Making A Let's Play

Digger Dude

So I've seen the glorious let's plays made by you guys and I'm thinking of doing one myself. I have a few ideas for games but I am wondering about the the technical part of it.

Basically, What is a good price for a microphone?, Is there any good screen recording software available for free? and is there anything I should expect when making one of these that would not be immediately obvious to a newbie?.

Einhander

Your best bet for a simple let's play thread is (assuming it's a PC game you want to do first) to get a good screen capture program, but I don't know which ones are free that don't watermark the image. Taking video is awesome, but it also adds a lot of work and you'll probably have to host it at youtube, which will kill the quality.

It's good to do a LP of a game you already know up and down, but it's also cool to see someone go through a game for the first time like the Half-Life LP that ArcSyn made a few months ago.

Whenever you update, post it like a regular post in the thread, and then put a link to the post in the OP so people who are following the thread can see your update, and people who are new to the thread can use your link to jump to a specific part of the game. Just read over some old LP threads and see what they did that you like, and emulate it.

You'll be hosting a ton of images, so www.photobucket.com or www.imageshack.us will be your best friend if you don't own your own webspace.

But don't take much of my advice seriously. The only Let's Play thread I ever made was a spectacular failure.

Stolls

Honestly, there are a lot of ways to go about a Let's Play; you can play it straight, play a character, make videos, take just screenshots... it really depends on how you want to show the game. Here are some things I kept in mind for the Stalker LP:

- Plan for time constraints. Fifteen minutes of game can take an hour or two to properly screencap, upload and write for, and that's if you get it right the first time. You're looking at weeks or even months of effort for a 20-hour game, give or take.

- Make your OP thorough, but concise. Explain what it's about for the uninitiated, make a case for the game, acknowledge its weak points, say why you like it... themocaw's Fallout Tactics LP is a good example.

- Know the game inside and out. You don't have to know every square inch of ground, but you should know the basics by heart, and many of the secrets. The more you know, the easier it is to write.

- Familiarize yourself with common image editing programs. Many games have dedicated screenshot keys, but not all, and some will have to be manually resized or even changed to more memory-friendly formats. You don't have to know how to work Photoshop blindfolded, just know how to shrink that 1280x1040 into something that won't break the H-scroll.

- Consider a game not everybody has played. I'm not saying troll the bargain bin for a copy of Wetlands, or scour eastern Europe for the last copy of Pathologic being used as a coaster by one of its devs, but sometimes it's nice to read about something we might have missed.

- Play for and with the audience. A good Let's Play is part writing and part performance. Be ready to take questions or recommendations. Help people with technical problems and respond to feedback. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results, and it helps bring everybody else on board.

- Have some fun with it. Throw in a mod or two or twenty, and tell us how they work. Stop to play basketball with the ragdoll corpses and then hurl a flaming barrel after them. Take an update to play as Collateral Damage Man and destroy as much as you possibly can. Have Mayor Pedros and his wife beat each other to death and make it sound like a rejected I Love Lucy episode. In short, don't be afraid to do stuff you wouldn't normally do.

Some of this stuff is pretty basic, and none of it's written in stone. By all means, poke around, read a few others, see what works and what doesn't. They're a damn lot of work, but they're loads of fun if you're willing to keep up with it.

Incidentally, what games did you have in mind?

Paper Plates

Einhander wrote: »

But don't take much of my advice seriously. The only Let's Play thread I ever made was a spectacular failure.

Actually I'm pretty sure thats the best Let's Play ever.

The_Scarab

Everything you need to know can be found here:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2657863

Digger Dude

Thanks for the advice (That SA thread really helped) Just a couple more questions.


1. Would you guys be terribly offended if my videos had a little fraps water mark on them

2. What would you consider the best time for a video (5 minutes, 10 minutes etc.)

Tofystedeth

Event Horizon wrote: »

Einhander wrote: »

But don't take much of my advice seriously. The only Let's Play thread I ever made was a spectacular failure.

Actually I'm pretty sure thats the best Let's Play ever.

