09.12.10
Posted in Gaming, Home at 12:14 pm by JohnB
One of the projects I’ve got bubbling is the connection of XBox Live communications to my audio set up.
The typical way of using XBox Live comms is through a headset connected to the controller. This means that there’s a microphone input to the controller and a mono output to the headset via the 2.5mm jack plug. The plug is a standard TRS (Tip, Ring, Shield) and must therefore share a common ground between the mic input and headphone output, the layout is thus:
A TRS connector - this is 1/4inch
The Tip carried the +’ve for the mic, the Ring carries the +’ve for the headphones and the Shield carries the common ground signal for both.
So the cabling isn’t that complicated, however the signal I want to feed to the controller is not at mic level, it’s going to be line level as it’s an AUX-out from my main mixer so we need to do something to attenuate that signal back. There’s also the issue that the controller is expecting to have an electret-type microphone attached and as a result supplies a voltage in order to power the mic, having this up to the line output on the mixer isn’t going to do a lot for the signal quality!
The solution for both of these issues is the following:
C1
+Line level in --||----R1----+-- +Mic level output
+ |
|
+----R2----+
|
Ground (input)----+--------------- Ground (output)
R1 = 10 kohm
R2 = 1 kohm
C1 = 10 uF
In practice I actually used 2 x 10K resistors in place of R1 as the levels being supplied on the Aux Out of the are still a little higher that the contoller and the audio ‘gubbins’ doing the encoding are expecting so I was getting a lot of distortion and noise – this probably gives some indication of the overall quality (or lack thereof) of the components used in the standard headset, but that’s another issue!
I tested the various configurations using the XBox Live messaging system by attaching a voice message and using the play-back to listen and set the output levels. All working very nicely!
Then I hit a wall. The ‘output’ side of the XBox Live Audio was planned to be routed into an input channel on on of the tertiary mixers – the one I have dedicated to the games consoles – and I felt confident that this would be a pretty easy task, the mixer was happy to take an unbalanced input and the cable was a simple connection to a mono 1/4 inch jack. The reality is that when I plug in the jack to the mixer by mic levels get sunk. There’s simply nothing there, in fact the XBox reports there being no connection in place. So I’m stuck!
My workaround has been to make a simple cable to carry just the mic signals so I can use my boom mic and i’ve told the XBox to send the Live output to the main speakers, it works.. but dammit it’s not right! I need to look at what’s going on, but that’s where we are now.
I’ve alos started looking at the connection of my iPhone to the audio kit for hands free calling and I’ll update that this coming week.. things are never as easy as they should be!
Permalink
06.11.08
Posted in Gaming at 9:40 am by Silesti
Hi all, back again to bring you my thoughts on my latest foray in game-space! This time I joined those slightly strange, but hugely funny fellows Tycho and Gabe in their new adventure.
Penny Arcarde: On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness, is simply superb! My previous dips into the delights of the Xbox Live Arcade titles have come back with, as was expected, some fairly light-weight, easy to pick up, easy to put down visual treats. The fact that this first (and I’ll put good scheckles it won’t be the last) endeavor into game-space by the Penny Arcade guys was released through this channel by no means relfects it’s quality, playability or simple addictivness! This is a title which would hev been worth a full-on DVD release for sure but which I’m more than happy to spend some Live Points on.
What’s good. Well pretty much everything actually. The games 2D representation fits perfectly with the PA comic-strips and the characters are well presented and realised. This comes as no surprise of course as Tycho (Jerry Holkins) and Gabe (Mike Krahulik) played a major part in the game’s genesis, with Jerry providing the story and dialogue and Mike delivering some of the most detailed art-direction ever seen, I’ll wager. The Steam-punk versions of our game loving, giraffe admiring characters are simply excellent.
Game pace and flow is well executed and I never got bored with a particular case (they’re a detective agency) as there was always something to be worked on or towards. The progression through the learning curve was good too, steep enough that you had to make an effort to get better but not so steep that you got that “I’ll never do this” feeling.
What’s not so good. If I had to find something to point a finger at, it’d be the combat process and this really is a minor niggle point. I noticed on more than one occasion I felt like I’d lost control of the interface. There was an action in progress but I couldn’t see what it was or where it was focussed. Now this is probably more down to me not concentrating enough but at the time I was trying to defend against some particularly nasty steam driven juicing machines (you know the ones I mean) and really didn’t have the opportunity to scan over every character to find out what I’d just done. I think that’s it though.. and I’m sure that when the next episode comes out I’ll simply get better at controlling things and this too will be fine.
So. PA: OTRSPD. Get it – Xbox Windows Mac, Linux – all available.
- Silesti
Permalink
05.18.08
Posted in Gaming at 7:36 am by Silesti
HI!
So I sufaced long enough to gather my thoughts about the latest from the Need For Speed franchise. Now, while I can (from a very moral perspective) understand the position they took in moving the racing away from illegal street races and high-speed pursuits with the cops, this only works if you take one of two paths.
1) produce an ‘arcade’ racing game with the qualities of the original Need For Speed series liberally applied and hope the PGR fans like it too
or
2) produce a top notch racing sim which can hold it’s head up in the company of FORZA and make sure every peice is flawless
Unfortunately what we have is a not-so-happy marriage between the two. The racing is too arcade-like without having arcade fun and not close enough to match my expectations from a sim (if I’m on a grid with a bunch of other cars, I’d like to be able to start from any other position than last please!).
I’m pleased the autosculpt features have remained and been more integrated into the game dynamic through their apparent impact on the performance of the car on the road. And the paint and graphic customisation gave me the simple pleasure of having a garage full of cars with my ‘look’ applied in a pain-free and pretty enjoyable way. But the menu structures, both the vertical main and garage and the horizontal/2D chalk-on-the ground game menu, leave a lot to be desired both in terms of navigability (for the chalk one) and speed of access for the rest.
In-game I found the controls a little clumsy. Now I’m not the most dexterous and have even been know to be a little ham-fisted but I know that I can make a car dance sideways in PGR and control a high-speed 4-wheel drift in FORZA but in this game I felt like I was somehow disconnected, especially in the Drift and Speed races. The Grip races seemed a little more manageable but maybe that down to my more extensive on-track experience, who knows.
I also very much dislike that I can’t progress through the game without having to re-visit events to earn enough money to buy the cars I need to even compete in the later ones. I don’t like that I can’t concentrate on one type of racing but have to split myself, and my resources, over multiple disciplines. I don’t understand why there’s a differential between ‘winning’ an event and ‘dominating’ it. OK, of course I do.. but why then is winning not enough to get you through to the next round?
So what DO I like?… Well I actually like the structure of the game. I like the concept of these highly illegal street racers being brought together in a semi-controlled environment and being allowed to simply go-for-it. I like it that the old ‘crews’ have been retained and turned into teams and I did get a feeling when listening to the drivellings of the MC at the events that this was part of a larger world.
In conclusion, my measure of a game’s apeall and worth is how far I get through it before decide to finish it or give it up. Transformers reached this tipping point early and failed, PGR4 reached it early and succeeded. With NFS Pro Street I’ve reached my tipping point after about 2/3 distance and it’s REALLY annoying! I’ve made the investment in time to get this far but I’m going to have to cut my losses and move away from the table. MESSAGE TO NFS: give me back my neon, my tuners, my chases and my free roaming. FORZA is my race sim and you don’t match up!
Silesti
Permalink
« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »
