Hooray for new content! According to WOMI’s latest devblog update, a new web trial is currently going through testing. No one’s quite sure when we’ll be seeing a release, because it appears that he finds a new bug every time he tests it. (The while loop he posted is pretty funny.) Whatever the case, it’s something to be excited about, and we get a “new” Freudia picture to go with it! SaSA will keep you posted on this release, and we’ll be sure to give it a full review when it’s released.
Don’t know how I missed this one! Two years ago, YouTube user Deatrathias discovered a glitch involving pick-up items and energy tanks. It seems that if you access the sub-menu while collecting a health/weapon energy pick-up item, the game registers item usage within the sub-menu, which results in the use of an energy tank. If you don’t have one, then the game gives you negative energy tanks. I was unable to recreate this glitch in RKS version 1.06a and the RKSF web trial, which leads me to believe that the bug was fixed by disabling menu access (or perhaps controls entirely) upon item pick-up. Still, I thought this was an interesting little thing. Perhaps there are still a few other distinct bugs in the game?
We’ve made some changes. We’re still getting a little used to things, but in the end, it should be alright. The current blog layout isn’t permanent, mind you, and I’m still making adjustments here and there, so if you guys have any suggestions or comments, feel free to voice them below! Now, time to address a few things~
Sidebar Links
I will be adding more links in the sidebar directory as time goes on, but I need to make custom bars for some of them. I fully intend to re-link zaku6’s site, as well as WOMI’s and other various RKS artists, but it’s very clear that they need specialized “not-safe-for-work” buttons. With that, if there are any site recommendations you have, feel free to let me know. Also, I took away the counter, because we really didn’t need that.
Social Network Updates
I’m pleased to announce that I took all of 20 seconds to make social networking accounts for the blog! That way, you don’t have to deal with a bunch of non-RKS drivel in following my main accounts (assuming you’re just there for the RKS stuff). That said, in addition to our Facebook group, you can now find us on Twitter and Google+, where we’ll be posting all of our major updates and some other random things. It’ll be great! In addition, the G+ page seems to be a pretty nice place for discussion amongst team members for things like the fandub and translation updates, so there’s that! I like it.
Site Writers
This is probably a mistake, but whatever. I want more activity here, so I’m thinking of doing a weekly art update. RKS art is still being made, so I figure this would be a good place to show it off. With that, I need a writer who I can specifically dedicate to that. I mean, pictures like the one on the right are pretty cool and deserve to be shown off. (Click it for the artist’s Pixiv.) I haven’t heard from Viper in a while, and there is one other person that comes to mind, so if anyone’s interested, post below, as per usual.
That’s pretty much it. I hope you like the new changes, and hopefully there will be many more that you’ll like in the future!
Greetings, all. If you’ve checked into Schwer and Schwer Alike and are noticing that everything looks different/like garbage, it’s because I’ve updated the Blogger software to the newer templates (finally). I’m screwing around with stuff, and I’ll need to probably make a new logo, as well as some new sidebar buttons. I promise this won’t be going on for very long, and in the end, we’ll all be better for it. In the meantime, while you’re waiting for this travesty of a website to fix itself, why not help yourself to some Darkseed 2?
For those of you who keep up with WOMI’s updates and/or read the comment sections here (I swear, I should just make you Anons writers for this blog), you may have noticed the changes made to the RKSF product page. These changes are showing that we’re one step closer to a release of the Freudenstachel. Are you excited? I’m excited. We probably won’t be seeing a Comiket release, but I don’t think that really matters. All that counts is that Freudenstachel is on the horizon, and we’ll be making landfall soon enough.
