Scarlet Hollow

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Scarlet Hollow
Developer: Black Tabby Games Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux Released internationally: September 25, 2020 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused text.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

Scarlet Hollow is a horror dating-sim mystery visual novel and Black Tabby's debut title.

Unused Images

Present in the folder for character images in Episode 3 is a subfolder named balrog, which contains... a still from the music video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up".

One has to wonder if BTG was trying to Rickroll anyone digging through the game's files.

Developer Notes

funeral_staging.rpy

The following disgruntled comment can be found in the code defining the images for Reese's death scene, internally referred to as a "funeral":

#this is the part where i have to animate the fucking fire are you kidding me?!

wednesday_reese.rpy

At dinner with Doctor Kelly, there is a note suggesting to add a sub-menu after one of the conversation topics:

#submenu here? Qs such as 'maybe i can come in for a physical ;)' and 'wait how did other people in my family die?' and 'i don't know if i'd trust your medical judgement either, knowing how reese has to live' and 'medical science is just a way to sell pharmaceuticals' and 'i go to the doctor. i will never die.'

There's also these humorous notes when Doctor Kelly insults Stella and Kaneeka, respectively:

#STELLA CRUSHED
#KANEEKA FUCKING CRUSHED

Cut Dialogue

monday_woods.rpy

The cut option where you can try to save both Duke and Gretchen and fail (mentioned in one of BTG's blog posts) is still in the code, commented out:

#"{i}• ''Grab Gretchen and dive for the flashlight.''{/i}" if powerful_build == False:
#    $ gretchen_dead = True
#    $ duke_dead = True
#    jump monday_both_dead

monday_climax_duke_dies.rpy

If the cops are called and you have the Talk to Animals trait, this dialogue would have appeared right before you get in the cop car:

#gretchen "''I certainly cannot turn down some extra pets and affection, especially after the ordeal we've all been through tonight.''"

tuesday_start_tabitha.rpy

There appears to be a cut option to just stay in the estate and do nothing all day:

#"{i}•  Hole up in the Estate where it's safe. Probably.{/i}":
#    "{i}After everything that happened last night, there's no way you're heading into town to get roped into another adventure with Stella.{/i}"
#    if monday_met_sybil:
#        "{i}Maybe Sybil is wrong about Ditchlings. Maybe what you saw in the woods last night isn't a threat to you, let alone a threat to the town. You're clearly much safer here, hunkered down in a dilapidated mansion perched upon a crumbling cliff. This is fine.{/i}"
#    else:
#        "{i}Whatever you saw in the woods last night isn't a big deal, and if it is, it's the sort of big deal that's better off ignored and left for someone else to handle.{/i}"
#        "{i}You're clearly much safer here, hunkered down in a dilapidated mansion perched upon a crumbling cliff. This is fine.{/i}"

#    "{i}Hours pass as you pace back and forth through the Estate, lost in a mixture of boredom and anxiety. Tabitha will probably be back any minute now, and you'll finally get to have some one-on-one time with your long lost family.{/i}"
#    play audio "audio/one_shot/door_knock.wav"
#    "{i}Your thoughts are broken by a knock at the front door.{/i}"
    # Note
#    "{b}{i}Hey alpha tester! We're thrilled that you've decided to explore this niche story path for Episode 2, but we haven't built it out yet for this playable build! This path should be finished by our alpha release, at the absolute latest.{/i}{/b}"
#    "{b}{i}If you reload an earlier autosave and head to town instead, there'll be a little more content for you to explore! Otherwise, thanks so much for playtesting!{/i}{/b}"
#    return

tuesday_library.rpy

A very interesting cut piece of narration that shines some light onto the player character:

#"{i}You feel comfortable here, reminded of childhood trips taken to the library with your long-suffering mother. Of sitting down with a stack of picture books and young readers for entire afternoons while she ran errands.{/i}"

thursday_solo_basement.rpy

When discussing evidence of Reese's poisoning, there's a cut line from Reese:

#reese "''Ricin doesn't leave any traces in your system, it's not something anybody could test for, so it'd be my word against hers.''"

clinic_solo_incident.rpy

Two redundant options when watching Reese has his mom in his clutches...

#"{i}•  Keep watching, frozen in wide-eyed terror.{/i}":
    # fake variable

#"{i}•  Keep watching as he delivers her just deserts.{/i}":
    # fake variable

Additional description of Tabitha repeatedly shooting Reese:

#"{i}Your cousin fires off another round.{/i}"
...
#"{i}She pauses to reload.{/i}"
...
#"{i}And then she fires again.{/i}"
...
#"{i}And then again.{/i}"

solo_clinic_pharmacy

Additional description when Reese retrieves the axe for you:

#"{i}Reese whirls around, axe in hand.{/i}"
#"{i}He hands it to you.{/i}"
#"{i}He's so much more expressive than he was yesterday, strangely energetic compared to the subdued Reese you first met.{/i}"
#if clinic_closet_reese_flirt and reese_crushed == False:
#    "{i}You secretly hope you may have had something to do with this sudden shift.{/i}"

thursday_sybil.rpy

#if thursday_diner_visited:
#    show avery th neutral talk
#    avery "''Winnie could probably use some help over at the diner, anyways.''"
#else:
#    show avery th neutral talk
#    avery "''It's just about time for my shift to start, anyway. I've been avoiding the diner long enough, I'm sure Winnie's swamped.''"