Let’s Talk About Red Dwarf XI: The Game

[si]

I don’t play games too often, as I may have mentioned, and I still haven’t managed to get past the Car stealth level!

[GameDigits]

We’re still busy working on the Samsara update and can’t wait to release the update with it in. As mentioned previously, it would be unfeasible to implement a whole episode per week. But we have plenty of great ideas from the series to work on and in the end is going to be a very comprehensive game.

It’s interesting to read the comments on here actually, speculating on what games will be developed to fit with the series. However, by all means, if there’s a game you think would work perfectly just let us know!

Alongside this, we’re also improving the existing game given the feedback we’re getting. In fact, some sections have had a complete overhaul. We’re also putting in more script specifically written for the game by Doug and this really adds a lot to the experience.

I’ll keep you guys posted – keep the speculation coming, let’s see who guessed the games correctly when the update comes out ;)

[Ben Paddon]

>And then there was Batman Returns on the Lynx…
Oh man, that was a tough game.

And those Clangers, eh?

[Bezzy]

In looking forward to the Samsara update. I think I’ve played the other missions to death :)

[Jason aka Smeg4Brains]

There’s got to be a Pac-Man type mini-game for Officer Rimmer, right?

[Karnie]

Looking forward to the next installments! It’s great that you guys are so hands-on with the fans.

[Dax101]

I noticed they changed the controls for the first level with starbug flying through the astroid field, now you both control starbug and fire which has removed the button smashing and i am kinda disappointed as i enjoyed the touch screen shooting at objects

[flanl3]

Haven’t played any of Samsara yet, but I’d hope there’ll be flashback games? Yeah?

[curtis]

Samsara hasn’t updated yet has it?

Much improved Starbug game though

[GameDigits]

Hi Guys,

Just to let you guys know, the new Samsara update has been submitted to Apple today and hopefully it’ll pass their review process within a few days. We’re looking forward to making it live and it’ll be great to hear your comments on it.

As always, we’re very keen on listening to what you guys think on here. There’s such a broad range of possibilities of what a game based on the Red Dwarf license can potentially be, it’s interesting to hear your perspective on the route we’ve taken with it.

In the meantime we have released an update recently tackling the main issues people have reported about the game so far. Just so show that we’ve been very responsive since release, this is the fifth update we’ve released since launch and Samsara will be the sixth.

We have updated the way the Ship Scan works as many people complained about the ‘tap, tap, tap’ method of gameplay saying it was too repetitive. It also had some finger occlusion problems where you couldn’t see what was coming up, or if a valid shot had registered on small devices. The new controls eliminates the finger occlusion problem and it’s also more interesting to play as you can dodge the hazards as well as aim and shoot.

We have also updated the controls to allow 360 movement on the characters. Initially, only allowing forward and side movement was purposeful game mechanic, so you had to think carefully where you were going. However, many people found this more of a frustration than a challenge. Therefore, we have changed the controls to allow full movement across the levels where the left side of the screen acts like a directional-pad.

We’ve also added more bespoke in-game scripting from Doug, especially in the Rimmer Escape levels. We had received some complaints saying that the game sections were a little too ‘dry’, i.e. lots of dialogue within the cutscenes, but then hardly anything in the games themselves and the characters didn’t really come through. We hope to add more in the future, but we have addressed this directly and added more bespoke scripts as you play the game written by Doug specifically for the game.

These are just the main items we’re changed in the update, there are many improvements on a more detailed level, but too many to list here.

I hope you guys agree these are great positive steps forward for the game and if you’re feeling especially generous, please pop in a review for us and we’ll keep it going.

Hopefully the Samsara update won’t be long in Apple’s review process and we’ll be able to make it live shortly. It’ll be great to know your thoughts on that…

Also, if you spot any issues with the update or would like to request something directly, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at Support@GameDigits.co.uk, we’d love to hear from you.

[Phil]

Probably an annoying question, but I’m an annoying kind of guy so I’ll ask it anyway!

Any chance of this making it, at any point, to North American app stores?

