The aforementioned Roger Wilco Base Station is a stand-alone server program for Roger Wilco that does actually let you create multiple channels on a single IP address and is available for a number of different platforms such as Linux and FreeBSD as well as Windows 9x and NT. However, it only runs in console mode and running it involves messing with a series of command line parameters tagged onto the end of the executable name when you run it. When other similar programs have built in support for extra channels and in-game channel changing, Roger Wilco starts to pale in comparison. One possible saving grace in addition to the simple interface is the excellent sound quality – rather than sounding a little tinny and robotic like with all the other programs, transmitted speech instead only sounds very slightly muffled, which I actually prefer. There is also an early version available for Mac users, and as far as I know it's the only such program for Mac OS, so it has that in its favour too.
One interesting thing to note – Roger Wilco is owned by Mplayer.com, who were recently bought by Gamespy Industries. Might we see a Gamespy branded voice communication tool using the Roger Wilco technology with a better interface that includes integrated multiple channel support? Since the voice quality of Roger Wilco is so good but its other features are lacking, I can but hope.
Web page: www.rogerwilco.com
Cost: Free (free registration required though)
Download size: 450k
Compression Levels*:
- Slow Modem
- Fast Modem
- Single Channel ISDN
- Dual Channel ISDN
- ADSL
- T1 or better
*no kbps values were mentioned for any of the above settings
First Contact is the first product from Alienware Technology, the new software wing of the Alienware computer makers. To try and make a name for themselves (since they're the newest entrant into this niche program market so far) they've decided to make First Contact a little different to the other voice communication programs out there. For one, you don't need to tell it how fast a connection you're on. Instead, it automatically detects your connection speed. It also doesn't seem to exactly use a client-server model like the other voice communication programs detailed in this roundup. Instead, any person can enter the IP address of another computer on the internet or LAN that's running First Contact and the two will connect – more people can of course then join. However, an easier way to connect to other First Contact users in a game is to simply connect join a server for that game – First Contact then checks if any other players on the game server are also running First Contac and establishes a connection. However all of this is only good in theory as in practice the program just doesn't work particularly well. I was able to connect to a friend directly using First Contact, but the sound quality, while not exactly terrible, was certainly the worst amongst all the programs I tested. There also doesn't seem to be a microphone boost option so the person I was testing the program with sounded rather quiet. During gameplay it didn't seem to have a noticeable effect on ping, but a number of times I had to ask for the other person to repeat what they just said, and if what they just said was “look out, enemy approaching behind you,” you want to catch the message first time.