Games by JimD Newsletter – Game Updates, Stronghold, Random Events

Welcome to my 78th newsletter! It's been a great month of writing, and I'm making progress on at least two of my games, both in the Zombie Exodus Universe. I hope to finish writing Part 4 by the end of this year, but I am still trying to predict when I can finish Stronghold. Initially, I thought it would only take a few months since most of it was already written for StoryLoom. However, the game for that platform was far too simple. It wouldn't have translated well to Hosted Games since people are already familiar with my style of games. My new goal is to finish it by this year and have two games released next year.

Those two games will remain my focus, though I will keep updating Deadbury Academy as much as possible.

In this newsletter, I'll discuss all of my current games in production and also discuss random events in the games.

Let's get started.

Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 4

Part 4 is 524,000 words, with over 24,000 words added this month! I'm targeting an additional 2,000-3,000 words by the end of the month.

I should be able to conclude the mission to Central Colorado University this month and move on to chapter 15 next month. I will still work on smaller missions here and there and develop random events that will occur throughout Part 4. I may go back and add some to Part 3. These random events will test your group and different skills. I'm hoping they increase the realism of each play-through since you won't be able to predict which events you receive or when they occur.

The other day, I posted a poll on Patreon for people to vote on descriptions of random events that may appear in the game. Here are the winners so far:

Medical Emergency

A couple on the road as their vehicle parked right outside the main road leading to the junkyard. When they are discovered, you find a pregnant woman inside, giving birth. You must decide to either help her or turn them away.

Frozen Dilemma

A winter storm hits unexpectedly while you're exploring an abandoned supermarket. Trapped and freezing, you must find a way to stay warm and survive without attracting unwanted attention from human and zombie predators.

Water Well Woes

The junkyard's well, a vital water source, suddenly runs dry. Upon investigation, you find the well's collapse reveals an underground passage. Exploring it might uncover a new water source or something far more dangerous lurking beneath your home.

 I plan to start with these three events in the coming months but hope to continue to add more. These will involve short scenes with only a few choices but could have a long-lasting impact. For example, if you do not find a new water source for the junkyard, potable water will become more scarce, which risks your survival.

Zombie Exodus: Stronghold

Stronghold is up to 36,000 words converted so far. That means I have doubled the word count so far this month and am now finishing chapter 3. 

This month, I coded a new feature similar to the Challenges in Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven. In Stronghold, you can use perks and flaws to round out your character. Some will only affect lowering or raising skills, while others will impact actual gameplay. Below is a list of all of the Perks & Flaws in the game.

I also ran a poll to see if people would like me to put up chapters for testing. People responded that they are more interested in testing the game when it is closer to completion. Since many people are wondering what the game is about, I am considering putting up the first chapter as a demo. I may do that in the coming weeks and will update everyone if you wish to play.

Deadbury Academy

As I said in the introduction, I have less time to work on Deadbury Academy. After receiving feedback on the first chapter, I plan on adding more content related to the plane crash and how it impacts the students. I have written more in chapter 2 and have converted some of the scenes provided by Mia, but there is a lot more to go before I feel comfortable releasing the game.

That's all for this month.