Let’s Talk About Red Dwarf XI: The Game

[Ian Symes]

The game is now out! Well, it’s out on the App Store at any rate – the Play Store will presumably follow soon. It’s going to be pretty tricky to discuss this on the front page, as the game contains spoilers for Twentica, and people are watching at different paces. Also, some people might want to play through without having any surprises spoiled.

So, for now at least, let’s confine any specific discussion of the game’s contents to this thread. ONLY READ AHEAD IF YOU’RE OK WITH GAME SPOILERS!

My very early impressions were as follows:

Ooh, Robert Llewellyn voiceover!
Haha, they spelled “welcome” wrong.
This is pretty good.
This is tricky.
Ooh, it’s a prequel! That’s clever.
ZOMG, I’m playing as Rimmer.
FUCKING SHOOT THE BAZOOKOID PROPERLY
HOW CAN I DIE, I’M A HARD LIGHT HOLOGRAM.

Topic

[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 :)

[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.”)

[Author]

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