#crwl

Long image below, transcript in Read More. Links to published project in Read More.

Changing the format compared to last year, a lot more has happened this year than the last one. There is also much more I would want to touch upon (like STATS :D), but that'd make this post way too long (already the Post-Mortem of The Thick Table Tavern last month was a lot).

Below is the TLDR. Here is Part 2. The Stats are in Part 3. And the Future is in Part 4 (TBP).

Last September, I had made a little Schedule for the End of the Year. Obviously, I was way off. I only published/updated half of the things I said I would, and ended up putting out new smaller (more fun, less frustrating for me) projects instead.

Next year's expectations is to... finish my WIPs (starting the smallest ones to have them off my desk). I have too many projects in my hands, and it's not sustainable. I've been preaching about not having too may WIPs, but don't even follow my advice. My goal is to have by the end of the year only Crimson Rose & White Lily, SPS Iron Hammer, and The Thick Table Tavern still unfinished (TTATEH is dependent on MelS's progress more than mine). Knowing me, I'll try to squeeze a few Jams/Comps entry anyway...

Whatever force pulls the strings, that voice has already taken over your body. You’ve felt it a couple of times already since you woke up. Still now, you feel it has control over this flesh and seems reluctant to let go. Whenever it wishes, it pushed you aside, locking you away, unable to do or say a thing.

After waking up from the weirdest and most vivid dream you have ever had, you find yourself in a strange place, among strange people. Realizing that you have no memory before this point, you must navigate through this new world and its inhabitants. While your first discoveries uncover your noble birth and future engagement to a local prince, it seems that not everyone welcomes or celebrates these facts.

As you get to explore the region and its court, trying to find more information about yourself and your past, you may end up uncovering intrigues and dangerous plots. Or you may instigate them yourself. Your choices and actions may influence the world around you and the relationships you have with its inhabitants.

Will you discover this world’s secrets?

Crimson Rose & White Lily is an intrigue story set in a fantasy world inspired by the Victorian era and French 18th century court.

Content Warning: depiction of violence, death and sexually suggestive content.

Full character customization: appearance, gender, sexuality.

Possibility of changing the MC appearance at anytime

Puzzles and investigation.

Court intrigues and plots to uncover.

Build relationships with other characters and romance.

The Stranger (m/f): An adventurous free spirit.

The Prince (m/f): A gentle soul with a façade.

The Advisor (m): A bookish shy man, who will follow you till the end.

The Rival (f): A former childhood friend, bitter, who just wants revenge.

Prologue + Act 1 Scene 1-4 : about 52k words average read.

Playtime: about 3h

Story Content: 132k total words without code.

1 non-cannon ending.

Play now and Rate on Itch.IO

Author Main Tumblr: @manonamora-if

Play the Game on Itch.io: The Prologue until Scene 3 (incl) is online.

Rate the Game on IFDB.org or on Itch.io.

Tumblr Post about the Game (like and relogs are highly appreciated ♥)

Potential Romantic Options Introductions (not required to complete the game)

Last Post Update.

Tag List

Bug Report Form - Status Sheet

Did you find a bug or issue with the game? Please first check if the issue has been resolved #bug report tag or in the Status Sheet. You can fill in the form or send me an ask, and I will try to fix it!

Last Update (29-jun-22) Upload Scene 4. + Bug fixes

My entry to the French IF Comp is out! Play it here!

It has dark stuff, puzzles, suspense... and an unexpected end :P

You can vote for the French IF Comp until the end of February! (please go vote, the games are really cool!)

(also I saw a funny Chicken picture, and I had to submit to this other jam for the lolz. Like the SeedComp! prompt, you can use that one however you want! It's under the CC-BY license)

Fixed :

some visual issues with small height non-mobile screens

settings in the light mode, and labelling overall

title page small edits

Reloading the page will only give you the logo

the glitchy text in Chapter 3 is fixed (it now works! if you have the setting turned on)

MelS wrote quite a bit this week too! We've passed 8k words.

I don't have any substantial story update to give yet... but I've still some a tiny bit of coding work:

Some visual issues are getting fixed (similar ones to TTATEH + others).

2 new fonts will be included: a monospace and Atkinson Hyperlegible.

I am also adding Keybindings to the main story (the Codex Pages will be a bit tricky, as of now they won't work) for computer play.

