Hello, dear readers -- Happy September! Autumn is beautiful in Ontario. The cooler days and evenings are a welcome change from the sweltering summer we had this year.

This is a good time of year to look for mushrooms. I discovered a bunch of these yellow fellows recently. I think they're Slippery Jacks, but I could be wrong.

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The Crimson Diamond key art

The Crimson Diamond is sold on Steam. It's also on itchio and GOG and FireFlower Games. Sometimes people ask me where the best place is to buy the game, to support me as an indie dev. Steam is best (especially if you also leave a review), it's incredibly helpful for visibility on the store. But please choose whichever option is best for you.

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Mini-Maple Mystery first background complete

I've completed my first Mini-Maple Mystery background, using Aseprite. I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, and am currently working on another background. This is a very fun style to work in. I like the challenge.

My photo of Wasson Bluff

Here's a photo I took of Wasson Bluff, Nova Scotia that was the basis for the above background. The game will be based on a trip to the area that I took last year.

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AdventureX 2025 will be happening soon! Artist Aviv Or created this AWESOME illustration for the event (Bluesky profile here). From left to right: Mick from The Drifter, Prim from Prim, Lola from Rosewater, Arthur from Loco Motive, and Duck Detective from Duck Detective.

Chance's Lucky Escape (by Goloso Games and me) is in the AdventureX showcase this year. Cotton Bureau has some great merch for it and other Playdate games, check it out here if you're interested in wearing something cool at the event! And here's the Catalog store page for the game.

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GDoC Expo 2025 has begun! My interview segment will air on September 18 at 4:40pm Eastern. If you use the code gdoc20 you'll get 20% off on the price of a ticket!

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My Narrascope 2025 talk is now up on the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation's Youtube channel. I talk about what inspired me to develop The Crimson Diamond, how the text parser is implemented, and how I marketed the game. You can watch it here.

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Adventure Game Geek made this adorable video of baking thumbprint cookies according to my mom's recipe. Check it out!

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It's always nice to be mentioned in round-ups of games, especially since The Crimson Diamond has been out for more than a year. Thanks Arielle Pieterse for the mention!

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Here's a wonderfully in-depth article by Play All The Things about The Crimson Diamond that discusses the game from beginning to end. You can read it here.

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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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September VOD thumbnail

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

August 15th TCD Anniversary stream, August 26th art stream, September 2nd art stream, September 9th art stream

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

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I've finished Portopia (with a walkthrough). I'm always so pleased to discover new retro mystery games to play. I'm amazed by what was achieved in 1985 on the NES. Portopia playlist (complete).

I'm using an emulator called WanderBar and it's been easy to use and lightweight.

I completed the CGA DOS port of Double Dragon on stream! Back to enjoying the EGA version, which is still my favourite. Here's the video I made of my CGA Double Dragon victory playthough.

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)

Omnicron Conspiracy (First Star Software, 1989 / Streaksy, 2025)

Neuromancer -- UNFINISHED LP (Interplay, 1989)

Double Dragon EGA (Technos Japan, 1988)

Double Dragon CGA (Technos Japan, 1988)

Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Enix, 1985)

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Do you love it when people are wearing pants? You might enjoy Pantsmo's Pantaloon Adventure, a free, modded version of Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure. eviltentacle is the mastermind of the project, with some assistance from me and Emmfoolery.

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photo from geology.com, photo by ALROSA

MINERAL TRIVIA SECTION

DID YOU KNOW: Yellow diamonds are the world's most valuable yellow gemstone! The colour is often due to nitrogen within the diamond's crystal structure. I learned about Yakutia diamonds while watching the movie Hotel Artemis. I was very pleased to learn that they actually exis t. Yellow diamonds are the second-most common diamond colour, after brown, and they occur over a broad range of geographic locations. Particularly spectacular specimens have been mined from the Yakutia region in Siberia, Russia.

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The Crimson Diamond logo cross-stitch work in progress

CRAFT CORNER

Progress on The Crimson Diamond logo cross-stitch. There's a ghost of a "D" for Diamond on there because I had to undo a bunch of stitches, having made an error somewhere along the way. But I'm back on track now!

EGA DMC embroidery floss colours

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Holiday card process animated GIF

INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING THE CRIMSON DIAMOND?

I have Patreon and PayPal. Or visit The Crimson Diamond's Steam page to purchase or follow the game. (Steam reviews are super helpful and appreciated!) It's also available on GOG, itchio and FireFlower Games.

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Thanks for reading. Happy September :D.

-- JM