Chat Part Deux
In the interest of letting everyone read this, as well as ensuring that I can find this blurb later when I inevitably go looking for it, I’m not putting this in the comments to my last post.
One of the nice thing about Uru’s chat system is that it automatically limits chat to a certain range once the Age population reaches a certain limit.
- Alahmnat
Can’t say I agree with this, I personally find this one of the chat features biggest hinderences, if it was a voice chat then that would be understandable as sound degrades over long distances depending on the volume, but the KI is text chat it can communicate between universes splendedly but starts having issues when 20 people are in one hood? Not sure how that makes sense.
- Tweek
Well, as I mentioned, Uru’s chat system is sort of a hybrid strange thing half intended to be used as an IM-like text chat system, and also half intended to be used as a more voice-replacement-esque text communication method. I think it’s this hybridization that makes it less than perfect, and it should either e used entirely one way or entirely the other, but not both simultaneously.
The biggest problem with KI chat is that there’s no delineation between text “chat” and IM chat in the chat window… it’s all the same thing. The apparent contradiction of having everyone in the Age on your buddy list but only having a handful of them able to hear you (and you’re never sure how many that is…) is the biggest problem, because the buddy list is acting like an IM client’s would, while the chat is simulating localized conversation by limiting the broadcast range, and then only when the system reaches a certain number of players.
This is the biggest thing I want to fix by having the local, public conversation “channel”, as well as private channels for long-distance conversations with small groups or individuals, and enabling players to toggle between them, rather than have them all mashed together.
Moving on to “phone” and other voice communication methods…
I can only assume that Cyan originally intended the KI to be capable of long-distance voice chat between two people regardless of where they were in the game (inter-Age voice chat… which does happen to be listed in the Gahreesen KI document), but for whatever reason, it never seems to have been implemented (that along with audio recording…). I would very much like to implement such a system, and having had the night to think it over, I’ve got a few ideas on how to do it.
By default, double-clicking on a user in your buddy list (whether they’re on your buddies list or your “local people” list) will initiate a private messaging session with them, just like launching a chat window in AIM/ICQ/MSN/etc. You can also right-click on any person in the list and be presented with a few extra options. Players in your buddies list can be removed from the list, and players in the “local people” list can be added to your buddies. If you right-click on a buddy, you have the option to call them. The person receiving the call has the option to ignore it, in the event that someone’s been randomly adding people to their list, and also to block all incoming calls (either for privacy or because they don’t have a mic). If someone is already in a phone conversation, they will have a little phone icon beside their name, and will be unable to accept new incoming calls.
Additionally, right-clicking on someone on your buddies list will give you the option to invite them to a group text or group voice chat. For a group text chat, you can choose to create a new “room” and call it whatever you like, or you can use one of your existing chat rooms. You can carry out multiple group text chats at the same time. For voice chats, right-click on one of the people you want to have in the group, and select the option for group voice chat. This will issue a phone call to that person, after which you can continue to add new people. Since the voice chat system only allows for one chat group at a time, there is no need to name the chat, and once you hang up, you’re free to initiate a new call.
There is also a “missed calls” menu in the interface which lists all of the calls you were unable to receive because you were on the phone, or away getting food, or whatever.
You also have the ability to put a voice chat on “hold” in the event that you need to talk to someone right next to you in the game. When you’re having a phone conversation, your voice is broadcast only to the person or people you’re on the phone with, ensuring the conversation’s privacy. You can put the conversation on hold and re-enable public voice chat by clicking a button on the device, then switch back to the phone chat by pressing the button again.
The one thing I’m not sure about is how to handle public voice chat reception by those on the phone. My first inclination was to just mute it outright, but I don’t know if that’s the best idea. However, unlike the real world, where it’s easy (or at least, easier) to distinguish between people on the phone and people standing next to you, online it can be difficult to tell where a sound is actually coming from. Perhaps I should look into realtime holophonics… 