[flanl3]

I’ve already got it in the US…

[Phil]

Huh, it is in the app store after all. I could have sworn it wasn’t. Thanks!

[flanl3]

Haven’t played any of Samsara yet

I made this statement thinking it was out yet, who knows what I was thinking.

[flanl3]

Wait, how does it make any sense for there to be a question about Einstein and theory of relativity if it’s said just moments later that in his reality, it wasn’t his?

[Bezzy]

Can’t wait for Samsara update!

[flanl3]

Has the update not gone through yet?

[flanl3]

Wait, no, it’s there now. Felt really good and original, however, ‘Escape Samsara’ isn’t unlocking for me? Help?

[flanl3]

Ha never mind it’s there just such a clone of Find Samsara to the point that not only does it pull the same quotes, it literally labels itself at the beginning as ‘Find Samsara’. I’d assume it’s just a pointing error from test versions which will be fixed soon.

[Chris Stokes]

None of the updates are there for me, nor even the option to update in Play store.

[Pete Part Three]

This level where you have to choose the most out-of-character dialogue for The Cat and Lister takes ages to complete.

[flanl3]

Really? I swept right through it.

[Chris Stokes]

Anyone else not getting the updates via Play Store?

[Dax101]

Those security questioned puzzled me for ages, i thought they were meant to be references from past episodes but i couldn’t remember any mention of a hover-car and first kiss,i managed to piece together the hover-car one but i am still puzzed about the first kiss one.

[Dax101]

ohh i know what it is now, scratch that last post, it was abit obvious.

[Jo]

Anyone else not getting the updates via Play Store?

Nothing on Play yet, but then we got it later than iOS when it initially came out, so maybe this afternoon?

[GameDigits]

You guys are so quick off the mark! It’s great to see you’re eager to get their hands on the new update.

The Samsara episode is now live on the App Store and will closely be followed by Google Play (we’ve pressed the ‘go live’ button and we’re just waiting for it to propagate through the stores). We have also made some improvements to Twentica too given the feedback we’ve had so far.

The security questions in the Explore Samsara game was an interesting one, we actually used parts of the original script that didn’t make it into the televised episode as they attempt to enter the Samsara ship.

Also, thank you flanl for letting us know about the final game stage. Yes, it must’ve crept in during the final stages of testing and we’ll get that fixed as soon as possible.

As always, it’ll be great to know your feedback. We’re very active in making updates and responding to feedback so please let us know what you think.

If you’re feeling generous, it would be fantastic if you could leave a review for us on the stores to show your support and we’ll continue on with making this a great game for the series.

[si]

Not being good enough to actually complete Twentica myself, I’ve opted to pay to unlock Samsara. Had a quick play of the first level, and got to say that I’m liking what I’m seeing so far, good fun. :)

[Niki Hutchinson]

For GameDigits the Find Rachel level fells as if when you get sported it takes off too much of you hidden status, very quickly.

[Dax101]

Yeah the finding rachel game is very difficult and long

[typeforty]

I’m enjoying the Samsara update (Though Find Rachel has me challenged), but the game desperately needs a proofreader. Green in the Rachel level has a couple of misspellings that never should have got through – ‘affaire’ and ‘squeeky’. And I hope that Doug Naylor didn’t have anything to do with the awful Rimmer tights gag… Minor quibbles though.

[flanl3]

Awful? I personally really enjoyed the tights joke.

[Jo]

I like that there’s a little monitor at the side during the asteroid navigation, to show you how much further you have to go, but I’d like that on every level – it’s something that I would have liked on the Twentica levels too.

The Find Rachel level is incredibly frustrating and I’ve just given up on it for now, after much swearing. I seemed to be walking for ages and having no idea how much further I need to go (whether I’d almost made it to the end of the level, or was nowhere near), means that I’m less motivated to try again.

[flanl3]

The squeeky shoes remark tells you you’re on the homestretch, fyi.

[curtis]

Karma Hack is driving me insane

[Dax101]

You need a very good memory for the karma hack, especially the second part.

