Ventrilo - another VoIP for gaming

[bbloke]

Well, things seemed bleak on the VoIP front for Macs, with the Teamspeak crew taking aaaaaaaaaaaaaaages (to do nothing, it felt like...), Ventrilo being some time away, Roger Wilco staying at an unsupported OS 9 version, and so on. In recent times, we have had Teamspeex (http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253223), which allows us to connect to Teamspeak servers, and now... we have a Ventrilo beta version!

http://www.ventrilo.com/news.php?article=mac-232prototype6


More information can be found at the Ventrilo site...

Screenshots: http://www.ventrilo.com/about.php#mac

Overall Mac status: http://www.ventrilo.com/mac.php

Mac Ventrilo forums: http://www.ventrilo.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6

:)

[Viro]

What do programs like these have that Skype does not? Do they do in game integration, etc?

Honest question, since I don't use any voice chat in games.

[bbloke]

One thing I am aware of is that Skype is limited to a "conference call" of up to four other people, so this can be a bit of a problem. VoIP programs used in gaming also often allow users to have a transmit key, so they cannot be heard all of the time. This is useful in gaming, as we don't all want to hear the sound effects from everyone else's computers, as it would become very confusing. I don't know whether or not Skype has that feature, though.

[HoZ]

it is about freaking time....

AA is gonna be the bomb now!

[kainjow]

On the PC end, apps like Ventrilo are much more optimized for in-gaming chat. Skype is a memory hog in comparison, although I used Skype on my Mac with PC friends for a while and it worked well. But Ventrilo is much better because you can choose when to send voice (I don't think Skype has this).

[BlackFlag]

Good spot, BB! :)

Man alive, as soon as the CoD side of my clan goes AOT and I get on a net connection that doesn't allow computer games, not one but TWO VOIP programs come out... :rolleyes:

[bbloke]

Hehehe, thanks, BlackFlag. :)

I know what you mean. We've been waiting ages (years, in fact), and then two come out at once. To be honest, I can't help but feel the TeamSpeex work has accelerated things. It could be a complete coincidence, as development does take time; people can't just create these apps overnight... On the other hand, as long as rivals have not released anything either, there is less pressure, and people are less likely to release beta version, perhaps. Once someone goes ahead and releases something, competition surely hots up!

[bbloke]

And not long after the TeamSpeex (http://www.savvy.nl/blog/) update (see http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253223&page=3), Ventrilo (http://ventrilo.com/download.php) is now at version 2.3.2.Prototype.7 (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/internet_utilities/ventrillo.html)... (!)