Mumble Guide

Mumble is a voice chat program, similar to TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, etc..  We use Mumble because it offers several significant advantages over alternative programs.  Namely, a preferred license environment (GPL), a robust dedicated linux server, cross-platform client support, and a powerful permissions system that allows us to conduct field-wide and semi-private team chat simultaneously.

This guide is intended to walk you through the setup process for Mumble, to help ensure that you can use it successfully in accordance with league policies.  If at any point you experience technical difficulties that are not addressed here, you should refer to the official Mumble FAQ.

Installation & Configuration

1. Download the latest stable Mumble client.  Note -- please do NOT get the latest 'Developer' release, unless you've been specifically instructed to as a means of avoiding some technical problem.
2. Run the installer.
3. You only need to select 'Mumble (client)' from the component choices.
   
    
4. Install it to wherever you'd prefer.  There's nothing wrong with the default: C:\Program Files\Mumble.
   
    
5. You may see some pop-up messages about ASIO.  You can ignore them for now, you're going to setup the input/output in just a moment.
   
    
6. Mumble will ask you if you want to use the Audio Wizard for configuration.  You do, so say 'yes'.
   
    
7. Device Selection: It's recommended that you use 'DirectSound' for the Input Device, rather than the initial 'ASIO' value.
   
    
8. Device tuning: follow the instructions on the dialog to select an appropriate buffer length.  Just don't set it too low, or you'll get audio artifacts.
   
    
9. Click 'Next' on Mumble, and it's going to give you some instructions regarding your Windows audio controls.  We'll step through those.  Bring up your main Windows audio control panel, however you prefer (i.e. double-clicking on the little speaker icon in the desktop tray).  Then select Options->Properties.
   
    
10. On the Properties dialog, select 'Recording', and then click 'OK'.
    
     
11. Now you'll see the dialog for your recording controls.  Ensure that the microphone is selected as the recording device, and turn its volume slider all the way up (you'll turn it down a bit in just a moment, but for calibration you start out at max).
    
     
12. Click on the 'Advanced' button for your microphone, and ensure that the Boost option is enabled, if it's available.
    
     
13. Switching back to Mumble again, follow the remaining instructions on the 'Volume tuning' dialog, namely adjusting the pick-up thresholds for your mic input.
    
     
14. Click 'Next' and you'll see the 'Voice Activity Detection' dialog.  Select 'Push To Talk', and designate the key or button that you want to use for your PTT trigger.
    
     
15. Click 'Next' and review the 'Quality & Notifications' settings.  As recommended, you should stick with 'Balanced' for Quality.
    
     
16. Click 'Next', and you should see the Server Connect dialog.   Just cancel that for now -- we need to generate your user certificate first.
17. From the main Mumble window, select Configure->'Certificate Wizard' from the menu.
    
     
18. You'll see the Certificate Management dialog.  Select 'Create a new certificate', and click 'Next'.
    
     
19. Fill in your information and click 'Next'.
    
     
20. You'll see a summary of the certificate values.  Just click 'Next' to accept it and this will be the certificate that will be associated with your Mumble login on the Grid Motorsports server.
    
     
21. You'll be prompted to backup your certificate someplace safe.  This is VERY IMPORTANT!  Once you've logged into the Grid Motorsports Mumble server, this certificate will be permanently associated with your username.  This means that no one else can ever log in and use your name -- only you.  If you want to use Mumble from a different PC (like when you upgrade), then you'll need this certificate file to establish your identity when logging in from the new client.
    
     
22. Ok, now we're ready to connect to the Grid Motorsports Mumble server!  Just select Server->Connect from the menu, or click the little globe icon at the left side of the toolbar.  This will bring up the server connection dialog.
    
     
23. Click the 'Add New...' button, and create a profile for the Grid Motorsports server.  Note that the 'Servername' field can be whatever you want as it's just a descriptive label.  The 'Address' and 'Port' values, however, should be exactly as shown below.  For 'Username', you MUST use your full name.  This is a league requirement, and we won't register your login until this is correct.
    
