We have a Teamspeak Server!
VirtualFlight.Online started out as a Discord server, and has taken advantage of the various features and functionality that Discord offers over the past couple of years - voice chat, screen sharing, text chat, file sharing, and so on.
We’re going to carry on using Discord - because it’s great at what it does.
I’ve always been aware however that Discord is not the only "voice chat” game in town - before it became popular, a voice over IP solition called “Teamspeak” was widely used by communities on the internet. It’s noteable that many e-sports teams and content creators continue to use Teamspeak - perhaps because it allows them to run their own server - meaning they are not beholden to a third party.
It’s also worth noting that Teamspeak does not have the rich functionality we associate with Discord - it focuses very much on voice communications, with a small amount of text chat, and some simple file sharing. It does not have screen sharing, forums, or dedicated text channels.
Anyway - the server now exists, and is open for those that would like to experiment with it. The server will support up to 32 simultaneous connections, and costs us nothing to operate - so have fun!
The remainder of this week’s newsletter mirrors the guidance we have added to the Codex - detailing how to connect to the teamspeak server, and configure the client software.
Best regards,
Jonathan Beckett
Founder, VirtualFlight.Online
What is Teamspeak?
Teamspeak is a "voice over IP" solution that has been popular for many years. It allows many users to communicate within voice channels, has very good audio quality, and is popular among the e-sports and video game streaming community. It is not as feature rich as Discord, but uses far less resources.
Downloading and Installing the Teamspeak Client
You can download and install the Teamspeak client for free from the Teamspeak homepage:
Connecting to the Server
After installing the Teamspeak client software, you will need to "connect" it to the VirtualFlight.Online teamspeak server.
Click on the "Connections Menu"
Click on "Connect"
Populate the server name - virtualflight.online:9987
Populate a nickname for yourself (a password is not required)
Click connect
That's it! - you're connected.
Bookmarking the Server
If you would like to "bookmark" the server - making it easy to find in the future - do the following:
Click on the "Bookmarks" menu.
Click on "Add to Bookmarks".
Click on "OK".
Automatically connecting to a server
If you would like Teamspeak to connect to a server automatically at startup, do the following:
Click on the "Bookmarks" menu
Click "Manage Bookmarks"
Select the Bookmark you want to connect to at startup
Click the "connect on startup" checkbox on the form
Click on "OK".
Setting up Audio Devices
In order to talk, and hear others, you will need to setup audio devices.
Click the "Tools" menu
Click on "Options" within the tools menu.
Click on "Playback" in the margin, and choose a "Playback Device".
Clock on "Capture" in the margin, and choose a "Capture Device".
Notice you can optionally configure push-to-talk here - it's self explanatory.
Click OK to finalise your settings.
Setting up Push to Talk
If you want to configure push-to-talk, do the following:
Click on "Options" within the tools menu.
Clock on "Capture" in the margin.
Choose "Push-to-talk" in the activation section.
Click on the box next to the "Push-to-talk" option to set a hotkey
Click OK to finalise your settings.
Once push-to-talk is configured, you will need to hold down the key you selected to broadcast your voice to the server.
Setting up Voice Activation
If you want to broadcast automatically when you are speaking, do the following:
Click on "Options" within the tools menu.
Clock on "Capture" in the margin.
Choose "Voice Activation" in the activation section.
Click OK to finalise your settings.
Note that "voice activation" may pick up other people in the room, television shows, radio programmes, and so on.