itch.io

I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed the demo. The game is still being worked on, it is just behind Thorns of War at the moment. But I am determined it will be finished - I like it too much to abandon it. ^_^

Many thanks for your encouragement

No, sorry. I had some medical problems last year, which delayed work on Thorns of War, which in turn delayed this. I will finish it - it was the first visual novel I ever started writing and it will always have a special place in my heart. But Thorns was kickstarted first after a vote, and so I have to focus on that game for now.

 Apologies I don't have better news and thank you for your patience

The routes are averaging 130,000 words each, so about 3 times as long. 

Many thanks for your interest

Thank you for the kind feedback - it is always lovely to hear what players enjoyed. 

And Mariette is a character created by one of the Kickstarter backers, so I am sure they will be glad to know their addition to the game is a welcome one. 

Well, hopefully not too much longer to wait for the next route - I hope you enjoy it once you get a chance to play it. 

Many thanks for playing

Charlotte will be the final route worked on (saving the best for last ^_^) and I am hoping to begin her route early next year to complete some time in the summer.

I hope this helps and many thanks for your interest

Okay, as promised, I have a very loose time-frame of when I hope things will be finished/started etc.

I am hoping to have the beta for the Loveless Route completed by the end of August. Once it is in beta, I will need to finish the coding/testing and make adjustments for any feedback. So, with all that in mind, I hope to start working again on Frederique’s route by the end of September.

So, ideally, I would be hoping for an early 2025 release for Frederique’s route and then a summer release for Charlotte. Of course, this is all subject to change, but as far as estimates go, this is what I currently have.

I will let people know once the loveless route beta has been released, since that is the first hurdle to clear.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions and many thanks for your interest

Hello and thank you for your interest.

I just wanted to let you know I don’t think your question is rude and I don’t want you to worry that I’m offended or anything (you probably weren’t going to, but I know I tend to spiral about these sorts of things).

I don’t have a good answer for you just yet, but I am hoping I have a clearer picture by the end of the month, so I will reply to you again then, when I know more.

I hope this can at least tied you over until then.  

Yes, once it is complete, and any existing purchase on itch will be given access to a steam key at the that time. ^_^

I hope this helps. Many thanks for your interest.

When I completed a survey to this effect on Steam, the game was given a rating of around a 12 to 14 years old across a few different rating agencies, so about there. 

Though the games is not graphic, it is set during an apoloclytic event and contains descriptions of scenes/circumstances that might be upsetting to some.

Many thanks for your interest

Ah, I'm so glad to hear it! Leopold is certainly one of the more popular love interests - I'm happy you enjoyed his route.

Many thanks for playing

I just replied now ^_^

Hmm, it shouldn't be too hard to get. Do you mean you managed to get on the romantic path with Fred, but couldn't get this ending? Or upi tried to romance him and nothing came of your attempt?

If it is the former, can I ask how far you got in the romance?

If it is the latter, can I ask if you picked the menu option to open it? The "—fills me with a strange sense of longing..." option, on day 2? From that point on, you need to pick the flirtatious/caring options and if you have enough points there should be a confrontation that sets you firmly on that path by day 7.

If this guidance here does not help any, then please email me at support@blackcross-taylor.com and I can write you a quick walkthrough or we can discuss it further if I have misunderstood the problem. ^_^

Many thanks for playing

Many thanks for the kind feedback - I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Leopold's route. Though there is no more to play in his route, Leopold does make appearances in other routes as a potential ally, and he plays a much more prominent role in the Loveless route which I am writing currently, so perhaps there is no need for tears just yet ^_^

Many thanks for playing

You can ally with Leopold, but it is not romantic. Hope this helps. ^_^

Yes! Thanks, littlegal ^_^

Yeah, I have a brief plan for every route before I start, but some of them do change quite a bit as I write them. I hope you enjoy this one, once it is released.

Many thanks for your patience and support. ^_^

Ah, thank you for the positive feedback - I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed it. 

