Radio Paradise: The station DJ

[LiquidNightfury]

 

Let me start by explaining my motivation here. I have, like I imagine a few of us have, recently been absorbed by the latest in the Fallout series. And in that wasteland, there's always a little voice to turn to to report the news and listen to something other than the silence: The voice on the pipboy, the radio announcer.

 

The proposition I have is to create a karma role much like the barber - a simple addition to the station providing a little service that can have minor RP impacts on a round. In this case, you would take the role of the station's sanctioned media announcer. Set up in your personal office with a stack of CDs and a link into the local PA system, you're paid to keep the station in the know and happy.

 

Your job would come in two parts: First of all, reporting on the goings-on of the shift, for the new arrivals and new events alike. Call out the threats that lurk in the maintenance hallways, protecting those latecomers to the station, or shine a light into Security's shady dealings, working with the local reporters to bring down corrupt officials.

 

The second part is a little more fun: Manipulation of BYOND's streamed audio setting to play your coworkers a few tunes in order to keep productivity high - music does that, after all. Intersperse your reports with the latest hits in order to wash out the silence a bit for those who want it. Those who don't can always tune it out via their headsets, but who doesn't like a few happy tunes to keep your mind off the fact that glass windows are the only thing between you and the vacuum of space. Haha. Don't think about it.

 

As the DJ you'd have a few little tricks up your sleeve, too. With a little bit of tweaking behind the scenes, you can listen in on the other channels, grabbing tidbits for your announcements off of security or command. Just make sure to stay near the desk, or else you'll probably end up knocking yourself out with the headset cable. And don't get caught - while technically illegal, it's all for the news, right? Right.

 

More straightforward version: A dedicated karma role utilizing BYOND's audio streaming system to provide some music background without admins having to queue up midis or the bar jukebox being dragged around. Their main tool is a three-part desk of radio equipment that's mostly for show, but each part does one of three things.

 

Part A of the radio desk releases the office headset, which can tune into station-bounced radio directly and allow the radio announcer to hear their own music tracks from within their sound-proofed booth. This headset is wired straight into the console, so you must remember to put it down before you try to leave the office, or you get knocked over and the headset is removed from your inventory.

 

Part B is the microphone. While you can simply chat away over comms, you're probably not gonna get noticed all that much. The microphone gives you a minor announcement effect when sending messages via the microphone itself (activate for intercom functions), letting you voice yourself a little louder in the crowd.

 

Part C is your music. Now, this part I must admit I'm a little unsure on, whether or not the jukebox code could somehow be applied for a global audio track, and if this could be implemented in a way that could be turned on and off at will client-side. However, Part C would be your mainstay for playing and pausing audio tracks, as well as housing a few little tricks. The desk can be hacked to alter the radio channels that the headset receives, letting you listen in on secure audio - WITH the caveat that you can't leave your office if you want to listen in. This is what brings the trick to it - giving the role unique traits for antagonistic or non-antagonistic players, depending on how they want to vary their own broadcast style.

 

Well, it drew on, but there it is. Hopefully this at least sparks a discussion of some type. I feel like this could provide an interesting little addition to the station in many ways, same way a good Journalist can spice up interactions by RP, or a good IAA can keep things ticking along. They don't do much, but not a lot of roles do on their own. But for the few who decide to take it seriously, it could become a pleasant addition to the shift cycle, and a low-impact RP role that can still have an effect on the larger game.

 

[NTSAM]

 

Sounds like it'd lag.

It lags to shit when admins upload long global midis, but with them running all the time, though?

And I'd much rather we not have a role replacing what anyone else can do if they're not pussies enough to stay out of space.

 

[LiquidNightfury]

 

The DJ station did inspire me here, I will admit. But that station is limited by location and construction, not to mention a very weighted dice roll as to whether you'll ever find it if you do manage to just steal an EVA suit and bail into space.

