I am the programmer who came up with the idea for the Twitch Plays Pokemon stream and implemented it and I've been running the stream since.

The anniversary run of Pokemon Red has just begun and in celebration of that I'm doing an AMA, something that was requested during the original run but decided not to due to being overwhelmed at the time.

Comments: 924 • Responses: 77  • Date: 

XG549759 karma

Can you please turn off the goddamned sub/donation noises?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon510 karma

I muted them for the moment, I'll consider unmuting once the excitement winds down a little.

seanv219 karma

It might be nice to implement a scrolling text option so that the donation message doesn't obscure the game that we are trying to play.

Maybe it can be moved to areas of less priority such as the left side of the screen.

EDIT: see here http://i.imgur.com/boAGiY7.jpg

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon176 karma

Left side of the screen is supposed to show the Pokemon in the party but it's broken right now.

Doctorofgallifrey556 karma

Do you think that, if you had not added the democracy/anarchy option, the community would have completed the game?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon712 karma

Not without the volume of inputs dropping to extremely low levels (lower than I have ever seen it, even at its lowest).

At certain parts the game requires inputs that are too precise for anarchy mode to handle.

One of the later runs was completed entirely in anarchy mode.

shnizalwizal141 karma

how was it getting a lot of hate for adding in the democracy mode? many online communities were not happy and made a big deal about it.

judging from your other answers it seems it didn't bother you.

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon260 karma

I think it was an interesting argument so it didn't really bother me.

Something like that would have been necessary eventually, so it's not like I had the choice not to unless you consider letting the impossibility of anarchy mode play out to an empty stream a valid choice.

derione1388 karma

Hello! I am the person who runs the biggest TwitchPlaysPokemon fan feed on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TwitchPokemon)

I'm just curious as to why you don't get involved much with social media such as Facebook & Twitter, surely it would be an easier way to keep in touch with the community rather than occasionally posting messages in the chat and hoping people see them?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon965 karma

I suffer from social anxiety, running social media would have been too much for me considering how huge TPP was at the time.

The_Silver_Avenger346 karma

1) What was your favourite run?

2) What do you think of the 'TPP' community?

3) Can you confirm the Season 2 hacks?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon510 karma

Red was my favourite run.

I have mixed feelings about internet communities in general but I'm very glad that many people enjoy the stream and its community, it has produced a lot of great fan art.

I don't want to give all the secrets away about the modifications made to Pokemon Red for the anniversary run, but it is possible for all 151 to be captured as that is the objective of the run.

teamvista242 karma

What was your favorite unexpected moment of the stream?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon672 karma

Blacking out due to poison right in front of a key item and having to go all the way back again.

Or maybe the successful capture of Zapdos.

mt1rdt214 karma

How did you feel about AGDQ adding a live twitch feed into a modified copy of Pokemon? Did you assist with the project?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon247 karma

I watched it live, it was very impressive!

I did not assist at all, it was all them.

HankSinatra212 karma

What inspired this project?

What's your favorite game of all time?

Anything you're playing now without the help of thousands of strangers? Any recommendations?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon278 karma

SaltyBet was the biggest inspiration, it was my desire to create an "automated stream" like SaltyBet that caused me to come up with the idea for TPP.

BariumMechanic36 karma

Can you explain further about SaltyBet?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon162 karma

There's a fighting game engine called MUGEN that supports custom characters, it has attracted a big modding(?) scene over the years and has produced a huge amount of characters.

SaltyBet is a stream that autonomously sets up matches of MUGEN with each player being CPU controlled. Viewers can bet fake money on the outcome of matches.

It inspired TPP because before I saw SaltyBet I hadn't considered the possibility of making an autonomous game stream.

BariumMechanic21 karma

Viewers can bet fake money on the outcome of matches.

Its that the same concept as TPP PBR, wasn't it?

Anyway, Thanks!

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon34 karma

Yes, same concept and same way of calculating the winnings/odds.

Pooper85191 karma

  • How much money does this bring in?
  • did you anticipate it blowing up this big?
  • how long do you plan on continuing the project?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon319 karma

Twitch prevents me from saying how much money it brought in.

However, there was an article on a blog somewhere with someone talking to someone at Twitch where they said I would have made over $100,000 during Red if the channel played advertisements in addition to prerolls.

