Hello everyone, Marlonv1 here. I have questions for the Vizzed members that Stream their game-play (whether it's a live stream or if its recorded then uploaded on Vizzed). What do I need to begin? I already have a list of games that I want to do. I just need to know if there is any software or hardware I need to get beforehand. I would really appreciate any help. For my first game I am doing a Pokemon game with a Challenge stipulation (I'll have the viewers choose the Challenge from: Nuzlocke, Scramble, Mono-type, Move-set, Unevolved, or Single Challenge[Just not combined])
It's going to be Pokemon Red[GB(1st Gen)].

So if anyone out there is knowledgeable on this, please help me out.

Thank you.         - Marlonv1

I can't help with Streaming (my CPU can't handle it at the moment lol), but Recording gameplay for uploading is easy.

Using Mednafen or Virtual Boy Advance, you can record your gameplay using the little white "Start" Button just under the game screen for Mednafen, or pressing the F8 key for VBA. Then you just pick where to save the file and what name to give it just like anything else.

After you're done recording the footage, you can use Freemake Video Converter to edit the footage, change it's format, and even shrink the file size by an incredibly large margin without noticing a difference in quality.

Once it's ready to upload (this method is to Vizzed), you go to that game's page. Just under where it lists the "Play Game" links, it will have a box that displays screenshots and under that one a box for videos. You'll want to click the "Upload your video to Vizzed Youtube" link in the videos box. From there you can edit the name and details of the video, and once you click Submit, it takes you to a page where you select the file for uploading. OR you can upload the video to your own YouTube account, then click the "Add your YouTube Video to this Game" link to add it to that page (but you don't receive Viz or CP doing it this way).

I know it sounds like a lot, but it's really simple once you know where to go (and I was just trying to be thorough).
**Recording with Mednafen outputs in the .MOV format, which doesn't play in most media players. Freemake is recommended for converting to either AVI, WMV, or MPEG formats which are more readily playable. More info on Freemake here- 
https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=53374

Uploading video to the vizzed youtube seems to be broken at the moment.

the best way to stream would be to use gameshow unless your are using linux which means you might have to use another streaming program.

on recording side, anything works considering all retro games run at 30fps, if you want to play at 60fps you'll have to pay for those since there is no recording program for browsers that runs 60fps without paying.

I like to use Open Broadcaster Studio.  It can record at 60fps and doubles as a streaming program.  The best part of all is that it's completely free and open source!

nakina : you forgot to post about how difficult it is to use and how buggy it can become. also OBS is so time consuming to set up, you can't just press a button and say hi world, it needs many things to set up. oh and it lacking many features too, it cant stream and record at the same time, it cant bypass mmo safeguards, it cant recognize older programs, lacking ingame overlay, mac/linux are lacking features, and many many problems with not keep up on the new computers like windows 10 HD.

the best thing to do is not use obs, its a software waiting to be hacked.

mastergame :

Not sure which version you used but I have the option to automatically record when streaming on OBS.  Also, all that's required to set it up is to figure out what bitrate to stream at and what your stream key is, both of which are not hard to figure out.  As for being easily hacked, you may have a point there but I've never been or seen someone be hacked when using it yet.  I guess I could suggest beam pro as an alternative but that will make you stream on their site and not twitch.

mastergame : Yeah, there's an option within the settings to output any stream archives to a folder you choose on your computer. It'll record the entire time you're streaming. As far as setting it up, it's as easy as figuring out which bitrate is best for you, like nakina said, which is easily done thanks to countless tutorials out there - some even on twitch's site and on OBS'. It isn't difficult at all. 

ARedLetterDay : its not easy, first you have to get the activation key to steam which can be messy to find sometimes. After that you need to do math to find the right of level for streaming while other companies do not do that and have a list of 120p/320p/480p/1280p which everyone in youtube easy understands. When it is all done, you still need to code that's right code! the custom overlay because it will never do it for you. how do you think people were able to put names on the images after someone did something or when there was a poll.

those annoying days are over, many companies found ways to make it easier. OBS is now like blender where people believe it works but refuse to accept change.

There's a free tool called the OBS estimator that figures out the best bitrate for you and all you have to do is answer some simple questions such as what your internet speed is (there are tools for determining that as well, like speakeasy speedtest), plus your CPU and graphics card which are very easy to find (go to search in start menu and type dxdiag, then just run it).  Finding your stream key on twitch is as simple as going to your dashboard and going to the stream key tab.  As far as custom images go, there are actually quite a few easy ways to do that.  Easiest option would be to simply write someone's name in MS paint and drop it into the scene in OBS.  Not sure where you got the idea that coding is required.  The toughest part for me, is figuring out what sort of audio levels I need which you could just determine by asking your audience how well they can hear you and adjusting accordingly.

