Games and Avatar-Based Social Communities
Note: Some of the games listed below allow you to configure them to work with Voice Thing! using only their built-in Options or Preferences menus. However, some of them require that Voice Thing! be assigned as the system default recording device (which the Voice Thing! installer does during the installation process) before configuring the application. For those applications, if Voice Thing! is not currently the default recording device (either because you manually changed it, or some other application did), you must once again set it to be the default recording device. Instructions for doing that are included in the applicable game listings below.
• Second Life
• Counter-Strike
• There
• Day of Defeat
• Dungeons and Dragons Online
• Battlefield 2
Note: In order to use Voice Thing! natively in WoW, you must be running version 2.2 or later.
Another Note: If you are using a router with a strong firewall, you may have to configure it to allow WoW voice chat. For instructions on doing that, refer to the following Blizzard support article:
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21015
• Launch World of Warcraft. It will detect all available sound devices when it starts up. If you are using a USB headset or sound device, please make sure it is plugged in before launching the game.
• Log into the game.
• Hit the ESC key to access the Options screen, then click the Sound and Voice button.
• Select the "Voice" tab.
• Click the "Enable Voice Chat" checkbox.
• Click the "Enable Microphone" checkbox.
• In the menu under the "Enable Microphone" checkbox, choose Voice Thing!.
• To test the Voice Thing! setup (and hear how your voice actually sounds through Voice Thing!), in Microphone Test section, click the red Record button, talk for a while and then click the yellow Play button to listen to what you recorded. (Be sure to set Voice Thing!'s Monitor switch to Mute to avoid duplicating the processed voice.)
• When you are finished with setup, click "Okay."
Note: If Voice Thing! is set to be the system default recording device, (which the Voice Thing! installer does during the installation process), you can set Second Life's Input Device (microphone) to "Default" (which, not surprisingly, is the default setting).
If, for some reason, Voice Thing! is not currently the default recording device, either because you manually changed it, or some other application did, you can also manually set up Second Life to use Voice Thing!.
In either case, here's how:
Go to the Second Life Preferences menu and select "Voice Chat" from the left-hand list of categories.
• Check the "Enable Voice Chat" checkbox.
• In the "Input Device (microphone)" field, choose either Default (if Voice Thing! is set to be the system default recording device) or Voice Thing! from the menu. (Both of these options are functionally identical, so no need to stress over the choice.)
• If you want to use Push-to-Talk mode, check the "Use Push-to-Talk mode" checkbox and enter a trigger into the trigger field.
• Click "OK."
To confirm that Voice Thing! is functioning correctly:
• Make sure Voice Thing! is running (if not, manually launch it).
• Launch the Second Life Voice Client, log in, and talk into your microphone.
• The green level meter bars above your avatar's head should move in response to your speech. If they do, you're ready to go. If not, double-check the configuration process above to ensure that you did everything correctly and that your microphone is plugged in and not muted.
Note: Counter-Strike requires that Voice Thing! be set as the system default recording device (which the Voice Thing! installer does during the installation process). If, for some reason, Voice Thing! is not currently the default recording device, either because you manually changed it, or some other application did, you must once again set it to be the default recording device. To do that:
Go to the following Windows menu:
Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Sounds and Audio Device
Properties --> Audio Tab
• Under Sound Recording, select Voice Thing! and click "OK."
To setup Counter-Strike to use Voice Thing!:
• Make sure Voice Thing! is running (if not, manually launch it).
• Launch Counter-Strike and click "Options."
• Select the "Voice" tab.
• Check the "Enable voice in this game" checkbox.
• Click the "Test Microphone" button and speak into your microphone. You should hear your voice and see the level meter respond to your speech. If not, double-check the configuration process above to ensure that you did everything correctly and that your microphone is plugged in and not muted.
• If you can hear your voice, but the level is low, check the "Boost microphone gain" checkbox.
• When done, click "OK" and you're ready to go.
Note: In order to use the voice chat feature in There, you must upgrade to a Premium Membership. The free Basic Membership does not include Voice Chat and therefore Voice Thing! can not be used with it.
There requires that Voice Thing! be set as the system default recording device (which the Voice Thing! installer does during the installation process). If, for some reason, Voice Thing! is not currently the default recording device, either because you manually changed it, or some other application did, you must once again set it to be the default recording device. To do that:
Go to the following Windows menu:
Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Sounds and Audio Device
Properties --> Audio Tab
• Under Sound Recording, select Voice Thing! and click "OK."
To set up There to use Voice Thing!:
• Make sure Voice Thing! is running (if not, manually launch it).
• Launch There.
Go to the following There menu:
People -->Action Bar
• Click "Voice" to enable the Voice Action Bar.
• Check to ensure that voice is active. If it is, the voice control in the Action Bar will say "Turn Voice Off" (thus indicating that it's currently On).
• Click "Voice Trainer" and follow the directions to set the voice level.
• Speak into your microphone. Sound graphics should appear above your avatar's head. If they do, you're ready to go. If not, double-check the configuration process above to ensure that you did everything correctly and that your microphone is plugged in and not muted.
Day of Defeat? Come on. Who in their right mind would name a war game "Day of Defeat"? You might as well name a super-hero RPG "Cowards Quest"™. Or a fantasy game "World of Accounting"™.
What were they thinking?
If you insist on playing it anyway, refer to the Counter-Strike instructions. They're exactly the same (except for the inexplicably lame name, of course).
Open the Dungeons and Dragons Online Audio Options window. Note that the window does not display all of the options at one time. You must scroll to the bottom of the list of options to get to the ones that you need to configure Voice Thing!
• Check the "Enable Voice Chat" checkbox.
• In the "Voice Capture Device" field, choose Voice Thing! from the menu.
To test the Voice Thing! setup (and hear how your voice actually sounds through Voice Thing!), check the "Mic Test" checkbox and speak into your microphone. (Be sure to set Voice Thing!'s Monitor switch to Mute to avoid duplicating the processed voice.) You should hear your processed voice. If not, double-check the configuration process above to ensure that you did everything correctly and that your microphone is plugged in and not muted.
When everything is working right, click "Close" and you're ready to go.
Note: Battlefield 2 requires that Voice Thing! be set as the system default recording device (which the Voice Thing! installer does during the installation process). If, for some reason, Voice Thing! is not currently the default recording device, either because you manually changed it, or some other application did, you must once again set it to be the default recording device. To do that:
Go to the following Windows menu:
Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Sounds and Audio Device
Properties --> Audio Tab
• Under Sound Recording, select Voice Thing! and click "OK."
To set up Battlefield 2 to use Voice Thing!:
• Make sure Voice Thing! is running (if not, manually launch it).
• Launch Battlefield 2.
• Click "Options" and select the Audio tab.
• Check the "Enable" checkbox in the VOIP section.
• Click the "Start Microphone Test" button.
• Speak into your microphone. (Be sure to set Voice Thing!'s Monitor switch to Mute to avoid duplicating the processed voice.) You should hear your voice. If not, double-check the configuration process above to ensure that you did everything correctly and that your microphone is plugged in and not muted.
• During the Microphone Test, the "Send Threshold Volume" meter should display green. If it displays red, adjust the threshold control (just above the meter) to a lower level.
• In the VOIP Volume section, adjust the two level controls to the highest setting that does not produce distortion. You can check the "Boost Mic Gain" check box to, well, boost the mic gain.
• When everything is working, click "Apply" and you're ready to go.
