EVE Technology Lab

Pod – The EVE VoIP system with built in API integration!*
*minus the API integration (for now)

Over the last few weeks I've been bored and decided to experiment. So far, I have this experimental VoIP client for EVE that will eventually make use of the EVE API for some pretty cool stuff. It's in very early beta, however. The current build doesn't have API support and is for testing only.



So what’s this then?

Pod is a VoIP client based on the Mumble framework, designed specifically for use with EVE Online.



So it’s like TeamSpeak or… Mumble?

In a way. The difference with Pod is that while playing, it will be able to do API calls to find out what region of space you’re in, and automatically put you in chat for that region of space.



I thought you said it had no API integration?

This is true, for now. The client itself doesn’t handle too much of the API work, it’s all done by the server which manages itself. Pod has an API file purely because of the in-game overlay, which, in a future build, will be modified to show how many corpmates are in the region of space you’re in. Handy to know if backup is available.

Most updates for Pod won’t require anything on the user side – Station (the server software) will, usually, be the only thing that needs updating. The only exception is when API functionality is added that displays directly on an overlay on the client.



Is the overlay allowed? Will I be breaking EVE’s EULA?

No. As the overlay doesn’t inject itself into the game files, and cannot give you an advantage over other players, this is, to my knowledge, perfectly within the EULA. The only information it provides is what the EVE API passes to it – it will NOT read data directly from the client. The overlays main function isn't API anyway; it's to tell you who's talking so voices dont get confused.



Why should I use this over TeamSpeak? I can get cheap servers for it.

Maybe you can. But cheap isn’t free, is it? The Pod and Station services are going to be offered free to all EVE players, meaning your precious real money can be saved to pay for time to earn precious virtual money. Sounds nifty, right? It is! In addition to regional channels, corps will get their own channel absolutely free, in addition to the general public channels (non-region specific, it’ll probably be full of drunken PVPers) and activity specific (mining, missions, etc) channels, as well as every alliance. Corps in an alliance will get their own sub channel in the alliance channel. Additionally, since we manage it all for you, it's less hassle for you.



What’s Station and what does it do?

Station is the server software designed to work with Pod. It manages everything to do with the service, and consists of two parts - Dock and StationAPI. Dock is the side that handles audio, channels, and everything users interact with.

StationAPI is what keeps the Station program running – it does all the API work in the background from various sources and uses an RPC interface to do all the management things while I sip tea and shoot things. It’s currently in beta (very very very beta) and isn’t live on the server yet. When new modules are ready to be deployed, Station will simply be updated and everything will work.



How long will it take to update Station?

About thirty seconds. Five minutes, tops. Downtimes will coincide with EVE downtimes and will be announced at least one hour in advance (unless an emergency fix, when it'll be five minutes).

And don’t worry; five minutes won’t suddenly become five hours. *clears throat*


Can I run my own server?

No. Because of the complexity of the software, I’m going to keep it running on my server only. I’m not trying to be mean or anything with this – the code was built specifically for my server’s hardware, and specifically for the libraries I had installed (in layman’s terms, my unique setup), it’d be almost unusable unless you could replicate it exactly. It uses a custom Linux distribution to run (which I’m amazing and lost the install image for), as well as some modified open source libraries. AISO is also used, which is proprietary and I wouldn’t be able to distribute.

Additionally, Pod is designed to encourage social interaction between players, which is why there's Mining, Missioning, and Exploration channels, so you can mingle with others with the same tastes. Additionally there's the Public channels for general chit-chat.


You said you’re running your own server for this; what’s in it for you? Will you steal my data?

Your data is perfectly safe and the software cannot collect anything identifiable to you. The server is costing me around $100 a month to run, and 95% of it is for this. The server can handle 50,000 players at a time. (For those interested, idle CPU cycles go to a Team Fortress server) The only thing I get out of this is ISK. Let me explain.

Because I’m both lazy and ever so slightly greedy, by default after setting your corp channel up (eventually, StationAPI will do this after registering), it’ll be unsecured. Perfectly useable, but anyone can pop in. Even that guy from that corp who wardecced you wanting to know what’s going on… lucky for you, a small fee of 100mill ISK one off or 10 mill ISK monthly will ensure that that doesn’t happen by giving you administrator privileges over your little area, and giving you and only you the ability to set who’s allowed in and who’s not. For alliances it’ll be slightly different; they have a 1 bill flat fee, and that’s them sorted, all corps get locked down.


Why ISK?

Simply put, I like the game. If I’m spending as much as I am on the server, my funds are very limited to pay for the actual game, so ISKies to buy PLEX are very much appreciated. It is however perfectly optional of course.



Where can I get it?


See the next post.

Don't want to be that guy, but if you're redistributing a modified Mumble client under a new name thats fine under BSD license its under but you may fall foul of the other libraries:



OCB being the real sticky point, as its fine if your modifying Mumble under GPL, but not for BSD.