@DarthVader361 I will fix that. Thanks for pointing it out.
@Passer556 I may have to add a bit to that section, since I see your point. Overall, Richard is testing you, and as long as you are not hostile and try to help, he will help in return.
Just played through part 3. A couple of questions/thoughts:
-
Without having read through all 500-odd posts above, is the little girl in Part I a red herring?
-
Realism nitpick (and I will freely admit that it is one) on the diving-off-the-bridge part (probably the coolest scene Iāve run into): You might want to make that more of a pendulum swing than a dive. IRL, thereās a reason for the āno falls over six feetā rule, andā¦letās just say that at the 30 feet or so that the fall is implied to be, even in a nice, well-padded harness, the sudden stop is probably going to hurt like hell even if that is dynamic rope. With it just looped around you (and it being just a rope, not an actual harness designed to distribute weight), Iād expect some broken bones on something close to a straight drop.
In the context of the scene, just have the character dive out as far as possible. That spreads out the force of the impact (heck, when I go bungee jumping, a standing order is to dive out as far as you can to reduce the shock at the end).
-Actually, putting an āoptionā in here might not be a bad thingā¦this is one of those stunts that, in the real world, it is /not/ hard to screw up and get a ābad endingā (and actually, one or two ānon-zombieā death endings might not be the worst thing).
-
On the zombies themselves: Am I right in guessing that thereās a non-bite way to get infected (but which turns you more slowly)? And will this be explored at some point? Dream #2 does seem to hint at this second question. Some of the strange things on the rig (the goo on the ceiling in particular) also make me wonder just what the [bleep] is going on.
-Also, how fast did the infection spread? The game seems to hint that things āwent overā in the space of a day or two.
-The game implies some sort of internet (more ARPANET-esque than anything in form, it seems) surviving. Could we get some idea on who is holding out where, what sort of government is left, etc.? Scenarios vary /wildly/ on how much civilization remains (from āeffectively nadaā in cases like āThe Walking Deadā to āplentyā in āWorld War Zā). -
On missions and so forth: Iād like to see things spread out over a few weeks or months as the parts go by, but I definitely want a semi-concrete sense of time going by (or not). One āfunā mission (and by fun, I mean deadly and scary) would be to go back into the city (or at least into /a/ city) at some point with an eye towards raiding some sort of food supplies (i.e. a Walmart warehouse).
-
Though I havenāt āexploredā as much as I might (losing 20-30 screensā worth of choices on an exploration is rather frustrating), how many dead ends (no pun intended) are there in the parts? Iāve only run into one over all of the times Iāve played.
-
Another question that jumps to mind (that may be implemented): Do your Candice/Mindy stats vary at all depending on whether you helped them at your apartment?
Anyhow, I really am enjoying the game, and I look forward to whatever comes next.
@Gray,
Thanks for all of these comments.
-
No, not a red herring. Iād rather not give a spoiler here, and if youād like more info, Iād be happy to message you directly. Or you can find out in the next update in which youāre character learns more about her.
-
I like the idea of screwing up the dive. Iād have to figure out the stats behind it ā would a high intelligence help here? Or maybe being a soldier? But I agree, the mechanics are off. I did read a few online articles about the physics of a jump but went in the direction of making it an over-the-top success.
-
There is a non-bite infection way and Iām surprised no one has picked up on it before you (or at least posted here). It ties to the dream and other things youāre character will uncover in Part 4.
Again, the Internet (SurvNet) will be described in Part 4.
My goal with Part 3 was to transition between and escape-the-city game to a survival game, so I had to initiate lots of new storylines, which further develop in Part 4. I will say I went for realism and have looked at many, many sources of information on what experts suggest is the most likely setting that will exist post-apocalypse in terms of government, infrastructure decay, etc. Same with the Net that will exist (or wonāt). Some companies have servers that can exist for years on the resources they have stored. But after I figured out what that āsystemā may be, I added elements to make it interesting in the context of the story I want to tell. Hopefully, people like it.
-
I am ironing out the current Part 3 scenes, and am pacing it out that Part 3 is roughly 8 weeks long (with 4 scenes).
-
I have had some aversion to giving too many death events, since there is no ābackā button or ārestoreā point in ChoiceScript, but using some developments made by other authors (AndyWhy and Vendetta), I am adding in some save points to Part 3. In that way, if you die in the Fuel Run, you donāt start all the way back at Part 1.
Because of this addition, I am adding more dead ends. The Fuel Run has many since it is intended to penalize screw ups. I am editing the Supply Run and Medicine Runs to add more. I took the advice of others on these forums and have a 2-3 strike policy which I track through health. If you get hurt and donāt heal, it is likely you will die in the next zombie encounter. I donāt like bad path deaths in which you die just because you guessed wrong and had no information to choose the right path.
