I’m looking at this game, but the video doesn’t really tell me much.
Is there a time limit on the game? Or can I play as long as I want?
How much customization is there for your character?
How many options are there in how to progress? Do you always have the same general list of options? Or can you play completely different strategies each time?
How does saving work? Can you load the game if you do something you’re not happy with? Or is it an auto-save sort of thing?
Is everything just the social/Facebook interactions? Or are there actually tasks to do?
If you’re interested in checking out some gameplay, there have been a few Let’s Play videos from the beta version, which will give you some idea of gameplay. One of the most comprehensive that I’m aware of is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1pneo-xIaM
There is a time limit to each playthrough; the time before which you want to stop being a lowly Redshirt, basically! But, as there are a number of different strategies to try in winning the game, and the station gets populated with randomly generated NPCs each time (and you can define the balance of personality types), I’d definitely encourage replaying!
You can check out footage of the character creator in the Let’s Play video posted above, and in the dev videos; but basically, you can choose from 5 different species!
You can play via any strategy you want; it’s up to you whether to schmooze with everyone, focus on a few flirty relationships, just focus on your career skills, or save up your hard earned cash.
The game autosaves at the end of every day, but you can also create your own save files at any point.
Hopefully the videos can clarify this question too. But, it is a game that is heavily based around interacting with AI characters & managing relationships and/or stats, so most of the social interactions take place through the Spacebook interface.
So, about the time limit. Is it a hard limit? Do you get to choose what sort of time limit to play with each game? Or does the game always just end after a certain number of “turns”?
Is there any way to disable the limit so that you can just play as long as you want to?
Alas, there is indeed a hard time limit. I answered this on another thread recently, so with apologies for the copy pasta:
"… it’s interesting that you ask, because for the first almost-year of development, the game had the kind of ‘carry on forever sandbox’ vibe you talked about, but it was decided that the experience is much more interesting and theme-appropriate when you have a pressing time limit by which to shed your metaphorical red shirt! As we know, they can’t last ‘forever’, so you need to climb that career/social ladder faster!
Do feel free to play around with the newly added options when creating a game at the beginning though to see how they affect the outcome on multiple playthroughs, and try out different tactics for ‘winning’ the game!"
Might there be a “infinite time” option added to the game at some point?
This is one of the important elements for me. I’m generally not a fan of games where you’re forced to play within time limits.
Not to say limitations aren’t a good thing. I do enjoy Roguelikes, where you’re limited by food and general survival. But those “limits” can be pushed by clever gameplay.
I suggested trading off an increased playing time for one of several character-based disadvantages, so as to avoid the “infinite time to get everything” syndrome, but haven’t received a reply to my comment. I assume they’re at least a bit busy at this point. Hopefully, it’ll be something they think about in the future; and if they don’t, well, it’s still great fun.
I’ve seen two approaches taken to this kind of situation by developers. One is to say, “If the players want an endgame where they have everything under the sun, let them go for it,” while the other is, “Give the players a situation where they can’t have anywhere near everything they want out of playing the game just one time, or even two.” I tend to fall into the latter camp, myself, but I also feel that if some players prefer the other, that’s fine. Of course, I’m not the developer.
My idea was that by providing a longer playing time but adding a strong character drawback, the player would have more time within a given “character existence” yet still wouldn’t be able to get beyond where they’d be in the current simulation. They’d have a longer experience, but end up about where they are–only with a greater challenge along the way.
But I’m just scratching the surface of possibilities in Redshirt, and enjoying it greatly, as is my wife. Hopefully, you will, too.
Yes, they do. For one thing, some races are racist, and that’s a quality you can increase or decrease at the start of the game. I believe other aspects of race may affect the game, but I haven’t gotten to the point of seeing that, yet.
Hopefully, it’ll be something they think about in the future; and if they don’t, well, it’s still great fun.