Road to Pre-Season: Replays on the Horizon

Riot·Oct 5, 2016·7 votes·107,809 views

That time we said we weren’t doing Replays…

The last time we talked about Replays was about a year ago in our first Riot Pls. At that time, a number of factors led us to deprioritize Replays. Since then, we’ve put a ton of love into League’s global infrastructure (for example creating Riot Direct), prompting us to revisit the conversation. At that point, we realized it was finally the right time for us to explore the feature.

We had everything we needed to build Replays except support for backpatching—which lets you watch replays from previous patches. So we asked ourselves: is backpatching so important we can’t ship Replays without it? We knew players wanted to relive specific moments from a match, no matter how much time had passed, and realized we could reach other solutions to that problem than backpatching.

That brings us to where we are today. We are ready to announce that Replays are coming to the League client update this pre-season.

Here’s how it works:

Download your replay from the End of Game Screen or Match History.
Watch Replays from the current patch using our new Replay Mode, with the functionality you’re used to from Spectator Mode.
Find cool moments using the new Annotated Timeline, which marks major events like kills, takedowns of towers and inhibitors, and dragon/baron kills.
Capture video clips of your in-game moments (“Highlights”) using built-in recording functionality.
These Highlights will be stored on your hard drive (C:\MyDocuments\LeagueofLegends\Highlights) as a .webm video file. These files can be viewed by opening them in any browser that supports HTML5, and shared to social media alongside your cat gifs.

With all of those pieces put together, you’ll be able to quickly capture, save, and share your favorite moments on video to share whenever you want.

This is our first iteration and we’re excited to keep working on the feature. Stay tuned in the coming months for more details!

294 Comments

Solari FortuneOct 6, 2016173 votes

Riot killing off many memes at the end of the year Baker Panth Satan Teemo Solo Queue where? Replays when? Whats next... Death Recap accurate?

ProtestantCaesarOct 6, 201626 votes

Sandbox?

The Human BrickOct 6, 201669 votes

We can have a replay system but Graves can't have a cigar?

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 2016449 votes

GET THAT FACEBOOK SHIT OUT OF HERE

patmax17Oct 6, 201620 votes

Lol, i love you Cactopus xD

ElikainOct 16, 20163 votes

Cactopus strikes again

http://i.imgur.com/Hhbkl86.gif[/img]

50403238_DELOct 6, 20166 votes

No they'll bring back DFG

RiotAD YuumiOct 6, 2016155 votes

Death recap accurate?

Don't be insane

Solari FortuneOct 6, 20164 votes

let a little derp dream

MightyCaesar37Oct 6, 201626 votes

I love taking 200 true damage from a null_object (always happens when I debug anyway.) So I'm fine having recaps as they are. [slayer-jinx-wink]

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 201660 votes

Yo, hit me with any questions y'all have about the client update! Open beta is coming soon—we hope to announce a specific date closer to preseason.

PeriheIionOct 6, 201618 votes

Any chance of sandbox mode being a feature in the new client?

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 201641 votes

Not announcing anything new other than replays.

However, tell me what you mean by sandbox mode. Do you mean:

A) a sandbox for practicing League skillz B) a place to build mods and do crazy stuff like reprogram the map

cuz they're two different things but I think people use "sandbox" to refer to both

AstrofizzyOct 6, 201615 votes

For me, I would prioritize the first one. The mods are just something extra that really doesn't help with people trying to get better with certain champions

The ShepherdOct 6, 201660 votes

I main riven (please don't kill me I'm a nice one) I need hydra and 45% cdr to practice animation cancelling and some combos, being level 16 also helps.

In order to practice I need to spend 20 minutes grinding in a custom first, it would be nice if I could instantly set to what items are in my inventory and what level I am.

redman4657Oct 6, 20165 votes

So make custom games more customizable?

DeathBurstOct 6, 201635 votes

I already replied to Ghostcrawler on that issue a few weeks ago (and even got a few up-votes ;) http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/riot-official/XQ5H7y4E-ask-riot-the-ghostcrawler-edition?comment=001400000003 ), but I'll reiterate here:

This is a very important topic, I think, so I'll chime in a bit.

From my point of view, the purpose of a sandbox mode is twofold:

Test things, like off-meta builds, strange combos, etc., and importantly, test them QUICKLY, to be able to make meaningful comparisons. If I want to devise the best AS/on-hit Thresh Top build, and wether Shiv or BotRK is better first, I don't want to make two complete games where the different results may come from my build or from a dozen other external factors.