I will be changing the code for the notification to a more aria/screen-reader friendly (and there's a lot of them)

A big bug found in the last update of TTATEH has turn up in CRWL too, so that's getting fixed...

Some other bugs raised lately have to be checked out...

OH and the biggest thing: I am adding custom pronouns AND give the choice for the player to choose their title (liege, lord, lady) regardless of their genre :D

Anyway, the Settings, the whole Prologue and Scene 1 is clear. I have started Scene2. Going through the scenes is a bit dull and repetitive (there's 1.5k lines of code for each scene on average), but I am chipping away at it.

Nothing big actually. Just added 2 fonts : a Garamond like and the Atkinson Hyperlegible.

No I haven't forgotten P-RIX. I've been fighting its code all this time...

Anyway, the UI will be changing slightly to give more space for the text (less scrolling, especially on bigger font sizes). The background has also changed (especially the stars looking less like rain, lol). And the radar actually works this time too!

And I've been testing a Mobile portrait version (finally!), which will not include the background, but will be much easier to play!

[It'll be the next UI template too, but bare]

This is the first update of February, so here's a little run-down of what to expect here this month:

a small CRWL update (general UI and bug-fixing)

a P-Rix update (UI for sure, extra content maybe? time will tell)

my SeedComp! entry (if I manage, it will be Gonch-short)

Onto some other IF related information:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~IFDB AWARDS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The IFDB Awards are ongoing. You can vote for Outstanding entries published in 2022 until the 17th of February!

Check out this post for more information. This is the first year of this award, so the turn out will decide what will happen to it (or at least some categories) next year. Please go vote! (I have like 7 games that are eligible this year, some have appeared on the polls already, it's neat :P )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SEEDCOMP !~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are about 3 weeks left on the Sprouting Round of the @seedcomp-if ! Come join and create a little game. :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SPRING THING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Spring Thing 2023 Edition is officially open. You can register your intent until March 1st !

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I've updated the Coding Support list too!

Patched some lil bugs (one that I had created trying to fix something else...), reformatted some pages, and fixed some typos.

Since the end of the Comp, the French IF community has been streaming the entries. Last Wednesday was my turn! It is not a full playthrough (as the game is really that long), but it solved all puzzles but one. The participants in the stream were also quite close in figuring out the story... :)

Two people on the IntFiction Forum are also reviewing the Comp entries. And I was among the first to get very lovely reviews from both of them!

I've also got someone lovely return from players in general, as well as more critical feedback/ideas for edits. When I have a bit more time, I will try to implement those and add an English translation to it...

Anyway, play DOL-OS here!

No one has figured out the Easter Egg or found the hidden meaning either yet... :(

I have finished reworking the UI. This include shuffling around some blocks, increasing the container size, simplifying the Interface code, adding some transitions between screens, fixing the animations (;-; finally), adding a new "screen", customising the Dialog boxes, etc...

AND ! The UI has been optimising for Mobile view too! To get the full experience, I'd still advise for a screen being at least 900x600, but smaller screen (portrait) will be able to play soon!

Before I upload the fix, I would like to add a tad more text (a small scene with Mr. E) and add a few extra settings, especially for timed/typed animated text (tested, need to add to the file), and font options.

Maybe next week update? Or the week after...

You know what I forgot last week? Recoding the searching through the room part of Scene 1 (because it's a sperate file)... That's done now. As well as the side destination options. I've done 1/3rd of Scene 2, not touched Scene 3, and half of Scene 4.

I thought I would have been further than I am now but I'm not... I forgot how big the chapter were. Each file is 1.3k - 2k lines of code/writing. That's a lot to go through.

On the plus side, since I've figured out a better way of coding the next animation, I got to optimise some stuff!

I am still not set on a title, but I do have the theme for my SeedComp! entry: Noir... but kind of a spoof?

Short pitch: you play as a down-on-your-luck P.I. waiting for your next case to pay your bills, when a Dame enters your office.

The whole thing is drafted, I've described the big actions/choices, and started writing it. Since I've also set myself on the One Page template as my UI, I won't need to spend too much time on that. Just the coding, when the writing is done.

Some repeat of last week:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~IFDB AWARDS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The IFDB Awards are almost over. Less than one week to vote!

Check out this post for more information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SEEDCOMP !~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A bit more than 2 weeks left on the Sprouting Round of the @seedcomp-if ! Come join me and create a little game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SPRING THING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Spring Thing 2023 Edition is officially open. You can register your intent until March 1st !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FRENCH COMP~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can vote for the comp entries until the start of March! Voting does not happen on itch, but a google form linked on the Comp Page.

