Help get a Spectator Mode and LAN Support added to Splatoon!

[Flying_Tortoise]

I already mentioned this a couple times but FWIW I'll quote myself from another thread

That would be awesome!
Hopefully Nintendo has done this. I suppose it is more of us being cautious, as we definitely believe Nintendo is capable of doing something like that for the community. But when it is something so important for the community, it's hard to not want at least a response from Nintendo on the subject so that tournament organizers can have confidence that they can start preparing for their tournies.
I am hoping they also thought of Spectator mode but I still believe it's better to be cautious. We definitely need Spectator mode, so that would be awesome if we could get the news to them.

 

[superman]

That would be awesome!
Hopefully Nintendo has done this. I suppose it is more of us being cautious, as we definitely believe Nintendo is capable of doing something like that for the community. But when it is something so important for the community, it's hard to not want at least a response from Nintendo on the subject so that tournament organizers can have confidence that they can start preparing for their tournies.
I am hoping they also thought of Spectator mode but I still believe it's better to be cautious. We definitely need Spectator mode, so that would be awesome if we could get the news to them.

I'm definitely with you on this one and fully support what you're doing but don't fool yourself! If Nintendo did it the way I think it's done it's really bad software design, mainly to cut costs and give the ILLUSION of smooth online gameplay. I've been attacked on this forum for saying this but while I labsolutely adore Splatoon's game design it has really bad design from a technical standpoint. If however they did it "a slightly more proper way" it still wouldn't look good because their servers infrastructure would be very questionable given how splatoon runs online. Also, with a good netcode the game would be pretty much unplayable between continents, it's obvious why Nintendo chose to do it the way they did.

A result of this is could also be what I mentioned in a different thread

... the clients may have so much authority in simulating the game that it might not be doable for Nintendo to implement proper anti-cheat measures.

For anyone who's interested, here is a document that describes how a good/decent netcode for a shooter could be designed:
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Source_Multiplayer_Networking

If people would like to know more about how I think things work in Splatoon and how I think an online shooter should work I can make a small video or writeup. I'm also not pulling this out of my ***, I've worked in IT for quite some time and I've actuallly written my own netcode (never released the game because I didn't have the money to host servers at the time and would have to go with the same approach Nintendo did with Splatoon which I wouldn't have been satisfied with)

Like I said every time I mentioned this, I hope I'm wrong about most of this stuff I just don't think I'm off on this :(
On the upside the game should be very playable and fun on LAN :)

 

[Achamo]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I think an option to change your gear, and weapon after each match should be added without having to leave the group.

 

[Flying_Tortoise]

I'm definitely with you on this one and fully support what you're doing but don't fool yourself! If Nintendo did it the way I think it's done it's really bad software design, mainly to cut costs and give the ILLUSION of smooth online gameplay. I've been attacked on this forum for saying this but while I labsolutely adore Splatoon's game design it has really bad design from a technical standpoint. If however they did it "a slightly more proper way" it still wouldn't look good because their servers infrastructure would be very questionable given how splatoon runs online. Also, with a good netcode the game would be pretty much unplayable between continents, it's obvious why Nintendo chose to do it the way they did.

A result of this is could also be what I mentioned in a different thread


For anyone who's interested, here is a document that describes how a good/decent netcode for a shooter could be designed:
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Source_Multiplayer_Networking

If people would like to know more about how I think things work in Splatoon and how I think an online shooter should work I can make a small video or writeup. I'm also not pulling this out of my ***, I've worked in IT for quite some time and I've actuallly written my own netcode (never released the game because I didn't have the money to host servers at the time and would have to go with the same approach Nintendo did with Splatoon which I wouldn't have been satisfied with)

Like I said every time I mentioned this, I hope I'm wrong about most of this stuff I just don't think I'm off on this :(
On the upside the game should be very playable and fun on LAN :)

Whoa, that's some crazy information. Thanks for the insight. I gotta read up more on it, as I had to skim through because of some stuff I'm working on. Tbh I would be still excited for LAN play, but yah hopefully Nintendo did it the proper way. So that those who have a hard time going to LAN tournaments would still be able to participate in online events :/

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I think an option to change your gear, and weapon after each match should be added without having to leave the group.

Yah that's what a lot of people have wanted on the forums, but we'd like to keep the movement to LAN and Spectator Mode just because they are so darn important that the competitive scene would have a lot more trouble without them. We aren't even asking Nintendo about allowing us to somehow choose our gear and abilities which would help out a lot for tournaments, however we are worried that by asking too much it would 1) sound like we are asking a lot from Nintendo and 2) would probably gain less traction for the movement.

 

[Citrus]

This needs to happen. Even if it takes a long time, it is a must. I would personally be devastated to see this game's community fade out so quickly.

 

[Math]

Spectator mode is understandably being overshadowed by LAN mode, but both would be cool as shell.

I can see it now. A tiny flickering CRT next to Spyke in the alley. "You here to watch the game, mate?" (nah/watch)

"Care to make fings a little more interesting?" he says, and you can predict the winner and bet coins like in Smash.