Practice specific stuff without bothering with the complex rituals of a whole game. E.g., I want to practice proc'ing the 4 vitals of my Fiora ult, but I don't want to waste time farming until level 6 and waiting my CD between two ults.

Both these goals require a player to be able to "set up" the battlefield at a whim. Give gold, refresh CDs, (re)set levels/skills, at least. We need dynamic control over all this stuff, and not go through the hassle of waiting/farming during a whole "standard" game.

Drunk MaguOct 6, 20169 votes

I would like the ability to create a custom game and create "saved states" (maybe like 5) with the ability to jump to any saved state.

eg. I start the game and create my first "saved state" @ 1 second. I play for 6 minutes and create my second "saved state". I play for another 10 minutes and decide I want to go back to state #2 -- poooooooof -- I'm right back to where I was (and everything else is too) at the time of my "saved state".

My desire..

łøøsechangeOct 6, 20166 votes

Just being able to set amount of gold and amount of levels in a customs should be enough to be called a legit "sandbox" mode!

Kayn1Oct 6, 20162 votes

When is it prob going to hit live servers???

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 20167 votes

Official date coming soon. Aiming this year, but things can always change with game development.

lightdragoon88Oct 6, 20168 votes

Watch Replays from the current patch using our new Replay Mode, with the functionality you’re used to from Spectator Mode.

Does this mean that every patch will delete old replays? even if we save them?

GalaxyEaterPipOct 6, 20166 votes

It says if you save them they will be webm files on your hard drive, so no the saved replays will not be deleted in new patches. Just the full unsaved spectator mode versions, it seems.

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 20169 votes

correct

EndlessSorcererOct 6, 20164 votes

I tend to track my champion pool for each role (along with my preferred bans) in a text document.

Any chance we will get the ability to do so within the client (i.e. sort champions into groups similar to Item Sets and have them visible during Champion Select)?

Also, are there any plans to let players easily see all of the skins they own? At the moment, I have to go to each individual champion in the Champion's tab, click one and flip through each individual skin.

The ability to choose which skin you are using on a champion without having to create a game would be nice too. While it isn't usually that inconvenient, having to create a custom game to change the default skin selected for a champion can be a little annoying

Also, I believe the first image in the announcement is broken.

This is the address it is using:

https://am-a.akamaihd.net/image?f=https://news-a.akamaihd.net/public/images/articles/2016/october/replays/Timeline.jpg&resize=640:

eddiezOct 6, 201618 votes

These Highlights will be stored on your hard drive (C:\MyDocuments\LeagueofLegends\Highlights) as a .webm video file. These files can be viewed by opening them in any browser that supports HTML5, and shared to social media alongside your cat gifs.

Will there be a way to change the default highlight directory? I have a solid state and can't have my video files clogging my c: drive [zombie-nunu-bummed]

Tempest3Oct 6, 20166 votes

Another option to free up space on an SSD would be to use an Administrator command prompt to create a directory junction. How this works is that you'll have a "folder" where Riot sends the highlights, and it will be right there in your documents, but the actual location of that folder's contents will be wherever you send it.

mklink /j LocationToPlaceLink TargetDestinationOfLink

For example:

mklink /j "C:\Users\MyAccountName\Documents\LeagueofLegends\Highlights" "E:\LeagueReplays"

...where E:\ is your non-SSD drive, and "MyAccountName" is the account folder for your username.

ZielmannOct 6, 20163 votes

This is certainly useful, but pointing save files and the like to a desired directory has been pretty standard fare for a long time. I'd hope Riot includes it. Makes it a lot easier.

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 201629 votes

Right now they just go wherever your "My Documents" folder is. Doesn't have to be on C drive.

Solid feedback, tho. We're talking about making changing it an option in the future.

Photos of GhostsOct 6, 20163 votes

Does it work with systems in other languages? I have League in English but not my system.

rodrigogarciamaOct 6, 20162 votes

When will Clubs be enabled? Ranked Games? Hextech boxes available to collect/get in your profile? Item sets?

Will there be parties, like you announced some time ago (with preseason 6)

Will there be an option to allow your friends to join your lobby? Something like CS:GO?

