Hello,

as a new user of MCE, and clearly with a long learning curve ahead, I am already utterly impressed. It is truly amazing !
One of the absolute best additions to my setup (P3Dv4.1, PMDG 737NGX, plus other stuff...).

1- A trivial question: is there a reason for naming some flows “Procedures”, and others plainly “Flows”?

2- A less trivial one: I wish to issue a command for silencing the warning horn when disconnecting the autopilot on final (not the moment for groping with the mouse!). 

Using the suggested phrasing “silence the horn” or “silence the bell” I get polite acknowledgements from the FO, but no actions (probably he acts only on the takeoff and/or the pressurisation horn ?).

Is there a way to create a command for this?

Thank you for your kind help,

Giorgio Goggi

Hello Giorgio. 

MCE scores over the competition since you are in complete control of your own flows, even able to edit them and add items in. Also you can choose which voices you want, even purchased ones like Cereproc. The other program just lumbers you with those unrealistic voices that someone thinks first officers sound like? They also charge you for every new aircraft you add to your hangar and if you get out of sequence your FO has a nervous breakdown!

A flow is the same as a procedure, just quicker to anunciate! They are distinct from "checklists" since we do the flows first and then do the checklists, to "check" we didn't miss anything in the flow/procedure!

Good question re the AP warning on the NGX! I have not been able to silence it with a first officer command...."Cancel master caution/warning", etc. I bet Gerald will know if we are missing a command here?

Happy simming!

 

2 hours ago, goggi said:

Hello,

as a new user of MCE, and clearly with a long learning curve ahead, I am already utterly impressed. It is truly amazing !
One of the absolute best additions to my setup (P3Dv4.1, PMDG 737NGX, plus other stuff...).

1- A trivial question: is there a reason for naming some flows “Procedures”, and others plainly “Flows”?

2- A less trivial one: I wish to issue a command for silencing the warning horn when disconnecting the autopilot on final (not the moment for groping with the mouse!). 

Using the suggested phrasing “silence the horn” or “silence the bell” I get polite acknowledgements from the FO, but no actions (probably he acts only on the takeoff and/or the pressurisation horn ?).

Is there a way to create a command for this?

Thank you for your kind help,

Giorgio Goggi

Welcome aboard Giorgio, and thanks for the accolade.

1 - both flows are the same. Since the flow name is the actual trigger sentence, giving both options means you can request it with "before start flow" or "before start procedure" without worrying about exact phrasing. You could even rename the trigger sentence to something else that suits you like "Le's get started" or whatever.

2- Unless the AP disco warning is on the same "master warning" flash light in which case "silence the bell" or "cancel master warning" would do.May need to add direct voice control for the AP disco light. At the moment, when you ask FO to disconnect AP, he'll automaticallly assume the light will come ON and extinguish it for your convenience. But your scenario manually disconnecting it and asking Fo to extinguish the light wasn't taken care of.

Consider it added in next update, sometime next week, at least for PMDG aircraft.

Feel free to suggest a few verbiage variations to get it done.

Giorgio

The "Voxkey" feature of MCE would be an option for you in this ..... given you can assign a key to this action in the ngx's key commands &/or with its SDK.

Voxkey is very underrated for how it can be used in my opinion.

Edited March 3, 20188 yr by vadriver

Many thanks to Charlie130, FS++ and vadriver for your replies and clarifications. Much appreciated.
I did not consider asking the FO, since in real life A/P disco is done by - and responsibility of - the PF. I should have tried requesting it.
Anyway, a specific command could be a (small) improvement and would be most welcome (yes, I am pedantic).

I hope I am not stressing you with yet another trivial question:
3- is there a logic for some flows being Verbose, and others silent? (I ran into this since I would like to turn all of them to Verbose=1 for a while, for self-training purposes). Maybe this could be a further benefit to those, like me, aiming at a complete understanding and control of all actions and procedures ....

Thanks once more, in particular to MCE which turns simming into reality!
Giorgio

4 hours ago, goggi said:

Many thanks to Charlie130, FS++ and vadriver for your replies and clarifications. Much appreciated.
I did not consider asking the FO, since in real life A/P disco is done by - and responsibility of - the PF. I should have tried requesting it.
Anyway, a specific command could be a (small) improvement and would be most welcome (yes, I am pedantic).

I hope I am not stressing you with yet another trivial question:
3- is there a logic for some flows being Verbose, and others silent? (I ran into this since I would like to turn all of them to Verbose=1 for a while, for self-training purposes). Maybe this could be a further benefit to those, like me, aiming at a complete understanding and control of all actions and procedures ....

Thanks once more, in particular to MCE which turns simming into reality!
Giorgio

The "Verbose" is usually on by default. It's only a matter of unticking the Verbose box and you can have some flows with verbose and some silent, your personal choice!

