Thanks for the reply!
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I noticed what I believe to be a severe bug that only started to occur as of the most recent update. In part 3, during the in-between chapter segments where you can do various stuff (assign tasks, train, craft, etc.) I noticed that option to craft items seems to be screwed up. Before the update, you could craft multiple items each time you reach the in-between menu, then after the update, you can craft one item and only one item for the entirety of part 3 because you’ll be immediately taken out of the crafting menu and, as an added bonus, the option to craft items will also never pop up again for the rest of part 3.
I hope this helps because this bug really neuters the crafting skill to being practically useless in part 3.
Unfortunately, I’m keeping the current list of romantic options as it is.
I thought the option was in the App but we also usually add a save option at a point before the next release is made. It’s one of Hosted Games’s rules.
There is definitely the option to train others but if you are talking about an actual teacher for the kids, it’s something I had not considered. I do like the idea but would have to think about implementing it.
I’m honestly not sure how that happened but I am in the process of fixing it.
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@JimD
“Hey, I have a suggestion. For the movie star background, how about an epilogue that reveals the entire story was actually part of a movie being filmed? It could end with something like: ‘Cut! Great work, everyone—that’s a wrap on the final scene of the Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven movie!
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Maybe you can get the same ending if you picked the delusional trait :v
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It could be a joke ending like the Silent hill dog and alien.
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Jim could there ever be a chance that we get a CIA job class
Probably not
Would be intriguing non the less, though would add to the already bolstered list of things, and other things.
Unlikely, a new character path would require extensive rewrites to the entire game. I thought of a similar idea, having the movie star background have options like soldier, with an option for teen star, action star, drama star etc, but then I thought of how much work that would be for Jim, and the delays that it would probably cause. It’s an awesome idea, in theory.
Also, welcome Hamdan.
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Jim, will there be the opportunity to extract Keith’s blood in the future to do experiments on it for Scientist route?
If he is telling the truth that he is immune, then we can slowly stock up on important immune blood for a vaccine/cure, if it’s the same as the first Zombie Exodus game
If he is lying… I want an excuse to call him out
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Thank you 
((This is all just theoritical)) But, for that i think we’d need to find out how many people there are that are actually immune. And I’m still skeptical on Keith actualluly being “immune”. Until i see the fella take a direct bite and shrug it off for a full 24hrs, imma doubt.
For the “carrier virus transference” idea, from what it’s shown a kiss would transfer it. Bites infect, so it is at the very least contagious through that. As for the whole possible infection through the nightly trists, that’s…idek. Plausible? I don’t know if it would spread through ALL fluids, swapping spit though would 100% do it. Now, I’m not a virologist! But, I have listened to a YT channel that the person breaks viruses and stuff in movies ((Zombie ones included)) where he talks about how it spreads, and what it most likely does to our system while infected.
As for a carrier slipping into a camp, it could be easily spottable; especially if the MC is a scientist. There would still be traces of it in them. Blood sample, saliva sample. Etc.etc. There would be some way. Crudest way, old fashion body search examining for bite marks that have healed over. ((If something bites into you and actually tears off flesh. Thats gonna leave a scar. Which would point to immunity and them being a carrier)).
TL;DR: Carriers could 100% spread it, but carriers would definitely be spottable if the group isnt dumb dumbs.
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Part 4 has been updated!
Please read the start page to see what has been updated, but basically the first part of the chapter against the Forest Rats has been finished. Since there are multiple paths to try, I provided a way to skip directly to the action.
Also, I took away the auto updating of character skills. As you may remember, I had created a process that updates every major characters’ skills in the game. It made the game run very slowly, so I temporarily disabled it.
https://cogdemos.ink/play/jimd/zombie-exodus-safe-haven-part-4-public-beta/mygame
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Hey ,so the discord server invite link shows as invalid.I sent it to someone in the hosted games subreddit who wanted it but it had expired, second time it said invalid. Added them in discord and tried: still invalid. Most likely need a new invite link…
It’s 2Am but chapter 5 is here now I can’t sleep
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The new host format has disabled /scenes/ for everyone to see. Is this intentional on your part? It’s kind of sad if so, as aspiring authors gained much from seeing successful authors’ code. Your choice though.
