Games by JimD Newsletter – Safe Haven updates, RP with Jim!

Welcome to my 60th newsletter! My daytime job has been consistently giving me a lot of work, but I’ve still been writing as much as possible. I recently watched a video by a YouTube content creator who discussed his average workweek is 50-60 hours per week, and that he was able to leave his day job to work full-time making video content. While I am not ready to quit my regular job, it’s definitely been on my mind lately. When I think about all the extra time I could be spending writing and marketing and interacting with my readers if I can leave my job, it keeps me very motivated to reach my goals. Every time I want to take a break and play a videogame or watch a show on Netflix, I feel a pull towards my computer to write. I still find time for relaxation, but I’m glad I keep my drive to produce more for those who support me.

I also have an exciting opportunity to share with everyone-- the chance to role-play with me in your own personalized story. I’m going to be adding a new tier to Patreon to give people an opportunity to play a game in the Zombie Exodus world with me as the game master. I’m really excited about it and will describe it all the later in this newsletter.

This month in the newsletter, like always, I will provide updates on my games and info on upcoming releases. Let’s get started.

Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 3 & 4

Part 4 is currently at 160,000 words, around 16,000 words more this month. Despite my increased workload at my day job, I’ve been able to write consistently. I also put out an update to the official app which added some much-needed content, especially for the Delusions challenge, and also fixed some issues with watchtowers that many people have reported. There are still quite a few bugs out there that I’m trying to fix and will keep working on making the game bug free.

I am almost done writing chapter 13. It’s a very lengthy chapter with lots to do and some very unique scenes. For one, you will have the opportunity to meet a new group in Colorado and also a new threat created by the virus. I know that’s really vague, but I don’t want to give spoilers away. I’ll just say this new threat leads to an interesting possible storyline that readers will be talking about, especially once the game is released.

Chapter 14 will include a time jump and much-needed time at the junkyard. Instead of having open-ended chapters, I’m going to focus 14 on handling group matters, social activities, and leadership tasks. Even if your MC is not the group’s leader, you will have a lot of impact in this chapter. For example, this will be the first opportunity to change leaders. You may recall the vote between Rachel, Jaime, and the MC before the battle near the hill in chapter 5. That was a long time ago, and it’s time to have a new election. Of course, leadership may stay the same, but the group has certainly gone through numerous changes. The outcome could very much be different this time.

I’m also going to include a number of smaller missions in chapter 14 and most likely in chapter 15. These missions will each contain 3-5 choices and give you the option of going with a small group. It’s the perfect opportunity to try out different combinations of survivors, get to know new people, or spend time with your RO.

RP with Jim

For the past year or so, I have been trying to come up with ideas for interacting with my readers in other ways. I’ve always loved play-by-post role-playing games and even know of a server that runs a role-playing game based on Zombie Exodus.  I have been a text role-player for a long time and am now offering an opportunity for a select number of people to join an actual game of Zombie Exodus run by me.

Players will create their characters using the same character builder as in Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven and will then participate in playing those characters out in posts made through a special Discord channel. Even if you are not participating in the game, you will be able to view the posts and even discuss the game over Discord.

Since I expect that this could be a rather popular game, I am limiting it to only 6 players. Due to how much time and effort I expect to put into the game, it’s being set at a new tier at $50 per month.

For more information, visit this page or feel free to message me.

Vampire: The Masquerade — Out for Blood

The True Faith patch is still in review at Paradox/WoD. I was told by my editor at Choice of Games that I am next on the list for review. As soon as I learn any updates, I will let you all know.

That’s all for this month. Until next time, stay safe, and thank you for your support!