On 3/4/2018 at 8:30 AM, goggi said:

Many thanks to Charlie130, FS++ and vadriver for your replies and clarifications. Much appreciated.
I did not consider asking the FO, since in real life A/P disco is done by - and responsibility of - the PF. I should have tried requesting it.
Anyway, a specific command could be a (small) improvement and would be most welcome (yes, I am pedantic).

I hope I am not stressing you with yet another trivial question:
3- is there a logic for some flows being Verbose, and others silent? (I ran into this since I would like to turn all of them to Verbose=1 for a while, for self-training purposes). Maybe this could be a further benefit to those, like me, aiming at a complete understanding and control of all actions and procedures ....

Thanks once more, in particular to MCE which turns simming into reality!
Giorgio

The pre-made flows we ships aren't realistic. Fo will typically switch all items on all panel. And obviously wouldn't be verbose ion real life.

It's done this way, mainly so that you get an idea about the sort of commands you would need for a particular item.

Go through each flow, select and remove any items you deem in your area of responsibility. This way, there is no arguing about who handles what

You call the shots as per your real world or virtual airline SOPs.

Now, regarding that AP disco light, vadriver is right, since switching this items doesn't require knowing its initial state, it's a good candidate for a key press via Voxkey, so you can do it yourself.

In PMDG NGX, assign a key combination for the AP light extinguish.

Now start Voxkey editor.

Start->All apps->Multi Crew Experience->Voxkey

If using P3D, load the "Prepar3D Demo.vkp" profile.

If using FSX, load the "FSX Demo.vkp" profile

Add a new command, type whatever trigger sentence you want, and associate it with the key combo you assigned in NGX.

Don't forget to save.

No need to keep Voxkey running.

 

When MCE loads, it looks up the profile for the currently running simulator and makes those custom commands available for speech reco.

Speak your custom command and whatever key combination was associated to it, will be sent to the sim. Similar to what VoxAttack does.

Voxkey isn't suitable for crew operation as it doesn't read state and just toggles things.

It can be useful to drive anything that responds to key presses. And very nice to have for Virtual Reality, as it frees you from the need to access the keyboard.

Let me know if you still want us to implement ad-hoc commands for AP light off.

 

Thank you so much Gerald for the detailed suggestion and examples.
For a couple of days I shall be busy and away. I shall give it a try ASAP and report back.

One more issue/suggestion: while reading all Commands, I noticed those for applying reverse thrust. They refer to each engine separately. It would be perfect to have a single command for applying (and releasing) both levers at the same time (as normally operated in reality). 
This might be even more important than the A/P disco !

Again thanks, in particular for your outstanding availability and support,
Giorgio 

 

14 hours ago, goggi said:

Thank you so much Gerald for the detailed suggestion and examples.
For a couple of days I shall be busy and away. I shall give it a try ASAP and report back.

One more issue/suggestion: while reading all Commands, I noticed those for applying reverse thrust. They refer to each engine separately. It would be perfect to have a single command for applying (and releasing) both levers at the same time (as normally operated in reality). 
This might be even more important than the A/P disco !

Again thanks, in particular for your outstanding availability and support,
Giorgio 

 

You're welcome.

Some commands will activate both throttle levers simultaneously. things like

Set takeoff thrust

Set MCE thrust

set climb thrust

set idle thrust

set reverse thrust

could use word "power" instead of "thrust". and also "select" instead of "set" or even without like "reverse thrust"

I didn't list all variations.

When you need to shut down a specific engine, that's when you use something like "thrust lever engine one to idle".

If you want completely fluid speech interaction with FO, say using some verbiage you're used to from the other crew simulation, you can use the other little known Voxscript capability which lets you create custom commands that act as aliases for built-inn ones.

Let's say you find yourself requesting something  couple of times and MCE doesn't seem to accept the command.

In Voxscript panel, create your speech command you're used to as a flow. Only difference with a flow, you add a single command to the flow that MCE can understand.

Example: Let's say I am inclined to say "set the throttle levers into reverse". MCE may not recognize it.

Create a flow named with the command that comes to you naturally, make it verbose so you can hear Fo acting on it, then add one of the built-in commands "reverse thrust" and voila, FO will act as if you said it as per the manual.

You can even include the custom command (aliased command) in another flow.

Just great! Most impressive...
I shall definitely invest in a in-depth learning session...
Thanks, again

Giorgio

On 3/5/2018 at 10:08 PM, FS++ said:

The pre-made flows we ships aren't realistic. Fo will typically switch all items on all panel. And obviously wouldn't be verbose ion real life.

It's done this way, mainly so that you get an idea about the sort of commands you would need for a particular item.

Go through each flow, select and remove any items you deem in your area of responsibility. This way, there is no arguing about who handles what

You call the shots as per your real world or virtual airline SOPs.

