Progress Update 10/21/08

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted anything here. I am very sorry to those of you who have been so loyal and check frequently for news. I have been caught up in a number of pursuits that have sapped away a sizable portion of my free time lately. Between overindulging in Mafia games and a really hectic pace at work a week ago, I have had little time for anything else.

But Redshirt is still on track for its tentative release in late December/early January. I have finished watching Season 1 and have been going over my notes when a get free moments to highlight areas where game-altering decisions can be made. I've already come up with a number of paths you can take before Oceanic Flight 815 even crashes! Yes, that's a minor spoiler/tease/whatever you'd like to call it. :-)

For now though, I have some questions for you readers of this page. I want some of your input regarding the setup for the gamebook itself. As far as Lost-related content, I've got it all pretty well sorted out. I just need you guys to tell me what you thing of a few nitty gritty details.

1) Should Redshirt dole out points? I've only ever played two gamebooks in my whole life. One gave out points based on your actions and the other didn't. I'm not sure how I feel about giving out points because I don't really know which of the major pathways will end up resulting in a "win."

2) Should I include non-canonical dialog between characters in Redshirt? When I first came up with this idea, I had planned a gamebook with substantial amounts of interaction and dialog written by me, essentially creating some elements of fan-fiction while keeping everything within the timeline of the show. As Redshirt has progressed, it's gotten larger in scope, with the sections getting smaller and the amount of made up dialog going into it has diminished. What do you think I should do?

3) As I'll be writing the narration for Redshirt, what kind of narration would you prefer? I can be snarky and full of wit or I can treat Lost as if it's the Holy Grail and not break with the tone of the show at all. Narration is a huge part of gamebooks. If the narration style doesn't suit the reader, it really affects their interest in finishing the gamebook.

Redshirt Update

Alrighty then. I don't really know what to do with these updates as of right now. After weeks of the hangman puzzles, I'm sort of at a loss for words.

Tonight I watched three more episodes of Season 1. All I have left are the three hours of Exodus Parts 1 & 2. Then I will begin the bulk of my work on Redshirt. I can tell you right now that most of the early work will focus on finding the various points in the story where Redshirt can branch off. I already have 10 pages of my notebook filled out with notes (front and back), so I have a pretty solid start.

So for now, I'll pose a question to you all. Since the "big reveal" a number of you have said that a gamebook was something that you hadn't even remotely expected Redshirt to be.

I'm glad you're all fairly excited about Redshirt, but I have to wonder, what did you think I was coming up with all this time?