Hello gentlemen.

I'm a total noob in game dev community, so don't be harsh. Also I'm russian, english is not my native language.

I currently went deep into my project. For you to have a perspective, it's base-building game set in zombie apocalypse environment. Imagine Rimworld + Dwarf Fortress + Banished + zombie-apocalypse. Kinda like Walking Dead series, but you actually control the survivors and build a base in one place with no wandering around (only for food, drugs, ammunition, etc). So...

I can't deside how many survivors should player have at the beginning of the game? What do you suggest? I'm curious.

11 minutes ago, Cryptopatik said:

I can't deside how many survivors should player have at the beginning of the game? What do you suggest? I'm curious.

3. ?

It's hard to suggest something without knowing how the game works, what constraints does the player have, etc. For example:

• can characters die and the game carries on? Or any death result in game over?
• is there an ending or it's more like The Sims, almost infinite?
• what is the main goal? Survive X days? Recruit/save 100 people? Build a spaceship? Develop a cure?
• the plot requires certain characters to survive till the end?
• are all playable characters equally skilled? Or each one has different stats (stronger, faster, better at building) or classes (medic, soldier, farmer)?

I recomend you build the core aspects of gameplay before deciding this. Then you can playtest with different configurations and see what works best.

One game you might take a look is This War of Mine. It's kind of hardcore survival, and looks similar to what you described. You start with 2 characters, and anyone can die at almost anytime. Each one has small differences from the others, so you can better use their strengths.

I don't know much about the games you cited, so forgive me if theyr mechanics already cover something I said above.

49 minutes ago, TerraSkilll said:

3. ?

Sure. Three is always the place to start. If three turns out to be too many or too few, you can always change it.

2 hours ago, Cryptopatik said:

I can't deside how many survivors should player have at the beginning of the game?

One, the need to find help because surviving as one person is impossible is what sells games like this to me.

Make finding survivors a "fun" part of the game, with player having to make harsh but important choices.

2 hours ago, TerraSkilll said:

3. ?

It's hard to suggest something without knowing how the game works, what constraints does the player have, etc. For example:

• can characters die and the game carries on? Or any death result in game over?
• is there an ending or it's more like The Sims, almost infinite?
• what is the main goal? Survive X days? Recruit/save 100 people? Build a spaceship? Develop a cure?
• the plot requires certain characters to survive till the end?
• are all playable characters equally skilled? Or each one has different stats (stronger, faster, better at building) or classes (medic, soldier, farmer)?

I recomend you build the core aspects of gameplay before deciding this. Then you can playtest with different configurations and see what works best.

One game you might take a look is This War of Mine. It's kind of hardcore survival, and looks similar to what you described. You start with 2 characters, and anyone can die at almost anytime. Each one has small differences from the others, so you can better use their strengths.

I don't know much about the games you cited, so forgive me if theyr mechanics already cover something I said above.

Hey TerraSkill, thanks a lot. That list seems like what I exactly need. 
As I said, they game will be 80% like a mixture of Rimworld, Banished, Dwarf Fortress and EU IV (I want to take the event system from there). I absolutely love these games. 
Ok.
I'll answer your questions:
1) Just like in Rimworld - characters can die, but the goal is to keep the base operating.
2) That is a problem too right now. Personally, I'd love to play such game almost infinitely. But even in Rimword, there is a goal - to escape the planet.
3) See previous.
4) Nope. Just like the Rimworld - characters can die, characters can come.
5) Again, Rimworld:DDD Traits, skills.
Yeah man, I'm aware of This War Of Mine. It is also a source of inspiration for me.

And, as I said, I NEED help. Obviously, I can't do everything on my own (haha, Banished). Please suggest a place where I can find like-minded people to offer somebody to join or at least give advice/support me.

And...guys, I'd love to share the process of developing it via the internet. Please, suggest a way I can do it.

Thanks a lot!

Nikita.

13 hours ago, Cryptopatik said:

And, as I said, I NEED help. Obviously, I can't do everything on my own (haha, Banished). Please suggest a place where I can find like-minded people to offer somebody to join or at least give advice/support me.

You might want to try this forum's classifieds section, where you can start a thread asking for help.

13 hours ago, Cryptopatik said:

And...guys, I'd love to share the process of developing it via the internet. Please, suggest a way I can do it.

Since we're here, why not use this site's blog section?