Shift_E, developer of the QMB, has released a free voice utility.
I was a beta tester for the early releases of this utility and although I ran into some issues found it on the whole to be a really useful tool.
However the latest releases, now public, are very good. I have it set up with the downloadable profile available on his site. This profile covers all the AI radio calls to wingmen, flights and squadron as well as ground control. It also has a chocks away entry.
Now, when I’m flying and need a vector etc, I just “talk” to ground control using a recognisable phrase and get my vector. It can also be set up to cover all the commands within IL2, such as engine starts. I prefer not to use it for these commands and use it just to cover the AI radio and to tell the sailor fella to take my chocks away or put them back in.
It doesn’t interfere with TS, which was one of my main concerns, and can also be toggled on and off. I thoroughly recommend it
It can be downloaded from here
[b]Voice Activated Command Index page[/b]
Thanks Brigstock. Looks interesting, although I admit I haven’t got it working yet - it was late when I set it up and the poor old brain was half asleep.
As you say, if you like realism then it would be nice just to use it to replace the in game radio commands - I find them a pain when things are busy, trying to work through the numbered command sequence. Of course, some joker will no doubt profile the word “break” to some complex lag inducing evasion macro, but hey! that’s life.
One question - how resource greedy is the voice recognition engine? My system seemed to stagger a little when I had it running. Does it use less resource after you have trained it to your voice more fully?
Voice Activated commands (VAC)
Nice one Brigstock,
I was looking at this over the week-end.
It looks as though Shift_E made quite a few revisions in a couple of days - if you have it already, make sure you have the current version (1.30 at the time of writing).
It looks good guys … good enough to become part of the standard distribution.
btw - it’s not limited to IL2/FB/AEP/PF … essentially, it’s a keyboard emulation utility, and could be configured to control any game where commands are issued through the keyboard.
If you download the PF profile (also on that site), I’d suggest changing the “Chocks Away” command to match your currrent sequence - not changing the other way …
Downside … AFIK, it’s English language only - until MS bring out international speech recognition engines.
Peegee
It doesn’t seem to have any overhead on my system. Which is in no means a top of the range piece of kit. Some time is required to train the MS speech engine, not a huge amount though.
Essentially I recommend using the profile on Shift_e’s site and use that until you get used VAC. It can be tricky to set up.
On the realism stakes it has made a world of difference. Sitting on a carrier lean out the cockpit a shout “chocks away” need a vector t base, don’t get tangled up punching keys just ask for one.
Essentially I recommend using the profile on Shift_e’s site
Ah, now that was the important piece of information I had overlooked :o
Got it set up and gave it a try last night and I am very impressed. As you say, it doesn’t just avoid thumbs-on-keyboard problems, it makes it seem a lot more realistic “talking” to ground control and your wingmen.