Voice and Radio
How proximity voice works, how to use a radio, and which radio channels are public.
City Guide1 min read
Hydrate uses proximity voice: people hear you when they're near you, just like real life. A working microphone is required (see Character Expectations).
Talking
| Key or command | What it does |
|---|---|
| N (hold) | Push to talk |
| F11 | Change how far your voice carries: whisper, normal, shouting or scream |
/vol [1-100] | Change the volume of radios and phone calls |
/resetvoice | Reconnect your voice if people can't hear you, or you can't hear them |
Radios
A radio lets you talk to people anywhere in the city on the same channel.
- Buy one from Digital Den in Mirror Park ($1,000).
- Use it from your inventory, then pick a channel.
- Hold Left Alt to talk on it.
After that, = re-opens your radio, as long as it's still in your inventory. Your last channel is filled in for you next time.
Channels
Channels 100 to 999 are public (except 696), so anyone can join them. Channels below 100 can't be used on a civilian radio, and some are reserved for services:
| Channels | Reserved for |
|---|---|
| 1 to 19 | Police |
| 20 to 29 | EMS |
| 30 to 39 | Department of Corrections |
| 40 to 49 | FIB |
| 50 to 59 | BIA |
| 60 to 79 | Shared government |
| 90 | Toben Towing |
| 99 | Air traffic control |
| 696 | Dorsia |
Streaming?
Your radio has a Privacy option that hides your channel number on your HUD and on the radio itself, so viewers can't tune in.
Good to Know
- Your radio disconnects if you're incapacitated, or if you lose the radio.
- Anyone on a public channel can listen in, so pick a channel number that's hard to guess.
- Out-of-character voice chat, like Discord, can't be used to pass on in-character information. See Metagaming.