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Beat Hazard direct audio input
By Kiisseli
This guide shows you how to get Beat Hazard to play audio from external source such as Line-in port or microphone. Platform is Windows only, I have no idea how this is going to work on any other platform - I expect it doesn't.

Long story short, we create local audio stream of the input and make Beat Hazard to play it as radio station.
   
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Created by
Kiisseli
Offline
Category: Modding or Configuration
Languages: English
Posted
9 Sep, 2014 @ 9:26am
741 Unique Visitors
14 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Prerequisities 
TL;DR 
Pictured guide 
Output format settings 
Add Radio station 
Comments
Prerequisities
To follow this guide you will probably need to have Windows OS, Vista or newer since we use Direct Show with VLC. There's likely some other way to configure VLC on non-windows platforms but I don't know anything about them. VLC version I'm using is 2.1.5 but this should work just fine with any reasonably new versions.
TL;DR
Launch VLC with the following command line:

vlc.exe -I rc dshow:// :dshow-vdev=none :dshow-adev= :live-caching=300 --sout "#transcode{vcodec=none,acodec=vorb,ab=128,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:http{dst=:8080/path.ogg}"

Note that this will only work if your default audio input is the one that you are using. If it is not, you have to set the :dshow-adev to use the device you want. For example my microphone would use: :dshow-adev="Microphone (Realtek High Defini". For what ever reason the device name is supposed to cut like that, it won't work if you type the full name.

Just add a radio station http://localhost:8080/path.ogg to radio2.txt and you are good to go.
Pictured guide
Open VLC.
You can just hit Ctrl+S to open the stream dialog but let's use the UI.

Select Capture Device tab and check these settings match, then click Next

DirectShow dialog opens, just click Next

This is important part that confused me quite a bit at first. From the Stream Output destination you have to select HTTP. Easy enough, BUT do NOT click Next. No errors will show up in following steps but you stream will newer begin. Instead click Add.

In destination setup you will declare the name of the stream. You will use this name later to tell Beat Hazard the correct address.
Output format settings
The reason why I have used ogg/vorbis is that for some reason Beat Hazard never does begin to play mp3 stream. It can be played with other music players but somehow BH doesn't like it. Performance is pretty much the same for me anyway so no big deal. Encoding will hit your performance slightly, but that shouldn't matter much as BH isn't very CPU intensive.


Just check that these settings match then hit save.

Back at transcoding options, click next and you are presented a stream output string, should be like so:

Once you hit Stream, the streaming should begin.
If you don't see the time at the start of the controls, something went wrong. Probably you didn't click Add after selecting HTTP.
Add Radio station
radio2.txt is located in the same folder where ever your beat hazard is installed at. Just add a new line - http://localhost:8080/path.ogg and save. Relaunch BH and it should appear at radio stations.


Note that there is an aound 5sec delay in the stream.
3 Comments
< >
Neolexian 1 Dec, 2014 @ 11:11pm 
Hi, thanks for this guide. I managed to get it working on Linux, albeit with some terrible latency (which shouldn't be too hard to fix... probably just a setting somewhere).


If anyone else on Linux is reading this, here's what you have to do:

In the initial "Streaming" dialog in VLC, go to the "Network" tab instead of "Capture Device". Put "pulse://" as the URL. Do everything else as per this guide.

Now, open Pulseaudio Volume Control (command "pavucontrol"----you might have to install it first). In the "Recording" tab, you should be be able see VLC and choose what channel it's listening to. If you want to play Beat Hazard using the sounds coming out of your speakers, choose "Monitor of..." as the input. Otherwise, choose your microphone or Line-In. If you chose "Monitor of...", make sure to mute Beat Hazard individually in the "Playback" tab once you launch it to prevent feedback/echoing (you'll have to launch the game first to be able to mute it).
PROkrastinator 8 Oct, 2014 @ 5:54am 
Than you for this!
This also works with Line-in. I tried this on my bands beat computer (no drums) at a live gig. With a beamer to the stage having some audiance playing on chillout mode - it was fun.
On Windows 8 you will need to have two devices, we found no way to livestream Lineout and use it (as Lineout) at the same time. I think in Windows XP there was a option to split. Otherwise just use a mic as described.
Starg  [developer] 9 Sep, 2014 @ 9:42am 
Awesome - thanks for taking the time to do this!