draft/outline still, please contribute!
Selecting a Stats System
HiveMind
https://kqhivemind.com
- Provides in-game and postgame overlays
- Also handles team names and auto-updates scores
- Stats client can run on streaming PC, from a separate system, or theoretically on the cabinet itself
- Server-based, requires stable internet connection, not recommended if you only have wifi
kqstats
https://github.com/killer-queen-stats/kqstats
- Runs in your browser on streaming PC
- Only does stats, no postgame screens
- Team names and score updates are separate
Designing your Stream
Decide on size and location of the game window
- Remember people are here to watch the game
- This sounds obvious, but shrinking your game capture window horizontally will also shrink it vertically. It seems like there's a lot of room but you start taking away a few pixels here and there for graphics and suddenly your game window is a postage stamp in the corner of the screen. Every 16 horizontal pixels is also 9 vertical pixels.
- Examples:
- Default HiveMind overlay is 1600x900 centered, leaving 160px on each side
- BumbleBash Remix: 1440x810 centered, stats at bottom
- GDC V: 1536x864 on left side, stats on top, 384px chat window on right
- Stats going horizontally is probably better
In-Game Stats Design
- Aside from the obvious K/D, team name, and score, it's also helpful to include:
- Berries deposited by player
- Snail distance
- Berries remaining on the map
- Game time
- Cabinet name
- Best to keep it somewhat minimalist, keep the focus on the game itself
Do you want chat in your stream?
- Takes up space
- Usually duplicated by Twitch sidebar (unless you're streaming to multiple platforms)
- Pro: chat is always in your video file, so you can see the comments even if it gets uploaded to another platform
- Con: chat is always in your video file, and the internet is full of terrible people
Player Cameras
- Source is typically 16:9, but players are next to each other, so a more widescreen format makes sense
- Crop the top and bottom and you can make it 3:1 or whatever fits (just don't stretch it)
- Be sure to indicate who's who
- Advantage of putting stats horizontally: put stats in the same order as the players on camera
- Nice to have, but probably the first thing to go if you're low on space
- Especially nice to have a scene with it though
Postgame Stats
- Can be automatic or a separate scene
- Make it 16:9 and the same size as your game window
Additional Scenes
- Require a stream tech - remember you won't get to use these during "regular" weekly play
- Make sure stream techs know when a match is starting! Otherwise: https://youtu.be/b8-KZAqxlbQ?t=27634
- Replay: advanced setup required
- Scene to show commentators and team cams
- Groups, brackets, upcoming matches?
Recording and Streaming Considerations
Hardware Requirements
Networking
- Wifi will find the worst possible time and fail at exactly that moment, use network cables if possible
Recording and Streaming Separately
- System from BumbleBash Remix: one PC attached to each cabinet recording game and stats
- Output from OBS on the recording PC to the streaming PC
- Switch scenes on streaming PC, don't touch the recording ones
- With a multi-input capture card you could switch which cabinet is on the main stream. Expensive, and much setup required.
Random Tournament Considerations
- Make sure the commentators have a way of knowing who's who. Having pictures of everyone helps.
- Give the commentators a way to update the scores or at least contact the stream tech without having to leave the mic.
- If you're only recording, make sure you're picking up audio.