Lies! Heresies! True believers know that the Fallout Tactics LP is Lord!
There is only one way to settle this!
Dance Fight!
<begins snapping>

themocaw

Tofystedeth wrote: »

Event Horizon wrote: »

Einhander wrote: »

But don't take much of my advice seriously. The only Let's Play thread I ever made was a spectacular failure.

Actually I'm pretty sure thats the best Let's Play ever.

Lies! Heresies! True believers know that the Fallout Tactics LP is Lord!
There is only one way to settle this!
Dance Fight!
<begins snapping>

As honored as I am, I must say that Einhander beat me on at least one respect: courage. He actually tried to install Daikatana on his box. *shudders*

You're a better man than I am , Gunga Din.

Given that you're doing a video LP, my advice probably won't be helpful, but the one thing I must require: HAVE FUN! Play through Fallout Tactics using a 3 STR noncombatant. Choose your team of pokeymans based on which one is cutest. Take dynamic screenshots of your WWII team quickly and efficiently taking down a house. Enjoy yourself: if you do, everyone else will as well.

Einhander

When you're a vault dweller, you're a vault dweller all the way.
From your first extra perk at level 3 to your last dying day.

Tofystedeth

Danana, danana, danana nanana.
Ein, Ein, crazy Ein.
Play the game man!

John ro-mero, made you his bitch.
Kill spiders man!

VeritasVR

themocaw wrote: »

Take dynamic screenshots of your WWII team quickly and efficiently taking down a house.

ArcSyn

If you decide on screenshots, photobucket and Gadwin Printscreen are my choices. It's what I used throughout the Half-Life LP and it worked wonderfully.
Gadwin Printscreen will auto-resize images, put names on them (which I changed for each chapter) and number them and save them in what format and quality you desire. You can also choose from a limited set of keys as your print-screen button.

The key to a successful LP IMO is two things:
1: Finish the thing. Don't leave us hanging and wanting more. There are many LPs that start and then drop off the front page never to be seen again.
2: Pick a schedule and try to stick to it. If you're going to take a break or be late, inform those reading so they don't get impatient or stop reading.

It's because of #2 I haven't started my OpFor LP yet because I don't have the time right now to keep any sort of schedule on the updates. I don't want to have an LP with 3 updates and 2 months between that and the next one.

Einhander

While we're here, does anyone know much about capture cards? I've been thinking of a certain console game that would be cool to do, and a capture card is my only option due to the hardware.

I wouldn't want to spend a lot, and hopefully I'd be able to do it on a relatively low-spec machine.

Xenogears of Bore

The real secret to a good screenshot LP? 1 goofy picture for every 30 gameplay shots. That and creative titles.

Thetheroo

Are there any rules or just agreed upon guidelines about what type of game constitutes a Let's Play? For example, back in the day I used to play the shit out of Harvest Moon 64. Would it be acceptable to do a Let's Play of that?

Xenogears of Bore

I've seriously considered doing Harvest Moon before. It's a little dry, but you can get some awesome reader input (which girl(s) to go after, which crop to plant, name your cow, whatever)

It would take forever though, HM 64 is so awesome though I'd say go for it.

cj iwakura

It's kind of disheartening to see that someone else at SA has already done a complete LP of a game I thought was unappreciated.

But in a way, it's good to know.

Thetheroo

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

I've seriously considered doing Harvest Moon before. It's a little dry, but you can get some awesome reader input (which girl(s) to go after, which crop to plant, name your cow, whatever)

It would take forever though, HM 64 is so awesome though I'd say go for it.

The problem is screenshots. I've never done a LP before, so how do I take screenshots for a N64 game?

Xenogears of Bore

cj iwakura wrote: »

It's kind of disheartening to see that someone else at SA has already done a complete LP of a game I thought was unappreciated.

But in a way, it's good to know.

Let me guess, SMT?

cj iwakura

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

It's kind of disheartening to see that someone else at SA has already done a complete LP of a game I thought was unappreciated.

But in a way, it's good to know.

Let me guess, SMT?

