Best posts made by SemlerPDX
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AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack
*Originally, this was designed for Falcon BMS version 4.34 - since then, it has always been and will continue to be updated to work with the latest version of Falcon BMS. Pro tip: never include a game version in URL’s or graphics
Profile for VoiceAttack
by =VG= SemlerPDXDescription: These commands use VoiceAttack to translate the in-game on-screen radio menus from AWACS through Tanker into natural and intelligent voice command phrases that will fire keypress macros to help keep hands on the throttle and stick, and maintain immersion. As an additional option, these commands can be locked behind a push-to-talk mode bound to your UHF/VHF transmit buttons in-game, allowing any other VoiceAttack command unrestricted access if needed, while still restricting these BMS radio command macros. Finally, this single advanced control profile is extremely easy to edit or integrate into other profiles.
At VETERANS-GAMING, we fly with friends or AI Pilots, or a mix of both on our 24/7 Public Korean Campaign in Falcon BMS. We may go out with an AI wingman only to have a friend take their place mid-flight. For this reason and others, I created this VoiceAttack profile based around restricting when the computer can execute keypress macros that match voice phrases, having to first check if that pilot was set to a human pilot and therefore disregard commands for that pilot.
Thanks to user requests during the beta, there is now an optional mode to reverse the Human Pilots system, to assume all pilots are humans unless told otherwise, and also a system to choose a different keyboard layout than QWERTY. I have also added an optional Audio Feedback Mode to play a short radio cue sound when a command is successfully recognized.
Included is a single profile that handles every callsign and radio command variation in Falcon BMS, with voice commands to add any custom callsigns to the single profile, or edit the list. The focus of this profile is only on the in-game Radio Menus, and creating an immersive interaction layer through VoiceAttack that is easy to manage and update, or integrate into other Voice Control systems for Falcon BMS. The Quick Command Creator system allows creating new simple keypress commands or multi-keypress macros with simple pop-up input boxes guiding users through the process - a great way to add new commands on the fly, or new command phrases to call existing commands.
My goal was an intuitive system, so there is no user manual - only a few infographics and quick reference pic of all the radio commands - say, “Open the Command Reference”, anytime to view available voice commands and the reference pic, including those from AVCS CORE. I intend to release information pages for profile customization and configuration in the VG Wiki on our website, and these will be available through a patch update later for new voice commands or additional options in the Help Menu once complete.
Say goodbye to the keyboard, and enjoy the immersion! Cheers!
Features:
Push-To-Talk mode disabled by default. Say, “Turn On Push To Talk Mode” to enableDownload: (Click Here)
NOTE: DON’T USE THE VA OPTION “Allow Command Segment Info for Composite Commands” w/ AVCS4, and disable before importing AVCS4 if this setting is enabled!
Commands Reference:
Replace the word “Human” with “Computer” when All-Humans Mode is ON
Normally, this profile assumes all pilots are Computers, use All-Humans Mode to invert thisSay, ‘Open the Command Reference’, anytime to view available voice commands, including those from AVCS CORE
Public Release AVCS4 BMS v1.43 Changelog October-25-2023 This is a Major Profile Update, and requires downloading and importing the latest AVCS4 BMS Radios (v1.43) profile for VoiceAttack: New Commands: -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Current Altitude Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "High Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Low Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Dive Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Pop Up Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Free Attack" Note: This is a new page for Wingman, Element, and Flight; these must be preceeded by who you are talking to Fixes/Improvements: -Added Combat Management 4 Page category in profile to accommodate these new commands
Patch Update AVCS4 BMS v1.42.2 Changelog March-6-2023 This is a simple Live Update patch fix, no new profile download is required - the following fix applies to this update: NOTE: Just (another) small oversight on my part, I had re-edited a file and forgot to re-apply these changes. Huge thanks to CriticalMass for pointing out exactly where the problem lies. I honestly had changed this and noted it in my changelog when I did, but then I didn't re-apply it to the matching database file ..oops Fixes/Improvements: -(FIXED) Moved remaining pages "Common", "Carrier", and "Contingencies" to incremented pages after Departure Page
Patch Update AVCS4 BMS v1.42.1 Changelog March-5-2023 This is a simple Live Update patch fix, no new profile download is required - the following fix applies to this update: NOTE: Just a small oversight on my part, I had forgotten to add these options to the config Fixes/Improvements: -Old Approach command phrases including "Vectors For" ... have been augmented -Can now say, "Request Instrument Approach" OR "Request Vectors For Instrument Approach" (for example)
