Update

Hello everyone! I just wanted to write an in-depth update to keep you all informed. As always, we are chugging away with drawing and writing. Today it struck me, both of us struggle to let our guard down and be transparent, and we don't tend to like writing posts on here when we have no zippy new art or scenes. When you're making a visual novel, there isn't always new game mechanics to show, and we're both quite private people.

I want to thank everyone for supporting us, old and new fans. My heart is warmed when I read new reviews of the game, and it's been enough time now that our characters feel a bit like old friends. To all our patrons, a renewed thank you! You make the game possible.

One reason we haven't said much is that we've started planning something new, and a portion of our time has been devoted to excitedly discussing a new game. Because (occasionally to our detriment) we always want to bring something substantive to our posts, and not just wildly postulate with nothing to show, we haven't mentioned it. I also don't want to spring it suddenly on our patrons, as you do pay for Sanguine Rose content and not for us to do whatever the hell we like. We want to please our current players still, I'm confident you'll like our new direction, and now we'll have a chance to actually let players have input on game decisions. At the time, developing Sanguine Rose was a great venture for both of us rookie gamedevs, but a lot of our important decisions were a stab in the dark, and we've learned so much from it all.

Of course though, we want to focus on making the ending to Sanguine Rose match our initial creative vision. It's hard, since at this point it's the final stretch, which means putting growth on hold for a while and really hunkering down to work. I've said it before, but we want to pay justice to the responses we've had and not rush the end. I'm extremely excited to move forward, but I'm balancing that with keeping my passion for this game alive to draw/write with the same vigor and enthusiasm. While we adore Mediaeval fantasy, artistic impulses drew us towards more colourful and modern aesthetics. The completely different dynamic is really fun to play with, and we've been coming up with some cool new characters. I want to tell you all more but this update is already getting very long!

We'll still be working on Sanguine Rose once the main endings are finished and released, since there are multiple scenarios we want to explore. But, to ensure we don't have a huge gap of time where we give our patrons nothing, we've started planning it early, and we can have a smooth transition that's good for everyone. One of the main differences, and things that we're going to bring to the table is game mechanics, beyond being a visual novel. I do love to play visual novels, but branching out to include different types of gameplay and a more modern, playful tone feels like it's going to be a good change. That, alongside more romanceable characters, more animated content, and plenty of things I'll talk about at a later date. We're perfectly content to stick to the same themes we've been exploring with SR; submission, dominance, and a range of character types. Moving forward though I want to dial back things people didn't enjoy, and deliver on the things we got praised for! It feels like opening the windows to let some fresh air in on the [often] very dark, sombre and intensely word/art heavy Sanguine Rose.

Do you want more informal updates? I'm eager to hear your desires for the next game too! Comment, join us on discord to chat (click here), or email us (our emails are on the main patreon page).

-Duski