Originally published on Trevor Trove on August 5, 2016
This week, I’ve been experimenting with Twitch streaming. I don’t have a great proper setup yet but I’m streaming directly from my PlayStation 4 and using the PlayStation Camera. My only realy previous experience was broadcasting my Extra Life stream last year over the Thanksgiving weekend. But my old house had plaster walls and terrible WiFi issues and the modem and router were a couple rooms away from the game room so that stream had a tendency to disconnect frequently.
Now that I’m back in my studio, though, it’s been incredibly easy to just hook the PS4 straight to the Ethernet cable, providing a steady stream of internet access to the console. But providing a quality stream calls for more than a stable connection.
I chose to stream this week in order to show off Brut@l prior to it’s launch next week. I like the game. I feel comfortable enough playing it at this point that I can try and be a good mix of entertaining and educational, answering any questions viewers might have. And I’ve got a background in theatre so theoretically I can keep the energy going and monologue for a couple hours if need be.
Tuesday’s stream went pretty well. There were some technical hiccups up front as I don’t quite know the system well enough to balance game audio and my microphone audio. But in terms of content, I played through about six levels of the game, explaining mechanics as I went along and showcasing the game. Then when I went to Twitch afterward I realized I didn’t have my account set up to automatically archive so everything was lost.
Oops. So much for trying to export it to YouTube.
But I had a good enough time overall that I chose to attempt another stream tonight. And this time there’s an actual archive (at least for a little while depending on when you’re reading this).
But it turns out after a couple days off to work on some other games for review, I kind of sucked at Brut@l all of a sudden. I was doing fine for a little bit but as I began enjoying conversations with the chat and answering their questions, I didn’t pay careful enough attention to my health or surroundings and wound up dying pretty early into the stream. And in a roguelike such as this, that meant, starting all over again.
So I tried again. Made it through a couple levels. Died again.
All the while, I’m having great conversations. For most of the stream, it was a one-on-one chat with Mr. Brandon Gann who has been ever-so-kindly following my work since reading my Kinda Funny Live 2 recap. So while I mindlessly wandered through the game, we shared stories back and forth about our favorite Final Fantasy memories and games: him in the chat, me on the mic.
One my third attempt through, I made it a couple levels in and stumbled into a seemingly inescapable trap where I needed an enchanted weapon to proceed but hadn’t chosen the skill allowing me to craft the enchanted weapons.
Oops again.
But with over two hours under my belt at this point (and knowing I had another game to play for review tonight), I decided to call it a night with the few gentlemen who had joined me in the chat.
Overall, I’m enjoying the experience but probably most specifically the opportunity to chat with people I might not otherwise be normally interacting with. So, who knows, maybe I’ll start making this a more regular thing. Follow me at twitch.tv/tstarkey0810 to get notified when I go live I guess…