Public Release AVCS4 BMS v1.42 Changelog March-5-2023 This is a Major Profile Update, and requires downloading and importing the latest AVCS4 BMS Radios (v1.42) profile for VoiceAttack: New Commands: -Approach 1 Page commands "Request Visual Approach Heavy" -Approach 1 Page commands "Request Instrument Approach Heavy" -Approach 1 Page commands "Request Unrestricted Approach Heavy" -Approach 2 Page commands added "Approach Declare Emergency" formerly on Approach 1 page -Approach 2 Page commands added "Approach Abort" formerly on Approach 1 page -Approach 2 Page commands added "Traffic In Sight" formerly on Approach 1 page -Approach 2 Page commands added "Approach Say Again" formerly on Approach 1 page Fixes/Improvements: -Added ATC Page 4 as "Approach 2 Page" to accommodate approach commands "Heavy" on ATC Page 3 -Moved Departure Page commands to ATC Page 5, formerly on ATC Page 4 -Moved remaining pages "Common", "Carrier", and "Contingencies" to incremented pages after Departure Page -Fixed ATC Commands starting with "Request" and missing option for "Requesting" -- added variants in avcs_bms_data_3.cfg file
Public Release AVCS4 BMS v1.41 Changelog Aug-9-2022 This is a Major Profile Update, and requires downloading and importing the latest AVCS4 BMS Radios (v1.41) profile for VoiceAttack: New Commands: -JTAC Radio Menu Page command "JTAC Say Again" -Combat Management 1 Page commands "Weapons Free AA/AG" -Combat Management 2 Page commands added "Go Shooter/Cover" formerly on Combat Management 1 page Fixes/Improvements: -Minimum VoiceAttack program version requirement updated to 1.10.3 -New JTAC Radio Commands introduced in BMS 4.36.0 will now function properly for users of non-QWERTY style keyboards -Former "Weapons Free" command will function same as "Weapons Free AA" -Added two ways to call the new Weapons Free for AA/Ground: "Air Weapons Free" or "Weapons Free Air", format accepted for either -NOTE: New "Say Again" and "Check In/Out" commands under JTAC Menu must be preceeded by the word "JTAC"
Public Release AVCS4 BMS v1.40 Changelog May-11-2021 This is a Major Profile Update, and requires downloading and importing the latest AVCS4 BMS Radios (v1.40) and AVCS CORE (v1.0) profiles: New Commands: -"Open the Command Reference" (or variations - open up-to-date command reference page online, or last updated reference file locally if offline) -"Set a Computer Name" (or variations - set a 'Computer' Assistant name for AVCS PTT mode, say before any command to wake listening temporarily) -"Set a Push to Talk Button" (or variations - set up to 6 total keyboard, mouse, or joystick buttons through automated script - just press when asked) Fixes/Improvements: -Improved PTT (Push to Talk) Mode with voice controlled automated key/button detection during "Set" command -Added PTT Modes (chosen during "Set" command) for game/QCC commands only (default), or toggle VoiceAttack Global Listening Mode -Added PTT Mode 'Wake' by 'Computer' Assistant Name - set a name to say before any existing command to temporarily wake Global Listening Mode -Added Profile Misc. Commands to QCC, allows new commands or macros to be added via Live Update Patch Fix to CORE or AVCS4 profiles between major updates if needed -Added requirement to Include AVCS CORE Profile Commands through AVCS4 BMS Profile Options, instructions provided during first-time init -Fixed International Decimals - All Decimal Variables finally compatible for international users via cultural identification fix during init -Fixed Issue where user was asked to set Keyboard type more than once during first few profile uses, even when already saved to file and loaded properly
Patch Release v1.3 Changelog Jan2020 Fixes/Improvements: -Fixed issue with variable conflict for "Ready for Departure" - was pulling new variable from "Carrier Ready for Departure"
Patch Release v1.2 Changelog Dec2019 New Commands: -"Carrier Ready for Departure" : for ATC Page 6, new 7th item added for 4.34 (U1) update Fixes/Improvements: -Added additional recognition words for turning on/off Audio Feedback Mode - "feedback" can now be recognized as "feed back" -Added Null Check on Audio Feedback Stereo Output Channel setting, if saved setting lost, will force user input on profile load -Updated minimum VoiceAttack version to latest release (v1.8.3) for compatibility
Patch Release v1.1 Changelog Nov2019 Fixes/Improvements: -Changed common Send To default from *Falcon BMS* to "Falcon BMS.exe" to avoid conflict with open PDF's, etc. with Falcon BMS in name -Fixed Human/Computer Pilots Registry system - last minute addition of a mode check was to blame, has been removed for now
Final Release v1.0 Changelog Oct2019 New Commands: -Turn On/Off Audio Feedback Mode : Provides sound feedback upon successful recognition of a command (per user request) -Added a non-functional command to help recognize many variations of "Yes" words for the voice confirmations in profile Fixes/Improvements: -New Variable Pause between any keypress/release for adjustment of the time any key is held down, in keypress_variable command. Default is 50ms -New Audio Feedback Mode has custom SFX included, and gives user option of stereo left, right, or center playback for easier distinction -New Speech notification on startup for Audio Feedback Mode (if enabled) -Speech notifications on startup for PTT mode and All-Humans mode (if enabled) have been greatly shortened. -Fixed issues with being able to set Humans in Computer Pilots mode and vice versa
