TeamSpeak - Developer Blog

TS3 Client Tweaks Continue

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 21:41:35 +0100

Greetings TeamSpeak Community!

We know you're all waiting for new TS3 material so below is a screenshot of what the main window of the TeamSpeak 3 Client looks like as of today. Please note that all screenshots are only development screenshots and the look of the final product may change by the final release.

The toolbar on the left side (which includes Away, Mute mic, Mute headphones, etc.) can be moved virtually anywhere you want. For example, it can be placed on any side of the main window or, if you don't want it to be located within the main window at all, you can drag it completely off the client and have it free-floating on your desktop wherever your heart desires. The best part about this bar is that eventually you will also be able to completely customize its functionality to suit your needs by dragging buttons on to it. So everything can be right there at your finger tips as you see fit.

You may also be wondering what that eye-looking icon is on the toolbar. For starters, clicking this icon can come in handy if you join a public TeamSpeak server with lots of channels. Say you are looking for a friend on a large, public server but you aren't quite sure what channel he/she is in. Normally with a TeamSpeak 2 Server configured in Public server mode you might have to jump from channel to channel to locate them. However, in TeamSpeak 3 this icon instantly expands your view for all channels so you can find your friend more easily.

It doesn't quite stop there though. With TeamSpeak 3 you are now in complete control of channel views via an all new channel subscription feature. In TeamSpeak 2, the server decided how users would view channels. If it was set to Clan mode, you were able to see everyone in every channel at all times. This was a nightmare for large TeamSpeak servers because you'd constantly hear "new player" or "player left". So the TeamSpeak 2 Server also provided you with a Public server mode. This allowed users to see only the clients of the channel you were currently in. This no doubt made it easier on your ears but also included other limitations and disadvantages. Well, with TeamSpeak 3 you are now able to subscribe to any or all specific channels. You can for example subscribe to all channels (Clan mode), subscribe to none (Public mode), or pick and choose which channels you wish to subscribe to. All activity within unsubscribed channels is simply ignored and will not be shown on your channel list.

The last thing we'll show you is a URL catcher. This nifty, new tool captures all URLs from any of your text chat windows and stores them within the TeamSpeak 3 client. If you forget a link that someone provided you can simply look through your collected URLs to retrieve it.

So what else is going on in TeamSpeak 3 dev-land?

Aside from the usual bug fixes, we have implemented and improved Push-To-Talk features within the client.
Numerous improvements with regard to the permissions system have also surfaced, making it easier for users to understand and configure user permissions in general.
We are also in the process of implementing offline messages. We will have more details on that when it is fully functional.

In the near future we will update you with more features and breaking news. Until then, happy chatting!

Whispering Gets an Overhaul in TS3

Fri, 29 May 2009 09:01:10 +0100

In our latest developments, TeamSpeak 3 gets a nice new interface to an old feature - "whispering". In TeamSpeak 2 whisper functionality is not very easy to find and configure, so many users don't even know it exists. In contrast, TeamSpeak 3 vastly improves whispering via overhauled and simplified configuration.

In case you're unfamiliar with what whispering is, we'll explain by example. Usually when you talk in TeamSpeak, the users that will hear you are those that are in the same channel as you. But on some occasions you may want to talk to a specific user that is not in your channel (without either user having to leave their current channel). Or you may simply want to talk to someone "privately" (without other users knowing). Further yet, you may want to talk to only a subset of users on your server. Whispering is required for each of these examples. With whispering, you can specify a list of users or a list of channels that you will talk to whenever you press your whisper key.

Let's dive into a more game-related scenario. Suppose you are playing a multiplayer game with 30 players on your team and everyone is logged into TeamSpeak. Imagine the chaos if all players in the same channel were to speak freely. You may have something important to say but your comments are most likely targeted to a subset of the 29 other players in your channel. Furthermore, it can be frustrating waiting for other player's babbling to come to an end so you can begin talking. Well, whispering is one possible way to work around these problems.

Next we will map out a solution to this example scenario using whispering. Keep in mind there are no strict guidelines here. Whispering empowers you to take control and target your comments to anyone else on your TeamSpeak server, so experiment and find what works best for you and your group.

