Author Topic: using voice-engine in game chat  (Read 1476 times)

Lord_Cerber

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using voice-engine in game chat
« on: November 18, 2004, 06:33:19 pm »
I\'ve come upon an idea of using a voice engine on the client-side of the game to make it speak the game chat, but yet I havent seen anything like thise in any online project, since idea seems interesting. Such a function would enable users not only to see, but to hear other players, it wont eat colossal amounts of trafik as real voice translation, and the speach engines i\'ve seen so far a not so bad at speaking.

To the technical side:
The easiest way is just to sent incoming chat messages to the speach engine, even external. I havent yet seen the client source, but i think it can be done easily.
The better way is to compile engine directly intio the game. Of course server should send some aditional bytes when the player speaks - his location and voice prefences - at least his sex - male/female voices differ ) Location is needed to calculate loudness of the voice the player hears and its direction

Shadowfalcon

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« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2004, 07:41:41 pm »
While I do think this is a very original idea, I dont think I would like to listen to a bunch of synthesized voices whenever I play PS. The Microsoft SAM thing gets anoying after a few minutes, IMO. Also, I dont know of any free open source Text-to-Speach-to-Text translators out there that could be put into the game engine. (of course i havnt looked, ill look in a bit.) What I think would be the best option for communication, would be to have real voice chat function, but with the option to turn it off, so 56k\'ers (or 14.4k\'ers like me :D ) can still play. My 2?.

Seytra

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« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2004, 08:49:34 pm »
You\'d need to be able to select parameters of how you want to sound, and this will either be very limited (i.e., everyone has the same voice, making chatter indistinguishable and extremely hard to follow) or be prone to be abused by people who think they are funny. Also, how do you treat people who don\'t change the default setting for themselves (or if you don\'t want to transfer their settings at all)? They would look the same and have the same voice, which is even more annoying IMO.
So it\'ll be extremely confusing. :(
And I don\'t want real voice-chat, because that would totally defeat immersion IMO.

Myrtl

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« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2004, 09:23:02 pm »
If people used a voice engine then people could spam in it couldnt they, like yelling at the top of thier lungs screaming at people.

What i suggest that people should do is make a server for a program that lets you talk to other people. Like Teamspeak(free) which lets you use microphones to talk to people. You can go into different channels of the program depending on which area your in. Or if you were in somthing like a guild war, you could get a channel made for your guild only, with a password. And the nice thing is you can get channel admin and kick people from the channel if they are being morons that scream alot.

It would be kinda fun to talk to the people you are killing or partying with. THat way if your in a party and you are killing somthing and you need help you just have to say \" need help\", instead of using the keyboard which would probably kill you since you are in combat.

Wont be able to have atimated voices though
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Seytra

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« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2004, 09:32:23 pm »
I dislike external programs because they are external. I don\'t want to switch from the game I\'m playing ATM to anything else. I also want the interface to be as seamless as possible and that it has the same design as the current game.
On the upside, one would be able to use voice converters with it, so that you can modify your voice to what you envision for your char (if you have the appropriate hard/software).

Shadowfalcon

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« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2004, 10:05:25 pm »
Which do you all think is the better program, Skype, or Teamspeak?

Seytra

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« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2004, 10:10:00 pm »
I don\'t like any of them on my system, because they\'re web-based but not OSS. Ho can I be sure the next version isn\'t going to rob me? No, I don\'t trust closed-source for anything that connects to the outside world.

Shadowfalcon

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« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2004, 10:26:46 pm »
Do you know of any open source free ones that are any good?

Seytra

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« Reply #8 on: November 18, 2004, 10:55:47 pm »
There are LinPhone and OhPhone, they are h323 clients so they can even work with *shudder* NetMeeting. However, I\'m struggling with them ATM, they connect but don\'t transmit any voice. Maybe due to my crappy (and soon-to-be-changed) sound hardware, though. I also haven\'t looked into GnomeMeeting yet, as this VoIP stuff has only very low priority for me.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2004, 10:56:28 pm by Seytra »

Myrtl

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« Reply #9 on: November 18, 2004, 11:12:53 pm »
Teamspeak is very good and its free!
Non nobis Domine, non nobis sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam
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Seytra

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« Reply #10 on: November 18, 2004, 11:14:59 pm »
Quote
Originally posted by Myrtl
Teamspeak is very good and its free!

But it\'s not OSS (OpenSource Software), and that\'s what\'s important for me.

cirdan telemnar

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« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2004, 08:16:07 pm »
Even tough that would be a great addition to any game it would also cause lagg... wich can be quite disturbing for ppl without mic  :rolleyes:

Myrtl

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« Reply #12 on: November 19, 2004, 09:21:08 pm »
It barley lags at all. I use it for other games like UT2004 and Battlefield 1942 and i get no lag from it at all. Even if it does lag a bit its worth it  :D
Non nobis Domine, non nobis sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam
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Moogie

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« Reply #13 on: November 19, 2004, 09:56:09 pm »
This exact topic was discussed a matter of days ago. [Edit: Okay, maybe not days... probably weeks. I know I posted there, but after looking at 7 pages in my post history and not finding it, I come to the conclusion that it was definitely not \"days ago\". :P Still... *points down*]





« Last Edit: November 19, 2004, 10:05:12 pm by Moogie »

Uthian

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« Reply #14 on: November 20, 2004, 02:46:59 am »
Well i say have a voice chat thing  built in and make it so u can switch it off for people with slow internet