crimson diamond gazette

The Crimson Diamond Gazette #73

Welcome to the latest issue! News and fun facts inside!

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MEDIA

Hanselminutes Podcast

TanookChickenAttack Review

The Adventure Games Podcast

Thinky Games Article

Tanked Up Podcast

Indie Games Plus Interview

GameGrin Review

Ladies Gamers Review

Outcast.it Article (Italian language)

Bite-sized Review

Dark, lofi remix of The Crimson Diamond's music

snughly's The Crimson Diamond Video

Cozy_Eviix's The Crimson Diamond Video

Kotaku Review

Polygon Review

GameLuster Review

Danny O'Dwyer recommends The Crimson Diamond on the Noclip Crewcast

GamingTrend Article

Temple of Geek review

PCGamer round-up

DigitallyDownloaded.net round-up

Gamers With Jobs Conference Call mention

Get Played Podcast mention

IndieGames+ write-up

Indie Retro News mention

@MarshmallowSack on Cohost article

Retro Game Club Podcast interview

Matt Chat with Matt Barton & Mat Bradley-Tschirgi

Spectator Mode interview

60 Second Review by Jared Brock

New Adventure Games round-up by YakWaxLips

Matthew Bianchini interview

Limmy plays The Crimson Diamond

Upstairs Downstairs Game Talk Video

TurianShepard's "4 Adventure Games You Need To Play in August 2024" video

The Cozy Gaming Club video

Talking To Women About Videogames episode

OneShortEye interview

Dev Heads podcast episode

NAG magazine article

Das klappt so nicht. review

Adventure Gamers review

CBC Thunder Bay interview

GameSpew review

Ars Technica article about The Crimson Diamond

Kotaku article featuring The Crimson Diamond

Adventure Game Hotspot review

Rock Paper Shotgun review

"Indies In Depth" episode 2: Julia Minamata & Andrew Dickinson

Time Extension article: Meet The Devs Keeping EGA Alive In The Modern Day

"The Crimson Diamond: A Cozy mystery adventure beckons": Adventure Gamers

"Digging for Gems and Clues: The Crimson Diamond Launches on August 15": A Gaming Network

"A Gem Found In The Belly Of A Fish": Vulgar Knight article

IGN Live debut of The Crimson Diamond release date trailer

Pixel Pizza Podcast: Julia Minamata (The Crimson Diamond)

Indiepocalypse Radio - Episode 0143: Keenardo and Julia Minamata

Final Round -- "The Crimson Diamond: sedici colori, interfaccia testuale, è subito 1989" (Italian language)

8BITdigi -- GDC 2024 The Games We Played

Save Your Game Podcast with PushingUpRoses and Matt Aukamp

YakWaxLips video: Most Anticipated Adventure Games of 2024!

Adventure Game Hotspot's PIXEL ART Adventure Games you MUST PLAY in 2024

Adventure Game Geek's Upcoming Adventure Games 2024...And Beyond!

vicek83's "Plans for Adventure Game Developers for 2024" (guest spot)

Rock Paper Shotgun Screenshot Saturday Monday

Adventure Game Hotspot interview

FireFlower Games interview article

Hello Playdate Podcast interview

FMM Live: Discussion with Julia Minamata Dev of The Crimson Diamond

2D Game Art Tips for Solo or Small Teams -- Pre-recorded panel

Scene World Podcast #160 - The Crimson Diamond with Julia Minamata

vicek83's "Plans for Adventure Game Developers for 2023" (guest spot)

Exposing Decades-old Secrets of The Colonel's Bequest (guest spot)

Adventure Game Hotspot Streaming Event Guest Spot #1

Adventure Game Hotspot Streaming Event Guest Spot #2

Current "The Crimson Diamond Demo" Speedrun World Records

The Crimson Diamond on Speedruns.com

Disaster SquadCast episode

"Talking To Women About Videogames" podcast episode part 2 of 2

"Talking To Women About Videogames" podcast episode part 1 of 2

Joystick interview (in English)

Joystick interview (in Greek)

Plans of Adventure Game Devs in 2022 (timestamped link)

IGDA Twin Cities Talk: "The Practical Magic of Pixel Art"

Steam Next Fest (Oct 2021) Developer's Let's Play of The Crimson Diamond Demo

The Genesis Temple Podcast #8 – Julia Minamata (The Crimson Diamond, Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator)

Interviews from the Multiverse: Julia Minamata

Lockdown Con II "The Indie Games Revolution" Panel (first panel of the day)

WIRED.com's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy

WIRED.com article

Pixelles BIPOC Creator Program grant recipient

usesthis interview (interview about my hardware and software set-up)

8-bit Ninja interview about The Crimson Diamond (in German)

CAAD52 magazine article about The Crimson Diamond (in Spanish)