That’s a setting that can be changed on the authors end
Hi,
I just tried the demo a few days ago and the Forest Rats encounter when you go to visit the River Dogs seems to be bugged. I usually prefer lurking but I don’t see the issue being discussed so I thought I’d chip in. Sorry bit of a long post, I tried to make it more readable. Seems like I had more on my mind than I realized at first.
[SPOILERS of course, I don’t know how to spoiler tag]
Basically when you go visit the River Dogs, there’s an event where you run into the Forest Rats and where the following scenarios can happen:
Scenario 1 - They spot you first = everyone dies, game ends
Scenario 2 - You spot them first = everyone dies, game ends
Scenario 3 - Both groups fail to spot each other = skips the chapter
In Scenario 1 — player group gets wiped. The MC and the entire group are killed, even with maxed out combat/ranged skills and hundreds of zombie kills as well [SPOILER] as killing the Wendigo without anyone getting hurt.
In Scenario 2 — group gets wiped. The MC and the entire group are killed again [note: I’m playing with delusions - the MC spots Ray, combat ensues, the group gets wiped out]
In Scenario 3 — event instantly ends. The event just ends with a message saying this section is being worked on, then it skips you to the next section (university campus scenario).
Is this working as intended? There’s no other interaction with the Forest Rats and I can’t meet the River Dogs either. I can’t imagine this is working as intended, especially when all the deaths end with the same description [you see the guy with the spider tattoo before he shoots you]. I really hope you don’t just automatically die if you have delusions.
I was playing a combat-focused character with maxed out ranged stats and taking the maximum number of people on the trip, including Rachel and Gina, who are both skilled in combat. I also tried this with boosted stats and the same thing happens. I haven’t tested this without delusions though.
[PTSD mechanic]
I tried this briefly and really dislike how it’s implemented. At the reservation, when initiating combat, the MC suddenly freaks out and crouches in shock and fear while everyone else fights on with Jaimie having to physically pull you up and get you to rejoin the fight (which you don’t, you don’t contribute at all while every other character has no issue).
I understand this might be intentional but if the mechanic just makes a soldier/combat oriented character unable to fight, isn’t that really frustrating? All the other characters seem to have no issues even though they’ve also frozen up in fear in the past (such as Woody in Part I at the school), just not in the middle of combat. Seems odd if you’re playing a hardened combat vet.
I prefer the way delusions are handled - there’s variety, the interactions are fun, the way the other characters react is interesting and adds some depth to the relationships (for example how Baily reacts at the university campus with the caged zombie, I really enjoyed that interaction or how Jaimie handles it throughout). The interactions seem to build too.
The PTSD mechanic seems too on the nose. But I only tried it briefly, I found it too out of character for my MC and restarted.
But again, this wasn’t an ambush scenario - I initiated the combat with a character skilled at ranged combat, with the combat initiated from a distance (something along the lines of “it’s hard to hit the targets cause you’re so far away” - seems like maximum safety from zombies).
[Story Progression]
While I’m at it, I also wanted to bring up the lack of story progression. The main plot seems to be progressing very, very slowly compared to side content. This demo resembled a very long filler episode to me.
The main issue for me is that there seems to be no effort to investigate or secure the Safe Havens even though the urgency of the situation demands it (i.e. the New Army moving aggressively to secure them and their locations being known to everyone and being broadcasted on the radio). And what happened to the supply drop? My group decided they were going to intercept it but it never came up again.
There’s also a complete lack of interaction with both the Vanguard and New Army in the Part IV demo so far. I’m really surprised this part of the story didn’t come up a single time, unless you count the singular mention at the Indian Reservation of them being in contact with a New Army soldier that helps with weather warnings. It doesn’t contribute anything to the storyline other than a bit of flavour.
