The Project AFTER Lets Play Thread, for AFTER users wanting to do Lets Plays Options

[Matto]

Project AFTER has a couple of users that are currently either doing Lets Plays or have finished LPs. I decided to make this thread since when I decide to get my new laptop I will start doing screenshot/video lets plays.

So, I need to know, what emulators do you prefer? Do you want to do commentary collaboration? Any advice to an LP noob like myself?

I'm like a sponge, lay it on me!

[Soren Highwind]

So, I need to know, what emulators do you prefer? Do you want to do commentary collaboration? Any advice to an LP noob like myself?

I'm like a sponge, lay it on me!

Alright, I'll see what I can do, given my limited knowledge.

For Gameboy/Color/GBA games, your best bet for emulation is Visual Boy Advance. Super easy to use and set up, and it even comes with a built-in recording feature! You might run into some audio desync with that, though, so you may have to mess around in your encoder settings to fix it.

For PS1 games, I find that pSX is an excellent emulator. It runs games really well, and you don't have to bother with plugin nonsense like you do with ePSXe (though if you'd prefer to use it I certainly won't stop you).

As for recording programs, I've been using Gregion. It's serviceable, but for some reason YouTube just won't accept videos recorded with it unless I mess with it in VirtualDub first. Fraps has better video quality, but the filesizes it generates are pretty huge and you might have to mess with emulator settings a bit to get it to record properly. It also costs $37 or so for the full version, and the free version won't record anything longer than thirty seconds.

As for encoding stuff, VirtualDub is awesome. You can read this handy guide to get you started. Once you get into the rhythm of using it, the encoding process gets pretty easy. For codecs you might need, x264vfw might be needed to encode PS1 games. Just be sure to check the "zero latency" and "VirtualDub hack" boxes and you're golden.

I can't help you with NES/SNES or Genesis emulation since I haven't tried those too extensively, and I'm also not the person to go to for mic/commentary advice since I haven't done an entirely video-based LP yet (though I hope to in the future). Still, I hope I was able to help in some small way!

Edit: Oh! I completely forgot about screenshot LP advice. I know a bit more about that sort of thing. Some rules of thumb:

-If you get it into your head to write a narrative LP, you'd better either be incredibly entertaining or a damn good writer. Don't do what I did and suddenly switch to the narrative format, either; it's jarring, and you'll have to work that much harder to make it worth reading.
-Get used to typing a lot. Like, a lot a lot. Doubly so if your game has a lot of dialogue (like, say, an RPG).
-Write your updates ahead of time. For the love of god, don't write the update as you're posting it. I did that during my FFI: Dawn of Souls LP, and it was exhausting and tedious sitting in the post box aligning screenshots and dialogue for several hours.
-Take copious amounts of screenshots. You probably won't use them all, but you can sort through them and use the best ones. Try to capture really important moments in screenshot format, as well; it's more entertaining to see, say, the death of a party member in an RPG than it is to read about it in italicized text.
-If you plan on linking to the soundtrack of a game as you go, get those YouTube links ahead of time! That way you won't have to spend every update with a dozen tabs open, switching back and forth between YouTube/Tindeck/whatever and your post.
-Try to include audience participation if you can. Even if it's something as simple as naming characters in an RPG (an example I keep going back to, I'm aware), a little interactivity with your audience goes a long way. They are called Let's Plays, after all.

Hope the additional information helps!

This post has been edited by Soren Highwind: Feb 1 2012, 12:52 PM

[Badass Overlord]

For SNES emulators, ZSNES is the one I use. It's probably the best one you can get. I also agree with Soren on the Visual Boy Advance. You won't find a better GBA emulator. I honsetly can't remember what I used for video recording...

[NiGHTS Noob]

zSNES is horribly outdated, and has serious Windows 7 64-bit compatibility issues.

Snes9x is probably your best bet on traditional emulators.

But honestly, event though it's in beta I'd have to recommend bsnes over anything else. It reverse engineers the SNES itself and runs on individual .dlls, and so while it can't play romhacks that rely on emulators inaccurate emulations to function properly (like many Super Mario World hacks) it quite amazingly doesn't run into any of the graphical glitches or inaccuracies other emulators have such as strange artifacts, missing shadows or textures, or random slowdowns.

It's not perfect yet, but it's definitely something special.

