Games by JimD Newsletter – Game Updates, Schedule

Welcome to my 92nd newsletter! As some of you know, I was admitted to the hospital on Monday, June 9, and was discharged on Saturday, June 14. I had bleeding in my stomach and had to have numerous diagnostic tests. Everything went fine, but it was a tough week to say the least. Recovery has been slow, but I work on ZE:SH daily. I’m not that far off from my normal word count, but I lost almost a full week of work.

That said, I’m trying to stick to my plan to send Part 4 to my editor by the end of July. I’ll tell you more about that timeline below.

We are getting closer to the release and hope it happens by this year's end.

In this newsletter, I will review my development plans, as always. Let's get started.

Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 4

Part 4 is 906,000 words, with over 16,000 words added this month. As I said, I am off my target but not that far, and I still have more time to write before my next demo release.

Before I went into the hospital, I contacted Hosted Games to let them know I’m submitting Part 4 by the end of July. They were excited to hear it’s almost ready and want me to get in the editing queue as soon as possible. When I submit my files, they will give me an estimate for the release. It’s hard to predict when it will happen, but our goal is to release it before the end of the year.

It’s important to understand the publishing process. Because my games receive a wide release, they must be professionally edited. A real, live editor must read Part 4 and correct grammar, spelling, and minor continuity errors. I will likely be sending them 1 million words. Editing for a book of that size takes months. Also, I write a very lean story. I don’t reuse code or embellish my word counts like I’ve seen some writers do. The editor is going to have to read every single word.

After they finish, they will return the corrected files for my approval. There will be numerous comments that I must fix. That process usually takes me a month for a game of this size.

On top of that, Hosted Games has numerous other games in their queue. Even though I have one of the most successful games, the queue is first-come, first-served. Performance does not allow you to skip the line. I’m still hoping to see it hit the various platforms and Omnibus apps by the end of this year.

In other news, I am wrapping up content I have skipped over time to focus on the main story. Right now, I’m writing more of the scenes in which multiple romantic partners argue over the MC. These scenes take considerable time because there are so many romantic partners, each with their own personalities and motivations.

Next month, I will spend most of my time editing and playtesting. I will then begin Part 4-2, a major free update that will add features and content that people have been waiting for.

Zombie Exodus: Stronghold

Stronghold is up to 150,000 words so far. If you are interested in testing each new chapter, please check out the link below:

https://cogdemos.ink/play/jimd/zombie-exodus-stronghold-public-beta/mygame/ 

When I start developing Stronghold again, I will work on chapter 6. About two months ago, I reworked the outline and believe it should be about fifteen chapters. That number may change, but I think it’s a reasonable estimate. I’m aiming for the entire game to be roughly 300,000 words. I believe I can accomplish a lot in six months.

Deadbury Academy

Deadbury Academy was updated a few months ago, and I posted a new demo at the following location.

https://cogdemos.ink/play/jimd/deadbury-academy/mygame/

As you may remember, I put the development of this game on hold until I finish writing Safe Haven, Part 4.

That's all for this month.