Design for the worst game frame
A white name can disappear over a bright menu and a black one over a cave. In Stream → Display, enable Name, choose Name color, enable Outline and set Outline color. Turning the outline off preserves its chosen color; its controls depend on the name being visible.
Try light text with a dark outline and the reverse over bright, dark and textured game areas. Add a translucent slot fill if you need more separation. The outline helps with letters; a background also separates sprites and types.
Use Order to place the name, types and sprite where viewers can read them most easily. This changes the hierarchy within each slot without moving team members.
Judge text in the player, not the editing monitor
Reduce a screenshot to 50% and 33% to check readability on a phone or in a small player. The overlay automatically shrinks names that do not fit, down to a minimum size; an extremely long nickname can still be clipped. This adjustment does not replace checking at actual broadcast size.
Test long nicknames, accents, numbers and form names. If they become hard to read, shorten the nickname or give the team more space before shrinking the OBS source further. Use capitals sparingly and check the outline at the final scale too.
Never communicate a state through colour alone
Normal and shiny appearance, type or team state should have another cue. Sprite shape, a type symbol or label, and removal motion retain meaning for colour-vision deficiencies, desaturated displays and strong video compression.
Limit flashing and repetitive movement
Continuous motion can distract and make text harder to read, especially when six members animate out of phase. Reserve strong transitions for events. Check that looping sprites do not create collective flicker and leave calm space around them.
Run a review without prior context
- Ask another person to identify members and state.
- Check a phone-sized image at lower brightness.
- Convert a capture to greyscale.
- Test short, long and accented nicknames.
- Confirm that subtitles and game alerts remain clear.
Problems found without design context are the same problems a new viewer will face.