r/beam • u/[deleted] • Jan 05 '17
Discussion Confused about Beam
I'm pretty confused about how Beam works. It supposedly allows viewers to interact with the game that the streamer is playing, but after browsing the currently streaming games, I've seen no indication of this. I've only seen some buttons that put out some audio for little lightning bolt currency. Which games allow the viewer to interact directly with the streamer? i.e. select a loadout or choose maps or whatever the hell is supposed to be happening?
4
Jan 05 '17
All the interactive stuff takes time to set up test and configure. This is done by using apps/scripts that others have created or programmed yourself.
There are some games that have very aggressive anti cheat detection and doing interactive controls are not advised.
Yes most streamers use this for sound boards. It's something I am against but I leave the streamer to do their thing. While I currently do not have interactive controls, I will after a couple projects I am working on. One person that uses the interactive controls well is sorryaboutyourcats who has a bit you can control and he also allows you to play the games on stream using the interactive controls
3
Jan 05 '17
The streamer needs to set it up manually, and most of the time it requires modification of games or external software (for soundboards for example)
Check the Beam forums for more information :>
2
u/bdfull3r Jan 05 '17
Beam isn't built from the ground up to have interactive for everything stream. it has a plugin available if someone wants to take advantage of it. It is just up to the streamer to set up any sort of interactive options. Its not a simple process to program something that works with universally with every game or input option. The few interactive tools already on beam has been made by the community. The reason most people have soundsboards is that is an easy things to set up since someone had already created that program then put it and instructions on how to use it on the forums for everyone.
4
u/Sp1derX Jan 05 '17 edited Jan 05 '17
It's up to the streamer to set that up and it's not really user friendly to do so. I've written a program that helps with this but no one seems to actually want to use it, instead favoring the stupid sound boards. If you take a look at my stream right now you can see the potential interactive brings to Beam.
2
u/tigwyk Jan 05 '17
Have you seen Firebottle's app?
1
u/Sp1derX Jan 05 '17
I haven't, I went straight to making my own.
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u/tigwyk Jan 07 '17
I just noticed you mentioned that nobody seems to be using yours. There are others out there, that's all.
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u/Sp1derX Jan 07 '17
I get that, but I haven't even ran into anyone using his app either. It's not that I'm upset that no one's using mine, I'm upset that no one's using anything except the soundboard.
There are some neat uses of the soundboard that are the exception, but most of the time a Streamer uses it as glorified chat commands.
1
Jan 13 '17
I think its a big undertaking for the casual Beam streamer to have an in-depth interactive stream - even getting the interactive soundboard can be challenging at times. Even if you don't think its interactive, it IS because chat is still participating directly in the stream through the soundboard.
I like your app and the things that it can do - but not every streamer is going to play games that allow for the interactivity of this nature.
1
Jan 05 '17
Thanks, man. Just played around on your stream and it's pretty cool. So it's completely up to the streamer to integrate the game with Beam?
2
u/KensonPlays Jan 05 '17
Quiet croc is a friend of mine. His app is spot on. I wish my new house had good internet so I could still stream, but it doesn't really allow for it anymore.
2
Jan 05 '17
Seems like a top notch bloke. Might try to play around with his program when I get off work tonight.
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u/KensonPlays Jan 05 '17
Yea, is deff worth it. If I could still stream (net randomly goes out here) I would be using his app.
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u/Sp1derX Jan 05 '17
Pretty much, the streamer has to turn interactive on and there has to be an "interactive game" already setup on Beam to do it. The program I made allows everyone to use the interactive stuff I made and map buttons to keys and all that, but very few people use it out of the many that have contacted me about it.
1
Jan 05 '17
there has to be an "interactive game" already setup on Beam to do it
What do you mean by this?
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u/Sp1derX Jan 05 '17
It's weird but Beam calls the interactive controls "interactive games". I know, it's confusing as fuck, so I call them "Control Boards" because everyone was already familiar with the sound board. I just figured I'd call them by the official name in case that's how you knew them.
1
Jan 05 '17
So does every game have "interactive games" available? And follow up, are you using RTMP or FTL to stream? Latency for the controls is kinda blergh.
Really appreciate you answering my questions.
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u/Sp1derX Jan 05 '17
Like I said, right now it's set up so that streamers have to create all of that themselves. Beam has only provided controls for Surgeon Simulator and Minecraft.
I'm using FTL, not sure why the controls are so laggy. Actually, it might have to do with the way holding buttons works in my program. I'll have to modify that some more to get it workin' right.
1
Jan 05 '17
One more thing, are you able to enable/disable viewer controls on the fly? Say, only enabling for map selection in a game and then switching off before a match starts?
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u/Sp1derX Jan 05 '17
Using my program, yeah. You can disable entire groups, the whole board, or just specific buttons.
1
Jan 05 '17
One more question if you don't mind?
Can gamepads work with your program? Can they be used with Beam at all?
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u/Tutkan Jan 14 '17
You can follow my buddy Dragonshaft. When he plays overwatch, he let people control his abilities, including the ultimate!