Televised Multiplayer Match

**RTKBarrett** · 06-15-2007, 00:13

Just thought some sp'ers may be interested in knowing that today 15th June there will be a live broadcast of a competative 3v3 match between two clans GWOC and SB... If ure interested in watching some top players from the mp section in action then here are the details...

19:30 GMT www.headshot.pl

What you have to do to watch this game live? Go to www.headshot.pl and then click big yellow "PLAY" button at the top panel on the right. Then just click high (500 kbps) or low (200 kbps) quality and enjoy.

**Heinrich VI** · 06-15-2007, 11:15

very cool idea i will watch it!

**SpencerH** · 06-15-2007, 13:40

A very cool idea indeed. I still havent played M2TW and this may give me a chance to see if it's time to do so. Will it be recorded so it can be viewed later?

I just hope I can figure out what time 1930 GMT is here in Bama ;)

**Ars Moriendi** · 06-15-2007, 22:15

A complete waste of time.

First, they broadcast about half an hour of commentary - two guys talking a language I don't understand (polish I presume) while staring at the lobby. And they talked, and talked and then talked some more...

Then the game finally starts and I realize that I don't understand anything that's happening :
- resolution so low even on the 500kbps "hi-quality stream" that the units are just vague blobs of color,
- game interface is in polish too, so no help with unit identification there
- the fact that it's rainy weather on the grassy plain doesn't help visibility either
- game crawls at about 2-3 fps, kind of a powerpoint slideshow
- the thing that finally made me quit : the guy handling the camera apparently doesn't know that there's keys for this purpose - that cursor dashing quickly from left to right to top to ... aaargh ! it made me crazy.

Anyway, even if the quality was better and camera handling ok, I don't think live MTW is any good - there's a lot of things happening at once in a 3vs3 battle and the cameraman can't know in advance where the hot points will be, and can't be in two places at the same time. Better to watch an edited video - the dead time is cut off, the major events are recorded by separate cameras if required. Or even better, get the replay - you can pause, move elsewhere, go slow motion or 6.0x etc.

**-Amon-** · 06-15-2007, 22:21

Uh,I don't understand their language

But, Thanks

**YellowMelon** · 06-18-2007, 17:02

Originally Posted by Ars Moriendi

A complete waste of time.

First, they broadcast about half an hour of commentary - two guys talking a language I don't understand (polish I presume) while staring at the lobby. And they talked, and talked and then talked some more...

Then the game finally starts and I realize that I don't understand anything that's happening :
- resolution so low even on the 500kbps "hi-quality stream" that the units are just vague blobs of color,
- game interface is in polish too, so no help with unit identification there
- the fact that it's rainy weather on the grassy plain doesn't help visibility either
- game crawls at about 2-3 fps, kind of a powerpoint slideshow
- the thing that finally made me quit : the guy handling the camera apparently doesn't know that there's keys for this purpose - that cursor dashing quickly from left to right to top to ... aaargh ! it made me crazy.

Anyway, even if the quality was better and camera handling ok, I don't think live MTW is any good - there's a lot of things happening at once in a 3vs3 battle and the cameraman can't know in advance where the hot points will be, and can't be in two places at the same time. Better to watch an edited video - the dead time is cut off, the major events are recorded by separate cameras if required. Or even better, get the replay - you can pause, move elsewhere, go slow motion or 6.0x etc.

Ok, maybe the .PL should have been an indication that it was a polish website. If the language bothered you so much you should have left earlier. Secondly, live TW is not a lost cause. Watch the "City Under Siege" tournament on Gamespot.com.

**Ars Moriendi** · 06-18-2007, 20:11

I knew what .PL stands for and I wasn't too surprised to hear polish. What actually bothered me was that they kept talking for too long and since I couldn't understand anything there was no indication for when the game will actually start, so I had to just keep listening to them ; couldn't leave early, because I was, well, curious about it ; too bad I was disappointed by the game broadcast, so unfortunately I can't say that the wait was worth it.

About live TW - I'll try "City under siege" but I tell you, it has to be lightyears better than what I saw on headshot.pl to convince me that live is better than replay or edited video...
Probably the only way to watch it live and be happy with it would be to use the game engine (instead of video streaming) and control the camera myself, but I don't think that is technically feasible for large numbers of viewers.
For now, I'll keep my opinion that TV format doesn't go well with Total War.

**Ars Moriendi** · 06-19-2007, 17:33

Okay, so I've watched the "City under siege" video - I found it entertaining and it kept me on for the whole 55 min. of the show. The soldiers are still shapeless blobs of colour, but the commentators were competent and quick to react. They went "here's the kerns" and "these are heavy archers" - so not being able to discern the unit types wasn't a show breaker anymore. Camera handling and movement was good. The camera presence problem - you can't be everywhere at once - was alleviated by the fact that the battles were sieges so most of the action took place in the central plaza ; they also had a second camera set up for action outside the walls.
As a bonus, the guys doing the comments were funny too ("Do it, pilgrim ! Do it !") - they gave me few laughs along the way...
So, live TW may not be such a bad idea after all... but still, I'd like to see some way of presenting it that's more appropriate to this kind of game - classic TV show style doesn't really cut it.