Crimson High

Heh, we've seen the teacher lady around before. :P

Maybe if you read every word very carefully, you'll be able to stretch the remaining content until next Sunday :D
I think you're gonna like one of the SpaceHamsters in the next update, going by this comment. Provided you look for them, of course lol

As for how close I am to finishing CH: Yes.
My best guesstimate would put the game at somewhere over 60% of its planned content. There is still a good amount of stuff I have in store, as well as all the unplanned things that will happen along the way. I assume that CH will continue getting new content for at least two more years. :)

Heya! Glad you enjoyed the update :)

As for the spelling: No, I did actually mean egoistical. EgoTistical means something different that doesn't quite fit the statement I wanted to get across.
Generally, "egoistical" is roughly synonymous with "selfish" - as in putting one's own needs above those of others.
"EgoTistical", on the other hand, is closer to "conceited" - as in thinking too highly of oneself.
While "egoTistical" could apply, seeing as you could argue that one has to think rather highly of themselves to want more than one partner, I feel like it's closer to being greedy than to being conceited. And greed, as we know, is pretty selfish in nature.
At the same time, though, I'm aware that "egoistical" is not as commonly used in colloquial English, and that most people default to "egoTistical", no matter the actual meaning.
You could, of course, argue that that's how language develops, and that the meaning of the word has changed through common usage to the point where it is the correct word here - and you would be right, too - but to that I say: Meh, it's just words. I like "egoistical" better. :P

I hope you don't mind my little explanation above. I don't mean to be a smartass, but my choice of the word was very deliberate. :P

Miko really has no jealousy in her, yeah. I really like that about her, too. All she ever wants is for everyone to be happy, and she has no reason to believe that that couldn't happen in a polycule.

Lilith will definitely get her moments to "shine" eventually. Whether that is during Rai's and MC's meeting.. well, we'll find out :D

I'd love to hide even more little things in the backgrounds, honestly - it's one of my favorite things to do. But I also have to balance that with how much time it takes. As fun as those details are, they can be surprisingly work-intensive, which adds up and slows down update releases.

As for the girls - you're right. Characters like Airi and Runa are more or less one-off appearances, and there are no current plans for them to return in major ways.
That said, the reason they exist at all is simple: without them, the world would feel empty.

Take Runa, for example. I could have used a generic silhouette character for her, and I actually did for her dad at first. It would've technically worked — but the scene would've had less, well.. character.

In general, you can think of most of the side girls in Crimson High as extras. They help support the main cast and make the world feel alive, but they’re not all meant to have larger stories. In fact, most of them won't be getting any lewd content, either.

The number of girls that actually matter is a lot smaller than it may seem at first glance.

Important to note, though: The distinction of whether a girl matters or not is not at all set in stone. It can (and will/already has before) change over the course of the story. Sometimes a side character surprises even me :P

As for why they're listed in the phone's character sheet: it’s mainly to help players remember who’s who, especially if they’re referenced again later. With a cast this large - and many of them having Japanese names - it can be tough to keep track, especially over the course of several years. Even core characters like Miko and Suzu get mixed up sometimes, so I figured having a reference is better than leaving people wondering "Wait, who was that again?" :)

Edit: Typo

I haven't heard of a similar issue from anyone else. Could be a corrupted extraction - try unzipping the update again, or if that doesn't work re-downloading the Mac version.

Thank you! Not gonna lie, when I saw the notification for your comment, your username made me expect that I had to delete another spam bot message :D

Ah, no. Crimson High will stay free to play indefinitely. While I can see how one could get tempted to add a paywall, I personally think it's a bad business model, and something that instantly and irreversibly turns me as a player away from a project.
Do I think my work and especially my consistent and reliable output deserves more, especially when compared to some of my.. let's say less motivated colleagues? Sure, yeah. But I don't think forcing people to pay to be able to access updates is the way to go. Either people recognize and cherish the game for what it is, or they don't and I gotta do better with my next project.

The only thing I will say is that I may add optional paid content at some point. However, that will not be in any way restricting the main game slash story. If anything, it will be something that enhances the experience in some way.
I do have some ideas already, too, but I have yet to decide if I actually want to implement them in CH or keep them for a future project. And like I said, they won't be in any way detrimental to the current, free to play experience, but rather just an optional bit of flavor for whomever wants it. Think cosmetic/soundtrack DLC for games on Steam, or the like.

As for your wishes.. well, all I can say to them is: maybe? :P

Maybe?

