STG Weekly Episode #1!! Gradius IV by alamone

[Aquas]

The Shooting Game Weekly
yt channel - twitch.tv/stgweekly

We are looking for people who want to commentate as an expert or as a fan with us! Volunteer! If you are an expert, you will lead commentary on 'X' game.
Google doc, FILL OUT YOUR INFO IF YOU WANT TO HELP!

Episode #1 is up on the STG Weekly Youtube Channel. This episode features Gradius IV 2nd loop play by alamone. Frenetic and I introduce ourselves and our experience with Gradius, and continue to commentate on the strategies, mechanics, and maneuvers of Gradius IV.

Episode #1 - Gradius IV by alamone. Commentary by Aquas, Frenetic.

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Initial brainstorm:

From the excitement that Prometheus' Shmup demo thread created: myself and others suggested we do some kind of weekly STG stream with commentary.

I've thought about it a little and I think it'd be neat if we had a communal twitch.tv account in which a variety of people can do their own commentary sessions / rundowns. The reason it is communal is because we all are experts in a variety of games, so it'd be good to have the experts on for X game. However, we're not all streamers so if you know how to do it speak up.

1 method: Streamer broadcasts a superplay from youtube. Use Synctube so all commentators can watch the same video simultaneously. Use Skype (or something better?) If the commentators are experts of the game surely they have a variety of things to say. This type of thing may be more informative and educative to those with a desire to learn X game.

2 method: Rebroadcast another person's stream of themselves playing their desired game. This would be more of a hang-out fun type of thing instead of what the first method would be like; more informative and formal...? In this scenario we wouldn't need experts all the time, (perhaps people who have at least played the game a few hours) but just STG fans (ourselves) to give a fun air to the stream.

3 method: Commentators watch an .inp together. Example would be sikraiken abusing Xexex during STGT.

Between these few methods, maybe #2 more-so, would even strengthen us as a community and might be a nice way to show off the genre to the world. The fact that wow: multiple people are enthusiastic about these games.

So I open the floor to other ideas, thoughts, suggestions etc, and people who are wanting to be involved either as a streamer or commentator.

I do streaming myself and it's of a decent quality. So if you run a quality stream, once again speak up.

Can't think of much else at the moment but I believe the genre deserves more attention. This hobby can often be percieved as a lonesome one... but I think we could all due to kick it together on this 2012 intraweb and get heard a bit louder.

[O. Van Bruce]

Live streaming while other people do comentaries.

- Player can talk if it doesn't make him play worst.

- Use Teamspeak... have better sound quality and consumes less resources.

- Use this guide for streaming.

- Make a Twitch .tv account and program a calendary of streams in which you specifiy the game to be played each week.. an option would be to make the winner of the "STG of the month" broadcast his skills live while other make comentaries.

- It has to have a big audience, and the comentators should encourage the people watching to post on the chat. Also, a minimun of 10 people should be watching to give an impression of "popularity".


Inb4, purist and dickheads start ruining this thread/idea

[Bee Cool]

Mumble and Ventrilo are miles ahead of teamspeak, I can't believe people still use that garbage.

[Illyrian]

You need to be clear on whether the stream is intended to teach total newbies the basics when explaining a game, or if you are catering for more experienced players.

If you are going to do it for newer players you need to pick a simpler game that still can show off the mechanics of the genre, so basically don't pick something like Pink Sweets, rather something like Dodonpachi etc.

Pick games from as recently as possible. No-one wants their induction to the shmup genre to be watching a superplay of an 80's shmup that's so far behind the times in terms of genre conventions and looks like it was drawn by a retarded 5 year old with crayons.

[CoolgyFurlough]

I absolutely love this idea. I've been looking for good Shmup commentary for quite a long time. If this happens, I will probably watch as much as possible.

Mumble and Ventrilo are miles ahead of teamspeak, I can't believe people still use that garbage.

Mumble is okay but isn't that secure while Ventrilo has no features and uses a crap audio codec. Teamspeak actually has an interface unlike Ventrilo, has a crap ton of features, and is the most secure if you are using the server security settings (IIRC). Also it uses one of the best speex codecs for audio. My vote is on Teamspeak. Also the only way your statement makes sense is if you are talking about Teamspeak 2 and not Teamspeak 3.

[CptRansom]

If I had a mic, I would definitely be up for participating. I can show people how NOT to play.

[Illyrian]

I've done a lot of online radio and commentary work and would be happy to be involved.

[Aquas]

You need to be clear on whether the stream is intended to teach total newbies the basics when explaining a game, or if you are catering for more experienced players.

