STG Weekly Episode #2 - Futari 1.5 Original

[Aquas]

STG Weekly #2 will be live today around 12:30-1:00pm CST (central standard). About 4 hours from the time of this posting. Today's game covered will be Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 Original mode. If you want to participate in chat just register to Twitch.tv. Thanks!

http://twitch.tv/stgweekly

Remember you can follow the twitch page to receive an email when we go live. Or you can just hang out there a little bit before.

[Illyrian]

T-30 minutes roughly for the start of this now, follow the link above to watch live!

[drunkninja24]

Good times with you guys. Perhaps another time I can offer a few more questions or input, but Illyrian did a real good job explaining what was going on, so there wasn't really much I felt I needed to ask or add. But again, good times, look forward to another!

[Aquas]

Episode #2 is up!

Also I made a Twitter account so you can stay up to date on when we live etc.

http://twitter.com/stgweekly

Hm. In retrospect I wished I would have shown gameplay during my explanation of the scoring system. It took a little longer than expected to spiel it out. May be hard to visualize for newcomers. Anyway, as always feedback is welcome.

[Sapz]

I caught this week's; awesome commentating, you guys. Really happy to have been a part of this one.

[Bee Cool]

No Ultra counterstop? Step up Sapz.

[CptRansom]

Illyrian, you sound like you could do shit like this professionally. Nice strong and confident voice, lol.

[Illyrian]

I've previously done game commentary and online radio shows etc.

Also I used to be a raid leader in World of Warcraft >.>

[Aquas]

STG commentary is quite a contrast to say, StarCraft. So many Brood War games I saw where Tasteless and Super Daniel Man BS for like 20 minutes while a match lulled. With a game like Futari the pace was much faster than Gradius IV. But even then with Gradius IV there was plenty to talk about. This sense of depth should be appealing to people... I hope!

Realizing that each game is going to have a somewhat different commentary pace but many of them at high level will still be frantic as Illyrian was. Surely you can't cram the knowledge of an STG's every detail into commentary but pick the most important parts. But great job Illyrian!! You raised the bar there for the show.

[Zengeku3]

Really enjoyed this weeks episode. Keep it coming guys. And great job at commentating, especially you Illyrian.

[RNGmaster]

This is a great idea and I'd be glad to contribute. I hope you guys don't have a "no Touhou" rule though...

[Aquas]

I definitely want to do a Touhou episode at some point. I'll keep you in mind, thanks. Considering Raizing-something next week.

[RNGmaster]

Well, pending I manage to pull off anything worth a damn that is

I can direct you to a bunch of great plays by other players when the time comes though.

[Paradigm]

You should definitely look into doing live runs in the future, I for one would find that more interesting (though that's not to say this was bad or anything).

[chempop]

Enjoyed this. LOLZ @ the Dimahoo comment at the end, it has got to be the best (and most hated) game in the genre.

[brokenhalo]

brilliant! you guys are doing a fantastic job with this. i loved the commentary so much this episode. the way you guys broke everything down was extremely detailed and very entertaining. also liked the "no pausing allowed" mention and the discussion on nerves. this is definitely a must-see for noobies to the genre and veterans alike.

[chum]

Considering Raizing-something next week.

My recent Batrider Advanced clear shows pretty well how to beat the game easily without fancy scoring, if that sort of thing is any good for the show.

You should definitely look into doing live runs in the future, I for one would find that more interesting (though that's not to say this was bad or anything).

Seconding this, maybe try to schedule one live run and one pre-recorded run per episode? Just a thought.

[Aquas]

Considering Raizing-something next week.

My recent Batrider Advanced clear shows pretty well how to beat the game easily without fancy scoring, if that sort of thing is any good for the show.

You should definitely look into doing live runs in the future, I for one would find that more interesting (though that's not to say this was bad or anything).

Seconding this, maybe try to schedule one live run and one pre-recorded run per episode? Just a thought.

I think scoring in a raizing game is what I'm interested in here. Isn't that what they're all about, anyway? I don't know much about 'em really.

As for live runs: I can run some games live (well, I already do), or, the alternative is re-streaming someone else's run. This requires someone with a half decent stream (at least smooth 30fps). Also, with either of these methods, having both the player and commentators together is awkward because of delay between the streams. So it's either one or the other for commentating: Player, or commentators. I think it would be weird to have pre-emptive commentary from the player with the spectating commentators. SO the only option is really a commentary on another's live run without them (the player) in voice.

Volunteer your stream, I guess, and it will be considered.

[Acid_Rain]

I really enjoyed this episode. Great balance between just talking about the game and in-depth details.

@Aquas: I could imagine a visually more appealing screen for the "no-replay-running part" of the show. Perhaps I can do some mockups/screens for you over the christmas holiday. Something like a startup screen.

And if you want me to, I could need some details on:
_size (format)
_overall style (fancy - elegant, narrowed down - crowded, graphic - illustrated…)
_and any other ideas you got

[Acid_Rain]

bump

[Aquas]

Sorry, yeah, sure, that'd be great. However you'd like to do it is fine to be honest. Perhaps if you incorporated artwork from some STG so I guess I'm more inclined towards graphic/illustrated designs. I imagine I could cycle through a few screens whilst no footage is being shown?

Technically the stream's resolution is 640x360 so use those dimensions.

Thanks!

[Softdrink 117]

Finished this a little while ago. Very cool!

I particularly liked the depth of the commentary in this run. It would've been nice to hear a bit more from trap and drunkninja, but as an engaging infodump it was a really well-put-together episode.

I do agree that there should be 'slides' or some kind of interesting background shenanigans during the non-replay part, as staring at one pic for a while gets a bit stale.

The other thing that I think might serve the series well is illustrations to scroll through during your initial description of the game mechanics and scoring system. These wouldn't need to be complicated; basic pictures timed with your verbal explanation would do perfectly. In this game it wasn't an issue, since scoring is relatively straightforward, but for any of the Raizing games I think a visual aid would make the distinction between different items clearer to someone unfamiliar with the game in question.