ModBlog Group Modcast Live Thoughts news

So here over at ModDB tried some new and exciting things yesterday, we ran our normal Modcast with a live twist to make it more interactive for all you guys out there. And the feedback from the viewers made it an overall success!

But like everything great there are always things to improve on. For example we need to get more footage to display during the cast (5 minutes of looping footage really does detract from the discussion), and with any video there comes the issue of codec's and whatnot. These codec's have to be conditioned in such a way to allow for optimal quality without crapping out on the bandwidth. I'm thinking something like DivX and MP3 or ACC would do it justice. The program we use to stream all this media is similar to how a webcam functions, with the difference being that it streams actual video files (and because of this reason we cannot use the codec's we want or sometimes need to use). And this was the main problem we had with the first ep of the Livecast (cool name eh?), as the footage we originally were going to use was not streaming correctly and this caused a mad rush to get both the media and the codec's organized (it turned out we couldn't use half the stuff anyway).

The next thing that we (myself and Ryan) will need to work on is the overall structure of the cast, I don't mind running for 2 hours straight but sometimes this won't work well with viewers as people apparently have lives as well, with that being said I feel a tighter structure to the overall show would be something that would greatly benefit the show as a whole. This will then move the discussion into the area of segments to the show, whether that being video content (as we can stream whole shows without us talking over the top of the original audio, or both at the same time), audio discussion or extra areas for community interaction both in the chat and through our call in system. Some food for thought would be something like Sneak Peak videos (this would have to be arranged by Moddb staff and mod/indie teams to both create and edit new video content to be streamed to the viewers for the very first time), designated review segments for both mod and indie games, forum/chat interaction and thoughts etc etc.

Next is the area that is the feel of the Livecast, I like to think that the Livecast will one day have a cheesy theme song to help start off the show on a light hearted feel, and I would also like to take this point in the discussion to reach out and ask of you guys feel you can create something amazing to bring the show in (and possibly out as well) then by all means send something to either myself or Ryan and who knows your song could be the theme for the Livecasts :D. On that note this new regular feature is all about your guys, the community of ModDB and this is your chance to get involved and talk to the major players in both mod and indie development, so we will always endeavor to correct the flaws and fix the problems, we just need the feedback from the viewers!

So please leave your comments here and tell us all about what you thought of the Live Modcast... Leave your ideas; leave your woes it's all good and its all positive! We are always open to new ideas and new things to bring you guys!

To bring out the article here is the first cast and the extra footage that could not be aired during the show. Enjoy :D