Games by JimD Newsletter -- New Writer, New Artwork, Q&A

Patrons get to read this 1-week ahead of time. Enjoy!

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This month I released the first beta test for the new content update to Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 2 (which is nicknamed Part 2-2). So far, I’ve added 40,000 words to the game and plan about double that.

In this newsletter, I’ll discuss a new contributing writer, unveil some updates on Patreon, and provide some answers to reader questions.

New Contributing Writer

Recently, I have brought in a new contributing writer for Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 2, Ethan Underhill. Ethan is pursuing a degree in Fine Arts in Writing at Emerson College in Boston and will be contributing to Part 3 in a way similar to how Mia did for Part 2. Ethan has already written for another zombie mobile app—Survivor Z. He is hard at work on a mission called Pharmacy Run.

Ethan and I are also brainstorming on yet another spin-off in the ZE Universe. More details will be provided in next month’s newsletter.

Updates on Patreon

This is not a section of my newsletter to plug my Patreon page directly (maybe indirectly), but due to the contributions I receive, I have been able to fund several new endeavors:

1. I have commissioned artwork by Rob French for my recent short story, Finn Meets the Makarovs.

2. I am able to start Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 3 sooner than expected.

3. I have commissioned artwork by Adrienne Valdes as a new splash screen for Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 2.

I will continue to use my Patreon contributions to find ways to enhance my written offerings to everyone.

Q&A

Will there be any further need for money? (I need to steal more things from Thelma's Store if so!)

Yes, money will continue to be a currency in the ZE: Safe Haven. Since the timeline is only a week or so into the outbreak, enough people are clinging to the hope of a cure for the infection. I actually am writing a trading opportunity where money is still seen as valuable, at least until people realize the outbreak is here to stay.

On Day Two, when Lyle and Jillian are loitering outside your house, there is a shadowy figure hiding and watching them both. Will we ever find out who that figure is? 

There are parts of the game that may never be fully explored. This is an example of an author giving a detail to make readers think about the unpredictable nature of the apocalypse.

What is your biggest regret when writing ZE?

I have several, all related to game design. The biggest regret is making so much complexity to the game, especially in terms of character customization. That may be a surprise to my avid readers, because they all seem to like customizing characters. But the problem is that adding so many Skills, Challenges, and Hobbies forces me to give each of them a fair amount of content. Considering most players only go through the game a few times, a lot of content is missed. My plan for future games is to lessen some of the underused Challenges and Hobbies and to add more content to the primary story.

Do you feel restrictions in your work due to choice of games, fans etc? For example, let’s say you wanted to kill off Tom, but kept him due to fans liking him, even though you intended his death.

Sometimes production schedules affect the writing. As with any publisher, Choice of Games has a schedule for their new games, has staff time to allot, has to plan out timing of new apps, and other considerations. For Zombie Exodus, Part 5, my publishing schedule actually got pushed back by two months, allowing me to add more endings. For A Wise Use of Time, my schedule was shortened by four weeks. Luckily, I was on a vacation from work around the winter holiday season, so I had time to devote to writing. 

Working with a publisher requires flexibility, and if you want to be a writer, you have to learn to adapt.

Are the amount of patrons above or below your expectations?

I thought by now I would have more patrons with less contributions.

Based on the performance of SH part one and 2, how many parts you think you will write?

At the moment, the plan is to stop at Part 3. In the mobile app world, first app of a series always sells the most. As new parts or apps in a series release, sales drop off. For ZE: Safe Haven, only about 36% of players of Part 1 have downloaded Part 2. Now, Part 2 has only been out a few months but unless those numbers got closer to 60%, it would not be viable to continue development.

Do you think you will make a spinoff of SH?

Yes! This is the plan.

How would you yourself (JimD) do in ZESH was world? Are you a survivor? Bandit? Or Hero!

I would either die day 0 of the outbreak or go on to run a raider group.

We talked about inserting an easy mode and a hard mode before. Will this be for part 3?

It is too early to say, but my thought is to include it in Part 3. I will add, please don’t hold me to it! Depending on timing of publication, some features may be ready or not by the release.