full script for the episode is around 800 pages and somewhere around 200,000-250,000 words, bringing the total length of the game past One (1) Lord of the Rings or One (1) Infinite Jest in total content. Episode 4 has a lot of opportunities to revisit the consequences of earlier decisions, as well as even more new mysteries to unravel! And things are going to start to really steam up for certain romance paths.
We're extremely proud of how Episode 4 is turning out, and we can't wait to share the full chapter with you next month!
A few other notes:
- The game is currently on sale for Steam Scream Fest! If you haven't had the chance to pick up a copy, now's a great time! Scarlet Hollow is never going to dip below 20% off before leaving early access, and there's going to be a price hike before the full release, so if you've been holding out for a steeper discount, this is as steep as it'll get for at least a couple of years!
- If you want to get your hands on part of Episode 4 early, test branches available for Alpha Tester Patrons. A chunk of Episode 4 is available there now, and there'll be an update to the build later this week that brings things up to ~Episode 3's length content-wise.
- We have an ongoing crowd-funding campaign for a Wayne plush with glow in the dark eyes. There's ~two weeks left in the campaign as of the time of this writing, so please check it out if that sort of thing interests you!
- If you haven't had the chance to check out Slay the Princess, it's also participating in Scream Fest and has a free demo with 60-90 minutes of content.
Thanks again for all of your support, and we can wait to share more details!
~Tony and Abby
Episode 4 Update and Limited Edition Wayne Plush Crowdfunding Now!
We're partnering with Makeship to do a limited run of Wayne plushes, complete with glow in the dark eyes! The campaign is live, and if it does well, there'll be many more Scarlet Hollow plushes to come (Dustin?? Gretchen?? A Ditchling?? The possibilities are ENDLESS)
Also, a quick update on Episode 4: development is moving at a breakneck pace, and we're still hoping to have the episode ready for Halloween. As is always the case for new episodes, however, quality is always going to take precedence over rushing a release. We'll be sure to provide an update as soon as we feel comfortable naming an official release date.
9/12 Episode 1 Patch
7/19 Small Patch
7/15
Fixed a bug where controllers couldn't autofocus dialogue options when returning from the menu.
Content Patch and Get the Full Game for 20% off!
There's quite a few changes here, so we'll leave you with the high level ones. Only some of these patch notes apply to Episode 1, but we wanted to include them all here, since many of the bullets reference similar changes that have been made across all 3 currently released episodes.
The full game is also 20% off right now, as so far has ~375,000 words of content, so it's as good a time as any to take the leap and get caught up!
- More flirting. The romance in Scarlet Hollow remains at a slow burn, but we figured it could maybe burn a little faster. Players with the Hot trait have even more flirt options in the first three Episodes, and everyone now gets a little something to move things along a bit faster.
- More trait-specific dialogue options and passive narration. Every trait's gotten a little something extra, with an emphasis on providing more unique social benefits to Powerful Build (which remains the least picked trait in the game) and providing additional context to Mystical. One of our original design ideas was to use the existence of special dialogue options as a means to convey additional information to our players, but from watching streams and recordings of Scarlet Hollow, it was clear that this wasn't how players interacted with those options. This was particularly a challenge with Mystical, where a lot of options fell a little flat, so wherever possible, we've provided players with that extra information in advance, and we're leaving it up to them to decide whether or not to share it.
- We've overhauled and/or replaced a few pieces of art from earlier episodes that we felt were either lacking, or that needed changes to better reflect established canon. This includes the hill overlooking the town at the beginning of Episode 1's cryptid hunt, as well as several of Kaneeka's earlier sprites — she now has a proper set of sprites when you first meet her in Episode 1, and we've changed the head of her library sprites in Episode 2 to better reflect the final character design we landed on.
Old Kaneeka library sprite on the left, new sprite on the right! - We've added a special friend to several backgrounds throughout the first 3 episodes. I think you know who we're talking about ;)
- There's a brand new line of inquiry at the mines in Episode 2.
- A long list of other small changes we've made over the course of the past few months, which I have since lost track of.
How does this update affect your saves? It doesn't! But it'll make the first three episodes feel just a little richer, and it's a perfect excuse to take a summer vacation and make your way back to the Holler.
This is, definitively, going to be the last major patch for the first three episodes. I'm sure we'll still make plenty of small tweaks and additions as we go, but we're pretty happy with how things are right now and want to focus the rest of our attention on the future! These patches were also a lot more manageable back when we had less content to go through, but the longer the game becomes, the more of an undertaking it's been to expand our pre-existing content.
Speaking of the game becoming longer, Episode 4 continues to come along well, and, unsurprisingly, it's going to be a big one (the script is currently 400 pages long, meaning it'll contain more content than Episode 3). It'll be finished and released at some point before the end of the year (ideally looking at Halloween, but we're a little too far out to settle on a final release date.)
