Recording gameplay issue (NWjs, youtubers)

There are some serious issues with recording the gameplay of C2 games exported with NWjs.

FRAPS can't see C2 games at all. Many other video recording softwares record C2 games as blank screen, so there's the sound recorded only. I found two recorders (d3dgear and Action Mirilis) which work pretty well with C2 games, but even using those you must first launch the game and then lauch the recording software (it took me a while before I figured it out). Otherwise you will record a blank screen.

That would not be that big deal it if was only about recirding your game's trailer, but I have recieved messages from youtubers who wanted to record a gameplay review of our game and they couldn't record it, so they quit.

As you know youtubers are the main marketing power for indie games these days and losing them is really painful.

Anyone knows why there are these problems with recording C2 games? And if there's a solution to fix it?

Have you tried Open Broadcaster Software? It's worked for me in the past.

You could also create a self recording edition using the User Media object.

Have you tried Open Broadcaster Software? It's worked for me in the past.

You could also create a self recording edition using the User Media object.

The issue is not that I have problems with recording it, because as I mentioned above, I've managed to record it with Action Mirilis. What concerns me is that we are losing youtubers and what goes after - promotion.

I don't think that the solution is to tell youtuber to use OBS or any other soft. They have their own soft they use and if they have problems with recording anything, they simply dump it and take another game. Why would they waste their time if there are so many indie games out there.

But I'm not talking only about our game. The issue is regarding all C2 games exported with NWjs so this may bring really bad light on C2. I mean... imagine that you made an amazing game which you know people are excited about, but now none youtuber can record and promote it. Your game dies very fast without YT promo.

So I thought maybe someone is aware why this is happening? Is it something related to HTML5 technology or C2 or NWjs? If we knew the cause we could have think of the fix for it.

Ashley are you aware of this issue?

Possibly related:

https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/issues/4982

Thanks newt! I haven't tested that yet but according to what they say it is exactly this issue. So it was fixed in NWjs 0.18.1, which is a good news. The problem now is that 0.18.1 still has this flickering issue. Well life can't be easy. Will play around with it. Thanks again for the link!

The common streaming apps are Shadowplay & OBS.

I use OBS myself for all recording and streaming needs and I know many streamers prefer it as well.

According to the the link newt posted above, the solution is to add --single-process chromium option to the NWjs manifest file (package.json). I tried to build C2 project with NWjs manually with adding this option, but in result I could not launch my app at all - nothing happens after trying to run nw.exe.

I also tried with editing package.nw on exported project - same result. Is there some checksum which rejects the project after editing package.nw or is --single-process for some reason not compatibile with C2?

BTW: I have no flickering issue on 0.18.1 - that's cool!

The bug is currently ongoing. Note here:

We discussed it for awhile.

This bug also prevents MAC OSX games from having Steam Overlay or Achievements, since multiple processes on OSX cannot get Steam injection/monitoring going.

I think this is a problem with the screen recording software if it can't record certain kinds of app. I'd report it to them. Can Chrome be recorded? If not then it's probably the same thing, so you can request support for recording games in Chrome.

FWIW there is a fairly recent ability to record the canvas and produce a WebM video download from it from within the browser, but that doesn't cover all cases like streaming.

I think the screen recorders are fine ane Construct 2 is the problem. If the youtubers can record any game from other engines than that means Construct 2 is the problem. If Construct 2 developers don't want to fix the problem, then just say so. Stop with all the excuses already , everything can't be someone elses fault.

I think the screen recorders are fine ane Construct 2 is the problem. If the youtubers can record any game from other engines than that means Construct 2 is the problem. If Construct 2 developers don't want to fix the problem, then just say so. Stop with all the excuses already , everything can't be someone elses fault.

It doesn't work like that. Construct 2 relies on NW.js to have your game working on PC. Try exporting as HTML5 and testing if it works in Firefox or Chrome. If it does, then the problem is NW.js.

NW.js is not made by Scirra but everytime something breaks on it, they take it to the developers of NW.js. Still it is faster if you just go to https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/issues and create a new issue there so the bug is looked at by people who actually work in NW.js.

> I think the screen recorders are fine ane Construct 2 is the problem. If the youtubers can record any game from other engines than that means Construct 2 is the problem. If Construct 2 developers don't want to fix the problem, then just say so. Stop with all the excuses already , everything can't be someone elses fault.

>

It doesn't work like that. Construct 2 relies on NW.js to have your game working on PC. Try exporting as HTML5 and testing if it works in Firefox or Chrome. If it does, then the problem is NW.js.

NW.js is not made by Scirra but everytime something breaks on it, they take it to the developers of NW.js. Still it is faster if you just go to https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/issues and create a new issue there so the bug is looked at by people who actually work in NW.js.

But Ashley said it was the screen recorders that was the problem. The screen recorders are not the problem. I just notice lately everytime something doesn't work or breaks, its not Construct 2 problem. Whether its this, Steam or Kongagrate its always someone elses fault.

>

> > I think the screen recorders are fine ane Construct 2 is the problem. If the youtubers can record any game from other engines than that means Construct 2 is the problem. If Construct 2 developers don't want to fix the problem, then just say so. Stop with all the excuses already , everything can't be someone elses fault.

> >

>

> It doesn't work like that. Construct 2 relies on NW.js to have your game working on PC. Try exporting as HTML5 and testing if it works in Firefox or Chrome. If it does, then the problem is NW.js.

>

> NW.js is not made by Scirra but everytime something breaks on it, they take it to the developers of NW.js. Still it is faster if you just go to https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/issues and create a new issue there so the bug is looked at by people who actually work in NW.js.

>

But Ashley said it was the screen recorders that was the problem. The screen recorders are not the problem. I just notice lately everytime something doesn't work or breaks, its not Construct 2 problem. Whether its this, Steam or Kongagrate its always someone elses fault.

I feel the same way sometimes but it is indeed not Scirra's fault. They just rely WAY too much on third-party applications and if something breaks on their end there's nothing they can do.

NW.js is just a port of Chrome. If the game records well on Chrome and not on NW.js, it's NW.js fault.

If you want to test it you could grab the code for any HTML5 game NOT made in C2 yourself and compile with NW.js. If it does work with this game and not with a game made in C2, then it's C2's fault and you should fill a bug report.

This happens with every engine. If you buy a plugin for Unity and it doesn't work with a new Unity update, who has the fix it? The Unity team or the plugin creator? The same applies here.

The probable issue is that Chrome uses multiple instances, so screen recorders don't know which one to record.

A work around might be to make it just use one.

Or get the fine screen recorders to change their software.

The probable issue is that Chrome uses multiple instances, so screen recorders don't know which one to record.

A work around might be to make it just use one.

Or get the fine screen recorders to change their software.

Yeah that seems to be the solution so adding --single-process chromium option should do the trick, but I failed to do so. Would be great if Ashley could try it. I'm not that experienced in manual NWjs setup so I probably messed some detail there.