Age2XSplit Scene Switcher v1.4.0 (XSplit auto scene changer)

[BugA_the_Great]

NOTE: Updated on 23/01/2013, version 1.4.0

Info: Age2XSplit is a piece of software that enables automatic scene switching for XSplit application, in accordance to state of "Age of Empires II" game. It may be of significant value to everyone that streams "Age of Empires II" matches, never to forget to switch a scene (and annoy viewers) again!

DOWNLOAD: age2xsplit_v1.4.0.zip (1.3 MB)

Age2XSplit fully supports "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings", "Age of Empires II: The Conquerors" and "Age of Empires II: Forgotten Empires".

Preview (main window):

How to use:

1. Unpack the packed file (WinZIP, WinRAR)
2. Start age2xsplit.exe
3. Configure scenes you would like to use for up to 6 game states - Game OFF, Game Menu, Playing (Single), Playing (Multi), Watching Rec, Game Inactive

That`s all - minimize application (it will minimize to system tray - bottom right, near the clock), launch XSplit, start your favorite online client, and let Age2XSplit do all the hard work for you, changing XSplit scenes as you play.

By clicking on program`s icon in system tray the main window will appear again, and you can reconfigure or close the program (note that all settings will be saved for future use).

Version changelog:

2013-01-23, version 1.4.0

• Added extra controls to allow/disallow microphone/speaker muting and music pausing

2013-01-22, version 1.3.2

• Windows 8 support improved (fixed microphone/speaker muting bug)

2013-01-18, version 1.3.1

• XSplit v1.2 support improved
• XSplit v1.1 support improved (fixed microphone muting bug)

2012-05-20, version 1.3.0

• Game state checking logic improved

2012-05-14, version 1.2.0

• Game state checking logic improved

2012-05-12, version 1.1.5

• Unable to set hotkeys in "Alternative Mode" (broken in v1.1.0, fixed)
• Game state checking logic rewritten

2012-05-07, version 1.1.0

• Age2XSplit not finding XSplit once the broadcasting has started (fixed)
• Background image displaced when users use values other than 100% for the size of text and other items in Windows settings (fixed)

2012-05-06, version 1.0.0

• Initial release

About the program (features):

Game State - Age2XSplit enables you to pre-set scenes for 6 states of "Age of Empires II" game. Once the program recognizes that the game state has changed, it can change your XSplit scene accordingly, automatically. Small black bar to the left of game state name will indicate currently active game state. Supported game states are:

• Game OFF - "Age of Empires II" game (application) is not running at the moment. This is usually the case when you are in a game room / lobby, waiting for other players.
  
  
• Game Menu - "Age of Empires II" is running (and it is the active window), but no game (match) has started yet. You could be browsing the game menus or changing game settings, but no actual game (match) has started. Example of this state is also the pre-match settings screen (single or multi-player), where players pick civilizations and choose other match related settings.
  
  
• Playing (Single) - Single player game is in progress (and "Age of Empires II" is the active window). You could be playing a single player game in order to demonstrate a certain strategy to your viewers, or even playing a campaign as a walk-through guide.
  
  
• Playing (Multi) - Multi-player game is in progress (and "Age of Empires II" is the active window). The most common game state when playing versus other players online. Note that this state is active when the actual game starts (you get to see your villagers and Town Center), not on multi-player pre-match settings screen (which is recognized as "Game Menu" state, as described above).
  
  
• Watching Rec - You are watching a previously recorded game (and "Age of Empires II" is the active window). Useful when doing showcasts of already played matches from recorded game files, analyzing games to help viewers improve their own playing style, or for any other situation when you stream a recorded game.
  
  
• Game Inactive - "Age of Empires II" is running (no matter the actual in-game state), but the game itself is not the active window. For example, this can happen when you Alt + Tab out of the game, or when you minimize the game. Once the game becomes the active window again (you Alt + Tab back into the game, or restore the game window, or even close the game), the correct game state will be set.

XSplit Scene - Select XSplit scene (by name) to switch to on given game state. By default, scenes are named "Scene 1" to "Scene 12", but real XSplit scene names will be shown (and saved) once you start the XSplit application. Even if you rename the scenes inside XSplit later, names will be automatically updated in Age2XSplit, too.

XSplit Scene Hotkey (Alternative Mode): Instead of selecting XSplit scenes, set hotkeys for scene changing. This should be the same hotkeys you setup in XSplit application, in Broadcast > Edit channels > Hotkeys. Note that if you already have the hotkeys set in XSplit, you need to close XSplit first before setting the hotkeys in Age2XSplit (because XSplit is intercepting the hotkeys set, and Age2XSplit can`t get them).

Active - Select if you want scene switching to be active or not for the given game state. This makes it easy to set scenes (or hotkeys) for all the game states, but not necessarily use them all. Only those game states that are checked as "active" will trigger the scene change in XSplit.

