Project Redshirt- REVEALED!

The time has come ladies and gentlemen! After eight weeks of teasing you via hangman puzzles, I will now reveal to you exactly what Project Redshirt is.

First though, I want to thank all of you who have been with me since the beginning. It’s been a long time coming, but your patience will be rewarded today. I would also like to thank everyone who has come on board and supported my efforts at any time during the run of these little mind games I’ve been playing with you.

But enough stalling already! You’ve waited and waited and waited, so here it is:

Lost2010 guessed the correct answer to puzzle #8- “GAMEBOOK”.

That’s right folks, Project Redshirt is a gamebook. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what a gamebook is, it is a 2nd person perspective story. You take on the role of the main character and you have to navigate your way through the book like a maze.

A gamebook’s story is broken up into potentially hundreds of different sections. You start at section one and you will ultimately have to make decisions that will affect which section you go to read next. This creates multiple pathways through the gamebook, most of them typically lead to some kind of dead end or the death of you, the main character. Some of you may be familiar with the term “Choose Your Own Adventure” story, but I cannot call Project Redshirt a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story because “Choose Your Own Adventure” is a trademarked line of gamebooks from the 1980s and 1990s. Thus I have to stick with the generic term gamebook.

Project Redshirt is going to be a series of Lost-centric gamebooks. Instead of being one of the main characters on the show, Project Redshirt will put you into the shoes of one of the Lostie redshirts. This has required me to extensively research each episode of Lost to see when redshirts pop up, who they interact with and just how many are still alive! The goal of the series is to see if you can navigate your way through every season of Lost without dying.

You might be wondering now how this gamebook idea meshes with the seven previous clues I have given you. Allow me to elaborate on each of them (in no particular order):

Clue #2: Project Redshirt is only a cryptonym
From here on out, what used to be known as Project Redshirt will simply be called Redshirt. The full title of the series of gamebooks will be Redshirt: Survive the Island. Well, that’s the name and subtitle I’ve envisioned up to know. I’m open to suggestions though, but Redshirt is mandatory for obvious reasons.

Clue #1: You will need a computer to access Project Redshirt
This is kind of self-explanatory. Since Redshirt is not affiliated with the show, ABC or any of the producers, you won’t find it in stores. When the time comes, you will have to come online in order to track down your copy of it.

Clue #4: Downloadable
Now that I’ve got DarkUFO backing me up with some support for the project, I am hoping that he will possibly host the final PDF version of each installment of Redshirt. Otherwise, I guess I’ll just have to email the copies out. Here’s to hoping Dark is on board.

Clue #5: Multiple stages or phases
Because Lost is such an expansive story, I’ll be breaking Redshirt up into multiple parts. The first part of the series, which I hope to release before the end of this year, will carry readers through the events Season 1. I am nearly finished re-watching Season 1 and have begun working on the earliest of events. I hope to be able to release the Season 2 gamebook shortly after the end of Season 5. This way you fine folks will have something to do while waiting for the next faulty ARG to kick in.

Clue #3: Non-canonical, evolutionary continuity conformism
This tongue twister of a clue is what forced me to spend so much time researching the events of Season 1. I’m intent on staying consistent with the canon of the show. Through the use of the Lostpedia timeline and my own copious notes, I have a detailed log of who was where, doing what during all that I have watched of Season 1 up to now.

It wasn’t so difficult at first- everyone was on the beach. But when people started wandering off and they split into two camps, I have been writing down where different characters live and where they pop up and different times of the day. My goal is that I can accurately reflect the events of Season 1 (and the other seasons as well). I don’t want any of you continuity experts to nail me for having the Redshirt character interact with somebody at the beach when that character was most definitely at the Caves that day.

This part here has been the brunt of the work and it’s not going to be over until the show ends. The evolutionary part of this clue means that any information that comes down the pike about what a certain character might have been doing during any of Lost’s season, I will tweak Redshirt to reflect any new canonical information revealed in the show through dialogue or flashbacks.

