Thoughts on VoiceAttack with ED

[TomT]

I saw a YouTube video demoing the game using VoiceAttack to control things. It looked and sounded very impressive, and seemed to add a whole other dimension to the game. I also came across the Elite Dangerous Voice Pack (http://www.elitedangerousvoicepack.com/) which looked pretty amazing.

I'm interested in your opinions and experience on this approach; on the surface, it seems to really add to the game's immersion.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[xaccers]

Voice attack is awesome!
It really increases the immersion, and game control.

 

[Vandal71]

I use Voice Attack for basic functions aboard ship. It is vital to me in combat, mainly for managing power. I can just say "divert power to weapons" when firing at an enemy or "divert power to shields" when under attack. If I need to flee quickly, it's "divert power to engines." When I'm not engaged anymore I simply say "balance power systems".

I use voice control for:

power management
cargo scoop
preparation for landing (gear down, rotational correction on)
jettisoning cargo
deploying a heat sink
managing silent running

I even can say "computer, combat music" and it starts playing AC/DC "If you want blood" and "audio cancel" cancels any music playing.

It's a great program and pretty accurate in recognizing my voice. Anything that could potentially kill me if I miss spoke it, is controlled on my X52 Pro.

 

[TomT]

Thanks for the feedback, it sounds like it's as cool as I thought it would be...

 

[scrufferpops]

i'm getting it at midnight tonight!

(along with that voice pack mentioned with the sultry female computer voice )

 

[Wolfox]

I use voice attack because with the Oculus i can't see the keyboard and the stick has only buttons for hardpoints.

The immersion it's for who is watching ,because who set the VA knows that are programmed words, there is no intelligence behind it. Also people that uses 2 words for the landing gear, but the key stroked is always 1. You know it but who look at you doesn't.

I use very short words I know and put a short confermation sound to know that the system got my command. Like in dog fights is difficult with a keyboard to find the sweet spot for fast turning, but now saying simple "FAST" the voice attach sets the speed.

I prefer doing my own configuration, taking it from others is complicated, another thing to learn and you don't feel the ship "Yours"!!

Feedback sounds I took the from here--> TREKCORE

 

[xaccers]

Voice Attack: Able to stop a playing sound?

I thought I might add the Blue Danube to the docking command I have configured, and that part works fine, but it has to play the entire mp3, I can't find a way to cancel it playing part way through, even if I use the Stop Commands button.

Any ideas if this is possible?

Edit:
Went to http://www.xamuel.com/blank-mp3s/ and downloaded the 0.1s mp3, set up a "Stop music" command which plays it and does the job.

 

[Rhaedas]

I don't think I could play well now without it. It's like a third hand that I can do stuff with, and it's a matter of figuring out what should be a button, key, or voice that works best for you. I am routinely coming up with new things or reinventing a macro as the need fits.

Wolfox, I would disagree with you on your point of immersion breaking. I don't pretend to think that there's some intelligence behind it, but I do feel it's a part of the ship now that I've used it for so long. And sometimes, there's a sense of her being there, even though it's false. I've been playing with a background command that's always running that will throw out random stuff very infrequently. There's been a few times that I've forgotten about that, and she's come out of the blue with a snarky comment at a perfect time, like the familiar "I've got a bad feeling about this", which got a reaction from me, which then sparked a reaction from her. Yeah, it's scripted, but with enough rarity and number of responses, when it works, it's so cool.

 

[Vandyl]

Not sure if this was mentioned as I didn't read the whole thread, make sure you train your windows speech recognition several times to it can pick up subtle differences in your inflections so you don't boost in a station when you sneeze.

I use it for everything but what I have set on my T-Flight HOTAS X, which only has 12 buttons. I have a Razor Orbweaver (22 buttons, plus thumb stick) that I have many of my VoiceAttack commands slaved as a backup.

Good bang for the buck as well.

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

It's a fantastic tool. I hope ED gives it proper support in the future and adds the ability for commanders to create hotkeys.

 

[TomT]

... I've been playing with a background command that's always running that will throw out random stuff very infrequently. There's been a few times that I've forgotten about that, and she's come out of the blue with a snarky comment at a perfect time, like the familiar "I've got a bad feeling about this", which got a reaction from me, which then sparked a reaction from her. Yeah, it's scripted, but with enough rarity and number of responses, when it works, it's so cool.

Where did you get your voice files? E.g., the "I have a bad feeling..."

I'm thinking of just buying the files linked in my original post.

 

[Druid]

I only just started using it due to not wanting to actually do any more in ED . Not due to boredom , due to not wanting to spoil my experience .

Voice Attack is just fantastic. It takes a little work to get it how you want it but it frees so much button pressing that it is just liberating.