Actually, Dragon Force.

But yes, there's also one of those; someone's actually done a LP of DemiKids.

cj iwakura

thetheroo wrote: »

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

I've seriously considered doing Harvest Moon before. It's a little dry, but you can get some awesome reader input (which girl(s) to go after, which crop to plant, name your cow, whatever)

It would take forever though, HM 64 is so awesome though I'd say go for it.

The problem is screenshots. I've never done a LP before so how do I take screenshots for a N64 game?

I had the same dilemma with doing an LP of a Saturn game. I resorted to taking the pictures myself.

I'm not entirely fond of the presentation, but that's my only option.

Einhander

What game was it?

cj iwakura

Einhander wrote: »

What game was it?

Not sure if this was addressed to me or not, but I'm working on an LP of Dragon Force, even though it looks like I got beat to the punch a long time ago.

ASimPerson

Is there a central archive for PA Let's Play threads like there are for SA's?

Thetheroo

ASimPerson wrote: »

Is there a central archive for PA Let's Play threads like there are for SA's?

If there isn't, there should be. It would be pretty nice to be able to read all of those.

ASimPerson

Well, it would be pretty easy to just start a pbwiki or some such and have posters link to their threads there. Then have the threads link back to the wiki, thus getting it some attention.

Gilder

Well SA has been doing LP's since before the subforum was even created like 8 months ago and they're a gigantic site. They need the archive because the amount of games done is huge. PA though, not so much. We're not as big as they are and we don't get the same amount of traffic they do.

cj, pretty much everyone has been beaten to the punch by SA. The only way I'm even keeping my threads somewhat original is by having them be a "multi-game" thread instead of just 1 game. Mario wouldn't have even been interesting at all if I didn't do all the games on it. Goemon 2 and Pink Panther are the only games I've done that even SA hasn't done.

As for making an LP, all I can say is if you do videos, have fun playing the game. That is the most important thing. Even if the game is terrible, if you have some sense of sadistic enjoyment playing it, then the viewers will be able to tell. If you're having no fun then nobody will enjoy it and you'll end up wanting to stop.

piL

thetheroo wrote: »

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

I've seriously considered doing Harvest Moon before. It's a little dry, but you can get some awesome reader input (which girl(s) to go after, which crop to plant, name your cow, whatever)

It would take forever though, HM 64 is so awesome though I'd say go for it.

The problem is screenshots. I've never done a LP before, so how do I take screenshots for a N64 game?

I had bought an Adaptec Gamebridge for cheap off of w00t. Even though it's not the best quality, it should do the job fairly nicely.

ASimPerson

Gilder wrote: »

Well SA has been doing LP's since before the subforum was even created like 8 months ago and they're a gigantic site. They need the archive because the amount of games done is huge. PA though, not so much. We're not as big as they are and we don't get the same amount of traffic they do.

I realize this, but what if I wanted to find your DKC or Mario LP's easily? I'd have to use the forum search, which is always a PITA. We are smaller, yes, but since LP's get lost in the sands of G&T it's almost harder to find out for enjoyment or to check and see if something's been done before.

Thetheroo

piL wrote: »

I had bought an Adaptec Gamebridge for cheap off of w00t. Even though it's not the best quality, it should do the job fairly nicely.

That is Awesome. Problem solved, Harvest Moon LP coming soon.

Professor Snugglesworth

I've mentioned before that I would love to do a Let's Play, but I'm interested in doing a video with voice work. I have Fraps, which should be good enough. The only issue is that I've never used a PC mic before, so I need info on how to record a video with voice work included.

Would that SA link have that kind of info? And what's a decent enough mic to use? Nothing fancy, just whatever will make the voice clear.

There's talk in the FFVII thread about doing an FFVII LP, which I have no objections of. Not sure I could finish the entire game though, so maybe a disc by disc basis? Or I could stick with an SNES game instead.

ASimPerson

It doesn't include info like that. In order to get audio in your video, you'll need to combine the audio either externally or find some software that can do it. (Well, that or add the commentary afterward.)

