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Let's Play Shining Force!

Started by CraigStern, March 11, 2012, 01:48:54 PM

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CraigStern

All right! I've decided to do a Let's Play of one of my favorite childhood games, Shining Force. Why? Well, I've always wanted to do a Let's Play, and now that TSoG is out and I'm waiting for my artist to give me the first round of character art for Telepath Tactics, I have a little bit of time to do it.

EDIT: I have four episodes done now; I'm adding them to this playlist as they're completed. If you want Youtube to notify you when I add new videos, go ahead and subscribe to my channel. :)

CraigStern

Episode 5 has been uploaded! (I also went ahead and recorded episodes 6 and 7, but I haven't posted them just yet.)

Dean_Lukas

Man, I loved Shining Force so much. (One of the reasons your stuff is so fun, obviously, with the similar battle system).
That awkward moment when your student's gone evil and wants to destroy you.

CraigStern

Yeah, Shining Force is just fantastic. I'm having a lot of fun replaying it. :)

Speaking of which: Episodes 6, 7 and 8 are out now! Visit the playlist to watch them.

CraigStern

I recorded episodes 9 and 10 last night. One of them used my built-in mic, which makes me come across loud and distorted; in the second, I tried my high quality mic, but I still couldn't get my voice loud enough to counterbalance the game. Someone helpfully suggested recording the commentary track separately from the game video, but that would be time-consuming (and would also deprive you of my spontaneous reactions while playing). Tired of these issues, I finally relented and purchased a set of headphones with an attached microphone. Hopefully, that will improve sound quality going forward.

One thing that's really great about doing this Let's Play is that I'm learning how to put together polished commentated videos. This will help a whole heck of a lot with my future efforts at marketing Sinister Design games online.

ArtDrake

May I ask which software you're using for recording and editing?

Duskling

Quote from: Duckling on March 17, 2012, 02:06:54 AM
May I ask which software you're using for recording and editing?
While I'm not speaking for Craig, I'm pretty sure this is what he's using:
Quote from: CraigStern on January 01, 2012, 11:14:00 PM
UPDATE: I've just tried out XSplit, which is currently in public beta and therefore free to use without a license. It's really quite excellent; I'd recommend it to anyone looking to do a Let's Play. How to use XSplit:

1) Download the program.
2) Install it and register. Open the program.
3) Go to File > Add Screen Region.
4) Click and drag a red box over the portion of the screen you want to record.
5) Tinker with the settings (Tools > General Settings) until you get something that works well. Here are the settings I'm using:

  • General: Make XSplit a layered window (this keeps XSplit from recording itself).
  • Channels: Select LocalRecording and hit the Edit button. Make sure you're recording at the highest quality (20), with 44.1 kbps audio and a bitrate of 96000. Otherwise, leave it at the default.
6) Go over to the View drop-down and select a resolution (suggested: 800 x 600 or higher, with a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio) and frame rate (suggested: 30 fps or 60 fps).
7) To start recording, go to the Broadcast drop-down and click Local recording. It will begin recording an flv, showing whatever is beneath XSplit. Obviously, you'll want that to be the game window.
8) Tab over to the game window and start playing! When you want to stop recording, open up XSplit again and click Local recording once more; the recording will stop and there will be an flv file saved in your Videos folder under "XSplit Recordings."

CraigStern

I've started using Youtube's online video editor to trim the episodes as well. It's pretty impressive for a web app--it's like Windows Movie Maker, except that it doesn't crash every 5 minutes.

Speaking of which: I recorded a bunch of episodes while I was on vacation, and I've uploaded a few of them (up to episode 17). You can watch them on the Sinister Design Channel. :)

CraigStern

Aaaaaand episode 18 is posted. :)

CraigStern


Dean_Lukas

I just realized how many hours I spend grinding when I go back and play this game. At least the way you're doing it, it's a challenge...
That awkward moment when your student's gone evil and wants to destroy you.

CraigStern

Yeah, I've never played through this game without grinding before. It still isn't even close to being as challenging as any Fire Emblem game I've played, but it definitely does make it more interesting.

CraigStern


bugfartboy

I just watches episode 1, and I like it so far. Really long episode. :)

CraigStern

Cool, glad you liked it. :)

(Episodes 23 and 24 are out, btw.)