Voice Activated Commands (VAC) Profile

[WhiskeyBravo]

In the everlasting search for that extra bit of immersion I try to use voice comms whenever possible with my sims and SHIV is no exception. I've created a profile for Shift_E's excellent Voice Activated Commands (VAC) software (http://www.dwvac.com/) which allows me to speak the sort of commands a sub skipper would have been able to do for real.

I mention it here so that others can give it a go if you desire, PM me with your email addy and I'll forward it on. If its any good maybe I can get it hosted hereabouts for other Subsim members to benefit.

A few notes:

I have not included ALL the key commands available, just the ones likely to be spoken by a skipper ie manoevering commands and firing commands. The beauty of VAC is the ease with which aditional commands can be added so feel free to edit the profile as you see fit.

I'm no sub expert and most of my limited knowledge of 'sub speak' comes from Hollywood and the in game voices themselves so apologies in advance for any querkiness.

The 'All Stop' command may vary depending on your keyboard setup: the keycard shows it as being the `/¬ key at the top left of the kbd but on my UK kbd it is the '/@ key near my return key.

The up scope command is assigned to the attack periscope only as there is no kbd shortcut for the obs periscope. Also the raising/lowering of the attack scope is accomplised by holding down the 'page up' or 'page down' key - to facilitate this I have programmed a 10 second keypress into VAC for the relevant key to allow the scope to raise/lower the full distance. When the scope is lowered you will automaticaly be returned to the comand room.

When firing torpedoes I have included a cycle tubes command into the process so that the next tube is automatically selected for firing. This allows you to say 'Fire one', 'Fire two' etc even though the command is the same. I've also included the 'Open Tube Door' command so that this can be done before firing. The 'Cycle Tubes' command will allow you to select different tubes if you get out of sequence for whatever reason.


QUESTION: One command that is only accessible from the menus in the General Quarters/Battle Stations command. I would like to add this to my profile so does anybody know if a kbd shortcut can be assigned to this command?


Listed below are the actions and phrases I've completed so far, any suggestions for amendments and corrections will be greatly received.

Action: Up Attack Periscope
Phrase 1: Up Scope
Action: Surface
Phrase 1: Surface the Boat
Action: Silent Running
Phrase 1: Rig for Silent Running
Action: Secure Silent Running
Phrase 1: Secure from Silent Running
Action: Rudder Amidships
Phrase 1: Rudder Amidships
Action: Periscope depth
Phrase 1: Take her to Periscope depth
Action: Open Tube Door
Phrase 1: Open Tube Door
Action: Hard to Starboard
Phrase 1: Right full rudder
Action: Hard to Port
Phrase 1: Left full rudder
Action: Fire two
Phrase 1: Fire two
Action: Fire three
Phrase 1: Fire three
Action: Fire six
Phrase 1: Fire six
Action: Fire one
Phrase 1: Fire one
Action: Fire four
Phrase 1: Fire four
Action: Fire five
Phrase 1: Fire five
Action: Emergency Surface
Phrase 1: Blow Main Ballast Emergency Surface
Action: Down Attack Periscope
Phrase 1: Down Scope
Action: Dive
Phrase 1: Dive Dive Dive
Action: Cycle Tubes
Phrase 1: Cycle Tubes
Action: Crash Dive
Phrase 1: Crash Dive Crash Dive
Action: Back two thirds
Phrase 1: Back Standard
Action: Back one third
Phrase 1: Back slow
Action: Back Full
Phrase 1: Back Full
Action: Back Emergency
Phrase 1: Back Emergency
Action: All stop
Phrase 1: All stop
Action: Ahead two thirds
Phrase 1: Ahead Slow
Action: Ahead Standard
Phrase 1: Ahead Standard
Action: Ahead one third
Phrase 1: Ahead one third
Action: Ahead full
Phrase 1: Ahead full
Action: Ahead Flank
Phrase 1: Ahead Flank


Happy Hunting,

WB.

[melin71]

this sounds realy cool. VAC...what is that for program?

[WhiskeyBravo]

@Merlin 71 - Visit http://www.dwvac.com/ to find out about VAC itself.

After a little more testing and some accidental torpedo launches I've added a Push to talk key. So now all commands have to be spoken while holding down the 'h' key. I rationalise this by imaging the skipper speaking into the intercom phone when passing commands.

Otherwise it all seems to work really well.

Off for some more testing off the coast of Honshu.

WB.

