Take 2: The Movie That Shall be Named - MM (J) vs. the Leading Man (A)

[Lokasenna]

Pardon the plays on words in the title.

Video links to come [;)]. The game commences.

[Canoerebel]

Personally, I don't like AAR titles that are plays on movie names.....

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Personally, I don't like AAR titles that are plays on movie names.....

Who said you were invited?! Sheesh. The nerve!

[Lokasenna]

This will be a YouTube AAR.

My goal here is twofold:

1) conduct a more feasible AAR from my perspective. I find text-based updates somewhat tedious, as I try to incorporate all of the details that I get from the visual interaction with the GUI of the game as well as the replay. This leads to posts that are either super long, or posts I feel like nobody will read due to length so I cut them down or simply don't post.

2) make something that is somewhat accessible and can be referenced. I hope to highlight gameplay methods throughout the course of the AAR for educational purposes... and somewhat for "I told you this worked" purposes.


Towards (1), I don't intend to do anywhere near daily updates. Somewhere around monthly (game time), or perhaps slightly more often as situations warrant, will be sufficient as I will be able to show progress or lack thereof via showing the video replay. My hope is that (2) this will be more engaging both for folks who are somehow new to the game (they seem to keep coming) and that veterans who choose to watch will pick up on things.

My intent is that each video will be shorter than 10 minutes. To be honest, this may be somewhat of a challenge - I don't want to timelapse any of the videos, so I may need to plan some turns in advance so that I don't spend any time in the videos "map staring", as I have definitely done in the past when feeling flummoxed with things. I hope to move at a steady pace through each orders phase, which without pauses (even on the biggest of turns) can be done in less than 15 minutes for the Allies. In most cases...

I have a feeling that the initial December 8 turn will need to be broken into 2 or 3 videos. I hope just 2.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

This will be a YouTube AAR.

My goal here is twofold:

1) conduct a more feasible AAR from my perspective. I find text-based updates somewhat tedious, as I try to incorporate all of the details that I get from the visual interaction with the GUI of the game as well as the replay. This leads to posts that are either super long, or posts I feel like nobody will read due to length so I cut them down or simply don't post.

2) make something that is somewhat accessible and can be referenced. I hope to highlight gameplay methods throughout the course of the AAR for educational purposes... and somewhat for "I told you this worked" purposes.


Towards (1), I don't intend to do anywhere near daily updates. Somewhere around monthly (game time), or perhaps slightly more often as situations warrant, will be sufficient as I will be able to show progress or lack thereof via showing the video replay. My hope is that (2) this will be more engaging both for folks who are somehow new to the game (they seem to keep coming) and that veterans who choose to watch will pick up on things.

My intent is that each video will be shorter than 10 minutes. To be honest, this may be somewhat of a challenge - I don't want to timelapse any of the videos, so I may need to plan some turns in advance so that I don't spend any time in the videos "map staring", as I have definitely done in the past when feeling flummoxed with things. I hope to move at a steady pace through each orders phase, which without pauses (even on the biggest of turns) can be done in less than 15 minutes for the Allies. In most cases...

I have a feeling that the initial December 8 turn will need to be broken into 2 or 3 videos. I hope just 2.

Awesome!!

Looking forward to it. You da man. I can also clandestinely watch this at work much more easily than reading the forum! [:D]

[Lokasenna]

December 7, 1941 Replay

Although I haven't done the videos for December 8 yet, here's the replay. I am experimenting with various quality settings as if I hit a 2GB buffer while recording, I have to completely redo the video. I know that I undershot on decent quality for the video on this one. I will be rectifying this in the next videos.

Highlights:
* No BBs sunk outright at Pearl Harbor, but 5 crippled
* Pearl's shipyard gets hit hard
* CA Houston shines
* A few non-standard IJNAF opening moves in China

[Bullwinkle58]

I watched this first one. Your voice is different than I imagined all these years. [:)]

One advice: the sound effects drowned out your commentary in several places, especially the explosions.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

I watched this first one. Your voice is different than I imagined all these years. [:)]

One advice: the sound effects drowned out your commentary in several places, especially the explosions.

Yep, I'm adjusting that as well. I'm dropping the game volume by 50% but I didn't want to redo the video.

I think you made that comment the last time I put up a video.

[Canoerebel]

I'm interested in seeing how this turns out.

I can't stand this format. To me it's like watching tennis on television. Just incredibly boring. I'd rather go out and play it.

With the video format, the viewer basically is all-in or all-out - watch or don't watch. No in between.

With the written format, the viewer can skip over to find interesting things, by searching for key words or images, often finding quickly that which interests them or doesn't. The can skim or they can immerse.

But I may be an outlier in this regard. For instance, I know the Moose loves the Kerbel Space Program video commentary by a prodigy while I hated it.

Is this video replay format the thing of the future? In the right hands (and anyone who knows Loka knows he'll do a great job) is it entertaining?

Or is it just tedious?

Newcomer Timotheus tried this about six weeks back. He gave it a good two weeks. Then he disappeared (I think). I watched about 12 seconds and was immediately bored stiff.

Good luck, Loka. As an observer, I'm interested in seeing how all this develops.

[Lokasenna]

It will be a challenge. It's why I want to keep the videos as short as possible. I would like to get replays down under 5 minutes, although that may be unrealistic. I may need to add production time and do longer videos, then edit them down for length.