     
24. Once created, the server is listed as one of your favorites in the connection dialog, and you can select it and join the server.
    
     
25. Click the 'Connect' button to login to the server.  You'll first see a message about the server's Mumble certificate, as shown below.  This is due to the fact that we're using cacert.org, rather than subjecting ourselves to the racketeering scam run by Verisign and others for paid certificates.  Just click 'Yes' to accept the certificate.
    
     
26. You should now be connected to the Grid Motorsports Mumble server!  If it doesn't automatically place you into the 'Grid Motorsports' channel, just do so yourself.

Private Team Chat

Normal (default) voice communication is broadcast among all users logged into Mumble and in the main channel.  Thus, the Push-To-Talk key that you configured earlier is what you use to communicate to the field.  This should be treated as your main communication mode.

In addition, we use server-side group assignments in Mumble to allow (optional) private team communications.  Every driver who is officially on an active team's roster will be assigned by the server admin to their team's group in Mumble.  In order to communicate among just your own team members, you need to create a second Push-To-Talk key mapping using what's called a 'whisper' command in Mumble.  Just follow these instructions:

1. After joining the Grid Motorsports Mumble server, select Configure->Settings from the menu.  This brings up the Mumble Configuration dialog.  Select 'Shortcuts' from the categories on the left side.
   
    
2. Click the 'Add' button to create a new shortcut.  It will make a new entry as a row in the middle panel.  In the 'Function' column, click the little dropdown control and change the function from 'Unassigned' to 'Whisper'.
   
    
3. Click in the Data column and you'll get a 'Whisper Target' dialog.  This is the critical part of the private team communcation option.  What you're doing is making a whisper command that broadcasts your voice to the same 'Grid Motorsports' channel as the normal communication, but it restricts the recipients to be only the people that are assigned to the group that you designate (which in this case will be your team's group).
   
   • Select 'Whisper to Channel' as the target type.
   • Select 'Grid Motorsports' as the 'Channel Target'.
   • Enter your team's name in the 'Restrict to Group' option.  Note that it is CASE SENSITIVE!  The name you put should be the same as the name of your team's area on the gridmotorsports.com website.  For example, the URL for the Rusyn section on the website is http://gridmotorsports.com/gmwc/teams/rusyn and thus 'rusyn' is what its team members should use as the group name for the whisper target.
   • Leave the other whisper options unselected.
     
     
      
4. Click 'OK' to save the target definition, and you'll be back looking at the Shortcuts panel.  Now you need to designate the key/button used to trigger this whisper mode.  Just click in the 'Shortcut' column and then press whatever key/button you wish to assign to this command.  Note that it can be a combination of keys.  It MUST be different than your main PTT trigger.
   
    
5. Click 'OK' to save the shortcuts, and you're ready to go!

It will probably take a little bit of getting used to, but the important concepts here are the following:

• You have to push a button to broadcast your voice communication.
• You have a primary button that you should use most of the time.  This is your means of communicating to everyone.
• You have a secondary button that you should use only when you want to say something semi-privately to your teammates.
• Keep in mind that everyone else is doing the same thing.  If you hear a teammate say something, it may or may not be directed to the entire field, or just to the team (including you).  So take care when responding to use the appropriate mode (public or private).  How do you tell whether what you heard was a private or public broadcast?  The Mumble overlay uses color-coding to indicate normal vs. whispered chat, but you may not have the overlay enabled, or you may simply have not observed the color of the person's name while they were speaking.  The best solution might be to get everyone to develop the habit of declaring when they're speaking privately (i.e. by saying 'team', or 'private' or something like that, as a prefix to their message).
• Also keep in mind that the marshal is privy to private team communications.  The marshal has no interest in your team's strategizing or tactics, etc.., and will likely ignore 99.9% of what is said.  The marshal's presence is simply a means of helping to ensure that private team communication doesn't degenerate into a negative element that erodes the friendly and constructive atmosphere of the league.