Force Scene Change - If checked, overrides any manual scene changes and forces scene based on the current game state. When unchecked, you can still change the scene yourself, once Age2XSplit has changed it. Age2XSplit won`t change the scene again until the game state has changed. When checked, you can`t change the scene manually as Age2XSplit will immediately change it back to scene that corresponds to current game state. This could help to force the correct scene if you have any problems with wrong scene switching during the stream, for example by pressing XSplit scene change hotkey by accident, while playing.

Mute Mic - If checked, mutes XSplit stream microphone on given game state. Age2XSplit will correctly recognize the current XSplit stream microphone state. Works only if "Allow microphone toggle" option is checked.

Mute Mic (Alternative Mode): If checked, mutes computer`s (system) microphone on given game state. Age2XSplit supposes that computer`s (system) microphone is not muted when Age2XSplit is started. Works only if "Allow microphone toggle" option is checked.

Mute Sound - If checked, mutes XSplit stream sound on given game state. Age2XSplit will correctly recognize the current XSplit stream sound state. Works only if "Allow sound toggle" option is checked.

Mute Sound (Alternative Mode): If checked, mutes computer`s (system) sounds on given game state. Age2XSplit supposes that computer`s (system) sound is not muted when Age2XSplit is started. Works only if "Allow sound toggle" option is checked.

Pause Music - If checked, pauses music/media playing on given game state. Useful to have some music playing in the background while not playing the game, and then pausing when the game starts to let viewers enjoy "Age of Empires II" game sounds, or hear commentator`s voice a bit better. Note that Age2XSplit is sending "pause/play" signal to active media players that support it (WinAMP, Windows Media Player, ... etc), but it can`t recognize if the music/media is already paused - if so, it will unpause it instead. Checked by default for game states Playing (Single), Playing (Multi) and Watching Rec. Works only if "Allow music pause" option is checked.

Start Minimized - If checked, when you run Age2XSplit it will start minimized to system tray (bottom right, near the clock). Useful when you already have all Age2XSplit settings set, and just want to launch it and start streaming.

Start with Windows - If checked, Age2XSplit will start on Windows startup, minimized to system tray.

Launch XSplit... - If checked, XSplit will be launched on Age2XSplit start (Age2XSplit will start minimized to system tray). Note that XSplit won`t be launched on Windows startup. When clicked, it will prompt user to select XSplit application executable (XSplit.Core.exe file, usually located in "C:\Program Files\SplitMediaLabs\XSplit" folder, or wherever you installed XSplit).

Force Game to Front - If checked, it will maximize (restore, actually) "Age of Empires II" game window and bring it to front (make it active) on multiplayer game start, not to miss it if the game (match) launches while you`re not looking. Checked by default.

Pause Recorded Game - If checked, it will pause recorded game on start (at 00:00:00), not to miss the first seconds of the game. Checked by default.

Alternative Mode - Select this option only if Age2XSplit does not work for you (it doesn`t change XSplit scenes on "Age of Empires II" game state changes). Note that some Age2XSplit features work a bit differently when program is running in "Alternative Mode", see specific feature description above for more info.

Author`s endnotes:

Age2XSplit is made upon request by DreaIVIS (topic), while it is inspired by similar applications made by HellGreen ("Auto Scene Change for XSplit & Starcraft 2" (link) and "XSplit Scene Control" (link)) and R1CH ("XSplit Scene Manager", link).

I hope you`ll find this program helpful, and enjoy using it in either occasional or every day streaming.

All the best, BugA

p.s. Please note that program`s logic grew more and more complex as I added new features, so if you find any unwanted or illogical behavior, or any bugs, please report so we may desinsect them. Also feel free to comment, share your opinions and ideas for possible improvements.

age2xsplit_v1.4.0.zip

(1.23 MiB) Downloaded 375 times

[ZeroEmpires]

It's here! Oh man, BugA you're the man!!!

[Quick_Silver]

BugA is really great!

[FeAge]

thanks alot, gona test it asap

[FeAge]

btw not working here, every time i put xsplit to stream it turns xsplit state : off.

[ZeroEmpires]

Just tested and having some problems too, the same as above with feage.

[Bublifuk]

Who made it? Buga made it?
Two worlds:...man

[ZeroEmpires]

Ok, been trying to get this to work still. The music pause thing works fine but the scene doesn't get changed when I tab into the game, the program must recognise the game though as it is pausing the music. Just not switching scene :/

Edit, the scene switching is now working but only when the stream is not broadcasting, when I switch to start broadcast the same issue as above happens (says xsplit if off). Appreciate the work buga, the features this program offers are awesome and once some minor problems are ironed out this will really make streaming a lot easier.

[DreaIVIS]

Excellent. I will test it for you Buga asap.

The background colors aren't correct for me in the program. It covers the "Mute Mic", "Mute Sound" and "Pause Music" for me so that they are hard to see on the green background.

[BugA_the_Great]

Thanks for the feedback, I couldn`t test all the possible scenarios and that`s why this is highly appreciated <3 And of course, as soon as something isn`t tested it naturally won`t work - thanks Murphy! I remember reading others had this same problem with their scene switchers, I`ll look into it.

In the meantime, please try "Alternative Mode" (setup hotkeys in XSplit and age2xsplit), and see if it works.