Version 1.06a Update & Fan Spotlight

Hi there, everyone. I hope you've been enjoying the holidays.

I've posted an update at the Darkside Translations website to let everyone know the status of the latest Rosenkreuzstilette patch, Version 1.06a. At the same time, I've decided to give props to a handful of players who made their own works based on our localization (whether they've acknowledged our part in it or not).

You can read the full post here.

It's a little early, but Happy New Year, ladies and gents.

SaSA Fanart Contest: OVER!

It's Saturday, and you know what that mean? It means that the Schwer And Schwer Alike Fanart Contest is over! No more contest submission will be taken at this time. I will give the judges links to all of the contestants submissions and begin judging. I would like to thank everyone who participated (unlike certain people I know of who thinks that every contest should have a prize in stake). Each judge will post their picks of the winners for Talent, Humor, and Honorable Mention in a later blog post if they chose to do so.

Flame Empress Armor

Oh, Zorne. What won't you do?

SASA Fanart Contest Reminder + News

One our contestants, Superjustinbros., has decided to drop out of the contest and now is officially a judge for the contest along with Mint and myself. I've talked this over with Mint yesterday at deviantArt and he said it was okay. So within my authority I've granted him right of judge for the contest.

Also, the deadline is THIS SATURDAY. I don't like to tell people to hurry it up with their submission for the contest, but if you want to enter the contest, then you better get it done and note me your submission before Saturday.

That is all.

Amethyst Reviews: Rosenkreuzstilette ~Blades of the Rose Cross~

ローゼンクロイツスティレッテ
Rosenkreuzstilette ~Blades of the Rose Cross~

Release date: December 31, 2007.
Publisher(s): [erka:es]
Developer(s): [erka:es]
Platform: Windows PC
Genre: 2D > Action > Platform > Doujin soft
Mode(s): Single player
Content: Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Language

In an sea of endless Mega Man games as far as the eye can, everywhere you look there's another Mega Man lurking in the shadows. So shouldn't it be time the series has meet its end already? ... Heck no. Besides, Mega Man rules. And it if weren't for him, we wouldn't have this little gem from [erka:es], Rosenkreuzstilette ~Blades of the Rose Cross~ for the PC.

So the basic promise of the story goes something like this: thousands of years, Magi, human beings born with the gift of magic roamed the earth. However, these born with such a gift where treated to a life of persecution, hatred, and being feared from the Holy Empire and the Orthodox Church. One great Magus and his eight disciples fought a great war against the Holy Empire and the Orthodox Church. In the end, that great Magus sacrificed his very life, but in the end, he succeeded in ending the persecution of Magi when Empire accepted them into their fighting force. Thus creating the RKS, Rosenkreuzstilette: the Blades of the Rose Cross.

Decades later, our heroine, Spiritia Rosenberg along with her fairy friend, Lilli, returns home after her six months of training and they are on their way to meet up with Count Michael Zeppelin's daughter, Iris Zeppelin. Upon their arrival and some idle chit-chat, Iris gets abducted by a dragon and makes off with her with Lilli in pursuit. Though it was not too soon when an attack out in the distance had begun. Spiritia and Lilli rejoined after the forest where fairies lived was set ablaze, and the culprit behind the forest burning was none other than Spiritia's childhood friend, Freudia Neuwahl. Freudia, and most of Spiritia's fellow Magi in the RKS have started a war against the Holy Empire and the Orthodox Church into creating a new world for Magi. Spiritia, like the girl scout that she is, refused to take part of the war. She was branded as traitor to the organization and now must put an end to this madness.



Rosenkreuzstilette, if you haven't guessed by now, is a Mega Man-clone based on the Mega Man games on the NES. So if you have played any of the Mega Man games on the NES before, you should know what the basic gist of the gameplay should be. But for the sake of convenience, I'll explain it to you anyway. In Rosenkreuzstilette, you must go through several stages and defeat the boss waiting at the end while taking enemies, dodging traps, and picking up power ups along the way. After defeating that boss, you get a new weapon. With that weapon, you could use it on a boss who could be weak against it, hence the rock-paper-scissors element of the Mega Man games. But when I say this is a Mega Man-clone, this is a Mega Man-clone. Right down to the old-school 2D gameplay, the menu screens, the difficult and challenging gameplay, and even the password system, Rosenkreuzstilette is perhaps one of the only Mega Man doujin softs out there that stays true to the original pedigree.



The visuals of the game are beautiful. The Castlevania- and Touhou-style setting and themes is a nice change of pace from the usual futuristic theme of the Mega Man franchise. The backgrounds and the beautiful settings has to be one of the visuals strongest points. Character, enemy sprites, visual effects, and the characters themselves are also wonderfully done. Rosenkreuzstilette also has a wide variety of stages; from graveyards, to sky palaces, and a factory filled with death traps, this is one visually pleasing game. Especially for those who loves old-school 2D games.

Audio for this also incredible. A rock-solid cast of Japanese voice actors coupled a great soundtrack of music ranging from haunting orchestral styles of music that of the Castlevania series to energetic music similar to Mega Man, you are bound to find a favorite piece of music somewhere in this game. Rosenkreuzstilette also has one of the most solid storytelling you'll find in any Mega Man game; a plot filled with betrayal, tested friendships and an unforgettable cast of characters, Rosenkreuzstilette has easily one of best storylines in a Mega Man-clone to date. The game, however, is Japanese. So for those can't read Japanese wouldn't understand a thing they're saying. But don't worry, there is an English-translation patch for the game made by the good people of Schwer and Schwer Alike and Darkside Translations and a Chinese-translation patch available.

Gameplay as mentioned earlier is derived from the NES Mega Man games while elements from later games in the series is apparent in Rosenkreuzstilette such as charging up weapons, sliding, switching between weapons on the fly, its all there. One thing that Rosenkreuzstilette does differently from the original Mega Man games is the Desperation Mode. Whenever a boss is half-way towards defeat, they will up the ante and perform different attacks from what they did before. This gives the boss battles in the game an extra edge when it comes to the challenging aspect of game and it helps makes the battles much more interesting.



Rosenkreuzstilette isn't just an homage to Capcom's fabled Blue Bomber; Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, Castlevania, other various video and computer games series, and even a few anime series is paid homage in Rosenkreuzstilette as well. You can chose to play the game in Story Mode if you want to play through the game's storyline, or skip it altogether in Arcade Mode. And like other doujin soft out there, you can save snapshots and replays of the game and share them amongst friends.



Now for the downside. For starters, this is a Mega Man game, and if you've played Mega Man before, then you've already played Rosenkreuzstilette without even knowing about it. Not to say this totally a bad thing, but Mega Man has certainly been around much longer than Spiritia Rosenberg has. This is also, as mentioned before, a hard game. So to those who are complete novices to the NES Mega Man games (or any of the traditional Mega Man games for that matter), you might get frustrated dying over and over again.



But don't fret gamers, Rosenkreuzstilette is nowhere near the likes of, let's say, Twilight Frontier's MegaMari - Marisa's Ambition. Another cause of concern is the game's system requirement. You will (might) need a decent computer to run this game at its best. Otherwise, you might suffer through long load times and/or slowdown. Trust me, I've tried playing this on the computers at my school, which aren't that good of PCs, and it could happen to you.

Despite some minor flaws, Rosenkreuzstilette is an excellent game for Mega Man fans. This also goes to show that Rosenkreuzstilette is more than a Mega Man-clone; its a wonderful trip to memory lane.



Rosenkreuzstilette gets a 9 out of 10.

RKS 1.06a - Replay Speed Increase

They really weren't kidding when they said they increased the speed on the fast-forward.

