Built in voice overlay in TS3

[Bodhi]

I discovered that TS3 already has a built in voice overlay, the DirectX overlay plugin. A voice overlay displays the names of TS users, who's talking etc while you are in-game. I've tested it with WoT and it works very nicely.


Activating

- Start up TS and go into Settings/Plugins.
- Select "DirectX overlay plugin" and tick the checkbox next to it.
- Below you have a Settings button where you can tweak it.
- Press "Reload All" to load the plugin.
- Boot up yer game and voila, you should now have a TS overlay.


Tweaking

In the settings in TS, you can adjust transparency of various things. I've set it so that there are no scroll bars visible, so basically it's only peoples names that are visible. You can set the default position, as well as default size. If you set the height to 350 or higher you won't have to scroll to see users.

You can also adjust while in-game, although it's a bit dodgy in WoT. You have to press the Scroll Lock button (I had to look for that, it should be next to PrintScr), and then press Ctrl to activate the pointer in WoT. You can move the window around and there's a tiny, hardly visible TS icon down in the left corner. If you right click that you have some in-game options, such as removing the title bar.

The only downside I've found is that is also shows the TS descriptions that people have put in their TS config, so some names get too long. I guess that if a lot of us start using it, we could ask people not to write anything in the description...

Anyhoo, very useful now that we are being invaded by new members and no longer have any idea who's talking, lol

 

[SUPASTARR]

Great write up Bodhi, I'm sure this will help new applicants recognise and remember the names of other applicants and members.

Please note people that you need to rub Teamspeak 3 in Administrator mode if you want it work correctly with World of Tanks. I have no idea if this will work correctly with Homefront or Brink at the moment.

 

[TheHitman04]

good to know, prior to TS 3 i know there was an addon you could install simply called TS overlay that did the same thing i think, good to see theyve now incorporated a one internally

 

[SUPASTARR]

aye, its pukka Hitman!

 

[McTavish]

Nice finding indeed, Bodhi! I wonder if the related pop up warning window has any relevance to the games we play? The warning that pops up after you tick the box for the first time and says something like "some games use automatic anticheat mechanism and this overlay may be considered a cheat and your user account can be banned etc, use at your own risk". It appeared only once, not again after I unticked and ticked it.

 

[Jaffa]

to move and alter things, the default is keyboard scroll. Press this activates the ability to alter the size/shape

 

[Bodhi]

Nice finding indeed, Bodhi! I wonder if the related pop up warning window has any relevance to the games we play? The warning that pops up after you tick the box for the first time and says something like "some games use automatic anticheat mechanism and this overlay may be considered a cheat and your user account can be banned etc, use at your own risk". It appeared only once, not again after I unticked and ticked it.

I haven't heard of it regarding the games we play, and for the games we play on our own servers it shouldn't be a problem. I'm guessing this is because some kind of overlay is used in certain cheats, or at least it looks like that from some of the Youtube videos I've seen. Question is whether it would cause a ban on just any particular server or an actual Punkbuster ban. Steph would be the man to ask about these things (he cheats more than I do ). In any case if you're unsure about a particular game, it might be worth googling it.

Should it happen though, I'm guessing there should be a way to prove that one is only using a TS overlay, since there are other overlays being used by many, such as PlayClaw.

For WoT I'm pretty sure it's safe, since developers deny that cheats exist at all, due to the serverside of things.

 

[KKND]

What does TS Overlay do again?
It displays a HUD window over the top of the game you are playing to show who is in your teamspeak channel. If someone starts talking, their name will change to a brighter yellow. Muted people will be shown in green, whispering people in red.

Sounds cool! How do I get it?
You need to install the latest TeamSpeak version first from the TeamSpeak download page. Or, if you've got TeamSpeak installed already, update using the HELP menu's "Check for update" option (see below).

Do I need to do anything to get it working?
Yes. If you are installing TeamSpeak from the installer, on the final page of the installer wizard it has an "Enable TeamSpeak overlay" tick box. Tick this and you're golden!
If not, don't panic! When running TeamSpeak, just open the TeamSpeak settings menu and click on "plugins".