Many thanks for playing ^_^

Thank you for your comment. I am certainly aware that some MCs are going to have circumstances that make being married to Guillaume more problematic and I have plans to allow those characters to state as much and explore that in the route. 

As for the extra romance in Sofia's route, its a bit of a secret, so to avoid spoilers if you would like to message me at support@blackcross-taylor.com I will happily tell you more there. ^_^

Many thanks for playing

Sorry for the delay there. I know people were excited for his route. But I will be working on it again straight after this one. ^_^

Many thanks and I am glad to hear you're excited. Hopefully won't be too long before the route is released. ^_^

No problem. Many thanks for your continued support ^_^

Ah, thank you for the encouragement! ^_^

Ha ha, I was loosing it a bit in the second half of last year, but my faith is back now and as strong as ever.

Many thanks for playing

Happy Valentine's Day to you as well! 

Yeah, I thought that picture might be a bit of a give away ^_^

Glad to hear you're looking forward to the route and many thanks for playing.

I've actually been working on a devlog addressing just this and giving a general update on the game. Please feel free to check it out if you are interested ^_^

https://blackcrosstaylor.itch.io/ttow/devlog/681929/the-thorns-of-war-update-32

Sorry, I somehow missed this - I hope you had a nice new year. ^_^

I have no eta right now, sadly. I was having some trouble with the route and put it on hold while I worked out why I was not happy with it. I know Frederique is very popular and I did not want to risk producing something that might disappoint players. 

So I moved my attention over to the Loveless route and the word count there is just over 100,000 words as of this evening. I am hoping to complete the Loveless route this spring and then return to working on Frederique's route, but I will know more at the end of the month when I plan to publish a devlog with more details.

Many thanks for your patience

No problem - I hope you enjoy the game. ^_^

Many thanks for playing

Nope, not abandoned, just delayed a bit. I'll post an update when I have more news ^_^

Thank you for your interest 

Aw, thank you - that is very sweet of you to say. I am hoping to have an update for players soon, so thank you for your on-going patience and support.

Ah, thank you for the kind feedback - I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Sofia's route. 

Many thanks for playing

Hello and thanks for the feedback - I'm glad you're enjoying the game so far. As for progress, I am currently working on the Loveless route and the word count is approx 68,000 words.

Many thanks for playing

Many thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed Leo's route and Sofia's too - I was happy to hear in your other post you got her best ending.

Thanks for playing

Ah, thank you. I've been working on it for so long now, I can't wait to hear what players think. ^_^

Many thanks for your interest

Thank you for the feedback - Leopold seems to be a big favourite with players so I am glad you liked his route.

Many thanks for playing ^_^

Many thanks for your kind feedback - I'm happy you're enjoying the game and extra scenes.

Ah, yes, the play scene in 'Rose' was very fun to write - I'm glad to hear you found it amusing. ^_^

Frederique's route is on hold at the moment. I wasn't happy with certain aspects of it, and since I know how much people are looking forward to it, I didn't want to rush things. I am working on the Loveless route in the meantime and it is going well.

Many thanks for your interest

Many thanks for you kind feedback - I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the routes so far, especially Sofia's. 

Thank you for playing

Ah, thank you. I really hope it's worth the wait ^_^

Thank you for your kind feedback – I’m glad to hear you’ve enjoyed the routes so far.

And your predicament sounds like something I would do. I am not very good at resisting temptation, even when it would be to my benefit.

I remember once I had an 18 hour layover in an airport coming up, so I ordered a book I wanted to read to occupy me. It arrived, I read it straight away in the comfort of my house - despite there being many other things there to entertain me - and then got to spend 18 hours bored in the airport. >_<

I am happy to hear, though, that you did well in your exams. Many thanks for playing and I hope Frederique's route is worth the wait. ^_^

*laughs* Oh dear, I have put you in another bind. I hope you can be a bit more ruthless next time and get your happy ending with Sofia.

Have you tried lying to her? That's quite an interesting ride, too. ^_^

Many thanks for playing.

Ah, thank you. I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed it. ^_