A Blades of the Rose Cross Update

Hello, everyone.

As many of you already know, [erka:es] released Version 1.06a of Rosenkreuzstilette, which corrects a variety of bugs and allows the game to run on Vista and Windows 7. The staff of Darkside Translations and Schwer and Schwer Alike intend to release an update to our localization to incorporate these bugfixes into the English executable.

We'd like to take the opportunity to address any issues with our original release that we previously overlooked or ignored. To that end, if you have any suggestions or comments about our release, we ask you to send them our way, either by posting them as a comment to this blog update or by emailing us. We've received next to no constructive feedback on the quality of our localization, so we're wondering which aspects of our work need improvement.

As of this writing, there are three issues we intend to address:

1) The Start Menu shortcut to the RKS Online Manual currently points to the project page and not the English translation of the manual. The updated release will include a shortcut pointing to the proper URL.

2) Two Germans strings in our initial release were deliberately left untranslated. Namely, we left the "Die Zeit vergeht schnell..." ("My, how time flies...") in the Replay Mode fast-forward screen and the "Waffenenergie" ("Weapon Energy") on the Status subscreen as they originally were.

Because of its layout, it would be impossible to add an English translation to the Replay Mode text -- we'd have to remove the all-important timer or replace the German text with its English equivalent. From the outset of this project, we had no intention of removing any of the German text, so this line will remain unchanged.

As for the Status screen, we weren't able to come up with a translation layout that we felt looked good with both a full and empty inventory, so we decided to scratch adding the English translation altogether. If you check our proof-of-concept screenshots in the comments sections of an earlier blog post, you might find a shot of one of our attempts. In any event, we intend to experiment with the layout some more and see if we can come up with an attractive way of integrating an English translation.

3) As Kilgamayan pointed out in his Let's Play videos, we chose to translate the English name for Zeppelin Stage III as "Xanatos". This was my own idea. I didn't want to repeat "Thanatos" twice on the same screen, so I decided to use a variant of the name to convey the same reference (like using Kerberos instead of Cerberus). Other alternatives for the name included "Death" and "The Grim Reaper", both of which undermine the "subtlety" of the Castlevania shout-out.

In retrospect, the order in which the names appeared should have been reversed. "Thanatos" is the official nickname of the stage's boss, whereas "Xanatos" is just a variant. We intend to reverse the names in the updated release.

That said, please let us know what you think of our work. If you didn't like how we worded a line, didn't like the fonts we used, or thought that a graphic should have been nudged just one tiny pixel over, point it out and we'll give the matter some thought. We can't fix anything if we don't know it's broken, so fill us in!

Oh, and those of you who recognized Xanatos as the last name of Jonathan Frakes' character in Gargoyles: good job!

RKS Freudenstachel Delayed... Again!

Billion pointed out in the comments of the last post that Freudenstachel will not be released at Winter Comiket as originally planned and is slated for release next year. I guess we'll be seeing it at C78 next summer. Welp!

New RKS Patch Fixes Game Breaker

I apologize for the negligence I've been showing to this blog and RKS as a whole. I've been busy with a bunch of other unrelated things, but with this patch release, I can hopefully get back on track.

This is actually part of the reason I haven't done anything RKS-related lately. A huge bug was discovered that caused the game to completely fail to load and cause strange graphical errors within Windows, thanks to certain graphic driver updates. Whenever I would execute the game, my monitor would start blinking, and after a moment, my Nvidia drivers would inform me that it just recovered from a crash. This appears to have happened to someone else as well, as they sent [erka:es] a report on it that was shown in their last blog update. Well, it would appear that the new patch fixes this problem, making it possible for people like me to once again play this stellar game.

Unfortunately, there's a new issue. I haven't been able to test this completely yet, but the original RKS's 1.05c->1.06a patch does not work on the rks_e.exe file within the English "Rosenkreuzstilette ~Blades of the Rose Cross~" folder, and I don't know if the English patch will work on a 1.06a version of the game. Due to these developments, we will get to working on an update patch or something for the English version, which may very well require an entirely new installer. Luckily, there are no hitches with the current version of the Freudenstachel web trial, so that works out okay.

I'll be providing further updates by Saturday on what's going on, so stay tuned!

Edit:
Also, I got this in the mail today. (I ordered a free sample thing back in August, and it JUST showed up.) I have to cut off the ad part, but I think it's pretty sweet for a (bumper) sticker.

Comment Moderation is Back On

I'm starting to get spam comments, mostly for PRESCRIPTION DRUGS or HOT WOMEN XXX, so I've turned comment moderation back on. Sorry, everyone. :(

Time Attack Results

Final Times:

1st Place - Tanin - 04'47'69
2nd Place - Killing_Doll - 04'21"45

I am sorry to report that two other contenders, Cremator and ViperAcidZX, have been disqualified. Both Cremator and ViperAcidZX went to other stages during the course of gameplay, adding time to their replay outside the challenge guidelines. Tanin tried to pull a clever trick by running the timer on the password screen, but I deducted the time spent on there, because really, come on.

It would seem that the specifications were not as precise as I could have made them, and the challenge was ripe for exploiting. The next one will not be so... open.

Congrats to Tanin for winning, and thanks to everyone who participated!

Challenge Stuff

The results for the "Time Attack" challenge will be posted soon. I've been kinda busy! Soon!

SASA Fanart Contest Extension

For those are feeling that December 1st may not enough time to complete your submission for the Schwer and Schwer Alike's Fanart Contest, I've decided to make an extension to the deadline.

The new deadline will be December 12th, 2009, which is on a Saturday. The update to the deadline has be made to the rules and entry information.

RKS Challenge 009: Time Attack

And here comes the triumphant return of the RKS Challenge series! I'll try my best to make this bi-weekly, so it'll give us something to do. That said, let's get on with the show.

This one is a Freudenstachel Web Trial Demo challenge, so load that one up, and make sure it's updated to v0.04a or whatever the latest one is. Your objective is to beat the prologue stage and Sichte's stage under specified conditions within a certain time range.

Prologue Stage Conditions:
- You may only slide when it is necessary to progress in the stage.
- Any damage taken will add five (5) seconds to your overall time.
- Every time Eifer uses her vine attack, three (3) seconds will be added to your overall time.

Sichte Stage Conditions:
- You may not fire any weapons during the course of the stage.
- When fighting Sichte, only one shot at a time may be fired (no holding the shot button).
- Any damage taken during the stage will add two (2) seconds to your overall time.
- Any damage taken during the boss fight will subtract seven (7) seconds from your overall time.

The goal is to get as close to eight minutes (8:00) as possible without going over.

To submit your replays, please e-mail them to us at grollschwert [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "RKS009: Time Attack". You may only submit one replay, and all replays must be received by one week from today. Good luck!

Kampfer is the worst show.

I got a kick out of this.

Total Rosenkreuzstilette [erka:es] THE BEST Sales: 14

Why?

Freudenstachel Secrets

As ViperAcidZX pointed out in the last post's comments section, the password system has not been updated for Freudenstachel's demo, so old passwords will still work.

Discoveries:
- Dolis Warmind provides a new weapon that probably acts similarly to Remilia Scarlet's weapon for Alice, Bloody Curse, in MegaMari: Marisa no Yabou. It is an aerial projectile attack, but its flight path is currently unknown. Because it has no sprite, the attack is currently invisible.
- Dolis's weapon has no effect on any of the bosses.
- Use of any blank weapon will deplete all weapon energy from every weapon you have except for Freudenstachel and Weissteufel.
- Freudenzwinger completely devastates the Astaroth mid-boss in Grolla's stage.
- So far, there is no evidence of a substitute for Eins or Zwei.
- The image portraits for the blank weapons are slightly different from the ones with names. Most notably is that Freudia's image is improved from the blank prototypes.
- Story Mode passwords still work, and it even labels replays accordingly, but there's no dialogue to be had.
- Entering the Iris Palace password will still take you there, though everything will be blank. However, you will still hear the Iris Capsule, and if you wait, you will enter an empty Golden Palace stage.

