@Karneck and I played a game with his Thrawn lead 2-Ship fleet up against my Sato Hammerheads. We also recorded commentary on how the game went down to go along with it.
Sato vs 2-Ship Video w/ commentary
Love that preview image
26 minutes ago, Ardaedhel said:Love that preview image
Not my best look...
Cool, good game, good format. Thanks for putting it out!
Re: the format: I really like the pic-in-pic commentary. Super helpful to have commentary play-by-play to tell why you did what you did, what you were thinking. It's easy to armchair admiral when you're not having to consider the pros and cons of all the alternatives.
The cut graphics were hott.
Couldn't really tell what you were talking about when you said "this one" or "right here" and pointed to something, but I don't know the solution. Maybe if you could figure out how to do an NFL-style draw-on-the-screen thing... I know there are apps out there to do that.
Even with the accelerated video, the bits between the commentary dragged pretty long--I was accelerating on YouTube to 2x, and even then it was dragging a bit. If you can, I think it would be worth it to accelerate the video to 6 or 8x. I'm much more interested in the commentary over the video, so the less time gameplay is running un-commented, the better.
This is a perpetual problem with Armada gameplay videos, but the squadrons are basically impossible to track. Especially in squadron-heavy lists, where the squadron interactions are so important, that can make for some frustrating viewing. I've seen them marked with numbers that correspond to a legend, which seemed to work pretty well, though I imagine that's quite a bit of post-prod work. Do you have a second camera you could do cut-ins of the squadron battle, maybe? Beyond that, I really don't know.
1 hour ago, Ardaedhel said:Cool, good game, good format. Thanks for putting it out!
Re: the format: I really like the pic-in-pic commentary. Super helpful to have commentary play-by-play to tell why you did what you did, what you were thinking. It's easy to armchair admiral when you're not having to consider the pros and cons of all the alternatives.
The cut graphics were hott.
Couldn't really tell what you were talking about when you said "this one" or "right here" and pointed to something, but I don't know the solution. Maybe if you could figure out how to do an NFL-style draw-on-the-screen thing... I know there are apps out there to do that.
Even with the accelerated video, the bits between the commentary dragged pretty long--I was accelerating on YouTube to 2x, and even then it was dragging a bit. If you can, I think it would be worth it to accelerate the video to 6 or 8x. I'm much more interested in the commentary over the video, so the less time gameplay is running un-commented, the better.
This is a perpetual problem with Armada gameplay videos, but the squadrons are basically impossible to track. Especially in squadron-heavy lists, where the squadron interactions are so important, that can make for some frustrating viewing. I've seen them marked with numbers that correspond to a legend, which seemed to work pretty well, though I imagine that's quite a bit of post-prod work. Do you have a second camera you could do cut-ins of the squadron battle, maybe? Beyond that, I really don't know.
I'll plug @Darth Sanguis 's squadron plates. Super helpful in seeing massive visual differences, and if you're doing this for video more and more, they're super solid.
47 minutes ago, geek19 said:I'll plug @Darth Sanguis 's squadron plates. Super helpful in seeing massive visual differences, and if you're doing this for video more and more, they're super solid.
What exactly are these? I'm keen to try using squad plates, especially if it helps with better measurement
9 minutes ago, Zamalekite said:What exactly are these? I'm keen to try using squad plates, especially if it helps with better measurement
Measurement? Kinda. More just ease of identification.
https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/09/gearing-up-for-battle-2-armada-fix.html?m=1
19 hours ago, Ardaedhel said:Cool, good game, good format. Thanks for putting it out!
Re: the format: I really like the pic-in-pic commentary. Super helpful to have commentary play-by-play to tell why you did what you did, what you were thinking. It's easy to armchair admiral when you're not having to consider the pros and cons of all the alternatives.
The cut graphics were hott.
Couldn't really tell what you were talking about when you said "this one" or "right here" and pointed to something, but I don't know the solution. Maybe if you could figure out how to do an NFL-style draw-on-the-screen thing... I know there are apps out there to do that.
Even with the accelerated video, the bits between the commentary dragged pretty long--I was accelerating on YouTube to 2x, and even then it was dragging a bit. If you can, I think it would be worth it to accelerate the video to 6 or 8x. I'm much more interested in the commentary over the video, so the less time gameplay is running un-commented, the better.
This is a perpetual problem with Armada gameplay videos, but the squadrons are basically impossible to track. Especially in squadron-heavy lists, where the squadron interactions are so important, that can make for some frustrating viewing. I've seen them marked with numbers that correspond to a legend, which seemed to work pretty well, though I imagine that's quite a bit of post-prod work. Do you have a second camera you could do cut-ins of the squadron battle, maybe? Beyond that, I really don't know.
Good suggestions. I can definitely do the draw on screen thing where it’s appropriate in the future. I will look at how else it can be enhanced.
It was fun to break down the game right after playing it. I will be looking to try this format again.
On 2/8/2019 at 4:57 PM, Zamalekite said:What exactly are these? I'm keen to try using squad plates, especially if it helps with better measurement
This was a extreme case demo I set up, but essentially they take the cardboard off the mat and replace it with a numbered colored disc, in big clusters and such it can make identifying what is what a lot easier, and, in most cases (because the cardboard dials and sliders are no longer on the mat) reduce the bumps and accidental movements that come with squadron play.
Really nice format. With the refinements suggested for "post production", it would be even better.
Thanks to both of you for an important commentary on a major fleet archetype.
On 2/9/2019 at 4:07 PM, shmitty said:Good suggestions. I can definitely do the draw on screen thing where it’s appropriate in the future. I will look at how else it can be enhanced.
It was fun to break down the game right after playing it. I will be looking to try this format again.
@shmitty and @Karneck - I really liked your video, especially the pre-game discussion about the 2 lists. Please do more of these, they're great.
A few things that would be nice:
1) Please paste the 2 lists, in full, in the YouTube video description and any blog/forum posts about the match. It makes it a lot easier to figure out what's what in the game.
2) As has been mentioned, you can speed up the video much more between talking. Why not also put some star wars themed music on in the background?
3) Try taking some still photos and key junctures in the game, e.g. when you have a big decision to make, or a ship has an interesting fire arc, or squads are all bunched up close together. That will make it a lot easier to then annotate later to explain what's going on. You could have an insert for key dice rolls on-screen too.
4) try pausing the game video at key points - it's a bit hard to follow what you're talking about when the game it ticking along at its own pace whilst your explaining things. Personally I'd prefer the game to whiz along and then for you to pause at key junctures to explain in more detail what's going on. The most helpful thing for new players (and experienced ones wanting to improve!) is to explain your decision-making process. What were you thinking about at a key moment and why did you decide to do what you did. That's the key thing that will make this format different from a 'standard' battle report. But perhaps that's just my preference. Keen to see what others think.
and p.s. @Darth Sanguis - those squad dials/cards are great! I'm super clumsy anyway so anything that means less fiddling on-board the better for me! I'll need to try and get hold of those...