- It doesnāt adjust relationship rating but how they first greet you at the Cathedral. I may change that now that you mention it though.
Relationship and humanity will be major factors in Part 4.
I was infected by the ceiling glop on one of my plays through. Took a while to kick in, thoughā¦ IIRC, I was trying to wait out zombie Ramirez (possibly taking a nap?) when suddenly I turned into a zombie myself.
Love the game, btw, Jim ā my favorite of the user-contributed bunch so far (though of course Vendetta and Samurai are also shaping up to be terrific). Keep up the great work!
@Havenstone thanks! Vendetta and Samurai are among my favorites as well. Canāt wait until they join us Hosted Games authors on the app stores.
@JimD:
-If you could PM me on the girlā¦Iām generally not one for being spoilered, but I object less when Chekhovās Gun jams. (Joking aside, it /is/ bugging me, and Iāll probably be giving you a pat on the back no matter what it is)
-On the jump: I think high int (for obvious reasons) and/or being a soldier (experience with climbing equipment and the like) should help. However, honestly, Iād also be inclined to put some kind of luck variable in there on this one (i.e. even if the stats are right, thereās a chance it goes wrong, and even if the stats are wrong, you just get lucky)ā¦but itās a stunt more than just about anything else Iāve seen in-game, and stunts are inherently risky.
Be away working was just wondering has there been a new update from where the fuel run ended ?
Did someone else mention this?
I found an error with the grammar (lol it rhymes):
At the part where you enter the boat and leave Devlin back I saw this:
āyou havenāt see the last of me.ā
Shouldnāt the you be You and the see, seen?
A quick thought: I did a ātest runā, purposefully running out of time. Iād suggest one change to itā¦Iām assuming that Laurent either had Zeta or was ill with something scurvy-ish. Would you consider adjusting the āstrandedā ending to have you interact with him? I know itās downbeat either way (youāre dead), but OOCly knowing that someone else is there suggests to me that youād run into him in some form before you died. Just a suggestion.
@Stpeter182 The fuel run has been updated with a new sequence after the bridge in which you go down into the pumping vessel to turn on the fuel pumps.
@CountDon I will fix that error. Thanks for pointing it out!
@Gray thatās a good point. My thought was to have one really dismal ending if you donāt interact with Laurent vs. actually being nice to him. I have also considered changing it to introduce him as a new character at the Cathedral.
will my character be able start a relationship with mindy in the future or is just heather
It seems that morality doesnāt have any real impact yet. I have mixed feelings about this: on one hand, I like the morality idea, and wish there was more to do with it. On another hand, THE TWO CHOICES ARE DRIVING ME NUTS! :-(( Also, will you give an option to leave the group, with or without others, later in the game?
@DarthVader361 Mindy and Tom will provide āromanceā options.
@Shintaro morality does play a role. If you played the Medicine Run, options to kill certain characters are only available with low humanity. Otherwise, I use it to judge responses to questions and reactions from others.
SPOILER AHEAD
.
.
.
.
I do plan to allow you to leave the group and choose members of the Cathedral. That is probably toward the end of Part 4.
Hi jimD how part 4 coming along and when can we look forward to a up date on the app store
i was wondering when you are done with part 3 are you gonna release it so it can be beta played or release it when its done?
@Stpeter182 I am still writing Part 3, so Part 4 will be started in mid-March.
@djma46 I have some of Part 3 up now for beta testing and all of Part 3 will be available here on Choice of Games.
Here is the beta link.
http://zombieexodus.com/zombieexodus/index.html
JimD i donāt mean to sound demanding or anything but is it possible when the part 3 is done to keep the chapter selector with the cheat function cause sometimes i donāt wanna start from the beginning and i kind the like the idea that if your want you can overpower yourself so that you can screw around in the game without worrying to much that your gonna die as long as you donāt pick the wrong weapon of attack i hope you consider this if it not to much to demand?
@djma46 donāt worry about sounding demanding ā feedback is helpful. I am working on a system to allow readers to skip chapters, but I donāt really like the current system (Table of Contents). Maybe Iāll allow a god mode though 
Hm, I wanāt aware military depots had computers that allowed any old schmuck to gas everyone by typing in a word. Ah but I kid, onto business.
Javierās attacking you seemed out of nowhere, as did the āmilitary groupā calling me despite providing no signs (as far as Iām aware) that the depot was being raided. I look forward for what revelations the lethargic zombies and what Emma needs to talk about will bring. There also seems to be a glitch where Javier is immune to the gas, although that could just be a plot point Iām unaware of.
Looking good glad to see devlin back and canāt wait to find out how he not a zombie, find it funny when Emma asked if your sleeping with Heather, think it would be funny if who ever your with end up pregnet later in the story by u or if your a girl u end up pregnet