In our solution, someone is needed who takes leadership of the whole party and organizes the flow, so let's call this person the Main Leader. You then have to split the players into groups of people that are likely to have a lot of information to share between each other (e.g. the crew of the helicopter, or the warrior/melee team, or perhaps the ranged offensive team, or the healer/medic team, etc.). Each of these groups will need a Group Leader. Now, to take advantage of whispering we need to create a channel for every group and each Group Leader will need to set up a whisper key to whisper to the Main Leader. To illustrate this arrangement, refer to the following image:

If you choose your groups wisely most open, default communication should be confined to relatively small, manageable groups of users talking within the same channel. But inevitably there will be situations where communication has to pass this barrier, and this is where the Group Leader comes into play. The Group Leader passes on strategic information to the Main Leader via his whisper key. Similarly, communication in the opposite direction also utilizes whispering. The Main Leader has whisper keys for each Group Leader, and then communicates directly to the appropriate Group Leader, who then passes the information on to his group.

Example:
A heavy weapons infantry player from the "offensive task force 1" group is badly wounded, and requires medical attention. He tells his Group Leader (in the same channel) about the situation. The Group Leader of the "offensive task force 1" presses his whisper key to message the Main Leader, and describes the situation. The Main Leader will then press the whisper key to whisper to the Group Leader of "medical squad 2", because he knows that they are the closest to the wounded player, and orders their Group Leader to dispatch a medic. The Group Leader of "medical squad 2" then communicates within his group's channel and asks a medic to go attend to the wounded player.

Although hypothetical, this example illustrates how organizing your team in a hierarchic fashion while utilizing whispering can be quite effective.

Ok, so what if you are a veteran TeamSpeak 2 user and you already knew all of this!? Not to worry, let's dig into what's new with whispering and TeamSpeak 3. For starters, setting up a whisper hot-key for a group of users (or channels) has been largely simplified via drag and drop. So creating a whisper list is as easy as dragging users into the whisper setup dialog box. Incidentally, one thing that makes whispering in TeamSpeak 3 much more powerful than TeamSpeak 2 is the fact that every client connection has a unique identity, which in turn allows you to create a key binding for "bob" no matter which nickname he chooses, and no matter on which server you meet him. This also allows you to drag people from your buddy list into your whisper list regardless of whether or not they are online.

The following image illustrates setting up a new whisper key binding (the right CTRL key in this case) to whisper to PeterS and Rico, regardless of what channel they are in. This is achieved by simply dragging PeterS and Rico from the main channel/user tree list view into the Whisperlist1 box.

As with other features in TeamSpeak 3, there is an easy and simple way to setup whispering and there is a more advanced way which gives you access to additional, powerful features. The advanced method is accessed via the keybinding manager (see image below).

As you can see, adding a whisper key per the drag and drop example above automatically creates two new entries in the keybinding manager which by default are configured to behave in a push-to-talk manner. Let's suppose, however, that you want to alter the behavior of activating and deactivating your whisper modes. With the keybinding manager advanced users can for example activate whisper mode when pressing the left CTRL key, and deactivate it when pressing the left ALT key. This way you would not have to keep the key pressed down all the time.

We hope you've enjoyed this dev blog. Until next time!

Chronicles of a TeamSpeak 3 Alpha Tester

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:14:41 +0100

Like many of you I had been eagerly awaiting the release of TeamSpeak 3. Then I learned that TeamSpeak was searching for additional Alpha testers so I decided to apply and take a chance. I read the requirements on becoming an Alpha tester, and my immediate thought was, "I wonder if I will fit the profile?!" Nevertheless, I completed the application and began to wait. Several weeks later I received an invitation to an online interview. I was really excited to have been selected.

On the day of the interview I found myself logged into a TeamSpeak 2 server with several other devs. I was quite nervous. My first thoughts were, "What will they ask me? It's five against one!" :) But the dev team turned out to be less intimidating than I had perceived. In fact, most of the interview was a pleasant conversation. We even talked about WoW and I was suddenly asked the ultimate question, "Horde or Alliance!!??" Luckily I answered correctly. :)

After the interview, another waiting period followed ... and finally, several days before Christmas, I received THE final email acknowledging my acceptance into the Alpha test program! The email included information on obtaining the TeamSpeak 3 client and how to connect to the TeamSpeak 3 test server.

And now, my first impressions can easily be summarized in one sentence:
"TeamSpeak 3 is FREAKING awesome!"