You might be able to come up with an estimate with some simple math and guessing how many advertisements were shown vs how many would have been shown (assuming that ads are all worth the same, preroll or not).

I'm planning on having the stream run indefinitely for as long as it can sustain itself. Eventually I'd like to work on a new stream in addition to TPP but I've still got a lot of things to work on for TPP.

Invalidword44 karma

What about twitch plays the escapist, hilarity ensured.

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon47 karma

I didn't see that one unfortunately. Is there a video available?

JeremyHillaryBoob153 karma

Last year, an image circulated of a PM where you claimed to be "not a fan of all the helix memes."

Was that true? Has your opinion of TPP's weird-ass memes changed?

EDIT: Here it is: http://i.imgur.com/kJLA2jr.png

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon319 karma

I never sent that message.

I was hesitant to include memes in any significant way because I didn't want them to overpower other memes or continue to exist past its point of relevance.

It's easy in retrospect to see what caught on and what didn't, but at the time it's much more difficult.

JeremyHillaryBoob88 karma

Thanks for replying. I always suspected it was fake but it's nice to have confirmation.

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon172 karma

I confirmed it was fake back then but not everyone got the message it seems.

Gildrop138 karma

Good morning, streamer! I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to you, not only for taking your time in doing this AMA, but also for your unwavering patience in taking care of the TPP stream. As such, I would like to ask two questions.

  1. Do you remember any obscure tidbits about the early TPP Red days that weren't caught on film? (e.g. where Pidgey was caught, how the battles with Brock went, etc.)

  2. If given the chance, would you have made any TPP-related decisions differently, like starting TPP Crystal at a different date or introducing Democracy mode much later (or much earlier, or never at all), for instance?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon193 karma

Pokeballs were a problem early on, the first one was used against a Bug Catcher's Pokemon, there were very few inputs at this point so I don't know what the excuse for that was.

The first big upset was Ember being replaced.

The first accidental ledge drop was near the Pokecenter in Viridian City.

There's a lot I could have done differently, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about the stream while I was making it and I'm not good at planning under stress.

Now that the Pokemon Battle Revolution setup exists I intend for longer breaks between runs (maybe a month?).

fzh24 karma

Were any pokemon released before you started recording the stream for view in "Past Broadcasts"?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon36 karma

I don't think so, no, not while I was watching at least.

8-bitsprite127 karma

Do you think that Stealth Rock overcentralizes the Pokemon metagame?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon60 karma

I haven't been following the series closely enough to have an opinion on it.

RenaKunisaki108 karma

Has Nintendo contacted you at all regarding TPP?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon372 karma

No, but I'm happy about that, I think if I was going to hear from Nintendo at all it would be their lawyers.

-123100 karma

Have you told anyone (i.e. your friends) that you were the one to have started this?

Has it led to any real world consequences, good or bad?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon145 karma

I haven't told many people and it has had no consequences so far.

thesuzerain98 karma

Hey

ever consider playing zeta or omicron? :]

no personal bias nope no siree just wondering

EDIT: Also, how long do you intend to keep the stream going for? Another year, two?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon86 karma

I'm going to be considering various romhacks when deciding future games to run.

I intend to keep the stream going for as long as it can sustain itself, I plan on it eventually being built up so much that it will be easy to run in addition to working hard on something else.

Calabazal98 karma

Hi there! I do the Level Limit Recap videos, been around since just past the ledge of Gen 1!

My first question is how did you react to the original growth of TPP, did you get any sleepless nights/have multiple people assisting with the upkeep or was it completely yourself?

My second question is with the stream now entering it's second year and we're doing our anniversary of TPP Red, will be doing the rest of the games as well or will this be a one off then back to the Colosseum?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon129 karma

I regularly watched your videos to keep myself up to date on what was happening. They were great!

It was all me except for Lua scripting (Kazowar) up until the 3DS Pokemon games where I got DekuNukem to take over using his 3DS capture+input kit.

There have been a lot of sleepless nights and waking up early.

PBR will return after Red but there will be other runs this year too, not necessarily each game in order like last year.

Sheepolution93 karma

Why have you chosen to reveal very little about yourself?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon338 karma

I suffer from social anxiety and it was shocking how popular TPP got all of a sudden, I didn't want that kind of attention applied to me personally.