The situation demands more urgency. If you activated the defences at Lancelot, the New Army squad that’s sent to secure it gets completely wiped out, directly as a result of your actions. That seems way more urgent than meeting the River Dogs or visiting a university campus of all things, even if that content is fun. You get the New Army squad all killed and then just completely forget about it, including going on multiple scavenging runs and helping campus students resolve their group rivalries?
If you actively antagonize Goodman, aren’t you worried he’ll track you down and wipe your group out? By all indications, the New Army is much deadlier than all other groups combined and should be a priority for the MC’s group, even more so than the Silverthorne militia who don’t even know where the Junkyard is until the end of Part III, whereas (unless I misunderstood) it’s suggested that Goodman can track the MC’s location through the device - in Part II there’s a dialogue option along the lines of “if you know my location, can’t you send aid?” and so on. If you antagonize Goodman by calling him out on Faulkner’s supposed death, he actively tries to kill you. I can’t imagine he just lets you go after you get the team he sends killed.
I find this pacing especially frustrating considering how long the intervals are between the interactions. For example with Faulkner, you only interact with him twice - once at the very beginning of the game and once at Safe Haven Lancelot. Then nothing at all. I understand there are many player backgrounds but for a MC with the soldier background, the story starts to fall apart (or even just the overall story involving the Safe Havens, whatever the MC’s background).
It’s very unsatisfying to not have more interactions or least see the groups (Vanguard) have a presence at all when every other random survivor you meet only once is telling you their life story (Johann for example - as a side note, I enjoy these interactions a lot less at this point if they’re not with a group and you never see them again - just doesn’t seem to be worth the time). The Faulkner/Safe Haven storyline was the one I was mainly invested in so I’m finding this lack of presence in the story difficult to accept. It’s already established that there are 12 Safe Havens in the area - when will any of them be explored? At the current pace, nothing meaningful is being done for this storyline.
[Story Bloat and lack of narrative focus]
I think at this point the game is suffering from bloat and there isn’t enough fleshing out of what is already there - the existing groups and characters. It seems every chapter just adds more and more side content and survivors eager to tell you their backstories - never mind you already have 20 people in your camp to keep track of, not to mention the various other groups.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still enjoyable but the pacing seems off and it becomes a bit of slog to get through sometimes - the university campus alone adds 3 groups/factions. You can also see this with the female guide/chieftain’s daughter at the Reservation (sorry her name slipped my mind) - a romantic aspect is hinted at (both Gina and Lopez will comment on her looks, you can try flirting, etc.) but all advances are immediately shut down - yes for story reasons too, but we all know the real reason is because it’s not possible to fit more romance options in - there’s too many already!
Another example are the Bikers/Mambas going into idle NPC mode immediately after the standoff at their base/water park while your group huddles and starts a group discussion, then going “No problem, bye!” If the problem is no time to write more content, then the discussion would have made more sense after leaving their camp. But I think this is a symptom of too much stuff going on and not enough time to flesh stuff out - in Part III, Thelma invites you to their base/water park (you have to earn it too by playing their drinking game). Now that you’re there, you don’t even trade or converse at all after the standoff? Just okay, be seeing you! I know you’re supposed to be chasing the other group but it comes off as odd.
Also, it’s looking like the Junkyard will remain the player base for the entirely of Part IV until something bad happens at the very end if I had to guess at where the story is heading. Kinda disappointing but that’s what I mean by too little content focusing on the Safe Havens or at least discussing a different base before deciding to really stick with the Junkyard - an alternative base was hinted at multiple times in Part III. Contrast this with the first Zombie Exodus, where the Cathedral serves as an anchor for the group and narrative. The Junkyard is just way too random to fill that role. For the Cathedral, you have multiple characters who are invested in the location and it’s made clear from the beginning that it’s going to be your home base. With the Junkyard, you just randomly stumble upon it after randomly stumbling upon the hill after randomly driving around in the Colorado countryside - all this while having the coordinates to Safe Haven Lancelot! Let’s not forget this is Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven, not Zombie Exodus: Junkyard.
