"Drakulas Diamanten" by C. Seibt (1983)

Full Walkthrough

"Dracula's Diamonds" was originally published in German as a type-in for ZX-81 in the October 1983 issue of Homecomputer magazine, pp.30-35. I found out about it from Strident over on the CASA Adventure forum. He suggested it as a possibility for conversion and translation. Thanks Strident! He mentioned a VZ version and provided some useful info for tracking the game down. I was able to find it on one of the VZ repos under the collection of German Laser 200 programs. Using Google Translate I was able to translate the German messages and items into English.

Apparently, there are also Spectrum and C64 versions. The titles vary ranging from Dracula to Draculas Diamanten and also the more Germanic Drakulas. The main differences seem to be in tweaks to the graphics. I used techniques I've developed to translate the graphic characters from Laser/VZ-200 BASIC to something that works on the MC-10. Unfortunately, they all come over as red semi-graphic block characters. Then I have to "re-colourize" them.

A modern coder Frank Gerbig liked the game so much that he translated it into a modern Interactive Fiction (IF) creation engine (Inform), which can be played online (in German).  Like him I couldn't resist reimagining the game. First I tweaked the graphics using my MC-10 screen editor software. It was very awkward back in the day to draw text graphics using only the keyboard to input characters. But today I can just transfer an entire screen to my special BASIC editor program. Then I can print out the screen and re-line number it and add PRINT statements and reinsert it back into the code using a modern text editor. So I was able to fix some clunky aspects of the line drawings, and fiddle with colours and changes shapes to make the images look a little more coherent and the items a little more identifiable. For example, I tweaked the "fan" in the bathroom to look more like a fan (I initially thought it was some weird decoration).

Original Painting and Cabinet

I also fixed the operation of the fan switch so that when it is turned on, it prints a message about the "stench" disappearing. The walkthrough for the ZX-81 or Commodore version on CASA mentions such a message, but it didn't appear in the VZ version.

I fixed the two-word parser to accept more synonyms. Now you can TAKE or GET, PUT or PLACE.  Nouns too. GET NOTE or GET PAPER. OPEN CABINET or OPEN CUPBOARD.  PULL or MOVE. FRIDGE or REFRIGERATOR, etc.

I changed many of the "hints" and added a few more. Some of the original hints seemed to imply that D. was aware that you are there. The first one was weird. It said "YOU WILL NEVER FIND THE STONES."  I didn't like this notion of D. being aware of the presence of the investigator., although this particular hint could have also been meant as way to give a hint to the puzzle in the Tower Room that involves a "stone" (seems a stretch). Another one was an outright instruction: "SOMETIMES PAINTINGS HIDE VALUABLES."  I changed the notes to avoid threats and indications of awareness of your presence. I also altered the location of a few to make them slightly more difficult to find, but at least more understandable as to why they might be there. In most cases I made them into notes of D. to himself, like the new one on the table in the first room: "REMEMBER: BUY MORE CANDLES." This seems more reasonable-- just a shopping list. And that table is right below a chandelier with what might be recognized as having candles in it.  Or I made them jokes or cases of possible scribbling.

I added to the graphic images that appear when you take actions in rooms that show the results of your actions. I fixed the door of the fridge to make it look more like an opened door, for example.  I also added a board to the bathroom when you figure out where to place the last piece of the puzzle. I made some significant changes to the way Young Count D. looks (i.e. Count Dracula-- As if it is really a mystery). I changed the code number to the actual birthdate of the actual historical Count.

Finally, I added "C. Seibt" back to the title screen. Wolfgang Wesemann, seems to have felt his alterations to the code warranted the dropping of the original author (not an uncommon practice back in the day). I would agree that it must have been a lot of effort to get it working on a Laser/VZ-200 so I kept Wesemann on the title page, but I thought it best in the Internet Age to also add back a reference to the original author.

If you want to compare the changes I have made to something closer to the original Laser/VZ-200 version, watch my walkthrough at the top and the other Youtube video, then these snippets of the rooms as they now appear. In the snippets I show all the possible actions available in each room.

New BOARD animation and game completion.  Ladder down added to hatch.

New Fridge door, New kitchen door to the east. Pipe added to cabinet.

New Count (scarier I hope). Now the blood can be opened anywhere.

Basement shows hatch above. Tweaked BLOOD RESERVES and CHISEL

New initial NOTE clue. Improved CABINET and PAINTING

New Bathroom clues re: BUTTON, toilet ROLL, BOWL.

New FRIDGE and STICKER clue. New Tower Room with WALL/STONES clue.

The game can be played on the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/DRAKULAS

ADDENDUM:

Added color to the window in the first room and changed an aspect of the game that prevented the curtain from being opened until you read the note on the table. Seemed somewhat confusing and arbitrary that players couldn't draw a curtain simply because they hadn't read a note.

Cyan Window