Download:

1: Expertise vs Sneaky Charger, ESEA-O S5 W7 cp_yukon_final (http://www.mediafire.com/?gtzamwgmddw)
2: Area 51 vs Reamped Gaming, ESEA-O S5 W8 cp_granary (http://www.mediafire.com/?nniwjktugty)
3: Blight Gaming vs Evil Geniuses, ESEA-I S5 W8 cp_granary (http://www.mediafire.com/?xnq5ewzwi0z)
4: Dignitas vs What Women Want, ESH ASRock Semi-Finals cp_badlands (http://www.mediafire.com/?0gwnyty2yc1)
5: Unrestricted vs Apem, TWL Div 2 playoffs (round 1) cp_badlands (http://www.mediafire.com/?f1nnaoqbk2j)
6: Detox vs Vicious Gaming, ESEA-O S5 playoffs cp_gravelpit (http://www.mediafire.com/?tzdmtiih4qv)
7: Team Coolermaster vs I Don't Know?, ESH Sennheiser Challenge Final cp_badlands (http://www.orztf2.com/2010/03/15/focus-fire-episode-7/)
8: Evil Geniuses vs Blight Gaming, ESEA-I S5 playoffs koth_viaduct (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jy2jzwdwnq2)

Please contact me if you have a demo worth commentating on. I don't have the time to watch that many, so without recommendations I will generally pick demos from esea based on stats and the caliber of the players.

Original post:

Hi CommFT!

As you might know, I used to be a regular host on the semi-competitive TF2 podcast, Friendly Fire (http://www.randomchatter.com/category/podcasts/friendlyfire/). Recently, I haven't been doing the show due to the schedule; the other hosts are busy and it would be difficult to move from our old recording time, which falls right when I'm normally scrimming or playing matches.

Anyways, I didn't really want to give up on putting out useful content, so Jestr (my replacement host on Friendly Fire, medic for Harmonic in S4) and I decided to do a spin-off aimed a little bit higher up the skill ladder. Cue Focus Fire (name recycled from another project that never got off the ground). This show will release on a "whenever-we-feel-like-it" schedule (expect about 1/week, might skip a week now and then, might do 2-3 at a time), and will have a simple format: intro, commentate on a demo, recap/outro. I don't have a nice enough setup (or the free time when matches are being played) to do streaming/live shoutcasting, and my camera work is mediocre at best, so each show will be an audio file to be played alongside a demo. The goal here is to create a more entertaining game than the straight demo, and to delve into the strategy behind the map/team. Hopefully, this will be useful for low or mid players wondering why teams do the things they do.

I will be uploading each cast to a folder on mediafire (DOWNLOAD LINK (http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2419d186e65f0acdab1eab3e9fa335cae6551e89 fae24386)), and for the time being, I'll update this thread when we release something new. As of right now, we have one (rather rocky) show in there (expertise vs sneaky charger on yukon) -- let's call it a learning experience; the format/focus will be a bit different (better) for subsequent episodes. Constructive criticism is welcome!

Cheers,
Sigma

Sounds cool.

Awesome.

Didn't listen to the commentary yet, but it sounds cool.
Keep it up.

ooh can't wait to see people of Comm FT making guest appearances. BTW love Friendly Fire my fav podcast.

awesome cast is awesome

Hit me up for an interview! I would love to be interviewed for once....

Sweet, looking forward to this.

Off-topic, but did anyone else think this thread was going to be about focus firing? Because I did and I was pretty confused until I got about half way through Sigma's post.

Hey, indirectly it is! I'm looking at you, 3-members-of-ex-with-less-than-50hp-after-a-last-defense.

Also @dj - cool. Will do at some point.

I just listened to it, it was good and I learned some stuff.

:biggrin:

I watched it, I liked it. The only part I didn't like was that I got a phone call in the middle of it and it is HELLA hard to pause and keep them in sync. And if you accidentally pause or something goes wrong you're pretty much boned because it is a almost impossible to resync them if you get off by a lot. I don't really know if there is much you can do about this though, so I just wouldn't recommend watching these unless you know you can sit through the whole thing without interruption.

The intro seemed a bit too long but that's ok for the first episode. Sigma and jestr have good chemistry together and it was probably 100 times smarter and more informative than any TF2 cast I've ever seen. Obviously since it's a prerecording and not live it's going to be a little better but I never once felt like somebody made a dumb comment. This is good stuff, much better than any TF2 casters around (no offense, they all do good work but this was just so much better).