If we find anything else, you'll hear it here first.

Freudenstachel Replay Time Glitch

I was messing around with the Freudenstachel demo today, and I found something rather interesting. Check out this replay to see what I mean. (Note: Watch the timer.) This is probably doable in the original as well, but I'm using a Freudenstachel replay, so hey. PS - You'll need 0.04a, which I'm sure most everyone has.

Contest Update

According to a response made on 2ch, it would appear that the Japanese RKS community is also working on entries to AmethystViper's Schwer and Schwer Alike RKS Fanart Contest. That's exciting to know, and that means we'll be getting even more art entries. Let's keep this up, and make RKS popularity grow! Thank you to everyone participating!

Schwer and Schwer Alike's RKS Fanart contest

I, ViperAcidZX, will be holding a fanart contest across deviantArt and Schwer & Schwer Alike to help spread the awareness of Rosenkreuzstilette. There will be two categories to chose from: Talent and Humor.

The Talent category of the contest will a test of your artistic talents. You will draw any character/s of your choice from the Rosenkreuzstilette series and make the best use of your artistic mediums to make these character come to life. Here's an example of Talent: [link]

The Humor category of the contest is not as serious as the Talent category, since in this category you will try and put these characters into some sort of comical situation, but try to make your art decent at best. Here's an example of Humor: [link]

Should there be any entries that has not made it into either Talent nor Humor, an Honorable Mention will be held for these who came the closest in either categories.

Now for the rules of the contest, so pay attention! Ahem!

~Contest Rules~
- Rosenkreuzstilette characters ONLY! Below is the list of eligible characters of your choice. There is quite a handful of characters to chose from, so pick one, or two, or any number of characters of your choosing and get to making art!

- NO Yuri nor Yaoi. This includes Shojo-Ai, Shonen-Ai, GL, and BL. No I'm against homosexually. But I don't to end up offending anyone for any Spiritia-and-Freudia action that might come up.

- NO tracing, baseart, or the like is allowed! Please don't be a dork and trace on someone else's work or use a "baseart" to make your submission. That also goes for art thieves, too who try to steal people's work and claim it was their own.

- Keep the submission PG-13 or lower. If anyone sends a submission containing terrible use of language, graphic violence, or nudity WILL be disqualified from the contest!

- One entry per category only. You can take part of the Talent AND Humor categories of the contest, but you can not send no more than one entry for each category. Everyone deserves a chance to to win, you know.

As long as you abide by these rules, go nuts! Once you posted your submission on deviantArt for the contest, sent a link to it at my deviantArt via Note with the subject: "RKS Fanart Contest Submission - [category]".
- http://amethystviper.deviantart.com/

You can also sent them to me at either my Gmail (viperacidzx AT gmail DOT com) or Yahoo accounts (viperacid72 AT yahoo DOT com).

Now the contest will have three judges, Letty Whiterock, Superjustinbros. and myself. We will pick our own choice on who wins on Talent and Humor, as well as Honorable Mention, if any. So there's sixr possible winners and three worthy mentions. The new deadline is December 19th, 2009, which is on a Saturday.

UPDATE: There is no prize in stake. I'm sorry if you're only in this for a prize, but there isn't. I'm broke and I don't have credit card, so I'm doing this like MasakoX's and Vegeta3986's Naruto: The Abridged Series fanart contest.

UPDATE 2: Superjustinbros. has been appointed judge within my authority..

That all is and I hope many will participate.

~Eligible Characters~
Spritia Rosenberg by WOMI
Freudia Neuwahl by WOMI
Zorne Zeppelin by WOMI
Trauare Wrede by WOMI
Luste Teuber by WOMI
Grolla Seyfarth by WOMI
Sichte Meister by WOMI
Liebea Palesch by WOMI
Schwer-Muta Casasola Merkle by WOMI
Lilli by WOMI
Zeppy by WOMI
Talos by WOMI
Raimund Seyfarth by WOMI
Count Michael Zeppelin by WOMI
Iris Zeppelin by WOMI

Dolis Warmind by ひっさつくん
Strudel by Shizuku
Pamela Arwing by alphes
Eifer Skute by zaku6
Schirach Fühler by ダディ
Lecht & Rink Refraktia by REDMOON

Anger Spikes and Wiki Nonsense

Alright, I haven't been checking the RKS Wiki change logs as much as I used to, but I really feel like I shouldn't have to. I figured that the many of you who follow RKS and are part of the RKS fandom know better than to fill in baseless, stupid information into some of the various articles. Some are a little better than others, but the entire point was to prevent misinformation and not be fucking retarded about it all.

First of all, I have to ONCE AGAIN call you out, SuperJustinBros. I really don't want to have to waste my time dealing with your crap, but once again, I don't have much of a choice. Your Super Justin Wiki (or whatever the hell it is) advertises [erka:es]'s characters as part of your "Super Justin franchise." I'm completely sick of you claiming these characters to be yours in any way, and I'm tired of you stealing everyone else's shit to make it your own. I actually addressed this very thing with you when I discovered that you wanted to use Axelle Blitzdonner, her likeness, and anything associated with her. Rather than respecting me, you basically told me to fuck off by claiming that Axelle's supposed brother Wrenchi, which is pretty stupid as it is, was, and I quote, "'planted deep' into the series, so taking him out would be like blowing the circuits to a house." You took a character of my design and creation and decided that she was yours to work with, so you gave her a brother with a dumb name and an even dumber design. You didn't approach me about this. You just took it upon yourself to make it happen. And I'm not alone here. You've taken every single one of [erka:es]'s characters and made them your own by giving them "siblings" and then planting them into your "franchise." According to your Wiki, Iris Sepperin's first appearance is on a game called "Super Justin PC." No, she is not. I don't care if that's the case within your own little world where Rosenkreuzstilette and its creators don't exist and you're some arrogant prodigy with the creativity and skills to invent these characters and games, but in the real world, you're an uncreative abortion of an artist with absolutely no respect for those who do have the creative minds to come up with such things and have put forth the time and effort to make something out of their ideas. Instead, you are helping spread misinformation about the Rosenkreuzstilette series, and I am not going to tolerate that.

Case in point, in this art request post by AlchemyOtaku17, you did absolutely NOTHING to let this person know what the hell Rosenkreuzstilette actually is, leaving him to claim to his various art viewers that Rosenkreuzstilette is "some lolicon game." I had to come in and basically pick up your slack, something I shouldn't have to do, so it doesn't make the series look like some pedophilia hentai game to the people who have never seen or heard of it. I shouldn't be having these problems. These shouldn't be problems at all. However, they are, and it's all thanks in part to you. And I'm fucking tired of it.

