If you think you have found something that's not working.........

[FS++ 707]

On 10/23/2019 at 9:48 PM, keats_1980 said:

"GPWS Flap 3" check is not working.

Could you clarify what you mean by that? What do you expect Fo to do? Thanks

 

[keats_1980 1]

8 hours ago, FS++ said:

Could you clarify what you mean by that? What do you expect Fo to do? Thanks

 

If you are about to land with Flaps 3 (Most common situation) you have to inhibit the "Flaps" warning of Ground Proximity Warning System, in the overhead panel . In the Checklist, one item is "GPWS Flap 3" and, again, I think MCE recognizes the word "Flap" and everything I tried do not work, I have to skip the item.

Edited October 27, 2019 by keats_1980

[JannikBoLarsen 1]

Hi!

I am trying to do the preliminary cockpit prep procedure voxscript for the FFA320U and MCE (both latest versions) in X-Plane.

This thread is said to be the place for reporting problems and bugs, so therefore the following issues or questions.

The following commands is EITHER not documented (at least I have not been able to find it!) OR not working (as my humble intelligence is able to read and understand)

1) Command for pressing the APU fire test button is missing

2) Commands for AIR COND panel turning the Cockpit, FWD Cabin and AFT Cabin knobs and also the X bleed knob are missing

3) Commands for the VENTILATION panel's 3 knobs are missing

4) Commands "ecam display doors" works well, but not
    ... engines (gives "command seems not to exist...)
    ... bleed air (gives "command seems not to exist...)
    ... pressurization (executes, but do nothing)
    ... hydraulics (gives "command seems not to exist...)

Furthermore I have the following suggestions for improvement:

5) Command "Select wipers off" works well, but it turns both wipers off. I have not found a cmd that adresses wiper 1 or 2 individually (i.e. "Select wiper one off")

6) Command "switch on the batteries" works well and switches both battery 1 as well as battery 2 on. I have not found a cmd that adresses battery 1 or 2 individually.

7) Command "apu start" presses the "APU master sw" and after few seconds then presses the "start" switch. I have not found commands for pressing the 2 buttons individually.

So much for now.

I hope that you can use my findings and I deeply regret if I have missed something in the documentation. If so, I will look forward for some answers that will lead me to en even better experience using this brilliant MCE add-on.

Kind regards
Jannik
 

[FS++ 707]

On 10/27/2019 at 11:27 AM, JannikBoLarsen said:

Hi!

I am trying to do the preliminary cockpit prep procedure voxscript for the FFA320U and MCE (both latest versions) in X-Plane.

This thread is said to be the place for reporting problems and bugs, so therefore the following issues or questions.

It is. Although for this specific aircraft, it would be best to post here:

https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/182820-multi-crew-experience-now-updated-to-use-the-new-ff-a320-interface/

The following commands is EITHER not documented (at least I have not been able to find it!) OR not working (as my humble intelligence is able to read and understand)

1) Command for pressing the APU fire test button is missing.

Will be fixed in next update this week

2) Commands for AIR COND panel turning the Cockpit, FWD Cabin and AFT Cabin knobs and also the X bleed knob are missing

We never really bothered with these as it would just clutter the speech grammar. We'd rather only add commands that are often used. And for these items, more natural command would be like "heat up the aft cabin", rather than "turn aft cabin temperature rotary switch to the right" and how you define by how much to rotate the switch.

If you have a way to control these switches via keyboard, feel free to create speech command in Voxkey (not to be confused with Voxscript) then have the command send keystrokes to X-Plane.

3) Commands for the VENTILATION panel's 3 knobs are missing.

Will be looked at in next update

4) Commands "ecam display doors" works well, but not
    ... engines (gives "command seems not to exist...)
    ... bleed air (gives "command seems not to exist...)
    ... pressurization (executes, but do nothing)
    ... hydraulics (gives "command seems not to exist...)

This is the typical occasional hiccup caused by FF making constant changes and users being on different versions.

On our copy of FF A320 coming from Aerosoft at V 0.899, all these items are working. Luckily in this version, there are 2 ways to control the switches.

