Hey there, i'm developing a plugin for Mumble which enables positional audio for Planetside 2 in Mumble. For it to work it needs to read some variables like the avatar position, camera position and camera orientation from Planetside 2's memory. At no point in time ever the plugin modifys the memory of the Planetside 2-client or changes the client in any form. I'd like to see an official response if a plugin like this is legal. I don't want to endanger anyone who uses my plugin of getting their accounts banned. I love your game and you did a great job so far.
I definitely support this, I love mumble. The positional audio would be great with this game. I don't see how it would violate their rules, it doesn't modify anything. Your computer has to read the game data in order to be played, the only difference is this would be by a 3rd party app.
This is the response i got from my support ticket so far. The plugin is technically done and it's working but i don't want to release it, if you could possibly be banned for using it. Any ideas how i can get a final decision from SOE officials on this matter?
I can see where they're coming from on this one...the idea is super cool. And the in-game audio isn't ideal for certain outfit operations... but it seems like you could use that info to make overlays that showed player locations or proximity sensors that beeped when folks were nearby, etc. Their objection on stuff like this (including sweet fx) is that even if the app doesn't currently allow any kind of cheating, they'd need to check every version and update or risk problems. Also, cheaters could say "oh, I was just using super sick mumble app".
Don't put any money into the game so you don't lose anything when/if banned. If banned for the plugin then just make a new account. It doesn't require a credit card or anything. Same reason the hackers and griefers are running wild.
To make it clear, the plugin only reads the position/orientation of your own avatar. The data it gathers isn't enough to allow the creation of the proximity sensors you mentioned or any kind of cheat i can imagine. An overlay based on the extracted data would be pointless since it'd be no more than your own GPS coordinates. (But should already know where you are if you just look on your screen ). In simple words: The plugin obtains just your own coordinates so mumble can read them. Mumble takes this data and distributes it to the other mumble-clients in your mumble-channel. So these clients know where you are and they can hear you from the direction you're in.
For the guys who can't wait till the official release, here's a downloadlink to the current version of the plugin. https://www.dropbox.com/s/721najnbn6gpepk/ps2.dll Have fun
I dont think ive ever heard anyone get banned for using mumble positional audio (my clan used it since forever in BF3). After all it dosn't inject or modify anything - it merely reads some memory values and uses that information to do its own stuff. That said - it would be nice if we got a clear "yes" or "no" on this. Positional audio for teammates in PS2 would be really useful given how many players there typically are and how important positioning in-game is. -Stigma
I found this in the updated sticky: "As a clarification, since some players have asked, Mumble, Teamspeak, Fraps, and of course Steam, which all use overlays, are expressly allowed. Having an overlay to display information to the user not related to Planetside 2 itself is fine." So its all good then. -Stigma
Yes, But he wants to display info that IS related to PS2. The point being, like with sweetfx, that it gives those who use it an advantage over those who do not. Sweetfx gets people saying that it makes the game look better for them, when what they actually mean to say is it lets them see people before people see them by overriding intentional graphics limits. This could do the same thing, and worse, quickly develop into a thing that reads all kinds of memory information
We got a definite "yes" from Twist (one of the SOE Devs) regarding this plugin. So it's totally okay to use the it (link below). He also said they will be looking into officially supporting mumble positional audio from their side . I just posted the link to my plugin for the imatpient ones who dont want to wait for official support. https://www.dropbox.com/s/721najnbn6gpepk/ps2.dll