Voice Attack & RoF (originally posted by FourSpeed)

[TG-55Panthercules]

originally posted by FourSpeed:

 

Hi Guys,

 

Quite some time ago, someone (I think it might have been Vonrd, iirc) mentioned using "Voice Attack" software to control Rise of Flight using your microphone.

 

While an intriguing idea at the time, I didn't get a chance to try that out until just recently.  So, if it was Vonrd, or someone else who mentioned it, Thank You!

 

As many of you know, I just use a Logitech Extreme 3D joystick to fly RoF, and while it does that quite well, it simply doesn't have enough buttons for more complicated sims (like FSX, DCS or Falcon BMS). A few weeks ago, I decided to give VA a try, and I've been enjoying the heck out of it ever since. I used RoF as my "test case" and put together a profile for it that handles many of the commands in the game, and can actually do some things that I think are pretty slick.  While I haven't made DCS or BMS profiles as yet, it's also working quite well for FSX, and I regularly fly both sims now without touching the keyboard at all (or even needing most of the buttons on my joystick any more).

 

In RoF, engine starts, mixture and radiator control, map viewing, dropping bombs, shooting flares, and a bunch of other things, are all easily handled by simply pushing one button and telling the game what to do.

 

It occurred to me (eventually     ) that I should probably share that profile with folks in our community who might be interested in it.   Sure, sure, I *know* that pilots in WWI didn't control their airplanes by talking to them, so if you're worried about spoiling "immersion", I understand.  OTOH, I think it is cool as heck to say "Engine Start" and have the sim immediately start up whatever plane I'm in, wherever I'm at, be it in an SP mission, or on New Wings - Wargrounds, or in FiF.

 

In any case, I've put the profile, with some documentation into a .zip file and I'm uploading it here for you to dabble with if you wish.  Enjoy, and Have Fun!

 

 

Regards,

4  

 

Rise_of_Flight-Profile_20170620.zip

 

PS> Disclaimer:  Voice Attack is free to try (limited to a single profile with up to 20 commands), but costs $10 for a full, registered version.

After playing with it for a couple hours, that $10 was an easy, no-brainer purchase for me, but others may feel differently.  

I mention this because my profile has way more than 20 commands in it, so you'll need to have the registered version to use it fully.

 

 

Panthercules, on 21 Jun 2017 - 17:37, said:

 

I used to use something like this (it was called something else but was a voice command program) back in my Silent Hunter days.  That was really awesome and added to the immersion because you could easily imagine yourself as the submarine commander barking out orders to your crew.

 

Other than starting your engine in RoF (which I could easily equate to yelling to the guy standing by ready to spin your prop) and maybe some commands you might yell at your gunner/observer (and maybe even commands to your AI flightmates, even though you know they can't really hear you), however, I never could see myself wanting to do any of the other actions in RoF via voice command.  But as you say, to each his own and if it doesn't bother you it certainly sounds like a convenient way to avoid fumbling with a multitude of keys/buttons.

 

Now, if they release an updated version of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, I can certainly see controlling one of those babies by voice 

 

 

J2_SteveF, on 22 Jun 2017 - 03:17, said:

 

That is exactly what I use it for.

So much easier than reaching for the keyboard and press multiple keys to get your command out.

 

IMO it is worth it for that alone. Being able to get your squad to form up on your left.

or telling your ground crew to spin the prop

or telling your gunner to shoot long

 

 

FourSpeed, on 22 Jun 2017 - 03:24, said:

 

@Panthercules:

 

Understood. If you're focused on the immersion of when a pilot would actually say something or not, then Fair Enough -- I plead "No Contest"    

 

I mentioned the "Engine Start" command specifically, because that is, far and away, the Number 1 chat item I see daily in our MP chat logs... Those two words (& VA) make the entire problem of starting planes (that have mixture control) or flying with the radiator closed (for the Albie & D7 pilots) disappear completely.    

