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Maniphest T168986

[xCloud] Microphone / VOIP stops working in game
Reviewed, UrgentPublic
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Description

For reference, this is the xCloud version of the game which, as far as I know, is simulating an XBOX Series X.

Issue: Both at community and official servers, my VOIP simply stops working in game, resulting in no input and output of voice and microphone being recognized by the game - so, I can't transmit any microphone sounds to the game / other players and also cannot hear any other players through VOIP.
It seems (but requires further testing to be sure) that this is related to joining a Party in the Xbox (party is pretty much a group in which you can talk using your mic while playing, like getting into a Discord call), due to some important points:

  • Microphone / VOIP do work sometimes (so it's not related to the xCloud not recognizing there's a mic connected), this can be verified by, with the microphone / headset connected, going to Options --> Sound, and checking if the input bar in this menu page moves when you tap or make any sound close to the microphone; this can also be confirmed by listening to other players talking in game
  • Party Chat disables microphone output into the game while in party chat: so, if you're in a party chat, although you should be able to hear players in game, you cannot transmit your microphone sounds even if you press the in-game push-to-talk key (this is an Xbox / Console limitation), so for you to communicate in game you must either leave the party or go to the party options and change to "Game Chat", now whenever you use your microphone, it's audio will be sent to the game and the party members won't hear you through the party
  • Issue related to joining a party: as I've said, it requires further testing, but this bug appears to happen after you join a party. After you do, even if you switch to game chat or leave the party altogether, in the audio options menu you will see the microphone input bar will NOT move regardless of how much noise you make near the mic and you will also NOT be able to hear players talking in game - as if the VOIP system was simply turned off to you.

The solution here is restarting the game and, apparently, not joining a party.

I'll classify this as a Major severity due to this issue making it near impossible to have any proper player interaction and to play on PVE / RP servers.

Details

Severity
Major
Resolution
Open
Reproducibility
Sometimes
Operating System
Windows 10 x64
Operating System Version
[XBOX] [xCloud]
Category
Multiplayer
Steps To Reproduce
  1. Make sure you aren't in an Xbox Party;
  1. Make sure you have a microphone connected;
  1. Start the game normally (in this case I'm playing through Cloud Gaming / xCloud);
  1. Join a server (Official or Community);
  1. Once in game, open the menu, go to Options --> Sound;
  1. Check if the microphone input bar moves as you make any sounds close to the microphone (it means the game is capturing your microphone sounds and VOIP is active);
  1. (Optional), to be sure VOIP is working, check if you can hear any other player speaking through VOIP in game;
  1. Start a Xbox Party and, in the Party options, switch to Game Chat or just leave the party after connecting to it;
  1. VOIP (in my case) will not be working anymore (most of the times), therefore you cannot hear players through VOIP anymore and, in the sounds/audio options menu in-game, the microphone input bar will not be moving as you make sounds (as if there was no microphone connected).
Additional Information

This issue doesn't seem to happen always and requires more testing, might be an xCloud specific issue too.
Probably is (but may or may no be) related to joining a party in Xbox.
The issue, regardless of the cause, is that the VOIP is disabled while in game, not allowing you to hear neither talk to players in-game.

Event Timeline

Arch3rAc3 created this task.Nov 16 2022, 5:08 PM
Arch3rAc3 updated the task description. (Show Details)
Arch3rAc3 changed Operating System from Windows 7 to Windows 10 x64.
Arch3rAc3 set Operating System Version to [XBOX] [xCloud].
Geez changed the task status from New to Reviewed.Nov 22 2022, 9:35 AM
Geez added a subscriber: Geez.

Hello Arch3rAc3.
If this is related to you being present in the party chat then that is not a bug, since the game chat is not available while being in party chat by design. Is the major problem that the voip/gamechat is still disabled even upon leaving the party?
Regards,
Geez

Arch3rAc3 added a comment.Nov 24 2022, 1:12 AM
In T168986#2383298, @Geez wrote:

Hello Arch3rAc3.
If this is related to you being present in the party chat then that is not a bug, since the game chat is not available while being in party chat by design. Is the major problem that the voip/gamechat is still disabled even upon leaving the party?
Regards,
Geez

Hey Geez.
Yes, the issue isn't not being able to talk to players when in a party, but VOIP also not working even when out of a party.

Also, even if you're in a party you should be able to hear players talking in-game, you just can't use your mic in-game. But VOIP as a whole NOT be disabled just by joining a party - hope I made myself clearer.

Also, with further testing it doesn't seem this issue is totally or only related to party chat. Even if I close the game, leave the party and launch it again, VOIP is often (not always, but most of the times) disabled / not working.

The fix generally is closing the Xbox App / turning off the console and then launching the game again.

Really odd issue, I can't be the only one having intermittent VOIP functionality without a clear culprit causing it.

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