FoxVox Free voice control software for BMS
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Latest Version: 2.5
Get the latest changelog here:
https://foxster.itch.io/foxvox/devlog/716982/foxvox-update-v25The main page:
https://foxster.itch.io/foxvoxDiscord:
https://discord.gg/vc37eJ4BspIntroduction Tutorial:
Note: the hosting site gets supported by donations to hosted apps, so it promotes donation, but don’t be confused, it’s completely optional and the software is free.
I am brand new to BMS and going through the learning curve which I thoroughly enjoy. When I came across some posts about voice control, I thought it would be great, but found out after downloading the files that they are maps to be used with commercial software. The software isn’t pricey but I’m trying to get some friends to join with me and adding up a license for everyone was more than I wanted to fork out. I happen to be a software developer so I just wrote my own and called it FoxVox voice recognition :D.
I intend to distribute it for free at no charge, no expiration, no limitations, no licensing required as kind of a thanks to the BMS community for putting out such a great game. Here’s a quick feature overview:
Completely configurable user-built dictionaries
Create command groups with individual commands
Built and designed for Windows only
Runs offline (no internet voice recognition required)
No limits on commands or command chains
Simple interface
Supports creating libraries which can be shared
Works great with BMS!!I haven’t found out yet how I’m going to distribute the app. Before that, I would like to find a few (not too many!!!) beta testers who would like to try it out, work out any kinks, and help create a good BMS library file for the community to go along with it (remember I’m brand new so I’d like someone with a lot of BMS experience who would know how it should be done). Also, if you’re good with YouTube and want to help make a tutorial video, please let me know.
Anyone interested? Also, even if you don’t want to help beta test, let me know who’s interested as it might help me plan with hosting. If you know any good free ways for app distribution, let me know also. I’d love to get this out to everyone once it’s fully ready. Again special thanks to BenchmarkSims.
Here’s a few screenshots of the app:
OK - I’ve added a video with some instructions for Beta testers. It also provides more info on the app and how it works for anyone interested.
A little earlier than anticipated, but here’s the download link. Have fun!
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Welcome aboard Foxster … always great to have more hobbyist-developers in the community!
FoxVox looks really nice. What’s it built with?
Pros / Cons vs VoiceAttack, apart from license cost?
GitHub is probably the default medium for releasing software these days. There’s a mini-ecosystem of BMS tools there, probably Alternative Launcher is the most popular.
But for things that can’t / don’t want to be open-source, just throwing a zip file onto Google Drive or Dropbox … or an AWS Cloudfront / S3 bucket, is also somewhat common.
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Joy2Key
In another thread you mentioned you’re considering integrating some Joy2Key functionality … I built https://github.com/arithex/DragWheel, and am currently forking it to focus solely on simplified button-to-keyboard mapping scenarios.
If C# is your thing, and you’d like to collaborate on that part, let me know…
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I’m always interested in freeware that works!
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Thanks for the reply. I’ve used GitHub for plenty of stuff but not quite sure if it’s the place to host it. For now, I think I’ll share it with Google Drive for beta testers with a link up.
It’s built in c# using wpf. I wanted to put it in .net 5 for cross-platform but the major hitch was that I’m using Microsoft’s speech recognition engine. No way I was going to build an engine on my own in a short time and other options all required online connection for recognition and associated fees. The MS engine runs offline and no fees or limitations. The engine api’s aren’t built into .net core frameworks, so I was limited to full .net (requires 4.7 or later version). Hence windows only.
Honestly, I’ve never used VoiceAttack so I can’t say differences, but I can say it works well. It supports fully customizeable voice keys that are accessed on a voice key group (i.e. “AWACS request vector to nearest air threat” puts you on the AWACS menu group and then finds the correct command to execute). It allows you to say words in different orders, use synonyms, and the output commands can be chained together. Theoretically you could automate the entire startup sequence on a single voice command. I’m also looking at implementing dynamic voice variables so you can on the fly define call-signs as an alias for a command group (i.e. instead of saying “AWACS” you could use the current call-sign without having to program all call-signs into the map).
