53 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
53 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
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# 0001 — Twitch Video Overlay over Panel extension
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- **Status:** Accepted
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- **Date:** 2026-05-06
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## Context and problem statement
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Twitch offers three extension placements: Panel (fixed 318×496px below the video, always visible), Component (small attached affordance on the video that expands), and Video Overlay (full transparent layer over the stream, can be minimised to a configured slot).
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Fog Expedition is an autonomous, tick-based ZPG that runs in parallel to a streamer's gameplay. The viewer experience needs to feel ambient and atmospheric — not a separate UI demanding attention, but a layer of fiction that complements the stream.
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Which extension placement best supports this experience?
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## Decision drivers
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- **Aesthetic fit.** The "lantern in the fog" concept needs a small, persistent, atmospheric presence over the stream — not a docked widget below it.
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- **Glanceability.** Viewers should be able to consume the latest log line in peripheral vision without taking focus from gameplay.
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- **Streamer control.** Streamers need to position the overlay so it doesn't obscure their gameplay HUD.
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- **Review feasibility.** All three pass Twitch review with reasonable design discipline; Video Overlay has stricter pixel-obstruction checks.
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- **Ambient event surfacing.** Significant moments (injury, sacrifice) should briefly surface without forcing the viewer to open anything.
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## Considered options
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1. **Panel extension** — sits below the video, always visible.
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2. **Component extension** — Twitch-managed icon attached to the video edge, expands to a card on click.
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3. **Video Overlay extension** — custom-positioned element drawn over the stream, with a configured collapsed/minimised state.
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## Decision outcome
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**Chosen: Video Overlay extension.**
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The minimised state is a custom "lantern + ticker" element (~290×56px) positioned at a streamer-configured corner. It shows the current survivor's state colour and the latest log line. Significant events ("ambient event" state) briefly surface a larger card before auto-dismissing. Click expands the lantern to a full survivor + log + action card (~320×440px) with a backdrop dim.
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This is the only placement that supports the ambient-event surfacing pattern, and the only one that lets viewers consume the experience entirely in peripheral vision.
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## Consequences
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### Positive
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- Aesthetic latitude — the lantern is custom-designed, not Twitch-chrome-constrained.
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- Viewers see content without taking focus; the experience is genuinely ambient.
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- Streamer config screen lets broadcasters position the overlay to avoid their HUD.
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### Negative
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- Stricter Twitch review: overlays must not obscure meaningful gameplay pixels, must include a streamer kill switch, and the visibility lifecycle (`onVisibilityChanged`) is more nuanced than a Panel.
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- Higher design discipline required — bad overlays drive streamers to disable the extension across all viewers.
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- Anonymous viewer experience must be designed explicitly (panel placement makes this trivial; overlay does not).
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### Neutral
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- The visibility lifecycle becomes an explicit concern. When the overlay is hidden, PubSub processing and polling must stop; when re-shown, state must be re-fetched. This shapes how the frontend store reconciles.
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