Games by JimD Newsletter – ZE:SH Part 3+4, True Faith

Welcome to my 58th newsletter! It’s hot in New Jersey today, and it will be for the next week or so. We’re in the middle of a heat wave, and I’m actually going to write a serious heat wave into Safe Haven, Part 4. Weather always presents an extra challenge in an apocalyptic setting. I’m looking forward to changing seasons that bring heavy rains, snowstorms, and hurricanes and tornadoes, just to see how your group handles them.

It’s been a productive month, though I haven’t had as much time to write Part 4. I’ll get into the reason for that below. Whenever I feel I can devote time to Part 4, something pops up, but writing a game entails numerous efforts that readers don’t see: editing, testing, bug fixes, managing Patreon, responding to questions and emails, social media, marketing… The list can go on and on. I enjoy most of it, so that keeps me moving forward.

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

Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 3 & 4

Part 4 is currently at 125,000 words, around 15,000 words more this month. I’m trying for 20,000 words for my Patreon Beta test, and I should be able to hit it. My goal is to finish chapter 13 next month and start chapter 14 immediately. Chapter 14 will take place at the junkyard and be an opportunity for the MC to discuss recent events, ask questions of your fellow survivors, and find out the impact of some of the choices you made. For example, it will be the first opportunity to discuss Jillian’s recent development, if that’s something happening in your game. You will be able to see the fate of Rachel and also have time to spend with new members of the group if you have added them in chapter 12. Those are just examples of the things coming in chapter 14.

For those of you who wish to mix in some action, I’m also going to add a series of short missions with specific members of your group. For example, you will be able to visit a strip mall with the twins, a veterinary clinic with Reilly and Billie, and a campground with Kelly and Parker. As you may have guessed, that last mission will only be available if Kelly and Parker are part of your group. These short missions may only consist of 3-5 choices but will provide opportunities to bond with those characters and explore other locations.

A considerable amount of my time this month also went into bug fixes. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I have a dedicated tester who is playing the game from the prologue all the way through the end of Part 3. She has given me a considerable number of bugs along with suggestions to improve the game. All of the fixes have gone into the last patch which released on Monday, July 18. There are still more bug fixes coming, and I’ve already had a few reports posted on Discord of new bugs. My goal is to keep fixing all of these in a timely manner with at least one new patch per month.

I’m also planning on updating the public beta of the game sometime in the last week of this month.

Vampire: The Masquerade — Out for Blood

This month, the True Faith patch has gone through another round of testing from numerous readers. Because of the addition of faith mechanics, all of which are based in religious customs and observances, we presented the new version to experts and casual readers for what is called sensitivity reads. If you play the game as a Muslim vampire hunter, the experience will be tailored to you. If you wish to play as a Jewish scholar, the game will be customized to that experience. We also included paths for Christians and for those who declare a different religion altogether. As you can probably predict, we had to add a considerable amount of content to handle each religion. I don’t know of any other game that provides such an option. It may or may not appeal to you, but I would recommend trying at least one playthrough with a character who specializes in faith.

The latest iteration of the updated game is now going through another round of testing and final approval by Paradox. It’s still too early to say when they will give that approval, but I will keep you all updated. The True Faith patch is free to anyone that owns the game. It will not be DLC or an extra purchase.

Deadbury Academy

As I have said in the past, Deadbury Academy is not my focus at the moment, but I want to give updates each month on its progress. I’m excited to say that the writer has provided me a total of 160,000 words so far. I take that content, add to it, put it in choices, and expand what she has written. That means the finished project would likely be around 200,000 words. She is not even close to being done. It’s going to have the same complexity as Safe Haven, though it won’t have as many skills. It will have challenges with several unique ones being included.

I’m really excited to share this game with everyone, though it may be a while before I release a beta version.

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