 

As for the midis, I must admit I'm not sure how they function, I've never noticed any lag personally. The jukebox is of similar function and seems to be low-impact. But I would need the input of someone who actually understands the different methods of audio in BYOND.

 

[tastyfish]

 

Sounds like it'd lag.

It lags to shit when admins upload long global midis, but with them running all the time, though?

And I'd much rather we not have a role replacing what anyone else can do if they're not pussies enough to stay out of space.

 

The media streaming system that the jukebox uses (and the radio in crew quarters would use if the dj station's equipment worked) uses a VLC player in a hidden browser pane, that streams oggs directly from a web server (this web server in our case). It places no load on the game server and clientside buffers in parallel to the game running. So, lag isn't an issue unless you're on dialup or equivalent.

 

[NTSAM]

Sorry, I'm dumb.

[Keroman]

 

It would actually be pretty neat if the player doing the DJ job could record short voice clips - maybe 15 seconds long? - to upload to the web server which would then play once before being deleted. They could do little news blurbs, "This just in from the Bridge: we have vampires in maintenance so you might want to stay out of the tunnels unless you really suck."

 

I'm sure there's probably plenty of reasons why it wouldn't work but it's still fun to imagine having an actual radio broadcaster keeping us tuned in. And the fact they'd have to record and upload something would make it so they couldn't immediately call for help over the station PA radio system if someone busted in and started wailin' on 'em.

 

[tastyfish]

 

Sorry, I'm dumb.

 

It's one of the most esoteric systems in the game, so I don't blame you for not knowing.

 

[Edd]

Boomboxes (as far as I know) are useless right now. I would love to see a Station DJ and I would recommend trying to somehow add boomboxes in to the mix as a secondary product of transmission for a Station DJ's broadcast (speaking hypothetically as if this were to be implemented).

[LiquidNightfury]

 

Boomboxes (as far as I know) are useless right now. I would love to see a Station DJ and I would recommend trying to somehow add boomboxes in to the mix as a secondary product of transmission for a Station DJ's broadcast (speaking hypothetically as if this were to be implemented).

 

That would be a cool way of doing it. Let boomboxes tune into the DJ specifically, like station bounced radios but only showing their feed. It wouldn't mean much but it would be a nice touch.

 

t would actually be pretty neat if the player doing the DJ job could record short voice clips - maybe 15 seconds long? - to upload to the web server which would then play once before being deleted.

 

Now THIS I feel would lag, and has too much room for abuse. Text just keeps better with the game theme, as well. It would be pretty hype though, for those of us willing to actually put our real voices out there.

 

[Edd]

 

It would actually be pretty neat if the player doing the DJ job could record short voice clips - maybe 15 seconds long? - to upload to the web server which would then play once before being deleted.

 

People would not like this, is what the back of my head is telling me. To be fair, no one wishes to tune in to listen to someone who is not qualified to perform such a charisma and good vocal requiring task as radio broadcasting.

 

Just imagine a very young and high pitch voiced individual using this, hypothetically speaking, already implemented record function. It's alright if you have a high pitched voice, but just hold that thought for a moment.

 

It's always nice to have output, and it wouldn't be too bad of an idea if we had people with a specific set of skills, to not make it sound a tad awkward (and immersion breaking).

 

[LiquidNightfury]

 

People would not like this, is what the back of my head is telling me. To be fair, no one wishes to tune in to listen to someone who is not qualified to perform such a charisma and good vocal requiring task as radio broadcasting.

 

 

Fully agree on this point. Hell, if this was even doable, it would be wasted on a DJ role. It's why I feel like an intercom system would work best, using a telecomms script of some sort so it stands out from regular radio chat. That way you could do stuff like have station guests and multiple hosts without having to worry about complex systems or everyone needing to make separate announcements. Just turn on the mic and talk. I'd suggest a compromise with voice clips like the AI has, but that'd still be pretty obstructive for the scale of talk that you'd get from a focused radio show.