Clue #7: Personality development
Simply walking around the Island isn’t enough for me. While most gamebooks only have one “successful” ending that is considered a win for the reader, Redshirt will feature a couple different endings. At least for now. While your redshirt persona isn’t going to be interesting enough to have any kind of back story, the people and things you encounter on the Island will mold your attitude towards your fellow Losties. You might end up being pro-Jack or pro-Locke, or you may just end up being a loner. There will be several paths you can take, but not all of them will be as interesting or successful as others.

For Season 1, I am envisioning as many as a half-dozen endings that will pick up in the Season 2 gamebook. This means that the Season 1 installment of Redshirt is probably going to be very large.

Clue #6: Project Redshirt will need beta testers
Some time soon, I will need a crew of about a half-dozen determined proof readers to help me edit the story lines. I’ll need help checking for continuity and also to see if the pacing and writing is any good. This needs to be entertaining, so my beta testers will need to let me know if there are ways and places where I can speed things up a bit.

My beta testers will be insiders, to a point. I won’t be giving them full copies of Redshirt, just a streamlined portion of it (i.e. one of the psychological pathways). When we’re ready for the finished product, I’ll combine everything together. But I don’t need beta testers just yet. I’ll be sure to announce that loud and clear when the time comes.


So, now you know what I’ve been working on and teasing you about for all this time!

This does NOT mean that I will stop posting anything here. I am very interested in your input and I will be posting polls (if they work) and asking for feedback on a variety of issues ranging from creative ways to die to what sort of things our Redshirt character shouldn’t get involved with.

There is still plenty of time for you all to help shape what will become Redshirt, so please be sure to check back at the site from time to time. I will try my best to post something new here at least once a week.

Now then, what is your initial reaction to Redshirt? Does it sound like something you will be interested in? I very much want to know!

Puzzle#8, Day 4(?)

Hey all, here is the updated clue. After all is said and done, you've got three correct letters and three incorrect letters.

This is where I'll leave you. You've got about 24 hours to speculate the clue and then on Sunday I will give you the answer to Puzzle #8 and then I will reveal exactly what Project Redshirt is going to be!

The answer is near! I'll see you tomorrow!

-G

Puzzle #8, Day 3

Okay, the posts have been sporadic and I apologize. I'm getting a little burnt out from being spread too thin over a number of things lately. "I" was a bad letter, so you've got a head and body. "G" and "M" were tied and M won the coin toss. Here is the puzzle so far:

You're so close to finding out what Project Redshirt is! Can you take the excitement anymore? :-P There's one more poll for you to work with. I'll fill in the letter you choose and then I'll have a separate post Saturday for the big reveal. Any guesses so far?

Puzzle #8, Day 2

Sorry for the delay! I've been getting oh so caught up in STV Mafia games. Good stuff there. Ended badly for me though :-\

Today I wasn't able to make any polls, so you'll just have to leave your requests in the comments section. You got one letter wrong, so I'll post a head picture as soon as I can track it down. At least that's what was winning the last time I checked.

Here's the puzzle so far:

Today you get a completely different set of letters to choose from! You can pick as many as you want, so let me know which of the following get your vote:

B, C, G, I, M, U, W

Puzzle #8, Day 1

Whew! Hey all, I've fallen behind yet again. Sorry about that. I'm lucky to have gotten this post up as well because the office has some new securities and firewalls mucking things up for when I try to log in to certain "non-work related" site ;-)

So, today is going to have to be a short day then, so I can update things at home, where the Internet isn't bogged down by lameness. Thusly, I'm giving you two letters today, but the poll is multiple choice! Vote for which ever letters you want and I'll be taking the top two vote-getters.

This is the last week for all the secrecy! Once you figure out puzzle #8, you will have all the clues and then I will reveal to you what Project Redshirt is. Let's do it!

Puzzle #7- SOLVED (and a PR Clue Wrap-up)

Sorry for leaving you hanging for a whole day! I got busy and couldn't get to the site to update.

Sandi guessed correctly! This week's clue is "personality development."

So what does that mean? Well, I'm not going to elaborate on the clue for a change! Instead, we're going to review all 7 clues you have received up to now. Next week's clue will be the final one. After the last puzzle is solved, I will announce just what the heck Project Redshirt is.

So let's review...