Fox--Kit91 karma

Hello Streamer. I just want to say that I am so grateful for this little project you have done. It's brought so much unique content, stories, and characters into the world and I think it's truly amazing. ^ ^

But also, what's your favorite Pokemon?

And who is your favorite "character" in TPP? (Trainer or Pokemon)

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon186 karma

Slowpoke is my favorite Pokemon because it has such a well defined personality.

PaperMoonShine82 karma

Praise Helix?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon146 karma

Sure, why not?

Domineyton82 karma

Did you ever think that this would blow up so much as to be one of the biggest things in gaming history?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon131 karma

Nope, less than 48 hours since coming up with the idea until the stream was up, if I thought it had substance I would have spent much more time on it.

JDMcWombat73 karma

If people donate to the stream, what does the money go to?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon149 karma

Nothing in particular right now (me by default) but in the past the majority of the donations so far have gone towards hardware. (edit: hardware for the stream)

I've also used donations to commission Lua scripts capable of extracting information from the game's current state (for showing the Pokemon on the overlay, etc).

ChurchofHelixChoir72 karma

Hey TPP Creator! It's great of you to take the time to answer these questions. I'm the creator of "Church Of The Helix Choir", a goofy band name for a goofy song praising the Helix which actually hit #1 on Bandcamp for a time. Completely due to your stream! I created 26 songs about TPP over the past year. Hope you got a kick out of some of the songs, your stream has been very inspiring and influenced a lot of people, especially me, and I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to kick back and go on a crazy nostalgia trip watching the stream, and to have inspiration to be creative. It's been a wild ride and me and many others are so happy you made TPP a thing. HUGE PROPS and great job with all the updates and modifications as it's gone along! Have you listened to any songs from COTHC?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon81 karma

Yes I have, it's impressive to see the variety of fanworks produced of something I had a big hand in creating.

I'm glad you enjoyed the stream so much and that it has enabled you to participate in a constructive hobby that you enjoy.

lumporr71 karma

are you happy with what you created? was that at all what you expected?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon170 karma

I'm not as proud of it as other people seem to think I am. It's not like it was something I put a lot of time into before it got big and the satisfaction is lacking because of that.

I've been more satisfied with Pokemon Battle Revolution as it took a lot more work to create the setup for.

PepeGalleta61 karma

Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon189 karma

The first Pokemon game I played was Pokemon Yellow.

In Pokemon Gold I chose Cyndaquil.

abiyoru53 karma

Hi! Is there any chance that someday in the future we could play TPP the game/Pokémon Twitch Version? When it finally comes out, that is.

And thank you so much for being our Streamer!

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon57 karma

I've generally been against adding stuff from the community to the stream but I might be willing to make an exception at some point. Is it still under development?

Quetzalcaotl44 karma

What's next? It was such a successful campaign and a very interesting social experiment to run TPP, I'd be miffed if this was the only thing of the sort you were involved with.

Also, what sparked your interest in doing TPP?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon52 karma

I've been working on an idea for another stream since Red but I'm not sure when I'll put my ideas to code, I feel as though I still have work to do on TPP.

SaltyBet was the biggest inspiration for TPP.

osm7044 karma

Do you really exist?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon192 karma

Yes.

My favourite theory was that the stream is produced by Twitch and that the person running it is a sockpuppet because Twitch was afraid of Nintendo's lawyers.

user81242 karma

Your stream just received a donation of $5500. Can you confirm if it was legit?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon131 karma

It's not legit.

brickx240 karma

Proof?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon145 karma

Here's all the save game files made during Red, this is the first time they've been publicly available.

Alternatively you can check my flair/style on the TPP subreddit.

boneyarsebogman39 karma

Why was the OP removed?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon59 karma

I don't know why it was removed, here's a copy:

I am the programmer who came up with the idea for the Twitch Plays Pokemon stream and implemented it and I've been running the stream since.

The anniversary run of Pokemon Red has just begun and in celebration of that I'm doing an AMA, something that was requested during the original run but decided not to due to being overwhelmed at the time.

jfarre2037 karma

I've been always fascinated by the programming and other systems that you've used to run the stream. TPP is what encouraged me to learn how to code in LUA and furthered my knowledge with HTML/CSS/PHP. I actually run my own website now and its all thanks to being inspired by you.