So there you have it. :D

Cool New Features in TeamSpeak 3

Ok, let's talk about some cool new features in TeamSpeak 3. There are plenty to choose from but I think the immediate, and most noticeable one for me is the reduced latency. Another Alpha tester and I did some latency testing, and we both agreed that there is little to no noticeable latency -- and we both have only average DSL connections. Woohooo! :)

Ok, so what else? I think the next "Wooohoo!" feature is that TeamSpeak 3 includes a very easy-to-use file sharing tool. There now exists the possibility to upload or download files on a per channel basis or into a common folder tree, all of which is hosted entirely off the server. So if you have a TeamSpeak 3 Server running, file sharing with your friends is easy. You no longer need to worry about how to setup FTP, or mess with any other complicated file-sharing applications...nor do you need to deal with any firewall issues. You can even insert a clickable link into the TeamSpeak 3 chat pane, so anyone who clicks on the link can instantly download the file. Permissions or access rights to files are just as easily controlled via the permissions settings of the channel.

The current GUI should look familiar to most TeamSpeak 2 users, but for all you GFX lovers TeamSpeak 3 is completely customizable. You can create your own set of icons, styles of controls, and so on. I love styles but since I don't fully understand how to create them on my own I guess I'll have to wait to see what sorts of great styles are developed by the TeamSpeak community when TeamSpeak 3 goes public!!

Last but not least, some of you may relate to the trouble of remembering your registered username and password when you connect to multiple TeamSpeak servers. Well these sorts of issues are now history! :) User management has been completely redesigned. When you first launch the TeamSpeak 3 client a unique identity is created, and when you connect to a server this unique identity is stored and tracked by the server. So, for an admin this eliminates the need to manually register a username and password with the server, and allows the admin to assign a set of permissions to your identity which will automatically be recalled by the server every time you connect. The end result is that your rights can be entirely controlled through your unique identity -- thus strengthening security by eliminating username and password issues, and effectively making the process of administering users far less tedious than ever before.

Life as an Alpha Tester

Being an Alpha tester is not such a difficult job. We really have fun doing it. There are typically 5 to 10 people connected at any given time so there is always collaborative testing or discussions going on. Sometimes we discuss Linux problems while someone else is playing Battlefield on another channel. One interesting fact, however, is that no one seems to play WoW. :) ...regardless, we did recently have a discussion on WoW vs Diablo 2. Guess which side I was fighting for? :)

Why is TeamSpeak 3 not released yet? Are the Devs Lazy?

Well first off, the devs are overall a funny folk and they are in fact working very hard and very fast on getting the bugs fixed which we find -- YES, we do our job. :) What amazes me is how it typically takes no more than 3 days for a new build of the client to be released with bug fixes. Builds are often even released on weekends. So, the TeamSpeak 3 client is in fact evolving quickly with measurable results.

So that's about it. All I can tell you is stay tuned to this site and stay patient! TeamSpeak 3 is well worth the wait. :) Ciao!

- Ephraim

TS3 Updates and New Screenshots

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:33:07 +0100

Hi everybody,

Here we are again with exciting news regarding the latest TeamSpeak 3 developments. Lots of progress has been made in the last several months. You might have seen that on our website we now have the TeamSpeak 3 Software Development Kit available by request, so we have been getting lots of inquiries there and we also have been working with numerous companies interested in TeamSpeak 3 voice integration for a while now. The stability and availability of the SDK shows that the core TeamSpeak 3 components are almost finished. All the basic features are available and the frequency of errors or crashes is low. Currently our programming time is devoted to clean up work and finishing touches. Also, some more advanced features are being finished.

On a different note we are currently searching for a few additional Alpha testers. Note that we are looking only for qualified, experienced Linux and Mac users - as opposed to those that use Windows primarily. Those of you who are interested, please check out the following application form and be sure to read the requirements very carefully before considering to apply.

http://www.teamspeak.com/alpha

One more thing that many of you have been asking for...we can now present you with a screenshot of the full TeamSpeak 3 Client, as we have managed to clean up the interface and icons enough to be able to present something that looks a little more polished, but bare in mind that this is still work in progress and is NOT necessarily indicative of the final product. We will be spending more work and time improving the look and feel aspect before we go public.

Stay tuned - and we hope to get to know some of you as our new Linux/Mac closed Alpha testers!

Latest Development Updates

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:56:13 +0100

Hi folks,

as usual, first off we are sorry for keeping you waiting for the new devblog for so long. We just like programming more than writing prose. ;) So, what have we been up to these last 4 months? The short answer is that we have been making excellent progress, let's dive into the details:

For the occasional devblog readers, let us remind you that TS3 software is currently in closed ALPHA testing. We had 6 testers the last time we mentioned it. However, due to the code slowly getting closer to feature completeness (=> BETA), we have nearly doubled that number - and now 11 testers are testing for bugs and suggesting changes day in and day out. Our expectation and hope is still to be able to get into Open BETA and provide you with something to download later this year! :)

Also, we should add that per above we are working with a few select companies to provide them with our TS3 Software Development Kit (SDK), which they are using to integrate voice communication directly into their software (mostly online games). The key advantage for the software companies working with us this is a nice opportunity to get high quality voice communication easily integrated into their software, while for us we obtain valuable feedback during testing and implementation. Since even the normal TS3 client uses the same code-paths as any SDK solution, we have received an enormous amount of valuable feedback which has directly helped advance our main product, the upcoming TS3 client.

