WebRTC

[timriker]

This may or may not be worth it. May need SFU, TUN, dedicated port ranges for players to connect too. This won't be accessible through some firewalls.

Lower latency for move packets can be accomplished, but it will only help players that can reach the WebRTC endpoints. Other will continue using only the websocket.

[Sythos]

WebRTC has inside already noise cancelling and gain control, is licensed bsd3 so should fit in AGPL projects.

I may have an idea, 4 audio channels team, nearby, global and spectator, nearby work just within a range (5 times the tank size?), global is... global,,,

admin can mute or unmute the players

spectator can only listen, maybe not "team" to avoid cheats, just nearby and global

a small box just under the fire 3 dot indicator, a key to toggle the channels, inside the box the name team-nearby-global, edge green if mic active, red is muted, greyed or black if adminmuted forcefully

everything via websocket, just a channel more available to who's already logged in the match (as player or observer), managed via ICE, STUN e TURN, connection dropped if the mech to check alive or heartbeat fail

microphone permission and use can be delegated to the browser, usage is managed by navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia(), echoCancellation, noiseSuppression and autoGainControl, just mono in this stage, spatial source may be a bit "too much", should work in XR also without issues (meta visor use khtml/gecko)

just 2 keys more to be mapped, one to cycle channels, one to toggle on/off the mic (+ admin command in chat to mute or unmute)

all nowadays browser have OPUS, may be a good choice (elinks player will not be enrolled to play :) )
i'll keep noise reduction for a phase2, need also to check better license, api and code of Xiph or RNNNoise only if native noise soppression will not work enough