Getting some shmup action on Twitch, Douyu etc

[DanMagoo]

Have been watching some stuff on the Douyu app, ever since they pulled half a million viewers for a KOF97 tournament earlier this week. It's pretty cool, the usual RTS fare but with better fighting game content than Twitch usually has.

What's common to both apps though, is that you find no shmups being played ever.

Given that shmups are (IMO) a LOT more entertaining to watch than eg a League of Legends match, it seems a shame that there is never a Shmup channel up and running.

Between all the members of this forum, couldn't we get a single channel up and running with an audience?

It would be great promo for the genre, and bound to attract new players.

Merry Christmas, Shmupfans

[Bananamatic]

what about STGweekly?

also people do stream, it's just a bit hard to find on twitch i guess
cavetube also has some really high level japanese stg streamers

[iconoclast]

http://live.nicovideo.jp/search?sort=point&keyword=stg

Lots of players of all skill levels on there every evening in Japan (early morning EST).

[Blackbird]

I play shmups almost every Wednesday at 8PM EST over on http://www.twitch.tv/degigames. Usually it's Crimzon Clover - I'm working on learning Arcade Original now.

[Cagar]

don't forget
http://livetube.cc/tag.stg

streams with this icon are currently live:


while the others are recorded, old streams

[DanMagoo]

I play shmups almost every Wednesday at 8PM EST over on http://www.twitch.tv/degigames. Usually it's Crimzon Clover - I'm working on learning Arcade Original now.

Ok this is what I'm talking about. I guess I've never seen your stream on Twitch because it's at 1am GMT in London, later elsewhere in Europe. How many viewers do you normally get?

It would be cool to have something like this on Twitch in Europe. I'm not really concerned about the slightly obscure Japanese channels mentioned above, as Twitch is the main Western broadcaster. That's where shmups need to have a presence in order to attract new western players.

[DanMagoo]

what about STGweekly?

also people do stream, it's just a bit hard to find on twitch i guess
cavetube also has some really high level japanese stg streamers

Yes I have seen some if the episodes and it's good. Is it actually weekly at a set time? I've only seen the YouTube recordings.

I think what shmups need to attract a Twitch audience is at least 1 stream running EVERY EVENING throughout the European and US evening hours. So it would need coordination between players, and some sort of 'stream ticker' on this forum (and shmups forum) to point the base audience to the stream.

It would also be cool if events like Stunfest actually used Twitch.

[Icarus]

We do have a stream index thread here, but the mods refuse to make it a sticky for whatever reason despite people repeatedly asking for it to be one.
There's also STGrillz, which is usually populated by Touhou players with people occasionally playing other STG and stuff.
As for an embedded ticker on the forum, I'm not sure one is required. You can either follow some streamers on Twitter (where most will announce when they go live), or if you use Chrome, one of the myriad of extensions for Twitch available to instantly notify you when someone in your following list starts to stream - I use Twitch Live, personally. Better Twitch TV also does the notification thing.

The other thing about regular streams: most people have things to do outside of gaming, and unlike many of the big name streamers who can make a living just sitting on their asses playing all the newest stuff, getting tons of subs and donations a day, there isn't enough of an audience to do that with STG. I personally try and stream my practice sessions a few times a week during the evening UK time, but more often than not, I can't be bothered and would prefer to relax after the work day.

[Blackbird]

Ok this is what I'm talking about. I guess I've never seen your stream on Twitch because it's at 1am GMT in London, later elsewhere in Europe. How many viewers do you normally get?

I usually only see about half a dozen people, if that, haha. I haven't really made a strong effort to advertise the channel yet (for reasons) but I plan to take it a little more seriously in the coming weeks. I do keep archives of the past broadcasts (until Twitch auto-deletes them, at least) if you'd like to watch some of the recent shows. The most exciting things I've done live so far are a no-miss novice run and an 8th place novice PB, so they should be on there. I may expand out from CC and play other games as well when I find a few more shmups that I really enjoy playing for score.

[trap15]

We do have a stream index thread here, but the mods refuse to make it a sticky for whatever reason despite people repeatedly asking for it to be one.

Probably because the mods don't read the forums.

Prove me wrong

[MathU]

I'd rather it not be stickied thank you.

[DanMagoo]

We do have a stream index thread here, but the mods refuse to make it a sticky for whatever reason despite people repeatedly asking for it to be one

That's surely not a viable response long term? There should definitely be a sticky thread (which is all I really mean by a 'ticker').

Thanks for the other tips, I only use my phone to watch Twitch mostly, but the Chrome apps sound cool.

It shouldn't fall on any 1 person to take all the duty to stream. With a sticky thread and some basic rota organisation there should be a regular stream managed between lots of people.

[DanMagoo]

Ok this is what I'm talking about. I guess I've never seen your stream on Twitch because it's at 1am GMT in London, later elsewhere in Europe. How many viewers do you normally get?

I usually only see about half a dozen people, if that, haha. I haven't really made a strong effort to advertise the channel yet (for reasons) but I plan to take it a little more seriously in the coming weeks. I do keep archives of the past broadcasts (until Twitch auto-deletes them, at least) if you'd like to watch some of the recent shows. The most exciting things I've done live so far are a no-miss novice run and an 8th place novice PB, so they should be on there. I may expand out from CC and play other games as well when I find a few more shmups that I really enjoy playing for score.

