Today marks the release of my latest project, The Dead Outnumber the Living, a web based, free to play choose your own adventure. The story starts off with the hero (you) holding out in your San Francisco apartment with your dog Lola, 2 weeks following a global zombie outbreak. Unlike traditional choose your own adventure books, which tend to be rather short and limited, this zombie apocalypse experience contains over a thousand passages, with pathways splitting and converging at points, items you can collect and combine, dynamic ambient content, and even some light puzzles to solve.
When writing the story my goal was to infuse video game elements wherever possible. I don't want to spoil what happens in the story, but using some broad examples I can say that this means optional, ambient story telling, pathways changing based on the items you currently have, and strategic decision making.
The story really comes to life thanks to the artwork and photography that were supplied by a variety of contributors (I couldn't do it all on my own). Namely, the items and the kill screens were drawn by a fantastic, local based artist: Peter Glanting, and I highly encourage you to check out his full portfolio (see the credits page for a full list of contributors and links to their sites). In the near future, I will post a gallery depicting all of the art and photos from the adventure, for those of you that rather browse the images in one go rather than seek them out.
When writing the story my goal was to infuse video game elements wherever possible. I don't want to spoil what happens in the story, but using some broad examples I can say that this means optional, ambient story telling, pathways changing based on the items you currently have, and strategic decision making.
The story really comes to life thanks to the artwork and photography that were supplied by a variety of contributors (I couldn't do it all on my own). Namely, the items and the kill screens were drawn by a fantastic, local based artist: Peter Glanting, and I highly encourage you to check out his full portfolio (see the credits page for a full list of contributors and links to their sites). In the near future, I will post a gallery depicting all of the art and photos from the adventure, for those of you that rather browse the images in one go rather than seek them out.
Tenderloin panoramic art by Brian Riggsbee
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