Beta v0.99 Changelog Jul2019 New Commands: -Change Default Keyboard Layout allows choices between QWERTY, QWERTZ, & AZERTY (per user request) -Turn On/Off All-Humans Mode : Reverse mode assumes all pilots are humans, add Computer Pilots individually as needed (per user request) -Copy of all Add/Remove Human Pilots commands for Computer Pilots & All-Humans Mode Fixes/Improvements: -Can state an entire callsign plus flight & wing numbers when asked for Callsign (per user request to speed up the voice system interaction of adding/removing human pilots) -VoiceAttack log entries displays profile information on startup (current keyboard layout, push-to-talk mode on/off state, All-Humans mode on/off state) (per user request) -Speech notifications on startup for PTT mode and All-Humans mode if they are enabled (see above) -Forced profile initialization if not initialized on any command use (per bug report: on first download/import of profile, trying to use any command fails until voiceattack restarted)
(more that one user has been a bit confused by my AVCS4 PTT Mode in the past, I’m glad to report that now you can just, “Set a Push to Talk Button”, or “Edit Push to Talk Buttons” - you can even set the PTT mode to ‘Global’ in AVCS4 BMS v1.40!)
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RE: AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack
v1.43 Profile Update has been released for BMS 4.37.3 (U3)
A new Combat Management Page has been added for Wingman, Element, and Flight radio menus. You can review the new updated Radio Menus infographic and a table of all commands in AVCS CORE and AVCS4 BMS using the command, “Open the Command Reference”.
All users will need to download the new profile package and import it into VoiceAttack. Pop-up choices will be presented to import your old save file from the last version profile, as well as to clean up these old files (optional).
Any issues, please let me know… Special thanks for the coffees!
DOWNLOAD HERE:
https://veterans-gaming.com/files/file/35-avcs4-voice-control-radios-for-falcon-bms/
Public Release AVCS4 BMS v1.43 Changelog October-25-2023 This is a Major Profile Update, and requires downloading and importing the latest AVCS4 BMS Radios (v1.43) profile for VoiceAttack: New Commands: -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Current Altitude Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "High Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Low Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Dive Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Pop Up Attack" -Combat Management 4 Page commands "Free Attack" Note: This is a new page for Wingman, Element, and Flight; these must be preceded by who you are talking to Fixes/Improvements: -Added Combat Management 4 Page category in profile to accommodate these new commands
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Updated the Radio Menus Command Reference graphic displayed when using the voice command, “Show the Command Reference”:
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RE: Help with 4.37
@DarkGable said in Help with 4.37:
@Atlas
A query. Why are you concerning yourself with my age and how you feel I should act? This is exactly why I’m not active on this website. Because every time I post there’s always someone with something slick to say. If you yes I’m 59 yrs old and proud of it. I was defending this great nation when you were in diapers. So please do me a favor and stay out of grown folks business. Am I clean?Why so serious?!
First of all, thank you for your service. I may be a generation younger, but I’m no Spring chicken myself, kid is grown and off to college, and I’m medically retired too young - filling my time with these hobbies and online. Most folks here are older, you are among peers - simulators attract our more patient and often older players than, say, Fortnite, of course.
I took the time to write this to you because I feel bad that YOU feel bad about this and what you’ve stated as previous interactions on forums. Spent some of my time this morning hoping you might take some of this to heart, from someone who is not trying to attack or belittle you in any way, but only to lift you up and help you avoid this sorta thing in the future (hopefully).
You are among peers. With that said, peers joke and jest and have fun with each other, it’s how we make friends and show our ‘lighter side’ - friends try to make each other laugh to lift them up, not to tear them down. Those who do not and those who insult or criticize others with no constructive purpose should be ignored - they are merely trolls. If you assume everyone who makes a joke or tries to make you laugh is being “childish” or “a troll”, you’re gonna have a bad time online.
None of this crap is worth good people here such as yourself and others turning against each other over some silly jokes. I fully understand that you’re upset because you have a problem and asked for help, and clearly not in a particularly good mood or ready to laugh about this typo, but the last thing you should do is become defensive over a few folks pointing out an obvious mistake for the humor it implies.