If you are going to do it for newer players you need to pick a simpler game that still can show off the mechanics of the genre, so basically don't pick something like Pink Sweets, rather something like Dodonpachi etc.

Pick games from as recently as possible. No-one wants their induction to the shmup genre to be watching a superplay of an 80's shmup that's so far behind the times in terms of genre conventions and looks like it was drawn by a retarded 5 year old with crayons.

I think it'd be good to teach the basic techniques, hitbox sizes, etc and then ease into advanced techniques. Cover all the bases. It doesn't have be one or the other for newbies and experienced players, if we cover everything each time? With STG it isn't a lot of concepts to understand, but the beginner concepts can be reiterated over and over as a 'Play' goes on, I imagine. There is the possibility of doing streams aimed at beginners and some aimed at experienced players. But I think something all encompassing with a good game choice is fine. Maybe the first cast could be a primer to STG or something.

Yeah, the game choice does seem important. Stuff that's on PSN or XBL would be good candidates for example. Post '85 STG are all mostly up to snuff, though.

Also, do you need a server for Teamspeak? Mumble seems good for a lot of people in a conference. But Skype could probably suffice.

[O. Van Bruce]

lol guys, just make people have some easy fun when watcing someone dodge "the rain". Your ideas about making the stream like some kind of shmup school will make it boring.

people like entertainment, not feel like they are being tought something by some unknown guy.

[Smraedis]

I've done quite a few live streams in the past here, but not really on shmups. I made use of my YouTube livestream feature that I got, but the server was being overloaded, so it made the videos go really poor quality. I've not tried it again since.

However, if I was to replay an inp and talk over it, that is much easier to do.
I've seen people use Skype on their streams before, that seemed to work well.

[Aquas]

lol guys, just make people have some easy fun when watcing someone dodge "the rain". Your ideas about making the stream like some kind of shmup school will make it boring.

people like entertainment, not feel like they are being tought something by some unknown guy.

Alright, so then fun.

[Dave_K.]

Live streaming while other people do comentaries.

- Player can talk if it doesn't make him play worst.

- Use Teamspeak... have better sound quality and consumes less resources.

- Use this guide for streaming.

- Make a Twitch .tv account and program a calendary of streams in which you specifiy the game to be played each week.. an option would be to make the winner of the "STG of the month" broadcast his skills live while other make comentaries.

- It has to have a big audience, and the comentators should encourage the people watching to post on the chat. Also, a minimun of 10 people should be watching to give an impression of "popularity".

+1 for this!

- One communal shmups stream that is easy to remember and publicize
- Live commentary of live playing (or recorded playing if there isn't enough content to fill a schedule)
- Team to manage stream, organize schedule of content, support for live streamers and guest commentors

[Obiwanshinobi]

I don't like pretend TV on the internet. Audible commentary is likely to end in tears (I'm sick of listening to people who talk badly on the radio; TV I hear sometimes can be even worse in this respect and internet... you get the picture).

What I postulate:

- brief episodes

- visually compelling content (you want people to WATCH it, don't you?)

- commentary in captions, no simleys.

Get somebody who's not necessarily into shmups, but you trust in their sense of aesthetics to supervise the thing.
I just might be missing the point of live stream here, but life is already around. I don't need internet to witness it. If I wanted to see your faces and hear your voices, I would take a journey.

[Acid_Rain]

…brief episodes…

Agree (not longer than 30 minutes)

…visually compelling content…

Agree (if a designer is needed I could help)

…commentary in captions, no simleys…

On this point I have to disagree. I don't need more youtube channels (of superplays, etc.). I would really love to hear different people talking about shmups. I would like to hear discussions about the pros and cons of scoring systems, short news on releases, interviews with superplayers, etc. Perhaps it isn't even live. I think a podcast would be a great medium.

Perhaps something like a "shmupweekly".

And I agree on the post of O. Van Bruce about the stream and Aquas post on fun.

[drunkninja24]

I did a bit of live commentary and such for another forum I frequent going through Under Defeat HD the other night:

http://www.twitch.tv/drunkninja/b/346470189

Not going to say it's impressive commentary (most people there weren't hardcore shmup fans, so I tried to keep things basic), but I think this might be a good foundation to build on at least.

[Aquas]

Episode 1 is up on the STG Weekly youtube channel. See the first post for links to the youtube and video! Episode 1 is Gradius IV 2-loop play by alamone.

This is the kind of episode I would like to run for showcasing superplays *or valiant effort plays*. Please give us feedback on how we can improve! I realize Frenetic was poorly balanced in the audio. Sorry! I guarantee better mixing for the next episode. Also I plan on making a graphic for the actual video as well so don't bother mentioning that. Yes I realize the powerup bar is cut-off. Thankfully not a big deal.