Anyway, I think it will be good for some of those like me who just want a free option that works well. Send me a message if you’d like a link to the download once I post it and you can try out the beta. I need some reviews and feedback on how well it works for the community
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Hi airtex,
Sounds cool, I’ll check it out. C# is definitely my thing!
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Hoover,
If you’re up for the beta testing, I’ll add you to the distribution and send you a download link. Currently requires 64 bit windows with .net 4.7 or higher installed.
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Great gift for the whole community, foxster!
Thank you for your effort
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Excellent work! Love voice control!! I’m a huge Star Trek (TNG+) fan, won’t stop until I can talk to my house and car like it’s the Enterprise (and DYI, at that).
Best wishes and good luck!!
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“Alexa, initiate in-air engine restart sequence” would be nice sometimes
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I’ve added a video for Beta testers into the starting post of this thread now…it provides a bit more info on how the app works since there’s no manual yet :eek:
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Thank you for Sharing this :drink:
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Hoover,
If you’re up for the beta testing, I’ll add you to the distribution and send you a download link. Currently requires 64 bit windows with .net 4.7 or higher installed.
I mean, Im currently running software which requires 64 bit and .net 4.7.2 or higher… on linux. So it might not be so hard and fast as you might assume.
What licence is this under? If no choice has been made yet, may I suggest GPLv3?
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I mean, Im currently running software which requires 64 bit and .net 4.7.2 or higher… on linux. So it might not be so hard and fast as you might assume.
What licence is this under? If no choice has been made yet, may I suggest GPLv3?
Thanks Blu3Wolf…I’ll take a look. I was also looking at the MIT license…I’ve been mainly focused on just building it. I know .net can be run on Linux and Mac (to some extent) but I haven’t looked into whether anyone’s ever run Msft Speech Recognition Engine on it.
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I’ve been wondering if tools like this would run ok under WINE, alongside BMS.
Does Mono or Wine implement Microsoft.Speech.Recognition (or whatever native DLLs underpin that)?
Are there other blockers … can one Wine process call SendInput() to generate keystrokes for another?
Do the RawInput and HID interfaces to intercept joystick buttons/axes work (thinking of Joy2Key scenarios)?
I’m assuming vJoy (kernel driver) would not work as is … but I feel certain there’s a linux equivalent.
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I’ve been wondering if tools like this would run ok under WINE, alongside BMS.
Does Mono or Wine implement Microsoft.Speech.Recognition (or whatever native DLLs underpin that)?
Are there other blockers … can one Wine process call SendInput() to generate keystrokes for another?
Do the RawInput and HID interfaces to intercept joystick buttons/axes work (thinking of Joy2Key scenarios)?
I’m assuming vJoy (kernel driver) would not work as is … but I feel certain there’s a linux equivalent.
I had read somewhere that MS didn’t port the namespace over to .net core or 5 due to possible licensing issues…or more likely they want to just push their online azure hosted engine which they charge for. Either way I doubt it’s supported in mono. I also read that Google plans to release an offline engine for mobile devices…could be a possibility depending on how they license it. For now though this was just the quickest path to a functional app.
As for joystick an keyboard inputs/outputs, I’m guessing it should be rather straightforward. Although keyboard support seemed archaic and clunky…like code from the 80s patched over to fit the modern world.
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Cool! Potential successor to DWVAC :).
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oh wait … looks like there is a System.Speech.Recognition component to .NET Framework? (I mistakenly thought it was all Microsoft.Speech…)
(The original theory behind “System." vs "Microsoft.” distinction was that the former would comprise the universal/portable runtime and base-class libraries … while the latter would be for Windows/Office/whatever proprietary stuff. But that distinction was drawn in the earliest days, when the only portable runtime envisioned was Silverlight. And even so, I recall it became muddy and inconsistent, pretty quick. One probably shouldn’t assume anything either way, based on the the namespace or assembly names. Pretty sure Mono implements a lot of stuff in Microsoft.Win32.* namespace, for example.)
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mono does not, but you can use winetricks to install native SAPI5. I’ve been working with that to try get a System.Speech method working (in vatSys, an air traffic control client for Vatsim).
As regards the keypress stuff, I’m not entirely sure sorry.