Friday 14 June 2013

Reflections on creating a Gaming Channel : Getting Youtube View and Subs

Hello Guys,


To be perfectly honest, I started my Youtube channel with the thought that it would be real cool to have someone from the other side of the globe watch me play games. And till this day I sill remind myself that that's the most important point despite all the talk about potential monetization and all that stuff.

However, video making is not a simple process. Occasionally, I feel a little tired or disappointed when the quality of my recording is not to my liking. What continues to motivate me is the number of views that I am getting. Its not much but its always very VERY encouraging when a single person leave a short note saying that enjoyed the video or leave a quick thumbs up. It feels really awesome when someone decides to subscribe to my channel. This tells me that they believe that I will continue to produce videos that they are interested in. Therefore, I gradually realise why views and subs are important to Youtubers (youtube creators).

Some people see views and subs as a numbers game that brings them a step closer to monetizing their youtube channel and I cannot fault them for thinking so. But right now, viewers bring me encouragement and that's really important to keep me going. I see little incentive to do sub4sub or view for view just for the sake of it because both parties would unlikely be active subscribers / viewers and I would love to see my subscribers continuously come back for more videos on my channel.

Some strategies for promoting : 

Just in case you are interested in promoting your channel I have researched online for some tips and methods.

1. Obviously you can look for people who do sub4sub or view4view.
2. Highlight your video or channel on Twitter / Facebook / Website.
3. Make posts on stumbleupon or reddit.
4. Be active in forums such as yttalk and perhaps fellow youtube creators would check out your channel.

My personal strategy : 

I was inspired by some fellow youtube creators who continued to produce excellent content. They always keep me going back for more and they have a knack for keeping me engaged throughout the 20min or 45 min video. And that's what I would like to achieve. Produce quality videos that attract viewers and get them to come back for more everyday, all day.

Well, that's some of my thoughts.
Do pop by my channel and take a look at some of the video. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe! (Some shameless self-promoting) :D

That's all folk.

Signing off~
JohnHD

Thursday 13 June 2013

The Political Machine 2012 : John Kerry vs Donald Trump

Hello Guys,

I've been trying out an older game that I bought : The Political Machine 2012. Its a simulation of the presidential elections based on the situation in 2012. We can pit different candidates against each other. These candidates can be historical or plain fictional from our creations. In my let's play, I pick John Kerry and face off Donald Trump. My strategy is to take advantage of Donald Trump's low credibility stats in the game and formulate a strategy to weaken his position. However, he has loads of cash ....

The Political Machine 2012 : John Kerry vs Donald Trump - Part 1



The Political Machine 2012 : John Kerry vs Donald Trump - Part 2



The Political Machine 2012 : John Kerry vs Donald Trump - Part 3



Who will win?

Check it Out!

Signing off~

JohnHD

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Civ V G&K : Sweden 1 city challenge

Hello Guys,

I am pretty excited about the upcoming DLC for Civilization V. The new dlc is believed to be called A Brave New World where the culture aspect of the game is enhanced. You would be able to do tourism and trade on a wider level and also acquire cultural artifacts to boost your culture rating.

Admittedly, I have not been playing Civ V for quite a bit so I have taken up the game again in the effort to get more familiar with it a prepare myself for the upcoming DLC. I have recorded some gameplay footage playing as Sweden in Civ V : Gods & Kings. This game was played under the constraints of a one city challenge. I am not sure whether its going to be easy but I am going to give it a try.

Civ V G&K : Sweden 1 city challenge - Part 1



Civ V G&K : Sweden 1 city challenge - Part 2



Civ V G&K : Sweden 1 city challenge - Part 3


More episodes would be coming up. Feel free to make guesses on what the outcome will be and comment on what you would have done or not done.

See you guys.

Signing off~

JohnHD



Reflections on creating a Gaming Channel : Recording Gameplay and Recommendations

Hello Guys,


I have been doing quite a few gameplay recordings and there are a couple of things that I have learnt. Recording let's play is not as easy as I thought it was...

What I had previously thought : 

1. Its just recording myself play! No pressure!
2. Since my computer can play the game, it should be able to handle the recording ... right?
3. Any microphone will suffice.

Reality / Recommendations :

1. I feel like I will tend to try harder in a game when I play to record. Its like I feel as if I have an audience and my audience could be my girlfriend, some other girl I am trying to impress, my buddy who would be looking out for weaknesses or just my mum (kidding). It is not as easy as it seems because I now have to talk and play at the same time. Speaking intelligently while playing is not easy. I have to think about what I am going to do in game and also think about what to speak simultaneously. Its very easy to do either one .. but both at the same time? All I can say is that practice definitely helps. My advice : try to relax and game. People want to watch people enjoy the game. Its just that plain and simple.

2. Recording will strain your computer more. Period. Your screen capture software will consume some RAM, some GPU (graphics processing unit) power and CPU power. They add up and will slow your game a little. As a result, take some time to play around with the settings and settle on one that you feel comfortable.