That said, if you want to FF7, I'd stick to pictures. Can you imagine doing a video for a FF during your typical dungeon crawl? "Well, we just got in another random battle, as you can see I'm just going to blaze away with my physical attacks and save my MP for later, like I did the last 50 times."

Video works well for action games or platformers, because there's a lot going on. RPGs, at least of the Final Fantasy variety, don't lend themselves to that at all.

(Don't take this as me jumping on you. I just want to make sure everyone realizes why this isn't a good idea, at least in my opinion as a person who watches a lot of other people's LPs.)

Xenogears of Bore

Considering a video LP of motherfucking DESERT BUS just ended up on the LP archive I'm not going to tell anyone what they can or can't do.

FF 7 is probably just long enough and slow enough where the best option might be a combined one. Tape the minigames and cutscenes, screenshot the rest.

Digger Dude

ASimPerson wrote: »

It doesn't include info like that. In order to get audio in your video, you'll need to combine the audio either externally or find some software that can do it. (Well, that or add the commentary afterward.)

Dose anyone have any recommendations for software that can do this.

Also I'd like to see this desert bus let's play

Professor Snugglesworth

ASimPerson wrote: »

It doesn't include info like that. In order to get audio in your video, you'll need to combine the audio either externally or find some software that can do it. (Well, that or add the commentary afterward.)

That said, if you want to FF7, I'd stick to pictures. Can you imagine doing a video for a FF during your typical dungeon crawl? "Well, we just got in another random battle, as you can see I'm just going to blaze away with my physical attacks and save my MP for later, like I did the last 50 times."

Video works well for action games or platformers, because there's a lot going on. RPGs, at least of the Final Fantasy variety, don't lend themselves to that at all.

(Don't take this as me jumping on you. I just want to make sure everyone realizes why this isn't a good idea, at least in my opinion as a person who watches a lot of other people's LPs.)

Yeah, I considered that, but I'm not 100% if my commentary would be witty/interesting enough to carry the possible hundreds of screenshots that would accompany this game. I'm still interested in trying, though.

But I really do want to figure out how to get audio and video working together. I've seen some vids of PA members doing this, so someone should know how to do this. If it's software related, just give me the name of the program.

Recording major battles or minigames/etc is a good idea too. Maybe I can alternate between the two.

Xenogears of Bore

Hundreds????

More like thousands. I used hundreds in my MoO LP thread, and that game only took what, 4-5 hours to complete?

I had nearly a thousand shots to go through to cherry pick the best.

Properly set up, video LPs are easier. You can also edit out random fights if you so desire.

citizen059

I'll add in that I don't see a problem with doing an LP that's "been done" over at SA.

Not everyone here reads the SA forums. I, myself, am one of these heretics.

Professor Snugglesworth

I just took a look at their FFVII play. It's basically a hate fest that shits on all aspects of the game and story.

If I did a LP, it would be a bit classier without rimming on every single scene in the game.

For the record, I'm set on doing this. I'm sticking to the idea of screenshots for most of the game, videos for major fights and/or minigames. I would even take requests on what who you would want in my party for certain parts, what materia to equip, etc.

But before I do this, I want to get my feet wet with a smaller LP, a short action game like Final Fight or something. But to do that, I really want to figure out how to create videos with recorded audio.

So please, if someone can tell me how to do this, or what program to use, or who I can ask for this, let me know.

themocaw

Professor Snugglesworth wrote: »

I just took a look at SA. It's basically a hate fest.

Fixed.

cj iwakura

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Hundreds????

More like thousands. I used hundreds in my MoO LP thread, and that game only took what, 4-5 hours to complete?

I had nearly a thousand shots to go through to cherry pick the best.

Properly set up, video LPs are easier. You can also edit out random fights if you so desire.

Shoot, I'm barely two hours into Dragon Force, and I think I've already broken the 400 image mark.

Professor Snugglesworth

What is usually the accepted video site to upload these videos? Some sites are more lenient with the file size than Youtube, so I'm wondering which would offer the best kind of quality for a video recording with audio?