How did you get so good at coding?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon65 karma

When I was very young I was very interested in creating games, I used software like The Games Factory and Multimedia Fusion which didn't require programming ability.

Eventually I wanted to create games that did require programming so I tried to learn C++ and while I was somewhat successful I really hated that language, it made me lose interest in creating games.

I still did programming, but it was only to automatically scrape information from websites I was interested in, I started programming in PHP because it seemed much more suited to "scripting" than C++.

Due to PHP's suitability to creating interactive websites I got into web development, eventually I switched to Python when I realized how terrible PHP is.

I mostly learnt by copying existing code found in examples or elsewhere on the internet and then modifying it to suit my needs, through this I developed my understanding of programming.

maxg200032 karma

Do you ever just think of how many people watch TPP and that your idea has just hit it's anniversary?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon59 karma

It's something I sometimes think about and it has never gotten less weird.

DelanHaar627 karma

Could you please move the donation/subscriber/follower notifications to the side of the screen and turn off the sounds? It's really distracting.

Anyway, I know the "true ending" of this version is under wraps from now, but can you give us any hints of what to expect?

Finally, favorite dessert?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon60 karma

I agree that the pop-ups are annoying considering their high volume. I've muted them and increased the minimum donation amount for now.

Expect all Pokemon to be caught.

Do strawberries count as desert?

Alexc99xd26 karma

Do you like your Arcues depiction?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon59 karma

Yes but I don't wear glasses, I have very good eyesight.

DJProfessorK23 karma

I loved your creation so much, I wrote a research paper on it.

My question: What's next for you? Are you going to keep making fun toys like this or are you moving on to a bigger project?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon23 karma

I've been working on an idea for a new stream for quite awhile now and its in a state where I'm giving serious thought to its implementation.

I'm not sure when I'll actually build it as I feel like TPP still needs some work to get to a state where it becomes easy to run whilst focusing on something else.

calambrepatitas23 karma

Hi, thank you for doing this AMA! I have some questions:

1- How do you feel about all the "lore" we have created? I know you don't like Helix jokes, but I mean things like comics or songs.

2- How has affected TPP your daily life? It must be stressful to have a bunch of crazy people constantly begging for your attention.

3- Do your friends / family know you have become famous on the internet?

Again, thank you :D

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon31 karma

1- How do you feel about all the "lore" we have created? I know you don't like Helix jokes, but I mean things like comics or songs.

I've been on the internet long enough to have experienced a lot of that from video games. It's generally never been something I've been very interested in with the exception of art, it has been novel to see fanworks produced of something I've had a big part in creating.

2- How has affected TPP your daily life? It must be stressful to have a bunch of crazy people constantly begging for your attention.

Some of my other projects have put me in a similar position but never to this scale, it never got to the point where I found myself running out of time reading and responding to messages before.

It took me awhile to get desensitised to.

3- Do your friends / family know you have become famous on the internet?

Some of them.

AfroMidgets23 karma

Hi there! I don't know if I'm too late to have you read and respond to this, but I just wanted to tell you that I, as many others, were blown away by the whole social experiment TPP became. I ended up writing a 6,000 word thesis about community communication within video games without there being any direct form of communication between players. I was basically stating in my thesis that people can achieve goals without there being any formal or direct way to communicate with one another. People were blown away by my small study and I might use it later on as a bigger study. Anyways, just wanted to thank you for my inspiration to write that thesis! Also I have to as a question so this doesn't get removed, so which Pokemon is your favorite?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon30 karma

I've heard of a few people who said they wrote a thesis based on TPP, I'm glad to have created something that deserving of research.

Slowpoke is my favourite Pokemon.

PokemonGod77722 karma

What is your stance on the community's lore and such?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon53 karma

I like it but I didn't want it to be regurgitated by the stream itself out of concern it would make the stream, the lore and the community worse.

hlixed121 karma

Hi, streamer! Thanks for doing this! First and foremost, thanks so much for creating TPP. It's been a wild ride full of dongers, victories, and defeats, and I have no intention of seeing it stop!

  • When you started TPP, did you expect it to blow up so big?

