Shmup Video Index: Open Call for People Wanting to Help

[Mark_MSX]

Hi Everyone!

So, a week or so ago, I made a pretty extensive post that proposed changing how we record scores on this forum. If you want to check that out, here is a link to it:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=63002

Anyway, I think that the post was kind of controversial and I hope I didn't annoy too many of you. From the feedback I received on that post, I think it is safe to say that my ideas for changing how we record our scores probably won't be changing anytime soon. If everyone is comfortable with how things are currently, I am not going to be the person to keep pushing or drawing lines in the sand.

So, I have read through all the responses I got for that thread and have been working really hard to think about a new approach that would be more appealing to members of this forum, but still provide a way to help connect the hardcore community with the casual community. I think the primary point of contention that many people had is that they were uncomfortable with the idea of involving video with our score keeping process. I can understand this perspective, it did have its drawbacks. Though I still believe that having accessible video content for our community would be greatly beneficial for bringing new people in.

I have now gone back to the drawing board and come up with an idea that I think is more favorable for everybody. I am calling this idea "The Shmup Video Index." In a nutshell, what it is a small website I am going to build that creates an index for shmup video content on a per game basis, and then organizes that content in a similar fashion to a scoreboard. However, the primary purpose of this site is NOT to record scores, but to organize video content in an easy to access manner. This website is open submission, so anyone can submit any shmup video to it -- kind of like a wiki. And if any video owner does not want their video listed on the site, they can just request that the video not be listed. The videos are being pulled from public platforms, so I don't think this will be too much of an issue (just think of this like a much better version of the YouTube search bar).

So, the great thing about this is that the index does not host any video content at all, just links to that video content. This is good because it benefits both the user and the owner of the video. For example, let's say you have a small youtube channel where you like to upload your 1cc's and stuff like that. But, as many of you know, Youtube is not kind to small channels and it is likely that your video will pretty much be buried forever. However, if your video is listed on the index, when people click on the link, that will take them directly to your Youtube channel and you will get the view and traffic to your channel.

From the user's end, I didn't realize just how helpful having an index is until starting on this project. Youtube search is very ineffective
for locating shmup video content and organizing it, and twitch is pretty much impossible. For example, if you search for Dodonpachi, you will get vids for all the games in the series, rather than just DDP. On top of that, it rarely recognizes things like score, ship type, arranged version, and so on. It is not uncommon at all for many interesting runs and videos to be completely buried, and for TAS'ed world of longplay stuff to be up front. I am getting assistance with this project from members of my discord. Plasmo has been working with me closely and has been double checking that I am including some lesser known, but very interesting, videos.

Here is a sample of what information will be included in the index. Keep in mind this is just a sample of the information, not how it will actually look when the website is complete:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

So this brings me to the last topic of this post, which is if anyone is interested in helping with this project. Right now I am going through and indexing videos for the more popular shmup titles, but I would greatly appreciate anyone who want to get involved. The work isn't complicated or anything, just looking up shmup videos and recording them onto a google spreadsheet. Later on, I will then use this information as the foundation for the website.

If you don't like the sound of this project, or think it is a waste of time, that's ok. But if you think it is a cool idea and would like to help out a little, I would greatly appreciate that.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. If your DDP video has been excluded from this sample, it isn't because I intentionally left it off, I've just missed it. I will be happy to include it if you give me a heads up.

--Mark

[FRO]

This is a cool idea, Mark, and if I ever get my streaming/capture setup figured out, something like this would be a cool way to drive extra traffic to my channel by linking any play-throughs I post.

[Mark_MSX]

This is a cool idea, Mark, and if I ever get my streaming/capture setup figured out, something like this would be a cool way to drive extra traffic to my channel by linking any play-throughs I post.

Exactly!

[M.Knight]

That's an interesting idea, especially since finding videos and replays on a specific game can prove to be a bit tricky.
Don't hesitate to check out this thread if you haven't already, as there are a bunch of very high-level replays listed in it. Well, if Plasmo is helping you out with the project, I guess you do know about that specific resource.

I imagine you want to have replays of various skill levels and not just WR-tier runs, right?

[Mark_MSX]

That's an interesting idea, especially since finding videos and replays on a specific game can prove to be a bit tricky.
Don't hesitate to check out this thread if you haven't already, as there are a bunch of very high-level replays listed in it. Well, if Plasmo is helping you out with the project, I guess you do know about that specific resource.

I imagine you want to have replays of various skill levels and not just WR-tier runs, right?

Thanks for the response man! Yes, that thread has been super helpful. You are right about me gathering videos of all skill levels. Unique ones too. Like tutorials and fun stuff. For example, feedbacker showed me a video of a korean guy flying two ships at once in doj. It was awesome haha.

[Keade]

Hope it's not too obvious, but for Twitch specifically, please note it has a feature called communities, IIRC I recently found Icarus's channel that way.
Very convenient to have.

https://www.twitch.tv/communities/shmups

Youtube had the same kind of feature, but they removed it completely years ago (probably so that they could better recommend and advertise content *they* want you to see). We are left with playlists instead.

[Mark_MSX]

Hope it's not too obvious, but for Twitch specifically, please note it has a feature called communities, IIRC I recently found Icarus's channel that way.
Very convenient to have.

https://www.twitch.tv/communities/shmups

Youtube had the same kind of feature, but they removed it completely years ago (probably so that they could more easily recommend you their own crap). We are left with playlists instead.

Awesome man!! Good to know!!

[KaizaCorp]

Keep in mind the Twitch communities are being removed this month, and replaced with "tags". Unfortunate as it was quite helpful for finding shmup streams and videos.