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This was planned for yesterday, but comp opening and I had bugs to fix.

I managed to "finish" the game and submitted it just on time!

The current build (playable on the IF Comp website starting yesterday lol!) is about 40-50k words long, including all variation (excluding: "codex", "player page", the arcade mode" and some text widgets). While the cap to reach an end is 14 in-game days, the game can be completed around day 5-6 if you only serve perfect drinks. Also, you can just skip that and play the Arcade for lulz.

This has been super nerve-wracking, submitting something to the big league of comps for IF, and it is about to be even more nerve-wracking having people not only play but judging it. It's exciting, but I am a bit anxious about it. And now judging has started...

BUT: my goal was to submit a working project with more than just making random drinks (so a minimum of a story) and place in the top half of the ranking. I've achieved the first, hopefully, the second will be true too :D

Still, I have learned A LOT working on this project: making special widgets, optimizing my code, editing some JavaScript, including more accessibility (key biding, animation-blocker), creating a more interactive game for the player than just choice lists, mastering flex boxes, using the memorize() function (which I had to remove at the end cause it was creating bugs...), using more custom animations in CSS, etc...

I am quite proud of having done all of that in like 3 months or so. Probably not the best timeframe to upload a comp game but eh, I did it anyways :P

I have a bunch of ideas on what to add, but I'll think about that in November. Expect a "post-mortem"/roadmap coming before the Comp Result.

In the meantime, play TTTT on the IF Comp website, as well as the other amazing entries there! Give all participants some love <3 We all worked really hard for it.

Since the last update (only UI x, x) back last February, I've received a handful of reports of bugs in some paths and other issues (typos, colour contrast, etc..). I started looking into it, hoping this would just that, and... there will be quite a bit more to fix on top of those. (It's real rough... I feel very ashamed)

I have learned A LOT about coding since I first made this project public last year. Not only that, but also about formatting text on the screen.

I know full well I should keep the project shelved and leave it be. I've worked enough on it. It showed what I could do at that point in time and is a great point of reference to see how far I've gone.

And yet, looking into the code just made me wince a bit... Especially when I know I could improve it and actually try to make it more accessible in general.

So yeah... Update incoming.

Lol, I already added 1k of words for the English version bc proofreading/editing.

MelS had been writing a few hundred words here and there, pretty much when he gets a chance to write (he's been super busy). He promised me to try to finish the missing Scene of Chapter 2 so I can code them in for the end of the month release. I have a backup planned if this doesn't work out.

Currently not much on that front. But further updates will be planned throughout the month!

OTHER PROJECTS/NOTES:

I will be uploading 3 more rounds of Exquisite Cadaver sometime this month and add another theme! You will see another theme form passing by to choose the next one :)

I am also bringing Crimson Rose & White Lily out of official Hiatus. The writing of the next scene has technically started, but it won't be full steam ahead for another week or two.

I am taking SugarCube coding questions again! If you need an explanation about the use of a certain macro, or how to do a certain thing in CSS, etc...

P-Rix was updated this week! with an upgraded UI and can be played on mobile! (there are a few things that I need to fix, but research is needed...)

And I've even made an Intro Post! (after like... 2 months lol)

Making some slow progress, but progress nonetheless. Scene 2 and 4 are done. I have Scene 3 to do, check that all variables work like they should, and find a way for the Codex to work with keybinding (and be mobile accessible too...)...

Maybe before the end of the month (or like on that last day :P ) I could be done?

My @seedcomp-if entry. The first third is written (there's already 3k words...). The middle part is probably going to be longer, and the last shorter?

If I can't finish the last third, I have an alternative option. But I'd rather not use it...

Oh and I have title :P It's secret but I wanted to say it...

MelS has passed 10k words for the next Chapter. Still hasn't reached the half point. There will be quite a bit of variation already....

The Results of the IFDB awards are published! Congratulations again to all awardees! If you are looking to try something new (maybe a genre, or gameplay), the winners are all great!

A bit over 1 week before the @seedcomp-if deadline! There is still a bit of time to create something fun based on creative seeds!

Little reminder about the Spring Thing 2023 Edition and the intent registration (March 1st)!

And finally, the French Comp Voting Period ending soon too Check Comp Page for a bunch of fun French games.

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