By the way, the dub is still happening, as is the WOMI interview. There’s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes that we’re working on, so don’t think we’ve abandoned that ship. Also, Kiora’s doujinshi is still sitting in storage, and I really need to do something about that… I guess we’ll see what 2012 brings, other than the end of the world, of course.
ps the art style is great, haters gonna hate~
For those of you who follow us both on Twitter, you may have noticed that Kiora and I were talking a while back about further RKS-related doujinshi works. Eventually, Kiora sent me a link to a blog post containing the latest page in his AfterStory tale. For those of you not in the know, the original AfterStory… story has Zorne seeking revenge against RKS for the death of her father while Iris attempts redemption by allowing Spiritia to kill her. Freudia appears to be overcome by Zorne’s overwhelming power, and Iris asks Tia to end her life.
Here’s the first page of the sequel. As far as I can tell, Spiritia is a very forgiving lady and doesn’t comply with Iris’s request. However, who knows what sort of things may be going on behind the scenes with Freudia and Zorne, so here’s hoping that we’ll see some serious action in the future!
If you want to keep up with this stuff or just see what Kiora’s up to on a normal basis, then you should follow him on Twitter and on his blog. I’m sure we’ll be seeing further updates. You’ll probably see them faster than you would here, since I’m really bad at keeping up this blog and RKS news and all of that.
There’ve been some complications on my end, so I can’t say for sure when you’ll be seeing the next “WOMI’s Latest Update” translation post. As a matter of fact, if anyone can read and write Japanese, I could probably use your help with some things here at Schwer and Schwer Alike, so please post a comment or drop me a line. You’d be a huge help. Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading!
This is only a contest in name only. There’s no prizes beyond bragging rights, at least for now. I don’t really intend on including anything, but if this gets a decent response, I might compile everything into a printable .pdf or something. So yeah, here’s the deal. There are a lot of talented artists and authors out there, and the universe of Rosenkreuzstilette is pretty interesting with a lot of untold stories. So we, as the fans, should tell a story. Or something. This is just a quick thing to maybe re-spark some RKS interest until the super big awesome thing we’re working on happens.
You will be given three scenarios, and the task is to write a short story or draw a comic based on one of those scenarios. When you’re done, post it somewhere and link us, or submit it directly. That’s it! It doesn’t matter where your level of writing or drawing is. This is purely for fun. I will be participating as well simply as a means to help with my writing and seriously get started on some RKS work. Okay, here we go:
[Scenario 1]
Unlike the events of the original game, Schwer-Muta’s birthday is actually remembered. Everyone decides to throw her a party that she’ll never forget. This story is a comedy where everything goes right or everything goes horribly wrong.
[Scenario 2]
Based on the concept of Kiora’s doujinshi, Zorne, heartbroken at the loss of her adoptive father, severs her ties with her Magi friends in order to confront and defeat Spiritia, who she believes killed him. In a quest for revenge, she stands against everyone she knows for the sake of her fallen father. This story can be told from the perspective of any Magi, including Spiritia or Zorne, and can end with Zorne winning, losing, or neither.
[Scenario 3]
Despite her best efforts, Spiritia fails in her attempt to defeat Iris, who is able to convince the others that Tia’s ideals are simply a sign of weakness in the grand scheme of things. With Spiritia dead, the war against the Empire goes as planned, with the main eight bosses acting as generals on the Magi side. Various magic uses are brought forth in a call-to-arms to stand together as a magical army against the Church. Write a story about the happenings of one of those soldiers. The soldier will be an original character and can be male or female.
What do you think? I think this could be fun, so it’s worth a shot, right?
I haven’t forgotten about you guys. I’m working out some issues right now, but everything should be back on track soon. When I get stuff settled, I’ll be back to regularly scheduled updates concerning the game that isn’t coming out. Just as a little filler thing, I’ll go ahead and say this about RKS:F.
The game’s current release date is “when it’s done.” If it is completed close to a Comiket, it will be sold at a Comiket. If not, it’s probably going straight to stores.
There you have it. I’ll be back soon with further details. Thanks! *punches crappy internet card*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Meant to update this yesterday.
