streaming on twitch?

[jibwamble]

I noticed a lot of people in their intros saying they stream on twitch! Can you link your twitch channels here so i can also watch please

I also have been thinking about streaming work on twitch but there are a couple things that got me like hmmm

1. I work a full time job along with my game dev work. if anyone also does that how do you find the time to stream and also get work done?
2. i primarily write which i can’t really super show bc that would spoil story. i could go back and show how my ink is setup after that chapter is out (out game will have multiple chapter releases) and like i could stream 2d art instead but i work more on writing orz
   any thoughts on this?

sorry EDIT bc i thought of something else too:
I also was thinking about always having like one of my team members on with me. someone that does modeling or coding or like our sprite artist or something. then we could have the two people back and forth and i can stream their work instead of mine bc i think it is more visually interesting than me writing but also i would have to rely on someone else being able to stream with me.

[exodrifter]

I’m exodrifter_ on Twitch!

I currently stream full time, but I used to stream most days after work. It’s my opinion that if you want to be productive, you have to examine your own behavior and test what works for you. In other words, what worked for me might not work for you because everything I did was based on how I react and think about things.

There were a few ways in which I made it possible for me to stream after work:

• I would commit to starting a stream, without worrying about how long the stream would actually be. I found that if I worried too much about the stream being “long enough”, I would not stream enough at all.

• I tried to stream habitually, without a schedule. Most days after work, I would try to stream if I happened to be free. The problem with streaming on a regular schedule is that I would end up losing a lot of context over the days I didn’t stream. I found that several short streams over the course of a week whenever I had the energy for it helped me be more productive than one long stream that was scheduled once a week.

• Cooking, as much as I like it, takes up a lot of my energy and doing it every day means that I would lose a lot of time to context switching. So, I would cook meals in advance that I could heat up quickly during the day to eat after work before streaming. I made a lot of chili and yukgaejang.

As for writing, at first I was also worried a lot about spoilers since those are primarily the kinds of games that I make. On my first try of being indie, I didn’t really stream much at the time but I would try to avoid spoilers as much as possible when writing blog posts about it. I also didn’t stream much at the time, but my reluctance to spoil the game also postponed my entry into game dev streaming.

I’ve found that if I worry too much about spoilers, I end up not talking about my game to anyone, not sharing what I think is cool about the story to other people, and it makes me feel like I can’t stream, so I don’t worry about it anymore. My stream is not a spoiler-free zone. I want to share why I’m excited about the game, and I can’t do that without talking about the story!

As for having a team member on, that can be a lot of fun! 2NerdyNerds does this in person and you can use Discord Reactive Images or Discord itself for remote.

[Titanseeker]

I sometimes stream with Exodrifter cuz I do the modelling while she does the hard programming stuff that hurts my brain :Y

Our mutual friend Freb sometimes has a whole project’s worth of people in a stream, I think I even caught them doing scrum once :Y

I think it’s a good idea, I like that kind of environment a lot

[NovaLiminal]

Not worrying about the length of the stream is good advice! Best to just stream for as long as you’re comfy doing so.
Also sorta realizing the same about cooking - spending hours in the kitchen or grocery shopping is really fun, but yikes does it drain time and energy everyday.

[mazegirl]

I stream on yiffweed (18+ warning). In theory I work on my code there, but lately I’ve been lazy and just playing Path of Exile instead. Also need to share my sound space with others, so can’t just stream any time I feel like–as a result there’s absolutely no schedule.

[jibwamble]

Thank you! This was very thorough and great advice. Have you written dialogue on stream? I know a lot of people write code on stream and maybe people would be interested in seeing writing in Ink owo

[jibwamble]

tbh i don’t follow anyone’s schedule that i follow either. Notifications about streaming on discord or being online and just seeing who is online as well is usually how i see streams but im not like memorizing people’s schedules

[exodrifter]

On my stream, I’ve written dialog in the Dialogue Manager scripting language and in my own scripting language called Rumor. I haven’t written in Ink on stream and I’m not sure I ever will since I dislike it; I would rather use Yarn Spinner.

[outfrost]

I stream at twitch.tv/outfrost!

Whenever I’ve had a full-time job, I usually found myself too exhausted in the evenings to stream and do creative or problem-solving work. The system really didn’t do me any favours, I despise the 40-hour work week with my entire being. When I’ve streamed with any sort of regularity, it’s been a weekend thing, going live late Saturday evening.

It always helps me to have a friend working alongside me at the same time, no matter if the tasks are related. When that’s the case, I usually put their screen share in a panel in the corner of my stream, or fullscreen if I go afk for a bit longer.

I wouldn’t worry about spoilers. Depending on the game, by the time it’s released, I think a lot of people (even among those who’ve watched nearly every stream) will have forgotten the spoilers, and the game will have changed a fair bit. What they do remember can still be nice and rewarding to experience again, in a finished form, having seen you iterate on it.

[jibwamble]

I also DESPISE the 40 hour workweek. I do not think we should have to work that much just to live orz

This has all been great advice! I really appreciate everyone. I just already have a limited time to work and i dont want streaming to get in the way of me being able to get work done, so i think having a buddy will be good. I think i will give it a try soon c:

[CreaseVT]

I’m CreaseVT on Twitch, though admittedly game dev streams have historically been scarce and revolving around game jams. If you’d like to hang around regardless, I’m told I have comfy streams if you just want to vibe or sleep. Best of luck catching the streams though (unless you’re also a chronic late night gremlin or in a timezone that’s actually convenient for watching me maintain a strange sleep schedule).

[illuminesce]

My handle is itsilluminesce on Twitch. I stream semi-regularly.

I have done writing on-stream for our game! Here’s an example of one of the writing streams we did where we live roleplayed a rough scene and then polished it up off-screen. It’s not our most-watched videos, but they’re pretty fun. (Video)

I have a conflicted relationship with streaming on Twitch.

I did it every week for a year when working on Terranova, and it didn’t make me happier. It did provide a rallying point around our Discord, which was nice. We also have a lot of WIP videos and documentation of making the game, which is cool for records. I don’t think I’ll regularly stream for our next game, even though I feel pressure to for marketing purposes.

Nowadays, I stream playing small indie games that are interface dramas and streaming GGJ. That’s more suited to lighter, more fun topics than when I’m in the weeds of some dev project!

[jibwamble]

oooo i’ll take a look at the video thanks so much! i def feel pressure for marketing but i do also want to build up a community. ive been having so much fun interacting with everyone since i came back to twitch more recently just as a viewer so i would like to be able to contribute as a much as possible and join in the fun too.

i appreciate how kind everyone has been in sharing uwu

[jibwamble]

im an old lady that sleeps early to wake up early for work orz. i will still drop a follow and if i can catch a stream ill join in c:! thanks for sharing!