I'm with you in hating video for a lot of things that could come with a written transcript. For example, news stories that for some reason are just a video with a bunch of infographics that flip through like a slideshow and some trendy music - taking 4 minutes to disburse information that could be read in less than 2 minutes. Just give me the damn infographics and some text, please. However, I'm not sure how much to put into text here to alleviate this. Screenshots to show everything are a lot of work. I think videos could help address something Alfred mentioned in one of Lowpe's threads the other day - that AAR viewers don't have the full context that the player/writer of the AAR does. Showing the actual video replay as well as some things in orders phases should be able to paint a more complete picture without having to write a page of text.

I should explore trying to add quicklinks or "bookmarks" in the videos for navigating to highlights. I haven't done a lot with YouTube so don't know if that's possible. I'll have to see.

But what text would be helpful to incorporate with the videos? How much is too much? It's hard to write much about the opening turn synopsis because it's mostly predictable. I do intend my orders phase videos to be pseudo-tutorials at times, and as the game picks up I will probably have longer turn/action summaries accompanying the videos and possibly some screenshots to provide context. I found myself spending several hours at times doing intense screenshots for previous posts, making sure I grabbed as of the details that are informing my decisions as possible.

[Canoerebel]

I think the basic mistake is this: You wish to inform. Most viewers wish to be entertained. I don't think video commentaries lend themselves to entertainment. But I may be an incredibly poor judge of that, as shown by my reaction to Kerbel Space Program commentary compared to Bullwinkle's reaction. I'm interested in seeing if I'm the 5% that just doesn't get it or if most other folks feel like I do. I don't know the answer.

And if anyone can do this the right way, you can.

[Lowpe]

Youtube videos are an order of magnitude more work...cutting and splicing so to speak.

But you are on the right track about making the video as short as possible...there is so much creativity to be had in this format.

You could make them like newsreel footage shown prior to movies for example...

A learning series as opposed to an pure entertainment focus you will definitely want to include hot links to videos showing tactics and game processes.

I suspect keeping up the motivation, especially when page views are low can be difficult. But if you are looking at understanding being a youtube content provider...then the you will!

Good luck.[&o]

[Lokasenna]

Ah, I guess there's the rub: there are definitely folks who watch videos to be informed rather than entertained. I'm one of them!

Now that I think of it, this could be like a WITP version of DIY how-to videos... I've watched probably hundreds of those [:'(].

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Youtube videos are an order of magnitude more work...cutting and splicing so to speak.

But you are on the right track about making the video as short as possible...there is so much creativity to be had in this format.

You could make them like newsreel footage shown prior to movies for example...

A learning series as opposed to an pure entertainment focus you will definitely want to include hot links to videos showing tactics and game processes.

I suspect keeping up the motivation, especially when page views are low can be difficult. But if you are looking at understanding being a youtube content provider...then the you will!

Good luck.[&o]

With videos at a much longer interval, this is something that can be done. I've actually thought of it - rather than doing a video of the replay at the end or beginning or middle of each month, each update would include dated captions for each bit of replay. Showing repeated air strikes on Rabaul for the last 2 weeks, for example. One after another in succession. That will take some production time, but could also be rather fun.

I will need to find some more software, but the project would simply be recording my replays every time (easy enough) and then splicing them together later using bookmarks in my notes.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Ah, I guess there's the rub: there are definitely folks who watch videos to be informed rather than entertained. I'm one of them!

Now that I think of it, this could be like a WITP version of DIY how-to videos... I've watched probably hundreds of those [:'(].

If you take that tack...DIY, I think it becomes a lot easier to do the videos..very straight forward.

If you are trying to entertain...then I think you would almost want to show as little game footage as possible but perhaps have more of a documentary style like the documnetary with stock footage, nice maps with sweeping arrows and fronts, and very little in the way of images from the game.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Ah, I guess there's the rub: there are definitely folks who watch videos to be informed rather than entertained. I'm one of them!

Now that I think of it, this could be like a WITP version of DIY how-to videos... I've watched probably hundreds of those [:'(].

If you take that tack...DIY, I think it becomes a lot easier to do the videos..very straight forward.

If you are trying to entertain...then I think you would almost want to show as little game footage as possible but perhaps have more of a documentary style like the documnetary with stock footage, nice maps with sweeping arrows and fronts, and very little in the way of images from the game.

If obvert would be so kind as to share his millions of photos (properly organized and catalogued of course), then maybe [:'(].

[Canoerebel]

Well, you'll be like Jimmy Doolittle. I'm the pessimist telling you its impossible to fly B-25s from a carrier deck. You're the determined Doolittle who figures out a way to get it down.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

I watched this first one. Your voice is different than I imagined all these years. [:)]

Agreed: I expected a cross between a comic-book samurai and a Tyrannosaurus. [:'(]

[szmike]

I'm with Canoerebel on this, but then maybe I'm just a weirdo who prefers reading. [;)]
I tried to watch a lot of gameplay videos on Youtube or Twitch, but they put me off most of the time.

1. Informative videos - when I'm looking for specific info on how to... video needs to be short and to the point. No fluff, simple, single example and quick how and why it works like this.

2. Entertainment videos - it's much more about personality of author, then about interesting stuff he does (e.g. different tactics, unusual runs). Quick information on how and why and some strategy/tactical tips are nice, but it's all about other content.

Now I don't think WitpAE is an interesting video material, and it requires a lot from author. For informative videos you'd be better off with shorter scenarios, unless you want to wrap up Japanese production. (ouch)

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Well, you'll be like Jimmy Doolittle. I'm the pessimist telling you its impossible to fly B-25s from a carrier deck. You're the determined Doolittle who figures out a way to get it down.

If I crash the B-25 into the ocean, I'm OK with that.

I only get about 1000 of them...