You sit on a tree stump next to Portland and rest. A gentle breeze blows through the forest, and night will bring the cold. Jesse takes off one of a boot and stretches out her foot, while Cameron lies on a patch of grass.
“I say we take a break for a few minutes and then we head north,” Jesse says.
Cameron lifts his head up and places his plastic bag of clothes und...
2022-01-15 17:54:07 +0000 UTC View PostI have run similar polls like this in the past, but as I reach closer to publishing Part 3, I want to add a method for choosing new romantic options in this part or renewing the romantic options you would like to move forward with.
I see three options for asking about romantic interactions.
1. A choice that lists all eligible romantic options, and the player just picks. This is the least immersive option, but there is no mistaking who you want to continue with.
2. You are ap...
2022-01-12 17:14:42 +0000 UTC View PostThis poll is related to the new interactive story, Zombie Exodus: Aftermath. When I developed this idea to post an interactive story on Patreon, I did not know how it would be received. This poll will help me to understand if this is the type of content you enjoy or not.
For those of you who have access to Zombie Exodus: Aftermath, I want to know if you are reading the story, and if you are enjoying it.
For those of you who do not have access, I am wondering if you would be ...
2022-01-07 15:06:23 +0000 UTC View Post“Hey, Violet,” Butler says. “Go ahead past me. There’s a bunch of our people heading south along the creek. Catch up with them as soon as you can.”
You hurry through the wide open gate, followed by your companions. A packed dirt road leads away from Tempest Point to the southwest. A trail of commoners runs ahead of you by a quarter-mile, high-steppi...
2022-01-03 17:57:20 +0000 UTC View PostHappy New Year!
Here is a schedule of things you can expect to see this month.
1/3 -- Zombie Exodus: Aftermath scene 4 and poll. ($3+ tiers)
1/7-- General content poll. ($1+ tiers)
1/12 -- Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven scenario poll. ($5+ tiers)
1/15 -- Zombie Exodus: Aftermath scene 5 and poll. ($3+ tiers)
1/20 -- Newsletter. ($1+ tiers)
1/25 -- Monthly Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 4, Alpha Test ($10+ tiers) 2022-01-01 16:29:44 +0000 UTC View Post
“Fine. I’ll wake everyone up, while you get dressed and ready. But dammit, hurry,” you say to Jesse.
She gives you that same cutesy smile she always does when she gets her way and then unzips her backpack. You don’t waste any time watching her but instead run over to the first snoring body you see. How are these people not awake? You yank back the covers and see Came...
2021-12-29 18:24:23 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to my 51st newsletter! Happy Holidays to all. I’m really enjoying my December. I actually started a brand-new D&D campaign with some friends, my health is going well, and I’ve been working at a great pace. Coronavirus is still very much a concern, but I’m keeping my distance from everyone. Thankfully I enjoy writing and gaming online when I have the chance, so being at home isn’t a big deal to me. My wife doesn’t like being cooped up inside. She has a bad case of c...
2021-12-20 18:09:15 +0000 UTC View PostOne criticism of the game is that certain Skills are more used than others. While some Skills get used based on your playstyle, I concede that some are underused. I could argue that some Skills provide more value in the Apocalypse, but as a writer, I should balance the use of all of them.
If you had to pick 2-3 Skills that need more content, which skills would you choose?
Note: I am not including all Skills, because some are used fairly often.
2021-12-15 20:36:48 +0000 UTC View PostNow that Part 3 of Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven is set to release in March, 2022, I get a few questions each week asking how many parts the game will have. My answer has always been, "I will write this game as long as people want me to continue it."
Based on the series so far, how many parts would you like to see? My goal is to produce each part within two years and not take as long as I did for Part 3.
So how do you see the series going? Do you think I should…
2021-12-13 15:50:12 +0000 UTC View PostYou run into the courtyard, center of camp, maybe the worst place to be in this attack. Jesse shares a trailer with a group of people she met before arriving at Tempest Point. You never got along with any of them. As you reach the door, it’s already open and flapping in the breeze. You throw it open and run inside. It’s a complete mess and one of the reasons you never like to ...
