Dual Stream (Day 3587 - 9/20/19)

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Stephen shows off the streaming set up he made for a dual stream today for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakeningt on the Game Boy Color and on the Switch. He says that the Switch version just released today, so they went and bought it. Stephen talks about how cool it is playing both versions side by side. He explains that they plan on playing through the entire game through weekly streams on Twitch. Stephen says that it's a pain to set up for the stream since he has to use his computer monitor for the set up. So, he has to take down the set up after each weekly stream because he needs the monitor to work.

Stephen talks about how he had been trying to figure out a way where he could create live content on Twitch that is still of interest to people on YouTube. He says that some people are fine with the VOD format where it shows chats and Twitch alerts. However, there are also people who tweet at him and send him messages saying that they are interested in the game being played, but they dislike the VOD format. Stephen says that sometimes it's impossible to get around that because they play games where the focus might be on the live interaction aspect. But, he found a good way to balance the YouTube and Twitch aspects for traditional games.

He decided that they would play for 25 minute increments with breaks in between. During those 25 minute increments, alerts will be paused and chat will not be shown on screen. But, they will still be able to see chat off-screen and interact with people in chat while playing the game. During the break, they will put chat back on the screen and un-pause the alerts. Stephen will only be posting the 25 minute gameplay sections onto YouTube and the entire stream will be on Twitch for anyone who wants to watch the entire thing.

Stephen says that there might be issues because the game is being played live. For example, when something goes wrong, they can't just restart and cut that part out from the video. They will have to deal with the issue or try to fix it while the stream is live. They had an issue with the audio echoing on today's stream. Stephen says that he usually doesn't hook up the audio interface to the stream box since it's a pain to set up. Hooking up the audio interface to the stream box allows them to use the microphones on their headsets which they normally use when recording Let's Plays. Stephen decided to hook it up for tonight's stream and he ended up having to install a special plugin on Windows in order to get it working in OBS. When he tested it, everything was working just fine, but during the stream there was an issue with echoing.

Stephen says that he's a perfectionist, so wants thing to be correct. He says that he appreciates the aspect of YouTube where you can take your time to fix issues that arise in videos. On the other hand, there is only so much you can do on Twitch since it's a live setting. He says that you can only prepare, test, and do the best that you can since you can't fix the issue right away.

Stephen says that 3 of the episodes for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening had that echoing issue. He thought it might've been an issue with the buffering of the audio interface, so he upped it 4-fold. There were no issues with the 4th episode they recorded live, but he doesn't know if he just got lucky or if the issue is actually fixed. Stephen says that he will do a long test sometime before next week's stream. He might also do some tests with the headsets on Breakfast Stream.

Then, he talks about how viewers on Twitch enjoyed this new format. Stephen's biggest concern was whether or not people on Twitch would like the new format because he's taking away the chat and alerts from the gameplay sections. The response from people was pretty good and there was still some live interaction happening. Stephen says that he won't know how people completely feel about it until he releases it on YouTube. But, he still has other videos to release, so these videos won't be released for a while. Stephen then talks about how fun the stream was and how good the game was. He says that the game was already amazing as a Game Boy game and that the it was amazing how much stuff they were able to fit into a Game Boy cart. S

Stephen comments on how amazing it was to see the game remade on the Switch and how beautiful the Switch version is. He is glad that they remade it for the Switch because the original game was old. It also gives people who have never played it, a chance to enjoy it. Stephen says that this Zelda game is quirky and different. He comments that this game has a lot of elements that other Zelda games don't have. Stephen is glad that they got a chance to enjoy the new version for the first time. He also talks about how their dual stream format is unique. Stephen mentions that there were a lot of people on Twitch who streamed the game today since it was just released. But, he doesn't know if anyone was also streaming both the Switch and Game Boy Color versions at the same time like they did.

Stephen is still feeling sick, but he is almost better. On the other hand, Mallory's voice has been bothering her. She was looking forward to the stream and playing the game, but she wasn't looking forward to having to talk. So, she ended up talking a little bit less on stream than usual. Stephen says that she will probably be better by next week. Now, Stephen needs to take down the stream set up since he needs his computer monitor to work. Stephen says that he can't work with only his laptop. He says that at least setting it up will be easier now since most of the set up he had to originally do involved OBS.