EPT"This is probably the biggest jump I've seen in starcraft 2, and probably in esports."
JP "itmeJP" McDaniel
"This should be done by every tournament."
Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski
"Absolutely. Fucking. Amazing."
Scott "SirScoots" Smith
JP "itmeJP" McDaniel
"This should be done by every tournament."
Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski
"Absolutely. Fucking. Amazing."
Scott "SirScoots" Smith
Features
- Sleek minimalist overlay which makes important information big and easy to read for any quality of stream while drastically reducing the size of the UI to show more of the game.
- Simple design to allow tournaments to easily modify it using image overlays to create their own ‘look’.
- Multiple layouts to choose from so each league can choose what best suits their needs.
- Selectable team and league logos built into the overlay to give each map and each tournament a more unique feel.
- “Stronger Team Colors” mod, originally created by pzea469, but no longer functional as of the 1.5 arcade patch is now included in the GameHeart overlay as a toggleable option.
- Telestrator, or drawing functionality for observers to improve game calling and game analysis both during, and post game.
- Zoom out much farther than you have traditionally been able to. Get more of the action on screen to show fights in multiple locations at the same time.
- Important information such as upgrades and worker counts always on screen, to give viewers a better game sense.
- Labels to indicate what buildings are researching or producing on the building itself.
- Map intro animations to add a little class to your production.
- Scoreboards built into the overlay. You can now easily setup a scoreboard to show whether its a best of 3 or 5 etc, and how many games each player has won.
- Override player names. You can easily change the names that show up for players in the overlay to correct smurf account names.
- You can now easily determine the order of observers to create hotkey consistency for your production.
- Unit health and upgrades can now be easily viewed by clicking on an individual unit.
- Simple in-game lobby interface gives organizers greater control over the exact moment the game starts, rather than relying on unpredictable loading times.
A Message To:
Teams & Leagues -
If your organization does not like the logo I have used for you in the overlay and would like to provide me with another, please do. The team logos go into the map in a square format and images with a transparent/no background are ideal. League logos are a 2x1 ratio (horizontal).
If you would like your organization removed from the overlay entirely please contact me, preferably in a way that I can verify you genuinely represent the team or league.
If your organization is not currently included in the overlay and you would like to be, please contact me.
Leagues -
Obviously my goal with the overlay is to gain widespread adoption. If there is something stopping you from using it even though you would like to, or there is some feature you would like to see please let me know.
Map Makers -
If you are designing maps that make it into regular competitive play, chances are I will try to contact you very shortly, have already tried to contact you, or cannot find contact information for you. I really hope we can cooperate to improve the production quality of tournaments and showmatches all over the world. If you would like to take the initiative to contact me please do so.
Fans -
I have put hundreds of hours of work into the overlay, well beyond what I had originally intended. As the project grew it became more stressful and I am certainly concerned now about how you receive it. I would love to hear your feedback, and while I know some of you may not like some of the features in the overlay, hopefully you will at least view it as a step forward overall.
If you would like to support the project, please encourage the leagues you enjoy watching to adopt the GameHeart overlay.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do players see the logos and drawings?
No, players do not see the logos or the drawings, to them it looks like a normal game.
-Does it work with HotS?
Being so close to the release of Heart of the Swarm I decided to focus on HotS. If you would desperately like to use the overlay in WoL I may be able to upload it for you, please let me know. It’s just extra work to try to maintain both and I figured at this point very few organizations are left broadcasting WoL. For now, I have uploaded only one map with the overlay to WoL. That map is GameHeart - Metropolis. Right now there are only two maps up on HotS but I will be adding more throughout the day.
- Does the GameHeart overlay use Blizzard’s new custom observer interface feature?
No it does not.
- Why would I use the GameHeart overlay instead of Blizzard’s new custom observer interface feature?
The GameHeart overlay can offer more functionality than the new observer tools because it is a custom map. Things like the telestrator function, zoom out, and the team/league logos are not possible with their tool (at least not yet).
-Why would I use Blizzard’s new observer tools instead of the GameHeart overlay?
Blizzard’s tool is totally independent of the map. I can only offer the GameHeart overlay for maps which I have access to, either because they are on the ladder or the map maker has decided to allow me to use his map. Blizzard’s tool does not have this limitation, you can use it with any map you want.
-Does it work for casting from replays?
The short answer here is no. While we could offer some limited functionality in replays such as the zoom out feature, most of the overlay requires direct interaction with the game, which is not possible in a replay. Blizzard’s new tools can do most of what our overlay could offer in a replay, I recommend you use their feature for casting from replays.
-Who is your target audience?
Well everyone is our target audience in a way. Average viewers need to like what we are showing them or tournaments will not want to adopt our toolset. But more specifically we are targeting major and minor tournament broadcasters who want to raise their production values. Many of the tools offered help smaller organizations provide content that was previously only done by larger organizations, such as fancy camera intros, scoreboards that aren’t starboard etc.
-Is the GameHeart overlay complicated to use?
It will seem intimidating at first to anyone who jumps into it, but it’s actually quite simple. The most complicated part of using it will be learning new hotkeys (which you don’t even have to use if you don’t want to).
-I hate (insert feature here).
Keep in mind that everything in the overlay is optional. If you don’t like strong team colors, the logos or scoreboards then don’t use them! Most of these things can even be turned on and off in the middle of a game if you so choose.
Contact
TeamGameHeart@gmail.com
You can reach me on skype as rtschutter
twitter: @rtschutter
I am rtschutter on reddit.
INTERFACE FILES
Here is an interface file for those of you who are wanting to view the dreamhack replays but are annoyed by the observer panel covering up the unit info.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4479839/gameheart published files/gameheartReplayInterface_0.2.SC2Interface
Having this work on replays would be a good thing in the future too since there are tournaments that are using replays (like NASL, IPL). Also casters doing daily shows use replays and I think that's one avenue to gain attention to this overlay.