Thank you for all the information and the help. I really appreciate it from everyone. I am thinking now that I will not Live Stream until later but I will begin recording and uploading my gameplay here on Vizzed. I have already downloaded Freemake to shorten the size of the Video Files. So thanks for that.

nakina : OBS  estimator got my internet wrong and many other things things wrong, who ever build it never did math. Plus I told you about how the company's found easier ways to do it, just click on whatever resolution and you'll be fine. You do not need to do math, just click on what you think works because you still have to test it. software like xsplit, gameshow, Wirecast, Live Broadcaster - Cameleon, you just log-in, thats all you need to do login to youtube gaming/twitch/hitbox and just hit live button.

the images of what you thinking is basic level im talking about these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK9JJlt8Jcs

the textbox, chatbox, username donation, ad sponsorship, character pop-up, etc of new stuff i havent cover. You cant just make these easy way, obs cant even do certain things like in the video. its never going to be something bette, only something awful, it cant even auto save videos when it crash unlike other programs.

Freemake is not working at all for me. I downloaded it following the instructions on the site and got it no problem but when I try to open the program, it goes to the Starting box and then nothing. Did I do something wrong in the process of downloading or is it my CPU or what could it be?

I wanted to do a test recording before I start my Pokemon playthrough but now, it might be halted because I cannot use Freemake.

Marlonv1 : try handbreak, it works like freemake but for older systems and less hardware needed. https://handbrake.fr/

mastergame : Have you ever considered that maybe OBS wasn't built exclusively for gamers streaming to Twitch? The program was built for streaming anything to anywhere on the internet (e.g. the yearly First Robotics Competition kickoff stream at the beginning of the year), not just for steaming games to Twitch (which may also be why you find it hard to use, the GUI was designed for more general usage). It doesn't implement easy drag 'n' drop chat boxes (which is stupid 'cause the chat box is the to the right of the stream anyway), new subs, etc. because they have only one specific use and would have to be custom tailored to the likes of each individual streamer anyway, i.e. the feature falls outside the scope of OBS (one could argue that some of that stuff is "cancerous" anyway).

Also, OBS doesn't provide an easy 4K/1080/720 switch because it meant to be able to stream at any resolution, not just a hand full of predetermined resolutions. Have a terrible 1.0 GHz processor? Enter 852x480 to stream at 16:9 480. Want to stream in 666x420? Then just enter 666x420 for your resolution and move on. That kind of functionality may not be useful to you, but it is for someone. At any rate, was it really that hard to type 1920x1080 and move on?

As for program stability, I've never once experienced a stability issue with using OBS. I experience a glitch with loading an image file once, but no huge problems with OBS being unresponsive or crash-happy.

And about manually grabbing your stream key for OBS whereas alternative programs just have you enter your Twitch information and automatically grab the stream key for you, it's really just a matter of security vs. convience. It is obviously easier to just throw your Twitch login at a program and start streaming, it introduces the security issue that you have to trust the program and its creator that it will use your login to grab your stream key and do nothing but grab your stream key with your login, not go off and steal any personal information on your account, such as financial information for subscribing to people or receiving subscription payments, and attempt to use for their gain, say by transferring all your money into their account. If you give a program only the stream key, the only thing it can do with it is steam to your channel, and the only abuse that could possibly arise is that instead of streaming your game, it streams porn (or some other horrific thing) to your channel.

Also, I like how you've been railing against OBS (a FOSS program) this whole time in favor of commercial alternatives and the moment when OP says Freemake (a commercial program) isn't working for him, you suggest Handbrake (a FOSS program) to him (and by "like", I mean "Wow, way to be contradictory.").

Marlonv1 : I'm sorry that your thread got derailed into an argument about how good/terrible OBS is.

bigger0gamer:

1) yep and whose fault is it for making it misleading in terms of software and easy use, the people who use it. don't blame me for your mistakes.

2) anyone even youtubers knows that anything lower than 340p resolution is just awful to see. plus you didn't do anything to help the processor, there is always another reason to why it always doesn't do anything.

3) try it on a laptop then you get huge problems, desktops are always going to make programs work well but laptops have limited space or ability to do stuff.

4) open source can be hacked too, anything can be hacked: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software_security

Drawbacks

- Attackers can find vulnerabilities easier with the source code.
- Simply making source code available does not guarantee review. An example of this occurring is when Marcus Ranum, an expert on security system design and implementation, released his first public firewall toolkit. At one time, there were over 2,000 sites using his toolkit, but only 10 people gave him any feedback or patches.[5]
- Having a large amount of eyes reviewing code can "lull a user into a false sense of security".
- Having many users look at source code does not guarantee that security flaws will be found and fixed.

5) i say not to use OBS because it will never be anything better, i never say to stop using FOSS programs. There are better developers like Xenko team, handbreak developer(s), ublock team, Cheat Engine team, Stylish developer and many others who do carefully read each submitted code.

The careless ones are OBS, Audacity team, Valve, GIMP, and many others. They put their fame first before the user's safety.

mastergame :

1. I found OBS very easy. However, I've only ever dealt with simpler streaming layout (capture card input for Smash gameplay, stream layout for cleanness, player tags and their current scores), so that make my input less insightful. I will concede that OBS may not have been easy or simple for you because OBS didn't suit your needs well.

