Games by JimD Newsletter – Project Updates (Patreon)

I’ve been home since the beginning of March when my job at the University went remote during the shutdown, and I’m finally getting used to the daily routine. During the week, I follow a typical 9-to-5 schedule for my primary job as a data manager. After work, I spend time with my wife, either watching TV (we’ve been binging old seasons of Survivor) or taking walks outside our neighborhood in the southern area of New Jersey. I usually then write from 7-11 PM. On the weekends, I check on work for my data management job but put in 3-5 hours of writing. I’m always checking email and interacting on social media, so I don’t even count that time. It’s a pretty grueling schedule, but I’ve gotten used to it now. The writing does not feel like work to me. Of course, some days I would rather be playing a videogame or reading or streaming YouTube videos, but I have a commitment to my writing deadlines and want to publish my stories for all of you.

I don’t think my data management job will move back to the office anytime soon.

Why am I bringing all this up? Later in this newsletter, I will discuss my schedule and my plans for meeting my deadlines. As usual in this newsletter I will also give you updates on the progress of my active games.

Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 3

As of this moment, Part 3 is up to 318,873. I estimate that’s around 5 to 6 hours of reading in one playthrough for the average reader. When I post the next beta release on the 25th of this month, that total will be over 325,000 words.

I still have a lot to write. I’m behind schedule but that’s only because I have so much content to fit into this part. It would be easy for me to say I can simply publish this at the end of the year, but then I would have to cut some of the content that makes the game so unique and so replayable. I still have to finish all of the romantic interactions, add more content related to the challenges, add to the soldier, scientist, and hacker storylines, and also write some of the big battle scenes.

Will I finish by the end-of-the-year? That’s the question I get asked all of the time. I can’t say for sure that it will happen, but I’ve been working hard to meet that deadline. Choice of Games has a three month delay from the time an author submits a game to the time it is published. That means I would have to submit the final edited file by early October for it to be released this year. At the rate I am going, I just don’t see that happening unless I leave out some of the content I promised. It sucks for me to delay it, because most of the royalties are generated in the first few months after release. Since I haven’t released Part 2 in so long, I’m looking forward to a paycheck for Part 3. If it wasn’t for the support of my patrons, I would not be able to continue writing.

Currently I am working on the prom event. A few months ago, I ran a poll on Patreon for a downtime event — something where the survivors can socialize and take a break from the challenges of survival. After working out a pretty engaging scene with Ethan, I started writing this scene which will take place in chapter 9. It doesn’t just involve dancing and partying but has some conflict between survivors and some unexpected interactions. I also had to write scenes for MCs who would not participate in the dance. It became much more complicated than I expected, but that’s becoming the motto of my games. At least everyone seems to like the style of games I write.

Zombie Exodus: Dead Zone 

Dead Zone is still in development by Ethan Underhill. He is working on ZE:DZ when possible but most of his time has been spent preparing for school and an internship. Like it has for most people, the pandemic has hit him with unexpected delays. The project is still happening, but we have no timetable for it.

If you would like more information, feel free to visit Ethan’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/EthanDavidUnderhill/.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Out for Blood

I’m nearing the end of writing this game, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with all of you. As of right now, I have written over 285,000 words. It’s not as complex as Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, but it’s more complex than A Wise Use of Time. Some of the chapters are very open ended like you do find in ZE:SH. For example, in chapter 9 you have a day’s worth of activities to accomplish. The day is broken up into sections, and you have four activities to perform during the daytime. Once night falls and vampires can rise and go out, your options change. During the day you can do research and scout your enemies and work with your companions. At night the possibilities for a vampire encounter increase dramatically. So as you can see, this may not be as complex as ZE:SH, but it will still feel fairly open ended and replayable.

I’m working on the last two chapters between now and the end of September. This will encompass a multitude of endings and some final climactic scenes. I should be done the game by October at which point it will go into closed beta on the Choice of Games website. I will post this information as soon as I find out, so you can go there and sign up. I am not in control of this beta, so I can’t guarantee you will be accepted. However, they usually handle it first, first serve, and you will know as soon as it is posted.

Once the first full draft of Vampire: The Masquerade - Out for Blood is sent in to my editor, I will not have as much work to do on the game. I will still have to do some editing and fix some bugs and add some more content, but it will not be at the level I am working on it now. At that point I will be focusing on Safe Haven 90% of the time. I should be able to write 30-40,000 words per month which will greatly accelerate my timeline. I will really need to rely on my testers to play through each new large section for continuity errors and to provide feedback on other things they would like to see.

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