I do have a backed up version but it's not recent.

I just have to find the motivation to rewrite what I've lost.

*sigh*!

But all is not lost. I'm just trying to spur my motivation.

ABCD Wed Sep 26 05:41:37 2007	Any news on the ''Diamond Key''?
	I've got it mostly done, but progress has come to a temporary halt due to lack of spare time at the moment.

ABCD Tue Oct 23 13:04:55 2007	Any news on ''The Diamond Key''?
	If there was, it would be on here. In fact, I have just started to look at it again after a lengthy break from it.

ABCD
Thu Oct 25 08:35:46 2007

Cool. Thank you.
Don't mean to pester you, just wanted to keep track of the progress (if any ;)).

E.

ffproject
Sat Nov 24 09:30:12 2007

The Diamond Key

Finally, Ulysses Ai's giant gamebook is ready for play. In the author's words :

Rather than being long, it simply has numerous paths and side adventures to follow. It is not designed to be difficult, but rather an enjoyable experience, as events develop according to your choices.
There is no one way to succeed, and it will take some time for the ultimate purpose of the adventure to emerge.

There are 6 successful endings, all of which are valid. The ending in reference 1000 should be considered the ‘true’ ending only if readers want a challenge.

Haoie
Sun Nov 25 02:17:39 2007

Thanks so much for getting the Diamond Key up. I'm sure it's worth the wait, yay

TrouserDemon
Sun Nov 25 16:27:05 2007

Thanks again for another great adventure!

Shadow Dragon
Mon Nov 26 07:39:02 2007

Wow. Let me just say first that the Diamond Key completely rocks. One of the best gamebooks on this site, just for its size and content alone. The plot is awesome, and I think I've figured out the true purpose of the book. I'm almost certain I have. What I can't figure out is, how to achieve this purpose. I can get all the way to the end, but the ending I usually end up with is reference 800, and I'm really curious about reference 1000. Any way I could get a nudge in the right direction here? I've been through the book at least 4 times already, tried everything I can think of, taken all the paths I can think of with no luck. I'm wondering if there's any way to get into the smoothe door in the castle? Or to properly use your rope and grappling hook on the tower window. Thanks.

Shadow dragon
Wed Nov 28 17:46:49 2007

Hi,

I was just comparing the text version and the online version. I'm just curious as to why there seem to be a lot of descrepancies between the two? For example, I followed the exact path to find the game of that Gilmore guy in the book, but even when I was at the proper section I never got the choice to go find his camp. Is this an oversight or did you for some reason leave it out on purpose? Just curious because there seems to be a lot of useful things in there, especially that silver scalemail.

Also, I'm not sure if this is a bug or not, but the grappling hook thing I mensioned earlier? For some reason there is no test your skill link, only a continue link. Thanks.

There are no major discrepancies, but there are numerous simplifications, more so than in most of the adaptations. In particular, many items that had no bearing on the plot have been removed, especially if their action was too complicated.

It may be worth bearing in mind that I wasn't working from the version on the downloads page, but from a (slightly) edited version provided by the author when I expressed concern about the number of items. One of the cuts was Gilmore the Groat. Maybe I will restore him in the future, maybe not.

As for the grappling hook:

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Shadow Dragon
Wed Nov 28 20:29:50 2007

Oops, heh. The above post was supposed to be an email, not sure why I put it here instead. *shrug*

Shadow Dragon
Wed Nov 28 21:36:11 2007

Ah, I see. I figured it was either that or one of those hidden dice rolls like in hellfire or riders of the storm.

I really hope Gilmore gets put in some time in the future, that silver scalemail looks nice and then you wouldn't have to waste 80 gold buying the chainmail (Not that it really matters if you know what you're doing.) Is it still possible to get all 6 endings with all the adaptations? I've so far only seen I think 2. The one at reference 800 is the one I get most often, and I'm not even certain the other is an ending. Either way I sort of hope that as you have more time to work on the book in the future, you could make it closer to the text version on the downloads page. This one's cool enough if you don't have time for that, but some of the stuff is a bit misleading, like the grappling hook thing. Ah well, I'm gonna go play some more.

Ulysses Ai
Thu Nov 29 09:50:41 2007

I am relieved to see some positive initial comments about The Diamond Key, although I am sure the 'encouraging' comments will soon appear.
Because of my lack of checking and refining of this gamebook, Andy has had to make a lot of alterations to make it work; for which I express my gratitude. However, since I gave him such a big mess, there are still a few elements that need to be refined. I invite everyone to place their suggestions here; understanding of course that what actions are subsequently taken is another matter.

Regarding the ending in reference 1000; I have just done a test play and it is definately possible to reach it. I will give the following clue for those who want to focus their efforts:

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Good luck!

Ulysses Ai Thu Nov 29 11:51:19 2007	For additional challenges, readers may wish to see if they can do the following: 1. Go to Hell (Twice) 2. Travel to the Realm of the Serpent-People 3. Find the Royal Necromancer's laboratory 4. Obtain a second Diamond Key 5. Obtain 3 Fireswords (Not sure if this one is possible in the online version)
	Number 5 is indeed impossible in the online version, all the others can be done though.

Shadow Dragon
Thu Nov 29 20:07:35 2007

Hmm. I've tried a lot in the city when I get there, I wonder what I keep missing? The additional challenges are cool, I've done at least two of them. The labritory though, did you mean necromancer? Or alchemist. Because I found a labritory and got in, but in the story it describes it as some kind of alchemists labritory or something. Is that the same thing?

SPOILER

END SPOILER

I'll play around in the capitol city more and see if I can figure out how to get to the true ending. Thanks for the hint.

Gaetano
Thu Nov 29 22:15:00 2007

Congrats on The Diamond Key. This adventure reads like a novel. It must have taken ages to write! And thanks once again to the site administrator for his time and effort in maintaining this site.

Shadow Dragon
Thu Nov 29 23:57:47 2007

Ok, I'm really curious now.

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Ulysses Ai
Fri Nov 30 02:14:59 2007

Hi Shadow Dragon, glad you're having so much 'fun' with the gamebook.

The Alchemist's lab you are referring to is different to the Royal Necromancer's laboratory. Don't stress too much about finding the Nec lab, since you don't actually get anything you need there, which is a bit silly given how hard it is to get into.
Hint:

SPOILER

END SPOILER

To get to the Realm of the Serpent People, all the info you need is provided in the story - no guesswork required.

SPOILER

END SPOILER

I hate to give out the solution to reference 1000 at such an early stage as this, but I will tell you this much if you really, really need to know:

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Hope this helps.

Shadow Dragon
Fri Nov 30 06:26:46 2007

Thanks for the info about the second ending. I think I figured it out. However, this time I really did find a bug.

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Shadow Dragon
Fri Nov 30 07:41:20 2007

Hi,

I've now seen the true ending. Thanks for the help, I can't believe I didn't think of that on my own, lol. Anyway, I found another bug.

SPOILER

END SPOILER

Also, I've completed all 5 challenges now as well, and it is indeed possible to get 3 fireswords. I've never gotten them all at once but I have seen 3 of them. Anyway, awesome job on this gamebook. I like all the alternate paths, and I plan to finish looking at hell when that bug gets fixed.

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