I don't know who you think you are, but you, not your art, are an affront to the entire artistic community. When the Japanese RKS community derails their own game discussion to laugh at your artistic nonsense, that's one thing. When Kiora actually e-mailed me, asking for my help to get you to start improving and stop flooding pixiv with your incredibly terrible pictures because he, as an actual artist, could see that you have absolutely no intention of improving on a level that actually matters, that's another. You're also pretty lucky that most of the Japanese can't read English very well, because I can only imagine what would come of them finding out that you're essentially stealing [erka:es]'s intellectual property for your own amusement. How do you think [erka:es] themselves would feel about you doing this? I whole-heartedly suggest that you take a step out of your little Super Justin box and realize that the world does not revolve around you and that it's about time you start taking real artistic criticism to heart. Get the hell away from DeviantArt for a while, because those people are not going to help you. They will claim your art is great, no matter what you do, and it will simply spiral into a circlejerk of idiocy, and in the end, you insult actual artists who are original, do care about the overall quality of their work, and actually put forth the effort to make it acceptable. Bad art exists, of this there is no doubt, but you continue to think that your art is somehow excusable and that harsh criticism does not apply to you just because you go "yeah, it's bad, but whatever." Make an effort to do something with yourself and start taking your art seriously on all levels. Don't just work to improve the quality of the aesthetics. Work to improve your creativity, and make something that is actually your own. Do anything else, because as it stands, you're doing absolutely nothing for the RKS community, and if you have no intention of bettering yourself for your own sake and making it so the rest of us aren't embarrassed to be associated with you, then we don't fucking want you.

Now, on to the wiki nonsense. Justin, this goes for you too. I'm not sure who all is doing it, but people are uploading information to the wiki that is either wrong or just plain stupid. Things like claiming that Iris Sepperin is a former member of RKS are on the minor side of things. (She was not ever a member of RKS, because Count Sepperin made it a point to hide her powers from everyone, including the other members of the Order. She was never a member herself.) That's not a big deal. Claiming that certain characters may be references to other anime characters because they share similar archetypes is pretty bad. Just because Luste likes tomato juice doesn't mean that she's like any other character in the entire anime realm that like tomato juice (this is just an example), so please, unless something is a VERY clear reference, don't assume. But when things like "Schirach slightly resembles a bat" comes up, I have to speak and tell the lot of you to stop putting utterly nonsensical, completely baseless, entirely moronic claims and information in the Wiki. There is absolutely no reason for it, and as the only reference guide for "accurate" RKS information in English, there is absolutely no place for it. Please don't do this anymore, and if any of you see it, please do something to handle it or report it to me. I have been very impressed with some of the things within the Wiki, and I ask that you guys keep it up, because it's awesome. However, things like that simply don't belong, so I ask you all to not do it. Thanks a million.

Well, that's enough of that.

Terrible Art Revue Part Deux

I spent most of last night looking up pictures for some of my other fandoms. Some of them were undeniably awesome. Some were unspeakably terrifying. And some were... Violinist of Hameln, I guess? But by and large, most of the art was pretty good!

Until, that is, I decided to search for RosenkreuzStilette. Now, don't get me wrong. I love the fans. You guys are pretty cool, on the whole. But there is some not good artwork out there. Letty has, of course, already pointed this out, but I would be remiss if I didn't do a little commenting of my own. Let's go on with part two of the bad fanart roundup, shall we? Now 50% shorter and with 60% more Freudia.



Disregarding the fact that I would have been perfectly content not knowing such a thing as the Furry Doll Maker even existed, this image is just plain unflattering. Freudia has the skin of a Simpson, the eyes of Sonic, and the hands of a Disney character. And for some reason, she's incredibly sassy about the whole thing. Now, I realize this is the fault of the Furry Doll Maker and not JigglyPuffGirl, but that doesn't make the sight any less frightening. I feel like lightning should strike and horses should whinny uncontrollably every time I type "Furry Doll Maker".



This is supposedly a picture of Schirach Fühler. I tried standing like this once. I dislocated my hips and had to go into the ER. And then I noticed that there was in fact a seam in the picture itself. As though part of it came out undesirable, so Black Shaddow Walker just decided "eh, nobody'll notice" and cut it. Perhaps the stock picture of bricks didn't line up correctly under that ridiculous blur filter. I like the Carmen Sandiego coat, though. It really sheds some light on the true motivation of the Black Cross Organization: They just want to sing a cappella with the RosenkreuzStilette. It's admirable, really. Unfortunately, there's just not much room in all-male groups for female voices. Still, I say do it, Rockapella!



I'm sorry, Justin. I promised myself I wouldn't pick on you, but I couldn't let this one go without comment. (If you don't have a deviantART account, here's a direct link to the picture, since I don't believe you'll be able to see it otherwise.) In this picture, either the laws of gravity don't exist, or Zorne and Trau have been using an awful lot of hair spray. You can do so much with the way hair hangs! Zorne's would likely be lying flat, and Trau's could be dangling in front of Zorne's face in some sort of enticing manner. It's funny that only a few minor modifications would make this picture so much better to me. It still wouldn't be great, but it would be better than it is now. Keep it in mind the next time you give this a shot. I'm glad you've stopped running the Emboss filter over all your pictures, at least.



Oh my god what is this I can't even. Every time I think I've seen everything wrong with it, I notice something else and I just laugh even harder. Unless you work in a boob factory, this is bordering on not safe for work. I really hope this was intentional on the part of the artist, but I sincerely doubt it.



Since I like leaving things on a good note, have this. It's the best piece of RKS fanart I've ever seen, and in fact one of the most beautiful fanarts I've seen in general. Admittedly her chest looks a bit odd, but do you fault the tiger for his stripes? No, because the tiger wouldn't be able to understand you and he would end up eating your face off. So what I'm saying is that Freudia's boobs are tigers. I think. The point is that you should give the artist some props.

There it is: Part two of the terrible art revue. Significantly shorter than the last one, I realize, but Letty's the one who knows where to find all the bad stuff. If you happen to find your art here and you were genuinely offended by the things I had to say, I apologize! But maybe next time, consider drawing better.

A Quiet Frontier

Nothing new in the world of RKS that I can see. There's some new art showing up on pixiv and DeviantArt, I guess. The pixiv art is pretty good; most of the DeviantArt stuff just makes me angry. I really don't want to start ranting about it, so I won't, but for the love of all that is holy, stop doing this. I barely see art on DA from people who are actually fans of the game. 90% of it consists of SuperJustin art trades, and it's really irritating, especially when the characters are portrayed so inaccurately. (While I have to say that there's something quite endearing about that Schwer, THAT'S NOT SCHWER.) It's genuinely rage-inducing.

So I'll be in Atlanta this weekend for Anime Weekend Atlanta half-advertising This Is Not An Anime Podcast!, so if any of the Schwer readers happen to be going as well, we can meet up and yell at people for not cosplaying as RKS characters, unless there is an RKS cosplayer, to which I will hug them, male or female.

That's pretty much it thus far. Unless something big happens prior to Freudenstachel's release, it's pretty much up to you guys to provide content. And I'm open for anything.

Rosenkreuzstilette Chinese Language Patch is done!

I received word from leozx telling me that the Chinese language patch is complete. They weren't able to get a website up, but more information is available here. I guess you could head over that way and show your support!

RKS Freudenstachel Demo Patch

Apparently, there's a patch update thing for the demo. It probably fixes the bugs and what-not, so go check it out.

More New Information

"My money's on UNBEKANNT having a seperate number. That'd be hilarious."

Not so much, Dragnfly. Not so much.

New Information

Here's a neat little tidbit of information.



Unlike we assumed in the wiki, Dolis is actually RKS013, not RKS010. This begs the question, "Who are RKS010-012?" We know that Schirach used to be a member of RKS, but that still leaves Pamela, Eifer, and the Refraktia twins, who are not listed as being members of the organization. Are these characters going to be assigned numbers, or are there MORE members of The Order of the Rose Cross that we don't know about? Interesting, to say the least!

Reviewer (and Writers!) Wanted

If anyone's up for it, could someone write up a review of the Web Trial of RKS Freudenstachel? Thanks.

Actually, I wouldn't mind having another writer for the RKS blog. Any takers?

RKS Freudenstachel Demo is up!

GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.
GO GET IT. GO GET IT RIGHT NOW.

Edit 2: Alternate download link since the main site is overloaded.

zaku6's Doujinshi Now Available at Melonbooks

You're probably tired of hearing about it, but since this thing still continues to allude us, I'm posting about it anyway. It's RKS news, after all, and it's not like there's anything else to talk about until the 31st. Anyways, Melonbooks is now selling Fukurou no Youni Himawari. I don't think these guys do international shipping either, but I think there are courier services that work with them, so... uhh... Yeah. Just throwing this out there.

zaku6's Doujinshi Now Available at Comic Toranoana

I'm not sure when this went up, but zaku6's RKS H-doujinshi is available for purchase on Toranoana's website. Unfortunately for most of you and definitely me, the store does no do international shipping, and I don't know of any couriers I can get it through. In addition, the doujinshi is completely absent from the internet with a single fake posted on Winny, so this is literally nigh impossible for me to get a hold of. If any of you Schwer readers happen to know of a service that we can get this through, please let us know. Thanks a bunch!

Edit: Oh yeah, two of the preview pictures are Tia x Freu and a random picture of Trauare. Remember, the link is NWS.

More Let's Play from ReisenMell

ReisenMell is at it again with even more storyline bastardizations!



The amount of work that goes into these videos is impressive, really. I have to hand it to her. So yeah, check it out if you feel like it!

Freudenstachel C76 Demo Gameplay

To any and all curious, here's a video of the C76 demo in action. Thanks to the Anonymous commenter in the last entry for bring this to my attention. There's another video up there, but this one appears to be by Daddy, the one who brought the C76 demo bugs to [erka:es]'s attention, so I'm willing to trust this one over any other.

I really like Freu's new voice.

Edit: HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO COOL OH MY GOD I AM SO EXCITED [/fanboy]

Freudenstachel C76 Demo Patch

For those of you who happen to have the C76 demo for whatever reason, a patch has been made available on the RKS Freudenstachel Download Page. It fixes the various bugs that were found by a few of the testers. Only a matter of time before the downloadable trial is released!

Note: Please keep in mind that this only affects the C76 demo, not the C75 demo.

Let's Play RKS with Johnny Truant

Schwer reader Johnny Truant, the guy who brought you sexy Grolla and sexy Freudia, has provided KreuzChannel with his first Let's Play video. Check it out, and then head on over and give him some feedback. I assure you. It's hilarious.

Post-C76 [erka:es] Update

[erka:es]'s latest diary entry puts the release of the Web Trial edition of Freudenstachel at 8/31, which is about two weeks away, and just as it was with the C75 Trial, there are already a few bug reports. The opening stage is finally playable, but replays for it don't work. Also, part of the picture for the continue screen is missing. Not sure how that happens, but [erka:es] plans to have these and any other bugs fixed in a patch they will release before the downloadable trial comes out. We shall see what happens!

Chinese RKS Translation

Interesting news has come my way. There are a group of people in China who are big fans of the RKS series as well, and they're working on translating the game into Chinese. I was actually contacted through KreuzChannel by the same person who uploaded the Chinese fanart to pixiv. Unfortunately, due to political issues involving China, leozx and his fellow RKS fans cannot access Schwer and Schwer Alike or parts of YouTube, so on their behalf, I'm going to share the two example screengrabs they sent me.





In the first screenshot, Grolla is telling Spiritia "It's clear that our battle is over, even though you cheated and used a Cross Tank." They seem really excited about the project, because, like us, we want to expose the glory that is RKS to more people by making it accessible in their native language. As we spread the story through our English patch, they wish to do the same their Chinese patch. When the project is done, they will be making a website showcasing it. Of course, it'll be downloadable there, I assume.

I will inform you all of any developments as I receive them. I'm really happy for these guys, and I hope that they are able to increase the fanbase on their end as well. We'll keep you posted.

Freudenstachel Demo Upon Us!?

As pointed out in the previous comments, there's a new diary entry at the [erka:es] website. Mostly Comiket stuff, it seems, as they're selling some copies of RKS and giving away Freudenstachel demos. It would appear that, according to WOMI and the screenshot provided in the entry, they've remade some of the stages, and hopefully after Comiket, the demo will be available for download. Best news I've heard all year! So with patience shall come awesome. Someone should send us a review of the new demo when it gets released. It'll give me material.

zaku6 and Other Art Stuff

I received an e-mail response from zaku6, and we have been given permission to provide an English translation of his upcoming H-doujinshi as long as we do not provide the doujinshi in its entirety, so in accordance with a request made by zaku6 himself, the final plan is that Schwer and Schwer Alike will be providing high-quality versions of the pages with text on them, and that is it. Do not expect or ask for high-quality raws of the entire thing, because you won't get them from here, and as with Rosenkreuzstilette itself, do not discuss methods of getting it for free. I've been informed that a digital version of the H-doujinshi will be available for purchase at Tora no Ana some time after Comiket, and I will provide a link and purchase tutorial when that comes around. Also, there's a link to zaku6's website over on the right. It definitely falls under NWS territory, so be forewarned.

Justin is still ruining pixiv with his pictures (I refuse to call it art), but in spite of that, a few neat things have come up, including this really pretty picture of Spiritia, Freudia, and Lilli that appears to be done by a Chinese artist. There's also a Super Robot Wars Z parody picture of Zorne if you're interested.

Casting Call for Spiritia

I have started a thread for an open audition casting call for Spiritia. Just throwing it out there. I've actually gotten a submission for this part, and I have to say that the girl in question did a pretty good job. I hope I get more talent like her. ASK YOUR FRIENDS OR SOMETHING.

RKS Dub Project

I wanted to post about this when I got a little further with it, but this is probably the best way to get there. That's right. I want to dub Rosenkreuzstilette.

I have posted an interest check thread over at the Voice Acting Alliance Forums to see if I find suitable voice artists for the game. I am also turning to you, Schwer readers. If you or anyone you know would like to be involved in this project and are actually willing to put forth semi-professional effort into it, I ask you to sign up for the VAA forums and post in my interest check thread. I have faith that this could turn out wonderfully, and it's the one last step to make before RKS gets a total English version.

Actually, there is one other thing. Now that things have died down a bit, Darkside and Zeppy will be going back over the RKS and RKSG scripts, because I think we can do better. I would like to release a final v2 translation patch that we can all be happy with. In fact, if you would like, play through our English patch and tell us what we did wrong. We will potentially take your feedback to heart and use it to better the final script.

Oh, and here's a little work-in-progress:

Let's Play RKS with RabiEnRoll

Devout Megaman fanboy RabiEnRoll/Kilgamayan, the guy who previously posted a one-life clear video series of Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert, is now doing a No Cross Tank Buster Duel Let's Play of the Rosenkreuzstilette with Spiritia.



There's the first video. I'm sure you can figure out how to watch the rest.

Tearis Preview - Page 8

On Kiora's blog, there is a preview image for the next page of Tearis. Go check it out.

Rockin' Android is trying to get Rosenkreuzstilette.

According to articles at GamaSutra and Siliconera, the doujin game localization company Rockin' Android announced that they are going to attempt to get the license for Rosenkreuzstilette and release it. Rockin' Android has something of a negative reputation among doujin game TL groups, as many of them claim that they are making profit off of work that is not theirs. With Rosenkreuzstilette, there is nothing to do, as the game is available for us to purchase already, and a TL patch, complete with some graphic changes, all for the better, has been provided by Darkside and Zeppy. I have sent Rockin' Androids an e-mail in an attempt to confirm their plans for Rosenkreuzstilette's release, and if it is indeed something they wish to pursue, then we will work from there. We shall see what happens.