 

For myself, I find it most useful for displaying the map (and moving it around, centering it, adjusting its transparency, etc.) without having to monkey with the mouse or keyboard.  Of course, I also use it for flares, tweaking temps and mixture, dropping bombs, and for the wingmen commands in SP Career mode.  Having said that, the RoF profile was really a "Proof of Concept" testbed for me, since it's pretty simple, in terms of command volume and complexity.  It certainly convinced me that VA was well worth the ten bucks I shelled out for it, and I'm quite certain it will be a *huge* help when I get around to making a profile for the fully realistic A10 in DCS, or the equally realistic F16 in BMS. 

 

 

LOL!  It's funny that you say that... A couple weeks ago, GOG had their summer sale, and I picked up XWing Special Edition for a couple bucks.  Back in the day, I put more hours into that game (the 5 1/4"  floppy disk version ) than I'd care to add up (far more than in RoF -- Yikes!), and that was the second VA profile I made while I was working on the RoF and FSX ones (the latter, and 3rd of which, I'm still adding to).  The 1998 revamp they did on XWing still looks (pretty) good today, given that it is older than several of our community members   and I've been having some fun revisiting that game again (the profile works great too, but I'm doubtful there's an actual community to share that one with any more)   

 

 

Cheers,

4  

 

 

J2_Bidu, on 22 Jun 2017 - 03:34, said:

 

For immersion value, I scribble the instruction in a piece of paper, and have my scanner in a table right behind me. It scans and OCR's, then it gets read out loud by Narrator, and voice activation picks it up.

 

...

 

...no. No, I don't do that. 

 

 

J2_SteveF, on 22 Jun 2017 - 06:04, said:

 

You should, for the sake of immersion.

 

It's quite satisfying to spawn on the field and then shout out "oi! peasant, start my engine"  

 

 

Ghost_666, on 22 Jun 2017 - 08:33, said:

 

Sounds very interesting. Wonder how it would work with my accent. Oh well don't really matter I know it would not work with my wind and engine simulator. You see, I have a big fan blowing over a large bucket of ice into my face. The fan is belt driven by a Briggs and Stratten 1/2hp lawnmower engine. This set up really gets you into the game, but most of the time I can't even hear myself type, so VA may not work for me. 

 

 

P.S. And the slow drip of caster oil into the wind stream some times keeps me from even wanting to open my mouth. 

 

 

J2_SteveF, on 22 Jun 2017 - 10:27, said:

 

Castor oil has a laxative property too  

 

 

J2_Bidu, on 22 Jun 2017 - 11:41, said:

 

This helps to achieve the appropriate effects resulting from the strong fear that was felt when in serious trouble. Very nice. Ugh.

 

 

Lt.Vaughn, on 29 Jun 2017 - 23:40, said:

 

Thanks, Fourspeed...

 

I now see your point.

 

Lt. Vaughn

 

 

abj9562, on 15 Jun 2021 - 12:46, said:

 

What size monitor resolution did you use for commands using coordinates?

 

 

FourSpeed, on 01 Jul 2021 - 23:49, said:

 

Wow. Arise Dead Thread!      

 

Answering your question though, in my case, it's the standard 1920 X 1080 for RoF.

 

That said however, you can use *any* resolution. When you're setting up a command to move the mouse to a specific screen location and click, VA actually will show you the co-ordinates as it sees them when you're creating the commands - so, when you set the command up, you manually move the mouse to where it needs to be, read the co-ordinates that VA shows you, put those in your command, and Voila.  

 

 

Regards,

4  

 

 

J2_Trupobaw, on 02 Jul 2021 - 06:17, said:

 

Arise Dead Thread and bring Four with you! Good to still be meeting you here, man, it's been ages   .

 

 

FourSpeed, on 07 Jul 2021 - 02:32, said:

 

Lol. It has been that. 

 

I still fly RoF frequently, both in our server(s) and in S.P. Career mode, but largely, I've mostly migrated over to DCS  (sadly, IL-2 holds zero interest for me at all), so I don't check the forums much -- In fact, someone had to mention to me that there was a question out here that I should probably look at...      

 

Hope you and yours are doing well, Trupo.  

 

Cheers,

4