Voice Attack is a small 3rd party program that works well with Aces High. The free version allows up to 10 voice commands, but if you buy the program (it's only $10!) you can have un limited voice commands. The program "listens" while you play for those voice commands you assign it and when it hears them executes the programmed command. To do this the program will "type" out the key strokes that you have assigned to the voice command you speak. This can be used with many games I'm sure but I have only used it here with Aces High, and only in VR.
The program uses voice recognition to run preset macros in the game. This is handy especially if you use a hotas that doesn't have a lot of buttons on it, or VR and cant see your keyboard. In some game you can run out of buttons fast and then must use keystrokes on the keyboard to activate different actions. As I only use it in Aces High, all of my examples will be for/from Aces High.
An easy example. You can set a line so that you say "gear" and the program with hit the " g <enter>" sequence to drop or raise the gear so you don't have to "waste" a button on your stick/throttle to do that. Nor do you have to try and find those keys with a VR headset on.
I have only used the program to setup a number of commands. I will go through the setting and programming I have done to this point. I'm sure there is a lot more that can be done with the program, but I just haven't needed to do it so I haven't taken the time to figure out "how". As I learn more, I will add more. Lets get started!
After you install and open the program, this is the main window. By default it will start you with "My Profile". I left it as that and just started programming on that one. You can create and/or edit any number of profiles. Clicking on the square with the pencil in it after the "profile" name drop down will edit the profile showing in the drop down. To create a new profile click the "+" next to the edit button and you will have options to create a new profile, edit an existing one, import or export a profile, or delete a profile.
Clicking the "target" drop down you can click on which programs that you have running for the VA to be active in, or specify "active window". I use "active window" because when AH is running all other programs are dropped to the background.
The icons down the right side are as follows....
Microphone - RED shows that the mic is muted or not ON, GREEN is all ok.
Stop Commands - is a button to stop any running commands
Headset - Clicking this will toggle the program from "listening" to not and back.
Keyboard - turns the keyboard shortcuts on/off
Mouse - turns the muse shortcuts on/off
Joystick - turns the joystick shortcuts on/off
Wrench - this is where you set the options for VA program.
OptionsJump to Profile Setup
Clicking on the wrench brings you to the "Options" page. There are 5 tabs across the top. The first is "General"
The "General" tab covers the basic setups. Open when windows start and so on. As you can have multiple profiles you can set which ( game you use VA in most often) to open when you start the program. Also setting the sounds folder if your going to have sounds play when commands run.
The "Recognition" tab is all about your voice recognition. I left mine at default and have had no problems. This program uses the windows voice recognition. Some people have run the Windows program and do the voice recognitions run to fine tune the recognition. I didn't use it and with a well earned "Boston" accent have no trouble at all.
The "Audio" tab is for your audio setup. Mine is a Creative SB X-FI sound card and with the default setup it found it no problem. The other settings are all default. The final settings on this page are for setting the "Windows default Device". Mine is set to my Oculus because that is the only time I use VA. You can choose not to have a default device by not checking the check boxes.
The "HotKey's" tab is for setting a key combination to have VA start/stop listening. This is default and I left it as is, but should you need to change the "Alt + F2" because it conflicts with a key combination in the game your playing here is where you do it. Just click the button and on the next window click the new combo and click ok. These can also be set on your joystick, mouse, or globe key set.
The "System" tab has the setting for system settings. These are the default settings that I use and have no troubles. The settings I think are important here are the last two buttons. Export settings and Import settings. The program will make a file when you export it. You can use it as a back up, or can share it with a friend. You can also import the settings someone else has shared.
Profiles
So now you have the program installed and setup. You have a general idea of the setup configuration and are ready to build a "profile". Let the fun begin!
In the top left corner of the main program page you have your profile list in a drop down box, and "edit" button, and a "add" button.
The edit button is to edit a profile you already have. The Add button is used for creating a new profile, import or export a profile, duplicate or copy a profile. Import and export is just like the import/export of settings. Exporting your profile saves it as a back-up and gives you a file to share your profile with others.
Lets build a new profile. All others are the same and is easy enough to figure out. First click the "ADD" button and click "NEW". Name your profile and click the "New Command" button to the right.
Type in what your going to say for the command to execute. We'll do an easy one here. Type GEAR. The next few check boxes are if you want to use keys, buttons, or the mouse but as we are trying to avoid all those using VA we will pass this over. Just remember that these options are available and can add option to use those buttons you have available.
Next move down to setup what is executed when you say "gear". "Key Press" is what key or keys you want pressed when you say the command. Clicking this opens another window where you just press the key combination you want. You can add delays in the press and release (most of mine are set to .001), press key will hold the button down, release key will release a button that is closed and toggle will toggle a key with each command. I our case we would just type a G and click OK
Once you click "OK" the command will be added to the box. This is how it is displayed in your profile list of commands.
Below is the Profile list of "ColTomb" who provided a bunch of information for this page and I thank him for it. The list is very small to fit on this page layout. It dose only have 92 commands on it. LOL! Click on it to get the full size jpeg so you can read his commands.
The other buttons on the "Add a Command" page are...
| |
Mouse, Actions are move or click. By Clicking the "move" you will get a window where you can plot where the mouse should move to. ColTomb"s list has a few examples of this. | |
| Pause, actions are add a pause, add a pause for one second, add a specific pause, or a variable pause. A good use for this is when running a calibration in bombing. You have to hold the "U" key down to calibrate. The longer the better, however you may need a quick calibration some time due to being under attack. So you can add multiple instances of a calibration with different hold/pause times. ColTomb's page has some of these as well. | ||
| Other, here you can add actions to apply to VA itself like "Stop listening", "disable shortcuts" and many more. You can also add sounds to be played when a command is execute so you know it heard you. It also can run windows apps on command, dictation, and an "Advanced" tab that has all kinds of action/programming things to use. | ||
| Recorder, where you can record lists of command together. |
So thats the basics. The program is very versital and you are only limited by your imagination. Remember, this isnt only for VR. It can work just as well for you in a regular game setup. If you don't have enough buttons on your stick to have a "flaps" control having the VA actuate the key strokes just by saying "Flaps up" could make things handy.
HERE is a pdf of the Voice Attack Help Manual.
Good Luck!