It appears that progressively some switches now only have one method. Download this file , unzip and replace "xmcffA3X.dll" in \X-Plane 11\MCE dlls\64 Bit\ folder. All Ecam buttons should work via the other interface, assuming you're on the most recent Beta.

Furthermore I have the following suggestions for improvement:

5) Command "Select wipers off" works well, but it turns both wipers off. I have not found a cmd that adresses wiper 1 or 2 individually (i.e. "Select wiper one off")

Could be added.

6) Command "switch on the batteries" works well and switches both battery 1 as well as battery 2 on. I have not found a cmd that adresses battery 1 or 2 individually.

Try this command

battery two on/off

 

7) Command "apu start" presses the "APU master sw" and after few seconds then presses the "start" switch. I have not found commands for pressing the 2 buttons individually.

There is no need for it, because when you ask "launch apu", Fo will eventually switch apu master on if it happens to be off anyway

So much for now.

I hope that you can use my findings and I deeply regret if I have missed something in the documentation. If so, I will look forward for some answers that will lead me to en even better experience using this brilliant MCE add-on.

Feel free to make suggestions.

Welcome aboard Jannik.

Kind regards
Jannik
 

Answers embedded in your post.

[JannikBoLarsen 1]

Hi!
Thanks for the quick answering.

To 2) Voice control of knobs of the "calibrate" type is difficult. I completely agree.

To 4) I am on MCE V1.4.3.0 and FFA320U V0.11.4. I downloaded the dll and installed. The only improvement is that "ecam display pressurization" now works. ...engines, ...bleed air and ...hydraulics does not work and gives "Command seems not to exist...".I fully admit, that it is a challenge to follow the FFA320U when it constantly chages the plug-in interface. Like shooting at a moving target...

To 6) If i give the command "battery one on", it switches the bat 1 on, BUT AFTER 3 - 4 seconds, it switches battery 2 on as well. But as you recommended, i tried to command "battery two on" and heureka - it only turns the #2 battery on. Then I can give 

To 7) This answer is to some extent in family with the answer to 6). When you say "apu start" MCE presses 2 buttons. When you say "battery one on" it presses 2 buttons as well. In case you say "battery two on" it only presses the #2 battery button!
Since I am a quite new user and MCE is a bit new to me, i think that when I as a user have a very easy way of making "multi button commands" in voxscript, it would be a more flexible approach to let the "out of the box commands" be at the elementary level and then the users could pack these elementary commands into more composed commands. At least I think this could be a theme for a discussion.

Last but not least. Do you have any plans to introduce procedural script elements to the voxscript tool, and in connection to that the ability to question the position of a button and then act differently as the following example:

If parking brake is on
then notify=parking brake is on
else parking brake set
     notify=parking brake is set on
endif

Kind regards

Jannik

[FS++ 707]

1 hour ago, JannikBoLarsen said:

Hi!
Thanks for the quick answering.

You're welcome.

To 2) Voice control of knobs of the "calibrate" type is difficult. I completely agree.

To 4) I am on MCE V1.4.3.0 and FFA320U V0.11.4. I downloaded the dll and installed. The only improvement is that "ecam display pressurization" now works. ...engines, ...bleed air and ...hydraulics does not work and gives "Command seems not to exist...".I fully admit, that it is a challenge to follow the FFA320U when it constantly chages the plug-in interface. Like shooting at a moving target...

The on-screen message typically points to a typo or a missing variation in the command.

Try this. Speak command "display ecam hydraulics" or "display ecam hydraulic" (without the "s" at the end). Should work

Script the command "display ecam hydraulics" and if you receive notification about missing command, try removing the "s". Sometimes you have to add a dash "-" like in anti-ice versus "anti ice". For the scripted command to work, it needs to be written as expected in the speech grammar, and all in lower case.

To 6) If i give the command "battery one on", it switches the bat 1 on, BUT AFTER 3 - 4 seconds, it switches battery 2 on as well. But as you recommended, i tried to command "battery two on" and heureka - it only turns the #2 battery on. Then I can give 

OK, will correct "battery one on" to only switch Batt 1, but "battery on" should imply all batteries must be turned on.

