Games by JimD Newsletter – Game News

April is almost over, and it’s been a hectic month. I’ve worked on every game I have in development, including a few you’ve never heard of. My wife and I bought a house! Well, we are under contract and go to settlement soon. May will be just as busy, but my writing will not slow down.

In this newsletter, just like most months, I’ll share news on Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Vampire Fiction, and another potential project for the future.

Game Updates

One small correction. In the last newsletter, my wonderful self-editing skills missed a mistake. I wrote “Part 3 released” when I meant to say “Part 2-2.” Clearly, Part 3 did not release. My apologies to those who read that mistake and thought the wrong thing. 

Now on to the real stuff.

Part 3: I have written 40,000 words of Part 3 and released it to my Patreon patrons ($10 level). Chapter 8 is far from over, but I’m getting the framework done. For those interested in a dissection of one new feature, I’ll discuss crafting later in this newsletter.

In terms of timeline, Part 3 is looking like it will be 400,000+ words. If I am writing 20,000 words per month, that is going to take a while to finish. I’ll keep you updated on my progress each month.

Vampire Fiction: Episodes 1-3 are currently available for iOS. I’ve made progress on Episode 4 but not as much as I would have liked. I’m hoping to release it in May. FableLabs only asks for 10,000 words but I always do much more. Still no word on an Android version, but I hope for good news in May.

Future Projects

Zombie Exodus: Dead Zone: Ethan Underhill, who wrote the pharmacy mission in ZE:SH Part 2-2 and other content, will be continuing work on Dead Zone very soon. He is a very fast writer, so I imagine he will finish his part of writing 200,000+ words this summer. As we make progress, I will update everyone.

I have another super-secret project in the proposal stage but cannot discuss it yet. All I can divulge at this stage is that we are negotiating some details with other groups involved, and we received positive news this month. We are still not across the finish line, though. When we do sign the deal, I’ll be sure to climb to my roof and shout out the news to all. My neighbors will be confused, but I’ll be happy.

Just so there is no confusion, we are not in talks with AMC, Robert Kirkman, or anything related to The Walking Dead. This new project is not zombie-related.

Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven Part 3 – Junkyard Crafting

If you don’t want to read any details on Part 3, please do not read below.

One feature which has taken awhile to develop is a new crafting and reinforcement feature. Some players did not like the way crafting and reinforcing the camp worked in Part 2. The main criticism is that the main character is almost required to have the Crafting or Survival skill to protect camp. While Gina and Woody can help, there are no options to task others to dig a trench, cut wood, or contribute at all. I needed to change that.

Another criticism is that Jaime and Rachel, if leaders, do not direct anyone to protect camp, aside from watch duty.

In Part 3, new options will be available.

• Leaders will be able to plan development of trenches, palisades, watch towers, and much more. Other than defense, you can mark projects to build improvements such as chicken coops, farms, an infirmary, and more. Once planned, survivors can be assigned to each task. The leader does not need a skill to plan it, as long as one survivor has the skill.
• Non-leaders will not have to worry about organizing development of reinforcements or new structures. Rachel and Jaime will direct construction, though you can still give them advice.

I’m still working out the kinks in the system, and my testers are helping to identify bugs.

I’ll keep providing details on new features each month.