On another note, we have a second (much smaller) game in the works that we've been developing in our off hours — we'll be announcing it soon, so keep your eyes peeled! We're approaching this new game so it has a minimal impact on our workflow for Scarlet Hollow — it's being written in parallel to Episode 4 (since only one person can really be actively working on the script at any given time) and is using a different (but still gorgeous IMO) art style that ONLY uses pencils, meaning the amount of time it takes to create a given sprite or background is magnitudes quicker than its equivalent in Scarlet Hollow. Check out a preview of that style below:
There'll be a demo available for this new game later this year, and we're expecting it'll be fully released some time early in 2023, in between the releases of Episodes 4 and 5 for Scarlet Hollow.
If you haven't had the chance and want to be plugged in to the Scarlet Hollow community, don't forget to join our Discord, follow us on Twitter, or join /r/scarlethollow. Or do all three! Likewise, if you like the work we do and want extra early previews of what's to come (as well as occasional alpha builds for work-in-progress episodes or new games), consider supporting us on Patreon!
Thanks so much for your continued support, and we can't wait to share more of what we've been working on!
~Tony and Abby
I WANT TO YEAH! Get your bus guy shirt TODAY
Popping in to share a few quick updates.
We just launched a mini-crowdfunding campaign for the "I Want to Yeah" shirt worn by bus stranger! It's available over on Topatoco, and if we double our initial goal, everyone who gets a shirt is going to get a sticker thrown in for free :D We have some other neat crowdfunded merch on the horizon, too, so keep your eyes peeled for future updates! (Or follow us on Twitter and/or join the Scarlet Hollow Discord)
Pick up your very cool shirt. 15 days left!
- Episode 4 is coming along well, and unsurprisingly, it's huge. We're still working on the script, but so far it's already at 400 pages (which is significantly more content than Episode 3!) — this is the Episode where a lot of your decisions in the first three episodes are really going to start to be felt, so there should be a lot of interesting branching. We're shooting for a fall release, ideally around Halloween, though as always, we're not going to release it until it's ready, even if it takes some extra time.
- We've got a small second game in the works, too, and it'll probably release between Episodes 4 and 5. We've deliberately designed in such a way that it should have minimal impact on Scarlet Hollow's release schedule. The writing hasn't slowed down Scarlet Hollow's script work whatsoever, and we're trying out a pencils-only art style that both looks great and takes a fraction of the time it takes to do full inks and colors. We'll be announcing at some point this summer, so once again, keep your eyes peeled!
- We've got an upcoming balance patch we'll be releasing in June that adds a bit of new art to the first three episodes as well as some new dialogue. It's probably going to be similar in scale to the last balance patch we did — a few traits are going to feel a lot better.
- As we continue to make more episodes and add more content to the game, we've been leaning more and more towards raising the price point. We'll give at least a month's heads up before that happens, but if you've been waiting for a discount to pick up the full game, it's definitely a good idea to pick it up the next time it goes on sale!
Can't wait until we can share more of what we're working on!
Episode 3 is here!
After many months of love, blood, sweat, and tears, Scarlet Hollow Episode 3 is finally here for you to enjoy. This episode has been an absolute passion project for us, and we're eternally grateful for the support and patience you've given us. This game wouldn't be possible without you.
For the next week, Scarlet Hollow will be 20% off, so there's no better time to plunge into the next two chapters. You can them it here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1609230/Scarlet_Hollow/ On top of Episodes 2 and 3, purchasing the game on Early Access also means you'll also get episodes 4, 5, 6, and 7 as free updates as they release!
Happy haunting,
Abby and Tony
Episode 3 Release Date!
We're nearing Episode 3's completion, so we finally have a release date for y'all: March 7th.
We both feel pretty strongly that this new chapter is the best Scarlet Hollow has been to date, and we can't wait to share with you. If you haven't taken the plunge beyond Episode 1 yet, make sure to wishlist the full game on our early access page. Every new episode is releasing there as free updates as they come out, so you only have to buy the game once to get the whole story.
Episode 3 is huge. Like, as much content as Episodes 1 and 2 put together huge. There's close to 200,000 words of new content (of which you'll maybe see about 1/4-1/3 in a given playthrough) and over 1,500 new art assets. For reference, Episodes 1 and 2 were each about 100,000 words of content, bringing the total for all three to around 400k. For further reference, the Lord of the Rings (all of it) is 481,000 words long.
Thank you all again for your patience and support as we continue to make Scarlet Hollow the story we want it to be, and we hope you feel that Episode 3 is worth the wait— we certainly think it is!
All the best,
~Tony and Abby