To 7) This answer is to some extent in family with the answer to 6). When you say "apu start" MCE presses 2 buttons. When you say "battery one on" it presses 2 buttons as well. In case you say "battery two on" it only presses the #2 battery button!
Since I am a quite new user and MCE is a bit new to me, i think that when I as a user have a very easy way of making "multi button commands" in voxscript, it would be a more flexible approach to let the "out of the box commands" be at the elementary level and then the users could pack these elementary commands into more composed commands. At least I think this could be a theme for a discussion.

Agree, and that's the whole concept of Voxscript, so that a user can have the exact Standard Operating Procedures for the airline he/she wishes to train for. . I mean, you dictate how the task sharing goes and not impose it in the program with silly arguments like "our real world captain says it's done this way at United Airlines". It also allows you to build flows for emergencies (for any fully supported aircraft with a few limitations here and there), should you have the stomach for that.

I can assure you, there aren't many of these "task based switching" where item 1 implies 2 as well.

Wipers will have separate commands for left and right this week.

Last but not least. Do you have any plans to introduce procedural script elements to the voxscript tool, and in connection to that the ability to question the position of a button and then act differently as the following example:

If parking brake is on
then notify=parking brake is on
else parking brake set
     notify=parking brake is set on
endif

This has been requested before. Unfortunately, once you start doing that, it won't be long before users begin briefing others that MCE is for nerds willing to program things. Therefore, won't go that route and would rather keep it using natural Human languages, including non-English languages if you wish to explore that avenue..😎

We already regret using the name "Voxscript" which wrongly suggests it's about programming. Should have been named "Voxflow" or "FlowMaker" 😀

 

Kind regards

 

Jannik

Answers embedded.above.

[FS++ 707]

On 10/26/2019 at 7:58 PM, keats_1980 said:

FFA320 Before taxi checkist, ITEM "Flaps", response: "Take off" or "1+F" or "1"...nothing works.

A new package has been uploaded.

[FS++ 707]

On 10/27/2019 at 11:27 AM, JannikBoLarsen said:

Hi!

I am trying to do the preliminary cockpit prep procedure voxscript for the FFA320U and MCE (both latest versions) in X-Plane.

This thread is said to be the place for reporting problems and bugs, so therefore the following issues or questions.

The following commands is EITHER not documented (at least I have not been able to find it!) OR not working (as my humble intelligence is able to read and understand)

1) Command for pressing the APU fire test button is missing

2) Commands for AIR COND panel turning the Cockpit, FWD Cabin and AFT Cabin knobs and also the X bleed knob are missing

3) Commands for the VENTILATION panel's 3 knobs are missing

4) Commands "ecam display doors" works well, but not
    ... engines (gives "command seems not to exist...)
    ... bleed air (gives "command seems not to exist...)
    ... pressurization (executes, but do nothing)
    ... hydraulics (gives "command seems not to exist...)

Furthermore I have the following suggestions for improvement:

5) Command "Select wipers off" works well, but it turns both wipers off. I have not found a cmd that adresses wiper 1 or 2 individually (i.e. "Select wiper one off")

6) Command "switch on the batteries" works well and switches both battery 1 as well as battery 2 on. I have not found a cmd that adresses battery 1 or 2 individually.

7) Command "apu start" presses the "APU master sw" and after few seconds then presses the "start" switch. I have not found commands for pressing the 2 buttons individually.

So much for now.

I hope that you can use my findings and I deeply regret if I have missed something in the documentation. If so, I will look forward for some answers that will lead me to en even better experience using this brilliant MCE add-on.

Kind regards
Jannik
 

Not sure about the "Ventilation" switches. but other issues should be sorted in latest build

Can now control wipers individually with these commands

 

left wiper to low speed

left wipoer to high speed

left wiper off

right wiper to low speed

right wipoer to high speed

right wiper off

"battery on" and "batteries on" still controls all batteries, including battery 3 available on A330

But there are separate commands such as 

battery one on/off

battery two on/off

battery three on/off (for aircraft that have it)

[keats_1980 1]

On 11/2/2019 at 5:36 PM, FS++ said:

A new package has been uploaded.

