FS2Crew + MCE?

[ESzczesniak 128]

I'm a huge supporter of FSCrew and have no real plans on leaving this series. However, I was wondering how FS2Crew might work in conjuction with FS2Crew? In particular, there are two things I'd like to use on MCE that I don't get out of FS2Crew. 1) On non-voice editions of FS2Crew, it would be nice to be able to command MCP speed/heading/altitude and modes (for those busy departures). In particular, I'm thinking of my precious MD-11, the only high fidelity model I fly with any regularity that does not have a voice FS2Crew. 2) Interacting with ATC by voice would be nice. At the moment I have joystick buttons assigned to (1) and (3) for the two choices I use the most.Does anyone have experience with this? Perhaps VoxATC is what I'm really looking for since the first option would really be bought just for the PMDG MD-11.

[Fenric 0]

Both MCE and VoxATC have time-limited demos. And (this is easier said than done) my advice is to try and find 4-5 days to devote to one of them at a time to get the feel of each. Try a few flights with each addon solo and if you like what you see, try using it with FS2Crew.It seems each voice control product has its share of simmers who just don't like this or that about the product and I feel it's best to encourage potential users to take advantage of the demos.I have all three products - FS2Crew 737 originally, then the JS41 - and I have used them in pairs together. (But all three at once... hmmmm???) I've been waiting for the PMDG 73X so I haven't flown the default 738 much of late... maybe once a month, so I find myself using MCE and VoxATC on everything these days from PC-12s to 722s to 777s. I don't have the MD-11 so I can't speak to MCE's functionality there - which is another reason I feel you should try it yourself.You know about FS2Crew's support already - it's great. Email support from both VoxATC and MCE has been great for me as well - even to the point of having very minor items implemented by each development team.As for ATC, MCE offers an interface to both MS ATC and to RadarContact. There is extensive phraseology that's available, but for me MCE-ATC usage often slipped back to me calling out ATC menu numerical commands - "atc 1," "atc 4." That's why I tried VoxATC (while first ensuring that it would run with MCE.)VoxATC is totally different from MS ATC and while I didn't decide to commit to VoxATC until literally the demo time had expired, I don't think I'll ever go back to MS ATC. (There's an unofficial VoxATC board here in the Avsim forum and any questions you might have can be directed there for user assistance.)HTH,

[ohsirus 241]

Hi,I have them both and have run them simultaneously. Honestly MCE is a jack of all trades, while FS2crew tailors to a specific bird. MCE for me is it's strength in controlling Radar Contact verbally and its abilty to process multiple verbal commands strung together. MCE can be setup for specific checklist ala FS2crew, but in that part its more robotic while FS2crew seems alive. MCE's verbal recog engine seems stronger than FS2crew, I might be wrong, but MCE seems more accurate and like I mentioned before you can compound the commands as well as add commands (coupled with keystrokes) for the out of the normals. For me they both have their strengths and weaknesses, I know MCE just added PMDG MD-11 offsets to their library, havent tried it yet, but I did test their ifly 737 support ant it was fantastic. I know FS2crew's voice level-d 767 is also fantastic also. I know I sound confused, but for me its a matter of ..if you want a specific real world tailored ouf the box specific product then FS2crew owns. If you wnat flexible for any aircraft you own then MCE wins. Me, I just got them both so it's win ..win. Also support wise, they both deliver. Don't be alarmed that MCE has no dedicated forum, whoever the developer is, he is very prompt and helpful.

[byork 2,259]

I'm a huge supporter of FSCrew and have no real plans on leaving this series. However, I was wondering how FS2Crew might work in conjuction with FS2Crew? In particular, there are two things I'd like to use on MCE that I don't get out of FS2Crew. 1) On non-voice editions of FS2Crew, it would be nice to be able to command MCP speed/heading/altitude and modes (for those busy departures). In particular, I'm thinking of my precious MD-11, the only high fidelity model I fly with any regularity that does not have a voice FS2Crew. 2) Interacting with ATC by voice would be nice. At the moment I have joystick buttons assigned to (1) and (3) for the two choices I use the most.Does anyone have experience with this? Perhaps VoxATC is what I'm really looking for since the first option would really be bought just for the PMDG MD-11.

