Panic

Somebody's camera catches something it shouldn't. A player's room is suddenly not appropriate for your stream. Whatever the reason, PANIC is the one control that always works.

It's in BobbleHub's command bar, it's never greyed out, and it works even when the show engine has crashed or the connection to it is gone.

What it does#

Panic does two things at once, on two different paths, because either one can fail on its own:

It stops BobbleHub sending faces. Your players' matted faces stop leaving your machine immediately. This half needs nothing but BobbleHub itself — no connection, no show engine, no network.

It tells the show engine to hold. Every character's face drops to a generic avatar — never a personal photo, never the last frame anybody was on.

BobbleHub tells you which halves succeeded rather than reporting a blanket success, because what you do next depends on which one worked.

What it does not do#

Panic does not stop your stream. OBS keeps streaming, and your audience keeps watching — they'll see characters with generic faces instead of your players.

This is deliberate. Panic is fast and reversible and you might use it for something minor; killing your Twitch stream is neither. If you need to be off the air, stop it in OBS.

Panic also doesn't disconnect your players, end your session, or stop your CastTime hours.

Turning it off#

Press it again. Faces come back, the show engine comes out of hold, and you carry on.

BobbleHub is careful about the order — it raises the block before asking anything of a connection that might be gone, and only lowers it after the engine has confirmed it's out of hold. You don't have to think about that; it just means panic can't half-lift.

The other stops, and when each is right#

Worth doing once#

Press panic during setup, before anyone is watching, and see what it looks like. It's reversible, it costs nothing, and the one control you can never rehearse during a show is the one you most want to have already seen.

Troubleshooting#

Panic says only part of it worked#

That's it being honest. The half that stops BobbleHub sending needs nothing but the app, so it essentially always succeeds. The half that tells the show engine to hold needs the engine — if that's the half that failed, the engine is unreachable, and your audience may still be seeing whatever was last on screen.

If that happens and you need to be clear, stop the stream in OBS.

Panic is on and I can't start CastTime#

That's intended. Panic blocks opening a new room. Turn panic off first.

I pressed panic and my audience still sees the show#

Yes — panic doesn't stop your stream, only the faces. Use OBS to go off air.

Faces didn't come back when I turned panic off#

Check the connection to the show engine on the pills at the top of the window. Coming out of hold needs the engine to confirm it, so a dropped connection can leave it engaged on that side.