[BUG-231331] [OpenSim/Halcyon] Add support for Mumble enabled grids & Vivox 5 to the SLVoice.exe (which is used on FirestormOS)

[sl-service-account]

How would you like the feature to work?

Currently there's a limited amount of OpenSim / Halcyon Grids that are still running the older Vivox 4 which will likely be shut down sometime in future, for the new Vivox 5 which Unity has made free for up to 5000 "PCUs" (Peak Concurrent Users).

For some time now I have had an approved "app" at https://developer.vivox.com (which is the only way to get Vivox Voice now) although it still doesn't work on my Halcyon Grid/World though when an extension/add-on is ready for Vivox 5 on Halcyon, the SLVoice.exe in the Viewer will also have to be ready for Vivox 5 as well.

Although the Vivox 5 through https://developer.vivox.com only has "API" info which might be more for actual games.

"First thing to consider is that the virtual worlds do not operate like any game. Its a communication process between the users viewer program and the virtual world servers online. The viewer is getting the users position data as they move, which it uses for the voice connection obtained from the world simulator. Currently this is using the module SLVoice.exe that supports the Vivox connection to their servers. To use Mumble, the SLVoice.exe has to be changed out to a version that uses the Mumble server set up in the world's server for the voice operation. That requires every user that wants to connect to a Mumble voice world to have to have a separate viewer installed to connect to those worlds, and another to connect to any other world that uses Vivox. Current viewer developers do not have a "standard" to make a common interface to support similar voice options and handle the differences, which also adds even more complexity to the whole situation.

So at this point I am not sure there is a solution that would work for this situation without the viewer developers being involved and work out how to handle Vivox and Mumble voice operations depending on what the connected world provides is being used." Vinhold Starbrook.

For reference, here's the Github issue I posted HalcyonGrid/halcyon#131

From: https://opensim.vivox.com/opensim/
"As of May 25, 2021, the Free Virtual World Voice service has been deprecated and we will no longer be accepting new program registrations.

Over the past 10 years, the community that contributed to this program has evolved to a point that impacts our ability to provide adequate support for the components that this program relies upon.

In time, we will terminate Unity's Virtual World Voice service.

However, we care about the community that has been created, and are committed to this course of action:

We are continuing to keep the service running for existing users, and;
We are providing limited support available via our community forums, accessible from our Developer Portal.

We will notify existing users several months in advance of full product deprecation in order for everyone to prepare. In the meantime, we encourage OpenSim grid owners using the World Voice service integration to find supported alternatives at their earliest convenience.

The Unity team"
https://opensim.vivox.com/opensim/

So extensions/add-ons for Mumble and/or Vivox 5 will have to be created for the OpenSim/Halcyon Grids though the SLVoice.exe in the Viewer will also have to be adjusted to work with Mumble or Vivox 5.

Thank you.

This https://jira.firestormviewer.org/browse/FIRE-31246?jql=resolution%20%3D%20Unresolved%20AND%20reporter%20in%20(Ashford_House%2C%20EdAshford) is the issue I posted on the Firestorm Jira, which is the same thing.

From the HalcyonGrid issue I posted on the Github:

beqjanus commented on Oct 19, 2021

As I noted on the FS Jira, sLVoice.exe is not something we can easily take on, it is not a case of modifying an existing piece of software to follow a new API, it would entail writing something from scratch (though there are some remnants of older projects that might form a basis). There is no realistic chance that one of us can take on the task we simply don;t have the personal bandwidth or motivation for the extra workload. I would happily answer questions and assist in a hands-off manner anyone who would wish to write a new SLVoice service. It occurs to me that the primary motivation for the Unity End-of-life is the ongoing cost of maintaining the infrastructure services when they clearly want to migrate all their free-tier users to a consolidated modern offering. What might be viable would be to identify a formal representative for all the "OpenSim" offshoots who could negotiate a support contract for the community service, and then seek to crowdfund that license across all the interested grids. HalcyonGrid/halcyon#131 (comment)

mdickson commented on Oct 1 2023 via email

The Vivox 5 voice capability is incompatible with the support in firestorm (which is still version 4 with no announced plans to update). In addition to changes in the viewer using vivox 5 would require updates to the region module that interfaces with it. SO this is not just a simple configuration thing. New software would be required and in specifically the viewer’s case there’s no plans I am aware of (this has been discussed at length in my NGC discord with a viewer dev present) to implement v5 at this time. If they switch to something else besides the v4 protocol version they’re as much or more likely to use what was acquired via Sansar. HalcyonGrid/halcyon#131 (comment)

Why is this feature important to you? How would it benefit the community?

"Halcyon is a virtual world simulator forked from the OpenSim project in 2010. … With Unity giving notice that the support Vivox had for OpenSim voice, is to be dropped in the near future, there are quite a number of the virtual worlds in operation now that are going to be looking for an alternative voice option. While there is a FreeSwitch module in place, it works like a telephone party line where everyone in the same area of land hears everyone else clearly even when 1000s of meters up or down etc. No distance fall off or directional abilities. " Vinhold Starbrook. (As is possible already with Mumble.)