You should be able to run any "button control" version of FS2Crew along side any other voice control program with no problem. However, watch out for differences in possible keyboard assignments for the MD-11... FS2Crew requires certain PMDG keys to be used, and other program may use their own assignments.You should also be able to run a "Voice Control" version of FS2Crew along side another voice control programs.I know for a fact that many FS2Crew "Voice Control" users also use VOX ATC at the same time with no problem.Cheers,

[byork 2,259]

Hi,I have them both and have run them simultaneously. Honestly MCE is a jack of all trades, while FS2crew tailors to a specific bird. MCE for me is it's strength in controlling Radar Contact verbally and its abilty to process multiple verbal commands strung together. MCE can be setup for specific checklist ala FS2crew, but in that part its more robotic while FS2crew seems alive. MCE's verbal recog engine seems stronger than FS2crew, I might be wrong, but MCE seems more accurate and like I mentioned before you can compound the commands as well as add commands (coupled with keystrokes) for the out of the normals. For me they both have their strengths and weaknesses, I know MCE just added PMDG MD-11 offsets to their library, havent tried it yet, but I did test their ifly 737 support ant it was fantastic. I know FS2crew's voice level-d 767 is also fantastic also. I know I sound confused, but for me its a matter of ..if you want a specific real world tailored ouf the box specific product then FS2crew owns. If you wnat flexible for any aircraft you own then MCE wins. Me, I just got them both so it's win ..win. Also support wise, they both deliver. Don't be alarmed that MCE has no dedicated forum, whoever the developer is, he is very prompt and helpful.

The primary difference between FS2Crew and the many of "voice control" programs on the market is that with FS2Crew, the primary focus is to deliver a technically accurate airline crew simulation that models crew flows and aircraft specific procedures.The 'voice control' aspect is just a means to a achieve that end.The other programs, by contrast, do voice control for the sake of voice control, where the primary focus is not to simulate airline flying, but rather to control the aircraft via voice.The other big difference is that FS2Crew uses human recorded voices, many of whom are real-world airline pilots.The other programs use computer generated voices.There are pros and cons to each system... It's really up to the end-user to decided which system works best for them.Cheers,

[FS++ 708]

I don’t know about other products, but MCE is not about having voice control for the sake of it.It aims to provide the ultimate multi crew experience, full stop.In the real world checklists get interrupted, ATC has to be dealt with, communication problems can happen between captain and co-pilot.That’s why things aren’t scripted with MCE. You can still set yourself a specific airline workflow and stick to it though. But it's not forced on you.One airline policy will dictate that during start-up, the captain should open the fuel levers. Another one will leave it to the pilot flying a particular sector.Therefore, you will never get this ‘right’, unless you have a product tailored to each airline. But are these the things that matter most, or is it better to have a co-pilot who is trained for good airmanship? Not extending the flaps during cruise, or pulling the fire handle when the engine has not stopped yet, just to give a few examples.We are not in the business of creating add-ons “from scratch” in 60 days or less.It took no less than seven years to get MCE to where it is now. Adding support for a particular aircraft takes between 15 and 60 days (depending on aircraft complexity). And we don’t make a meal of it.But if users want it, we can certainly repackage the thing under different labels.MCE for PMDG MD-11MCE for PMDG 747MCE for level D 767MCE for iFly B737MCE for default B737MCE for default Airbus 321MCE for Native ATCMCE for Radar Contact ATC…the list goes on and on…MCE is a multi-threaded application (yep, that’s right, that’s why it took so long to develop). What that means is that you could be going through the checklist, be able to give a voice command to co-pilot to turn heading for example, even correct it on the fly, and speak to ATC, all at the same time. With MCE the speech engine does not run inside the FSX (or FS9) process. Doing so reduces the already stretched FSX 4 GB address space. Never mind that a bad voice command could take the simulator down anytime. The last thing you want when doing a cross the pond trip is your simulator closing down on you because the co-pilot is having a brain fart.Regarding voices…While we acknowledge that the default Microsoft voices could do better, there are certainly many more high quality ones. Check out Daniel (from Realspeak) on this video. He speaks even better than the real captain.

And there are dozens of other voices available.It wouldn’t be too difficult to use real human voices were it not for the need of our co-pilot to spell airport names.If we only had to record things like “check”, “on”, “off”, that could be done in a month or so.The speech synthesis on the other hand makes it possible to have endless variations in verbiage. You will not always know what the co-pilot is going to say.Sorry for the verbose post, and apologies if I offended anyone.Gerald R.On behalf of the FS++ teamhttp://www.multicrewxp.com

[byork 2,259]

Sorry for the verbose post, and apologies if I offended anyone.Gerald R.On behalf of the FS++ teamhttp://www.multicrewxp.com

No offense taken here, Gerald :( Those were quite the "Torpedoes of Truth" :(