To Whom It May Concern

I will only say this once: I will not be providing a raw of the zaku6's H-doujinshi here on Schwer and Schwer Alike. Do not ask me for it. Do not even think about bringing it up. I will also provide absolutely nothing that comes from or with any version of the Rosenkreuzstilette game, including the game itself. If you want the doujinshi, I will provide a link to a service that will allow you to purchase it once it becomes available after Comiket 76. If you want the game or anything that comes with it, there is a nice little link to your right where you can buy it. Thank you for your time.

zaku6 H-Doujinshi Cover

It's the 100th post! And what better way to celebrate 100 posts on the Schwer blog than with pornography! Recently on 2ch, the cover of zaku6's upcoming doujin, to be released at C76, was unveiled. It is entitled "Fukurou no Youni - Himawari". To be honest, I don't know what that means.

Click here for hot Freudia action or something. Not worksafe, of course.

Spiritia has the honor of acting as today's censor bar. Thanks, Tia!

RKS DeviantArt Showcase

It has come to my attention that a few people were not happy that I said RKS fanart on DeviantArt is mostly garbage, so I've decided to showcase various images from DA with honest criticisms about each work. I encourage you Schwer readers to also give your honest criticisms about the work as well. In fact, I am asking you to do so. So without further ado, here we go.

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We'll start things off with this image of Liebea by our good friend Superjustinbros. According to the post, this is a remastered version. That's right. This is the second, better version of a Liebea drawing. At least he's getting proportions down a bit better, even if they are still amateur to a fault. Definitely better than most webcomics though. Or something. Am I being too lenient with this one?

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Oh dear lord, where do I begin? Aside from the terrible body proportions and somewhat awkward coloring, HOW CAN ANYONE DRAW THAT FACE ON GROLLA AND GO "WELL, THAT'S PERFECT. I'M PROUD OF THIS ONE!"???!??!?!?!?! I had to fight laughter while making that thumbnail. Trumi did apologize for the flaws in the picture, which I guess is okay, but to refer to Grolla as "working for the church as an inquisitor?" Does this person know ANYTHING about Grolla? This is part of my problem with the English DA "fanbase" for RKS. These people aren't fans. Most of the stuff I found was done via art trades for Justin. It's irritating.

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"I never played RKS before, but i watched a lot of videos of it on Youtube and there's even some RKS sprite sheets at the Spriter's Resource, too!" I have to hand it to Jigglypuffgirl, though. It takes a special kind of talent to turn Zorne into a Jigglypuff... thing. I really don't want to be a jerk about these things, but I can't figure out how artists can see work like this and think it's suitable. Her face is a ball, and her left forearm is the length of your average spear. At least the outfit is accurate. I think.

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Here's some meme brought to us by YukoHanna. To be completely honest, I think the little doodles on the side of the image are pretty cute and have great potential for some things. The image meme itself is a bit sloppy, but I'll grant that, as I think everything else is kinda adorable. Unfortunately, her only other gambit into RKS territory was a mediocre picture of Trauare, but we'll see where it goes in the future.

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Excellent contribution, KentakunAI! This is the best RKS fanart I've seen yet. It's so accurate to the source material that it actually looks like a screencap of the game! Super impressive! Why do people think that this is suitable for an art gallery? Just use Imageshack and make a journal post or something. Post in a forum. Whatever. Don't do this.

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I like this. I really like this. Schwer reader AmethystViper's little comic makes me laugh when I see it, and I want more of them. I think what really gets me is Freu's last line, because I hear it in my head in a very non-Freu way, and it just makes me giggle. The art style of amateurish, but it conveys the joke and "emotion" of the comic just fine. He has a few other pieces of RKS art, a few "chibi" characters, that are pretty alright.

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Check it out! BubblePlash provided us with an image of Richard Refraktia's sisters. Richard Refraktia? Really? This is why we hate you, Justin. Your original characters are enough to me want to stab myself, but that's neither here nor there. The art itself is pretty mediocre, as Lecht is apparently missing both eyes. Maybe Rink took them to make hers look enormous. I don't know! Sucks for Lecht, since she loves books so much.

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I was about to give TheGloriesBigJ one thing: this image is from August of last year. I figured that maybe his art had improved some over the past year, and frankly, it has in some ways. However, looking at his latest image, a Kingdom Hearts-style Flandre Scarlet, I have to say that he hasn't improved by much. The image of Grolla and Zero is very odd, as it looks like both Grolla's head and torso have been run over from the side. It also portrays Grolla as a bit... frail, which is quite the opposite of what she should be. I kinda like that Grollschwert has jagged sawblade teeth on it now, though.

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This picture is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. It's also supposed to be Trauare. DeviantArtist steohen2 has absolutely no idea what Trauare looks like. Justin draws more accurate Trauare pictures. This is not excusable. I'm not going to bother critiquing the NWS parts of the image, but I assure you that there are a few glaring problems. If you don't mind NWS stuff, I encourage you to check out his Sichte picture. I can't even begin to describe it with words. The guy sometimes does release some decent line art, so I can't fault him for everything, but there is plenty I can fault him for, and this "Trauare" imposter thing is definitely one of them.

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But you know, all hope is not lost, since there are artists out there like Akira-Hikari. Given, his art isn't perfect, and some of their breasts put WOMI's girls to shame, but this is by far the best image of Grolla on DeviantArt. He's got a few others as well worth looking at, but that's really it. I do like his style for some of the pictures he does, but a few of them seem somewhat off in a way. I can't put my finger on why. Still, this Grolla owns.

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And there you have it. That's RKS fanart on DeviantArt in a nutshell. Do you still think I was a bit out of line in my initial comment? Please tell me exactly what you think. Oh, and here's some bonus art from Johnny Truant.

RKS Video Showcase

I've been working on a few things, mostly revolving around the music mod, so here's a few videos for you.

Put The Best To The Test

Finally, we're ready to go, so now I can do an official advertisement of this. The "no-CD version" of the English patch, officially called "The Best Version," as it is designed to work specifically with RKS THE BEST, is finally complete. Now that we have that settled, I urge all of you, if you haven't already, to head over to the English DLSite page for RKS and buy yourself a copy of Rosenkreuzstilette [erka:es] THE BEST. I've added a button over on the side in the External Links section for your convenience. Once you've got yourself a copy and sent all of your money to [erka:es] (ALL OF YOUR MONEY), head to the right sidebar again and pick up the English THE BEST patch and start your wonderful RKS crusade. Included in THE BEST is a neat little addition in the form of a high-res image of the DVD case cover, so in essence, you can actually print out an authentic cover for the game and have your very own physical copy! How neat is that? What are you waiting for!? Get to it!

Special thanks to [erka:es] for this great game, TDOMMX for the installers, and for all of you Schwer readers, because especially without you, there'd be no RKS fanbase, and we probably wouldn't be here today.

Rosenkreuzstilette Art Showcase

Alright, since I'm a bit overdue on updates, as there is literally nothing to talk about until the no-CD patch gets made, I've decided to do something of an art showcase. DeviantArt is chock full of literal crap in terms of quality RKS images, so until someone amazing shows up and starts pumping good pictures into that place, I'd steer clear of it. Instead, we go over to pixiv, where the quality to crap ratio is a lot higher. Here are some of the spotlights in no particular order. Click the images to go to their respective profiles. IMPORTANT: All of these profiles are to be considered NWS, regardless of the content within them.

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Now, I've made it pretty clear in the past that I do not like the stuff that Superjustinbros draws, and I think some of you have been a lot more vocal about it than I have. Well, I have to admit that this particular image of Freudia is one that I actually like, and it's a sign that, hopefully, he's taking some recently-given advice to heart. Be warned, though, that when you click that profile, you'll get what you're expecting to get.

