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Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 14 2009, 05:35 PM

I would like to record a "Let's Play" of my playing SWAT 4, complete with audio mic commentary.

Why? Because one of my favorite rant authors, Noah Antwiler, had done so here: http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/category/lets-play/swat-4/

He makes all kinds of snarky comments while playing but the truth is that he really sucks. His grasp of tactics is pretty poor and I feel like I ought to do a series where I show how it ought to be done. He does pretty retarded things like stumble willy nilly into T intersections, attempting to barge through doorways which are covered by the enemy, and so on, while complaining every time he gets killed.

What is the best way to do this? Purchase FRAPS? I just tried the free version of FRAPS but it seemed to not record audio. I am not sure if this is a "feature" of the free version, or an indication that the full version wouldn't record audio.

Posted by: Necro Sanct Jun 14 2009, 09:19 PM

I haven't tried the free version in a while. There should be a Record Sound option under the Movies tab.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 15 2009, 12:45 AM

There was but it didn't appear to have worked. Now given I was using the free version I'm not sure if that's a feature or a bug.

Posted by: Link Jun 15 2009, 01:41 AM

Record the game with fraps (concentrating on your gameplay) and add the audio commentary later with a video editing program while you edit the production.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 15 2009, 04:25 AM

That sounds like a good idea because talking while playing would result in crap gameplay. What video editing software would you recommend?

Posted by: Blade Jun 15 2009, 07:57 AM

Virtualdub is free, quite easy to use and should be enough for what you want to do.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 16 2009, 12:02 AM

From virtualdub.org?

Does it record sound?

Posted by: Link Jun 16 2009, 12:35 AM

I'm familiar with Cyberlink Powerdirector because a light version came with a video camera several years ago. The pro version has 2 audio tracks so it'd be quite easy to add a director's commentary over the game audio I'd imagine. I see there's a 30 day trial download for non-deckers.

Posted by: Dumori Jun 16 2009, 07:20 AM

I like to use wegame to record it can record SWAT 4. Its at www.wegame.com however you will need a video editing progrm to record audio over but they aren't to hard to find and I think windows movie maker would do the job.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 17 2009, 02:28 AM

OK, I fooled around with Fraps some more because the demo is still on my system. It turns out that I can apparently get my voice-over recorded after I clicked on the "Detect best sound input" button, but it seems like I am not getting the in-game sound. :/

Now I'm wondering if that is acceptable or not. Initially, my impulse was just to essentially respond to Noah's Let's Plays by doing one showing how it is done. But now I wonder if the clips would be too boring without any sound besides for my narration. Not to mention I'm not sure if I have video editing software or not.

I wrote the Fraps guys asking about sound. They were extremely professional and nice in their reply. They essentially suggested updating my sound drivers. When I went to the sound driver website it basically said to update my motherboard drivers instead, and I'm pretty sure those are updated, so I decided not to mess with the drivers for now.

Hmm, let me think for a minute. I'll come back and edit this post in a little bit.

EDIT:

OK, I went and did a couple sample clips with voice over from Fraps. What I found was that when I'm talking into the mic the sound quality of my voice is really uneven, and it's surprisingly hard to play well while lecturing. So really, being able to voice-over is less important than 1.) recording with in-game sound, and 2.) having video editing software to add comments later.

So, I think what I will do is try other softwares, including the ones named in this thread, in order to find one that records in-game sound. Then I need to look into acquiring video editing software so that I can add voice over.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 17 2009, 03:02 AM

Uh, how do you make it record?

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 17 2009, 04:08 AM

Okay, here we go! Using WeGame, I went ahead and did a sample "Let's Play" of the first level in SWAT 4. There doesn't seem to be the in-game sound, but I can lecture using my crappy headset mike.

Please watch it and let me know if you think it's interesting/fun to watch, or just boring. It had been my hope that by explaining what I was doing and alluding to some real world things that it could be fun to watch kind of like a documentary.

My crappy mike makes my voice sound kind of dorky. I promise that I sound cooler in real life.

http://www.wegame.com/watch/Sample_SWAT_4_Lets_Play_with_commentary/

Posted by: Blade Jun 17 2009, 08:02 AM

I'm not sure you can record directly inside virtualDub, but what you can do is record yourself with Windows' recorder (or any other audio recording application such as Audacity) and then use VirtualDub to add the audio file on top of the video.
The problem is it seems you can't mix audio within Virtual Dub, so you'll need to extract the game's soundtrack from your video then import both the game soundtrack and your commentaries inside Audacity, maybe edit them a little to make sure people hear you even when the game sounds are loud and finally import that new track inside the video in VirtualDub.