My Genesis Emulator of choice is Gens Plus. I've heard good things about Kega Fusion but it's never been anything but trouble for me. The original Gens now supposedly has greater support than Gens Plus but Gens Plus continues to be far less frustrating for me.

N64 only has one option: Project 64. Everything else sucks balls.

Unfortunately the only good TurboGrafx 16 emulator needs to be paid for, so ignore that. It's called Magic Engine. There's a couple up and comers, but nothing rivaling ME's compatibility yet.

Gameboy is Visual Boy, no doubt about it, but No$GBA is the only good DS emulator I've found even if it is rather primitive.

ePSXe even after all these years, and being quite outdated is still the best PS1 emulator, far and away.

I've never really had an easy time with PS2 emulation. I've gotten PCSX2 up and running, but with crippling slowdown at it's best. I haven't tried on my new PC yet though.

Xbox emulation doesn't exist in anything meaningful yet. It's possible, and someones made great progress, but he won't release it for some reason.

Dolphin is the go to Gamecube and Wii emulator. Yes, it emulates Wii games. In 1080p no less.

SSF is the only Saturn emulator I've ever gotten working on commercial games.

While MAME is a global arcade emulator, I'd use WinKawaks if you're doing anything with NeoGeo, CPS1, or CPS2 stuff.

Dreamcast and NAOMI need NullDC and NullDC Naomi, respectively.

The Master System and Game Gear work best with Freeze SMS from personal experience.

NeoPop is the only good NeoGeo Pocket/Pocket Color emulator I've found.

NES emulation is pretty good all around, but I've found the best luck with Nestopia.

I think that's about it for emulators I've actually tried out.

This post has been edited by NiGHTS Noob: Jan 24 2012, 07:56 PM

[Soba]

Speaking of LPs, I may put my V one on hiatus. I have no motivation to finish it. But it'd seem weird if I started something else (I kinda wanna do Gold version)

[Dr. O]

I'll second ZSNES, though some people hate it and swear by SNES9x instead. Those are the two most well-known SNES emulators, though. For NES, I'd recommend NEStopia or FCE Ultra, and for Genesis/Sega CD I prefer Gens32 Surreal. But those are just what I'm used to, and you should probably try several different emulators. All other things being equal, you might as well find one with an interface you like.

Some emulators (Visual Boy Advance, for example) have a built-in screen capture function, so you don't need any other software for screenshots or video. If it doesn't and you want to record video, then Camtasia Studio works well enough, since you can do all the recording and editing with it. I've had trouble with getting it to work with newer games, though. For those Bandicam might be your best bet; the free version lets you record up to ten minutes, unlike Fraps' stupid 30-second limit, and the file sizes are pretty reasonable. I'm no expert though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Also, if you're going to record voice commentary, you should use Audacity. It's free, works very well, and is easy to use.

[9@Night]

I use Irfanview for Uplink (which is NOT dead, I have the next update screenshotted and edited I just need to write it once I get free time). It's free and really easy to take screenshots with. Just tap your hotkey after you point it at a destination folder and away you go.

I can get away without taking notes during my screenshot grabbing sessions but you might be different. Just do whatever works for you when writing.

Write up the text parts and get the code for the pictures aligned in a text editor program before posting it. Also, use the Preview Post to see if the forum is going to bitch about having too many images in one post.

The first few updates always suck the most because that's when you have to spell out all game play mechanics very explicitly so that your audience can follow along, so don't get discouraged because the first 2 or 3 updates read like a Wikipedia entry.

Don't be afraid to cut out anything that seems "grindy". In other words, to use my Uplink LP as an example, I cut out similar hacks after showing them off a couple times because I know that they'd be boring as hell after awhile. (Shit, the update that's in progress right now has me doing the same hack literally 12 times in a row or so, and I know no one wants to see that).

My own personal routine for an update is:

*Read previous couple of updates just so I know what I've covered already.

*Boot up the game and scan around to see what's currently going on and sort out what I've shown off and what I haven't yet.

*Start playing the game, taking screenshots of things that I know I haven't shown off and things I"m unsure about. Sometimes I double-tap the hotkey just to ensure that I got it.

*Alt-tab now and again to check on how many images I have and to quickly scan how much of the game I've shown off.