(i) Try different recording software. In my earlier post, I highlighted that FRAPS, while being a solid software to capture high quality video, tend to lower FPS a fair bit. Bandicam on the other hand tends to maintain your game FPS while holding onto a medium quality video. I recommend prioritizing video clarity and FPS. And this can be achieved by reducing some in-game video settings in combination with the appropriate software.

(ii) Try out different Codecs. Video recording software uses different 'language' to convert your video into files. Different 'language' uses different number of 'words' to convey a message. Using less 'words' or hard disk space will lead to some loss in video quality but we can usually find some middle ground to have a good balance of quality and hard disk space. There is no point using 500GB of HD space to record a 1 hour video. I doubt you can recorded a lot of footage at one go on your Hard Drive and the time taken to render a 500 GB video .. unimaginable.

3. Get a better mic. That's something that I realised after trying out the recording process. I started off with my built-in laptop mic and I found a lot of backgound noice being recorded. I upgraded to a headset mic but I found a lot of 'popping' sounds recorded. I am presently trying out the Blue Snowball Mic and I will let you guys know how I feel in subsequent posts. Right now, I feel like its a pretty decent improvement and I hope my viewers feel the same.

Alright. That's all form me.

Signing off~

JohnHD









Friday 7 June 2013

Wargame Airland Battle : Deck recommendations for Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark,Sweeden)

Hello guys,

I have been playing Wargame Airland Battle for quite some time now and I have tried out various decks by mixing the nato and pact decks together. I have also tried out each of the countries' individual decks and I found strengths and weaknesses in each.

Fundamentally, it would be the best to have a mixed deck such as a nato or pact deck. Most of the national decks have some form of weaknesses that can be compensated by each other. Correspondingly, using a singular country deck would expose you to some pretty crippling weaknesses.

Scandinavia deck

The Scandinavian units generally lack direct firepower in their tanks. Their front armor, with the exception of the Swedish tanks, are rather weak and will be taken out by a single well placed ATGM shot. Their infantry is pretty much on par with the major nations and that is a relief. Basically, most of their units will be out classed by the major nations but they make up for this weakness by having access to more activation points and relatively inexpensive units. More activation points mean that you can bring in much more units than your opponents can in the battle map. And the fact that your units are cheaper mean that you can bring in units much faster that your opponent can and thereby overwhelm him and gain important territories which will gain you further deployment points to bring in even more units. You can imagine and powerful feedback loop here.

I have suggested some builds in my deck creation videos and you might want to consider the choices!

Norway





Swedish (Sweden)





Danish (Denmark)




These are my recommendations for the Scandinavian nations. I have focused mainly on bring in inexpensive units supported by some powerful ones.

Do give them a try and let me know how they fare!

Cheers~
JohnHD
  

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Let's play Wargame Airland Battle Campaign Scenario 1 : Die Hard Part

Hello guys,


I tried out the campaign for Wargame : Airland Battle by Eugen. It is a brilliant game and the campaign was designed in the form of a 'dynamic' campaign similar  to that of the famed Total War series. It is a refreshing improvement from the linear and uninspiring campaign that I played in Wargame : European Escalation.

In this dynamic campaign, your actions on the battle map will directly influence you on the campaign map. For instance, if the AI wins, then you will find that you have lost some territory on the campaign map. Correspondingly if you win, you are rewarded with the necessary morale points to win the scenario. You can watch me play the first scenario in this video.



In the following video, you will see that my victory on the campaign map wins me the necessary territory to achieve victory for the scenario. This campaign mode seriously makes me want to up my game and take each battle seriously. Because I know that there is an incentive to win. In addition, there is a time limit for the campaign and as a result you do not have infinite time to win and therefore it to your benefit to win all or most of the battles.



This is undoubtedly a great game and the campaign is a nice change. It provides a significant challenge and I am sure that you will spend time trying out the scenario repeatedly to carve out a win.

Cheers~

JohnHD

Monday 3 June 2013

Let's play Prison Architect alpha 10 : Prison No. 1

Hello Guys,


I took the plunge and bought Prison Architect from introversion software (http://www.introversion.co.uk/). It has been a really fun experience where I design my prison and decide where to place all of the facilities. Place them too far and your guys spend too much time to get there and too little time to use the facilities ... e.g. toilet. However the space is limited so you have to prioritize the facilities you want to make more accessible and allow less utilized facilities further away. Watch me play a simple design that I created and view the results for yourself!


Click on the prisoner and read the back story of your guy. He can be a murderer or a thief. Or someone who commits a white collar crime. A point to note : bringing in low risk prisoners does not mean they have a tame history. It only means they are NOT CONVICTED of the serious crime. Haha. I had a good laugh when I realized that. I read about people who murder their friends and dogs but are not convicted. Our legal system ... really....

Fighting, rioting and complaints are a common occurrence from prisoners. They will lead to blood being spilled and objects being damaged. You will find your blood pressure rise when you pay for all the damages your PRISONERS did while they COMPLAIN that the facility is not usable because of the damage ... the irony indeed.



This this video I find out whether my design can satisfy the occupants of the prison. I quashed multiple riots and ..... can we survive? Or do we need to start over....?

Watch the video to find out!

Cheers~
JohnHD