Attachments

• 2021-10-15 15_45_53-Developer Portal - OpenSIM - Brave.png 2021-10-17 15:29:59
• 2021-10-15-To All Churches Halcyon Grid - Application Management - Vivox Developer Portal -.png 2021-10-17 15:29:31
• mdickson-New Plug-in for the New Vivox 5 Needed (plus a plug-in for Mumble) · Issue #131 .png 2023-10-01 12:48:17

Original Jira Fields

Field	Value
Issue	BUG-231331
Summary	[OpenSim/Halcyon] Add support for Mumble enabled grids & Vivox 5 to the SLVoice.exe (which is used on FirestormOS)
Type	New Feature Request
Priority	Unset
Status	Closed
Resolution	Unactionable
Reporter	WholisticApproaches (wholisticapproaches)
Created at	2021-10-17T19:32:43Z
Updated at	2023-10-01T17:23:18Z

{
  'Build Id': 'unset',
  'Business Unit': ['Platform'],
  'Date of First Response': '2021-10-20T13:10:02.520-0500',
  'How would you like the feature to work?': 'Currently there\'s a limited amount of OpenSim / Halcyon Grids that are still running the older Vivox 4 which will likely be shut down sometime in future, for the new Vivox 5 which Unity has made free for up to 5000 "PCUs" (Peak Concurrent Users).\r\n\r\nFor some time now I have had an approved "app" at https://developer.vivox.com (which is the only way to get Vivox Voice now) although it still doesn\'t work on my Halcyon Grid/World though when an extension/add-on is ready for Vivox 5 on Halcyon, the SLVoice.exe in the Viewer will also have to be ready for Vivox 5 as well.\r\n\r\nAlthough the Vivox 5 through https://developer.vivox.com only has "API" info which might be more for actual games.\r\n\r\n"First thing to consider is that the virtual worlds do not operate like any game. Its a communication process between the users viewer program and the virtual world servers online. The viewer is getting the users position data as they move, which it uses for the voice connection obtained from the world simulator. Currently this is using the module SLVoice.exe that supports the Vivox connection to their servers. To use Mumble, the SLVoice.exe has to be changed out to a version that uses the Mumble server set up in the world\'s server for the voice operation. That requires every user that wants to connect to a Mumble voice world to have to have a separate viewer installed to connect to those worlds, and another to connect to any other world that uses Vivox. Current viewer developers do not have a "standard" to make a common interface to support similar voice options and handle the differences, which also adds even more complexity to the whole situation.\r\n\r\nSo at this point I am not sure there is a solution that would work for this situation without the viewer developers being involved and work out how to handle Vivox and Mumble voice operations depending on what the connected world provides is being used." Vinhold Starbrook.\r\n\r\nFor reference, here\'s the Github issue I posted https://github.com/HalcyonGrid/halcyon/issues/131\r\n\r\nFrom: https://opensim.vivox.com/opensim/\r\n"As of May 25, 2021, the Free Virtual World Voice service has been deprecated and we will no longer be accepting new program registrations.\r\n\r\nOver the past 10 years, the community that contributed to this program has evolved to a point that impacts our ability to provide adequate support for the components that this program relies upon.\r\n\r\nIn time, we will terminate Unity\'s Virtual World Voice service.\r\n\r\nHowever, we care about the community that has been created, and are committed to this course of action:\r\n\r\nWe are continuing to keep the service running for existing users, and;\r\nWe are providing limited support available via our community forums, accessible from our Developer Portal.\r\n\r\nWe will notify existing users several months in advance of full product deprecation in order for everyone to prepare. In the meantime, we encourage OpenSim grid owners using the World Voice service integration to find supported alternatives at their earliest convenience.\r\n\r\nThe Unity team"\r\nhttps://opensim.vivox.com/opensim/\r\n\r\nSo extensions/add-ons for Mumble and/or Vivox 5 will have to be created for the OpenSim/Halcyon Grids though the SLVoice.exe in the Viewer will also have to be adjusted to work with Mumble or Vivox 5.\r\n\r\nThank you.\r\n\r\nThis https://jira.firestormviewer.org/browse/FIRE-31246?jql=resolution%20%3D%20Unresolved%20AND%20reporter%20in%20(Ashford_House%2C%20EdAshford) is the issue I posted on the Firestorm Jira, which is the same thing.',
  'ReOpened Count': 0.0,
  'Severity': 'Unset',
  'Target Viewer Version': 'viewer-development',
  'Why is this feature important to you? How would it benefit the community?': '"Halcyon is a virtual world simulator forked from the OpenSim project in 2010. ... With Unity giving notice that the support Vivox had for OpenSim voice, is to be dropped in the near future, there are quite a number of the virtual worlds in operation now that are going to be looking for an alternative voice option. While there is a FreeSwitch module in place, it works like a telephone party line where everyone in the same area of land hears everyone else clearly even when 1000s of meters up or down etc. No distance fall off or directional abilities. " Vinhold Starbrook. (As is possible already with Mumble.)',
}

[sl-service-account]

Kyle Linden commented at 2021-10-20T18:10:03Z

Hello, and thank you for your feature request.

Incoming suggestions are reviewed in the order they are received by a team of Lindens with diverse areas of expertise. We consider a number of factors: Is this change possible? Will it increase lag? Will it break existing content? Is it likely that the number of residents using this feature will justify the time to develop it? This wiki page further describes the reasoning we use: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Feature_Requests

This particular suggestion, unfortunately, cannot be tackled at this time. However, we regularly review previously deferred suggestions when circumstances change or resources become available.

We are grateful for the time you took to submit this feature request. We hope that you are not discouraged from submitting others in the future. Many excellent ideas to improve Second Life come from you, our residents. We can’t do it alone.

Thank you for your continued commitment to Second Life.