Nice!!

[Stearmandriver 2,266]

Hello, 

 

I've returned to using MCE somewhat regularly after a hiatus from airline simming.  I'm on the latest version for FSX, after receiving the "you really need to update this time" email ;).

 

First thing I can report is, MCE "lockups" (where FO just quits responding) are greatly reduced. I've only seen it once, and he came back after a brief break. Thanks! 

 

I still see a couple of undesired behaviors though, wondering if you'd have any suggestions (these are all in the PMDG NGx in FSX): 

 

1.  MCE still does not understand the "Flaps 25" command the first time it is spoken, no matter how clearly annunciated.  He hears "Flaps 20 Clive", and since there is no flaps 20 setting in a 737, he asks for confirmation. He always understands it the second time.  I know this has been worked on several times, but obviously never been fixed.  Is there something I can edit to remove the name "Clive" from possible first officers?  Or something to completely change the program's behavior so it's not trying to recognize names at all?  I mean, I don't care what this guy's name is.  It's not like we're going out for beers on the overnight ;).  I have zero occasion to ever call him by his name, I just want him to do as he's told. 

 

         2. Setting altitudes is still bugged.  He can't properly set single digit thousands without interpreting it as hundreds instead.  So if I say "set altitude five thousand" he always asks "confirm, dial low?" because he wants to set 500ft.  I have to say "set altitude five thousand zero hundred" to get him to do it right, which is pretty unnatural. 

 

      3. It seems that a couple versions ago, behavior was added that causes the FO, upon receiving instructions to execute a voxscript procedure, to verbalize something like "ok, beginning procedure."  I understand the rationale behind adding this, but it makes certain kinds of procedures very awkward.  And it doesn't seem necessary, because if I'm writing a voxscript procedure I can always add verbiage for him to acknowledge the instruction if I wanted.  As an example, one procedure I use is my company's after takeoff procedure. I have it programmed for him to acknowledge the command by first saying "after takeoff" and then performing the procedure and then advising "after takeoff complete".  So what happens now is he'll often say "ok beginning flow after takeoff" and then doing it.  

 

Another example would be using procedures simply to get him to respond with company standard calls.  At 500ft on takeoff or go around, it's standard here for the flying pilot to either command a roll mode if he's not already in what he wants (which works great with MCE), or call "verify LNAV" or "verify heading select" if he's already in it. I had simple voxcripts that would get MCE to respond, for instance, "LNAV verified".  But now he prefaces this with "roger, performing procedure... LNAV verified".  Maybe it seems like semantics but it breaks up the flow of things, and extra words there when a VATSIM controller might be trying to vector you or hand you off are distracting.  Any way to get him to stop this?

 

4.Last thing, I promise ;).  This isn't any kind of bug, just looking for a suggestion on how to accomplish something.  On a go around, the standard Boeing callout is "TOGA, Flaps 15".  Using this with MCE causes him to adjust the power to max go-around thrust, which is actually rarely used on a go around since it's too much; causes a strong pitch up and makes a low level off tough.  I try to remember to only ask for "flaps 15" but forget sometimes, and I'd like to keep the callouts as standard as possible.  I've tried creating a voxscript to map "toga flaps 15" to only the flaps 15 command but it throws an error, saying the procedure doesn't exist?   Any ideas? 

 

Thanks much for all your work on this program. It's by far the best out there, and I don't see how airline flying could be accurately simulated without it! 

[FS++ 707]

13 hours ago, Stearmandriver said:

Hello, 

 

I've returned to using MCE somewhat regularly after a hiatus from airline simming.  I'm on the latest version for FSX, after receiving the "you really need to update this time" email ;).

 

First thing I can report is, MCE "lockups" (where FO just quits responding) are greatly reduced. I've only seen it once, and he came back after a brief break. Thanks! 