Sounds good! Needs a bigger audience than 12 though

Prime candidate for inclusion on a sticky thread on the forum...

[Blackbird]

Going live in about 30 mins. Moved the show up this week to avoid New Years.

http://www.twitch.tv/degigames/profile

[Stevens]

Going live in about 30 mins. Moved the show up this week to avoid New Years.

http://www.twitch.tv/degigames/profile

Watching!

[Blackbird]

Made some progress on CC Arcade. Managed to no miss Maelstrom and Diabolos for the first time, but Stage 3 is still wrecking me. I need to work on getting more consistent routes =P.

[Stevens]

Hey Blackbird - What was that platformer/run n gun you were playing last night?

[Blackbird]

Copy Kitty Turbo! The base version is freeware actually, so if it looks interesting, why not check it out?

Copy Kitty Webpage

It's actually the new game by the creators of Another World's Chaos, a touhou-like that a few of you might remember. The artwork is a little rough in places, but the gameplay is really solid.

[DanMagoo]

Hey Blackbird, sorry I missed your CC stream last week.

Have followed your Twitch channel now, are you gonna be streaming tonight?

[Blackbird]

Yes, I'll be streaming tonight at the regular time. It would be a great night to stop by, actually, because I'm doing a special preview of some upcoming Crimzon Clover DLC.

[DanMagoo]

^^ Tried to stay awake but it's at 1am in the UK! DLC so nice though!

I know a few people on Twitter who stream on Twitch regularly for a modest audience and play different games. I wonder if I could talk them into playing e.g. some Crimzon Clover now and again? That would help to increase the volume of shmups being played on Twitch, and help introduce the genre to a wider audience. I think the sell to the streamers themselves would be an increased audience, with promotion on the forum here.

Blackbird do you think Degi Games could arrange any treats for streamers who did this? I'm sure a free download code would go a long way...

Or how about a prize for 1CCing the game on their stream? Or a hi-score challenge between selected streamers*?!

As one example: I'm thinking about maybe Juicebox, who is mainly known from the FGC but streams different genres.

*Scores only valid if set on stream!

[Blackbird]

The problem with a high score challenge in shmups is that the scores don't fluctuate too much. Your score is the result of consistent practice, so usually when you do a run you get around the same score every time, making only marginal improvements. If you have two people playing against each other and one person has practiced and the other hasn't, it's pretty hard to surmount weeks or months of practice even if you prepare for a few days.

It would be fun to watch if you could find two players of relatively even skill level, though.

Score attack challenges/bounties sound fun, but I'm not sure what we could really reward streamers with (the only thing we really have atm is copies of our games to give away).

I do get excited to see people streaming Crimzon Clover on Twitch, though. I have the game followed, so I freak out whenever I see anyone actually playing it, haha.

[DanMagoo]

OK scratch the score challenge, tldr...

What if one of the known streamers from FGC were to take on a solo 1CC challenge?

Not exactly the same thing but I know Homestay Akira from Japan got some shmup high scores under his belt, right? But he's a VF player?

Anyways, yay for when random people stream a bit of games we like, but I'm really talking about trying to push the games out to a big audience. See the GDQ thread just put up today, that's pretty cool...

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52753

[DanMagoo]

I see STG Weekly has tweeted the organisers of EVO asking them to let him run Shmups and Tetris TGM as side streams to the tournament.

This seems like a great idea, and would definitely help raise the profile of the genre.

If you agree, jump on Twitter and back him up!

http://www.twitter.com/stgweekly

[Blinge]

I would try streaming but.. It can't be that entertaining watching me fail at games for hours. Seems like it should be left to the higher tier of shmuppers.
Shmupsfarm tierlist when ? ^_^

[Squire Grooktook]

The problem with a high score challenge in shmups is that the scores don't fluctuate too much. Your score is the result of consistent practice, so usually when you do a run you get around the same score every time, making only marginal improvements. If you have two people playing against each other and one person has practiced and the other hasn't, it's pretty hard to surmount weeks or months of practice even if you prepare for a few days.

Same could be said about most speed runs, but races still work.

I don't think people are all that consistent to be honest. You do end up at the same score more and more often, but thats not thinking about all the restart syndrome and bad days and etc. Not to mention a live challenge where both players get one attempt could easily screw with things through pressure.

[DanMagoo]

I would try streaming but.. It can't be that entertaining watching me fail at games for hours. Seems like it should be left to the higher tier of shmuppers.

I disagree. Seems to me that shmups are really a series of puzzles based on positioning and use of the game mechanics.

If you stream training mode and explain how you are approaching the game to try and solve each puzzle, then it would be interesting to watch as your route evolves.

[Blackbird]

Going live in 5 min. http://www.twitch.tv/degigames

Will probably be the usual cycle of getting wrecked on Crimzon Clover Arcade, haha.

Stream over: Some semi-successful arcade practice, followed up with a Novice Original run that started out as a train wreck with sub par scoring on stages 1-3, then somehow turned into a new PB with an amazingly good Stage 5 scoring over 9000 oku by itself.

[mastermx]

I second that the index should be stickied. Really awesome streams on that list.