discussion Elena: Crimson Archives — dark-academia suspense VN, complete [Ren'Py] [free in browser]

[VelvetCore]

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Elena: Crimson Archives
Dark-academia suspense. One locked archive. One assistant who shouldn't be there.

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No download, no account. The whole game; ad-supported on our own site.​

Overview
11:42 PM, St. Jude's College, Department of Palaeography. An after-hours alarm from the sealed Blackwood Archive.

You have faculty keys. Inside is Elena — 22, research assistant, halfway through photographing a ledger that is not supposed to exist. She did not break in. The timed lock came down while she was copying the page that carries her own family name.

"Please don't tell the Dean."

Interrogate her, take the deal she offers with shaking hands, or share the secret until morning. The first hour's choices decide where the next five chapters go.

Choose how you play

• Browser, free — the complete game on our own site, ad-supported.
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• Free trial download — the opening (~5 minutes) as a standalone Windows / Mac / Linux build, no ads and nothing in it that calls out. It ends on a screen with the two real paths above.
  You must be registered to see links
• Full download — DRM-free, no ads, uncensored, every route.

Spoiler: Game info

Developer: Flat 404
Version: 0.7 (complete)
OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser
Language: English, Japanese (switchable in-game)
Engine: Ren'Py 8.3
Genre: Visual novel, suspense, dark academia, teacher × student, glasses, uniform
Length: about 2 hours per route, three routes

Spoiler: Content

• Five chapters, three routes: Interrogation / Fall / Pact
• Six event CGs with a gallery, three endings
• Rain, heartbeat, and the sound of an archive at night
• Everyone in it is an adult and written as one

Spoiler: AI disclosure

The artwork is AI-assisted — directed, culled and retouched by hand — and the game says so on the way in. The writing is human, every line.

Feedback on pacing and on whether the free-in-browser path feels fair is the thing I most want to hear.

 

[highlrecommend]

if this is live & complete why is it in the "future projects" ?

are you going to turn it into a downloadable game ?

 

[VelvetCore]

@highlrecommend — to answer properly:
It is in Future Projects because that is the only section a regular account can start a thread in; Games and AI Games are uploader-only, so I could not post it there myself.
Downloadable: yes, already. On the itch page there is a free trial build (the opening, Windows / Mac / Linux, nothing in it that calls out anywhere) and the full build. The browser version on our own site is the complete game.
If you would be willing to give it a thread in AI Games, I would be glad — say what the template needs (banner, screenshots, mirrors) and I will supply it.

 

[highlrecommend]

@highlrecommend — to answer properly:
It is in Future Projects because that is the only section a regular account can start a thread in; Games and AI Games are uploader-only, so I could not post it there myself.
Downloadable: yes, already. On the itch page there is a free trial build (the opening, Windows / Mac / Linux, nothing in it that calls out anywhere) and the full build. The browser version on our own site is the complete game.
If you would be willing to give it a thread in AI Games, I would be glad — say what the template needs (banner, screenshots, mirrors) and I will supply it.

if you are a game developer, open a ticket & jump through the hoops
i don't know what the process is but check it out
https://lewdcorner.com/support/create