Posted by: Link Jun 17 2009, 12:45 PM

Mmm, how to put this delicately.. ;)
The film needs the game audio and some cuts/editing. Too many umms and ahs in the commentary and I think it's slowing down your operation which looks a bit pedestrian, such as where you wryly comment that the bloke running into the hall was bad. Do a speedy drill and add comments on the edited production.
I just had a quick look at Windows Movie Maker and it's simple to record and add narration so the main thing you need to work out is how to get the game audio using Fraps or the like.

As for the video, while SWAT looks a bit boring (where's the body count? ;) those who like the game may find your video instructive. The video link in your OP was more comedy than a playthrough.

Regarding your voice, just try and convey the gravitas of Sheriff John C. Bunnell from those police video shows.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 17 2009, 11:41 PM

Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate your taking the time to express them and offer your recommendations to me.

One thing is I think that SWAT is a bit of a slow game compared to a lot of other FPSes. Noah Antwiller himself said in his videos how he felt that the police procedure (i.e. reporting in a lot, handcuffing everyone, and waiting for the suspects to point weapons at officers or suspects before shooting them) really slowed the game down. It wouldn't really be possible to rapidly move from room to room without executing all the suspects because if you don't tie up the suspects who put their hands up either your team gets divided (team members covering those suspects say "a little busy here" and don't follow you) or else those suspects pick their guns back up and shoot you in the back. But once you take the time to handcuff everyone then your game has become more slow and methodical than blitzkrieg style. And then one challenging part of the gameplay is cuffing the suspects in such a way that you don't die if a new suspect with a rifle barges in through the door while you've got the zipcuffs equipped. Does that make sense?

Ironically Antwiller's sky-high death counts in his playthroughs are sort of demonstrating why barging through doorways and not using tactical aids is bad in this game.


EDIT: I agree that probably everything would be better if I could record in-game sound and do editing and stuff. Unfortunately, getting that in-game sound has been fruitless for the past several days I've been working on this. I've tried several different softwares and none of them got the sound except for one that worked okay for windows but basically crashed when I ran SWAT. Arrghh...

Posted by: nezumi Jun 18 2009, 12:36 AM

My virtual friend has a voice! How crazy is that??

Not nearly enough police brutality.

Aside from that, never having played SWAT 4, it seems good. I think though you may want to choose a mission with more tactical considerations to discuss. The stuff shown here was pretty basic, so it felt more like 'this is how you operate the game' than 'this is how you clear a cheap Chinese restaurant".

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 18 2009, 02:14 AM

Now there's a thought. There's no reason I have to systematically display each level. I can just show the levels of interest. That would also help resolve the issue of whether or not the presentation, taken as a whole, is tedious or not.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 18 2009, 04:36 AM

Well, I've gone and recorded another SWAT 4 "Let's Play". I tried to say "uh" less, tried to keep the action moving, and tried to still include a little bit of interesting documentary commentary. I think the gameplay ended up being pretty interesting.

http://www.wegame.com/watch/Lets_Play_SWAT_4_Tactical_Approach_to_QuickStop_level/

I must warn you that there is a loud burst of static that lasts for about a second right near the beginning of the video. I have no idea what caused it, and it sucks, but I don't have video editing software to remove it, and it only lasts for about a second. Sigh, so much for my producing professional quality videos.

It is my hope that my commentary is interesting enough to hold peoples' interest. Well, I think it's interesting. But, hopefully internet people do as well.

Posted by: nezumi Jun 18 2009, 02:12 PM

Much better!

Some quick comments...

Early on you seemed a bit uncertain as to what you're saying. It corrected itself later, but indeed, I wonder if scripting some parts beforehand might not help with that. Related, the sound was very quiet. I'd recommend either making the sound louder, or muting my wife.

You made some mistakes (getting shot, mostly). It would have been helpful if you had said how you could have better handled that situation.

Also, your police brutality levels are still very low, which left the video a little unsatisfying.