One exciting, new thing about the SDK situation is that one of the companies we have been working with has actually released their game with TS3 technology fully integrated. The game itself has been around since 2004 and is a very entertaining, action-oriented space MMORPG. Additional details and relevant press releases should be out soon after this devblog is published.

Most of our time during the last several months has been spent on the permissions system, which we are sure you guys will like - the flexibility it gives you is just awesome. For example, let us tell you about "Talk Power". You (should) all know how the "Moderated" flag of a channel works with TeamSpeak 2: basically if it is set you need "Voice" or higher privileges to be able to talk in the channel. With TS3 we took this concept to the next level. You can now configure a "Minimum Talk Power" variable in each channel - this is a number between -100 and 100. Every client has a certain "Talk Power", which the user has received through the permission groups the user is assigned to (e.g. if we are in the "Talk" Permissions Group, and that group has a "Talk Power" of 20, then that would be our "Talk Power" - unless we also belong to a second group with a higher "Talk Power"). Now we can talk in every channel with a "Minimum Talk Power" of 20 or lower. Effectively this means that with a TS3 group setup similar to the hard-coded TS2 groups, you can now make a room where everybody can talk, one where only members and higher can talk, one where only server admins can talk, etc.... Or you could also modify the "Minimum Talk Power" of the channel on the fly (via a key-binding for example) to allow the raid leader to have a moment of silence where only he can talk. Of course the fun doesn't have to end there, the same power-principle can be done for kicking, banning, moving of other players, etc... you will have a lot of fun with this, we assure you :)

One thing we also added is a new codec which is optimized for ultra-high quality sound, e.g. for music streaming. Apart from the high quality, this codec also lends itself well to transmitting stereo sound. Of course most microphones only produce mono, but for transmitting music or those lucky guys out there with stereo microphones this new codec will rock.

Also, people running FreeBSD servers can now rejoice. We have always stated that for the final release of TS3 (or open beta or whatever you get to download first) we would have a TS3 server and client for:

Mac OS X (universal binaries, with both Intel and PPC support)
Linux (32Bit and 64Bit)
Windows (32Bit and 64Bit)

This list has now been expanded to also include a FreeBSD/x86 TS3 server build. Note that all of these builds are now frequently built by our build boxes, none of these is a "TODO" or "wishful thinking" item.

Lastly, one nice graphical feature we have also added is the ability to configure an avatar which will be displayed when people click on your name. This is similar to what is possible in our forums, and adds some personality to the people you talk with.

Until we meet again, please stay tuned to our site!

TeamSpeak 3 is making Good Progress

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:58:29 +0100

Hello again!

We have some exciting news to report this month. Although there is still no TeamSpeak 3 client or server on our download page, TS3 technology has already been released in a different way. We are currently working with a small group of hand-picked companies that want to add VoiceCom functionality into their product. Most of these companies are game producers, that want to integrate a high-quality VoiceCom solution into their game, but we are also working with companies that have nothing to do with gaming. We (and they) are currently bound by legal agreements, so we cannot tell you what products are going to be released with TS3 inside, however, in time our Press Release area will be updated to reveal more info to you ;).

On development aspects, we are working full-steam on the few remaining gaps in our core systems. As for our sound system, we have moved from the previously used OpenAL framework to FMOD. We are sure this decision was well worth the effort and look forward to the benefits FMOD will bring us in the future. Much progress has been made on the permissions system and also a lot of effort has gone into one of our "surprise features", which we don't want to reveal at this point. Apart from the permissions system, there are no basic core parts missing anymore. Of course there is some work involved applying the finishing touches to the different areas, but we are fairly confident with the status of our core (which is why we have accepted the pre-release SDK projects mentioned above).

The most amount of work that still needs to be completed is in the user interface (UI). Since the new TeamSpeak 3 UI is still not quite as polished as we would like it to be, we have not presented you with a screenshot of our current client. There is light ahead though: we are currently evaluating work from several graphic artists to be considered as an icon set within the TS3 client. Once we have a presentable set of icons available, the chances of you seeing the first screenshots of a more complete TS3 client will rise dramatically :).

