Games by JimD Newsletter #37 – Project Updates

Welcome to my 37th newsletter! I can’t believe how long I’ve been doing this and still have anything to say to you all. Then again these newsletters have mostly become updates on my game progress which I enjoy sharing with all of you. I’ll keep the introductions brief and get right into the discussion of my two games in active production. I also want to talk a bit about sex. That’s right, this newsletter will provide a very frank discussion on the topic of sexual content in my games. Feel free to skip that section if it does not appeal to you.

Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 3

As of this moment, Part 3 is up to 364,936 words. I am deep into writing the Military Depot mission. So far I have built the framework of the depot so that you could visit rooms multiple times. I am nearly done writing a scene for those participating in the hacker mission and I just finished writing a scene for those participating in the science mission. If you’ve been waiting to experiment with the virus, you will be happy to know I have set the groundwork for doing that in the next chapter if certain things are accomplished in the military depot. You may also learn a very important connection a character has with the virus. Sorry for all of the teasers but I don’t want to spoil anyone from finding out key information in the game.

As for the last part of the depot mission, this will have a key section specifically designed for those participating in the military mission. You will finally have a chance to talk to Colonel Goodman as well as other military forces in the area. Even if you are not doing the military mission, you will have some major choices to make that will have great impact on the military depot.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may also have read that I am working on the first romantic interaction with Julianne from the hacker mission. Since this is a long distance romance, this interaction will take place via WebCam. It’s a pretty steamy scene, so I imagine it will be talked about especially after the game is released.

I should be able to finish the depot mission in November. That leaves the final chapter for December and then testing and feedback in January. I hope to send Part 3 to the copyeditor in early February. I have let Hosted Games know about my schedule and hope that helps get it pushed out quickly in the early part of 2021.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Out for Blood

As of this moment, Out for Blood is up to 351,978 words. I’m set to turn in the first draft on Halloween. After that, my editor will review the files and suggest changes. There will be back and forth between him and me which will last throughout November. I’m expecting a closed beta to begin in December. Though it is a closed beta technically, it will be open to the public to apply to participate. This will be run by Choice of Games. I will let everyone know as soon the application for the beta is available, and I will notify my patrons in case you are interested in applying.

Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Sex & Romance

As I continue to write Part 3, I’ve been thinking about the type of romantic content available in the game. I have always felt a game based on a zombie apocalypse should have very adult content. There is gore, killings, torture, and many other disturbing types of content routinely experienced in the game. Sex is an entirely different animal. Any form of censorship of sexual content relates to the guidelines of the app stores in which we distribute Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven. Apple continues to be the most restrictive. They review each app before release and will reject content they feel is questionable. They have been softening their rules on erotica and sexual content in the past year, but they could change at any time and become more restrictive again. So there needs to be a delicate balance when writing sexually explicit content.

I recently polled my Patreon patrons and my Facebook group on their interest in uncensored sexual content in my games. Of the 464 people who responded, 393 people selected “I enjoy explicit content and don't need to be asked about it. Make it R-rated.” This constitutes an overwhelming 84.7% of those polled agree to reading R-rated material. Many suggested I have a choice early in the game or in the start menu for a player to choose the level of their sexual content in game. This type of choice will add to some of the development time, but it may be worth it to warn players about the level of sexually explicit language. However I already allow many opportunities to opt out of this type of content. I also allow options like cuddling and other nonsexual interactions. With such a one-sided vote, my plan is to write R-rated content from Part 3 forward. I will still include those options to limit sexual interactions and do “fade to black” scenes. I’m hoping this works for everyone as it seems romantic interactions are an extremely popular part of the experience of Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven.

Until next time, stay safe and thank you for all of your support!