Thank you alamone for allowing us to use your video.

[MintyTheCat]

This is a great Idea - thanks for that! I own Gradius IV but have never played as I am trying to complete the Gradius Games 'in sequence'

Cheers and I shall be looking at your Show with keen Interest

[trap15]

Great episode, definitely something I'd watch more of!

I'd be able to expert comment on most Raizing, and some Toaplan. I'd enjoy just guest commenting too :3

[Xeno]

Was there a link posted on this thread for the stream itself? It was nice watching the replay would have even been greater watching it live

[Aquas]

Was there a link posted on this thread for the stream itself? It was nice watching the replay would have even been greater watching it live

It was somewhat spur of the moment so wasn't quite sure when the first video would be broadcasted. For now, all episodes are going to be recorded live. So follow the twitch account for an email when it goes live. Eventually, I'll try to schedule these for a certain time or something so people can expect it. We'll see. The twitch link is on the first post.

[brokenhalo]

great job! that was very enjoyable and i hope you make more. i really like the idea of pairing an expert with a novice. the expert is able to explain things and the novice can ask questions about things that maybe the veteran wouldn't have thought to explain. it worked out pretty well.

[DJ Incompetent]

Neat stuff. I'd watch more.

[Dave_K.]

Did Almaone's capture setup cut off the bottom part of the screen? Sorry if this was mentioned at the beginning of the stream, I just skipped ahead to the play.

Nice job!

[Aquas]

Did Almaone's capture setup cut off the bottom part of the screen? Sorry if this was mentioned at the beginning of the stream, I just skipped ahead to the play.

Nice job!

That was my bad. I know why though.

Glad you guys liked it. I agree I like the expert / novice dynamic.

[Frenetic]

thanks to alamone and Aquas for letting me be a part of this. am looking forward to participating again soon! hope you guys will enjoy our future STG Weekly Episodes. Please post here with your suggestions/interest/comments...let's make this a thing!

[Caulder]

I also rather enjoyed this. Having people of different levels of familiarity makes for a very approachable format. I feel it's a lot less intimidating for newcomers if there is a less experienced presenter that they can relate to.

Might I also suggest that you should not pigeonhole yourself into either a straight entertainment or a more educational format from the start. I think you should just decide what you want to make of each installment as you decide on the footage/gameplay that will be presented. That being said, I think that streams are relatively ill-suited for an educational series; with YouTube uploads you can pull apart footage and break everything down step-by-step. Regardless, the teaching bits that you did have in the Gradius IV stream were appreciated: talking about option trailing, answering any questions in the comments, etc. I think you should probably keep it like that for most streams, though you could certainly do releases wherein your attention is wholly focused on game strategies.

I dunno. At any rate, this idea is very cool and endorse it wholeheartedly. Don't worry so much about the format; any content is probably better than just sending newbies off to watch gameplay footage on their own and hoping for the best.

[Zerst]

If you need filler I have a bunch of inps of a lot of different games you're welcome to use.

[To Far Away Times]

Some of the more memorization heavy shmups I could give some tips on, like Xexex and R-Type.

In fact, I have a no miss R-Type run that maybe I could do commentary on if you want it. Explaining the hazards in the stage and what to do.

Live streaming though, man, I dunno. I'm quite rusty, as I've taken a break from playing shmups. I can get pretty addicted to this stuff, and really, I need an extended break.

[Softdrink 117]

Just finished watching the whole thing. Overall I was really impressed-- great job guys!

I enjoyed the interplay between more/less knowledgeable commentators, and I think that dynamic could work pretty well in future episodes. Alamone's play was also really fun to watch; the recoveries were definitely part of what made it interesting. I think in some ways it would've been significantly less enjoyable had the run been 'perfect' in the same way a superplay run might be.

As far as future suggestions go, the ratio of 'replay area' to 'dead space' was a little bit unbalanced. I think part of the problem is that Gradius is a horizontal game; trying to accommodate the game screen and the comment feed in youtube's aspect ratio must be a challenge. I don't foresee vertical games having the same kind of problems.

Also, though I don't by any means consider myself an expert, I know a lot about DOJ's mechanics and might be interested in commenting on a run, especially of A-L play.

[Acid King]

Good job guys. I watched this during my downtime at work last night and enjoyed it. The format is good and aside from the many "uhms" liked the commentary. I also have to say that I like the concept of showing "valiant effort plays" in addition to plain old super plays. Superplays can often seem mechanical and seeing someone fumble through a clear or a near clear is often more instructive for people who are just getting in to a game and leaves room for the commentators to give tips or demonstrate better strategies.