[flanl3]

Or a pencil and paper.

[curtis]

If it was any other game I’d have cheated ages ago.

[Pete Part Three]

>Really? I swept right through it.

Like it swept over your head?

[GameDigits]

Thank you for the feedback folks!

This forum has certainly been the best at given us actual constructive feedback that we can use to improve the game for future releases – thank you so much!

For these comments we can see that:

– We pitched the difficulty of the Find Rachel game too high to the point of it being frustrating rather than challenging. We’ll change that and definitely make it more forgiving, there’s a lot we can do with that.

– Having progression markers on many of the levels is a fantastic suggestion. Now you mention it, we can see it can be difficult to know how far you are through a level, and frustrating not to know just how far you got on your last attempt. We’ll aim to get these in wherever possible.

– Spelling mistakes. Looks like these came through from the original scripts. I guess these kind of mistakes can go unnoticed when it’s a performance for the show, but it’s happened a few times in the game, so we’ll tighten up that process and include proofreading. We’ve fixed the ones mentioned already.

As for the tights gag, yep, that’s from Doug – come on, it’s a classic, why not? The majority of the game script is actually written by him, we then add in a few instructional elements here and there to make it all hang together as a game.

As for the Karma Drive. If you think that’s hard, we actually had a stage where you had to remember the sequence backwards considering you’re reversing the protocols. Now that really messes with your brain! We eventually took that out after finding our testers dribbling and crying in the corner.

Thanks again for your comments, hope you’re enjoying the game and we look forward hearing more fro you…

[flanl3]

The best part about he Rimmer tights joke is that I’ll never forget stalactites vs stalagmites again… lol

[International Debris]

Heh, that’s how I remember stalactites as well. Wouldn’t have complained about that gag in the show so certainly not in the game.

Agreed with Find Rachel getting a bit frustrating – I’d say taking off 10 instead of 20 would be a good idea maybe? Also it gets quite repetitive. I know that making densely packed levels on this kind of game is probably out of the question, but when it seems like you’re going around the same four or five rooms about ten times the fun disappears. Plus it means each room is either super-easy (if you’ve cracked the best route) or super-hard (if you can’t work it out), whereas somewhere in between would really be ideal.

Karma Hack is a bastard, but that’s not a complaint. I got stuck on the very last one about ten times before I ended up having to write it down. I found the easiest way to do that is to give each symbol a single syllable name (“O, flash, square, moon”) and then they’re easier to repeat. I reckon if I’d not been listening to music I might have been able to crack that last one without paper.

And yes, Escape Samsara is currently identical to Find Samsara!

Otherwise good stuff, killed an hour or two this afternoon.

[si]

I remember the difference between stalagmites and stalactites because of Harry Hill. You’ve got to have a system.

[Dave]

But which is better?

[GameDigits]

Marlon Brando….. Suzanne Dando…

[International Debris]

Stalactites hang down like a pair of tights (or, they hang on tight). Stalagmites stand tall at might-y.

[si]

I know I’m always years behind everyone else, progress-wise, but I’ve completed the Escape Pod, and moved on to Find Samsara. Haven’t completed that yet. But when I go back to try again later on, the level’s still locked and I have to complete Escape Pod again, even though I’ve got my points for the completed level there. Having to do it again doesn’t make sense.

[GameDigits]

Si, when you started the Escape Pod mission did you go through the ‘Play’ button on the main screen, or from the ‘Episodes’ section from the menu?

I’m sure you do this already, but if you’re in doubt always play the game using the ‘play’ button on the main screen to progress through the story.

If it’s still repeating on you, please email us at GameDigits@GameDigits.co.uk and we’ll help you out.

You shouldn’t have to complete the Escape Pod mission again to progress, unless it didn’t save your progress for some reason last time you played it. It can happen sometimes if the device runs out of battery.