  • What's your favorite aspect of the TPP community? What's your least favorite? copypasta?

  • And just curious, what's your favorite piece of TPP-related fan material you've seen?

Thanks!

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon39 karma

I had no idea it would have gotten so big, if I had known I would have spent more time thinking about it and more time spent on developing the overlay. The stream was online less than 48 hours after coming up with the idea.

moneyman8220 karma

What is the biggest donation you have received so far?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon53 karma

$512.83 but that was a couple of hours after $456.64 from the same person.

It ended up being spent on the CPU used in the encoding PC for Pokemon Battle Revolution, realtime encoding 1920x1080@60fps under 3500kbps without it looking like crap needs a beastly processor.

asperatology20 karma

  • Are there any ways we can do to give feedback on the layout of the livestream?

  • How often do you look at /r/twitchplayspokemon?

  • What is the best moments you can recall before the start of the anniversary Red run?

  • What other games will you do after this game?

  • If I were to submit a resume to you, would you accept?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon36 karma

Are there any ways we can do to give feedback on the layout of the livestream?

You could post in chat and on the subreddit, there's a chance I might read it or someone else in the community will take on your opinions and I'll read it from them.

You could send me a message on Twitch, I'll likely read it but it might be a day or two.

How often do you look at /r/twitchplayspokemon?

Every day during a run and every few days otherwise.

hat other games will you do after this game?

More Pokemon, especially romhacks, eventually Telefang.

If I were to submit a resume to you, would you accept?

I like working with as few people as needed and I don't need anyone right now. If I add anyone it's because I need something and I'll pick a person specific to that need.

Saru7720 karma

I have a couple.

1) Why Pokemon?

2) Do you enjoy the help you get from the fans, like Revo, Pigdevil, Deku, etc?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon57 karma

Pokemon will wait indefinitely for the player to make an input and wont punish the player for taking too long.

I like having things that I can't do be done for me because otherwise they most likely wont get done. I usually prefer doing things myself.

Riegler19 karma

Is TPP your job now or do you work somewhere else?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon49 karma

Before TPP I mostly worked from home doing mostly freelance/contract work as well as getting a little ad revenue from other projects.

I now get most of my income from TPP.

DogeMage16 karma

Are we ever going to play Dragon Warrior Monsters?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon31 karma

I originally planned to put it on during the intermission between PBR and Red but it lost to Pocket Monster Carbuncle in the poll.

lade1rex16 karma

How long did it take you to make the original script for TPP?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon30 karma

Less than 48 hours since coming up with the idea until the stream was online.

It's hard to remember but my guess is that there was less than 6 hours spent on the initial implementation.

ticketbutt15 karma

Has Nintendo reached out to you at all, good or bad?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon24 karma

No, but I think a PR person might have mentioned it once on Twitter.

TorchicBlaziken16 karma

[deleted]

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon19 karma

I don't know if that's Nintendo, is it? Possibly an arm of WOTC or whoever manages the card game?

joejoejoe1eee14 karma

Why do you like Slowpoke so much?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon29 karma

It has a well defined personality, not just a particular Slowpoke but all Slowpoke in general.

MoutosoM13 karma

Why did you decide to add Subscriber and Donation messeges on screen and don't you think you might drive away alot of people that way?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon31 karma

I added it during PBR and they haven't been as annoying up until Red.

The new subscriber and new follower pop-up is positioned and sized so that it does not show over the game's screen, the donation message box might need work, however.

wheatgrain12 karma

1). How is it being the streamer of TPP?

2). Did you tell people close to you that you started it?

3). If you weren't a programmer (which I believe I read you were in an interview) what would you want to be doing as a career.

Thank you for doing this AMA!

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon30 karma

1). How is it being the streamer of TPP?

It has been stressful but overall very satisfying, I've always enjoyed creating autonomous things that continuously generate an income once built. I blame my youth spent playing too much Total Annihilation.

2). Did you tell people close to you that you started it?

Not many of them, I like it being a secret.

3). If you weren't a programmer (which I believe I read you were in an interview) what would you want to be doing as a career.

Something computer related, probably.

Linkara12 karma

I just saw that you released the save game files for all of Red. That's awesome! Do you plan on doing the same for Crystal and the other runs?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon16 karma

I have replay files from Crystal and possibly the GBA games but I'll have to go through old files to find them.

