Forums » The Lounge » Read Thread

Hey everyone!

My name is Veronika, and I'm part of the team behind Zombie Office - a mobile game inspired by CYS books, and adding technology to the idea - eventually turning into a movie-like game with VR.

We are preparing to launch it on Kickstarter, and for the moment the tech part is ready, but we would love to get help with storylines. The setting is a big office in the middle of a zombie outbreak. Here's our trailer: https://youtu.be/BoVVfTkCVb4

?There are also more interviews on Instagram (@zombieoffice).

Sorry if that was too straightforward! Hope our project fits into what you guys do here. I was very excited to discover your website, and see that you keep the art of CYS alive!! :) Would appreciate any ideas on ZO.

All the best,

Nika

I find it funny that these people looking for help for writing and games from other sites usually write their messages like an E-mail.

copy-paste is a powerful tool.

Dave, from marketing, is in charge of editing public messages.

Lol.

I can't imagine where this message might've been copypasted from. I actually meant it, guys. Sorry if it didn't fit the format - I wish I knew how to put it the right way. :)

There's no real format here. Most of us like to keep it casual.

Great! You've scared me for a moment, but that's your right to protect this place from trolls :)

And yeah, I'm a newbie - we've been working on other aspects of the campaign, and research on CYO just started. That's how I found you guys, you've got some pretty awesome zombie-themed stories in archives.

Let me just formulate things more specifically so that you don't find it too vague. I understand asking for "any ideas" sounded super lame. For example:

1. We now have 12 characters, how many different endings do you think would be fun for each?

2. Would it be exciting enough to have one successful ending for each character, or a few?

(Shooting with real actors will take time and resources, so we're trying to find some minimum requirements we could start with)

At least 2 endings would be good. You can have as many endings as you like, but the more endings you can get for each character, the more replay value the game has.

 

Could've been worse, at least you put it in the right forum and used proper grammar. At the very least, your message won't be written off as spam.

As for the idea, you're both lucky and unlucky. A lot of writers around here have written great zombie story games (it's a popular genre around here) so much so that no one writes them anymore because the best zombie games have already been made; so in that sense, you're lucky because people are interested.

Having said that, most people around here don't take offers/interest in outside companies that need some help with stories (not that I've heard of anyways). The chances someone will say "yes, I'll help you guys out pm me the deats" is low, but I think because this particular case is zombies and a well written post, it raises the odds of interest to 20-30% (bearing in mind that the odds are usually more like 5% on a good day). Supposing multiple writers are interested, it's even more unlikely to find a great writer who is committed. We have a lot of great amateurs, not so many great experts.

The chances are good, but not that good. Hope it works out for you guys, good luck.

This is such a zen answer!! Have you heard of the Chinese Farmer parable?) Haha, sorry, I live in China now - so it was the first thing that came to mind when I read your "both lucky and unlucky" :)

Well, there's always a chance if you try. We've met a few talented musicians and artists online that joined the project, and I was hoping writers would be interested too. But you're absolutely right about the zombie hype right now - I'm afraid the longer we wait with the launch, the more people would be tired of the whole thing! It just (surprisingly :D) took a LOT of time to put all things together.

 

Also, I'm not a native English speaker, so apologies in advance for the mistakes :)

It was my very first message on your forum and I felt like saying hi a bit more officially! Sorry if it bothered you. I'm not "those people" (I hope) :)

Haha, no, it's fine. We were just poking fun.

Edit: I watched the trailer, it doesn't look bad actually.

Edit 2: Not something I'd buy though. :P

Thanks :) Edit 2 is more interesting!

This should be mandatory reading material for you: http://chooseyourstory.com/story/dead-man-walking-(zombie-survival)

I'm of the opinion that there is probably no better zombie CYOA in existence and I think Dead Man Walking could serve as a sort of bible for those breaking into the genre.

Best of luck with your project!

Thanks a lot for sharing, that will take some time to read :) One key difference is that our game will be more of a comedy-horror - like Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead and the like. But that didn't stop us from watching the TWD in detail - so I really appreciate the advice :) Forewarned is forearmed!

That's probably good! I think there's more room to impress in that subgenre. Still, DMW will be a great example of how to do the serious side of your story.