Thanks for reading! Until our next blog!

Client Scripting Capabilities and Translations

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:13:55 +0100

Hi folks,

Looking at the forums, people seem to eagerly await the next developer blog entry. We apologize for being late. On the other hand, we are working hard on TeamSpeak 3, and - like our users - we want to see it released to the public sooner rather than later.

Since the previous blog entry we have done a lot of work on greatly improving the voice quality and transmission performance. Our goal is to offer our users crystal-clear voice quality powered by state-of-the-art technology. This requires time and effort, but we want our software to be the very best voice application available. The results so far are very promising, and we are confident most people will agree that TeamSpeak 3's voice quality is superior to TeamSpeak 2 and many other applications currently available today.

Another goal is to offer the option to customize and tweak the client to one's needs, while still making the overall application as user friendly as possible. Many settings will now allow the user to adjust the client's behavior and appearance, but the real power lies in the recently added ability to script the client with Lua. Lua is a powerful and easy to learn scripting language, used in many games out there such as World of Warcraft and FarCry. So some of our more advanced users might already be familiar with this language. Lua knowledge is in no way required to run TeamSpeak 3, but we hope that some folks will come up with great scripts to customize the client to their liking or cater to the special needs of their guild or clan.

Besides Lua scripting, which affects the functionality of the client, TeamSpeak 3 will also allow users to fine-tune the client's look and feel. So for example if you want to customize the appearance of the TeamSpeak 3 client for your guild or clan, you can easily do so. If you want pink buttons, you can have them. Well, then again you don't have to use pink buttons... :)

Another way to customize the TeamSpeak 3 client is by use of language translations. We have created a component which allows users to add translations on-the-fly directly using the client. The translation files are simply dropped into a special folder and the client can then be switched to the given language.

At the moment, the client's default language is written in English but we already have a German translation as well. This in mind, the main point is to have one test-run translating the application, so we can acquire some experience with internationalization and make sure our translation module works.

Users in our forums have had numerous translation requests recently. Our plan is to stick with English and German for now and add more translations once we enter our open BETA test phase. So no need to ask if you can translate TeamSpeak 3 at the moment, once it is available to the public you will be able to do it yourself and, if you so desire, send the translation files to us for review and possible inclusion in the official installer. Translating requires no programming knowledge and is actually pretty easy. Detailed instructions will be made available once we reach our testing phase in open BETA.

Stay tuned!

Some new Development Updates

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:30:47 +0100

Hello everybody!

Since our last developer blog entry we have completed numerous objectives toward completing TeamSpeak 3. As this blog's featured content, we want to provide you with the changelog of our latest ALPHA client release. Below you can see the original email which is sent by our build system automatically to all our closed ALPHA testers (and please don't ask - you still CANNOT apply to be an ALPHA or BETA tester yet):

Subject: New Client Release ******
To: ******
From: TeamSpeak - BETA Portal
Date: 18/09/2007 13:54

We have just added some new binaries to our BETA Portal website:
Linux 32-Bit Client
Linux 64-Bit Client
Windows 32-Bit Client
This is the description that we gave:
Improved core performance.
Ping values are not as accurate anymore.
Linux users can also bind mouse buttons as (part of) hotkeys.
Protocol changes that make old clients incompatible with the new server, so UPGRADE to this new version already :)
Also convert https:// and ftp:// links to BBCode URLs. Fixes Mantis #225.
Do not print empty lines to chatlog. Fixes Mantis #224.
Reset chattab alignment to left after using [right] or [center] BBCode.
Implemented URL Catcher. All typed URLs are collected and displayed in window opened in menu Tools -> Collected URLs.
Added support for translations. Files "translations/ts3_xx.qm" will be made available in Language dropdown box in application options. Changing translation requires to restart the client.
Added German translation created by dante696.
Better menu integration for Mac OS X client.
Faster way to scroll chattab to end of text.
Enclose URL links with BBCode in channel descriptions (fixes Mantis #258).
Added option to use brushed metal style (Mac OS X client only).
No "Switch Channel" menu item for contextmenu of current channel.
No double-click to attempt joining current channel (disabled for server stresstest).
Added key shortcut to Bookmarks menu.
Bookmarks manager window closes with ESC key.
New simplified options page to configure Hotkeys, replacing the old Bindings page.
New hotkey actions "Switch to Channel/Server/Next Channel/Previous Channel".
Show only one password dialog for each channel.
To gain access to the new release, please go to the address below:

https://******

Do not reply to this message! Any reply to this message will be deleted by our system.