I don't think it was making backups this way during DS and I didn't have it set to record due to performance concerns.

Speedy_Fox_IV11 karma

Hi Streamer! I want to thak you for everything so far! Now on to the questions...

1) What has been one of the more diffcult things to program for the stream? 2) What has been your favourtie hack to impement in the stream so far? 3) Did you contact Deku first for help on streaming the 3DS games or did he contact you? 4) The mob loved it that you helped out at the end of Pokemon Conquest. What are your thoughts on that moment?

Even if you don't answer my questions thanks for taking a look at them anyway.

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon19 karma

1) What has been one of the more diffcult things to program for the stream?

Pokemon Battle Revolution and Pokemon Stadium 2 were very difficult to program for, especially the part that interfaces with the game as there's a lot of weird edge cases to account for and it still isn't working 100% right.

2) What has been your favourtie hack to impement in the stream so far?

I'm not sure what you mean by hack.

3) Did you contact Deku first for help on streaming the 3DS games or did he contact you?

Deku contacted me.

4) The mob loved it that you helped out at the end of Pokemon Conquest. What are your thoughts on that moment?

Pokemon Conquest wasn't very popular when I first put it on so it was great to see the community come around on it.

tustin212111 karma

How much do you play games on a regular basis? Do you have any thoughts on Australia's refusal to rate various games and the relatively recent introduction of the R18 rating?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon23 karma

I'm against it as I don't like how it affects the design of games. Didn't the lack of a R18 rating cause the names of drugs to be retconned in the Fallout series for all regions?

But looking at it purely selfishly the game's rating never stopped me from getting it, if the country decides it doesn't want to profit off my dollar that's their loss.

Jitte11 karma

[deleted]

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon29 karma

I saw that live, as well as purchasing the fire stone and Eevee evolving into Flareon, and various Pokemon being released.

It's great watching all the chat reactions!

NeilNealNiel9 karma

1) If you were told that we would be playing red again a year later, would you believe it?

2) Do you enjoy TPP and its community?

Thanks for everything, TPP is an amazing experience and I've been with it the whole journey. I am looking forward to an amazing season ahead and wish you all the best!

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon17 karma

Even while Red was still going I was getting requests to do it again a year from then.

I like the TPP community relative to most internet communities.

MayorOfFartonia9 karma

Do you feel that you've made an influence on the future of streaming? Can you see interactive streams becoming more of a common thing in the future?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon17 karma

Probably not more so than SaltyBet.

I've got an idea for another stream, so maybe there will be 3 instead of 2? That's technically "more common" right?

I think interactive elements added to streams will be more common in the future, you can see it a little bit on various streams on Twitch with elaborate expansions on the donation and subscription alerts.

If the MMORPG genre ever gets out of the rut it's in and manages to produce a game that isn't disappointedly split up into meaningless shards I imagine that official coverage of in-game events would be a thing. I guess that sort of thing already happens but the shard thing really kills it.

LivesInASixWordStory8 karma

[deleted]

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon15 karma

This year I'm spacing the runs out more (maybe a month in between) where Pokemon Battle Revolution will be played.

I'm also willing to try some more gimmicky ideas for runs although other than two games simultaneously (inputs going to both, or democracy vs anarchy) I don't have a lot in mind.

I'm not really sure what else I could do to maintain hype and excitement.

mesamus8 karma

what was the least stressful game? (in terms of fixing crashes, modding and sleep depravation)

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon13 karma

Omega Ruby because DekuNukem was managing it and I thought he'd do well like Pokemon X.

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon12 karma

Red, by far.

It was the first stream I had done and the code I wrote was error and crash-prone. The way inputs were handled made it so I had to pause the game to make any changes.

kamiathewolf8 karma

Hello Streamer! Thank you so much for doing this! I hope you are still enjoying anything and everything TPP-Stream related.

There are so many questions getting thrown at you, I'll only ask two.

*Do you find it difficult to a be a passive observer? Have you ever wanted to input/participate/contribute?

*You have said TPP is a "social experiment". Have you drawn any noteworthy conclusions from the experience?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon15 karma

I'm fine with being a passive observer, I made the stream as something I wanted to watch, especially whilst doing something else.