Our resident translator says: “Someone mailed in saying he was impressed with WOMI for not giving up, even though it's just a doujin work and really, he doesn't have the obligation to, unlike a certain company. WOMI said Isemiya is probably crying tears of blood right now (though he doesn't know since he hasn't heard from him).”
There you have it. Things are looking good!
I actually had the TL for this yesterday. Whoops!
Straight from WOMI’s mouth to you.
Part, the third!
There you go.
Yeah, this was a thing.
That’s about it. Enjoy.
I did that update group thing on Facebook for the RKS group. Only 77 members as of this writing? Silliness. Join up, everyone.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_141097580312
Word.
I’m tired of coming up with titles for these posts, so I’m just going to call them the “WOMI’s Latest Update” series. Here’s the latest update.
There you have it. Also, come on, Justin. The guy is working on this game by himself. Don’t bother him with extra work like fankits and hi-res images.
Alrighty, here’s some more info from the latest [erka:es] update, courtesy of our resident translator.
We got a Pamela update thanks to ColonelRVH, so that’s pretty cool, and apparently WOMI has enough programming knowledge to turn this into a one-man show. Will we see a return to Isemiya? WHO KNOWS? Will we see a winter Comiket release? Almost without a doubt. Stay tuned!
Here’s the word on the latest [erka:es] blog update. You know where it is. I don’t need to link.
That’s pretty much it! Progress is being made. Have at it.
About a week or so ago, there was an update to the [erka:es] blog about what’s going on with RKSF. I really didn’t real like updating for a small blog post, but nothing’s happened and I don’t feel like being lazy anymore/waiting for the next big batch of information updates, so here’s what the deal is/was, thanks to our resident translator:
There you have it. They’re pressing forward. Let’s hope for the best!
Well, it’s the moment everyone’s been waiting for (and maybe secretly dreading). The latest update to the [erka:es] blog brings us news that a Freudenstachel release at Summer Comiket isn’t even possible. Here are the details according to our resident translator:
Knowing what I do about WOMI, I would actually love to see a special edition of RKS that features nothing but his ideas. It could only be the Modern Warfare 2 of the doujin world, the pinnacle of independent game, nay, of human creation. Just kidding. It would probably be terrible in the best way, and I’d still pay money for it. Alas, we’ll see how all of this turns out. Until then, have fun playing the original game over and over again. Maybe you can start practicing for the inevitable RKS Challenges I’ve got planned up~
A new [erka:es] post! Isemiya’s given himself a deadline of the beginning of Golden Week. We’ll see what that brings!
According to Justin, WOMI’s also updated his own personal INCREDIBLE NOT WORK SAFE site with new information concerning the RKSF project. Nah, just kidding. It’s mostly people saying that dealing with the delay must suck with WOMI going “Yeah, it does.” That’s pretty much it.
I’ll be making a new and interesting update soon! You’ll see it shortly!
I’d like to say that the curtain has risen, but it hasn’t. Still, who knows what has yet to unfold? Unfortunately, WOMI doesn’t.
So apparently, over the weekend, WOMI went to Isemiya’s house. This resulted in nothing, because there was no answer. According to the post, this isn’t the first time this has happened, and WOMI claims that he should’ve seen this coming. There are a lot of words in the post, but it all boils down to one thing:
The future of Rosenkreuzstilette ~Freudenstachel~, and [erka:es] for that matter, is completely unknown.
What we’ve got so far are some images, one of which hints at a new weapon, another that shows an inspired enemy from Mega Man 2’s Wood Man stage. Aside from that, you get a sliver of hope that RKSF will actually see a release.
Well, until we get some further information, you have the Grollschwert novelization and the revamped English patch to look forward to. I’ll actually be taking the scripts we have and doing some rewriting later this week. I may also try to get in touch with WOMI myself to see if we can arrange a talk. It’ll be something, I guess.
