LAN party communication

Creamy_Goodness

> I'm planning on setting up a LAN party at my house this upcoming Christmas. If I'm lucky, I might be able to set up three or more machines to play Quake 2 on a Tastyspleen server. However, the machines we're playing on are likely to be set up in different rooms of the house, and we need a way to communicate verbally while we play. The land line phones in my house have an intercom feature, but because other people are likely going to be using those phones to make actual phone calls while the games are going on, relying on their intercom feature is not really a practical way of communication. I'm considering buying a set of walkie talkies or CB radios or something of that nature for LAN parties, but I don't have the first clue as to what to get. If anyone could offer up some advice, that would be great.

ZacD

Why don't you just set up a LAN mumble server? Assuming your friends have gaming headsets/mics

leilei

Yes. There's lots of those VOIP chat programs out there, even some in Quake2's heyday (Roger Wilco, Game Commander). Mumble, Ventrilo or TeamSpeak and microphones are your best bet.

slipsius

just do it old school and yell really loudly (or do what Zac suggested)

Creamy_Goodness

> Hey guys, thanks for your help. I'm definitely going to look into this chat program thing. As far as I understand, Tastyspleen runs a TeamSpeak server, and if I can get that to work for me, there will be no need for me to spend any money on walkie talkies. I don't know much about TeamSpeak at all, so I'll have to go to their website and get some info there. BTW, can regular headphones and mics be used with TeamSpeak, or is a special headset required? If I need to order any special equipment online, I'll have to do it soon so I can get everything I need by Christmas.

ZacD

As long as the microphones and headsets work on your computers they should be fine.

Creamy_Goodness

> Hey guys, sorry for the rather late response. It couldn't be helped due to certain projects that needed my attention. Anyways, Christmas has come and gone, and I got the LAN party I was after. There were only three of us playing, but because Nick had connected to the wrong server, it was just me and Austin playing on one of the Tastyspleen servers. Austin and Nick were on laptops in the basement, and I was playing on my main computer in my bedroom. About a week before, I had purchased a gaming headset so I could talk to the other two players using TeamSpeak, but between recording a MUGEN tournament and expanding my mp3 collection, I just couldn't find the time to figure out how TeamSpeak worked. I sure as hell wasn't going to carry my main computer two flights of stairs down to the basement, because it weighs over 30 pounds, and I had just got it working again less than a week ago after it was a brick for several months, and the thought of dropping it and breaking it all over again was not a pleasant one.

> Austin and I played several games online, and the following replays show two of our best games. Each of us recorded the games, so you can see it from both of our points of view...

> Game 1
http://creamyg.hugelaser.com/Misc/Recorded_Games/Quake2/Creamy2012_159.dm2
http://creamyg.hugelaser.com/Misc/Recorded_Games/Quake2/Austin2012_022.dm2

> Game 2
http://creamyg.hugelaser.com/Misc/Recorded_Games/Quake2/Creamy2012_161.dm2
http://creamyg.hugelaser.com/Misc/Recorded_Games/Quake2/Austin2012_024.dm2

> In order to see the us the way we saw each other, you need the following two PPMs...

> I played as Dib, which is a model created by myself...
http://creamyg.hugelaser.com/Projects/Quake2/PPMs/Dib/Dib(v2.1).zip

> Austin played as Homer Simpson, a model created by Aaron Webster...
http://www.fileplanet.com/8510/0/fileinfo/Homer-Simpson

> I want to close by thanking everyone here again for their help, although I ended up not taking your advice. However, I'll see if I can make use of TeamSpeak next time and see how that changes our gaming experience.

Snader

Shout really, really loudly.

slipsius

you should have manned up and brought your computer downstairs. 2 flights of stairs away doesnt seem like a lan to me. I had a lan over the break as well, 18 people brought computers, plus another 5 or so on the couch playing consoles. we had rented a bunch of round tables to put everyone on so we were all in the same room.

If you're in your room alone, your friends might as well not even be at your house

McGreed

Yeah, even when I had lan party in my home (been a while though), I didn't stay in my room with the computer, but dragged it out into the living room, so I could sit with the other guys. Or else its not as fun.

Skillmister

Creamy_Goodness wrote: »

I just couldn't find the time to figure out how TeamSpeak worked.

>Join server
>Talk


Also that's pretty hilarious having a LAN party where you aren't even in the same room, what's the point?