16th Mar 2011 17:14:00 CET. Edited 3 minutes after.

Reese

Question from the Community:

"Whatever happened to RTVP? We haven't heard about it in any recent interviews or reports or anything."

We have chosen to pause development of RTVP (Real Time Voice Porting) for the time being due to resources but we obviously want to move on with this baby as soon as possible.

For those of you who haven’t heard of RTVP before this is one of our many ”tech babies”. Our patented RTVP technology is a 3D positioned Voice over IP chat technology with reverb, distance and occlusion which we intend to fully integrate in Interstellar Marines. The technology has previously been showcased at the end of our GDC 2008 presentation video available in the Briefing Room (link is Spearheads and Frontliners only) using our former engine.

The idea initially spawned years back when Kim and I wanted to chat during Coop in Alien vs. Predator with our SoundBlaster cards with hardware reverb. This was before today’s VoIP chat programs and channels. We figured out to use split cables in order to connect to each other’s microphone input which meant both our voices were modified real-time with in-game reverb. This homemade feature was a huge positive add-on to our game experience and also spawned the idea and need of being able to 3D positioning our own voices to our in-game characters.

We have always missed better, more reliable and believable communication when playing coop in FPS games and have a lot of ideas of how to successfully integrate those in Interstellar Marines. For example, as shown in the video above, we want to have our voices to recognize and execute specific commands and influence enemies and environments. Think about how cool it would be that you would have to whisper to each other when an enemy is close or yell at him to agro. Another feature is having your own voice modified with the current room reverb when your helmet is open and on the contrary featuring a more claustrophobic and ”narrow” voice when your helmet is closed.

Show, don’t tell. So I urge you to have a look at the video instead of me explaining it all in boring text :)

/Reese

16th Mar 2011 17:28:48 CET

# 34349

voyager33mw

I'm glad that it's still in the plans for the first game. I think this will be one of the major selling points of IM.

16th Mar 2011 17:31:44 CET

# 34350

nutter666

agree. I wished this technology was in games earlier. Nice to see someone actually doing it. And good to know you have a patent down :)

16th Mar 2011 17:37:06 CET

# 34351

Spiderpig

Good to know that RTVP is going to be in the full game. After watching the video the first time I did just sit there and thought: "Wow!". That didn't change until now. Hopefully it'll all work like you want it to. I'll think about some phrases which I can throw on the landsharks so that they get really mad at me :)

I'm glad that it's still in the plans for the first game. I think this will be one of the major selling points of IM.

Totally agree here. If there are ads in the future, RTVP has to be announced there.

16th Mar 2011 18:11:15 CET

# 34352

Saijin_Naib

I NEED RTVP guys. It is quite simply one of the biggest innovations to come out in not only gaming, but general VoIP technology as well. You guys are bloody brilliant.

16th Mar 2011 18:13:34 CET

# 34354

Handy

Thanks for the info! :)

16th Mar 2011 18:31:56 CET

# 34356

vodny_cz

Actually this feature has on me biggest impact/impression while watching the GDC 08 video. I was literally blown away by this and I can't still figure out why this feature hasn't been implemented in any big AAA title yet. Tell me why? It's that hard to make it work when EA and other big developers have like 200-400 employees for every game or do these "big shots" lack fantasy and imagination that it could possibly make the game way more immersive? I don't know, maybe you guys were lucky enough to figure it out while playing AvP and I/we appreciate it.

16th Mar 2011 18:40:10 CET

# 34357

ClaymoreMD

I think this will require a detailed section in the sound configuration menu. There is a lot of people with different mics out there and bad recording might ruin the experience. Not everyone has a pop or wind filter in front of his mic so it will likely require a compressor and some adaptive equalizer in order to deliver maximum experience. Maybe even a "whisper" and "loud" mode. But hell, it will be an awesome experience when it's finally out :-)

16th Mar 2011 19:11:38 CET

# 34358

forgefire

Actually this feature has on me biggest impact/impression while watching the GDC 08 video

Agreed! The end of the gdc video where the shark got "aggro" because of Kim yelling at it was amazing and a perfect way to end that presentation as well hehe

Glad to hear it isnt dropped. I wonder how much work is involved in making this tech... Cant help but feel that it would also be a great addition to a late iteration of deadlock ;)

16th Mar 2011 19:34:30 CET

# 34360

Spiderpig

Honestly I don't use any VoIP in games. But I would definitely use it in IM just to experience RTVP.

16th Mar 2011 20:47:05 CET

# 34375

Suubersnake

I remember watching the GDC video and having my jaw hit the floor after seeing that in action. I'm looking forward to seeing it guys. :D

16th Mar 2011 23:55:52 CET

# 34395

Kosai106

I remember watching the GDC video and having my jaw hit the floor after seeing that in action. I'm looking forward to seeing it guys. :D

This! :)

17th Mar 2011 01:43:13 CET

# 34401

Saxby

This is also a major selling point for me (although I do love everything else).

RTVP is probably one of the things that I'm most excited about utilising! I'll be investing in some serious headphone/mic setups just to get the most out of it.

17th Mar 2011 04:29:31 CET

# 34411

rod085

I always use skype when i coop with my friends. Normally the voice quality of buil-in voip in games are bad. I think quality shlould the top priority .

17th Mar 2011 21:00:51 CET

# 34461

jorre92

WWEEEEEEEHHHHWWWW I need RTVP

17th Mar 2011 22:42:28 CET

# 34471

Crawing

It's going to be the most epic LAN ever when IM gets released!!!

	Ask the Developers – Week 10
	in Interstellar Marines.

Ask the Developers – Week 10

in Interstellar Marines.

"Whatever happened to RTVP? We haven't heard about it in any recent interviews or reports or anything."