Ambiant sound, what solution ?

[zifnab69_fr]

Hy
i really need something to share ambiant sound with players....

How can i do that ?
in my mind, i'll like to have a mp3 playlist in my computer and push the mp3 to players computers when i want and then force it to play.
(in FG, the master can share picture and then push it to FG players, i 'm looking for a software that do the same with mp3...)

I don't want to use Teamspeak or something like that for ambiant sound, because the sound is not very good....And i allready use it for voice....

Is this kind of software exist ?
Perhaps streaming 'll be a good solution to ?

is somebody have a solution ?
Thank you

[Griogre]

You might be interested in this thread (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4979). You combine two apps: rpgSoundMixer and Vent.

[zifnab69_fr]

Thank you Griogre, i have allready see this tread.
But it's not exactly what i'm looking for.

i want to use ventrilo or teamspeak for voice and an other thing for music.
in fact.

imagine. Before beginning the game, your friends download from the Game master computer (by FTP, by mail...) X mo of MP3 , so at the beginning of the game, eatch player and the game master have in it's computer, in a specific folder, the sames mp3 files...

Imagine a small software, MP3 player, in eatch player computer, and a kind of remote controle in the game master computer....

My idea is , when the game master, start a mp3 file on it's computer, all player computer do the same....

No bandwith problems, a high quality ambiant sound.... no clik or lag or echo when you speack the same time the music is playing...
Well that's what i'm looking to.

[Astinus]

That, too, is exactly what I'm looking for. This has been discussed a lot in the past (as a feature in FG) but a lot of people seem to think other things are more worthy of dev attention. I for one think sound is a natural evolution for FG, and important in terms of the competitive landscape. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Griogre]

I'm afraid I am in the other camp. Sound just does not excite me. Without exaggeration I have played tens of thousands of hours of games (I use to play games for a living) and I seldom pay much attention to any sound that is not an "alert" sound. While I'm not opposed to streaming special effects, I would just put them after a lot of other improvements including bug fixes to FG2.

Still the Vent/RPGSound combo seems functionable especially if you can get a player with a good bandwith to host the Vent Server so it doesn't suck out all the host's bandwidth in addition to voice and FG.

[demonsbane]

It'm not sure, is not my specialty, but I believe Skype has that sort of functionality (sharing mp3, perhaps playing them too).
I almost remember Skype having a folder for sharing mp3 and audio files with other/s online.
At least, it has "Send File".

Not sure this can be helpful.

[richvalle]

Hmmm, we use Skype but I've not tried it other then using it for Voice. Maybe I'll try to do a mp3 as a test next game (next Thursday).

rv

[Tokuriku]

I used Skype - RGPSoundMixer and it runs pretty smooth. A player must host the connection because the GM is already running the server for the game. Even with a supreme bandwith, it's difficult to pull both. You can open multiple instances of Skype so I use one for voice, the other for music. People can mute the music client on their specific machines so if they don't want the sound effects, they can cut them. The problem with this is you need 2 sound cards... or do like me and get "Virtual Audio Cable" to do it for you :D

[zifnab69_fr]

Well it's a little bit complicated.... 2 servers, 2 sounds cards....
i just need something that remotly start the soundplayer on player computer.
i'm sure it's not very difficult to do but i did not found it on the web for now.

[chiefarchon]

I too would like to see this sort of feature in the software. :)

[Tokuriku]

I searched for this kind of application but never found one...
And by server I mean if you host a game with FG, your software created a server even if you don't know it.
If you use any voice ip software (Skype, GoogleTalk, MSNMessenger, Ventrilo, etc...) the person starting the conversation has in fact created a server serving as a router for all those in that conversation.
The Game Master should never be the one starting a Voice IP session.

[chiefarchon]

as a question do these voice over ip systems have limits to the number of people that can talk on them at any one time; I heard that skype did but does anyone know?

[Tokuriku]

Ventrilo has no limits and you can make "rooms" and chat privatly with someone at the push of a button.

[Griogre]

Teamspeak also has no limits. There did use to be rather low limits to Ventrilo and Skype but they have raised them enough that eithers free version can run a gaming group.

[heruca]

I thought that Ventrilo's free server client limited you to 8 people at once. Has that changed?

Of course, 8 is still plenty for most RPG groups.

[Griogre]

No still 8 but that is a big RP group if you have more than 7 players and a GM.

[Casamordius]

Maybe I can offer you a solution soon. Players will have to install or download the soundfiles similar to a ruleset in fg. We have a programm with which the gamemaster can define sound-scenes by combining multiple mp3s (rain, wind, music..). These sound scenes can be started by the gamemaster and will be played by the client application. This solution does not need much bandwith, because there is no actual transfer of sounds - just commands which trigger the already installed soundfiles. I think we can offer a demo-version in about 6-8 weeks.

[zifnab69_fr]

yep i m' very interested by this software....

i'll be interested to be able to add "actions sounds" ( shotgun, cry...) to the ambiant sound when i want....
Give us news soonnnnn ;)
thank you

[Casamordius]

yes you can do exactly that - manually by activating a special sound at any given time or automatic by defining random soundeffects e.g. adding thunder to your rainstorm every 1-2 minutes or anything like that. :-)
the software is working already - we are now working at an editor so that you don't have to edit cryptic xml files. I will tell you more when it get's ready in about 6-8 weeks.

[Astinus]

the software is working already - we are now working at an editor so that you don't have to edit cryptic xml files. I will tell you more when it get's ready in about 6-8 weeks.
Wow, this is great news. Looking forward to this - a lot.

[chiefarchon]

my group numbers 12 people and whilst they are not all likely to be on at the same time, I cant tell for sure. so I need something that can cope with at least 10 people.

Are there any voice over ip that can cope with that.

[Griogre]

Teamspeak has no limit, though some servers might there are many public servers also. https://www.goteamspeak.com/index.php?page=downloads

[chiefarchon]

Thanks so much for the help I think ill go for teamspeak then :)

[Griogre]

Good luck. Just remember whom ever set up the server set up a lot of options. Or in other words, different servers can have very different settings - so shop around. If you have a group that big you are probably going to want to be able to make sub channels. Always password your game channels because their are always kids who love to jump into unpassworded channels and scream. On a large server if the server admin didn't turn it off you are going to want to turn off sound notifications of people entering and exiting the server.

[zifnab69_fr]

@ Casamordius

Hello,
what's new about the sound software you are going to build ?
thank you