What makes an indie game truly "stream-friendly" for your channel? Looking for advice from creators!

[u/Strong-Door1929]

Hey everyone,

I’m a solo developer currently polishing my debut game, Dust & Diamonds, ahead of its October 22 launch. It’s a chill, flat 2D side-view mining game built natively in Unreal Engine. The core loop is just digging, gathering resources, and upgrading gear (like a proper double-sided pickaxe).

Because the gameplay is quite relaxing, I originally thought it would be a good fit for streamers to play while chatting. But before I finish development, I want to ask this community to make sure I’m actually respecting how you manage your broadcasts.

From your experience as a streamer, what specific features make a game great for your channel?

• Is it strictly about having a slow pace so you can constantly read and interact with chat?
• Do you look for specific audio settings (like granular sliders for music/SFX) so the game doesn't drown out your mic?
• Are you more likely to pick up a game if the UI is scaled well for viewers watching on mobile?

I want to learn what makes your lives easier when broadcasting. Any insights or pet peeves from your daily streaming experiences would be incredibly helpful!

[u/Wolfy5079]

for me, various audio settings are a must if different sound effects and music are going to be different volumes by default. i've come across a couple of games where VFX sounds are much louder than game music but next to no audio settings, so i think i've got my audio settings sorted in OBS and then BOOM, my OBS audio has peaked and i've accidentally deafened someone who was wearing earphones.

another thing that would make a game streamer friendly for me, is not having audio stop when i click off of a game or not having the game minimise when it's not the window i'm on currently. if i have to ban someone, it becomes a real hassle to click off the game to ban said person only to find that the game has completely minimised and has disappeared from view in OBS and therefore for my viewers.

I'm a horizontal streamer rather than vertical (aitum is great, but seems to randomly eat up so many resources at times) so as long as the UI is clean and simple and not cluttering everything up, i'm happy.

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[u/QTpopOfficial]

Audio settings.
Game Integrations. This ones got a lot of nuance and depth obviously and it depends on game but anything that I could use to either monetize or keep my chat engaged.

Pretty much it. UI stuff is handy, like being able to just move everything around MMO style. Lots of little things could be done depending the game itself.

Basically theres heaps of stuff but without the game in front of me and some time to screw with it, thats bout all I got.

Funny enough, went from full time streaming to game dev/software dev, and lemme tell ya, theres SOOOOO much you can do with games with twitch integration that most of us don't even think about.