[Further Thoughts and Suggestions]
Speaking of the Junkyard, I would like to suggest an updated picture - the in-game picture provided seems way too small to fit 20-odd people and all the improvements (like farms and greenhouses). The descriptions for the available space make no sense - the RV only fits two (Nora + Reilley and Madison + Brody fight over it), the garage apartment fits 2, the rooms only 1 each, the containers are locked for claustrophobic characters, implying space is limited - where is everyone else staying then? Are they all sleeping in the garage? How do you fit in the science lab, infirmary, chicken coop, zombie generator, etc.? There’s absolutely no space. As a side note, the Junkyard doesn’t even seem that secure - how did Eli let in the zombies when you have sentries posted? How did they get so close without anyone noticing? How did the Forest Rats get so close? The Junkyard must be much larger than depicted to have blind spots like that.
I also think the game could benefit from clarifying/labeling the missions/side content as such (as in [Mission] Go somewhere with —) . For example, in Part II, there’s an option to scout a farm with the Milford twins + Gina. On my second playthrough, when Rachel says she could go ahead and scout the farm, I didn’t even realize she was referring to this mission. The twins are only mentioned after you agree to let her go. To go on the mission, you have to actively make her stay (“No you stay, I’ll go.”). In the game so far, when you make characters stay back from missions, they often react negatively and take a relationship hit. But when you’re trying to romance a character, usually you try to avoid antagonizing them and with Rachel, it’s hard to tell which dialogue option to pick, especially since she doesn’t always respond positively to your advances (for example being flirty when she comes to get you when Bailey finds the bodies - you don’t know right away what the situation is). I imagine lots of people miss this content just to stay on her good side.
Overall, it’s just too easy to miss huge chunks of content - the same with the pharmacy trip with Jaime and the gas station trip with Kelly. It’s not clear that these are actually missions/side quests you can go on and it’s easy to miss them entirely if you spend too long chatting with other survivors or spending time in camp - it’s not made clear when these missions become no longer available. I don’t like the game punishing you by cutting off content for spending time engaging with characters and immersing yourself in the setting. Instead, I find myself selecting every mission and trying to max all content just for fear that it won’t be available later - so in game you end up with these 3 side quests back to back.
I also don’t like how easy it is to miss optional characters like Lopez, Dante, or Tommy. I understand it’s one way to add replayability but it’s also a bit odd to cut content - isn’t it just as repayable if they show up anyway? Rather than just missing chunks of content - for example, I had no idea Jude was recruitable until I read that on this forum. I tried talking to him but ended up shooting him (tried to get the drop on him with a high stealth character, thought I’d disarm him but nope, just ended up killing him).
Another thing I would like to suggest to be able to access the add-on content Stories from the Outbreak/Side Stories in the game. Currently you can only access them outside - once you’re in a playthrough, there’s no way to view the content. For example, I’d like to read the Rachel romance stuff at the lake while I’m actually in that situation in the game, not after a playthrough. Or the Colonel Otto Goodman/New Army reports - I’d like to be able to refer to them in game to help decide whether or not to aid him. Currently you have to memorize all the stuff between playthroughs, which I find unreasonable. There’s also nothing to suggest you can only read them from the main menu between playthroughs and not in-game when purchasing.
Finally, I would really like to see an auto-loot system implemented, akin to when Rachel and Jaimie help you assign group tasks. Having 40 available slots for items is a real pain sometimes, especially on multiple playthroughs. Selecting the correct loadout and even just navigating to the correct dialogue option is already a challenge sometimes.