2021-12-08 16:04:55 +0000 UTC View PostAs I continue to plan out Part 4, I am looking at all of the past groups and NPCs you have been meeting along the way. I have room to reintroduce some of these groups or NPCs and would like to know how to prioritize them. Please select all of the ones that interest you. Choose as many as you would like, but only select the ones you would be interested in seeing.
I am not including several groups in this list who will absolutely appear in Part 4. They include the Silverthornes, the New A...
2021-12-04 17:19:53 +0000 UTC View PostHere is a schedule of things you can expect to see this month. Please note the schedule has been rearranged.
12/4 -- Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven scenario poll. ($5+ tiers)
12/8 -- Poll for new monthly content. ($3+ tiers)
12/12-- General content poll. ($1+ tiers)
12/15 -- Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven scenario poll. ($5+ tiers)
12/20 -- Newsletter. ($1+ tiers)
12/26 -- Quarterly Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 4, Alpha Tes...
2021-12-02 14:15:30 +0000 UTC View PostYou roll out of your cot and listen to the sounds of the air horn blaring through Tempest Point. You have only been here for six weeks, longer than some havens, but this is the first time you’ve heard the siren. Shadows fly past the outside of your tent, and you hear shouting. As you slip on your boots you hear an explosion in the north side of camp. The ground shakes, and you tumble back to your cot. This is no drill. Camp is under attack.
You’ve seen this time and time again. Afte...
2021-11-29 19:52:12 +0000 UTC View PostIt looks like our character for this interactive story will be female. The next poll will determine the perspective of the story.
Here are examples from this writing website.
For the character poll, you have chosen the MC to be a woman. Now we will select a background for the MC. Remember, this is ten years after the outbreak.
2021-11-28 23:40:57 +0000 UTC View PostBy a landslide, Zombie Exodus: Aftermath is the choice for our first interactive story. The way this is going to work is that each month, I will post a choice at the beginning of the month that will guide the story. New scenes will come out at the end of each month. Since this is our first scene, I want to provide 3 polls to set up our character.
First, I want to set up our character's gender. Once we have a gender, I will post a poll to determine the name and background.
2021-11-27 18:17:58 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to my 50th newsletter! I should have planned something major for the fiftieth newsletter, but I’ve been so busy writing that I haven’t thought about much else. The big news is that I handed in ZE:SH Part 3 to the copyeditor! You may be wondering why it takes another three and a half months before Hosted Games publishes Part 3, and in this newsletter, I will go over what happens next.
Even though I turned in Part 3, it doesn’t mean I’m taking any breaks. I immediate...
2021-11-20 17:16:21 +0000 UTC View PostThe last poll I posted asked about the characters most likely to have a conflict or even start a fight with a another character. Though that poll is still receiving votes, I can already see clear winners.
In this poll, I want to see the top votes for pairs of characters that would be involved in a fight or conflict. It doesn't have to be a physical altercation but something that, if left unresolved, what have huge impact on the rest of the group.
I also tried to pick combina...
2021-11-16 00:37:41 +0000 UTC View PostA few people have requested conflicts between members of the main group, and I have already started seeds of conflict between certain group members. In this poll, I would like you to vote on those members of the group most likely to engage in conflict with another person. Please vote for 2 to 4 characters that would most likely have a problem with someone else in the group.
2021-11-13 02:22:25 +0000 UTC View PostBased on my poll early this month related to an alternative to monthly stories, it looks like the interactive story is the clear winner. So for this month, I'd like to get started. First we need to choose a genre for the story. I have a feeling that a zombie apocalypse will be a clear winner, but I don't want to make an assumption. Based on the winner of this first poll, I will write an introduction and post it at the end of this month.
Here are a few options for the general plot and ge...