Until next time, everyone! Hopefully…
At the rate things are going, this is entirely plausible. The latest [erka:es] update shows a timeline of what’s been going on with RKSF and what’s left to do before the game is finished. This is what’s left:
So, literally, almost everything. The main levels are supposedly finished, and I assume that the rest of the RKS cast are accounted for (aside from the Dark Magi, which are probably part of the Fortress Bosses or perhaps like the Doc Robots). Beyond that, there’s no Story Mode in place, there’re barely any voices beyond what we’ve already heard in the demo, and the game hasn’t even reached the testing phase yet.
Apparently, Isemiya was supposed to have had the Fortress Bosses done by February 19th. At this point, he has pretty much gotten in touch with WOMI every Sunday to extend his own deadline for a week. It is now April, and his latest update is “I’ll have it done by the 17th!”. So now, WOMI just wants to go to his house to punch him. WOMI (along with the rest of us, I’m sure) is hoping that Isemiya still wants to even finish the game, so keep your fingers crossed!
Oh, and don’t bother e-mailing them about it. WOMI can’t seem to read any of the mail form stuff, and there’s a chance that Isemiya, for one reason or another, can’t (or won’t) either. It probably all goes to Isemiya, but because they’re not really in contact, WOMI can’t do anything about it.
Welp, we’ll see what happens, I guess!
I got bored. Here are words.
----
As the chamber doors closed behind her, Spiritia stepped softly yet firmly through the deep snow, slowly approaching the lady in the white dress who stood silently at the distant cliff's edge, staring into a blue emptiness. The wind was strong, blowing sheets of snow almost completely horizontally. The icy woman's dress flowed somewhat violently, like the waves of a storm-ridden ocean. As Spiritia got closer and closer, the chill that ran down her spine was not from the frigid world around her. She stopped and looked upon her dear friend while she gathered words to speak and the courage to speak them.
"Fr-"
Before she could utter a full syllable, the princess of ice, her best friend Freudia, broke the silence, her back still turned.
"Tia," she spoke with a hint of happiness, "it overjoys me to see that you've changed your mind, for certainly, you've come for no other reason."
Spiritia's heart ached, but she remained steadfast in her decision.
"I'm sorry, Freu," she replied. "I can't let you do this."
Freudia bit her lip as her teary eyes stayed out of view. Her heart, too, ached with a pain that only comes from love and loss.
"Tia..." she nearly sobbed. "Surely you've not sided with those who hunt us."
"No, Freu." Spiritia shook her head. "I haven't sided with anyone. Both we and the Empire are wrong!"
Freudia's voice suddenly cracked from one of sadness to one of disbelief and frustration. She turned to face Spiritia, staring coldly into her eyes.
"How dare you place us on the same level as our persecutors!" she exclaimed. "Tia, what has become of you!?"
Spiritia, slightly taken aback by Freudia's sudden change in tone, responded in turn. "I should ask you the same, Freu! RKS would never start a war like this! You would never do something this heinous!"
Freudia began to walk towards her. Her footsteps sounded as though she walked on concrete; her feet never once sunk beneath the white. She moved atop the snow, like a god on water. Her eyes glowed a passionate blue. Her hands visibly trembled.
"You say we are the heinous ones!? Tia, do you not recall our own childhood!? We watched as Imperial soldiers destroyed our homes, our families, and for what!? Because we were born gifted!?" Freudia's voice grew angrier as she reminisced of the history she and Spiritia shared. "The Holy Empire is nothing more than a devilish hypocrisy that fears our kind. They began this holy crusade to end our existence years ago, and since the beginning, there has been no retribution! That ends today, Spiritia!"
Freudia raised her hands, manifesting gigantic sharp icicles from the air around her. "RKS shall stand above the Empire and rain upon them the justice our people wish to be served!" With a swift swing of her arms, the icicle spikes flew in Spiritia's direction, flying past her and crashing loudly into the ground behind her. This was but a taste of Freudia's righteous hate. Spiritia did not flinch.