People are gonna joke in forums if given the chance, life is too short for you to jump at jokes as if they are all slights. When they jest at your typo of 4.37 is wasn’t to disrespect you or belittle you for your mistake, but to poke fun at the concept merely because we all know the current version is 4.36 - don’t allow yourself to feel like you are being attacked by folks who are just bored on the internet and hoping to post a joke and get a laugh back from you and the rest of their peers. People make friends with each other online by joking and making each other laugh, few can avoid the draw of a chance to make “a funny”, they don’t do it to put you or others down. A little humility and sense of humor goes a long way online.
Two unsolicited tips for online conduct in the face of perceived slights, for you to consider from this stranger (and fellow ‘older gent’) who does care about you regardless of what you may assume and feels bad that YOU feel bad about how this post went down:
“Don’t feed the trolls”
-when people are replying to your post(s), and you see those one or few posts that are NOT on topic or NOT asking to help such as clarifying questions, tips to try, etc., then just ignore them. By responding in the defensive, it triggers an unproductive back-and-forth that derails the purpose of the forum post entirely. If you can’t joke back with them or ‘dish it right back’ without being insulting or without remaining light hearted, then focus only on those asking to help or supporting you. This is how we can “win” these ego battles in our minds - by not participating with unhelpful or off-topic posts. Trust me when I say, we’ve all dealt with this online, feelings of being attacked when we ask a serious and legitimate question, and those of us who know better can look past your frustration or any lashing out to see that you could use a friend online to tell you, “You are a good person, please don’t feel attacked by those just joking around”. You are. Don’t feel attacked. Please.“Yes, and…” or “No, but…”
-when folks toss out something off-topic or in jest, or even say something actually rude, you present yourself much more as the ‘better man’ by ignoring them, but if you must reply, one good option is to follow rules of improv comedy. For example, if someone says something deprecating, don’t go on the defensive but lean into it with a dismissive joke or non-sequitur; “Yes, and I’m all out of plutonium for the time machine and now stuck here, so can you help me get this ancient version of BMS working?”, or maybe, “No, but my brain is clearly already ready for BMS 4.37”, or whatever works for you. Just don’t lower yourself to a level to where you issue personal attacks yourself, be the better man. If, in your mind, you must assume everyone’s children joking around, then either ignore them, or joke back with them as you would with children. No need to call people out, to make things so serious - ignore, deflect, or joke back with a “Yes, and…” or “No, but…”People will never get to know the good person that we would assume you are if you keep them at arm’s length by drawing such a hard line in the sand about being serious at all times, and spurning any attempts at levity or joking around.
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RE: AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack
AVCS CORE v1.11 Major Profile Update
Please download and import this updated final version! Link below and updated in the main post above! AVCS CORE v1.11 will also import a new ‘AVCS4 USER PROFILE TEMPLATE (v1.0)’ - this template has not been changed from before. If you had AVCS CORE v1.0 and that template profile already, you can delete this duplicate 'AVCS4 USER PROFILE TEMPLATE (v1.0)Follow instructions during update to import previous version Save Files and to uninstall and delete the previous AVCS CORE v1.0 profile and config files
I had hoped that AVCS CORE v1.0 would be the final version, but I had not anticipated issues with Joystick POV directional buttons in the Push-To-Talk system, and I had not included a handy way to delete saved PTT buttons or keys. With this update, I’m happy to announce that AVCS CORE is now feature stable and (as far as I know) 100% bug free! I keep throwing every curveball and edge case I can think up at it, even including the update or new version profile import process, and everything just works. I don’t have anything more to add, and there is nothing left to take away.
As the ‘hub’ profile for my AVCS4 BMS Radios profile, and others I plan to release in time, it has always been my goal to have AVCS CORE as an unchanging stable framework that I can use as a platform to support end-game profiles indefinitely. Eventually, I plan to return to AVCS CORE to create a separate version packed with well designed and themed user interfaces for all options and menus which presently use simple VoiceAttack ‘Get user input’ actions, and while still supporting the original v1 simple ‘get user input’ interface version(s) which will remain free for all users. The artwork and GUI coding will take some time, and I have many other projects on my plate, so I don’t expect to be working on AVCS CORE again until late 2022 or even later.
I use AVCS CORE every day myself, with the included AVCS Template profile as my ‘main’ Windows voice control system, and am very glad to have this project version wrapped up for now.
Thank you all again for all the support and for the coffees! Cheers!
Download: (Click Here)
Public Release AVCS CORE v1.11 Changelog Oct-1-2021 Fixes/Improvements: -Updated minimum required version of VoiceAttack to 1.8.9 -Created new system in Push-To-Talk Mode for Joystick POV (4-way directionals only) -Created Delete system in PTT Mode to allow removal of any PTT entry already set -Fixed PTT Buttons Display List not retrieving correct keyboard key from keycode # (showing 'square' symbol instead) -Fixed CORE Config #2 (TTS file) error near 'AlreadyOn' phrase, CRLF (NewLine) missing, merging the variables into one
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RE: Well done BMS team and MicroProse
What an historic event! This is a day to remember - the day Microprose returned, picked up its sword, and knighted BMS.