I don't think the "social experiment" label works given the size TPP grew to, I think it made more sense when it was a hundred or so participants. Still, thesis were eventually written by other people so maybe it is still applicable.

ArceusMI7 karma

Four things:

How hard was it to set all of this up?

How did you feel when you got that ~$1000 donation on PBR?

Do you think this was worth all of your effort?

And, is there a chance you could actually move that donation MESSAGE box over, to somewhere else? It gets in the way too much with long messages.

Thanks, ARC

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon12 karma

The original implementation didn't take me long at all, less than a couple of days and it was running.

Making all the improvements and additions and then making sure the improvements and additions work properly took a lot more time and effort after that.

The $1000 donation went on Pokemon Battle Revolution's dedicated encoding PC's processor making it possible to stream in 1920x1080@60fps without it being a blocky mess.

I'm considering making the donation message smaller especially for small donations, I've increased the minimum donation amount to $5 for now. It can't really be moved anywhere.

Sorceress_Feraly7 karma

What has, for you, been the best and the worst things about running TPP?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon20 karma

That it's a 24/7 thing, it means I can watch it any time I want for as long as I am physically capable of. It also means I miss out on watching some of it when sleeping or doing other things.

TheTraegs7 karma

When you first started TPP, did the viewers do better than you expected? Or worse?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon12 karma

I didn't give it that much thought, when I first put it up I didn't care if the game got finished or not, I didn't think the stream would have lasted long enough for it to matter.

AsRandomly5 karma

40 minutes before the game started, it soft reset and said recording. Are you recording this and putting the stream up somewhere?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon10 karma

I told the emulator to record a replay file so that it could be replayed in an emulator later.

VaughnJess4 karma

If I can ask a non-TPP, but very important, question: which footy team do you barrack for?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon9 karma

I don't watch Australian Football or any sports for that matter.

Autonomous vehicles could get me interested in watching motorsports if it meant there was a lot more contact between vehicles.

ActuallyEd3 karma

Do we keep our dongers for PBR? Or are they reset?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon6 karma

Yes, you'll keep them and everyone below 1000 will be boosted back up to 100.

TheAlmightyMoonstone3 karma

There has been a lot of community storytelling/Artwork involved in TPP. From ATV paintings to an entire episode of LORE dedicated to the first run.

Did you see TPP becoming this in depth and spawning everything it has? And which has been the most memorable to you?

May Moonstone guide you.

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon7 karma

I've always enjoyed high quality fanart of videogames and it was very novel to see various fanworks produced of something I had a big part in creating.

VerbumDei3 karma

Favorite Pokemon from each of the runs we did? Or any since we did have a bunch of runs and it might be hard to remember.

Were you ever really rooting for anyone or were upset at any releases?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon5 karma

I can't think of any particular favourite Pokemon.

I was never upset or hopeful when it came to releasing Pokemon but I greatly enjoyed everyone's reactions and the suspense.

flameduck2 karma

Thanks for all the hard work you've done to bring this to us. And all the suffering of managing TPP.

  1. Did you help work on the hack being used in Anniversary Red?

  2. How do you feel about TPP's community/fansites/sites to keep track of progress?

  3. How do you feel about all the "spinoffs" of TPP? (Fish Plays Pokemon, RNG Plays Pokemon)

  4. How has your social life been affected by this?

Twitch-Plays-Pokemon4 karma

  1. Did you help work on the hack being used in Anniversary Red?

No, I'm not sure exactly who worked on it, I let EliteAnax17 handle it as he did a great job with PBR's save file. I'll post a list of credits in the stream's description at some point.

  1. How do you feel about TPP's community/fansites/sites to keep track of progress?

It showed to me how big of a thing TPP became, my favourite was a video recap series on YouTube done by Level Limit.

  1. How do you feel about all the "spinoffs" of TPP? (Fish Plays Pokemon, RNG Plays Pokemon)

I really liked them, I was hoping that TPP would inspire another great stream like SaltyBet inspired me to create TPP but so far everything has been much closer to the original TPP idea than I'd like (don't have a problem with clones, I just wanted to see something unlike anything I've thought of before).

  1. How has your social life been affected by this?

Not very much at all, I've kept it a secret from most people I know.