There’s other minor stuff like pistols having more powerful stats than an MP5 (I mean both the Glock and M9 pistols have the same stats other than range and all the other pistols have superior stats - to a submachine gun! That’d be insane in real life. Imagine every police officer being issued an MP5 instead of a pistol) or other odd weapon stats such as the AK having inflated stats again (vs the M4 for example, a much more modern and refined assault rifle - the M4 is the service rifle of the US military, whereas the AK-47 was already phased out in the Soviet Union in the 1970s) and so on, but I think I’ve said enough for now.
Having said all that, I don’t mean to sound too critical. I still enjoyed the game but I’m also a bigger fan of the first Zombie Exodus, mainly because it just felt much more cohesive, including gradually getting to know the survivors more instead of everyone lore-dumping you at the first meeting (the first interaction with Woody for example. There’s like 20 pages of info at once, then it never comes up again. Okay, that’s a bit unfair but that was a LONG conversation to have all at once).
Speaking of Woody,
[SPOILER] You have to specifically ask Woody about his phD and read a solid chunk of text to get to the part about the Wendigo. If you miss this very specific dialogue, the Wendigo’s appearance in Part IV lacks impact and seems entirely random. I feel like there could be more hints to this storyline, for example as a campfire tale in Part II. Rachel has the story about the hummingbird and elephant, so why not have Woody tell a spooky story to the group - spooky stories are repeatedly brought up when you talk to Rosie and Driver for example or the whole bit about Leatherface. The twins could bring that up and then Woody could bring up the wendigo. Or have it brought up when discussing the nature of the virus - while fixing the minivan with Jaime and Woody for example. There are many opportunities to have more tie-ins and to make it more relevant to the story. Speaking of Leatherface, does this storyline ever come up again? You find all the newspapers in the basement on this, then the big family shame gets brought up in Part IV - but it’s drugs. I was like huh, drugs not Leatherface?!
Oh and one last bug report although technically this is for Parts II and III:
- Jude shows up at the Museum even if you shoot him on the rooftop of the grocery building where you first meet him. Then he disappears after the conflict is resolved, no interaction, just vanishes from the narrative.
- Speaking of Jude, the rooftop trade seems to be bugged. He just keeps asking for 1 more item to seal the deal. I didn’t try giving him a weapon though - but he’ll keep accepting batteries, binoculars, etc and ask for 1 more item.
- At the Silverthorne Camp, the Mamba biker gang keep referring to how they lost the museum engagement even though I sided with them and they won (peacefully but the other side surrendered). I also seem to take an opinion hit when they bring it up.
And not a bug but at the beginning of Part II, it’s mentioned that the group takes Exit 37 off the I-70. But Exit 37 is in Grand Junction near the state border with Utah. I realize this is a fictional setting but that’s nearly 200 miles west of Boulder and Silverthorne. There seem to be in-game hints that the location is near Silverthorne - Breckenridge is directly next to it, the Mosquito Ranges are directly adjacent (mentioned by Rachel when scouting Safe Haven Percival), and while there’s no Sapphire Lake, there’s a Sapphire Point Overlook at a reasonably large lake. The real Sapphire Lake is way too small and too far from the I-70 (near Colorado Springs). And of course, there’s the Silverthorne Militia. Everyone from Nightfall also ends up in the same place, even when they’re not travelling with your group. And Jaime mentions he spent part of his childhood wherever it is you are - so it can’t be that far. That said, I’m not from the US so maybe Exit 37 refers to something different. This isn’t really a bug but I enjoy speculating about possible locations and this just stood out.
I hope this was somewhat helpful. Again, I apologize if I sounded too critical with my feedback, I’m just really invested at this point and hope to see more positive additions to Part IV, especially ones advancing the storyline with the Havens. Maybe I just miss the first Zombie Exodus but I’ve replayed it too many times over the years now and I’m looking for more of that experience here. Thank you @JimD for making these games in the first place. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the first Zombie Exodus and have replayed it over and over.
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It really feels great when the author has a clear vision of the story. I could read this for years without getting bored.
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