Cabel Sasser's Photoshop Revelation clip

HomeTeam GameDev Podcast -- Guest Julia Minamata

CityNews - Canada Showcased Through Video Games

CBC Thunder Bay - Superior Morning Radio Interview

TVOntario article

Retro 'Rents Podcast episode

PAX East 2020 "What's Next for Adventure Games" Panel

Adventure Games Podcast episode

Big Boss Battle -- Featured

Escapist Magazine article

Classic Adventurer, Issue 07 -- Featured

Adventure Gamers AdventureX Round-up, part II

Scarborough Mirror Article

Digital Roadmap Article

Medium.com Article

IndieGames+ Article

PC GAMER Article

Adventure Gamers Announcement Article

Adventure Corner Article (German)

YouTube LP Playlist

The CGG Podcast: # 44 Third appearance, updates since April 2019!

The CGG Podcast: #20 The Crimson Diamond updates & The Colonel's Bequest

The CGG Podcast: #1 Episode featuring me discussing The Crimson Diamond

 

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GDoC laurels

Indie Cup Canada nominee

Most Anticipated Laurel

 

 

 

Wordplay showcase

 

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CLASSIC GAMER? JOIN CLASSIC GAMERS!

I part of a thriving classic gaming community called the Classic Gamers Guild on Facebook. We host plenty of events during the week, as well as contests and a bunch of other great stuff. We even have a podcast and I was the first guest!

 

 

 

To view this issue in browser, click here

Click here for the entire DevBlog

Editor: Julia Minamata - julia@thecrimsondiamond.com

WWW.THECRIMSONDIAMOND.COM

October 2024

Autumn2024

Hello, dear readers -- How time flies. The leaves are changing colour and it's been two months since The Crimson Diamond launched. I've been taking some time off (Halifax in the last gazette, New York in this gazette), but I'm back in for winter and back working on bugs. There will be a very clear difference in the game's next update; read the "Developer's update" section below...

The Crimson Diamond is currently on 10% off sale on GOG (Oct 15-25).

Buy The Crimson Diamond on Steam (For PC and Mac).

It's also on itchio and FireFlower Games.

If you enjoy the game, please leave a review on Steam! It helps so much to increase its visibility on the Steam store.

Developer update: The main feature in the next update will be a redesigned, sans serif font. I've had some feedback about the current font, and I'm working on improving legibility. The new font will become the default, but there will be an option to switch back to the old font in the main menu or by typing "font" into the parser.

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NY trip me

Photos from my NYC trip will be at the end. If you'd like to watch the bit of the VOD where I talk about the trip and show the same photos, you can watch/listen here (timestamped link) .

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Bonus Stage Toronto image

I'll be giving a 15 minute talk about The Crimson Diamond at Bonus Stage here in Toronto on October 22. The event happens at Taco Taco at 319 Augusta Avenue beween 7-11pm. Here's more info about the event.

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Dank Zine 72 cover

Cover art by goemonsama

The Crimson Diamond is featured in the latest Dank Zine (Issue 72)! The issue is loaded with amazing art by amazing artists and an interview/conversation between me and AnnK, the talented and industrious creative force behind the zine. And most importantly... There are STICKERS. Order yours here.

 

Dank Zine 72 interior

Dank Zine 72 image 3

Facing page art by AnnK

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Hanselminutes podcast

Scott Hanselman and I had a wonderful conversation on his podcast, The Hanselminutes podcast. Give a listen here.

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Tanooki Chicken Attack review

Gill covered The Crimson Diamond on TanookiChickenAttack. Gill is another gamer who was unfamiliar with text parser games until playing TCD. Read Gill's thoughts here.

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The Adventure Game Podcast image

Matt, Johnny, and Laura talk The Crimson Diamond on The Adventure Games Podcast. Laura (Cressup) has also streamed the game on her Twitch channel, the voices she does with her friend Vicky are SO GOOD. In fact, Cressup is uploading their playthrough on her Youtube channel. Watch it here.

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Thinky Games article

Dayten Rose of Thinky Games had a chat with me about The Crimson Diamond and played the game, then wrote this very very good article. Please take a look. Dayten is yet another player who doesn't have old school adventure game nostalgia, so it's really great to hear their perspective.

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Tactical Beer Wizards image

Tanked Up Podcast's Lucy also discussed TCD on a recent episode. Listen here.

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PelaajaMagazine image

Pelaaja magazine wrote an article about The Crimson Diamond. It's always extra special to see my game in print publications. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a link online, but here is photo proof from social media.

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IndieGamesPlus Intervew

Indie Games Plus just published this interview of me on their site. Thanks so much, Joel. Read it here.

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GameGrin review

GameGrin reviewed The Crimson Diamond and gave it a 9.5/10! I'm ecstatic.Thank you, Alyssa Rochelle Payne! Read the review here.

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LadiesGamers review image

Ladies Gamers also reviewed the game. It's wonderful to see the game being shared and enjoyed so much.