Long Live Falcon BMS!!
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MouseMasterVR - Mouse functions utility app
MouseMasterVR
by SemlerPDX
Mouse Cursor Centering & Scroll Wheel Rebind AppThis is a very simple mouse cursor centering app which forces the mouse to remain centered when the target application is in focus, set to Falcon BMS by default. This feature is designed for use with certain software in VR where constant mouse centering is desireable, such as the new VR mode for Falcon BMS.
When this program is running, and the ON/OFF toggle switch is ON, and the target program is in focus, the mouse cannot be moved from center - use ALT+TAB to switch to this app to toggle the main ‘power’ switch. You can use the hotkeys CTRL+Arrow Key [any] to snap the app to the center of the primary screen.
When used with Falcon BMS as the target, mouse centering will only engage when flying. Of course, latest BMS update (U1) includes this centering option natively, and so this functionality example is dated at time of release, and will simply remain as a learning project and open source application demonstration, or may even develop into a more complete mouse utility app. I’m quite glad for the experience, and this framework I’ve created may evolve into other applications one day, even custom GUI panels in my AVCS profiles for VoiceAttack.
To extend the usefulness of this application, users can also rebind the mouse scroll wheel up or down actions to any single keypress. A half-second debounce delay lets us scroll forward or back several ticks in a single action to output a single keypress, preventing the wheel from issuing a string of keypresses - no need to carefully tick the scroll wheel just one bump.
Current features:
- Mouse Cursor Centering when target process is in focus, and only if main toggle is ON
- Mouse Centering for Falcon BMS only when flying in cockpit via BMS Shared Memory data
- Mouse Scroll Up/Down can be rebound to issue any (single) keypress, no modifier keys (yet)
- Mouse Scroll rebinds are not ‘one keypress per detent’, with a default 0.5 second debounce
- Hotkeys when app in focus, CTRL+Arrow Key [any] to center app, ALT+F4 to gracefully close
- Manual or Automatic Updates will present pop-up choice if update found on app launch
Click link to DOWNLOAD, or clone the repository on GitHub & compile the app!
https://veterans-gaming.com/semlerpdx/vglabs/apps/mousemastervr/
Latest Changelog & Checksum: CLICK HERE
This app is in a Public Beta Test as of Jan2023 - Please report any bugs or issues!
This little app does just a few things, for some fairly specific circumstances such as VR applications without a native mouse cursor centering option, or for rare occasions where we’d like to rebind our mouse scroll wheel up and down actions to a keypress of our choosing. I’ve had more than a few mice with included rebinding software, and have never seen an option for setting a scroll wheel keypress rebind for games. I’d entertain any ideas for related mouse features to add, or things I can improve.
Planned features:
- Mouse Rebinds which could allow any joystick button to be set as Mouse Left or Right Click
- Mouse Scroll Up/Down rebind option to output any existing joystick or Xbox controller button
- Generic Mouse Button rebind for those cheap mice with thumb buttons but no rebind software
Questions I have for this Public Beta:
Does this work and work well? Should I improve or change anything (beyond the planned features above)? Should I include any other features? Am I using MVVM concepts properly?
Authors Note
I have past experience with Windows Forms Apps and C#, but this is my first real use of GitHub and my first WPF app - I’m writing in Visual Studio Community 2019, and I use PhotoShop for my images. While I’m as self-conscious as any self-taught coder new to something, I very much want feedback on my structure and use of methods as it relates to best practices or common solutions in WPF, and my attempt to follow an MVVM structure. I expect I have made several odd choices and potentially non-standard methods. I hope to continue making WPF apps, and that this is the first of many such open source projects.
Thanks for checking out MouseMasterVR!
SemlerPDX Jan2023
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RE: Multiplayer Questions
@Vespa I’ve been helping run and/or support those running the public BMS server at VG for well more than ten years, I can’t recall where or how I learned it except that I was taught how by someone who was likely taught how, and so on and so on. And I passed it on as well to CobaltUK who now manages the public server at VG and has for several years since, and his dedication to keeping the server online and available is invaluable to so many people including myself.
I’ve even been tinkering with an application that all us server hosts could run on our servers to expose a public API for server queries by other applications or even a website or discord bot, providing access to information including current pilot count (and their callsigns), active campaign, theater of operations, and connection details . Eventually, the Alternative Launcher now integrated in BMS could potentially hook into that public API and have a “join server” page listing any registered servers running my Server Monitor System application… so many months of work yet, but figured this is as good a place as any to drop another teaser.