*Once I feel I have enough, try and find a good place to wrap it up and then quit the game

*Go through the images one at a time, and discard all duplicates as well as things I have already shown off

*Upload them all to Photobucket. Now here comes the shittiest part: Editing all 40-something images to crop to the exact things I want to show off. Usually I crank some music and just plow through it as fast as possible. Here I'll also trim down the image count more, eschewing what will look best in just text.

*Once done, I make sure they're in chronological order, and then I start clicking through one at a time, and write about the picture in Word. I try and make sure that I'm explaining what's being shown off, and I slip in whatever jokes come to mind.

*Once the writing is done, I double check that everything's formatted and spelled correctly, and then I post the new reply to the thread and that's that.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, I'd be glad to help.

[Matto]

Thank you for the advice everyone.

Now... what do you recommend for a computer? I need to get a laptop.

[NiGHTS Noob]

I'm not the best guy to ask on the subject, but...

My friend just got a Lenovo that's actually pretty damn nice. He got it surprisingly cheap too. He's been looking for problems to figure out why it's so cheap, but they only thing he's found so far is that it uses a hybrid graphics system but doesn't switch automatically. It uses integrated graphics to save power, but the nVidia can be activated by flicking a switch and then right clicking a program and selecting to run with nVidia.

If you're OK with that I'd recommend checking out the Idea Pads.

The 14 inch Z470 gives a really nice balance between size and power, while the Z570 gives a little more power but a little less portability with a 15.4 inch screen. I personally find that to be a bit too big, my last laptop was that size, but that's just me.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/control...abname=Overview

[Dr. O]

It really depends on what you want to do and how much you're willing to pay. If you want a good gaming computer, it's usually better to get a desktop, since those are almost always more powerful than laptops for the same price. But if you're set on getting a laptop, I'd recommend you start by looking at Lenovo or Toshiba and seeing what's available. Unless being able to play new games on max settings is important to you, they should be enough. And avoid Sony laptops, which have a reputation for reliability issues, and Macs, which are overpriced and underpowered. Alienware stuff tends to be overpriced, too.

[Matto]

Very good advice everyone! I might look into getting a desktop computer, since I might vid LP some PS1 and N64 games.

[Soba]

So... I'm wondering if people would rather I finish FFV or start something that's less of a hassle for now?

[Matto]

Do a screenshot LP of a game that's shorter then FFV, but still allows for some nice discussion. Hands off For The Frog The Bell Tolls though, that one is MINE.

[Soba]

I'm thinking a Gold version run that is very reader operated. Nuzlockes are old news. I planned to have my entire team chosen by forum members at the start of the LP. Possibly even the movesets. Also, I would have to replace at least three pokemon when i started the Kanto gyms.

[Caim]

I've thought about doing an LP of Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes because I love the game so damn much and sperging about it seems like fun. The problem is trying to think of a format for a game like that. It's essentially a high-octane version of Dynasty Warriors with amazing voice acting so... VLP to show off the action and voices? But since it's DW style that means running back and fourth across the same 30~ environments for each character which would get boring to watch after a while (and I would run out if things to say). A SSLP? That means you can't hear the voice acting, and hearing Dante Fucking Sparda, Nero, and Weiss shouting loud hot-blooded proclamations at each other is half the fun of this game. A hybrid? What parts do I show as a video? Do I cut up the videos just to show the voice acting with full videos for boss fights?

Of course I'd also have to figure out why trying to record my PS3 makes this wavy line appear on the screen so I can fix it before I could even think about doing any of this.

And, also, you know, those Drakengard and Dirge of Cerberus LP's that haven't been updated in about say... two years.

[BlasterBlade210]

I'm planning to do X-COM or UFO: Extraterrestials LP, using Steam's Built-in Screenshot grabber... I need a site that I can upload all my screenshots to, as well as some sort of drive to keep going.

[Soren Highwind]

I'm planning to do X-COM or UFO: Extraterrestials LP, using Steam's Built-in Screenshot grabber... I need a site that I can upload all my screenshots to, as well as some sort of drive to keep going.

http://imgur.com/ can help you with screenshots; it's free to use and super simple, not to mention you don't have to worry about space. As for motivation, well, that's something you'll have to get from yourself; just make absolutely sure you want to LP a given game before you dive into it. Best of luck!