The AlphaManatee has some ideas and information to share on how to play games or have watch parties remotely during these troubling times. All of these involve some kind of audio and video conferencing solution. Some require everyone to watch a central shared screen to follow the game whereas existing online multiplayer games just require you have the game already.
Audio Conferencing Basics
In past life AlphaManatee was a system engineer for a company making public safety voice communication systems and many of those systems where very large scale conferencing system (FAA, NASA, etc.). So here are some key points to keep in mind for having the best audio conferencing and gaming experience.
Conference Talker Level Balancing
The biggest hurdle is how to balance the audio of the participants with the game audio. All audio conferencing solutions can only handle mixing the 2 to 4 loudest audio sources at once and everyone else gets muted. This is why if people talk over each other or there is one person eating chips with an open mic everyone on the call hears whichever is loudest. This also prevents audio feedback loops which cause that screeching sound we have all heard. That is different that echo but if you want to know more about that go here.
Conference Etiquette
- TEST YOUR SETUP IN ADVANCE! TEST YOUR SETUP IN ADVANCE! TEST YOUR SETUP IN ADVANCE! Yes I am serious about this can you tell. Don’t want for game time to try and figure out how your 20 year old headset works or figure out where that webcam you used 10 years went. Making sure your microphone and video setup is working is best done before everyone gets together. Best is to schedule a time well BEFORE the game time to test everything out with the host. Instructions for how to configure and test your sound output and input options are included in the participant setup directions.
- Key is we want to hear each other talk and not a lot of background sound made very loud. If you don’t want to talk to people then don’t join the game and continue stress eating through your pallet of Cocoa Crisps. IF you wake up from your diabetic coma and feeling social then by all means join in the fun. If your kids or dog wants to make a lot of noise then put them in the kennel or outside for a bit if not don’t join. Mute your audio if you need to be loud for a bit and yell at someone.
- Try not to interrupt people and try not to ramble. The audio works best when only one person is talking at once and to be honest who can listen to more than one person at a time and have any idea what they are saying.
Here are participant and hosting instructions for certain games and types of games. Click links below to see the instructions:
Jack Box Party Games
Steam Remote Play Together Capable Games – Details Coming Soon
Watch Parties – (Coming Soon!)
Comparison of & Notes on Video Conferencing Solutions (Coming Soon!)