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RE: AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack
AVCS4 Falcon BMS Radio Menus for VoiceAttack has been updated for the new menu commands added in 4.37.2 (U2)
This is a major profile update, and a new profile download/import is required. Options will be presented to copy over old user save file and to delete the old config files and AVCS4 profile version. Thank you all for your support and feedback over the years! Any issues, let me know!
Check out the updated command reference in the link below, or just say, “Open the Command Reference” anytime to view the new radio menus graphic and commands list!
https://veterans-gaming.com/semlerpdx-avcs/profiles/commref/bms42.html/
DOWNLOAD:
https://veterans-gaming.com/files/file/35-avcs4-voice-control-radios-for-falcon-bms/Public Release AVCS4 BMS v1.42 Changelog March-5-2023 This is a Major Profile Update, and requires downloading and importing the latest AVCS4 BMS Radios (v1.42) profile for VoiceAttack: New Commands: -Approach 1 Page commands "Request Visual Approach Heavy" -Approach 1 Page commands "Request Instrument Approach Heavy" -Approach 1 Page commands "Request Unrestricted Approach Heavy" -Approach 2 Page commands added "Approach Declare Emergency" formerly on Approach 1 page -Approach 2 Page commands added "Approach Abort" formerly on Approach 1 page -Approach 2 Page commands added "Traffic In Sight" formerly on Approach 1 page -Approach 2 Page commands added "Approach Say Again" formerly on Approach 1 page Fixes/Improvements: -Added ATC Page 4 as "Approach 2 Page" to accommodate approach commands "Heavy" on ATC Page 3 -Moved Departure Page commands to ATC Page 5, formerly on ATC Page 4 -Moved remaining pages "Common", "Carrier", and "Contingencies" to incremented pages after Departure Page -Fixed ATC Commands starting with "Request" and missing option for "Requesting" -- added variants in avcs_bms_data_3.cfg file
Special thanks for the coffees!
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RE: ChatGPT's answer about the flight model of BMS
Seems quite on par with standard ChatGPT – give it a topic, and it will go on and on, with little care for cross-referencing facts – presenting misinformation alongside actual information with oblivious confidence, mirroring tone and inference sometimes amounting to propaganda depending on the original content it scraped the web to attain. At times, you can point out errors in responses to ChatGPT, or even just reply, “Are you sure about that?” to illicit a review of the previous response and attempt to provide corrected or more accurate information (and sometimes failing miserably). You can even end up in endless loops of idiocy where it suggests “A”, you tell it “A” is incorrect, it apologizes and suggests “B”, which you tell it is also not correct, so it goes back to suggesting “A” which you already told it was incorrect.
I’ve been playing with the OpenAI API for a year now for my OpenAI Plugin for VoiceAttack, and I am quite familiar with the limitations of ChatGPT. Once you know how the sausage is made, it’s hard to look at it the same way again. That being said, I have found that responses are far more accurate and dependable when we provide the answer for ChatGPT so it can formulate a human sounding response based on that data rather than relying upon its existing (and dated) knowledge base baked into the model.
I know… go figure, right? Give it the answers and the answers it give you will always be correct.
The OpenAI Embeddings API allows us to provide a section of text (a sentence or paragraph, or a few of either) to generate 1,501 float vectors representing the meaning of content and context of the text. Creating a local database of such entries built from an entire BMS technical manual, or all BMS manuals, would allow us to use Embeddings to quickly and accurately match up natural language queries to relevant entries in the database by generating new embedding vectors for new user input. These new vectors can be compared to those existing vectors of each entry in the database using cosine similarity to gather one or more entries of data most similar to the original user input. Finally, those entries can be provided as part of a user input to ChatGPT to formulate a response, along with simple instructions at the top to ‘Use the supplied data below to formulate a response to the supplied user input’.
I have had quite a bit of success in early proof of concept testing, and can see this becoming a much better way to ask about information for a game or even highly technical simulator like BMS. I’m hoping to explore means to reference other data, such as the ability to offer a list of relevant sections of (various) manuals for cross reference and to view diagrams and images - or even just simple text-to-speech responses. I’m sure this will be a very useful way of retrieving information using natural language rather than a keyword(s) in a search bar, and definitely more accurate and dependable than a Google search. This concept could even be used to carry out instructions or execute applications based on predefined triggers, though obviously would be too slow for keypress voice commands as the turnaround time for processing would exceed a second and voice commands are best with a speech-to-action turnaround time in the sub-second range, preferably millisecond range.
Presently, the task of creating such an embeddings database of a PDF (or several) is a manual and laborious task, even though much of it is offloaded for AI processing, requiring a keen attention to detail and a lot of hand-holding and pre- or post-processing to minimize useless data in the database as well as properly parsing a topic into multiple entries. I hope to streamline this process into an application which can more heavily rely upon AI to make decisions and more ambiguously handle pre- and post-processing automatically. The new OpenAI Assistants API will be an invaluable tool in combination with this concept one day, but realistically it will be many months before independent utility developers such as myself have a ready-to-use hands-off application.