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Outcast magazine article image

Andea Maderna (journalist, blogger, translator) did an Italian-language write-up analyzing The Crimson Diamond along with Yars Rising and how both games deal with nostalgia from different angles.

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Bite-sized Review

Bite-sized Review of The Crimson Diamond by csh_PICONE. Thanks so much for the write-up!

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OneShortEye music video image

Now for something a bit different, and incredibly cool: Check out this dark, lofi remix of the music in The Crimson Diamond (original music by Dan Policar). Who knew that OneShortEye, better known for his wonderfully well-crafted documentaries about speedrunning adventure games on Youtube, is also a talented musician? So good.

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snuhgly video image

Mystery game (mostly Nancy Drew!) Youtuber snughly played The Crimson Diamond and put this lovely video up on their channel. It's especially significant for me when mystery game lovers who haven't played a text parser game before can enjoy my game. <3

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CozyEviix image

Cozy_Eviix also made a Youtube video of playing The Crimson Diamond! And also is a gamer who is new to text parser games. I am so happy when text parser games can be rich, fulfilling experiences even for people who aren't nostalgic for them. Here's the video.

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kilgoretrout in GOG image

kilg0re_tr0ut has streamed The Crimson Diamond TWICE through -- Once on his Twitch channel, and once on GOG's Twitch channel. He said he's gotten a much better ending this second time around :).

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robotspacer and unsecretcrush image

Speaking of streamers, a pair of my favourite streamers, robotspacer and unsecretcrush, have started streaming The Crimson Diamond. Robotspacer was a tester on the game, but his wife unsecretcrush is coming into it without much knowledge of the story. It's been a real treat to watch them play it so far. They're playing it on Fridays at 9pm Eastern.

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fourthwall store

If you'd like some awesome The Crimson Diamond stickers, hats, t-shirts and more, I have some fun stuff on my Fourthwall store. I particularly like the embroidered items, and they all ship and arrive quite quickly, no matter where you are in the world.

And if you're interested in setting up a Fourthwall store of your own, here's my referral link (I'd get $15 credit :D).

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Game Devs of Color stream thumbnail

Here's the VOD of the Game Devs of Color Expo Steam event stream! It's always nice to be included. I played Chapter 2 of The Crimson Diamond for the first time ever on stream.
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My art stream livestream thumbnail

Slowly streaming the EGA demake of my own The Crimson Diamond key art continues, as well as creating more assets for Pantsmo's Pantaloon Adventure. I'll be picking a new/old EGA adventure game to play soon, but currently I'm replaying something with a special guest. More on that below.

Livestream VOD round-up. All the streams since last gazette are here:

September 20th GDoC stream , September 24th art stream, October 10th art/ Marnanel Thurman Guest Stream

Crimson C'Tuesday happens every Tuesday at 8pm Eastern on Twitch. Come and hang out.

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Guest Marnanel Thurman

I'm returning to a game I just played -- Lord Avalot d'Argent (Thorsoft of Letchworth, 1994). But this time I have company! Marnanel Thurman, one of the developers of the game, is back (she joined me for a playthrough of Denarius Avaricius Sextus, which was the game that preceded Avalot) and she's sharing stories about making this game and many other interesting things too. Watch it here.

You can follow Marnanel on Mastodon and Blue Sky. Here's Marnanel's website.

 

My completed Let's Plays:

Personal Nightmare (Horrorsoft 1989)

Last Half of Darkness (Softlab Software Laboratories 1989)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (LucasArts 1989)

Rise of the Dragon Let's Play (Dynamix, 1990)

The Sorceror's Appraisal (Yahtzee Croshaw, 2002)

Cruise for a Corpse (Delphine Software International, 1991)

Mortville Manor (Lankhor, 1987)

Legend of the Sword (Silicon Software, 1988)

Loom (Lucasfilm Games, 1990)

Altered Destiny (Accolade, 1990)

The Dark Convergence (Jeffrey Kintz, 1993)

The Dark Convergence 2 (Jeffrey Kintz, 1994)

High Seas Homicide (Sherwood Forest Software, 1993)

Denarius Avaricius Sextus (Thorsoft of Letchworth,1992)

Earthrise (Interstel, 1990)

Lord Avalot d'Argent (Thorsoft of Letchworth, 1995)

Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess (ERE Informatique, 1989)

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me at the Natural History museum image

Here's me in front of a spectacular hunk of rock with tons of giant garnets embedded in it. This was at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Nancy Maple's not the only rockhound! This was a must-visit for me.

 

Natural History museum exterior image

Here's the musem's exterior. Kinda sci-fi, I love it.

Natural History Museum interior

The interior is also kinda sci-fi. Gorgeous.