In the plugins dialogue, tick the "DirectX Overlay Plugin" to enable it.

What do I do then?
Run Teamspeak and connect to a server FIRST before launching a game. The overlay will then work. If you don't run things up in TeamSpeak first, nothing will happen!

The TeamSpeak overlay is in my way!
So it's all working, but the TeamSpeak window (normally on the top left of the screen) is obscuring in-game messages, or a mini-map, or is just plain not where you want it!

Well you can move it!

Go back to the "plugins" dialogue (above) and select the "DirectX overlay plugin". You'll notice then a new "Settings" button appears. Click on the "settings" button.

This opens a new dialogue box which has all the settings for the overlay plugin.

On the display TAB, there is an "Initial X position" and an "Initial Y position" field which determine where on the screen the TS Window is displayed.
I've moved my window to the top-right. The window is 150x180 pixels(px) with a 50px margin, so my screen is 1680x1050, so 1680 - (150 + 50) = 1480.
Knowing your screen resolution makes it easy!

top-left: Initial X position = 50, Initial Y position = 50 (the default)
top-right: Initial X position = screenX - 200, Initial Y position = 50
bottom-left: Initial X position = 50, Initial Y position = screenY - 230
bottom-right: Initial X position = screenX - 200, Initial Y position = screenY - 230​

So bottom-right on a 1280x1024 would be X =1080 and Y = 794.
Top-right on a 1900x1080 screen would be X = 1700 and Y = 50.
You get the idea.

If you want to reposition the overlay in-game, press the "scroll-lock" button. A small popup will appear and you're able to drag and resize the window.

This only works if you can see a mouse cursor, so if you can't, open an in-game options menu first.

Less is more?
The overlay comes in three different flavors, "minimal", "normal" and "full". In normal mode, you'll see the people in your current channel with people talking highlighted.
The minimal mode only displays who is talking.
The full mode is a tree view that shows all channels on the server. You can use this mode to switch between channels or to move other players to/from other channels.

You can switch between the normal and the minimal mode by clicking the red cross button on the TeamSpeak window.

To reach the full mode, look for a very small transparent Teamspeak icon, which can be found in the bottom left of the screen. It will highlight, if you move the mouse cursor over it. Right-clicking on it will open up a pop-up menu, where you can switch to full mode.


Hope you find this guide helpful and now you will know who you're talking to, even if you don't - if you see what I mean?

FYI: It works alongside FRAPS and Valve overlay. With BFBC2, run the Teamspeak, then BFBC2, then ALT-TAB and run FRAPS. BFBC2 quits if FRAPS is run first....

 

[Bodhi]

Very nice detailed instructions, thanks KKND

 

[KKND]

Very nice detailed instructions, thanks KKND

Got it from our forum,but whe are here to help each other

 

[Bodhi]

Got it from our forum,but whe are here to help each other

Oh, I looked around before I made the post but couldn't find anything about it. My search skills have lost their mojo...

Edit: Oh, your forum... sorry, lol

 

[MattyD]

An update to this relatively dead post...

Everything is the same as stated but I found another issue...........

If you use Origin, you may need to disbale the origin in game for the overlay to work, ar least that is what I had to do!

Go to settings> In game and uncheck the enable origin in game checkbox.

Restart TS, load BF3. Done

 

[Cwazy Wabbit]

Hi guys, just a word of caution......... Its a very grey area but I err on the side of caution. Using an overlay CAN be construed to be a possible form of cheating by anti cheat software, as Rival Xfactor points out in one of his videos, one of his members was kicked and BANNED from BF3 due to somthing on PbBans... this took THREE MONTHS to resolve.... Also be aware that any "foreign" things on your screenshots that are uploaded by UAC may also be construed as a cheat... Now I personally know its an overlay, but I personally WONT take that risk... I cant begin to think how much housework I would have to do if I was banned for three months! It may even mean I have to spend time with the wife! Your choice guys, but I would advise against it, especially in BF3 or where anti cheat mechanisms are in place! ......... ALSO NOTE, When you install TS3, and select this option, it warns you of the above!

Wabbitt. Overlay free!