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This Luste was brought to you by SHUNTA-ROWE, who has a fairly cute collection of pictures. He seems to concentrate a lot on mecha musume-type characters, so you'll be seeing some girls with robotic features in his archive. You'll also get to see Immaterial and Missing Power sprite edits of Marisa and Alice in one-piece swimsuits. Just throwing that out there.

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Here's a really nice picture of Spiritia by Ippanjin The Bloodedge. I really like this style, and if you check out his profile, you'll be greeted with a lot more, including similar images of Freudia and Grolla. If that wasn't enough, he has a nice variety of images that are sure to satiate the Touhou fans out there. Surprisingly, however, there is almost no Blazblue art. There happens to be one seemingly no-effort Arakune, but that's it. I expected a bit more, but you can't always get what you want!

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While the Caramelldansen trend sometimes irritates me, especially since the history behind the .gif and the original flash videos have been pretty much ignored, I do have a soft spot in my art for these cute Popotan knock-offs. Zipang's Schwer image is no exception. He was even kind enough to toss an animated version on his website. There sure are a lot of links in this description! Just be sure to click them.

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Of course, no Schwer and Schwer Alike showcase is complete with something from our artist affiliate, Kiora. This image happens to be one of my favorites of his, a picture of Iris that depicts her exactly as she appears to be: an innocent and cute girl who would never hurt a fly. Oh, how wrong we are. As usual, a link to Kiora's blog, which is updated fairly regularly with new art, can be found on the right sidebar.

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I'm not sure what exactly is up with Hissatsu-kun's obsession with people slurping ramen, but it's a common theme in some of the Dolis Warmind creator's artwork. It's strange, but his art is pretty good, so I can't complain. Plus, there's a huge image gallery, so there's bound to be something in there you like. Although, I'm not a big fan of his Noel Vermillion...

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Glacies appears to be a big RKS fan with nearly a third of his uploads being RKS-related. I do, however, love his ability to sprite-edit, something I've always wanted to do. Check out his collection if only for the Megaman-related images (such as RockUdonge X) and his RKS sprite stuff. It's stellar.

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I love Masakichi's style. That's all that I can say. It's so comic-y and just super adorable, for the most part. You have to see the rest of his collection for yourself. That's all I really have to say about it.

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And last but not least, SaSA blog reader Johnny Truant, the artist that brought us Sexy Grolla, has provided us once again with something great. Click the thumbnail to be treated to Sexy Freudia. Thanks a bunch for that one, and I hope you, and others, contribute more in the future!

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And that's it then! Hope you enjoyed it.

Chaos, The Mass Confusion

My absence can only be explained by some engagements outside of the internet. I haven't even been at my computer much, so I haven't been around to make an update. Regardless, I'm here now, so it's time for an update.

The initial English release for Rosenkreuzstilette is done and can be found here on the Darkside Translations site. Despite my own earlier judgment, I'm going to go ahead and say something about it. Before, it was stated that the script work was going to be split between TDOMMX and myself, with him handling the Spiritia script and me, the intense Grolla fanboy I am, handling the Grolla script. Well, that didn't happen. I wrote a script, but much of it was pretty much rejected by TDOMMX. Not so much flat-out thrown away, but in the end, so many changes were made that it didn't feel like my script anymore. There were a lot of creative differences and various disagreements, and finally, I could not take it anymore and just threw my hands up. My text had to fit his predetermined characterization and meet his editorial criteria, and it became so much of a big deal that doing this project for a game that I enjoy as much as I do went from something fun and exciting to something frustrating and headache-inducing. I couldn't enjoy it anymore. It's unfortunate, but what's done is done, I guess. While the script that I did write was referenced and used in bits and pieces, what you see is not really my work anymore and, as such, not really what I wanted. Hopefully you all will like this far more than I do. I apologize for my ranting.

[erka:es] released the digital-distribution version of RKS far sooner than I thought they would, and it is available through both Melonbooks and DLSite. However, I knew about this a few days ago and was hesitating to post anything about it for a reason. There have been a few changes that were made to the game during the course of the English translation, and I want to bring all of that to Isemiya's attention to see if he will decide to implement some of those changes or not. Regardless of the answer, as soon as I get word, I will provide a full tutorial on how to get the game through the download sites. If you don't really care and simply want to purchase the game as soon as possible, check out the [erka:es] diary page and use the links they provided.

Anyway, we look forward to working on Freudenstachel in the future, so if you like RKS enough now that (some of) you can play it in English, stick around. That's all for now.

GamingFringe Article on RKS

Grolla really should check her e-mail more often.



Schwer reader and writer for the website GamingFringe, Iam Canadian, wrote up an interesting article for Rosenkreuzstilette. It's a quite nice review that covers all of the basics and goes over the various characters in the game. I encourage everyone to check it out, if not for the article then for the stellar artwork previewed above.

English Patch Release Plans

With the recent developments as they are, TDOMMX and I have talked, and we have come to a final conclusion that you all will like.

The release schedule will continue as planned with the English patch installer (CD required) being released on the 15th, give or take depending on play-testing issues. Two weeks later (I assume around August 1st or so), we will be releasing a no-CD version of the installer. If you have the disc, grats. You get to play the patch "early" or something. If you do not, you just have to wait a short while, and you can join in the fun as well. We will finally be releasing a third English patch that will work with the inevitable final release of the game that [erka:es] makes.

Hopefully this makes everyone happy. It makes me happy.

Last Chance

[erka:es] will be at Summer Comiket, and they will have a few copies of both the original game and the Freudenstachel demo. The original game copies may be the last copies that we will ever see, though they may end up in a store or two afterward. If you want a copy and know someone going to Summer Comiket, you might want to pass on the info that they will be there on that Saturday in the eastern wing, "R" Block 32a. I have a friend going, and he may be able to pick up a copy for someone, but I can't guarantee anything due to lines and what-not. Just throwing it out there.

[erka:es] Response to Game Availability

[erka:es] has made a diary update on their website, featuring a brand new (and incredible) picture of the Refraktia twins. I think this is one of WOMI's best works yet, so click that thumbnail down there and check it out. Also, Freudenstachel Web Trial! Just kidding. You knew better.



So I lied. With the help of Zeppy's resident TLer Tanin, I did actually contact [erka:es] about the current state of the English translation patch and the future availability of Rosenkreuzstilette, and Isemiya responded a lot sooner than I was expecting. Turns out they are very happy about the translation and admire the amount of work we've put into the thing, which is pretty awesome. Once it's released, we will be presenting it in its entirety for them. While I do not expect official implementation of it into the game in its current form, the fact that they are happy with what they have seen (I assume they've been exposed to either this blog or KreuzChannel) makes me very excited. I feel like the entire thing has been worth it.

As for availability, [erka:es] has no plans to reissue physical copies of the game any time soon. Part of me knew this was going to happen, so once again, I call the disc requirements into question, because at this point, you're not getting it and you probably never will. However, they are currently considering re-releasing the game through digital distribution by allowing people outside of Japan to purchase what amounts to a "Greatest Hits" version of Rosenkreuzstilette through a download site. While the collector in me is sad to see this, I know that, through this method, people will still be able to technically own a copy of RKS with the profits going straight to Isemiya and WOMI themselves, and honestly, with digital distro being the way of the future, I think this is a huge step for doujin games, and I genuinely hope that it is adopted by other circles. With the overwhelming support for the game that has been displayed, I hope that you all opt to purchase the game in this manner. They're still working on getting it all together, though, so there are no further details and no projected release date at this time. Because of this development, the English patch requirement of the game disc is going to be addressed with full discussions happening between Darkside and Zeppy, because I flat-out refuse to help release it if people can purchase the game legitimately and still have to find or create a disc to play it in English. This may cause the release date to be somewhat postponed, but I think it'll end up being better for everyone.