[WhiskeyBravo]

I've found that using the 'ctrl' key with the 'pg up' and 'pg dn' will raise/lower the attack periscope to its full extent. This may not be well known as it's not in the manual and most players probably use the icon in the periscope screen.

I have amended the profile accordingly.


Does anybody know if it's possible to assign a key command to the Battle Stations icon?

Bumping this post as well because not many people seem to be into VoiceRec around here.

It really is a great immersion enhancer.

Cheers all,

WB.

[DirtyHarry3033]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyBravo

Does anybody know if it's possible to assign a key command to the Battle Stations icon?

Yep, you can either edit "Commands.cfg" manually with notepad, or use SetKeys if you don't like writing code. SetKeys is for editting SH3 key commands but works with SH4 also. It's in the SH3 download section. Good thing about SetKeys is it will tell you if the key you chose is already in use.

I used SetKeys to bind "Toggle Battle Stations" to Ctrl-B and it works perfect If you don't want to mess with SetKeys and if Ctrl-B works for you, replace this code:

[Cmd436]
Name=Toggle_battle_stations
Ctxt=1

with this:

[Cmd436]
Name=Toggle_battle_stations
Ctxt=1
Key0=0x42,c,"CTRL B"

in the "Commands.cfg" file. HTH!

[WhiskeyBravo]

Excellent, thanks DirtyHarry, that did the trick nicely.

WB.

[The Sweeper]

Just tell me how to use it with sh4 i didnt figured out how u can configure this?

Thx

[The Sweeper]

I have to say where was i before?????????

I have succesufully binded all keys and tested it and it was unbealivablen.

I have been playing all sub sims but never used this, this is great fun i had never had this much fun playing sub.

All that end up on this sticky this is a must try thing !!!!

Thx for opening mine eyes.

[KingBerk]

Just a comment for those using the profile (unless it has been updated):

"Rudder Amidships" should be bound to '
"All Stop" should be bound to `/~ (iirc)

Also I changed the phrases for rudder from "right/left full rudder" to "hard to port" and "hard to starboard" because that is what the crew says back.


Anyway, my aft torpedo compartment is partially flooded, i've got two torpedos left in the fore, and there is a warship under 3 miles away, and planes go overhead five times a freaking minute... I'm in trouble.

[WhiskeyBravo]

Originally Posted by KingBerk

Just a comment for those using the profile (unless it has been updated):

"Rudder Amidships" should be bound to '
"All Stop" should be bound to `/~ (iirc)

Also I changed the phrases for rudder from "right/left full rudder" to "hard to port" and "hard to starboard" because that is what the crew says back.

The issues with the Rudder Amidships and All Stop keys seems to depend on your keyboard. As mentioned in my post above, on my UK keyboard the location of the relevant key is different.

As for the right/left full rudder, that's the way I prefer it based on my own experiences of the 'movies'. I'd be interested to hear what the actual commands were during the period.
Anyway, the beauty of VAC is that it's very easy to adjust the profile to anything you see fit. I offer the profile as a starter to save you some time.

Regards,

WB.

[Snouff]

Hi all,

i have just a question,i have installed VAC and the profile,that run fine,but,i can't say nothing,coze when i open the VAC builder,i have a problem with package .msi.

i have looking on google for that,but,duno if i need some package or what i can do for that,anyone have a idea

[KingBerk]

Originally Posted by Snouff

Hi all,

i have just a question,i have installed VAC and the profile,that run fine,but,i can't say nothing,coze when i open the VAC builder,i have a problem with package .msi.

i have looking on google for that,but,duno if i need some package or what i can do for that,anyone have a idea

Try reinstalling with the full install. Dunno if it will help.

[Arkon]

Do's one have to put each command in seperatly or can one put them in there in bulk as in all at once

[WhiskeyBravo]

Originally Posted by Snouff

Hi all,

i have just a question,i have installed VAC and the profile,that run fine,but,i can't say nothing,coze when i open the VAC builder,i have a problem with package .msi.

i have looking on google for that,but,duno if i need some package or what i can do for that,anyone have a idea

Have you installed the MS SpeechSDK package? Look here: http://www.dwvac.com/vactips.htm to find out if you have the MS Speech Recognizer installed.

Hope that helps,

WB.

[WhiskeyBravo]

Originally Posted by Arkon

Do's one have to put each command in seperatly or can one put them in there in bulk as in all at once

As far as I am aware you have to input each command seperately. For this SHIV profile it took me about an hour starting from scratch. However, you can create your own profile in considerably less time once you have a basic profile to work from - and that's where my profile may be of use to you.

WB.