It is important to record the test play.
Because you can look back later.
There are a lot of things to notice when you watch the video later.
However, recording is time-consuming.
I’m looking for something better.
Do you know any good way?
#1 Record video.
It is possible to record using streaming distribution software such as “OBS Studio”.
However, the data capacity is quite large.
It may be okay if you test play yourself, but it is almost impossible for you to receive the data that another person has test played.
(If the test player is using Youtube or Twitch, you may be able to see the test play…)
#2 Key recording
I think the best way is to record only the keystrokes, like TAS movies.
It is only key input data, so very small capacity is required.
mGBA provides the function for that.
VBA has this feature poorly, but there is an implementation called “VBA-ReRecording”.
However, these features are off by default.
The procedure to turn it on is required.
It may not be valid for others to perform test play.
Do you know any better solution?
I want to hear your opinion.
Agree that recordings are valuable - especially to see how other people approach the maps. Voice over is also super helpful because you get the player’s raw reaction - if they are frustrated, you’ll hear it in their voice.
I would argue that the single most important thing with your romhack, or any project or product, is to have recordings of users interacting with it to see how their experience is. People are going to be much nicer when delivering feedback or may not be able to articulate with words after the fact how their experience was. Seeing how they attempt to solve a problem or use a product is way more insightful and is something that has helped me tremendously both when making a hack as well as any other products or processes I’ve launched in my work life.
For the tech side —
Using OBS to record and Shotcut to edit is probably one of the most easy (and free) ways to go about it. Shotcut also compresses video, which reduces the file size. I’ve had some issues with OBS being inconsistent about recording audio, but it is pretty much the standard for video games these days.
I’ve not tried recording directly with the emulator, since screen capturing the GBA in OBS is easy enough.
Videos can take up a lot of space, so I recommend using Firefox Send to share with someone (it is like snapchat for big files) if you don’t want to just put it on YouTube or other online video repository. (I’ve seen Epicer use a service called Streamable, but I personally have not tried it).
If you start recording, watch the bottom left of the OBS window. Sometimes it’ll say something along the lines of “encoding overloaded” and give a message. If you stop the recording and immediately restart it, It’ll fix most desyncing issues