The issue of pirating the ISO copies of RKS was not directly mentioned in the e-mail response I received from them. I imagine that, because of the aforementioned digital distribution plan, while they showed no negative feelings towards the subject, they probably aren't in full support of it either. That said, I request that there be no further discussion on how or where to get a copy of the game here on Schwer and Schwer Alike. I am in full support of their digital distribution plans, and I would like nothing more than to see that come to fruition.

Because of the RKS Grollschwert C72 Trial video featured on Schwer and Schwer Alike, a number of RKS fans were exposed to the Famicom-style version of "SHINING MAN," the song that eventually became rearranged into Zorne's stage theme. Schirach's creator, Daddy/Dadi, addressed how good it was and was wondering if, because the site it was (possibly) originally from is currently nonexistent, it was actually the work of [erka:es] themselves. This was denied and quickly attributed to the artist "maru's house." However, I can't quite tell, but they may have had something to do with the final version used for Zorne's stage, so I'll have that addressed here as soon as possible.

I'll try and have a full TL of the e-mail sent to me as well as the [erka:es] news post as soon as possible (I'm currently on something of a road trip), so who knows when I'll be back. Stay tuned!

English Trial Revision

According to the Darkside Translations front page, the RKS English Trial has been issued a new release. It's significantly smaller than the initial release, which is a nice plus. The download links are available over on the right, so if you didn't get it the first time around, grab it now. Or something.

You Got Dramasbombe

I would like to get that ridiculous drama bomb out of the way and move on to more important issues. One thing I will mention is that I will eventually have something to reveal to the lot of you that may make some of you rather happy, depending on the response that I receive.

Anyways, there still isn't much in the way of RKS news, though I encourage you all to check out Kiora's blog (you can find it through his website), as he's been posting new RKS fanart there via his iPhone. I especially like his new Trau. Summer Comiket still seems like years away, so it feels like forever until we'll get zaku6's doujin. Even more forever is the actual release for Freudenstachel this winter, a game we haven't even gotten a working web trial for. I'm almost getting antsy thinking about it.

There hasn't been much to post on KreuzChannel, mostly because I haven't received anything to put up and haven't really found or done anything new that's remotely post-worthy. I imagine that once the English patch is released, we can put our efforts towards working on the Grolla mods I have in mind, which I will probably share with you all in a later post.

I will probably do another Schwer review soon as filler until something happens. I have just the game in mind, so if you like more Megaman clones, you can look forward to it. Meanwhile, the offer still stands that if you have something you want to showcase, I don't mind posting it. Freu knows I need some new material, because I really don't want this place to run dry.

Well, that's all for now! Stay tuned!

English Patch Answer

The powers that be have spoken, and no change has been made.

The English patch of Rosenkreuzstilette will require the game disc, physical or ISO.

This decision will most like not be changed at all, as it is the best possible method is terms of quote "practicality and ethics." This, in turn, means that you will be left to find the game image or disc on your own. For those of you who already have the game installed, you will inevitably have to uninstall the game and reinstall it from the disc using the English patch. Replays are transferable, so you'll probably want to grab those before you delete it.

For anyone who does not have access to the game disc for any reason, I'm sorry to say that you're pretty much left out. There's nothing I can do about this decision, so there's nothing more that I can say.

English Patch Question

I have a question for the Schwer readers. I need as much input and feedback as possible, so please, everyone comment.

I am having something of a disagreement with TDOMMX about the English patch, so I would like to have the opinions of the community who will actually be playing the game. The English Trial version required the game disc, either in ISO or physical form, to install the "Extended Preview", which allowed people to see the English scripts for the prologue and the 8 bosses. I found this to be a nice little goody, so it was all well and good. However, he also wants to make the disc a requirement for the final patch, and I don't really think that's a good idea.

TDOMMX's reason, as noted in the previous comments, are as follows:
You will however need an original RKS game disc to install the English version; our installer dummy-proofs the process, installs the necessary system files, the game itself, the Freudia Voice Enhancement, and our English localization. In effect, you get Version 1.05 since that's what our graphics edits are based on. Unfortunately, NSIS isn't nearly as intelligent as [erka:es]'s custom patcher, so the installer filesize will be a little larger than I would like (though it won't be quite as large as the English Trial - that contained two versions of the game instead of just one).

In spite of the fact that there's a tutorial on this very blog linked to on the right menu on how to install all of the necessary patches from a clean install, he still feels this necessary.

What is your opinion? Do you think having the physical disc/disc image should be a requirement for the English patch of the game?

English Patch Progress

I am happy to announce that Spiritia's Story Mode scripts and graphics are done, and Grolla's scripts will be ready for review and insertion very shortly. The hour of completion is nigh, and I, for one, am getting excited.

Nothing new to report on [erka:es]'s end, though. Kiora has some new pictures up on his blog if you're interested. That's about it. I'll report back when something interesting happens. If anyone wants to contribute anything, please do. I need something to post.

Comment Moderation

Due to unfortunate circumstances, I have activated comment moderation on Schwer and Schwer Alike. I can no longer tolerate certain actions occurring within the comments section of this blog. When things die down a bit, I will reassess the situation, but as of now, my patience has been worn very thin. I apologize for the inconvenience.

RKS Fanfic Script from 2ch

A short while ago, someone wrote up a small RKS fanfiction script on 2ch. It took us a bit of time, but we finally got around to translating it, so here it is. Enjoy!

I don't think it has a title, so...

Shameless Plug

Since this is my blog and I can do whatever I want with it (heh), I'm going to post a little side project of mine: "This Is Not An Anime Podcast!" Every week-ish, what winter left behind and the last hope for mankind will be presenting a podcast show about whatever the heck we feel like. Please take a listen, and we promise/hope/don't promise that you won't be disappointed!

Download Episode 01 here.

Thanks, and hopefully soon, I'll be back with something RKS-related.

Introducing KreuzChannel, RKS HQ's Official YT Channel

I'm sure some people were wondering why the video I had uploaded to YouTube were deleted, and the reason is this! I've been working on transferring the videos over to an "official" Schwer and Schwer Alike channel called KreuzChannel.

This channel will be the one-stop YT channel for pretty much any videos that get showcased on this channel from here on. One thing to note is that I have now included a glitch showcase video (see below), and I changed the Grollschwert C72 Trial to contain all-new footage and a new translation of the opening. Some videos, such as the hidden Freudenstachel stages, mod vids, etc. will remain on my personal YouTube channel, mostly because they're annotated, and I really don't feel like doing that again.

The channel serves another purpose, though. This channel is for you guys, the Schwer readers as well. We will be accepting contributions. If you have a replay or something like that you would like to showcase, I'll record it to video and toss it up on the channel with the proper credits. Future challenge submissions or time attacks also have a place there. My intention is to create what amounts to a bulletin board of various things from the RKS community, much like how this blog is something of our public forum, since setting up an actual forum to my liking, is cumbersome for me.

Well, I hope this turns out to be something great.



2ch has started their 7th RKS thread, but it looks like discussion is pretty much dead until either Summer Comiket rolls around or some major update happens, like the web trial, so we won't be hearing much from that end for a while. In the meantime, I'll do my best to give you guys something so you don't end up bored. If anyone wants to contribute anything like fanfiction or art or whatever (AND IT'S REASONABLY WELL DONE, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), it may give me something to put up in our downtime. We shall see.