Tag: online gaming

Article

How you can set up the XBox One or newer consoles so you have better control over your gaming sound

How to mute Xbox TV audio when using a headset | Windows Central

My Comments

You may need to know how to mute the game audio from your TV speakers, soundbar or home-theatre setup when you are using a headset.

Why

There is a risk of an audio-feedback or echo loop being created when you play an online game and are engaging in voice chat during that game.

As well, you may be wanting to be considerate of others by keeping the game’s sound effects and music to yourself but not lose the audible feedback that these sounds give you through the game, such as knowing how close the enemy is in the game. This is more so when others are likely to be resting or sleeping and you want to have that late gaming session.

With the latter situation, the TV, soundbar or home-theatre setup may not support headphones operation properly, if not at all. As well, the default behaviour with headsets for the XBox is to run the game soundtrack via the TV or audio peripheral but have online audio chat via the headset.

Here, when I am talking of an audio peripheral, I am talking of a soundbar, stereo amplifier or home-theatre AV receiver that is connected to your TV to improve its sound. These would be typically connected via HDMI-ARC or via an optical-digital-audio connection on the TV.

Enable automatic TV / audio-peripheral muting when headset is connected

1. Select the Settings option (Settings button on XBox Dashboard or Profile and System tab in XBox Guide)
2. Select General
3. Navigate to and select “Volume and Audio Output” page
4. Select “Additional Options” in Advanced Category
5. Select and enable “Mute speaker audio when headset attached”

This affects the TV audio including audio from soundbars and other audio peripherals connected to the TV or from the HDMI connection when you are using a headset connected to the XBox console.

Adjust TV volume from console and enable simplified operation

This procedure works with XBox Series X or S consoles which support HDMI-CEC. As well, TVs and audio peripherals like soundbars and AV receivers have to be connected by HDMI and support and be enabled for HDMI-CEC control. This feature may be known as Simplink, Anynet+ or one of many other trade names.

Most likely, all recent TVs at least will support HDMI-CEC operation, most likely if they also support HDMI-ARC connectivity to audio peripherals. It may be so that the major brands will have supported HDMI-CEC for flat-screen TVs designed since the mid 2000s with this under manufacturer-specific names like Simplink, EasyLink, Aquos Link, Anynet+ , VIERA Link or Bravia Sync. As well audio peripherals that are connected to the TV using HDMI-ARC are likely to support HDMI-CEC operation like you using the TV remote control to regulate the volume or them coming alive and selecting the HDMI input when you turn on the TV.

To set up

1. Go to your TV’s and audio peripheral’s setup menus and enable HDMI-CEC if it isn’t already enabled
2. On the XBox’s Settings menu, select TV and Display Options in General tab
3. Select Device Control
4. Enable HDMI-CEC. This setting will also allow “one-touch start” for your console so that when you turn it on or press the large Xbox button on a controller, the TV and audio peripheral will come on and the correct inputs are selected for the XBox. As well, turning off the console also turns off the TV and audio peripheral.
5. Enable “Console sends Volume Commands”

Thiss means that the XBox console effectively provides a fixed-level audio signal via HDMI. As you select the “Volume Up”, “Volume Down” or “Mute” options that now appear on the Audio and Music Page, these “system volume” commands are transmitted to the TV or audio peripheral via the HDMI cables to adjust the sound level appropriately. You still can use the TV’s remote or audio peripheral’s remote to adjust the volume and this can come in handy if you have to instantly drop the volume during gameplay.

The limitation here is that you have to bring up the Audio and Music Page by pressing the XBox button then selecting that option to adjust the sound. This is also where you may want to, for example, turn down the game’s music volume but keep the effects volume up so that you don’t get tired of the in-play music loop during the game.

Conclusion

Here, the XBox One’s menu options can yield ways to have the sound work properly for your gaming session, whether that be to allow a headset to work properly or for you to use the console’s user interface to adjust the sound volume.

Previous Coverage about the indie gaming segment

Untitled Goose Game ends up as one of the feature games to demo computer gaming hardware at PAX 2019

Alaskan fables now celebrated as video games

Two ways to put indie games on the map

Indie games like Untitled Goose Game appeal to people outside the usual game demographics

My Comments

When I visited the PAX 2019 gaming exhibition in Melbourne, I had noticed a distinct interest and appeal towards the indie game sector as distinct from the mainstream AAA+ games sector. This became of interest thanks to Untitled Goose Game becoming the talk of the town as a strong example. As well, the Victorian Government was using this show to showcase games that are developed locally as part of using public arts funding to support this kind of game development.

Here I had noticed a significant number of approaches to how these games worked. One game I had noticed was what would be called a Web game or browser game that can play within a Web browser. This method was a common approach for online games sites like Miniclip or games offered by Facebook and co as part of their platform.

I had talked to some of the games developers in this class of game and they noticed that the games exhibited modest performance requirements. It was true of the games that were written to be native to the host device’s operating system. This would mean that they could be played on a business laptop or home computer that has an integrated graphics infrastructure and baseline RAM.

But most of the laptops that were being used to play these games were connected to AC power rather than working on battery power. Here, I raised the issue with one of the game developers about their games’ power-requirements and optimising them to run efficiently especially if the laptop is to be run on battery power, and they concurred. One use case regarding power efficiency for games I was thinking of are overseas travellers who want to while away a long flight playing one of these games.

Similarly, these games are able to be played casually. That is to be able to provide enjoyable gameplay over short or long sessions whereas a significant number of popular AAA+ games tend to require long intense playing sessions. As well, a lot of the indie games appeal to a wide audience including those that are easily pushed out of video gaming like women or older people.

The indie games also don’t convey aggressive or highly-competitive ideals which do increase their appeal to parents and others who are concerned about what is conveyed in most of the popular video games on the market. This factor is becoming very important due to an increasing awareness about social values and how popular culture respects them with it impacting on how we consume media.

