Games by JimD Newsletter – Game Updates, Bugs, Free Update
Welcome to my 100th newsletter! One hundred newsletters. I never imagined when I started this that I'd still be here, still writing, and still hearing from all of you. So thank you.
Welcome to my new patrons and thank you for following the progress on my games.
This was a big month. Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 4 released, and I appreciate everyone who downloaded it. I’m going to talk about it below, because there have been some ups and downs related to the release. Overall, I’m pleased with getting the game out, but wish it was not so buggy.
I worked on Stronghold this month but paused for about ten days while fixing bugs on Safe Haven. Considering everything that has happened with Safe Haven this month, it’s given me a new goal to continue focusing on Stronghold and get the game published as quickly as possible. Again, I’ll explain my reasoning below.
In this newsletter, I will review my development plans, as I do every month. Let's get started.
Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, Part 4
Part 4 was released on February 5th, and many people downloaded it. I won't know the final numbers until April, but based on the response I've seen, I'm cautiously optimistic, and I'll share everything with you when the reports come in.
I already talked about the bugs earlier this month in my Writing Update, but the game, especially Part 4, has way too many bugs. I take ownership for that. To be completely transparent, part of it is pushing to write the game and part of it is struggling to find dedicated beta testers. Several of you consistently provide me bug reports, and I greatly appreciate your efforts. In the future, I have to give myself considerably more time to test before releasing.
I’ve also been reading some criticism that Part 4 has too much going on but doesn’t address the central storyline. I've always loved games that let you explore at your own pace and return to the main story when you're ready. Many of you know that I’m going to be including additions for the soldier and hacker storylines in the free update (4.2) along with the continuation of the teenager storyline, using your hobbies, and other central-story-related content. People who don’t generally follow me don’t realize it’s coming in the free update, so there’s been criticism over this part. Some people have even called it short. I understand the perception, even with 1 million words, but lots of dialogue and extraneous content reads differently than action-forward chapters.
This makes me realize that in the future, I need to focus on the central storyline first and add minor content second. Things like the Dungeons & Dragons session, proposing to your romantic partner, and getting tattoos are very fun for those of you who follow my content, but for the average player, they think it’s wasted time.
I want to assure everyone that the River Dogs, the groups at the college campus, and many of the people that you meet in the game will show up in some way. I enjoy making side characters, and I’ve heard from many of you that you find it interesting to talk to them and see how they’ve been surviving. Many of these survivors have a place in the larger scheme of things, but I intend to make that clearer going forward. Will.
For those of you who are enjoying Part 4, please know that I appreciate your kind words. I’m working on the free update next month, and as soon as I get out Stronghold, the free update will be my focus.
Zombie Exodus: Stronghold
Stronghold is up to 230,000 words, 13,000 more than last month. As I mentioned above, I paused writing to work on fixing bugs for Safe Haven, Part 4. My goal right now is to trim down chapter 8 and push onto the next chapter. I was originally going to split up chapter 8 into three different paths, but I’m going to drop that back to two different paths. I need to get this game out, and even though it’s already complex, I can’t keep continuing to complicate it.
I’ve also worked on a new mechanic that will change the game from the originally published version. After being infected by the Zeta virus in the first chapter, it seems as though your character is at a disadvantage. I’m going to add a new feature where the virus starts to give certain abilities to the main character, and you will get to choose those abilities. It adds a different style to the game, and I think it will turn this major disadvantage into an advantage.
The game is probably only half finished at this point, and I’m working as hard as I can while still fixing the bugs in Safe Haven. Thank you for your patience, and over the next month or so, you should definitely see major improvements to Safe Haven.
Thank you to everyone who supports this journey. Your encouragement means more than you know. I'm genuinely excited about what's ahead, and I hope you'll stick around for the ride.
Comments (12)
Can I become your beta tester then?
Yes absolutely. I post content every 25th of the month and am happy to get feedback.
Honestly, after playing part 4 I have to say that this series just isn't for me. The balance leans way too heavy towards "gaming" with inventory and base management (both of which are a chore, partially due to bugs, and partially due to them not translating well to text-only format). There just isn't enough story and character progression to keep me interested, which given the size of Part 4 was not on my bingo card. You're a great writer, but it's starting to feel like you're more interested in making a game, and not an IF novel, at least with ZE:SH. I'm hoping you'll keep Deadburry Academy much more story/character focused with streamlined resource management (or none altogether).
Deadbury Academy won't have as much management, if any. Thank you for your feedback. If the game is not for you, I understand. I still appreciate you supporting the game until now
Your work is awesome Jim - thank you very much for it. Love your content - it gets better every year. Looking forward for more =)
Is deadburry or dead buried (forgot the name) academy still planned for the future if I recall a few newsletters ago you were focusing on releasing Part 4 of exodus, just wondering is it still planned in the future. That's all from me keep up the good work.
I'm not sure but I think Jim mentioned something about continuing Deadbury Academy after the Z.E.S.H. free update is released hopefully this info helps 👍
In my opinion, what makes part four better… is if you go and play through the whole game over again.
You're doing a great work so far Jim. I've been your follower since the beginning of Part 1 decade ago and what I can tell you is that your work is one the best among other games. For the beta tester part, is it exclusively among your Patron members only or is it open for public?
It is open to the public and if people would like to get involved even more, they can let me know and I can add them to the list.
Thanks for taking the time to make a great game. I know its hard to please everyone. I remember playing yoyr first zombie exodus game and really enjoying myself. There are a ton of improvements going on compared to that game and honestly, because the game is so good I think its hard to imagine it comjng to an end at some point with so many characters, groups, and plot lines. I think the time skill kind of came out of nowhere even though I saw it in the testing phase. I think because you have added so much detail to the npcs in the game its easy to get hooked on small details and want more out of the relationships you form with them. I could see this project going on for a long time with all of the detail you have added so far.
Thank you for your kind words.