I just think it could fit in really well with the game's atmosphere, and unlike in Smash, you'd actually have a use for your winnings.

 

[Las7]

I need spectator mode, just watch this Japenese dude with E-Liter - if I wasn't linked ot it from another forum I would not have believed it. Thankfully I rarely face people as good as this dude
http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html#http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm26699020

 

[itisRag]

just watch this Japenese dude with E-Liter

That player looks pretty good. I'm not saying that I could do anywhere close to what they do, mainly because I've never played charger in multiplayer, but anyone can get that good. Need to use gyro controls and practice a lot.

Edit: If you want to see a player on or near par with the one in the video above from this forum, I recommend checking out Vespher when he's livestreaming. He doesn't always play charger, but when I used to watch him with charger in splat zones, he got pretty good.

 

[Aweshucks]

Yeah, the dude's alright, but I can't really judge how good he is until I see a few full matches. Those few nice kills could have been gathered from hours and hours of gameplay. The point still stands, though: spectator mode would be super great to have

 

[Citrus]

We need just 3 more people to sign until there are 100 supporters on the petition! :)

 

[TheMH]

but I can't really judge how good he is until I see a few full matches.

He is actually showing a full match at 3 minutes where he goes 17-1 on Moray Towers. Very entertaining to see an E-Liter used that well.

 

[[EJ]_Locke]

Is this thread dead or....

 

[Flying_Tortoise]

Lol sorry so I feel we are pretty limited on who we can reach out to, which is why some of us are trying to make a video for the cause. Talking to some owners at a tournament place and hoping to have a venue to film at. It's still really early in stages but yah unfortunately we feel that that will be one of the only ways to get more publicity for this. If you have any other ideas, you are super welcome to give them.
However on a brighter note, if you watched EVO Nintendo ran Splatoon commercials reaffirming that custom lobbies are in August. Although this is amazing news, I personally have doubts that they will have the idea to make the Spectator mode we need for Tournament Streamers which is why the film is still trying to get off the ground.

 

[Lyn]

Support! Definitely needed features to keep this game running. :)

 

[GameGalaxy64]

In case Spectator Mode isn't coming, would it be possible for us to hook up 4 TV screens to one twitch stream and just go with that?

 

[Flying_Tortoise]

This is an interesting question.
When I talked to the people at Mess Fest they said that the person used HDMI splits and use that to gain 4 player's perspectives.
I have a splitter myself and so I looked into it a little bit, and am not sure how they pulled that off unless the Nintendo ppl I talked to were wrong. It seems, and if someone could look into it that'd be great, that if you want to do that for for example a computer monitor to another computer monitor you need both to be running a program. In this case the Wii U can't run the program and so you can't get the view onto the computer monitor.

I figured that since you can hook up a Computer to a TV screen that the reverse (Wii U to laptop) should be able to work, but I can't find it. Mind you this was just a skim through some websites so perhaps I looked into the wrong places.

TL: DR
Nintendo workers say its possible, but I still think you capture cards for each perspective to make this possible (or else what would be the point in capture cards for streaming at all), which is still hard on us.
But perhaps someone can prove me wrong. hopefully.

 

[GameGalaxy64]

This is an interesting question.
When I talked to the people at Mess Fest they said that the person used HDMI splits and use that to gain 4 player's perspectives.
I have a splitter myself and so I looked into it a little bit, and am not sure how they pulled that off unless the Nintendo ppl I talked to were wrong. It seems, and if someone could look into it that'd be great, that if you want to do that for for example a computer monitor to another computer monitor you need both to be running a program. In this case the Wii U can't run the program and so you can't get the view onto the computer monitor.

I figured that since you can hook up a Computer to a TV screen that the reverse (Wii U to laptop) should be able to work, but I can't find it. Mind you this was just a skim through some websites so perhaps I looked into the wrong places.

TL: DR
Nintendo workers say its possible, but I still think you capture cards for each perspective to make this possible (or else what would be the point in capture cards for streaming at all), which is still hard on us.
But perhaps someone can prove me wrong. hopefully.

I just did some quick research and found that Wirecast, a downloadable software on Twich, allows for multiple cameras to be streamed, or in our case, multiple capture cards. I also learned that a decent capture card costs at least $60 dollars which I guess is the main problem. In case a live spectator mode won't be implicated in Splatoon for streaming wars, should we think about requiring players to purchase a capture card sort of like an entry fee? I know it's certainly not our first resort but it may be our only hope. I know it's a stretch, but maybe we can strike a deal with a capture card company to give us a certain amount of capture cards in exchange for advertisement. Their target audience would be watching the streams: gamers and technology fanatics.

 

[Aweshucks]

We are well aware that you can stream from multiple capture cards. That was never the problem. It's that it's unrealistic to expect venues to have a capture card for each console, and that we can't stream online tournaments without spectator mode

 

[Pivi]

Signed the petition then it gives me a popup
"Help this poor person buy-"
im good

anyway i hope we get spectator, way better than a lame pants store or whatever 9 year olds are clamoring over miiverse about

 

[Poxnixles]

nintendo uploading a video where the word "esports" is used in regards to splatoon gives some interesting vibes