A situation that a lot of these developers do face when writing their games for the console platforms or porting an existing title that way is the tight requirements. Here, they have to make sure that the game handles all error conditions including if a controller is disconnected mid-play. There is also the requirement for the game to be playable with a handheld controller that uses one or two D-pads, a joystick and mapped buttons.

These points are highlighting the key differences that the indie game scene is about where a distinctly different vibe exists compared to the AAA+ video games offered by the mainstream game publishers. This is very similar to what is seen with film where the art-house and independent movies carry a different vibe to what the Hollywood blockbuster movies offer.

Keeping the indie gaming scene continuously alive and maintaining the existence of standalone independent games studios around the world can then allow for a diverse range of games that appeal to a wide range of tastes.

Articles

This Sony PS4 can now benefit from true cross-platform online gameplay thanks to Fortnite

PS4 Cross-Play Is Finally Happening; Fortnite Beta Starts Today | GameSpot

Fortnite Won | Gizmodo

Fans Forcing Sony Into ‘Fortnite’ PS4 Crossplay Is A Watershed Moment For Gaming | Forbes

From the horse’s mouth

Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation)

Extended Fortnite Cross-Play Beta Launches on PS4 Starting Today (Press Release)

My Comments

Game On no matter the console! At last true multiplatform cross-play has arrived!

All off the regular-computer, console and mobile platforms that Epic Games wrote the various ports of the Fortnite battle-royale multiplayer game have supported cross-platform multiplayer gaming except for one glaring omission being Sony with their PS4 console.

It has been part of a long-time practice with games-console manufacturers who are dependent on full vertical integration which affected things like multi-player multi-machine gaming where the games-console vendor would prefer to keep that between their own products. This was against the accepted norms of what is accepted with regular personal computers where it is desirable to play the same online game no matter the computing platform that your opponents use.

The XBox One’s main archrival – the PS4 can participate in cross-platform online gameplay thanks to Fortnite

It would also affect the ability for a games studio to port a game across all platforms and assure a similar online play experience no matter the platform. Here it wouldn’t matter whether the online play was about competing with other players including earning your place on one or more leaderboards, participating in a “virtual-world” that the game is about or trading in-game goods in a game-hosted marketplace.

Gradually, Sony and Microsoft. along with most games studios allowed a limited form of “cross-play” (online play of the same game from gaming devices of different gaming platforms) by allowing for, for example, a Windows regular computer to become a player in an online game with a games console. But with Fortnite, Microsoft and Nintendo brought their latest consoles to the “cross-play” party.

Now Sony have opened up the path towards third-party game studios implementing multi-platform online and network gameplay for their games titles. This is through an open beta program where a version of Fortnite with this true multiplatform cross-play code integrated but this code is really test code that may not be stable. It will be seen by Sony to be a proving ground for true multiplayer multiplatform online gaming involving all computing devices including gams consoles with them “opening up” the PlayStation platform for more cross-platform online gameplay.

This was as a result of “people power” with Fortnite fans complaining to Sony about ignoring the large PS4 installed base when it came to cross-platform gameplay especially as other regular, mobile and console platforms allowed for this kind of gameplay with very little friction.

Personally I see this as a seachange for network and online multiple-machine gaming especially in the games-console space. Here it could be about allowing third-party game developers including indie studios to create these kind of gameplay experiences but allow users to join these experiences no matter the console that they have.

With the rise of Fortnite, it can open up the idea of porting a game that has online or network play across every gaming platform while assuring users that they can game online no matter what they use. It can even lead towards increased interest in massively-multiplayer-online games especially where they could be played on a laptop, a smartphone or a console connected to the big TV.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

You can use a regular communications tool for in-game chat

Skype

How to use Skype for desktop Gaming

My Comments

Some of us may want to use Skype or similar online communications tools to chat with fellow games players when we play games on our regular computers.

There are some reasons where the software for in-game chat functionality can be difficult to set up and manage and the conversations on most in-game text / voice-chat functions is like a simple party line where everyone and his dog can join in uninvited. This opens the door to Internet trolls and other miscreants who can upset your gaming sessions.

To my knowledge, Skype is the only program that can support group text and voice communication. On the other hand, other online-communications software like Viber, Lync and Pidgin offers varying levels of functionality to allow your gaming clan to chat together. Most will offer group-based text chat with some offering group-based voice chat. But what is common with Skype, Viber and their peers is that you chat with those participants whom you and your mates invite.

Skype – an important part of a gamer’s arsenal

For Skype, you would need to have the latest version of Skype running on your Windows, Macintosh or Linux computer. Then, set up and test your wired or Bluetooth headset to make sure it is working properly with Skype if you want to have voice calls. You do the similar procedure with Viber or other communications software. With your Bluetooth headset, you would need to use the “Hands Free Profile” function for the voice communications and if you are using a stereo Bluetooth headset or Bluetooth headphone audio adaptor like the Sony SBH-52, you may want to make sure that the sound device that your game uses for effects and music is the Bluetooth Headphones or A2DP device if you want others around you not to be hearing the game effects or repeated music loops.

Create a group-chat session by dragging the friends, teammates and others together. If you do want a group voice call, you can create this with Skype but avoid the temptation to create a video call because this takes up the bandwidth.

Then you minimise Skype or your other communications software and start your game. Make sure that other unnecessary programs aren’t running while you are playing so you can dedicate your computer’s resources to the gameplay and communications.  If you are running a multi-screen setup, you may find that you could run text-chats on one of the screens.

Using a regular Internet-communications service rather a game-hosted Internet service gives you that advantage to have better control over how the peer-to-peer games banter turns out so you can all get the most out of the game.