Three Moves Ahead 629: RTS Shoutcasting and Stormgate 0.3.0 with BeoMulf
Feb 28, 2025
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Philip "BeoMulf" Mulford, a professional RTS esports caster and PhD student focused on space robots, shares his dual passions in a lively discussion. He explains the unique skills required for shoutcasting and contrasts it with traditional sportscasting. The conversation also explores the latest updates in Stormgate, including graphical enhancements and new gameplay features. BeoMulf highlights the dynamics of the RTS community and upcoming charity tournaments, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and support among gamers.
Philip Mulford, a professional RTS esports caster, illustrates the unique challenges of casting RTS games compared to traditional sports.
The decline of RTS games has led to a lack of quality titles, impacting competitive scenes and community engagement.
Philip discusses the significance of crowdfunding for grassroots competitions, emphasizing community support through events like the charity tournament for Stormgate.
Deep dives
Introduction to the Guest
Philip, known as Bamilf, introduces himself as an RTS esports caster and a PhD student working on technology for lunar navigation. He shares his journey in competitive gaming, starting with StarCraft during the COVID pandemic. Philip highlights his experiences casting offline events, including DreamHack Atlanta and tournaments in Bulgaria, and his current involvement with Stormgate by organizing weekly events for the community.
The Evolution of RTS Gaming
Philip emphasizes the decline of RTS games, pointing out that many recent releases have failed to match the quality of classics like StarCraft II. This decline affects competitive scenes and the fanbase as the frequency of well-crafted titles diminishes, leaving dedicated players searching for engaging content. The absence of a strong competitive environment has made it harder to foster local communities around RTS games, contributing to a higher threshold for new players to engage with the genre.
Challenges of Casting RTS Games
The intricate dynamics of RTS games make casting a unique challenge, as philip explains the necessity of keeping track of multiple actions simultaneously on different parts of the map. He discusses how experience and familiarity with the game help casters prioritize critical moments and convey the action to viewers effectively. Additionally, he contrasts the viewer experience of RTS games with other genres, highlighting the need for viewers to understand the game mechanics to fully enjoy broadcasts.
The Significance of Tournament Organization
Philip reflects on his journey into tournament organization, describing how a lack of established competitions for Stormgate drove him to create events himself. He narrates the successes and challenges he faced while organizing tournaments, including a notable $2,000 event. Philip discusses the importance of integrating crowdfunding models, like Match Arena, to encourage viewer donations and support for grassroots-level competitions and to help elevate aspiring players.
Upcoming Stormgate Charity Tournament
Philip reveals an upcoming charity tournament for Stormgate featuring a $3,000 prize pool, aiming to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. He shares that for every 100 participants, donations will be made to the charity, fostering a sense of community and purpose among players. Philip emphasizes his excitement about this event as it represents one of the first major competitions by Frost Giant and expresses hope for the future of Stormgate and RTS games overall.
This week, Len sits down with Philip "BeoMulf" Mulford, a professional RTS esports caster. We discuss how you get that gig, how you develop the skills for it, and how it compares to traditional sportscasting. We also dig in a bit to the recent 0.3.0 patch for Stormgate and how the first big graphical refresh, automated control groups, and fully rebindable hotkeys change the experience.
NOTE: We found out after the show was recorded that Philip will be handling the main stream for the CHOC tournament on Sunday at https://www.twitch.tv/beomulf. You can find out more at https://playstormgate.com/news/stormgate-for-choc-charity-tournament
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