I'm worried about Kana too. I assume that's who you're talking about.

While I can't speak for every choice, they do matter in some ways. If you take the panties in the beginning, and if you look into Mariko having sexy time or not, those choices do affect things down the road. Also, some choices will result in "search for hamster" or not - one of the choices results in sexy time with your valley girl friend and the other results in search for a hamster. Not sure about ignoring some girls though.

This AVN is not the strongest candidate for 'choices matter'. You can avoid lewds with some of girls and avoid a scene of dialogue or two.

This is very common for AVNs.

Personally I don't think its too much to ask for choices to matter in more than just lewds but it would increase the complexity of the programming and story, probably to the point that Dev time will jump up immensely.

For me Crimson High is great because of the characters and the story but also because it has an extremely fast Dev time and the Dev is very reliable.

So I would vote against that change.

It's usually 5-6 weeks per update. Last update was a bit of an exception since I decided to keep going with the writing for v0.43 (the upcoming update) instead of making it the usual length, and with the way I work (I finish writing for the very next update before rendering and releasing the current update at the time), that ended up extending the development time for v0.42. :)

Love her spit takes and her tendency to say "fricking" since she's so flustered!

I wasn't quite able to reproduce this on my end, but fixing it should be as easy as copying this variables.rpy file into your /game folder.
Thanks for the report.

I think we all knew Kana was gonna take this poorly. Vertigo doesn't torture us, but Kana being cool with the harem idea would've been way too easy.

Good question. The short answer is: No, I generally don't do that.

The slightly longer answer is: In rare cases, I do go back and rephrase a few lines of dialogue here and there - if they stick out particularly badly.

While I do feel the same as the other dev, in that my early scenes feel very subpar to me, I don't think it's a good use of my time to go back and rework them.
Early-game reworks aren't exactly uncommon in AVNs, but as a player myself - and based on what I've heard from other players - they're generally not received very well, especially by supporters on Patreon and the like.

Sure, it's nice to spruce things up a bit, but for someone who’s already seen the early content, there's little value in slightly enhanced visuals. And new players won't exactly notice the difference if they don't know how it looked originally either.

Now, you could argue that a polished early game might hook more players - especially in a mostly linear VN like CH - and I get the appeal. After all, Junichiro being more hateable or Suzu more adorable could tighten the emotional beats. But in my opinion, it's a slippery slope. You risk sacrificing current supporters' goodwill for the hope of impressing newcomers. That tradeoff rarely pays off in the long run.

The way CH's quality increases throughout the game is a testament to my own journey as a developer. Once the story is finished, I'll have a complete game, as well as a lot of experience to bring into my next project.
Yeah, CH as a whole isn't perfect - I had (and still have) a lot to learn - but that's life, isn't it? No point in fretting over it - especially if it means basically exploiting my supporters' patience and desire for more content, when I could instead just keep going, finish the story, and then move on

I hope this answers your question :P

Also, the 7th isn't that far off anymore :)

Your statement is impossible.

Suzu cannot be any more adorable than she already is.

One cannot make perfection more perfect :P

I'm releasing bees at every one of them I see. 

hina is just adorbs in general, i dont think there was ONE scene that she wasnt adorable and cute in, in fact i DARE vertigo to try to make a scene that she isnt adorable in which i sincerely doubt is possible:)

cant wait to see more of the little cutie patootie

Lol I didn't know taking the panties has consequences! I have never once done it, not my kink.

Still fascinating to learn that it is a thing that can happen! 

Just goes to show you how good this AVN is. Sometimes actions have consequences, not just an excuse to see another lewd...

That combined with an intriguing story, wonderful characters and a remarkably fast and reliable Dev honestly makes this the best AVN currently being produced. 

Hands down.

She is, yeah. It's just a character quirk, because I find it adorable lol

We'll be getting some Perrine texts and more content of her soon enough :)

Hey, glad you had fun! I try my best with the writing and everything :)

As for Claws - well, we'll see more of her, but she won't ever get an own arc within the game. Mami, as well as the majority of the other non-main cast girls, mainly serves as a supporting character to further the story and to make the world feel alive.

It's unfortunate that I can't give all of the characters in the game the attention they deserve, but I still prefer this over having a world that's either filled with non-descript shadow people or that's completely empty besides the few characters that actually get their own arcs.
Anything more than what I'm currently doing would either require a full team of people working on the game, or would significantly extend the time needed to work on updates. Neither is a good slash viable alternative right now.

I hope you understand. :)