Clue #1: You will need a computer to access Project Redshirt
Clue #2: Project Redshirt is only a cryptonym
Clue #3: Non-canonical, evolutionary continuity conformism
Clue #4: Downloadable
Clue #5: Multiple stages or phases
Clue #6: Project Redshirt will need beta testers
Clue #7: Personality development

One week to go! Thanks for sticking with me through all this teasing and hype. I truly hope that the revelation of what Project Redshirt is will excite and energize you to support my efforts even further. It's coming along nicely folks. There's no turning back now...

Puzzle #7, Day 3

The letter O won out and there are two of them in the puzzle.

Some potential bad news though- I've decided to put the future of Project Redshirt in the hands of SpoilerTV Forum users. Either 11 more people sign up for the upcoming Mafia III forum game or there will be no Project Redshirt. A bold move, I know, but I want to get Mafia III on the road, so encourage your friends on the forum to sign up!

Anywho, here's the daily PR fix:

Puzzle #7, Day 2

Well, the winning letters A and R only appeared once each in the puzzle. Maybe today's vowel poll will yield better results. Good luck!

Puzzle #7, Day 1

Here we go folks, the next to last puzzler! I was chatting to Sandi, one of our devoted readers, and she told me that for the last puzzle, getting the E really gave the answer away. Since the E seems to help you so much, you'll have to go this week without it! I hope you enjoy the extra challenge. :-)

Puzzle #6- SOLVED!

Way to go! After only two days, the answer has been figured out!

Our master decipherer is fltrisk. I'm totally impressed that you managed to get it right so soon. :-)

The clue is "Project Redshirt will need beta testers."

I think this one is self explanitory. Now that I have begun production on Project Redshirt I will need a crack team of experts to help me test it out! I'll only need about 5 assistants, so some of you will just have to wait until the launch date to get your first peek at it.

I'm not actively seekinh beta testers just yet, but I wanted to put this notice out there that a call for your help will be coming soon. I think it's important for you all to know what Project Redshirt is going to be before I have you sign up as a beta tester. I don't want anyone to blindly sign up for it and find themselves in over their heads once testing commences. Nor would I want you to sign up as a beta tester in case you wouldn't happen to like my vision for the project.

So there you go folks, sometime after Project Redshirt is revealed (remember- there will only be 8 clues) I will make a post looking for your help. If you're interested already in the job, let me know and I'll put you in for early consideration. Otherwise, just hang tight. Answers are coming!

Puzzle #6, Day 2

After a neck-and-neck fight, the letter E won out and it yeilded some pretty good results for you. Today, you get to pick a consonant. How's it looking so far?

Puzzle #6, Day 1

This week I owe you one. After so many delays recently and your marvelous patience, I'm starting this week off a day late, but with a letter already in place. You deserve it for sticking with me. Hopefully this clue, while not necessarily as revealing as others, will generate some buzz. Enjoy!

Puzzle #5- SOLVED!

Hey all, sorry for the delays. I've been having more computer problems and the poll site has been less than agreeable with my computer. I'll post puzzle #6 tonight.

For now, I'll explain Clue #5, which was solved by apopheniac79: "Multiple stages or phases."

What this means is that Project Redshirt involves multiple parts. I hesitate to go so far as to call them 'levels' but they could be called such depending on your point of view.

Basically, the point is this- Project Redshirt isn't coming out all at once. The portion of it being released during the current hiatus is only the first of several parts that will be released over an as-of-yet unknown period of time. It might take a while for the next 'installment' to come out, but assuming the first part doesn't crash and burn and suck unbelievably, I'll put the rest of it into motion. In the end, you will be able to put all the pieces of Project Redshirt to make one large entity.

Clue #5, Day 4

Hey guys- sorry about missing a day! I'm still adjusting and my schedule has been crazy! Anyway, there was a tie for the vowel, and the coin toss gave you an O. Any guesses yet?

Today's polls:

Puzzle #5, Day 2

Sorry for the delay. These things just have a way of happening.

So yesterday the letter E won for the vowels and it went to a coin toss to determine the consonant. T won, so here are the results:



And here are the next polls. Any guesses yet?

Puzzle #5, Day 1

Here you go folks! After a long time off (for which I apologize sincerely) we're back in action with the Hangman Clue puzzlers! Here's this week's clue and the polls of the day. Enjoy!