 

I still see a couple of undesired behaviors though, wondering if you'd have any suggestions (these are all in the PMDG NGx in FSX): 

 

1.  MCE still does not understand the "Flaps 25" command the first time it is spoken, no matter how clearly annunciated.  He hears "Flaps 20 Clive", and since there is no flaps 20 setting in a 737, he asks for confirmation. He always understands it the second time.  I know this has been worked on several times, but obviously never been fixed.  Is there something I can edit to remove the name "Clive" from possible first officers?  Or something to completely change the program's behavior so it's not trying to recognize names at all?  I mean, I don't care what this guy's name is.  It's not like we're going out for beers on the overnight ;).  I have zero occasion to ever call him by his name, I just want him to do as he's told. 

 

         2. Setting altitudes is still bugged.  He can't properly set single digit thousands without interpreting it as hundreds instead.  So if I say "set altitude five thousand" he always asks "confirm, dial low?" because he wants to set 500ft.  I have to say "set altitude five thousand zero hundred" to get him to do it right, which is pretty unnatural. 

 

      3. It seems that a couple versions ago, behavior was added that causes the FO, upon receiving instructions to execute a voxscript procedure, to verbalize something like "ok, beginning procedure."  I understand the rationale behind adding this, but it makes certain kinds of procedures very awkward.  And it doesn't seem necessary, because if I'm writing a voxscript procedure I can always add verbiage for him to acknowledge the instruction if I wanted.  As an example, one procedure I use is my company's after takeoff procedure. I have it programmed for him to acknowledge the command by first saying "after takeoff" and then performing the procedure and then advising "after takeoff complete".  So what happens now is he'll often say "ok beginning flow after takeoff" and then doing it.  

 

Another example would be using procedures simply to get him to respond with company standard calls.  At 500ft on takeoff or go around, it's standard here for the flying pilot to either command a roll mode if he's not already in what he wants (which works great with MCE), or call "verify LNAV" or "verify heading select" if he's already in it. I had simple voxcripts that would get MCE to respond, for instance, "LNAV verified".  But now he prefaces this with "roger, performing procedure... LNAV verified".  Maybe it seems like semantics but it breaks up the flow of things, and extra words there when a VATSIM controller might be trying to vector you or hand you off are distracting.  Any way to get him to stop this?

 

4.Last thing, I promise ;).  This isn't any kind of bug, just looking for a suggestion on how to accomplish something.  On a go around, the standard Boeing callout is "TOGA, Flaps 15".  Using this with MCE causes him to adjust the power to max go-around thrust, which is actually rarely used on a go around since it's too much; causes a strong pitch up and makes a low level off tough.  I try to remember to only ask for "flaps 15" but forget sometimes, and I'd like to keep the callouts as standard as possible.  I've tried creating a voxscript to map "toga flaps 15" to only the flaps 15 command but it throws an error, saying the procedure doesn't exist?   Any ideas? 

 

Thanks much for all your work on this program. It's by far the best out there, and I don't see how airline flying could be accurately simulated without it! 

You're welcome Andrew.

First, thanks for the accolade.

1- Can be fixed by only allowing <please> at the end of the sentence for flaps related requests.

2- Will see what cab=n be done. It doesn't happen all the time though.

3- You'll be pleased to hear that many other users objected to that addition a while ago, and this behavior can be disabled with an option in "mce.ini". 

See this thread for the fix: 

4- We'll work something out for this within a week.

If you wish, download this file , unzip and manually add/replace files as per folder structure.

Among other things, revised speech grammar files (including flaps requests) and added support for PMDG NGX u variants.

Patch assumes you're on the very latest release available here

Edited November 21, 2019 by FS++

[Stearmandriver 2,266]

Thanks much for the new files.  Greatly appreciate the option to disable the auto reply to custom flows, that works great.

The flaps 25 problem continues though; now, if I annunciate VERY slowly and clearly, I can make him understand "flaps 25" about 1 out of 5 times.  The others, he still hears something involving Clive, and now the problem is worse: what happens now when he hears "Clive" (which is the majority of the time no matter how carefully spoken), is that an error message appears on the top of the screen: "[MCE] Command doesn't seem to exist.  Make sure you spell it correctly and that it's written completely in lower case.  Eventually, try a slightly different verbiage".

