Comms

Communication, Comms and Languages

Communication is key to winning and having a good time in Colonial Marines. Here are all the things you might need to learn to using them properly.

Basics

The default shortcut to open the comms menu is "t". If you type your message without anything you'll say it locally, and it can only be heard by people (and devices) within sight of you.

To access specific channels, start your message with ";", ":", "#", or ".". The last three are followed by a letter (for accessing radio channels) or a number (for a language) or a combination of the two. The letters are case-insensitive.

So ":n" will send a message over the engineering channel, same as ":N", "#n", "#N", ".n" and ".N".

Multicasting

If you want to send the same message over multiple channels, start your message with "," and then list up to four channels to multicast to. This ability has a cooldown, but can be very useful for command. So for example, ",abcd Get to the FOB" will send a message "Get to the FOB" over Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta channels at the same time.

Say / Radio Commands

Main channels

Comms command	What is it used for	Main users
;	General faction communication. Xenos use it to talk in Hivemind, Marines use it to talk in their Squad chat, Yautja, Survivors, ERTs, etc. use it for their special communication channels, and Almayer ship crew uses it for general comms.	Everyone, in their own way
:w	Whispering - talking in a way that only someone really close can hear you	Everyone
:h	Department - talking to your default department	Mostly USCM ship crew
:i	Intercom - activating the nearby Intercom on dropships, Almayer or elsewhere	Mostly Marines and Survivors on Almayer
:m	Medical channel	Squad Medics, Doctors, Research, etc.
:n	Engineering channel	Squad Engineers, Ordnance Technicians, etc.
:v	Command channel	Command Staff, Squad Leaders, Department Heads, etc.
:p	Military Police channel	MPs, Command Staff, etc.
:u	Requisition channel	Requisition Staff, Command, RTOs, SLs, etc.
:j	JTAC channel	Pilot crew, RTOs, SLs, etc.
:t	Intel channel	IOs, Command Staff, etc.

Squad channels

Comms command	What is it used for	Main users
:a	Alpha Squad Channel	Alpha Squad Marines, Command Staff, etc.
:b	Bravo Squad Channel	Bravo Squad Marines, Command Staff, etc.
:c	Charlie Squad Channel	Charlie Squad Marines, Command Staff, etc.
:d	Delta Squad Channel	Delta Squad Marines, Command Staff, etc.
:e	Echo Squad Channel	Echo Squad Marines, Command Staff, etc.
:f	Foxtrot Squad Channel	Foxtrot Squad Marines, Command Staff, etc.

Niche channels

Channels that are rarely used, but might come up every now and then, or used by specific rarer faction.

Comms command	What is it used for	Main users
:y	WY channel	CL, PMCs, whoever CL gifted a special decryption key to.
:o	CCT Channel (JTAC equivalent for HvH)	???
:z	High Command Channel	Members of the High Command (Provost, their crew, etc.)
:k	SOF Channel	SOF squad members
:g	Almayer Channel	People who want to use USCM general chat but don't start with it by default (such as Survivors with extra decryption keys).

Languages

Every mob in the game speaks a language. Most often you won't notice it, because you communicate with friendlies in your default language, but sometimes there will be other languages you might know to communicate with other factions. Synthetics can communicate in all languages, Yautja understand all languages but need a communicator to talk back. If you're unsure what languages you know, check your IC verb Check Known Languages.

Main languages

Chat command	Language	Who is it mostly used by?
:1	English	USCM, Survivors, most other factions also know it
:2	Japanese	CLF
:3	Russian	UPP
:4	German	Various
:5	Spanish	Various
:8	Chinese	Various
:l	Tactical Sign Language	UPP Commandos, MARSOC operators
:s	Sainja	Yautja, Synthetics
:h	Hellhound	Hellhounds
:x	Xenomorph	Xenomorphs, Synthetics, PMC Xeno Handlers
:q	Hivemind	Xenomorphs

Misc languages

Stuff that is still in the code but is rarely if every used.

Chat command	Language	Who is it mostly used by?
:6	Robot Talk	Robots, AI
:7	Telepath Implant	Event people with telepathic implants
:9	Primitive	Monkeys
:D	Drone Talk	Robot drones

Languages over comms

You CAN combine speaking other languages and talking over comms, but you have to do it in a specific way. First, specify the channel you are using, then specify the language without a space inbetween. So ":m:8 Test" will result in you saying "Test" in Chinese over the Medical comms, ";:3 Test" - in saying "Test" in Russian over the default comms (very useful for someone communicating with UPP over their headset). If, however, you say ":m :8 Test" you will say ":8 Test" over the Medical comms, while saying ":8:m Test" will result in you saying ":m Test" in Chinese.

FIRST Comms channel, THEN Language, NO SPACE INBETWEEN.