Cloak is our collection of ingame improvements & graphics features for Dota 2

Courier Delivery Indicator

This indicator shows the items currently being delivered to the hero.

It expands dynamically and filters out items that don’t belong to the hero using the courier.

Aegis Timer

A simple countdown timer is overlaid on top of the Aegis icon to indicate it’s expiration time.

Once the countdown reaches 10s the item icon starts to glow red, drawing attention to the fact that the Aegis will expire soon.

BKB Duration

Following the progress of the BKB charges was usually done by the observer, having to consistently mouse-over the item.

Now, the small BKB indicator takes care of that and easily let's anyone keep track of the BKB timer.

Courier Kill Details

Courier kills are likely to be missed on camera and the current indicator only shows the value of items instead of a detailed breakdown.

Our detailed popup shows who killed the courier as well as the temporarily lost items and their owners.

Hero Charts

We internally track and create several statistics and to use those, we have designed drop-down stats to give the viewer a quick and easy way to compare these usually abstract numbers.

While a statistic like "Stacked camps" wasn't available to broadcasters in the past, these statistics can now be brought up manually and create relevant talking points for the casters.

Smoke Status

Indicator for smoke usage. It contextualizes early game movement and rotations even when the actual smoke isn't caught on camera.

Rune Status

Indicator for the double-damage power-rune. Especially on lower bitrate streams, it was sometimes hard to see the blue effect. A late-game double-damage rune can be game-winning so this indicator prevents confusion.

Gold Breakdown - Summons

Who doesn't like a little fun-fact when it comes to these annoying summons?

This little pop in can also be brought up by request of the analytical caster trying to prove a point, or maybe just taking a jab at the player.

Includes stats for 20+ unique units & all gold gained from killing Illusions

Gold Breakdown - Versus

Sudden comebacks might not always be easily explainable, yet with the gold breakdown feature this might very well change.

Our system tracks every gold coin changing hands and knows which hero farmed what creep, hero or tower at the given time.

Gold Breakdown - Pie Chart

The visual representation could also be a pie chart, focusing on one specific hero.

The feature can be controlled in part by the analytical caster to enable more sophisticated analysis.

Midas Tracker

Everyone knows that buying a Hand of Midas will pay off eventually. But knowing when it was a worthy purchase is difficult, even for the most experienced veterans.

With our item stats, the effect of an item like the Midas can be easily visualized at the convenience of the analyst.

Movement Heatmaps

Casters talking about how active a player is can now directly show this to the viewer. In an easy to understand way, the minimap heatmap shows not only map presence but also the location of kills and deaths.

Bounty Rune Details

Some casters are ecstatic when teams pick up the bounty runes and rightfully so. This easy-to-digest comparison gives a quick look at the dynamic of everyone's favorite reason to go for a skirmish every 5 minutes.

Item Timings

Bridging historical and live-data is one of the main advantages of the SAP x layerth partnership. The current state of the art is either live- or historic statistics. This feature will focus on both, bringing a new dimension of broadcasting statistics to the viewer.

Real-time Graphs with Historical Data

There are moments in the game where viewers and casters are simply baffled how a carry sits on the top of the networth chart after struggling for the whole early stage of the game. This head-to-head comparison can visualize the point and provide clues how towers and kills play into the equation.

Player KPIs

While stats are an integral part of well-produced Dota 2 broadcasts, this presentation is intuitive and focuses on simple historical stats that every viewer can understand.

Talent Stats

Talent choices of pros often go un-noticed by viewers and commentators alike. Highlighting some choices and their respective pick- and winrates can provide not only interesting talking points for casters but also show just how different individual pros choose to play their heroes.

Picture-in-picture

Dota is a complex game with multiple important actions happening across the map. Our collection of picture-in-picture cameras can always show the most important moves without missing the main action.

Instant replays

Replays are a stable in every production, be it traditional sports or esports. Dota is a game with never ending action and having quick and precise replays is vital to not missing anything important.

Custom draft overlay

The draft interface in the game is great when playing, but not so much for a broadcast. We can custom-tailor a beautiful custom built draft interface to fit your color scheme and graphics package.

Spell Stats

In the past, ingame statistics have mostly been based on historical data and confined to hero picks in the draft and item choices.

We take this a step further and provide live stats for relevant abilities, items and heroes. From "Average Heroes Hit with a Chronosphere" to "Damage Prevented By Bristleback", an always expanding pool of interesting and fun stats can supplement the broadcast.

Lane Stats Breakdown

Winning lanes is the most important part of the early game and this overview shows an easy-to-understand breakdown of the most important metrics: Networth, Experience and K/D. Also, with the last-hit-accuracy stat, it can show just how good the core was last hitting even through enfeeble.

Farm Distribution Map

Similar to our "Movement Heatmap" feature, the "Farm Distribution Map" visualizes farming hot-spots of a player.

This provides context for the casters and can be used to differentiate between "safe" and "space-creating" core players.

Quick-buy panel

Enabling the viewer to keep track of item progression has been a tedious process in the past, mainly done by the observer cycling through each hero.

The Quick-buy panel displays the currently selected quick buy item, provides relevant information like current gold and gives an ETA when the item will likely be finished.

Outpost details

The Outposts are another new addition to the game and provide a significant advantage in experience when both are held by a single team.

This feature provides context about not only the experience gained but also the total time both teams controlled the outposts which is a major indicator for vision and map control.

Neutral Items Overview

Neutral items are one of the major new additions in the 2019/2020 DPC season and the gameplay changed significantly as a result.

Directly comparing the different drops is an important analytical tool and is only possible with this feature.

Net-Worth Indicator

Valve initially had a direct copy of our networth indicator and later opted for the simplified version shown on the right.

Before this change the only way to review networth leads was when the observer had th in-game chart pulled up on the left.

Talent Selection Notification

Transparency about talent selection was only available through the method that in-game players had access to.

This meant that viewers were unable to see which talents were selected or when they were picked.

We identified this issue and created a solution for it which Valve later expanded on.

Courier Kill Information

The delivery timing of items can make or break engagements.

Being able to share information with the viewer about the impact of that courier death and the potential that future engagements could've had was something we wanted to provide.

Valve created their own version but we typically still use ours at tournaments we work with because of the value we find in the networth difference information

Improved Glyph and Scan Icons

This small improvement allowed players to see when each team had Glyph and Scan available.

Previously that information was only available for the team that the observer had selected at the time.