2021-11-11 20:35:01 +0000 UTC View PostSomeone mentioned to me that they enjoy chapters that are more nonlinear and open ended than those very straightforward chapters with little branching of choices. Of course it takes much longer to write and code open ended chapters. As I start to write chapter 13, the first of Part 4, I have a scenario which takes the character outside the Junkyard on a rescue mission. There are several routes that can be taken in the area around the Junkyard. But I could also give an option for the MC to sta...
2021-11-09 01:12:55 +0000 UTC View PostI want to run this poll to discuss new content and changes that I may make to the $1 and $3 tiers. I run these polls from time to time to get a sense of the kinds of rewards people enjoy on my Patreon.
Last month I did not post my scheduled story/article as I do every month around the 29th. No one has messaged me about it, and those stories/articles get very few views. I realize some of you may read them through the email you receive, but feedback for them has certainly dwindled. Those ...
2021-11-05 14:13:01 +0000 UTC View PostHere is a schedule of things you can expect to see this month.
11/4 -- Poll for new monthly content. ($3+ tiers)
11/8 -- Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven scenario poll. ($5+ tiers)
11/12-- General content poll. ($1+ tiers)
11/15 -- Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven scenario poll. ($5+ tiers)
11/20 -- Newsletter. ($1+ tiers)
11/25 -- Updated Monthly Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 4, Alpha Test ($10+ tiers)
11/29 -- New Monthl...
2021-11-02 16:07:37 +0000 UTC View PostI am going to be posting the update for Safe Haven Part 3 by 9 PM ET. I just had surgery on Friday and am going a little slowly today. I had written a lot before my surgery, so I still want to show you all that I have been working on. I hope you enjoy this upload.
When I post it, I will also tell you my plans to do another release next week to show you even more. I still need to do some writing before I send it to CoG, and I want you all to have the opportunity to see and test it before...
2021-10-25 20:02:54 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to my 49th newsletter! I can’t believe it’s already October, and there’s only two weeks left before I submit ZE:SH Part 3 for publication. I’m still writing new content every day, which I will touch on below. I’ve been writing harder than ever to fit everything into this release.
Just a note that I am having a small medical procedure done this Friday. If you reach out to me through email or social media, there may be a delay. I’m hoping this is the last procedu...
2021-10-20 19:45:36 +0000 UTC View PostI have introduced a few different styles of zombies throughout the ZE Universe from the quick moving ones (resembling Left 4 Dead's or 28 Days Later's style) to slow ones (like The Walking Dead). I've introduced ones that are hard to kill and ones that barely move (the gray skinned zombies). In this poll, I would like your vote on the types of zombies you enjoy.
Since I am going to be doing a time jump at some point in Part 4, I thought this may be an opportunity to in...
2021-10-16 14:23:53 +0000 UTC View PostRomance has become an integral part of any choice game. Players enjoy romantic storylines as much as they do the main plot. There are so many ways to handle introductions to romantic options (ROs) in a game, and this poll will ask your opinion on which options you like the best.
Just like in life, forming a romantic relationship, or any relationship of that matter, requires some degree of courtship. Some players like to make the first move while others enjoy characters making the first ...
2021-10-14 15:59:51 +0000 UTC View PostIn the original Zombie Exodus, I included some paranormal events/characters that some readers enjoyed while others were against. So far in Safe Haven I have only included an imaginary character based on a challenge, but have had no other paranormal aspects of the game. In this poll, I'd like to know your thoughts on the subject of adding paranormal characters or events.
2021-10-08 22:29:47 +0000 UTC View PostThis is the poll to choose this month's short story or article. If you have ideas for future articles or short stories, please let me know in the comments.
2021-10-04 21:08:44 +0000 UTC View PostHere is a schedule of things you can expect to see this month.
10/4 -- Poll for article of the month. ($3+ tiers)
10/5 -- Updated public beta, chapter 11 of Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven
10/8 -- Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven scenario poll. ($5+ tiers)
10/12-- General content poll. ($1+ tiers)
10/15 -- Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven scenario poll. ($5+ tiers)
10/20 -- Newsletter. ($1+ tiers)
10/25 -- Updated Monthly Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven...
2021-10-02 17:03:39 +0000 UTC View Post