Mumble

Why is it useful?

Mumble is mostly used in two situations: PvP and Classes. In PvP it is very useful because, for example, it is faster to call out a primary target than to type it, especially with PvP related lag. In classes it is great as well because we do not want our poor instructors getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from typing everything. In effect, it is just a lot easier and faster than typing.

Quick guide

1. Download mumble from http://mumble.sourceforge.net/ (the stable version is running v1.2.2). On Windows, the stable version is recommended because it has a better overlay (ie. font size can be changed) and better hotkey setup. On Mac, the overlay feature does not appear to work on the stable release; try the developer snapshot.
2. Install and set it up (create your own certificate, etc)
3. Start the client and Server>Connect>Add New...
   • Servername: Eve University
   • Address: mumble.eveuniversity.org
   • Port: 64738 (Default)
   • Username: <Your Forum Username, i.e: Your character name with nothing either side>
4. Connect (you can ignore the certificate warning - this will be fixed later).
5. When prompted for your password, use your forum password!
6. There is no six!
7. You should automatically be dropped in the "Chat E-UNI" channel.
8. Talk.
9. Restart EVE client if you want overlay to work.

Setting up Mumble

Audio Tuning Wizard

When you run Mumble the first time, an Audio Tuning Wizard is presented to you. If you skip or miss it on the first run you can retake the wizard by clicking Configure > Audio Wizard. It is recommended you go through it carefully, since setting up Mumble correctly will make your and everyone else's life much easier (going through the Audio Tuning Wizard properly will also normalise everyone's voices, such that everyone will sound the same volume regardless of how they have their microphone set up).  However there are two things I would like to highlight:

Push-to-talk

When you reach a screen that looks like the one above select the top radio button, click on the box on the same line and press the key you you want to use as the push-to-talk key.This is your normal push-to-talk key; for certain Fleet roles you may need more than one (see the comments in the Fleet channels), but for general E-UNI activity one is sufficient.

Text-to-speech

When you reach a screen that looks like the one above I recommend you disable the text to speech notifications.

Connecting to the Eve University Server

<certificates>

Notifications

In the Setting screen Configure>Settings you can find Advanced settings checkbox in the bottom left corner. With it checked you can access the Messages settings. From there you can disable popup and sound notifications about events you don't care about.

Key Bindings for Fleetchannels

One of the great advantages of Mumble over Teamspeak is the ability for squad members and their SC to talk amongst themselves, without clogging up comms for the rest of the fleet. This can be invaluable for baitsquads and instructing new members. In order for this to work however, it requires people to be in the right channel and everyone should have their keys set up correctly. This part of the Mumble setup guide focuses on setting up your key shortcuts for the structured fleet channels.

First off, before you set up additional keys to talk up and down in the command structure, there are some things about the Push-to-Talk key you should know. In structured fleets it allows you to:
- talk to your squadmates, but not your SC or the rest of the fleet. So this can be used for general chatter between you and your squadmates without disturbing anyone else, but make sure you don't obstruct talk from the commanders!
- talk to all the other commanders but not normal fleetmembers when you are in a command position. This is because all the command subchannels are linked just like the General Chat and PvP waiting room are linked. In this sense, Mumble is set up backwards from Teamspeak as you now need a separate key to talk to the fleet instead of to command.

Now, on to set some hotkeys! To start, you go to Configure -> Settings -> Shortcuts.

There you will see this screen (sans the whisper keys, because we are going to set them up for you now!). Press the Add button in the bottom of the screen.

Talk to your SC

After you’ve clicked Add, a new empty key setup appears. For Function, choose Whisper. After you chose Whisper, click on the empty field under Data and click the (…) button. We’ll first set up the key that enables squad members to talk to their squad commander.

First, click Whisper (or Shout if you’ve got the RC2 version) to Channel at the top. Next, choose Parent and check Whisper to subchannels. What this does is it sends a message to your SC and your squad members, to call out points for example. Be aware that this message is not relayed directly to the rest of the fleet! This means you can chatter with your squad without cluttering up fleet comms, but it also means your information will not be available to the rest of the commanders or the whole fleet directly! Especially SC’s need to be aware of this as they need to relay important information to command.

Click OK and set a key binding by clicking the empty field under Shortcut. Next, add a another key. This key will be for commanders to talk to their subordinates. This enables bait squad SC’s to coordinate with their squad without confusing the rest of the fleet and it lets WC’s talk to just their wing members.

Talk to your subordinates

Again, set the Function field to Whisper and click the (…) key. Click Whisper to Channel, select Current and check Whisper to subchannels.

Final notes

Be aware that giving orders by using this key does not transmit your message to other commanders in the same or higher level. So when an SC talks using this key, he needs to communicate his actions separately with the rest of the commanders. But, being the good SC he is, he should have been doing that from the start anyway. There is one big note that should be made when using this setup, however. Setting up your keys like this makes sure information is only streamed to those that need to know. On the other hand, SC’s are required to be a lot more active in relaying information to the rest of command. This information then needs to be relayed by the FC to the rest of the fleet, if he deems it important for the rest of the fleet to know it also.

In short, the structured fleet channels enable great streamlining and filtering of information. This way, fleet commanders can focus on leading the fleet rather than having to process endless streams of information and squad members and their commanders can coordinate more efficiently amongst themselves. On the other hand, all this requires a great deal more communication and discretion in doing so from SC’s to the rest of command.

Overlay

Sample overlay

Mumble provides a very handy and customizable overlay. To configure it go to Configure - Settings and pick the Overlay option

Sample settings are provided below that will put the overlay near the top left corner, fitting in one person just perfectly if you've got the left-side menu narrow (sample to the right). If more than one person talks they might overlap your Current Location info. Be sure to disable the "Always Show Self" option after you've played with where the overlay goes.

Overlay not showing up? Make sure you start Mumble before starting the Eve Online Client.

Sample overlay

Overlay in Linux

To actually display the overlay over Eve in Linux after you've enabled it in Mumble's settings you need to have Mumble launched first and then run mumble-overlay in front of the wine command that you use to launch Eve. For example:

mumble-overlay wine explorer /desktop=Eve,1600x1200 "C:\Program Files\CCP\EVE\eve.exe"

If you use a WINEPREFIX, then you would insert it after the WINEPREFIX variable like so:

WINEPREFIX=/home/username/bin/wine/wine-eve/ mumble-overlay wine explorer /desktop=Eve,3200x1180 "C:\Program Files\CCP\EVE\eve.exe"