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 20169 votes

Clubs and loot are enabled! Ranked is coming during this patch.

Item sets are at the very bottom of the priority list, I'm afraid. It's possible (likely even) that they won't happen. You'll still be able to customize your shop using custom item set programs like Championify, tho. (Our API still works for stuff like that).

Parties are iceboxed atm, I think :/ Other things (clubs) took higher priority.

rodrigogarciamaOct 6, 20163 votes

Btw, Alpha Client just crashed with no error. Lmao.

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 201614 votes

RIP

ForgeriesOct 6, 20164 votes

{quoted}

Yo, hit me with any questions y'all have about the client update! Open beta is coming soon—we hope to announce a specific date closer to preseason.

How will the upgrade happen? I mean, I want to know how the current client will be replaced with the alpha and such, the process players have to go through to opt-in. Is it basically "Download alpha, forget legacy one exists"?

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 201637 votes

When open beta hits, you'll open your launcher like normal and get SLAPPED IN THE FACE with a cute little pop-up that's like "hey friend do you wanna upgrade?" And if you do, it'll download the goodies and replace your client right then and there.

OdeszaOct 6, 20163 votes

If we already have alpha, will we need to download a new client for beta, or will it update just like a regular patch would?

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 201622 votes

Just keep on rollin' baby. It'll update automatically.

yeahigotnothinOct 6, 201621 votes

Are we going to be getting more Support role specific statistics in end game results when the new client launches? The two big ones being: 'Damage Shielded' and 'CC Percent/Time Inflicted.' There have been a lot of posts about this in the past with no indication as to if this is coming or not. Seems like it should be a focus as one of your goals was to make Support role feel more rewarding.

UberChayChayOct 6, 20167 votes

I want to see the CC times for Morgana in URF. #PermaRoot

Thats OKOct 6, 201614 votes

Can we have an option to select an announcer just like, say, ward skins. Like if you guys made and sold announcer packs for RP I would deff buy them. Bring in streamers/youtubers and have them official make a pack would be cool

sp441Oct 6, 201621 votes

Man, "never" is such a short period of time these days.

TheSlogsOct 6, 201619 votes

Finally I will be able to prove that I'm not pure silver trash, only mostly silver trash.

ComfyOct 6, 201615 votes

Will the chat be included in the replay? Sometimes I like reading people's reactions to plays.

Support SyndraOct 6, 201610 votes

Two questions

**- Is there a reason you aren't doing MP4s instead of webm? **

MP4 is more cross-browser/cross-platform friendly than webm. Browser support, for example: http://caniuse.com/#feat=webm vs http://caniuse.com/#search=mp4

**- Will this be available for Mac? **

The example showed a windows directory and a riot commenter mentioned it would go wherever your "my documents" folder is, which is windows specific. Just double checking

Thanks so much!

KeevalroyOct 6, 20169 votes

Two questions:

First (more me being bitter than anything really) - Are the announcements of solo queue coming back and replays finally being introduced just ways of saying "we're sorry we fucked everything up with season six" or is it just convenient timing? It just looks to be that season 6 was "The Season of ~~Poor Decisions~~ Experiments" and season 7 is starting to look like "The Season of Reverts and Apologies." Sooo, Is uhh...is the mastery rework next for a revert? ...please?

Second - With the replays in the client available for downloads, is it possible to download replays of friends or would they have the ability to share them through a link or something? I have a friend who is trying to learn jungle and one who is trying to be a better ADC, and it would help if we could watch the replays together without being in the same room so we could talk about key points during the match. It would be more convenient than a laggy Skype share screen.

ClôudeOct 6, 201618 votes

I like the masteries. They're not perfect, but they're a lot better than they were before.

RiotRiot CactopusOct 6, 201622 votes

The timing isn't really that convenient tbh. We took months and months before getting it right! We do things at Riot to make players happy, not to make up for any screw-ups.
I'm not sure about being able to download your friends replays. I THINK you can set them to shareable. Let me ask around and find out for you.

EDIT

Okay, so right now you can share the actual replay files with your friend the same way you'd share any file (dropbox, email if you're a crazy person, but it's kinda hacky). But you can't do it though the client. First we want to make it easier to share the highlights, and then we'll see about making it easier to share the raw replay files.

I7A6X2v2Oct 6, 20165 votes

I have a question, let's say gets his vgu AND i have a replay of him before his rework... What will happen?