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Streaming a game in real time with low bandwidth requirement is a problem we've had a solution to since the dawn of multiplayer games but that seems to have bee
by Too 11y ago
Streaming a game in real time with low bandwidth requirement is a problem we've had a solution to since the dawn of multiplayer games but that seems to have been forgotten in modern games: Spectator mode.
You use your game client to connect to the same server that the actual game is playing on, only receive the small packets of player information and then render it locally.
This will of course eventually also overload the server with enough spectators but some kind of forwarding proxy should be able to solve this easily.
Voice commentary and a professional host choosing the best camera angle is still missing but this is also something that could be embedded into the game if the game developers really wanted to.
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y agoWould be interesting if there was a game-independent spectator protocol. Hmm.
- Nullabillity 11y agoNot really since you'd still need the game assets.
- __m 11y agonot really an option since it would require that the viewers have the game installed. It's a complete other format for shows that focus on a single game. It seems overkill to burden the viewers with dedicated clients (and a step backwards?) for a problem on the side of the streamer.
- detaro 11y agoA dedicated client is a lot of effort, but also gives way more options for viewers. IMHO it is a thing for a different audience: It's great for games the viewer is highly invested in and also plays, but a giant hassle for casual viewing. Outside of a few special examples it probably doesn't pay off.
- minot 11y agoA player broadcasting his view has value of its own. In League of Legends, we don't see the player's perspective in spectator mode. We don't see what they type in team chat. We don't hear what they're saying. A dedicated client has its benefits as well for the same reasons. You can change the view and look at things from different perspectives or look at places that the streamer (who is not necessarily the player I guess) is not looking at.
- Too 11y agoYou can expect most interested watchers to already have the game installed since they play it themselves. But yeah, it's no silver bullet for sure. A common problem with older games that had this feature was that stored replays of matches wasn't compatible with newer versions of the game.
- thefreeman 11y agoThat already happens in a number of games. Notably Dota2 has had millions of viewers watching via game client for their large tournaments.