Map similar phrases or commands to the same action and you feel like you are actually comunicating with the ships computer. I have it on a separate screen and if I say a command slightly differently and it isnt recognised I just map it on the fly . Next target, next ship, Amy next target, Next target Amy , "Oh damn ".."Would you like me to engage evade procedure ?" "yes" ...

Having fun creating responces to certain words and phrases is a laugh too.

Anyway for $8 and a little bit of time its the next best thing to EDTracker in ED. Just get it.

 

[Rhaedas]

Where did you get your voice files? E.g., the "I have a bad feeling..."

I'm thinking of just buying the files linked in my original post.

I found one of the free alternative MS voices, and use TTS (text to speech) for all my stuff. Not everything justifies a voice, sometimes a simple beep is enough and much less annoying (alpha players will remember when FA off and on would get voice confirmation, and with someone using that a lot, it got very annoying. But it is nice to be able to come up with all sorts of verbiage without having to find a clip of it somewhere.

 

[BillD]

It had a little trouble understanding my Aussie accent at first, but after a few runs through the windows voice training, it's working quite well now.
I don't use it as much as I used to because I prefer to use my home theatre sound system to give me a great atmosphere, and voice attack cant hear me over the racket and room shaking from the sub woofer.

Bill D

 

[KJFighter77]

Hi – I have just started and at my age of 78 years I find that VoiceAttack really helps me as my reflexes are now not the best; but my eyesight & voice are still super fast.
I am at the Basic Stage of “FIRST KILL” and using Tflight HOTAS X with default Settings and these VoiceAttack Commands:

Hostile - Engines – Combat Weapons – Combat Shields – Balanced – Combat slow - Evade 1 - Stop
Left – Down – Lock – Ahead – Right – Gear Down – Gear Up – Zoom out – Zoom in

Questions 1
Is it possible to “Match Target Speed” - if so what Command?
Question 2
Other relevant Commands that would suit older Pilots like me? Any Suggestions ?

 

[Hellhawk666]

I'm so used to using VoiceAttack for some basic commands that I find it not just less of an experience but actively frustrating if I don't use it.

Initially I had a very complex setup with scores of commands, and complex strings of commands to control stuff that is only accessible through the side panels. However as I've become more skilled with the controls over the last 9 months I've stopped using a lot of them and now I just have about 20 commands, but I use them constantly.

Transferring power in battle with VoiceAttack is worth the price of the app alone - it means you can focus on weapon selection, aiming and combat while transferring power with a word as required. Other very useful commands are landing gear and cargo scoop deployment, screenshot capture, silent running toggle, flight assist toggle, and re-centering TrackIR.

All these can be bound to HOTAS buttons, of course, but if you have the Thrustmaster Flight-X (which I do) its button bindings are limited. However even if I had a more up-market system I'd still use VA for those commands.

Beyond the absolutely essential commands you can then get into more complex strings. These work just as well but my experience has been that I forget to use them sometimes and just use manual controls as it is faster and more dependable, whereas the essential controls become second nature.

Beyond that there are the "vanity" level controls like playing sound clips, voice responses, music etc. None of these are necessary, but you can have heaps of fun with them and really customize your ship, if you like to do that sort of thing. I did once have sound bites for responses on all the controls, but it became tiresome. The only ones I still use are sound FX for the landing gear lowering and raising, and the cargo scoop deploying and closing. I made these back before there was HUD indication for the status of those systems, but I still use them as they give me a useful audio confirmation of the command. There is, of course, an in-game sound for landing gear, but it is very soft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Kk5V-HDyM&list=UUcVoNK3Fo09gKLlAT434usQ

 

[Biffa]

Voice Attack is awesome, with only an 8 button joystick I couldn't play this game without it.

The only issue I have is using Voice Comms alongside it, which I haven't tried yet, does anybody have a decent work around for that?

 

[zombieapocalypse]

I very tempted to buy voice attack, mostly for using power distribution commands during combat.

But how well does it work with open speakers, or is using headphones a must? I really love the immersion of playing ED with my 5.1 surround set-up. But then again it sounds pretty good on my headset too.

 

[Wolfox]

I very tempted to buy voice attack, mostly for using power distribution commands during combat.

But how well does it work with open speakers, or is using headphones a must? I really love the immersion of playing ED with my 5.1 surround set-up. But then again it sounds pretty good on my headset too.

It works strangely well, Es. you say a word, VA displays "Nearly" what you say but not what you wanted,even repeating it more times, but if you select the word, write it down correctly and assign e command, VA will then always get it right!!

...........Wolfox, I would disagree with you on your point of immersion breaking...................

What ever but it's not like "GoogleVoice" or "SIRI"

 

[Gorodd]

I use VA and wouldn't leave station without it!

Easy to program and alter as you go...excellent voice recognition.

Handy for repeat activities like docking or changing power distributions or creating program present exit from battle manouvers.