The Crimson Diamond - inspired by The Colonel's Bequest

[CryptRat]

https://www.thecrimsondiamond.com

Spoiler

The demo of an upcoming not-Laura-Bow game is available here : http://www.thecrimsondiamond.com/

Description

The Crimson Diamond is a mystery adventure game where you play as amateur geologist and reluctant detective Nancy Maple. Follow Nancy as she travels north to the fictional ghost town of Crimson, Ontario to investigate the discovery of a massive diamond in the area. Eavesdrop on conversations to learn more about the eccentric cast of characters who find themselves gathered at Crimson Lodge. Explore the lodge and its environs to evaluate the diamond claim, and maybe solve a mystery or two along the way! The Crimson Diamond is a cozy mystery that encourages reading and engaging in the story over devious arcade challenges.

History

Julia Minamata is a freelance game developer and illustrator. This game is inspired by old school text parser-driven adventure games, both in mechanics and aesthetics. Julia uses limited colour palettes in her illustrations and was particularly drawn to the 16-colour EGA palette of Sierra adventure games of the 1980s and 1990s. Combining the rose-coloured nostalgia goggles of growing up in that era with some proof-of-concept artwork, Julia was ready to start developing her game!

Features

- Explore Crimson Lodge and the surrounding wilderness
- Listen and talk to a cast of characters with different personalities and motivations.
- Uncover secrets, discover hidden areas, solve mysteries!

 

[LESS T_T]

The Crimson Diamond is an EGA text parser mystery adventure game where you play as amateur geologist and reluctant detective Nancy Maple. Follow Nancy as she travels north to the fictional ghost town of Crimson, Ontario to investigate the discovery of a massive diamond in the area. Eavesdrop on conversations to learn more about the eccentric cast of characters who find themselves gathered at Crimson Lodge. Explore the lodge and its environs to evaluate the diamond claim, and maybe solve a mystery or two along the way! The Crimson Diamond is a cozy mystery that encourages reading and engaging in the story over devious arcade challenges.

- Explore Crimson Lodge and the surrounding wilderness
- Listen and talk to a cast of characters with different personalities and motivations.
- Uncover secrets, discover hidden areas, solve mysteries!

 

[Boleskine]

 

[Darth Roxor]

I gave the demo of that Crimson Diamond thingy a very short spin, looks p. cool. Also, watching the intro I thought, "this better be WIP because EGA graphics does not mean prosper graphics," and then near the end one of the characters says, "This is what the game graphics are ACTUALLY gonna look like."

 

[Cromwell]

I gave the demo of that Crimson Diamond thingy a very short spin, looks p. cool. Also, watching the intro I thought, "this better be WIP because EGA graphics does not mean prosper graphics," and then near the end one of the characters says, "This is what the game graphics are ACTUALLY gonna look like."

still looks better than the last door and everybody praised that ugly piece of shit

 

[Don Peste]

I gave the demo of that Crimson Diamond thingy a very short spin, looks p. cool. Also, watching the intro I thought, "this better be WIP because EGA graphics does not mean prosper graphics," and then near the end one of the characters says, "This is what the game graphics are ACTUALLY gonna look like."

I just realized it's a text adventure...

 

[Infinitron]

 

[GandGolf]

I just realized it's a text adventure...

Parser games can be a problem if you are lazy like me and don't like having to type stuff in a lot. still looking forward to it though

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Oh shit, how did I miss this? Colonel’s Bequest is one of my all-time faves. This looks like it could be a decent homage. Not sure about setting the game in daylight though, a big part of Laura Bow 1’s atmosphere comes from the oppressive dark night.

 

[WallaceChambers]

Looks cool I appreciate that it's an authentic 16 color pallette. Has a charm to it that the HD-ified retro stuff a lot of other indies go for doesn't. Hope there's more too it than nostalgia worship, though. By that I just mean that I hope the murder mystery part of the game is actually well done.

 

[Boleskine]

 

[Boleskine]

Good interview with Julia Minamata:



She estimates the game is half way done and may be out in a year or so.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Looks very interesting, love the look! Here's hoping it comes out good.

 

[Mr. Underhill]

I saw this at AdventureX, kept wanting to try it and didn't get a chance to. It looks STUNNING in motion. I love the dedication to the aesthetic - it makes the absolute most of the limitations.. Really, really looking forward to it.

 

[LESS T_T]

A separated Steam page for free chapter? What is different with the existing demo that is already available on Steam?

The Crimson Diamond: Chapter 1 is your introduction to Crimson, Ontario Canada and the mysteries that lie in wait! This is a fully playable chapter that sets the stage for what will follow...

 

[Boleskine]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1098770/view/3133943554963340907

New The Crimson Diamond Demo available!
Bug fixes, UI improvements, upgraded art!

Coinciding with the start of The Big Adventure Event 2022, I'm pleased to launch a new and improved version of The Crimson Diamond Demo!

The demo is the first chapter of a game that will release in its entirety as seven chapters.

This new version fixes many bugs, addresses player feedback, provides more, toggle-able options for player UI, and has a bit of upgraded art in the introductory sequence!

IMPORTANT: Save games from previous versions of the demo will no longer be functional. No new story elements have been added. This version is a new & improved Chapter 1!

This demo will remain available, even after The Big Adventure Event 2022 concludes!

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Full release when?

 

[OndrejSc]

 

[Alienman]

Demo feels buggy. And for some weird reason, the charming music stops after the "intro". It's a dead quiet game, except for a few sound effects.

With buggy, well, I managed to sequence break the game. I did the dinner scene before talking to the chef, which had him mentioning the dinner when talking to him after I had it. Which then locked up the game when I entered the dinner hall. It all turned black. Had to reload an earlier save. And at one point, pressing enter to input commands stopped working. Had to use space instead. But the problem with space is that the last command is saved there, so I had to use backspace every time I wanted to type a new input. A bit annoying. Otherwise, I found it charming, I guess. I have no real nostalgic connection to parser games, so from a novelty perspective it's kinda cool. But I think I would prefer traditional point & click.

Think I found an Easter egg by trying to hide in the wardrobe:

Spoiler

 

[Curratum]

Thread for game from 2018. Game still not released in mid-2022.

Get the fuck out of here with those vaporware titles.

 

[Rincewind]

The art is lovely and so is the whole atmosphere, really looking forward to it whenever it's ready.

 

[Pound Meat]

>the fictional ghost town of Crimson, Ontario

Canada's not real?

 

[Krice]

I like those dev streams, really interesting to see how someone is creating a game. I don't know about the game itself, I have a love-hate relationship to adventure games.

 

[OndrejSc]

 

[Fictive Cunt]

I played this demo, it was nice, obviously aping The Colonel's Bequest. The graphics and animated portraits are looking great* and there are even multiple bathrooms to take a shit in. Don't forget to wash your hands. The demo has a number of conversations to take part in but there are virtually no puzzles and no deaths/game overs. It is a very nice demo but quite short and besides the intro cinematic, virtually the same as the five year old youtube video. I'm concerned that at the pace it's coming, ETA for the full game will be another five years.

*except for this goofy screen that must be an old placeholder