Red Spring Studio

May 2026 Update (Patreon)

Published:

2026-05-31 17:00:08

Edited:

2026-06-01 16:06:07

Imported:

2026-05

⚑ Flagged

Content

Hey, patrons!

Spring is finally upon us and we hope your days have been sunny and allergy-free. We had a tech-heavy update last month, so this time around, we’re switching things up with more art and music 😎

Before we dive in though, here’s our dev snapshot for May 🫡:

🛠️ May 2026 Dev Snapshot

Narrative

Full Game – Writing | ⚒️ 97% Drafted, 78% through final passes

Full Game – VO Prep | ⚒️ In Progress, scene + line selects underway for remaining characters

Voice Acting

Full Game – VO Recording | VO recorded for 3 characters so far

Art

Full Game – CGs & BGs | ⚒️ ~72% Complete

Chapter 1 – CG & UI Art | ⚒️ 96% Complete, final polish in progress

Chapter 2 – CG & UI Art | ⚒️ 77% Complete

Systems & Testing

Full Game – Systems/Code | ⚒️ 83% Complete, revamped UI in progress

Localization Planning | ⚒️ In Progress (2nd round for Chinese Prologue localization)

Release Plan

Full Game – Public Release | ⏳ Targeting 2026 (exact quarter TBD)

Seeing everything over 70% has got me so hyped up 🥳 Whether you just joined or you’ve been here since those numbers were in the 50s, we appreciate your support through all the milestones we’ve hit.

Speaking of milestones! Lots of you enjoyed the original music from the Chapter 1 Preview, so we couldn’t resist sharing Kuras’s theme here for any folks who haven’t had the chance to play yet. Prepare your ears for the blessed track down below! 👼

🎵 Kuras’s Character Theme Sample

In case you missed them, we previously shared Ais, Mhin, and Vere’s character themes. At long last, it’s Kuras’s turn! Click the image above to listen 🎶 Vere’s theme is my favorite so far, but Kuras’s track has this ethereal quality that I keep coming back for. I especially love that you can hear a heartbeat in it - very fitting for our favourite doctor!

To me, Kuras’s theme evokes feelings of fondness, melancholy, and devotion. The chiming melody feels almost… curious? It makes me think of Kuras’s fascination with humanity and I can picture his first tentative steps through the Shroud with this track in the background! (Now I’m headcanon-ing him crying to Ariel singing Part of Your World in the The Little Mermaid 😭)

The beat and overall ambience give it a nice touch of angst too - gives me the impression that while he deeply loves humanity, it doesn’t stop him from feeling lonely as an immortal being or exhausted from his work at the clinic. Yet he always pushes through out of a sense of duty and obligation 🥺 But maybe I’m just reading into it too much because I binge-watched The Pitt so I’m extra soft for doctors now LOL.

What vibes are you getting from his theme? We’d love to know your different interpretations and general thoughts!

🎨 Art Previews

Now that your ears have been blessed, here are some treats for your eyes!

With gorgeous backgrounds and CGs taking centre stage, our prop work doesn’t usually get the spotlight. That doesn’t stop our Art Team from putting their all into the little details though! While props are a small part of a much bigger picture, they each play their role in making the world of TOUCHSTARVED feel more real. For example, these concepts for some keys you may find in the game! 🗝️

With something as small and simple as a key, you’d think maybe 1-3 concepts would suffice! But as the City of Knowledge, Eridia’s got a lot of secrets, so it needs just as much security. What kind of rooms do you think these keys will grant passage to? What do you want to see? (other than the LIs oiled up in bed 🤣 I can sense your comments from a mile away LOL)

Doors aren’t the only option either, a key could open something like a chest or a safe too! 👀 Maybe you’ll unlock top secret Senobium documents, powerful potions and weapons, or even Ais’s secret stash of treats for Princess 🤭 The possibilities are endless!

Although Leander isn’t a key, he sure can open my legs– I MEAN, heart 😳 I don’t have the context for exactly why he’s hovering over MC while looking so scrumptious, but these concepts have been living in my head rent-free since I first laid eyes on them 😮‍💨

While the final CG will look different, it’s always fun to see the rough thumbnails as our Art Team experiments with different poses, expressions, and lighting. Even the smallest changes in each CG’s composition affect the mood and tone of the illustration, so we go through a lot of iterations to make sure we’re capturing the feelings/vibes we want.

If you’re interested in seeing more outside of the sneak peeks in our Monthly Updates, TOUCHSTARVED’S physical art book will be packed with concepts and sketches just like this! Our team has been having a blast compiling them, so you can look forward to seeing many more of these in the book post-release.

If the Leander concepts weren’t enough for you, here’s another spicy WIP of one of the boys 😉 I can’t even think of anything clever to say other than BELLY BUTTON PIERCING?????? LET’S GO!!!!!!!

As an alternative girly with lots of tattoos and piercings myself, I am living for the LIs rocking their own body mods 🥳 I think the world is a much better place when men are comfortable expressing themselves and if they happen to look slutty while doing it… well, all the better 🤭

Now, I’m picturing body mods on the other LIs… I kind of love the idea of Kuras with nose piercings - like one on each nostril with a chain across the bridge! 🥰 Mhin with an eyebrow piercing + cheek dermal combo also speaks to me. Neither of those are canon, but a girl can dream 😍

💌 Till Next Time

And that wraps up May! We hope you enjoyed the art and music from this month because I certainly had fun putting them together. We’ll see ya next time for more dev updates, behind-the-scenes, and Red Spring shenanigans!

Thanks for all the love and support, take care! 🫶