Mumble 3D Positional Audio in Warband for Dummies

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Scorch!

Sergeant Knight at Arms
Okay, so me and one of my clan members decided to try to get the latest version of Mumble working in Warband. A bunch of other players only got the positional audio working in a Project Reality version of mumble that is under development (see the video below). We were successful in setting up the positional audio in the latest Mumble version with a bit of fiddling. Here is the how to on setting it up:

Warband 3D Positional Audio in Mumble

1.
Install Mumble 1.2.2  after downloading it from here: http://mumble.sourceforge.net/Installing_Mumble, of course choose the right operating system for you.

2.
On startup of Mumble, it will ask you if you want to run the Audio Setup wizard. Click yes.

3.
At the first screen of the wizard, select the microphone you are currently using and your output device. The default device should detect the proper device though.

4.
Tick "Use echo cancellation" if you need to (I did, as I got epic feedback into the microphone), note that you will need to choose a device to do this.

5.
Tick "Enable Positional Audio" and leave the "Attenuate applications as other users talk" button as is.

6.
Click next, then choose the lowest latency that gives zero stuttering or sputtering of the current speech sample

7.
Click next, then choose a position for the slider bar that is above the sound input when you aren't talking, and below it when you aren't.

8.
Click next. For this next screen, I use push to talk for my mumble, as it is the simplest and easiest to set up. But some may be able to set up their voice activate so that it only activates when talking.

9.
Click next, then choose a setting for your quality. Balanced is fine, but if you have high bandwidth internet, you can use the high quality setting, and use low if you have low bandwidth of course, or if want to save your quota. The notifications setting is your choice, but I prefer non robot voice, so I disabled it.

10.
Click next. Run your mouse over the box in the middle. Now listen. You should hear the speech in surround sound. Tick the headphones button if you have one.

11.
Now comes the important part. Finish the setup, then go to configure -> settings. Now click the advanced tickbox in the bottom left hand corner. Go to Audio Output.

This is a screen of my settings, and the settings that me and my clan mates find the most realistic for the purposes of Warband positional 3D: (note the only settings you should pay attention to are the Positional Audio ones, the rest should be done already from the Audio Setup Wizard.)

8audiooutputsettings.png


If you did the wizard right, the only settings you will need to change is the Positional Audio settings.

Set Minimum Distance to 1.0 m
Set Bloom to 150%
Set Maximum Distance to 35.0 m
Set Minimum Volume to 1%

Of course if you want to, you can change the settings to something else once you have tried it out, but these are the settings that we have found work the best.

13. (Optional, but recommended)
When you have positional Audio running, it is very useful to have a secondary button to press that talks to the channel without it. Go to Configure -> Settings, then click the Shortcuts tab. Add a new shortcut and change the area around the function column. Select whisper, then click the area under the data column.

Set to whisper to channel, then tick the ignore positional audio tickbox. Click ok, then click the area around under the Shortcut column. You should see "press shortcut" appear. Press the key that you want to use, then apply.

Now you have a key setup that when you press it is the same as talking in any other voip application, without the positional audio. This is good if you still need to communicate to your team but are to far away to use the positional audio button.

14. To change the mumble overlay, go to Configure -> Settings, then the Overlay tab. Set this up as you see fit.

Now jump into a server! If you are Oceanic the Games.on.net Mumble server is where all the cool kids hang out, if you are EU/US I can't really help you. :razz:

Now, once you have a couple of buddies together, jump into the same channel, and then the same server in Warband. The link up will kick in once you have spawned. Once it kicks in, you should be able to try the 3D positional audio. :grin:

Check below for current problems.

For those that don't understand what 3D positional audio is, this video says it all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBZTydpLefE

Basically mumble establishes a link with a game you are playing, then establishes your position on the game map, which allows it to place you talking onto your character in game. This allows for really easy teamwork in game, as you can instantly establish a players position just from the sound of their voice. Obviously to have full 3D sound you either need a surround sound system or headphones, but it should work okay without them.

Mumble also has a built in VOIP overlay, sound quality on par with Ventrillo, MUCH better latency than TS, and is completely free. In my opinion, Mumble is like Teamspeak on steroids and multivitamins, and is much better in many aspects. I reccomend it over Teamspeak now for free VOIP chat.


Current Problems:
* The link up is delayed, and takes a while to kick in after you spawn.
* When you die in game, the link is lost, and only kicks back in after you respawn.
* There is no plug-in for Warband, which makes the tutorial above necessary. :razz:


If you have any questions regarding setting up Mumble/Troubleshooting problems, don't hesitate to post in here and I will try my best to help you (which may or may not be very good help :razz:). I and many others really would like Warband to get proper support for mumble, with a plug-in to fix the above problems, so maybe this will draw enough attention to it to get the ball rolling.
 
Long time Project Reality player here, I can only support this movement, mumble is awesome, and especially in this game would increase the fun of a large battle alot.
 
Night Ninja said:
Positional audio doesn't work in practice. Hoofbeats + positional audio = massive disorientation.

I must error on the error on the side of caution here.  I think, that from a tactical point of view, this would not help at all. (from what I understand, you can only hear people within a certain range right?)
 
You can only hear people within a certain range, yes.

Never had the pleasure of joining a Warband server with mumble, so I can't jude whether it's disorienting or not. Works fine in other games though, wouldn't think Warband would be too different.
 
Marin Peace Bringer said:
Night Ninja said:
Positional audio doesn't work in practice. Hoofbeats + positional audio = massive disorientation.

I must error on the error on the side of caution here.  I think, that from a tactical point of view, this would not help at all. (from what I understand, you can only hear people within a certain range right?)
Yes if you can't hear your team mates it is a silly thing to do, but if you say: have talk set to left ctrl then right ctrl can be whisper, so everyone in the mumble channel can hear you.
 
Marin Peace Bringer said:
Night Ninja said:
Positional audio doesn't work in practice. Hoofbeats + positional audio = massive disorientation.

I must error on the error on the side of caution here.  I think, that from a tactical point of view, this would not help at all. (from what I understand, you can only hear people within a certain range right?)

Yes, the problem is that even with very strict mike discipline, you'll be extremely disoriented by cavalry. The lack of directional audio for hoofbeats is immensely irritating when combined with positional audio.
 
Hah I can just imagine my clan shouting in teamspeak "WHAT IS THAT TINY HIGH PITCHED WHINE IN THE BACKGROUND?!|
 
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