ARMA 2 Communications..

**peardog** · 06-27-2009, 08:15 PM

Hey Folks,
How is the TG community Communicating (VOICE) in game (SOP)? Are we using Teamspeak only or a Combo of In Game and TeamSpeak? THX

Sam Hoy · 06-27-2009, 08:17 PM

With an efficient grouping per mission, I don't see the need for TeamSpeak for in-game communication (now we have a commander and order channel, which seem pretty tight).

Greyed · 06-28-2009, 05:30 AM

Any time the in-game VOIP offers separation of players by in-game divisions (squad, wing, command, fleet, yadda, yadda) that is going to be inherently better for clear communication between elements and far easier to use than using an external means which is ignorant of such divisions.

**|TG| B** · 06-28-2009, 11:48 AM

SOP of communications is as follows (at least in my ideal world or when I am commanding):

Try not to disturb everybody.

TS used when somebody outside of game trying to find a game or join the server.

Side Channel is to be avoided. But with small number of players it can be used.

Global channel is used depending on the mission outlay. i.e. Iraq forces as Independent working with US special forces.

Command channel is to be used by the Squad Leaders for intercommunication and communication with CO.

Order channel is to be used the Commander of the mission in emergencies to bark out orders for everybody (not sure if that is what it does).

Group channel should be dominated by Squad Leaders to bark out orders to his Squad members.

Direct channel is your "home" at most cases.

If you like to Squad Lead or Command from time to time, an efficient way of changing between these channels is a plus. Take some time to look through Controls in Options and bind some keys to talk in different channels. You will be that much efficient.

Jorge.PT · 06-28-2009, 03:28 PM

Nice post B, but you should change the colours I can't see "Global Channel", and I would put Group Channel as the default squad channel.

I use direct allot also, but since BI didn't put any slider for VOIP (again!), I still have the same problems that in ArmA, some times it's impossible to hear it... Another problem with direct, is that you never know who is talking, unless you know the people in your team.

EDIT - I would say that global is the one to be avoided, and most time for Admin talk only.

**Blackdog1** · 06-28-2009, 08:52 PM

For now........ArmA2 does seem to have a MAJOR server crashing problem with VON....I understand it is work in progress.....!

We are deciding exctly how we deal with this at the moment...along with some other issues......

bear with us.....

**peardog** · 07-04-2009, 09:02 AM

Dont' we have a Downloadable TS keybinds INI or something here? I can't get my Whisper to Channel commander keys working.. Grrr..

Thx

Sc[ + ]pe · 07-04-2009, 08:58 PM

You can download my ArmA 2 keybinds here. The binds are as follows:

RSHIFT: Whisper to...
RCTRL: Switch to...
A: Alpha
B: Bravo
C: Charlie
D: Delta
E: Echo
F: Foxtrot
G: Golf
H: Hotel
I: India
X: Command

[Num]*: Toggle Channel Commander
[Num]Del: Whisper to Channel Commander in Parent Channel (ie. command comms)

**peardog** · 07-04-2009, 11:26 PM

Thanks sir!!

whitelancer11 · 07-05-2009, 12:47 AM

thanks for the info mate..

Tycho · 07-05-2009, 03:00 AM

See though, I have the issue of switching channels while in games and some of my keybinds for teamspeak share actions in game.

Is there any way to avoid this (especially with ArmA2 and its elenventy-billion keys)?

**WarProphet** · 07-05-2009, 03:01 AM

When you RSHIFT+"X" and whisper, is this a toggle? Do you have to hold down these keys and your ptt button at the same time? If it is a toggle, do you have to RSHIFT+"X" to start talking again to your own squad?
Does this question make sense?
Help this noob please.

Sc[ + ]pe · 07-05-2009, 06:55 AM

No buttons are toggles save for the Channel Commander toggle. All other buttons are push (and hold) to talk.

There's really no way to avoid keys bound in TS and ArmA without some complicated scripting... your best bet would be to use keys that don't see a lot of use in-game, like your F1-F12 keys. Alternatively, as I have done, I use unused keys as combo keys, which minimizes the number of keys I need to use.

Skin · 09-04-2009, 03:31 AM

Hi Folks,

In light of the recent conversations occurring on the forums regarding VON and multiplayer stability, I believe that a thorough stress test of VON is warranted on the server.
I recall that 1.02 did resolve some issues respecting VON; however, there appears to be an informal consensus within the Arma 2 community at TG that VON causes a crash to desktop, for some clients, when there are a significant number of clients connected to the server at one time. I recall the last time we tried VON during total resistance and there were some reports of a crash to desktop. These salient facts cause Arma 2 administrators to err on the side of caution when deciding to disable VON on TG servers. Initially, that caution is deserving: to do otherwise would restrict the playerbase due to an internal Arma 2 bug. However, I believe that a significant amount of time has passed to reflect on whether TG should enable VON.

Earlier today, a fellow Arma 2 member did a quick scan of the BI forums and could not find a significant number of posts respecting the issue TG experiences with VON and multiplayer. In fact, the cursory examination revealed that the principal postings on the BI forums derived from TG members. There are a vast number of servers using VON; therefore, one would normally deduce that there should also be a significantly higher percentage of posts on the BI forums regarding the VON issue. Yet, there are none. Accordingly, this puts our community at a crossroads where our own gameplay experience is currently marginalized in comparison to other servers by a bug that we cannot isolate with the exception of stating that "a certain number of clients connected to VON enabled servers will cause some of those clients to crash to desktop."

BI, via its release of patches, is demonstrating a willingness to improve its product in light of errors that the playerbase has discovered. However, I believe that our current VON issue is too generalized to be of any real assistance to BI for them to properly address the problem. If the Arma 2 community at TG wishes to move past the current VON issue I believe we should do our part for the greater Arma 2 community and properly document the issue via a stress test on the TG servers. After the test is completed, we can then submit the results to BI for a formal review.

In this manner, I believe that TG should configure the Bravo server to perform a formal stress test regarding VON. Any players wishing to test VON should join the server with the mindset of a quality control tester and try to do things to 'break' the game. To ease the logistics of configuring the stress test, the Bravo server should be restricted only to those willing to participate in the test. Prior to its commencement, all testers should post a dxdiag text dump of their computer systems in the forum. Moreover, all should disable beta patches and arma 2 addons. Any players that experience a crash to desktop should in addition post a dump of the crashed arma2.exe error if possible and the temperature settings of their processor and graphics card. From the server side, the logs should be monitored to determine if there are any indications of whether the crash was VON related. The key emphasis of this test is that if there are any crashes, we should be able to reproduce them within reason. At the very least, we should be able to determine the minimum number of players required to produce a VON crash to desktop.

I believe that enabling VON would have a considerably positive impact on the server. Many people indicate that they would play on TG more often as it would facilitate ease of use. Moreover, logistical communication and coordination would be enhanced. It is for these reasons why I believe an additional VON test should occur. When we finish the test, maybe we will find results that disconfirm our VON hypothesis. For example, when I played on Blackdog's server a few days ago and incurred a crash to desktop, I initially thought it was VON related. Upon reflection, I think it may have been related to my processor overheating. The only way we will know how VON fully interacts with the TG server is by performing a stress test.

-Skin

Pistolfied · 09-04-2009, 03:49 AM

+1 Quality post skin. The only troubles with VON I've ever experienced was all JIP's spoke in direct chat (which would have been fixed with a simple rejoin).

I've crashed more times playing on a mission with too many scripts than a server with VON on.