Very interesting stuff, very powerful tools - very accessible even right now. I rarely use Google to look up basic facts anymore, I simply “talk” to AVCS CHAT and listen to the response spoken back to me with text-to-speech… and when something is clearly wrong or even seems wrong, I can berate it verbally which is very cathartic as compared to typing out “you are mistaken”.
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RE: Option to make mouse cursor stick to the center of the screen
I’m abandoning the console app as an excuse to get into WPF App framework… I’ve done a lot with Windows Forms before, but WPF is the new hotness that all the kids are raging about. So, I’ve been going back and forth between Visual Studio and Photoshop to make a fancy looking jet-themed GUI panel for this ultra simple utility tool that will really only be useful for the few weeks (months?) before a mouse centering option is integrated into BMS through U1 or U2 this year.
Still, I’m having fun, learning a lot, and had always needed such an excuse to dive into this WPF stuff… it will have an auto-updater through GitHub or NuGet, which will just run when the app starts up, and user options for Auto, Manual (a pop-up window with url links), or None. Manual will be the default. Like before, users will be able to download a compiled version that works, or to grab it off GitHub and compile it for themselves.
I’ll include a remapper for setting any joystick button as a Mouse Left Button, and for mouse scroll wheel so up/down can be set to keystrokes. The metal bar along the bottom expands/collapses the user options section in this tiny app.
WIP & subject to change … but it’s shaping up nicely
The screw in the top right is the close button
…and with the options expanded:
TLDNR; I should have the first public version available before next week at the latest, but I’m shooting for end of week. I’d like to see if I can get it to watch the BMS Shared Memory so it only locks the mouse when we’re not in menus or 2D cockpit view or other such states - I assume the 3D Pan Cockpit mode would be the only place we’d want the mouse lock to engage. Honestly, if I can just get the updater in place, I can add or refine it later, and users can enjoy the basic functionality of a mouse lock with this new GUI as I add the remapper and other QoL improvements in the coming days/weeks.
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RE: AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack
AVCS4 Falcon BMS Radio Menus for VoiceAttack has been updated for the new menu commands added in 4.36.1 (U1)
This is a major profile update, and a new profile download/import is required. Options will be presented to copy over old user save file and to delete the old config files and AVCS4 profile version. The base required version of VoiceAttack has been updated to 1.10.3 - if you’ve not updated VoiceAttack yet, do that before importing the latest AVCS4 BMS profile. Any issues, let me know!
Check out the updated command reference in the link below, or just say, “Open the Command Reference” anytime to view the new radio menus graphic and commands list!
https://veterans-gaming.com/semlerpdx-avcs/profiles/commref/bms41.html/
DOWNLOAD:
https://veterans-gaming.com/files/file/35-avcs4-voice-control-radios-for-falcon-bms/Public Release AVCS4 BMS v1.41 Changelog Aug-9-2022 This is a Major Profile Update, and requires downloading and importing the latest AVCS4 BMS Radios (v1.41) profile for VoiceAttack: New Commands: -JTAC Radio Menu Page command "JTAC Say Again" -Combat Management 1 Page commands "Weapons Free AA/AG" -Combat Management 2 Page commands added "Go Shooter/Cover" formerly on Combat Management 1 page Fixes/Improvements: -Minimum VoiceAttack program version requirement updated to 1.10.3 -New JTAC Radio Commands introduced in BMS 4.36.0 will now function properly for users of non-QWERTY style keyboards -Former "Weapons Free" command will function same as "Weapons Free AA" -Added two ways to call the new Weapons Free for AA/Ground: "Air Weapons Free" or "Weapons Free Air", format accepted for either -NOTE: New "Say Again" and "Check In/Out" commands under JTAC Menu must be preceeded by the word "JTAC"
Special thanks for the coffees!
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RE: AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack
@Amadeus75 said in AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack:
One small thing did I find - “request jfs recharge” does not resolve.
oops!! I think that one has gone under the radar since the command was added!
Nice find! Looks like there was a legitimate typo in there, “L” instead of “J” (not that this command is easy to use anyway, voice recognition typically hates most single letters and acronyms unless we’re very careful with enunciation!!)