I had some good criticism for you but it's been a few hours since I watched it and forgot what it was, so enjoy my unabashed praise for your first effort at podcast-casting, or whatever you're calling this. :tongue:

I left for dinner in the middle, and the pausing/resuming didn't cause me any problems.

That's a good point about the pausing. The best method may be to just remember what we were saying when you pause, rewind the mp3 a bit, then let it play and unpause when it lines up. We can help you out a bit too, though -- when the demo starts for subsequent shows I can state what time it is in the mp3, so you can sync by looking at demo time/tic and mp3 time. Or, that information could be included in the readme. Or, we could just make it very obvious when each round ends.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions so far, I've got a list of ideas going for the next episode. I'll edit this into the OP at some point, but I wanted to say that if you know of a game you want casted, particularly if it was non-ESEA and you have the STV, please let me know and I'll take a look. Our current method for selecting games is to go by what good matches we saw during the week, or judging matches by their stats and skimming through demos. Hence, it's far more likely for us to use ESEA matches than those from other leagues unless you point us to them. Also, while we're going to use top-open/invite matches primarily, we're not opposed to doing lower-level matches if the game was good.

I typed up this wall-of-text response but then lost it because I timed out. Anyway, I think it was better for everyone's eyes that that happened. :P

I think you guys have a great vibe going on in this podcast. All that's left to make this a great success is if you guys can focus your themes, per the 'show-notes' of FriendlyFire.

Also I'd love to hear more medic-centric talk. There was a fail-push on 4th due to an uber-error. I'd love to hear you guys elaborate on that: what'd you do, what'd you advise newer medics to do?

Anyway, I'm really interested on what else you guys got coming.

Plus this is more competitive-centric than Friendly Fire is, seeing as Jestr is the only one who actually plays competitively on that show anymore.

2nd and 3rd episodes are out. This time, we take a look at Area 51 vs Reamped Gaming, and Blight vs EG, both on granary. Edited first post.

I love Friendly Fire. I listened to alot of them.

hey there -- i just listened to all three of them on a tf2 binge and i really, really like what you guys are doing. you guys work very well together in commentating the match imo and i support this stuff.

The best way to fix the pause/resume issue is to play the mp3 with a media player that has global hotkeys: foobar2000, winamp. Then you can use your hotkey to pause whenever you want to.

Oh and nice cast, sigma.

Just listened/watched Focus Fire # 3 - good job Sigma and Jestr.

where do i +frag?

you click on the checkmark underneath his name

edit - i stickied this thread because i felt it was worth keeping at the top of the pile. i hope that jinn doesn't mind..

OP updated. Episodes 4 and 5 are out, this time covering cp_badlands. In these episodes, we bring in some action from across the ocean, as well as a guest host. Check it out!

Sigma, have you talked to jinn_ about posting these on the site? They certainly could serve as front-page content.

i completely agree with what kuiper says, and i don't think jinn would refuse something like this.

and if for whatever reason he doesn't let you post it on the front page yourself, i'd be willing to do it for you.

I would appreciate front-page coverage, if possible. I haven't talked to anyone about it as of yet.

Feel free to hit me up with any new casts, I can post them on as headlines.

I was going to suggest the www v Dignitas game to you - only to find that you've already done it. Good choice.

I haven't listened yet but did you catch Darn's premature GG that caused www to fail the defence of the last cap?
Check out the last 30 seconds from Dunc's POV

Enjoyed it, just wish there was a little more play by play. Seemed like there was a lot of strategy talk from everyone and not much play by play.

Seemed like there was a lot of strategy talk from everyone and not much play by play.
That's the idea.

That's the idea.

yeah that's exactly what i was thinking when i read kermit's comment there. i was confused though so i didn't post because i thought my wording would be a little too harsh... so kudos on how you handled that one!

There won't be one of these this week. If this leaves a void in your tf2 viewing, find a part of a previous episode where I say something about an uber and positioning, put it on loop, then watch one of the 5-4 yukon games. Or watch tgbf -- if anyone's already gotten through all of those shows I envy the amount of time you have. We'll pick back up next week.