[Chris Stokes]

Well I don’t even want to meet Rachel anyway…

[si]

Ah, well, in terms of game progress, I’m actually only halfway through Twentica, so play Samsara through the menu. So I guess I can only get through to Find Samsara and beyond if I’m playing in one session. That would kind of make sense.

[Taiwan Tony]

>Marlon Brando….. Suzanne Dando…

Highlight of the thread.

(To the tune of “TV highlight of the weeeeek.”)

[GameDigits]

Si, actually if you select Samsara from the episodes game menu so it’s highlighted in green. Then press ‘Play’ from the main ship screen, you will continue with the Samsara episode story.

You can swap between the episodes this way and progress through them as you like. So, select your episode from the menu, then select Play from the ship screen, then you’ll always progress where you left off on that episode.

Admittedly it’s not obvious, so we’ll aim to make this clearer in future updates and thank you for making this apparent.

In other news, we’ve just uploaded a new build of the game with a first pass response from the feedback on this very thread. It’ll be available this evening on Google Play, and 2-3 days on the App Store after it has passed Apple’s review process.

[si]

if you select Samsara from the episodes game menu so it’s highlighted in green. Then press ‘Play’ from the main ship screen, you will continue with the Samsara episode story.

Oooh, yeah. Ta. :)

[Pembers]

Enjoyed Samsara though its noticeable shorter than Twentica. I actually think the difficulty for the most part is about right, although that Karma hack was a doozy. I eventually did it without cheating though there was a bit more luck than judgement involved at the end.

My advice to anyone struggling with ‘Find Rachel’ is that fortune favours the brave, don’t be too slow and timid.

[Stephen R. Fletcher]

Those security questioned puzzled me for ages, i thought they were meant to be references from past episodes but i couldn’t remember any mention of a hover-car and first kiss,i managed to piece together the hover-car one but i am still puzzed about the first kiss one

Feeling frustrated – and a little embarrassed – about this but I still can’t get past the bloody hover-car one! And I’ve gone through the episode and the bunkroom scene where Rimmer mentions a hover fare just to see if I’ve missed a reference.

[International Debris]

I don’t remember it being a reference, I just worked it out from the letters.

[si]

Ditto.

[Chris Stokes]

Same. We’re all familiar with how Doug writes a joke. That’s how I got the hover car one.

[Dax101]

Yeah I figured out the hover-car one just by guessing the letters, I couldn’t remember any mention of a hover car in the show so it is a weird question.

[flanl3]

What if it’s an accidental XII spoiler? *X-Files theme plays*

[flanl3]

Also if would legitimately pay more money to have the actual music cue from the show play on the pod-launch scene in Samsara. Idk how hard it would be to get your hands on, but it’s a thought.

[NitroChrisUK]

just got the game yesterday as have only just upgraded to the phone which would allow me to play so this is my first mobile game !!

wow it’s really really good! went straight through Twentica without much frustration, i can tell from the videos i have watched before that the controls have really been tweaked with and fixed. found the walking/ stealth sections to be easy to control and the driving ones not to bad either.

Really hope there is a Level in the Give & Take Episode where you play as the Engineer using the stasis Booth to go back and warn himself only to be killed.. by himself. and of course Snacky! so many opportunities to be had.

really enjoying it at the moment and it’s sure going to help me on my 10 hour train journey next week.

[flanl3]

Well, the new update is nice, really enjoyed the change to meet Rachel, but I believe in ‘Kryten, figured it out’ at the end of the episode still has an unnecessary comma.
Also, I sincerely hope the Officer Rimmer game includes ‘Make a To-Do List’ as the final mini game from the perspective of the Rimmonster.

[si]

Okay, an hour or two ago, I was playing the final part of Samsara, having actually managed to almost complete the episode. Just gone back to try again, and all bar the first Escape pod bit is locked again. Hoping it’s just me doing something wrong. But don’t think it is.

[Jonathan Capps]

Meet Rachel is vastly improved. Probably the best balanced bit of the Samara episode now.

[si]

Well, despite all that time I spent getting through the Karma Drive stuff on Saturday night, I’m now currently attempting to Meet Rachel again. Extremely frustrating.