Sincerely,
The TeamSpeak Team

Once again, TeamSpeak 3 is still in closed ALPHA, and this client is NOT available for public download.

As you can see, we have quite a long list of changes (and these are only the changes since our last ALPHA client release, 14 days ago). We are still hoping to reach BETA stage (feature completness) before the snow melts.

Some of you might wonder why there is no Mac Intel/PPC, Windows 64-Bit binary listed in the email. This is due to the fact that our ALPHA team does not utilize these platforms yet. This certainly does not mean that these versions don't exist. ;)

Stay tuned to our site for more updates soon! We're excited to be moving forward!

Thank you!

TeamSpeak 3 Architecture

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 12:01:24 +0100

Hi folks,

Last month we didn't have much devblog-worthy news for you because we were busy working on packet structure rewrites deep down in the core of TeamSpeak 3. For our new, upcoming website we have designed a flow-chart with a high level overview of the TeamSpeak 3 architecture. So, in this devblog we will give you a sneak preview and explain the flow-chart in some detail.

The four boxes at the top are the things a regular user is most likely to encounter.

The "Graphical User Interface" (Qt) is the main TeamSpeak 3 client application, similar to what you use currently in TeamSpeak 2. Note, however, that TeamSpeak 3 will now natively support Macintosh, Linux, and Windows platforms (hooray!).
The "Console User Interface" is currently used for stress testing a TeamSpeak 3 server with bot-like clients, but depending on the lua script (scripting language) it is now capable of doing just about anything you can imagine!
"Telnet" and "Scripts / Programs, 3rd Party, Web Interface" all use our new powerful query interface similar to TeamSpeak 2's TCP Query but much more powerful. In addition, the web interface is now an external PHP script which can be used to administer a TeamSpeak server via a web browser.
"ClientLib/SDK" is a library (dll/so) which makes it possible to interact with the server by using its simple programming interface. So, it provides the possibility to for example connect to a server, mute the microphone, or switch channels. The "Capture/Playback/Input" components are going to provide a plugin system which allows you to for example write your own playback plugin which streams the output to a shoutcast server in addition to playing it back. Although the UDP protocol is a superior choice for real time voice communication, TeamSpeak 3 will also provide the option of using TCP instead of UDP. Support for TCP connectivity is particularly useful for circumstances where people need to use proxies, or where UDP is completely blocked due to corporate firewalls, etc.
"Server" is fairly self-explanatory, we will support a database plugin system so for example you can write your own plugin for a completely proprietary database if you wanted to. The server components will also be available as a library version to include into your own application.

That's about all the tasty new information we'd like to reveal to you at this time!

As a side note, we are currently looking for another full time, talented programmer to join our team. For more information on this position please visit our Jobs & Careers page.

As usual, please stay tuned to our site for more information and keep your eyes peeled for our NEW site coming soon!

New Development Updates

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:43:35 +0100

Hello everyone!

First off we are sorry this developer blog entry took so long. Although we are making excellent progress, we have been extremely wrapped up with TeamSpeak 3 coding all this year, and more recently we have also been occupied with moving our office to a new location in Bavaria... but now we are settled into our new office and have time to write up this entry.

The main programming goal we had set for ourselves and accomplished since our last blog entry was to completely rewrite the protocol structure deep down in the TeamSpeak 3 core. The change in the protocol now allows us to handle many things far more effectively within the code, reduces overall bandwidth usage, and should also cut down the required CPU cycles to parse packets.

In addition, regular blog readers may remember that a while ago we stated that we still had an outstanding TODO task which negatively affected the latency of voice playback. We've put some effort into this area and the latency has been lowered even more, while not only maintaining playback quality but actually improving it slightly. We are also currently in the process of putting a tool together which allows us to measure the latency of just about any VoIP solution out there, so we might soon be able to provide you with numbers showcasing the differences between TeamSpeak 2 and TeamSpeak 3 with regard to the time it takes from saying "two foes at the castle" and your mate actually hearing what you said. That being said, even without this tool it is already very obvious that TeamSpeak 3 is much faster than it's predecessor!

