The Crimson Diamond Gazette #66
Welcome to the latest issue! News and fun facts inside!
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Find game bugs? feedback@thecrimsondiamond.com
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MEDIA
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
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
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
PAX East 2020 "What's Next for Adventure Games" Panel
Adventure Games Podcast episode
Classic Adventurer, Issue 07 -- Featured
Adventure Gamers AdventureX Round-up, part II
Adventure Gamers Announcement Article
Adventure Corner Article (German)
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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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
March 2024
Hello, dear readers! Happy March! The crocuses are blooming, a sure sign that Spring is on its way! I'm always glad get past the cold and grey winter months.
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Developer update: Alpha version 2.0 is in the hands of my wonderful testers! I'm working my way through those last assets and I implemented a newly completed scene that I've been streaming! I haven't gotten as much work done this week,because I'm prepping for GDC. See below...
(Please wishlist The Crimson Diamond on Steam, it really helps me out!)
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I'm attending GDC for the first time! I'm very excited. It's my first visit to San Francisco, too!
I'll be showing my game at two GDC-adjacent events:
- Indie BYOG by Onerat Games & Subzero Sound: Tuesday, March 19 at 6pm at The Royale (800 Post Street)
- Gameplay Summit (Networking & Game Demos) by Level Up Events: Wednesday, March 20 at 1pm at Elan Event Venue (839 Howard Street)
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The Adventure Game Hotspot Fan Fair Kickstarter made its goal! Thanks so much to everyone who supported the campaign and/or spread the word! The Fan Fair is being held in Tacoma, Washington, from July 26-29, and I'll be there, thanks to the incredible generosity of their community! Find out more about the event here. There is also a Sierra reunion, including Ken & Roberta Williams, Lori & Corey Cole, Jane Jensen, Robert Holmes, Al Lowe, and Ken Allen!
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I'm on episode #3 of PushingUpRoses' and Matt Aukamp's new adventure game podcast! We had an amazing conversation about The Crimson Diamond, pirate dads, and our experiences with Personal Nightmare! Listen here!
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WINGS Interactive hosted a Women's Day Steam Event! I was happy to participate. I did a special stream on The Crimson Diamond store page in which I played the latest version of chapter 1 of The Crimson Diamond (plus a bonus peek at chapter 2!) and talked about three amazing Canadian women who inspired characters in the game. Watch the video here!
Image source: The Canadian Encyclopedia
The first Canadian woman is Alice Evelyn Wilson, Canada's first woman geologist. She overcame a lot of sexism (including not being allowed to travel to remote areas with male colleagues for field work) and achieved many amazing things -- including being named a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and the first female Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Read about her here!
Image Source: Ron Bull for the Toronto Star
The second Canadian woman is Eira Thomas, a modern day Queen of Diamonds! Eira is the daughter of a Welsh coal miner. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Toronto. She prospected and founded Diavik Mine, which was once one of the most prolific diamond mines in Canada. Read an excellent article about Eira and her work here!
The third amazing Canadian woman had much more of a direct impact on my life. The above photo, from 1944, is my grandmother. She was born in Vancouver, BC in 1917. Her mother (my great-grandmother) emigrated to Vancouver from Japan and married my great-grandfather in a church in Vancounver in 1916. My great-grandmother's name was Kimi, the namesake of my Crimson Diamond character Kimi Kishiro. They endured incredible hardship (the above photo was taken in an internment camp, my grandmother is holding my father in her arms) and persisted. I'm eternally grateful.
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Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure is cool, but Pantsmo's Pantaloon Adventure is cooler! Panstmo is a mod made just for me, by eviltentacle (via Twitch) and Emmxyzzy (one of my favourite DOS game streamers on Twitch)!
I love Pantsmo. I've started to create enpantsed sprites for the mod! Though I'm currently up to my ears in Crimson Diamond and GDC prep, I hope to return to enpantsing soon.
The Pantsmo mod is created via Camoto, a collection of utilities to do just that! It can even run in web browser, with no installation!
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If you'd like some awesome The Crimson Diamond stickers, hats, t-shirts and more, I have some fun stuff on my Fourthwall store!
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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Art streams! I finished the museum close-up scene, including some speech animations! On to the next introductory sequence scene!
Livestream VOD round-up! All the streams since last gazette are here!
Feb 20th art stream, Feb 27th art stream, Mar 5th art stream, Mar 12th art stream.
Crimson C'Tuesday happens every Tuesday at 8pm Eastern on Twitch! Come and hang out!
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I completed Denarius Avaricius Sextus! Marnanel Thurman, one of the game devs, dropped by in chat and answered questions about the game's development! It was such a special treat and privilege to have her on. We're planning to have her on again to further discuss Denarius Avaricius Sextus and the sequel, Lord Avalot d'Argent! Watch the finale of Denarius Avaricius Sextus here!
New Let's Play! Earthrise by Interstel (1990). Long live EGA text parser adventure games! This game isn't commercially available, but you can request that GOG add it to their catalog.
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)
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)
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CRAFT CORNER
Rise of the Dragon dragon cross-stitch is complete! I'm pleased with it, and have an idea of what I'll tackle next!
Here are the DMC embroidery floss colours I used for my EGA palette:
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MINERAL TRIVIA SECTION
DID YOU KNOW: Detroit Agate isn't an agate at all! And it's rarer than diamonds! It's also called Motor City Agate and Fordite. It's not a rock, it's polished pieces of layers and layers of paint chipped from overspray in old automobile factories! While it sounds like this material would be easy to come by, the truth is, cars are now painted with an electrostatic process that reduces or eliminates paint overspray. So Fordite is a relic from a bygone (and short) era and is in limited supply! It's popular enough that a material has been created to emulate this look, called "rainbow calsilica". The photos above are the front and back of a piece I've acquired. My sister's friend's uncle passed away a long time ago and had a lot of polished rocks and other curiousities -- This is one of the items I picked out, not knowing anything about it! I think there's a good chance that it's genuine...
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INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING THE CRIMSON DIAMOND?
Check the sidebar for links to my Patreon and PayPal! Or visit The Crimson Diamond's Steam page follow the game, and add it to your wishlist! There's a FREE playable demo too, for Windows PC and Mac! <3
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Thanks for reading! Happy March! 2024 is the year of The Crimson Diamond!
-- JM