"Freudia!" she cried out, her hand beginning to glow. "Justice cannot be served through fire! You're the one who taught me that! Are you saying that we should throw away our ideals for the sake of a stupid war!?"
Freudia turned away once more.
"The rules have changed, Tia," she said. "We have done nothing but uphold our end of the bargain since Father Rosenkreuz's sacrifice. Now, Liebea's brother is a prisoner-of-war. The Zeppelin family is in a panic. There are even rumors of Magi who've allied with the Empire! We stand here, on these grounds, victims of circumstances we did not bring upon ourselves." She turned back to Spiritia, an icicle summoned to her hand. "To hell with ideals! We must take a stand!"
"There has to be some other way, Freu!" Spiritia begged. "I'm sure of it!"
With tears forming in her frozen eyes, Freudia asked once more. "Tia, my sister..." she said. "You have been gone far too long. Please, Tia. I ask you again. Will you stand by us?" She extended her free hand. "Will you stand by me...?"
Spiritia, stricken with grief, shook her head one more time.
"No, Freu," she replied. "I won't let this go on. I'll show you myself that there's another way. I'm sorry..."
Freudia slowly lowered her hand. "You're a fool, Tia. ...I will make you understand." Suddenly, Freudia fired the icicle from her other hand directly at Spiritia. In an instant, Spiritia returned fire with a magical shot from her hand, shattering the icy spear on impact.
She looked to Freudia with horrified eyes, only to be met with an icy gaze. Two sisters, two best friends, stood on opposite sides of a battlefield, engaged in a duel neither wants to fight in a war for which neither asked. In those two shots, there were more words and more feelings than any other time that either could remember. Two women, firm in their beliefs, now stared their destinies straight on. Spiritia couldn't leave things as they were. She needed to defeat the one she loved more than anyone to prove that this war need not be fought, and Freudia was going to resist her every step, every shot, of the way.
The curtain had risen on a duel of fates. On that day, into the tundra, destiny would forever be etched.
To those of you who couldn’t figure out the meaning of the rot13 cypher from the previous entry, here it is in all its legible glory:
“Unfortunately for everyone looking forward to Karl Mode (and those who can actually read Japanese), WOMI also stated in this update that they didn't have enough time to finish up their April Fool's joke for this year, so he went ahead and posted what they had. Karl Mode is not a real thing, so you can go ahead and remove that stuff from the RKS wiki, you jerks.”
Karl Palesch, Liebea’s brother mentioned in the first game, is not a playable character in Freudenstachel and was created for the sole purpose of this year’s April Fool’s joke. However, WOMI wrote that they didn’t have the time needed to complete the joke in its entirety, so what they had was posted for our viewing pleasure. What’s funny to me is that some people immediately pounced on the opportunity to announce a mode that very openly listed as fake in the [erka:es] blog, going as far as to update the wiki, listing Kahl/Karl as a playable character. This emphasizes the danger in having some people directly involved with the flow of information concerning the RKS series, something I’ve been very adamant amount since the wiki’s creation. Entries will get updated with whatever people feel is right or wrong, regardless of accuracy, and eventually, people take notice. This is not the way things should be handled.
Therefore, I have come up with a solution. Soon, we of Schwer and Schwer Alike will no longer support the RKS Wiki; we will instead create our very own on-site encyclopedia with all of the important and accurate information readily available to all readers of this site. It will not publicly editable; all information posted will be done from within the site, and any additions or requests will have to be run through site administration before it will be posted. This “RKSclopedia” will see its creation alongside the upcoming main website, of which the details will be announced at a later time.
This is the best possible scenario I can come up with, so please be aware of it. I don’t think I can actually *delete* the current RKS wiki, nor will I try to. The only thing I can request is that when the RKSclopedia is created, it should be considered the authority and the first option for RKS information, and I would like that to be known. We’ll worry about that when we actually get there, though.