 

Butterflies at Natural History Museum

The butterfly vivarium was recommended to me, so I visited that first. It's on the third floor and is an enclosed space that is full of hundreds of butterflies of immense variety. They fly all about the space land on you, and it's enchanting.

Butterfly coccoons

There is a pupae incubation area too, and I was amazed at the variety of cocoons on display. Butterflies were in the process of hatching, which is always magical to see.

 

Museum crystals

The gems and minerals area started off with this display of frankly startlingly large quartz crystals. It's the Yurman Family Crystallline Pass, and it became an exhibit here just last year. If the name Yurman is familiar to you, it's because jeweller David Yurman is using quartz from the area this display was extracted from (in Arkansas) to create jewellry for his collections.

Museum's octohedral diamond

This display of an octohedral diamond crystal pleased me very much. If you've played The Crimson Diamond, it may look familiar.

The Crimson Diamond Diamond diamond

Museum elbaite

Massive Elbaite.

Museum Fluorite

Different colours of fluorite.

 

Musuem garnet mine info

Crimson, Ontario has a very similar history to this garnet mine in upstate New York. Jeweller Henry Hudson Barton learned about a garnet source in the Adirondacks in the 1850s. The garnets were used as abrasives, and the mining continued until 1982.

 

Ghostface Killah

This exhibit was in the gems and minerals area, what a pleasant surprise for me! It's called "Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry".It opened in May and will be up until January.

Ghostface Killah piece

 

New York building

More beautiful buildings.

New York Church

New York Food truck

On Dan's recommendation, I ate at one of the many NYC food trucks that look like this. I got lamb on rice and it was very delicious and a good portion for a good price. I will also recommend these trucks.

 

Francisco and Jess

No NYC trip is complete without paying a visit to Francisco González (right), developer of Lamplight City and currently working on Rosewater, a wild west adventure game, with his partner Jess (middle). Wishlist Rosewater!

 

Interior image of Wonderville

I met up with them at Wonderville, an indie game bar and arcade in Brooklyn. It was a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed facing off against Jess in Nidhogg 2, and Black Emperor was also a blast with the dial controller. See their full selection of games here. All the machines are set as free to play. :D

 

New York library interior

I also visited the New York Public Library. I don't really have the words to describe it, beyond stunning.

New York library interior

New York Public Library

Charles Dickens' cat's paw

The library was hosting a special exhibit called Treasures. Pictured above was my second favourite item: It's a paper knife of ivory and metal, fashioned from one of the paws of Charles Dickens' favourite cat after he (the cat) died. RIP, Bob.

cat paw text

 

 

Alphose Mucha poster

This Alphonse Mucha poster was the first item I saw in the exhibit, and it's my favourite thing I saw there. It's the best example of Mucha art on exhibit that I've ever seen. It was very big, about 7-8 feet long. Being a lifelong lover of Art Nouveau, I found it moving to be in its presence.

I also visited the Museum of Modern Art, another must-see. But I think this issue of the gazette has more than enough photos already :P.

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Before and after Iron Out

MINERAL TRIVIA SECTION

DID YOU KNOW: Iron Out is a household cleaner that works surprisingly well on iron-stained rocks! Here's a before and after of one of my specimens (this one is spiky natrolite and analcime crystals).

I also cleaned this bit of what's possibly thomonsite (I might try to soak it more and see if it brightens up more):

thomsonite

These specimens are from my Wasson Bluff trip. If you're interested in learning more about that trip, you can read all about it here.

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crafted necklace

CRAFT CORNER

Craft corner returns! I treated myself to some jewellry supplies after launching The Crimson Diamond. The bottom necklace was one I made before, using materials I had on hand. Simulated turqoise and lapis lazuli beads, and a carnelian bead. The colours are meant to represent Nancy Maple's sprite in The Crimson Diamond.

I've wanted to make a similar necklace with real turquoise and real lapis lazuli, and a garnet bead instead of carnelian (because Crimson was a garnet mining town) for a while now. These small beads are 4mm in diameter (the larger beads below are 10mm).It's actually a bit tough to find real turquoise in this round bead form at sizes much bigger than 4mm. At least in the kind of turquoise I wanted, which was from the famous Sleeping Beauty mine in Arizona. The mine closed in 2012, which means the supply is limited. The rich, deep "robin's egg" blue is much sought after.

The chain is quite interesting, it's 14k gold and so fine that the 4mm beads could actually be strung though it. The little 2mm 14k gold beads were also stringable on this chain, but sometimes they get a bit stuck along it, too. I'm amazed that a chain can be made this finely and still hold together. When I wear this necklace it looks like the beads are floating.

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Union Station animation

INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING THE CRIMSON DIAMOND?

Check the sidebar for links to my Patreon and PayPal. Or visit The Crimson Diamond's Steam page to purchase or follow it. It's also available on itchio and FireFlower Games.

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Thanks for reading. Happy October!

-- JM