Thx for the coverage Sigma. The more the merrier. Yea peeps, check out the VOD TGBF.tv casts, eXtv, and Pwnage.tv even got in on a lil tf2 as well. I especially like the first few minutes of LeoGeo's cast between CAD and eXpertise, check it out to see what I mean.

Thx for the coverage Sigma. The more the merrier. Yea peeps, check out the VOD TGBF.tv casts, eXtv, and Pwnage.tv even got in on a lil tf2 as well. I especially like the first few minutes of LeoGeo's cast between CAD and eXpertise, check it out to see what I mean.

i heard him say it too man -- was a great Freudian slip. it means he wants you.

Episode 6 is out. This time, breather, jestr and I take a look at detox vs VG from the lower-bracket ESEA-O playoffs on cp_gravelpit. Download here (http://www.mediafire.com/?tzdmtiih4qv) or from the OP.

Also, if someone wants to advertise for me on the front page, I'd appreciate the coverage!

Really cool stuff. I've considered doing stuff like this before, I wasn't aware some others were already doing it. Keep up the good work

Episode 7 is up now [DOWNLOAD] (http://www.orztf2.com/2010/03/15/focus-fire-episode-7/) I know everyone is burnt out after watching all of those LAN games, but if you're still up for some more TF2, I bring you a European badlands match.

This time on Focus Fire, Jestr, Breather and I take a look at another match from across the pond. From the ESH Sennheiser Challenge Final, we have TCM vs idk in a tight game on badlands. The playstyle of both teams here is surprisingly passive, but the game is good nonetheless. Just remember — never gg until it’s actually impossible to cap last!

Also, thanks to orz (http://www.orztf2.com/) for offering to host our casts. They're chill people with a cool site -- check it out!

Thnx again, always looking forward to another episode.

Whoo! Get these gentlemen a spot on the front page of commFT :D Looking forward to when (if?) you guys do a ESEA playoff match, to provide a little more indepth look beyond all the pickaxes and airshots that wowed everyone during the casts.

Whoo! Get these gentlemen a spot on the front page of commFT :D Looking forward to when (if?) you guys do a ESEA playoff match, to provide a little more indepth look beyond all the pickaxes and airshots that wowed everyone during the casts.
They have had one, if they'd like though I'm sure they'd get a link to their stuff right next to the Top 10. Just need to ask Jinn.

Yeah, I'm in the process of talking to Graham about this. I'll probably be posting future episodes on the front page.

Episode 8 of Focus Fire is here, this time bringing some action from the ESEA-I LAN playoffs. Start with some viaduct, add a pinch of EG and a dash of Blight, then sprinkle equalizer kills on top. Let cool and serve with a side of headshots. Check out this intense back-and-forth match, with commentary from Jestr, Breather, and yours truly.

Download (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jy2jzwdwnq2)

I want to offer two suggestions:

1) How is this recorded? Sometimes I hear keyboard strokes LOL and if you are going to tease us you might as well throw in lip smacks and weird swallowing noises. :tongue: But seriously maybe you can look at your mic situation a little bit because you guys are so professional-sounding otherwise.

2) Has youtube been an a consideration of yours? I do love the sentiment of this accompanying a demo but I was watching G-Mang's cast on youtube the other day and the process was remarkably easy.

As it stands you are targeting competitive players only (which is what you're probably going for), but I think if you were to somehow do one episode on youtube as an off-shoot, you'd generate a lot of interest. Right now, even though I'm a fan of the show, I do have to set aside time for Focus Fire. Whereas I can eat my lunch and watch it at the same time if it were streaming.

Anyway some thoughts from the viewer-side of things. Can't wait to check out the coverage on ESEA when I get home.

I want to offer two suggestions:

...

2) Has youtube been an a consideration of yours? I do love the sentiment of this accompanying a demo but I was watching G-Mang's cast on youtube the other day and the process was remarkably easy.

As it stands you are targeting competitive players only (which is what you're probably going for), but I think if you were to somehow do one episode on youtube as an off-shoot, you'd generate a lot of interest. Right now, even though I'm a fan of the show, I do have to set aside time for Focus Fire. Whereas I can eat my lunch and watch it at the same time if it were streaming.

Anyway some thoughts from the viewer-side of things. Can't wait to check out the coverage on ESEA when I get home.

I'd be more than willing to discuss things with you Sigma if you need help working source recorder. I've only listened to one Focus Fire, enjoyed it, and see hows its a lot easier than doing a full recording, but a full recording offers some definite advantages as Jon mentions.