In other news, I can’t wait to see what Hugh Man has in store for that RKS sprite-based movie, I still have a Kiora doujinshi to give away, and some other things are blah blah blah I’ll post later when I actually get it all together. Until then!
As noted in the comments for the previous entry, [erka:es] has made an update detailing their current progress on RKSF, as well as a surprise addition! They’re currently working on the last bosses of the upcoming sequel, in addition to handling various balance issues in the game. This is good news, considering the disaster that has befallen Japan as of late, so it’s good to know that Isemiya and WOMI are alright.
The other, more surprising part of this update is the apparent addition of RKSF’s alternate playable character, Kahl/Karl Palesch, Liebea’s imprisoned brother from the original game. According to the included pictures and screenshots, he plays pretty much exactly like Simon Belmont of the Castlevania series, keeping everything in line with the Castlevania motif the game already has. His sprite is really big and goofy-looking, though; it tries to show off his burly physique, but it just doesn’t fit. Regardless, that’s pretty cool, and I personally can’t wait to play that mode!
Anyways, post your comments below concerning this new, exciting, and amazing thing that has happened!
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I’m using the outdated blogger design, and I want to make things look a little neater. With that, I’m looking to remove the background and banner in their current forms, instead going for some original RKS artwork. I’d like to start by giving this place a new and unique banner featuring our title character, Schwer-Muta Casasola Merkle, and I’d like you all to help me out! This isn’t a contest deal or anything; pretty much anyone who sends me a banner that looks like some effort went into it will have it used.
Anyone interested in helping out?
Yeah, something really crazy happened over there, or something, and they need some MORNING RESCUE, so go find some Japan Red Cross outlet to donate to Japanese relief efforts. Isemiya and WOMI would be grateful, I’m sure.
★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - HELP JAPAN NOW ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★
►http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/tsunami-aid-and-relief-how-you-can-help/...
►INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS http://www.ifrc.org/en/
►SALVATION ARMY http://blog.salvationarmyusa.org/
►AMERICARES http://www.americares.org/newsroom/news/massive-earthquake-tsunami-devastates...
►SAVE THE CHILDREN https://secure.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6239465/k.544E/Chil...
►GLOBAL GIVING http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/
►INT MEDICAL CORPS http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/Page.aspx?pid=1970
★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ - ★ – ★
Links taken from this amazing video about the current state of the hip-hop industry.
The long-awaited update to [erka:es]’s site is finally here! And what an update this one is. What should I comment on first? Well, I guess I’ll handle things in order.
First things first, there’s an update patch for the original RKS that will bring the current version of the game up to 1.06b. This patch makes the following changes to the game:
And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Freudenstachel news! The actual projected release date for RKSF is summer of this year, so we’re looking at a Comiket 80 release, folks! They posted up two e-mails from English speakers about the development status of the game, and they’ve assured us all that they’re working on it, and the planned release date is this year. Will we see another delay? Only time will tell! I doubt it, though.
This is especially because we have some new treats: screenshots! The title screen has changed, and we now have caps of an underwater area and a forest level. As many of you may know, the Wood Zone was originally in the beta but was taken out before the final release of RKS2; the only accessible beta stage is the Hidden Palace Zone, which was reused in Tia & Freu as the resting place of the Chaos Smaragde. Anyway, the water area is probably Trauare’s stage, and the wooded area is most likely Luste’s. In the original RKS, you basically destroy Luste’s little sky palace place a la Storm Eagle, and in the April Fool’s screenshots, Hero of Justice Luste was encountered in a forest level. We’ll just have to wait and find out!
The RKSF web demo is slated to receive the bug fixes from the 1.06b patch. Instead of releasing a patch, they will be releasing a brand-new trial version. I wonder what secrets this one has in store for us?
That’s essentially it. Go check out the screenshots. I encourage traffic to their site, so please go there and stop putting literally everything that ever happens on the wiki. Thanks!