One other thing we've recently allocated time for is implementing per server capture and playback devices. So you can now do some really cool things like hook up two USB headsets to your computer, fire up TeamSpeak 3 and join two different servers (remember the tabbed voicecom feature we hinted at from one of our previous blogs?), hand one headset to your mate and be able to talk as if you were running two entirely separate clients. Hence, your mate will only hear what people on "his" server are saying, and will only be able to speak to those users and vice versa. The flexibility this feature provides should make for some really cool setups that were either impossible or cumbersome to realize with TeamSpeak 2.

As the last feature we want to showcase within this blog entry, we have now created TeamSpeak 3 sound packs! The idea here is to allow all the sounds that are played when some action occurs (e.g. in TeamSpeak 2 when you mute your microphone you hear "Microphone Muted") to be packaged in a sound packs, and distributed easily. So when TeamSpeak 3 is released and some of you feel creative, you can whip up your very own sound pack that anyone can download to their TeamSpeak 3 sounds folder and voila, it will appear in the options dialogue as a new sound pack.

That's it for now, please stay tuned to our website for more updates!

Updates before the Holidays

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 08:10:46 +0100

Hello TeamSpeak fans!

After a few weeks of intense developing, we are back to bring you more news concerning TeamSpeak 3.

Key Bindings
Currently we are adding key-bindings to the TeamSpeak client. With this new interface it will be possible to bind, for example, button 5 on your joystick to mute your microphone and button 3 on your mouse to mute output. We also plan to support things like push-to-mute, which requires support to bind actions to 'button-down' and 'button-up' events - pretty neat stuff.

Preferred Servers
We have decided to allow the user to store his preferred servers as bookmarks, just like you all know from your favorite web browser. The graphically most challenging component, the bookmark manager, is nearly finished.

TeamSpeak 3's Core Architecture
OK, for all you techies and brainiacs out there, we are developing the client in two layers, the core part which we usually refer to as the ClientLib and the interface part which we call the ClientUI . The ClientUI uses the ClientLib to do all the interaction with TeamSpeak 3 servers (like connecting, disconnecting, creating channels, etc). The ClientUI is responsible for the user interface (hence UI), as it presents the user with dialogs and windows showing information retrieved from the ClientLib (e.g. the channel list in a tree view) and it allows the user to issue commands (e.g. right click on a user and kick client) that are submitted into the ClientLib which carries the command into execution. The advantage of this modular approach can easily be seen from a developer's point of view. When anybody wishes to create an entirely new user interface, he just takes the existing ClientLib , and substitutes our ClientUI with his own completely custom interface.

Integration
The ClientLib can also be used when integrating TeamSpeak into a totally different application - like an online game. This is something we are really looking forward to. That is, having the advantages of a fully integrated voicecom solution within an online game (e.g. automatic team channels) bundled with the advantages of a full-featured voicecom application, as opposed to the often very 'limited' in-game voicecom solutions that you see in most of today's voice-enabled games.

Stress Testing
Currently we already have TWO user interfaces, the regular full featured graphical one, and a console only application that we use mainly for stress testing - spawning hundreds of these clients at once (you could call it 'bot'). This stress testing has become increasingly interesting since we recently added a new command to the server's serverquery interface which allows you to spawn a new virtual server. It would be hard to fill e.g. 500 virtual servers (*) with 50 clients each during closed alpha (especially with our current 6 alpha testers) without them. Of course these bots are no real substitute for 25000 testers, and we will certainly extend our test team once we reach feature completeness and progress into our open beta stages.

(*) Spawning 500 virtual servers is fact, not fiction, even in our current ALPHA server. Hence, we hope to say good-bye to the petty 75 virtual server 'scalability restriction' that TeamSpeak 2 has.

Hail to the igloo-building gods
In three weeks we will try to build an igloo to sleep in, just as we did last year. But this time we won't take a tent as backup with us. So don't worry if our next blog entry is late, it's simply because we're getting thawed out after being frozen like popsicles! If you really want us to survive, you still have a little time left to teach us how to build a GOOD igloo. Please post your comments in our forums - we'd love to hear from you.

See you next time...

TeamSpeak 3 Development Updates

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 08:35:24 +0100

Hello world!

The clock hasn't stopped ticking for us developers during the past few weeks. So here we are again to present you with our latest achievements.

While we are building up the new, powerful server query (formerly known as TCP query) component to TeamSpeak 3 we are also preparing new, detailed documentation for your use. In addition, the server query can now be switched into an interactive mode which gives you the ability to use the up/down cursor keys for cycling between the last given commands. You can also use the backspace key to edit the current command-line.

