Most Complicated Multiplayer Video Series to Produce (Day 3560 - 8/24/19)

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Today is Saturday game night where they record Stephen & Friends. This is the last evening that they will be able to record Stephen & Friends for a while since they are going on a trip soon. Whenever they need to produce a lot of Stephen & Friends videos quickly, they always record JackBox games since they are funny and easy to make. So, they decided to record JackBox games today to produce a handful of videos to release while they are gone. Stephen says that JackBox games are actually the most complicated multiplayer video series to produce.

When they play games like Broken Picturephone, Tabletop Simulator, Project Winter, or GTA Online everyone is looking at their own screens. They might sometimes record different points of views depending on the game, but everyone has their own screen they can look at. However, Stephen is the only one can see what's on the screen when they play JackBox, so he has to broadcast it to everyone else who is playing. They usually use an audio channel on Discord to record, but they have to get into a Discord call since screen sharing can only be done in a call. Stephen runs the game on his MacBook and at the same time shares his screen to the call.

Stephen says that this set up is not ideal because he's playing games on the MacBook and games don't run well on the MacBook. The MacBook also has to run all the recording software for recording the graphics and game audio. Additionally, it is recording the Discord audio and Discord chat. All of these things are a lot for a computer to run all at once. The Discord call also has a limit of 10 people and lately their group has consisted of 10 or more people. So, Chaz recommended making an account on Mixer and streaming it to them. Stephen says that this idea was great because it will take a load off the MacBook which will lead to the MacBook recording more smoothly.

Stephen says that the MacBook records the audio and usually the graphics. But, it is only recording the audio, the Discord chat overlay, and the Discord audio for the JackBox recording. The PC is running the game and the game runs to the stream box which streams it to Mixer. OBS captures the game itself with no voices. Stephen says that the advantage of this set up is that everything is separated, so they can control individual aspects of the recording. They also don't have to worry about the limit on the number of people in a Discord call since they are just streaming it on Mixer.

For his account on Mixer, he had it generate a fake name which was really weird. He has never used Mixer before and is not planning on joining Mixer as a streamer. While streaming, their stream started getting promoted on Mixer since their group consists of 10 people who are watching the stream for a long time since they are playing JackBox. They weren't broadcasting their voices, so only the graphics and game audio were being broadcasted. But, people started coming into the stream and dropping "sparks" (the equivalent of "bits" on Twitch) or following them on Mixer. At one point, they had another person in the audience of the JackBox game because of people coming into the stream. That person didn't contribute since they couldn't hear them. Stephens says that this situation was really amusing and that he didn't want people in the audience but it happened anyway. Mixer worked well though and he will do this again in the future if they need to record more JackBox videos.

Mallory, Nikki, and Lindsey made peach jam yesterday. Mal says that they were each in charge of getting 2 ingredients. Lindsey brought the peaches and they had extra so she brought them home to make a peach tart. She brought some over to share with Stephen and Mal. Mal says that she tends to like things cold, so she decides to try the peach tart cold. Stephen says that he will not try the peach tart cold and that tarts are better warm. Mal tries it and agrees that the tart is better warm. Stephen says that everyone has their own opinions, but he can't imagine why anyone would eat a tart cold. Mal is then reminded about how great it was when they used to eat grilled peaches. Stephen says that Lindsey did a great job making the tart and he is excited to try the peach jam on Tuesday on Breakfast Stream. He then says that he will probably finish Red Dead Redemption 2 tomorrow and Mal will be painting her "Monkey Balloon" painting (code word for her Donkey Kong Country 2 - "Red Hot Ride" painting).