🎧

Bunch Overlay

The Bunch Overlay is the core party experience enabling people to voice and video chat in your game while playing together.

The Overlay can be rendered in various states and includes User and Developer Controls that combine to enable the optimal party experience.

Overlay States

  • Minimized State:
    • image

    The Overlay in the Minimized State is represented by the floating circle seen above and displays the video feed (or profile pic if the camera is off) of the active speaker. The Minimized Overlay fades to semi-transparent after a few seconds if no one is speaking and its position can be set through a mixture of User and Developer Controls outlined below.

  • Expanded State:
    • image

When people tap on the Minimized Overlay, it opens into the Expanded State. The Expanded State includes two main sections: the Friend Panel which shows the video feeds (or Bunch profile pics if cameras are off) of all active party participants and the Control Panel which provides the user controls to do things like mute mic and configure other party related settings described below. Tapping anywhere outside the Expanded State UI reduces the Overlay to the Minimized State.

  • Hidden State:
    • image

When a player swipes the Minimized State to the edge of the screen, the Overlay enters the Hidden State represented by the small arrow on the screen border. Voice from the Bunch Party will still be active per the user's settings when the Overlay is in the Hidden State. Tapping on the Hidden State opens the Overlay back up into the Minimized State.

User Controls

image
  • Move - players can drag the Overlay to any preferred location along the inside edges of the screen.
  • Hide - swiping the Overlay to the edge of the screen puts the Overlay into the Hidden State. Voice from the Bunch Party is still active in the Hidden State.
  • Expand/Minimize - Tapping on the Overlay toggles it between the Expanded and Minimized States:
image
  • Friend Panel - Shows video feeds (or profile pics if cameras are off) of all participants in the party.
  • Control Panel:
    • Mic/Camera (mic and camera icons) - Enables players to turn their mic and/or camera on/off.
    • Lock/Unlock Party (lock icon) - Enable a player to set the party to Locked or Unlocked state. Locked Parties require Bunch friends to knock and be admitted by one of the existing party participants before they can join the party. Unlocked parties enable Bunch friends to join the party immediately upon arrival.
    • Mute (headphones icon) - Allows a player to mute the party, i.e. all other party participants are muted.
    • Leave Party (red phone icon) - Enables a player to leave the party.
    • Share Party Link - Enables a player to share a mobile deep link to the party and associated game session using other sharing apps/services registered with the device's operating system.
    • Open Bunch - Allows players to link their existing Bunch account with the game, thus enabling them to notify their social connections on the Bunch network when they play your game.

Developer Controls

  • Party Type - Allows you to set the party type for your game session to Voice-Only or Voice & Video. If you configure the setting for Voice & Video, the party is voice-only until players opt to add video. The opt-in to add video is made on a per participant, per party basis.
  • Default Overlay State - Allows you to set the initial state of the Overlay (Minimized or Expanded) when a player first joins a party within your game.
  • Default Overlay Position - When the Default Overlay State is set to the Minimized State, this setting allows you to set the Overlay's initial location anywhere on the screen when a party is first activated.
  • Pin/Unpin Overlay - Allows you to set a permanent location for the Minimized State of the Overlay. When the Overlay is pinned, players can tap the Overlay to toggle between the Expanded and Minimized states, but they cannot move or hide the Overlay.
  • Show/Dismiss Overlay - Allows you to programmatically show or dismiss the Overlay, and is used in conjunction with Set Overlay State setting.
  • Set Overlay State - Allows you to programmatically set the Overlay state to Expanded, Minimized or Hidden.
💡
The programmability of the Bunch Overlay enables you to dynamically customize the party experience based on what's happening in the game on a screen-by-screen basis to ensure an optimal UX.

Best Practices for Bunch Overlay

Using in-game iconography and buttons to enable players to activate the Bunch Overlay.

Learn more about how to configure Developer Controls for Bunch Parties in the Overlay Developer Controls step of the Technical Implementation Guide.