As seems to be obligatory with these things, I’ve released a day-1 patch, no new download required if y’all already got v1.41 - it will apply next time you load AVCS4 BMS - just select “yes” on this pop-up that appears:
Public Release AVCS4 BMS v1.41.1 Changelog Aug-10-2022 This is a simple Live Update patch fix, no new profile download is required - the following fix applies to this update: Fixes/Improvements: -Fixed ATC Command for "Request JFS Recharge" -- keypress variable had typo of "Lfs" in avcs_bms_data_1.cfg file
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RE: AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack
Small oopsie - if you already updated AVCS4 BMS radios, please restart VoiceAttack and switch to it again, and apply the patch update… I forgot they changed phrases like “Request Vectors For Instrument Approach” to just “Request Instrument Approach” for each of these types of calls. I’ve updated the configs just now, and these new additions will be added when users install the patch update (v1.42.1) following the automated pop-ups. My bad
Patch Update AVCS4 BMS v1.42.1 Changelog March-5-2023 This is a simple Live Update patch fix, no new profile download is required - the following fix applies to this update: NOTE: Just a small oversight on my part, I had forgotten to add these options to the config Fixes/Improvements: -Old Approach command phrases including "Vectors For" ... have been augmented -Can now say, "Request Instrument Approach" OR "Request Vectors For Instrument Approach" (for example)
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RE: Python
The first hurdles in learning programming is wrapping our heads around certain concepts that are mostly common to any programming language. Boolean logic is all about thinking in terms of how a computer reads and executes our programs or scripts line-by-line, altering and producing values through variables to accomplish a goal logically, and so we need to teach ourselves how to read & think in that manner - including jumping around the page as directed to other portions of code, etc.
Each additional language you play with and become familiar with will be that much easier down the road, much like flight simulators - personally, I started with Cessnas and then Lear Jets in FSX before I found Allied Force back in the day, and learned the F-16 … after that, learning the A-10C Warthog in DCS was just a matter of absorbing the materials and getting time in the pit to practice them, but without any of the mental hurdles and conceptual misunderstandings like in the very, very beginning.
Best wishes and good luck!!
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RE: VG BMS4 Co-op | 24/7 Dedicated Server!
The Public 24/7 VG Falcon BMS Server has been updated to 4.36!
We are currently running the default Rolling Fire KTO campaign, and will see how things go while waiting for Mission Commander to update to a point where we can tailor the campaign once again to favor more human interaction and balance the difficulty with the current number of regularly active pilots.Thanks for your patience during this new testing phase with the new version, thanks to CobaltUK for installing the new version and getting the server up and running for the VG Air Force, and huge thanks to the BMS devs for all their hard work!!!
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RE: AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack
@Amadeus75 said in AVCS4 Immersive Voice Control Radios for VoiceAttack:
Dear @SemlerPDX,
may we look forward to a little AVCS4 update, due to the additional radio calls
(“weapons free A-A”, “weapons free A-G”)?
Best regardsAbsolutely! I’ll get a patch update out in the next few days, and a proper major update in a week or two to solidify those changes into the actual profile (so QWERTZ users don’t need to use the published workaround for JTAC commands, too). Been waiting for this update to drop because I heard the radio menus would be changing yet again (after U1).
EDIT AUGUST 2nd 2022: (quoted from Discord):
“I’m still working on the update for 4.36 U1 - the radio menus have changed, some commands naturally won’t work as a result until the profile is patched to include these changes. I had been busy last week, and have had some personal issues this weekend - had hoped to have something out sooner, but just trying to maintain right now. I expect to have an update out before next week (fingers crossed)” -
RE: Option to make mouse cursor stick to the center of the screen
My neck hurt at the mere thought of this concept… but I’m sure some people would find it useful. I also have some moderate scarring between T1 and C1, so I’m no measure of a target users of this kinda feature.
That being said, programmatically it is one of the more simple things that could be done. There are a number of ways this could be improved, but wanted to try it out and see if it would work well enough. I whipped up a bog-standard console application that will keep the mouse centered when the BMS program is in focus if you wanna try out this concept right away @Sneakpeek
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Here is a copy of this console application pre-compiled and ready to run for the Falcon BMS process: https://www.dropbox.com/…/MouseCenteringUtility-BMS.zip
# Mouse Centering Utility # by SemlerPDX Jan2022 # https://github.com/SemlerPDX/MouseCenteringUtility This is a very simple mouse centering console application which forces the mouse to remain centered when the Falcon BMS process is in focus. When this utility program is running, and BMS is in focus, the mouse cannot be moved from center - use ALT+TAB to switch to this console app to close it. Being so simple, this can easily be improved upon, but can serve a purpose to test and explore the concept of a forced centered mouse using Falcon BMS in VR. USE: 1. Start Falcon BMS and get into the cockpit of a mission 2. When ready for a locked/centered mouse, run "MouseCenteringUtility.exe" 3. When you return to Falcon BMS, the mouse will be locked 4. ALT+TAB to this console app and close it to disable mouse centering
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And here is a link to the GitHub repository if someone would rather pull & compile it for themself, or review/improve upon my code - be sure to follow instructions in the readme: https://github.com/SemlerPDX/MouseCenteringUtility