[Stephen R. Fletcher]

Managed to (FINALLY!) get past the second security question yesterday (Thanks for the hints, guys.) Now just stuck on ‘Meet Rachel’. Probably for the next few days, knowing me.

[GameDigits]

Si, sorry to hear there’s an issue with the game locking on Samsara and thank you for letting us know.

It seems it’s isolated issue in this case and we’ve managed to produce it here. We’re working on a fix now and we’ll have it sorted as soon as possible. Your progress is being saved, it’s just that the menu is showing the games are locked in this instance. We’re also going to put in a brute force backup to unlock games remotely if it happens again…

Could you let me know if you’re on iOS or Android?

Glad you guys are enjoying the update and the changes to Meet Rachel. We’ll continue to improve the game generally and we’re currently working on the next episode too.

If you have any more comments on the game, or would like to suggest anything for future episodes, we’re all ears – Thanks guys!

[si]

I’m on Android. But don’t worry about me, I’m just being a whiney little get. I’m sure I’ll work my 21st through again. ;)
But its great to know you’re looking out for us and updating and adapting the game.

[si]

“21st”? How the fuck does autocorrect change “way” to “21st”?

[si]

Oh, good. After an intense 20 minutes play, I’m now back through to Escape Samsara, which is where I’d got to before.
Which is nice.

[si]

Whoo. Samsara level complete.

[Maddie]

In the scenes in “Twentica” when Starbug goes through the wormhole that’s featured in the Time Surf game, there’s a line of those energy pick-up stars from the game. I wonder if that’s where the idea came from to have those in the game.

I was kind of hoping they’d be connected to an Easter Egg on the DVD, but no joy.

[NitroChrisUK]

Is it possible to replay through both episodes from the start with all the scenes in-between intact?? I go to start twentica again to the first scan mission then takes me straight to the start of samsara each time rather than let me progress through.

[flanl3]

If you tap Twentica in the episode select screen, then don’t select a stage but instead just return to the opening screen, then hit play, it should work.

[si]

In an exciting development, I finally completed Twentica yesterday afternoon.

[curtneedsaride]

Well, just downloaded and quickly finished the second episode. It’s disappointing that I still haven’t even been able to see the television episodes yet, but hopefully some decent links will surface for us US fans.

Anyway, the second episode was shorter, but pleasant. Guessing the passwords took a few minutes before the answers clicked, so I’d suggest hints there for people who aren’t into word games. Also, the memory section was a bit frustrating because I sometimes miscounted or got lost in a sequence. Fun to figure out in a way, but it would have been a more enjoyable experience if there was some visible highlight when it registered me tapping on a symbol. Also it would have been nice to have underscores in the number of symbols we needed to remember on the bottom of the scree. And as we tapped on each they would appear on top of the underscores to show the sequence we were inputting. Just a thought.

Also, there seems to be a couple missing words in one of the Kryton dialogues: “But there’s no cause for alarm. We’re under no danger as long … don’t do anything vindictive, selfish, or unethical.”

Overall, though, I enjoyed it as a fan of the series, and I look forward to the other episodes! The settings page has three dots on the lower left. The first is red, and I always expect the second to turn red instead when we switch to the next settings page and same for the third. Just a small observation about UI. Also, I wouldn’t be offended by a donate button in the settings if you could add one. ;)

[Ian Symes]

It’s disappointing that I still haven’t even been able to see the television episodes yet, but hopefully some decent links will surface for us US fans.

How about this link?

[flanl3]

Any news on how close Give & Take might be?

[GameDigits]

Excellent feedback guys, all very valid points and as always, we’ll be taking them onboard for future updates of the game.

As for when Give & Take will be released, we’re still currently hard at work on that and it’s looking great so far. We’re also making updates to the original game from the feedback we get too, so the workload is split between the two, but we hope to have update out over the next few weeks.

Also, congrats Si on completing Samsara!

