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.

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, 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.