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! :-)

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.

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.

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!