[si]

Thank you vwey much. :D

[NitroChrisUK]

Still can’t play any level from twentica and go straight into the next level, it always takes me to the start of samsara. I have tried what was suggested and clicking on twentica then going back and that does not work, play one level then back to start off samsara. Looking forward to g&t update!!!!

[Karnie]

Trying to update the Encyclopedia and I noticed a few lines of dialog was changed between updates…. You guys are killing me! =)

[GameDigits]

Just thought I’d pop in and give you guys an update on how things are going regarding the Give & Take update of the game.

We’re still hard at work putting together this next instalment and we aim to release it this month. I understand this is quite a large window, but I just want to let you know that we’re making good progress on it and it’s looking great so far.

As usual, alongside this we’re re-evaluating the current episodes and making improvements given the feedback we receive and our own internal play tests. So Karnie, there’s bound to be some more dialog changes involved in that – sorry! ;) Still, it’s really cool to see the game evolving into something more beautiful, and as we’ve always said, we want to make a great game for this license and we’ll continue to pursue this (no matter how long it takes!). I hope you’re with us for the ride!

As for the issue with switching and playing different episodes as NitroChrisUK pointed out – we have fixed this issue now and it will be available in the next update. It also tells you which episode you’re currently playing in the main ship screen and you can jump & progress through different episodes at your leisure.

We’ve also implemented other requests from this very forum and Richard’s most excellent playthrough videos too. We hope you’ll be pleased with how it’s progressing and we’re looking forward to getting the next episode update out there for you.

Incidentally, I have a question for you all:

What folders and files would you expect to see in Kryten’s internal filing system?

I’ll leave it up to you to decide if this is game related or not ;)

[(deleted)]

“HOW RED DWARF WAS SAVED FROM THE HIGHLY CORROSIVE MICRO-ORGANISM”

Cause everyone loves a running gag.

[(deleted)]

“KRYTIE TV: FROM A-Z”

[flanl3]

“SPACE CORPS DIRECTIVES”

[flanl3]

“SILICON BIBLE”

Oh, and since he’s got an oddly named Rimmer folder, might as well see if you can’t come up with sassy names for the others, including himself.

[International Debris]

Mr. Lister’s Jockstrap Gusset Stains: A Compendium

[Karnie]

As per the episode “Legion”:

A folder for off-world eating techniques, with files in it for Mamosian anti-matter chopsticks, Jovian Boogle Hoops, and Mercurian Boomerang Spoons

[Jason aka Smeg4Brains]

Comforting A Crying Woman using the Heimlich maneuve
Nega Drive
Moose Facts
Star Trek Crap *don’t access till after noon* (I know you probably can’t really get away with that one)

[Dave]

Folder: Bay City Rollers
Contents: “Bye Bye Baby”

[Chris Stokes]

A folder marked ‘Best Guesses’

[flanl3]

A folder ‘Guesses’ with subfolders ‘Best’, ‘Good’, ‘Alright’, ‘Bad’, ‘Worst’ etc.

[Jason aka Smeg4Brains]

I wonder if he’d have any robo-smut. Maybe blueprints for a triple-bag, easy-glide vac, with turbo-suction and a self-emptying dusting.

[Jason aka Smeg4Brains]

Fucking dustbag!

[flanl3]

“Episode titles listed on the Red Dwarf IX case we encountered in the elation squid hallucination”

[Dave]

“Cloche”

[GameDigits]

Great suggestions guys!

I’m pleased to say that *some* of these suggestions have made it into the game and it’s fantastic we’re able to do this – but you’ll just have to wait and see which ones.

We’re still hard at work finishing up the Give & Take episode and we aim to submit the game soon prior to Apple’s Christmas closure period.

Here’s a sneak peak – http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/news/2016/12/16/level-up/

More suggestions for Kryten’s folders & files are always welcome as there’s still some time before submission, and of course they could possibly make it into future updates too.

[Jason aka Smeg4Brains]

That’s great to hear, can’t wait to play. Thanks for taking the time to engage and communicate with the fans.

[Author]

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