The Trouble with Redshirts...

This, ladies and gentlemen is what I am faced with at this point in time. The apparent mas killing of Redshirts. What villainy is behind this genocide or minor, nameless characters? Look no further than Lost producers Damon and Carlton.

I can't say I blame them though, really. Considering the direction the show has gone in this season, it would be very difficult to keep track of all the Redshirts still hanging around on the beach.

Does this mean all of the Redshirts are now dead? I don't think so. It seems that they haven't been doing a very good job of how many Redshirts there even are at this point. Lostpedia, which has been a huge help in verifying lots of details for the project, has done their best to retcon themselves to match the information being thrown around on the show.

I, however, will use these discrepancies to my advantage when it comes to Redshirt.

Progress is moving along at an interesting pace. I'm going to start contacting my team of helpers quite a bit in the coming weeks. I think the hardest part to all this is just the sheer size of Season 1. It lasted 44 days, which is a lot to try and keep track of. I've been doing my best and I'm nearly done with plotting out where everyone was during those 44 days. Later seasons will be easier because they cover less time.

Fear not though! Redshirt is still in progress and I'm holding firm to that release date.

Expect more info down the road and even a few Redshirt profiles too! :-)

Production Delays and Other News

What can I say? I'm really sorry about leaving you guys high and dry for a month and a half. Things got very busy with the Lost Fantasy League and I kind of dropped the ball.

The most obvious thing I'm sure you've noticed is that I haven't released Redshirt to the masses yet. Things got so bungled up and busy that I had to massively delay my work on it. So, for those of you who have been here since the beginning, I'm sorry but you'll have to wait even longer to get your hands on my creation.

I am setting a flexible release date for July 1, 2009 for the first installment of Redshirt.

I have gone back and started at square one again with my notes and all. I am keeping detailed spreadsheets and maps, monitoring the whereabouts of every character on the Island at any given time. It's a daunting task, but it will make my job easier when it comes to writing the gamebook itself.

Until July 1, I will post new updates when I can (certainly more than one a month) and I'll also be bringing you updates on the fates of some of Lost's Redshirts up to this point. It seems like they're really eager to kill them all off, so I may have to bend my continuity rules for the sake of the gamebook.

Until next time, dear readers, thanks for sticking with me!

~G

Meet The Structural Development Team!

I can't believe a month has gone by already without a post. Where does the time go?

This is just a very quick post. I wanted to introduce to you guys the 5 people helping me out with Project Redshirt. They are what I call my Structural Development Team. They will help me in a number of ways. I'll be bouncing content ideas off of them, getting input on them from what elements and characters to include in the game, and they'll also get to act as proofreaders of sorts, getting the very first look at the gamebook itself to help refine the flow of it all.

So, without further ado, here are my helpers:

-Bigsimpsin
-Dreyesbo
-Gottawatchlost
-Lost2010
-Neeperkat

I'll try to keep the posts a little more regular from here on out, but the upcoming holidays might muck things up a bit for me.

Until next time,

-G :-)

Cold Feet

I have a confession to make.

Recently I had very seriously considered giving up on Redshirt altogether. I've been very busy lately and a lot of home and family stuff piled up on top of each other. I felt suffocated and lacked any motivation whatsoever for outlining the gamebook.

Fortunately, today was a turning point. Maybe it was last night's preview for Lost, or maybe it was having a terrific day today despite the snowy weather, but I suddenly feel energized and in love with Redshirt all over again. I hope to make some more progress on the outline this weekend and get in touch with my team of helpers.

Thanks to those of you who are willing to help me get the structure of this thing hammered and straightened out. You will undoubtedly be a big help. I know Drey has already contacted me, but I need bigsimpsin and lost2010 to emaiil me at LFLquestions@gmail.com so I can contact you via email and get some thoughts out to you guys for review.

Redshirt is back on track. I don't know if my mental holdup will force me to push the release back even further or not. We'll have to see how the next few weeks go.

Beta Testers Needed!

Here's the call that some of you have been waiting for. I am now looking for people interested in being so-called "beta testers" for Redshirt. Now before you get too excited, here's the deal:

These beta testers are not just going to get the first shot at reading through the gamebook. They will also be what I consider my structural development team. All the creative content will be handled by me, but I am looking for a few shrewd minds to help reel in some final structural elements that I am questioning.

The bulk of the writing is underway, so these beta testers will not have much to read for a little while yet, but I will be actively consulting with them on structural matters.

If you are interested in being a part of my beta testing/structural development corps, then leave a comment here, but also be sure to email me directly at LFLquestions@gmail.com and be sure to include Redshirt in the title.

I'm looking for 5-7 helpers as I near the major production stage for Redshirt. This group of helpers will likely be called on again for assistance when I start developing the gamebook for Season 2.

Thanks!

Sneak Peek:

INTRODUCTION:

Your name is unimportant. Your past is insignificant. During your boring humdrum life you have done virtually nothing of interest. In fact, the most interesting thing in your life is about to happen to you right now as you board Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 bound for Los Angeles, California from Sidney, Australia.

Your reasons for being in Australia and for traveling to Los Angeles do not matter. Your friends and family back home, wherever it may be, do not matter. You have no known or unknown connections to anyone else on the plane. Everyone is a stranger to you and you are a stranger to all of them.

In a few moments, Flight 815 will crash onto an Island in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. It is a very mysterious place that poses many threats and dangers to anyone who survives the crash. Some of the survivors will be leaders and explorers. You will not be one of them. You are unimportant. You are expendable.

You are a redshirt.

The Poll Results Are In!

While the USA and the world has to wait another day to find out who the next president will be, the results of the Redshirt survey polls are ready right now! :-P

1) Should Redshirt dole out points?
YES = 5
NO = 6
NO OPINION = 3

I never really felt comfortable setting up a point system for Redshirt, so I'll go with the majority vote on this one. Maybe once I'm working on the Season 6 storyline I can go back and throw point values in, but I don't think I can do so until I know how Lost is going to end.


2) Should I include non-canonical dialog between characters in Redshirt?
A LOT = 1
BALANCED = 10
A LITTLE = 4
NONE = 0

I kind of expected as much. I'm not interested in putting too many of my own words in the mouths of our beloved characters. Originally I had planned to write a lot of dialog, but as I watched through Season 1 and took notes, I realized that there was just too much going on to include much dialog.

I feel like I could pull it off, but it would alienate a few people. So, I'm going to keep it to a minimum. Redshirt is already becoming larger than I had imagined. I'm starting to wonder how large the file is going to be. Hopefully I won't need to break up the Season 1 book into two parts for download. There will be plenty of deciding for you wonderful readers to do.


3) As I'll be writing the narration for Redshirt, what kind of narration would you prefer?
VERY SERIOUS = 2
VERY SNARKY = 2
SLIGHTLY SERIOUS = 8
SLIGHTLY SNARKY = 4

Again, I had expected this kind of response. Lost finds room for sarcasm, so I will try to do the same, without going overboard.


That's it for now. I hope to have a little treat for you all by the end of this week. I've been outlining all the possible decisions readers will face and I'll be doing a whole lot of writing very soon. That means I'll be looking for some beta testers by the end of the month. I'll let you know more info as we get closer to that.

I've been held up a bit here and there, so it doesn't look like Redshirt will be available this year, but you can expect it in January of 2009, before the return of Lost.