#PastebinMonday 05/22/2023 I Need a Week to Get It Together Edition

'Sup, doods!

I am currently running into roadblocks on how best to update the various stream layouts that I need to in order to put on the upcoming puzzle speedrun tournaments. It's a mental block I'm encountering when I keep getting sidetracked into research on how to add bells and whistles I would ideally like to have during a broadcast. In a good-enough world, if not perfect, I could update a spreadsheet with player data and display it on stream as text that I can format however I like. I have yet to find a working means of doing this. I have resorted to capturing windows of the spreadsheets in the past, where the restrictions imposed on text formatting make the text look flat and lifeless. I will take that over the numerous text files I had to update before, however. I feel like playing with the NodeCG-based SpeedControl this week to see how I can tweak that for my needs. All I'm good for is tweaking other people's work. My artistic creativity left me years ago.

I still feel in need of a week to myself to get it together. Fortunately, this weekend will start a vacation so conveniently coinciding with Summer Games Done Quick 2023, as if I need any more distractions from what I want to do. I will power my way through stream layout things by then.

This week, however, I might have the motivation to edit the Kirby's Avalanche videos I'm about to make bit by bit. Because I will be absorbed in editing, I think I will finally commit to making my oldest VODs public in an effort to bring consistent content to my YouTube. If I have no content to release on a given week, I will make one of my stream VODs public on Thursday at 6pm CT--Throwback Thursdays and all that, you know. I have more than three years worth of videos I can pull from. As long as I keep streaming weekly, I will never run out of videos to release AND I can still encourage people to become a part of the Sardine Tin on YouTube for as little as 99 CENTS PER MONTH and watch the more recent streams that are no longer available on Twitch. I think this will be better for the YouTube audience than not releasing any videos at all. I need to make some effort to grow the channel if I want to make a living out of this.

Today's (permanent) extra streaming goals:

Goal #2: create a broadcast stream layout for the next LPS minor speedrun tournament game, Kirby's Avalanche.
Goal #3: update the LPS Pokémon Puzzle League broadcast layout to be better automated like the Tetris Attack layout.
Goal #4: edit my Kirby's Avalanche runs. I'mma need a minute for this.
Goal #5: script and record footage for my Puzzle League tutorial series. I have some scripts to touch up before feeling comfortable with moving on to recording gameplay. Then I will need to record my talking points and edit it all together. I will still want to take time during the week to do all of that instead of stream. Whether I will be able to remains to be seen.
Goal #6: clean up my own stream layout. I am brainstorming how I want the final theming to be. I probably want to give people multiple options, maybe allow spending bits to change the look. I don't have anything written down yet. I don't expect to get to this anytime soon.
Goal #7: maybe make a universal LPS broadcast layout that I don't have to agonize over recreating every year. Hopefully I wouldn't over-homogenize it like SpeedGaming did.
Goal #8: release the Puzzle League tutorial series YouTube shorts once a day until they're all done. I really do think I need to time the release of the series with a ramping up of my streaming schedule so that I can take advantage of whatever there is to gain from releasing the shorts.

PPL Friday? I think I'mma go with PPL on Friday.

That’s my life story for the week. Later, doods!

--Cards