We've been kicking around some ideas about doing a livestream of one of Paradox's grand strategy games. There's a pretty big fan base among GOL readers, so it would be interesting to see how much interest there is and what people would want.
For anyone who has played the games, it's clear that there are some disadvantages to livestreaming them. The most obvious is just how long a game can be, meaning that it would either have to be cut short or split over a few streams. The other problem is that it might not be terribly exciting to watch for some people, but then assessing that is part of the point of this article.
Though nothing is set in stone, at the moment I see two options:
Firstly, a one off stream which most likely would focus on one of the newer titles (Hearts of Iron or Stellaris) since they would probably make more popular viewing. This would be the most straightforward thing to organise with a couple of contributors and members of the community.
The second option I see, which is way more ambitious and would only be up for if there's a lot of interest, is something that takes place once a week over a few weeks. This could potentially be really interesting, but finding people with time to commit would be difficult. That could be amended by doing something like rotating streamers so different people take over other people's empires.
Another thing could simply be to do the first, then if it has a good reception, consider doing the second at some point in the future. There might also be other possibilities, so please make sure they're heard.
Then there's obviously the question of which game. Everyone has their favourites, but it would be good to pick something that is appealing to a wider audience, fun to watch and on Linux (sorry Victoria). For those who aren't aware, the options would be: Stellaris, Europa Universalis IV, Hearts of Iron IV and Crusader Kings II.
I personally have my reservations about Stellaris since, although it's an awesome game, with a multiplayer livestream it might be better to have one of the historical games given that all the streamers could play in the same area of the map and see what they're doing rather than being more limited to the player whose screen is being shared, particularly at the start of the game. Others might not feel this way, and if that's the case then we'll go with whatever people think would be best.
For anyone who has played the games, it's clear that there are some disadvantages to livestreaming them. The most obvious is just how long a game can be, meaning that it would either have to be cut short or split over a few streams. The other problem is that it might not be terribly exciting to watch for some people, but then assessing that is part of the point of this article.
Though nothing is set in stone, at the moment I see two options:
Firstly, a one off stream which most likely would focus on one of the newer titles (Hearts of Iron or Stellaris) since they would probably make more popular viewing. This would be the most straightforward thing to organise with a couple of contributors and members of the community.
The second option I see, which is way more ambitious and would only be up for if there's a lot of interest, is something that takes place once a week over a few weeks. This could potentially be really interesting, but finding people with time to commit would be difficult. That could be amended by doing something like rotating streamers so different people take over other people's empires.
Another thing could simply be to do the first, then if it has a good reception, consider doing the second at some point in the future. There might also be other possibilities, so please make sure they're heard.
Then there's obviously the question of which game. Everyone has their favourites, but it would be good to pick something that is appealing to a wider audience, fun to watch and on Linux (sorry Victoria). For those who aren't aware, the options would be: Stellaris, Europa Universalis IV, Hearts of Iron IV and Crusader Kings II.
I personally have my reservations about Stellaris since, although it's an awesome game, with a multiplayer livestream it might be better to have one of the historical games given that all the streamers could play in the same area of the map and see what they're doing rather than being more limited to the player whose screen is being shared, particularly at the start of the game. Others might not feel this way, and if that's the case then we'll go with whatever people think would be best.
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But once more people throw their oar in and a game is chosen I should know if I can join (If you want me :P)
The only one of those games I own is EUIV, which means I could only participate in that one. However don't count on it - I'm not a big fan of multiplayer in general. In fact, because I don't own any of the others, I'd like to see you go with one of them, might get me interested :)
Have you reached out to Paradox? They might have experience with livestreaming that can help you?
"Historical Immersion Project (HIP)" <- a must have IMO, offers so much more than the vanilla and it's so well made it makes you wonder why isn't it included in the original game
"A Game of Thrones" <- this one's based on the books not the show
"Elder Kings" <- Elder Scrolls mod
I would also like to see Stellaris since I'm really interested in that game.
Last edited by 1mHfoksd1Z on 5 July 2016 at 11:11 am UTC
I also wouldn't mind seeing a stream of Stellaris or HoI IV.
Also also, if you're thinking of going with the once-a-week-over-many-weeks thing, you might consider looking in the Paradox Multiplayer sub-forums for the game you choose. People there have a lot of little rules for dealing with situations like when one person can't make it one week (are you allowed to attack his or her computer-controlled country, or not?) that you might want to adapt as some ground rules. Just a thought.