"Flaps 25 please" does seem to work, but the thing is (and I know this will sound pedantic but it's true) it's not customary to append "please" to a configuration or checklist command.  They aren't requests, and so in the real world that doesn't happen.  Basically, I'll never remember to do it in the sim :).  But really, if we're trying for accuracy here, needing to add "please" to a configuration command is a pretty big departure.  

Personally (and I know I don't speak for everyone by a long shot) I'd vote for just getting rid of name recognition.  It just doesn't seem useful to me?  YMMV though of course.

Thanks for the continued work!

[keats_1980 1]

41 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

ersonally (and I know I don't speak for everyone by a long shot) I'd vote for just getting rid of name recognition.  It just doesn't seem useful to me?  YMMV though of course.

I'm totally agree.

[FS++ 707]

55 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

Thanks much for the new files.  Greatly appreciate the option to disable the auto reply to custom flows, that works great.

The flaps 25 problem continues though; now, if I annunciate VERY slowly and clearly, I can make him understand "flaps 25" about 1 out of 5 times.  The others, he still hears something involving Clive, and now the problem is worse: what happens now when he hears "Clive" (which is the majority of the time no matter how carefully spoken), is that an error message appears on the top of the screen: "[MCE] Command doesn't seem to exist.  Make sure you spell it correctly and that it's written completely in lower case.  Eventually, try a slightly different verbiage".

"Flaps 25 please" does seem to work, but the thing is (and I know this will sound pedantic but it's true) it's not customary to append "please" to a configuration or checklist command.  They aren't requests, and so in the real world that doesn't happen.  Basically, I'll never remember to do it in the sim :).  But really, if we're trying for accuracy here, needing to add "please" to a configuration command is a pretty big departure.  

Personally (and I know I don't speak for everyone by a long shot) I'd vote for just getting rid of name recognition.  It just doesn't seem useful to me?  YMMV though of course.

Thanks for the continued work!

Make sure you also replace the 2 files in \CandC\ folder

These are the speech grammar files where "Clive" and other FOs names are definitely removed (as far as flaps dialing is concerned). It doesn't even require an update to the program. Worst case scenario, could send you an ad-hoc file where uttering anything at the end of requests is not possible.

But first try with new speech files.

There are also alternative commands such as.

twenty five on (the) flaps

twenty five degrees on (the) flaps

two five on the flaps

etc...

Words in parenthesis are optional.

Thanks

 

[Stearmandriver 2,266]

11 hours ago, FS++ said:

Make sure you also replace the 2 files in \CandC\ folder

These are the speech grammar files where "Clive" and other FOs names are definitely removed (as far as flaps dialing is concerned). It doesn't even require an update to the program. Worst case scenario, could send you an ad-hoc file where uttering anything at the end of requests is not possible.

But first try with new speech files.

There are also alternative commands such as.

twenty five on (the) flaps

twenty five degrees on (the) flaps

two five on the flaps

etc...

Words in parenthesis are optional.

Thanks

 

First, an apology on my part.  The error message I was getting on the Flaps 25 command was because I'd created a custom voxscript mapping "flaps twenty clive" to flaps 25 in an attempted workaround.  Getting rid of the voxscript stopped the error.  But...

FO still has great difficulty recognizing the command "Flaps 25".  He seems to hear it as "Flaps 20" now.  This is on the latest version you linked above, with all the files replaced, including in the CandC folder.

Please note that this difficulty in recognizing the words "twenty five" only applies to flap settings.  He understands "twenty five" any way I say it when applied to any other system.  I made a 3 minute video demonstrating this far better than I can explain it.  You'll notice that he recognizes a command for "heading twenty five" whether I speak it carefully or quickly, no matter which syllables I emphasize etc, but he hardly ever understands "flaps twenty five" the first time, even when spoken exactly the same way as the heading command:

 

The other options for flap settings are great, but the standard verbiage - the one he really should understand if he understands the command at all - is also the most simple: "Flaps twenty five".