2. I agree that watching videos in 144 decreases my enjoyment of videos, but I fail to see your point. Having the flexibility to run at any resolution gives the streamer more power over how they stream. For example, maybe 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios just doesn't do it for the streamer, and they would prefer a 20:5 aspect ratio instead. They have the ability to stream in 4000x1000 to keep both the high resolution everyone craves and the AR the streamer wants to stream in (likely to the torture of the viewer). Of course, you could use that flexibility to stream at 50x50 pixels, but who would actually do that (other than in defiance of my statement)?

Also, do you even know what the "p" at the end of the resolutions even means? It refers to the display out standard called Progressive Scan, which is a very specific way to display an image on a screen, which has nothing to do with streaming a video through the internet. Those "p"s at the end of the resolution is not only not necessary in this context, its technically wrong.

3. Laptop, desktop, whats the difference? They're all computer all the same. I think what you meant to say is that OBS may have trouble streaming on a computer with a weak CPU or low RAM, which all I have to say is that this isn't exclusive to OBS, streaming is more intense on hardware than most other tasks, and compares to the strain of gaming. The best you can do is if you have poor specs on your computer, then to be nice to your computer and use faster encoding settings and a lower resolution when streaming (I have a 1.0 GHz CPU with 4GB RAM personally and stream with OBS perfectly fine using the fastest encoding setting and 16:9 480 resolution, or 852x480, streaming console gameplay using a capture card).

4. My argument was actually from the side that the creator of the commercial program could use your Twitch credentials maliciously, but I'll roll with it. Keeping with my OBS vs. commercial alternative, now assuming both get remotely taken over by a hacker who wishes to do harm to you, OBS would still be better, as the only thing that the hacker can get with an infected OBS is make you start streaming something other than what you were streaming, try to get you banned for streaming porn, or steal your stream key, which would let them stream right to your channel and cause conflicts with your stream. All you have to do is regain control of your OBS install (and protect yourself from future hacking) and reset your stream key. If you were using an alternative program that automatically sets up its stream key with your Twitch account information, then the hacker could gain access to your entire Twitch account and, if your Twitch account being breached wasn't bad enough if you had financial information on your account, possibly your email account used to setup the Twitch account if you are stupid enough to use the same password for both. I'd say OBS is on top there.

As for the open source vs. closed source argument, the whole point of having source available (as far as a security stand point is concerned), is that even with the hacker having every last piece of information they could ever want about the program they are trying to exploit, they still can't (when it works, anyway). It's like if you have a castle and give your enemy nations the exact blue prints and security details, such as patrol routes and staff on hand at any given time, of your whole castle, if they can't invade your castle with all that information, then your castle is impenetrable. If they can invade it, then your blue prints and/or security details need to be changed to improve your security. With closed source software, you are relying on security through obfuscation, or, to compare it to a castle again, you hope that you won't get invaded because your enemies don't know the full blue prints of the castle or its security details, but they could still learn enough about the castle through spying to be able to find a way to invade, and you would get invaded. Providing source code just makes this faster. The source code makes the exploit easier to find so that it is found and patch faster.

Also, why are we even mentioning hacking when arguing over the quality and usefulness of a streaming program? Seems to be beside the point to me.

5. Well, with that kind of attitude we will be stuck with an OBS that never gets any better. All it takes for OBS to get better is for someone to make a bug fix for it or add another feature and add it the it's github page, though, I'm pretty sure you already knew that.

As for the "contradictory" statement, I was just trying to pull your leg. I get what you mean. I love FOSS and everything but here I am, running Windows 7 out of pure convenience.

EDIT: Weighing in at 921 words, this is officially my longest post ever, anywhere. It even netted me 1391 Viz. I feel like a champion now. Well, until mastergame replies again anyway.

bigger0gamer :

1) no it does not meet youtube/twitch standards, people will always compare software to how good it will run on youtube/twitch. I have already told you that it doesn't do anything other than stream and you knew it wasn't build for games or extreme sports. which will bring us to...

2) i had a long article writing about this but basically there was already a video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geDqJp13UrI

when i test any software, i always put touhou games to test them because i has high number of effects and movements. if the game is too slow than i know it from the software but if it says in a reasonable number than its fine with any user's hardware.

examples: http://www.hitbox.tv/video/1127291

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrZ94QSq7sY

smooth is always better even when you are going a touhou game because lag very sucks.

3) no its on OBS, xsplit does stream well in my laptop but very limited, gameshow does work on laptop but my laptop doesn't do well. OBS has unwanted broken codes, any developer would tell you that less is better in coding. i don't know what makes OBS run unwanted stuff but will run it. all these unwanted codes running in my background is the reason OBS gives up on fps rather than using more hardware.

4) no there are laws on this actions, plus you making money from commercial stuff so losing trust means losing customers (a bank recently learn that). Both gameshow and xsplit require password, ya im sure the password is on a software and not on a user's computer dummy. if they even get pass the password, it would be better to sell it to people who do want to do something bad not stream live because your followers will know you been hacked dummy.

5) also commercial can fix and notify you, where OBS is like "we do not have user information, this is on you." lastly the number of contributors is 150 vs 1 million active users in OBS and out of the 150, only 13 are active developers who do fix OBS.

also you started this hacking stuff so ya you needed better information on it.