We're also making significant progress on our new web interface. The web interface will not be part of the server. Instead it will consist of a PHP-based web application, which can handle multiple virtual servers and server instances at once. The main application of this new interface will be for server farming or maintenance of servers by host providers, since normal end-users will be able to do all configuration and administration of the server from within the new TeamSpeak 3 client. Since the web interface uses the server query to interact with the server, the server query has consequently become a very powerful tool (happy day for all script developers).

Additionally we are also busy fixing numerous bugs, which our ALPHA test team found.

Stay tuned!

Late is Better than Never

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:17:25 +0100

Hi fellas,

Sorry it has been a while since our last update but sometimes we get carried away with other important things in life. However, we haven't been lazy either. ;)

We have been working on making text chatting in TeamSpeak 3 an entirely different, and much improved experience compared to TeamSpeak 2. Remember how it took two clicks for each text message you wanted to send using TeamSpeak 2? Well now you can just type along without any clicking at all, just as you do on IRC and many popular Instant Messengers. In addition, within the text messages and other areas of TeamSpeak 3 such as welcome messages, channel descriptions, etc. you can use BBCode for formatting - e.g. [B]my bold text[/B]. Those of you who don't know BBCode yet - don't panic, since there will be nifty, easy-to-use buttons to access this functionality.

Another feature already working in TeamSpeak 3 is connecting to multiple TeamSpeak servers from within one client, much like tabbed browsing, just 'tabbed voice-comming' so to say. There is a lot more work to this feature than the innocent bystander might think, but despite a few bugs we're still working on fixing, this feature is almost completely done.

What the Devs have been Up to

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 13:24:22 +0100

Hi fellas,

We would like to take the opportunity to point out a few important details regarding TeamSpeak 3:

There are no plans to make any radical changes to the way TeamSpeak is licensed and used.
Non-commercial end users (i.e. - most gaming clans/guilds) and Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) will still be allowed to host servers for free, and of course run clients for free.
All commercial entities will still have to pay licensing fees based on slot count. There currently aren't any plans to change our pricing for commercial hosters either.

The most popular topic, the release date, is still somewhat unknown. Our current, best guess estimate (or hope :D) is to reach feature set completeness by Q4 of 2006. Please understand we will not move into an open testing situation (i.e. - Open BETA) until we are confident that our product is 100% ready for the public. In essence, and in an effort to provide you with the highest degree of quality in TeamSpeak 3, we will continue to state that TeamSpeak 3 is "done when it's done". However, we will also continue to make our very best efforts to bring you with additional updates and ETAs regarding our development progress, test phases, and release dates.

In terms of testing here is the deal:

We are currently in the ALPHA phase, which will last until our new TeamSpeak 3 feature set is complete.
Once we are feature complete, there will (hopefully) be a short, Closed BETA with more participants.
After the Closed BETA is finished we will move into Open BETA stress testing.
When we are 100% satisfied with the quality of TeamSpeak 3, we will release a final version... and we will host a "TeamSpeak 3 Release Party" - details to be determined at a future date. :)

On development aspects (which are always difficult to discuss, since we don't want to spoil the surprise by openly telling you all the goodies we have in store) we are currently working on implementing the permissions system within TeamSpeak 3. It will be similar to what is present in TeamSpeak 2, but will contain far greater flexibility - for example, by allowing admins to create "custom user groups". Sorry, but we just can't tell you any more at this time, everything else is classified (for now)! :P

Stay tuned!

Igloo and Development Updates

Mon, 01 May 2006 21:39:30 +0100

Hi fellas,

It has been some time since our last developer blog. In celebration of making significant progress on several key milestones within TeamSpeak 3, during the early days of April the developer team moved "TeamSpeak Headquarters" up to nearly 2000m above sea-level, where we battled the elements building igloos and generally had a lot of fun. On this subject, if anybody reading this has mastered the art of building igloos and wants to share their knowledge we will offer whoever gives us a course on igloo building a place in the future closed beta for TeamSpeak 3.

On software developing aspects we have begun to use TeamSpeak 3 for our daily work and are gathering data concerning performance and stability. As part of this measure we have also begun to distribute binaries (and of course revised NDAs :D) to our privately selected alpha testers for stress testing. Due to the extensive testing and use of the client and server software we have spent a lot of time ironing out bugs and adding features that we felt were required for our daily work. It is also noteworthy to mention that the server has so far exceeded our expectations in performance and stability and is absolutely rock-solid and runs like a charm.

Please stay tuned to our dev blogs for future updates on TeamSpeak 3 progress. Thank you all for your continued support and hail to the igloo-building gods!