Your voice is noise

When you talk on proximity voice, the infected hear it the same way you do. Your real voice is part of staying alive.

How far you carry

• Whisper reaches only what's right beside you, 3 to 5 meters.
• Normal speech carries 10 to 18 meters, about the width of a street.
• Shouting carries 35 to 60 meters, and if you keep it up, the dead further out start walking your way.
• Change your range with Z. Where you land inside a range depends on how long you keep talking. If you let the game measure your microphone (ESC, Settings, Audio), it depends on how loud you really are: speak softly and you stay at the short end.

What covers you

• Walls and floors. Talking inside a building carries much less to anything outside.
• A closed car cuts your voice by half, and a running engine covers it more. On a bike you're out in the open.
• Rain and wind drown out a voice. A still night carries it further.
• Louder noise nearby. Nobody picks out your voice in the middle of a gunfight.

Reading it

While you talk, a small wave opens beside Voice on your HUD and shows how far your voice is carrying. When it turns red, one of them is close enough to hear you. Stop talking, or drop to a whisper. The ones that hear you turn toward the sound and come to look.

Radios

A handheld radio's speaker makes noise where you stand when traffic comes in, whether that's your squad keying up or a station talking. Carry a Radio Earpiece and it plays in your ear instead. You'll find them on police and soldiers and in houses.

Push-to-talk and open mic both work. Coughs, key taps and keyboard noise don't count, only real speech does. In safe zones your voice never draws anything. If you can't keep your voice down, ESC, Settings, Audio has Reduced (60% as far, and you never draw a herd).