In online first-person shooters such as Counterstrike or Day of Defeat, it is common for players to set up microphones and headsets so that they can talk to each other. Typically, this works like a 2-way radio; your whole team can hear what you're saying, or everyone can, depending on what button you press.

It wouldn't just be like that in reality, though. If you were talking while hiding behind a wall, the enemy the other side of the wall would hear you.

I suggest that speech should be audible to everyone nearby, at a volume that would reduce with distance. It wouldn't be difficult to implement, and would require new tactics. Radio silence during a careful attack, for example.

This would work much better if everyone was using microphones and nobody was typing messages.
-- david_scothern, Dec 07 2004

Bell Labs text to speech simulator http://www.bell-lab...ect/tts/voices.html
[chopsey, Jan 12 2005]

This makes a lot of sense and shouldn't be to hard to do. As for the typing thing, the words could appear over the typist's head I guess.
-- harderthanjesus, Dec 07 2004


Halo 2 online
-- triplenine, Jan 10 2005


I've also thought this would be a good idea and had some other for ideas for similar features:

I maybe a jaded thirty something gamer, but many times I find my gaming experience is ruined by the high pitch screaming of young players, and in this instance I’m complaining about the sound not the content of their chatter.

I would like to have a mechanism where player’s voices could be made more "gruff" so as not to ruin my illusion. I assume that some of the pitch/tone alteration algorithms used in the music business could be re-applied here.

In addition, there are some pretty cool text-to-speech voice programs, where the personality trait of the voice signal can be altered. These could be used to add another dimension, without ruining the atmosphere of the simulated environment.
-- chopsey, Jan 12 2005


This is a sharp idea.
-- bristolz, Jan 31 2005


This really would be cool and I have thought that too. Imagine running up behind someone and yelling "Surprise" and seeing them turn around, and then seeing them get headshot.
-- blazingdisciple, Sep 05 2005


Also allow complex hand movements, so that if you were really dedicated you could use sign language. Bun.
-- dbmag9, May 20 2006



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