Your audio method is super quick, as you just need to get your casting crew together and sync your clips. However the user has to control the demo themselves and do the camerawork. G-Mang was using FRAPS (I believe, didn't talk with him directly but thats what it looked like) which is quicker, but has inconsistent quality.

The Source Recorder method is definitely more time consuming as the footage must be processed and edited. Once a cut is together, you can export it and deliver it to your broadcast partners, watching it together and recording audio. I'm looking to bring in more community involvment with eXtv, will have some blog posts up sometime about that, and would be willing to guide you, although I realize the major time savings you get from your format.

@Digweed:

1) We're using the mics/headsets we use to game, none of us have nice podcasting setups. It's possible that we'll upgrade, but I make no guarantees.

2) I've thought about it, but as Extine pointed out, it comes down to time. With the current method, it takes the time of the demo + 15 minutes to have a finished product. I do know how to use the source recorder, but if I were to do that I would be dedicating an extra several hours, which I simply can't do. I have a lot of respect for the amount of effort Extine puts into his casts. Recording with fraps/camtasia/something like that is an option for the future. My current rig gets about 10fps if I try, but I am in the process of upgrading right now (just need the processor to arrive!). If all goes well I can record what I'm looking at over the course of the demo, and will upload that along with the commentary. I'll consider recording post-commentary if I have trouble working the camera and talking.

If I run into issues with that, well, this will probably stay as-is. I realize that this kind of thing hits a niche market because it's a hassle to run a demo and audio, but I'm at about the limit of the time I can dedicate to TF2 with scrims/matches 5 nights a week and 6 teams to mentor.

This is why Valve should enable some sort of SpectatorCamera recording track, where you could just record and alter the camera position in game and ship that data out with the demo file. If a way to sync up MP3 files was included, you could easily make a cast of a game in the time it takes to watch it.

I guess one experiment you can try is having the auto-director run your camera, and record whatever he's watching. As far as I know he does a pretty good job of focusing on the action and setting up camera angles.

Of course you run into the risk of starring at a wall and having to commentate on that for a few minutes but it would be a worry-free operation. You would just start recording, set your camera to auto-director, then stop recording when the match is over.

More info at http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SourceTV

Hmm.. Interesting prospect Digweed, mainly just cause you could set it and forget it. Auto-Director does do a great job capturing frags and is a decent way to watch live matches, but it it'd most likely be too choppy to commentate well. But maybe not, only one way to find out.

So I tried this today, and I couldn't find a way to do it. I don't think it would allow you to record the auto-director when you replay the demo file. Perhaps Valve will implement it in the future but for now, it looks like you have to have a camera man.:wink:

Unfortunately, we didn't record one of these this week. Schedule issues made the off-season break a bit longer than anticipated. We should be back next week, and this time with a youtube version in addition to the regular demo+mp3.

Episode 9 is done! The usual cast of Jestr, Breather, and myself boot up AG vs eMg on cp_granary. Listen as I relive the experience of throwing away the match for my team!

Get the demo here: http://www.mediafire.com/?nwzm4mdtmk4
And the commentary here: http://www.mediafire.com/?tgd3zt5hm2z

But wait! This time, there's also a youtube version. Watch for that to come up in the next few days (along with the front-page announcement).

But wait! This time, there's also a youtube version. Watch for that to come up in the next few days (along with the front-page announcement).

Sigma, you just keep getting sexier. I dont have a gaming compy for awhile, but still want to keep myself sharp, a youtube vid is perfect. You. Are. Awesome.

<3 u!

I finally got all of the videos published after encountering huge problems syncing the audio. My voice is a half second-second off in some of these parts, so I end up talking over people (more than usual) and a bit of the commentary is lost in the transitions between parts. I learned how to do it better for next time, though, so it will be synced properly in the future.

The download for all 6 parts is here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2419d186e65f0acdab1eab3e9fa335cae6551e89 fae24386

...and over the next few days they will make their way on to the commft youtube account if you don't feel like downloading a gig of video.

Thanks for doing these Sigma (and co.) :D

aghhh why did you stop!?

We got out of the habit in the offseason, and it was hard to get back into it. Also, I've been spending every free moment playing sc2. Maybe I'll do some more of these, someday.

Should bring this back :3

i miss these :(