So we’ve not talked about the Twitch aspect of the project in awhile, so let’s touch on that.
First off, the game is now running live 24/7 at http://www.twitch.tv/beatstep_east and t http://www.twitch.tv/beatstep_west. Go check it out!
As mentioned, Twitch extremely tricky to design for, due to the syncing of feedback. How do you design a game that feels responsive when players have to wait 12-20 seconds to see any feedback?
I can’t say we’ve solved this problem yet.
We ran a Twitch playtest earlier this week. Before I get into this I will say it was fun, and there’s a lot of potential here. I could talk about things that are fun about this style of play (trolling!) and designing a solid voting mechanic. But it’s hard to discuss these things with the eight hundred pound gorilla named latency looming over.
The biggest problem is now not even the lack of feedback, but conflicting feedback. The game may look like it’s in output phase, but asking for my input in the chat.
The second biggest problem: even if the game is funner for players, it is much less fun for spectators. Which, in a medium devoted to spectatorship, is a problem.
Twitch Play is very much in a Wild West state right now (more puns!), and to create something with the technology as it is right now, we need to find a way to harness the chaotic fun of Twitch plays Pokemon style play…
So for the time being we will be iterating on our Twitch play model