On the flip side, there was some good tactics stuff in there, and good information I didn't know before. It was enjoyable listening to. I'm curious if you're going to have some even more difficult missions, since this seemed to still cover mostly basics (if they have one in an office building, or a flying jetliner, or anything with a little ultra-violence).

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 19 2009, 01:06 AM

Yes, there are some pretty grueling levels towards the end of the game, and in the expansion pack. I was planning on doing a tough level. The only problem is that even if I play carefully it becomes more likely I might die and have to make a couple attempts, so that would kind of make for a bad, lengthy repetitious viewing. I will probably just make commentary while playing the level and only save the one where I manage to "win".

Posted by: Blade Jun 19 2009, 09:44 AM

Ah the good times of SWAT3:

"I bet there are no civilians in the next room."
*The SWAT empties a clip in the door and wall*
* Mission Failed: Civilian Killed"
"How are they able to know that? I haven't opened the door yet!"

"Hey, this hostage has a paper bag on his head, I wonder if that's a good protection against CS gaz?"
*Handcuffs the suspect and drop a gaz grenade in front of him*
"Well, it doesn't protect him from the CS, but it does prevent him from seeing it's a SWAT officer who did that."

*Everyone has less than lethal ammunition loaded*
"We'll try not to kill everyone this time. Let's clear this room."
*The SWAT enters the room, there's a suspect with his gun raised there. The four SWAT officer shoot at the same time. Some even shoot twice. The suspect drops dead.*
"At least we tried."

IIRC SWAT4 has a tazer which should allow some fun police brutality. I definitely need to find a cheap copy of this game.

Posted by: Link Jun 19 2009, 10:13 AM

I'm unaware of the jurisdiction in which this SWAT unit operates but it seemed SOP to spray the female(?) bystander at the start with capiscum spray and then tie her up. That's assault and false arrest in the first minute!

Posted by: Blade Jun 19 2009, 12:40 PM

Actually the tying up part is compulsory in the SWAT games: you have to put the cuffs on everyone, hostages and suspects alike. I don't know if that's also the case IRL but I think it is, the SWAT games are supposed to be close to the real thing.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 20 2009, 04:38 AM

It seems like a reasonable rule to me. If you're the SWAT commander and you want to "bring order to chaos" you can't do that with adrenalized civilians running around who would be inherently unpredictable. Under stress people can do very strange things. Also realistically if a criminal wants to hide a handgun in his waistband and act like a hostage so he can shoot someone in the back of the head the only way to counteract that is to ziptie everyone.

Posted by: nezumi Jun 20 2009, 01:41 PM

And I assume in these cases, the area has already been cordoned off by police, so it's not like these are random pedestrians just caught in the crossfire (as funny as that would be).

I would be curious to see something as complex as a whole building (as long as it's not like an hour long!) I assume you do the voice-over AFTER you're done filming? So playing multiple times isn't a huge issue (from my perspective). Just say what you did wrong if you mess things up, and how you could have done it better.

Posted by: Link Jun 20 2009, 02:08 PM

I think his commentary is 'on the fly'.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 20 2009, 11:31 PM

Well the maps are generally portrayed as being cordoned off by the police but sometimes civilians are cordoned in the area.

My commentary is completely "on the fly". I don't have any video editing software. It's just the game recording software that is recording my voice. That is why sometimes it sounds weird. Because I'm talking while I play.

Actually last night I started to work on doing a difficult level. I decided that my best bet would be to practice the level over and over until I could reliably pull it off, and then record it once I was very confident in my ability to pull it off in one go. So last night I basically practiced one level a lot and I figure I just have to get it a little more polished before I am ready to lecture and demonstrate and record.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jun 26 2009, 04:27 AM

I am very proud of my latest Let's Play, seeing as I don't have video editing capability, and I had to do everything "right" the first time to make this video. I've done a playthrough of a pretty tough level, the Red Library level. There are three levels, staircases, a balcony, hostages, and some enemies with gas masks. When you look at how many do-overs there were at Spoony Experiment I feel like I did an excellent job of playing tactical with the added psychological pressure of knowing that if I screwed up all the time and talking I'd done prior to that point on the Let's Play would kind of be for naught. In my mind it shows how in SWAT 4 a solid tactical approach is more important than twitch skills.

http://www.wegame.com/watch/Lets_Play_SWAT_4_Tactical_playthrough_of_Red_Library_level_with_no_takebacks_or_editing/