Now, regarding that AP disco light, vadriver is right, since switching this items doesn't require knowing its initial state, it's a good candidate for a key press via Voxkey, so you can do it yourself.

In PMDG NGX, assign a key combination for the AP light extinguish.

Now start Voxkey editor.

Start->All apps->Multi Crew Experience->Voxkey

If using P3D, load the "Prepar3D Demo.vkp" profile.

If using FSX, load the "FSX Demo.vkp" profile

Add a new command, type whatever trigger sentence you want, and associate it with the key combo you assigned in NGX.

Don't forget to save.

No need to keep Voxkey running.

 

When MCE loads, it looks up the profile for the currently running simulator and makes those custom commands available for speech reco.

Speak your custom command and whatever key combination was associated to it, will be sent to the sim. Similar to what VoxAttack does.

Voxkey isn't suitable for crew operation as it doesn't read state and just toggles things.

It can be useful to drive anything that responds to key presses. And very nice to have for Virtual Reality, as it frees you from the need to access the keyboard.

Let me know if you still want us to implement ad-hoc commands for AP light off.

 

 

Hello,
I have been exploring your suggestion to use VoxKey to silence the A/P disco warning horn:

1- I created the corresponding key combination in the PMDG 737NGX (<CTRL> + <-> , see Fig.1)
2- I added it to the “P3D demo” Profile (spoken as “silence autopilot”, see Figs. 2 and 3)
3- I saved and closed VoxKey
4- I restarted everything  (P3D, MCE) and checked the new command in VoxKey to be there and correct
5- I tested  - manually, in flight  - the key combination. Operating manually the keys It works OK upon manual A/P disconnect
6- I then tested the command via voice: the command is detected correctly (red text on the sim screen OK),
BUT: The command has NO effect.

It seems I made a mistake, but it has nothing to do with rebooting the lot (even Windows10).
Where is my mistake?

Thank you, as always
Giorgio

By the way: MCE has a wonderful flexibility!

3 Pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r4zugj09m680iei/AADwJTFw0jHHADEGeZg96ibGa?dl=0

Edited March 11, 20188 yr by goggi

Hello,
I have been exploring your suggestion to use VoxKey to silence the A/P disco warning horn:

1- I created the corresponding key combination in the PMDG 737NGX (<CTRL> + <-> , see Fig.1)
2- I added it to the “P3D demo” Profile (spoken as “silence autopilot”, see Figs. 2 and 3)
3- I saved and closed VoxKey
4- I restarted everything  (P3D, MCE) and checked the new command in VoxKey to be there and correct
5- I tested  - manually, in flight  - the key combination. Operating manually the keys It works OK upon manual A/P disconnect
6- I then tested the command via voice: the command is detected correctly (red text on the sim screen OK),
BUT: The command has NO effect.

It seems I made a mistake, but it has nothing to do with rebooting the lot (even Windows10).
Where is my mistake?

Thank you, as always
Giorgio

By the way: MCE has a wonderful flexibility!

3 Pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r4zugj09m680iei/AADwJTFw0jHHADEGeZg96ibGa?dl=0

22 hours ago, goggi said:

Hello,
I have been exploring your suggestion to use VoxKey to silence the A/P disco warning horn:

1- I created the corresponding key combination in the PMDG 737NGX (<CTRL> + <-> , see Fig.1)
2- I added it to the “P3D demo” Profile (spoken as “silence autopilot”, see Figs. 2 and 3)
3- I saved and closed VoxKey
4- I restarted everything  (P3D, MCE) and checked the new command in VoxKey to be there and correct
5- I tested  - manually, in flight  - the key combination. Operating manually the keys It works OK upon manual A/P disconnect
6- I then tested the command via voice: the command is detected correctly (red text on the sim screen OK),
BUT: The command has NO effect.

It seems I made a mistake, but it has nothing to do with rebooting the lot (even Windows10).
Where is my mistake?

Thank you, as always
Giorgio

By the way: MCE has a wonderful flexibility!

3 Pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r4zugj09m680iei/AADwJTFw0jHHADEGeZg96ibGa?dl=0

Don't have the NGX for P3D, but tested under FSX with that aircraft and it worked.

On one occasion the key press somehow didn't go through and I had to repeat it.

Since it doesn't matter how many times that specific button is pressed, suggest you increase the repeat count on that command to 2 or 3.

Make sure P3D has the focus, otherwise the simulated key press won't reach its window.

Try the other commands in the Voxkey profile "Prepar3D Demo.vkp"and see if anything is happening.

Is your Windows version in English US language or other?

If it's other, did you make it to look like an English US installation (like changing regional settings, etc) ? You don't have to. Just asking in order to determine whether some localization issues may have played a part.

 

Hello,
I am running the US English language, and of course when acting P3D has the focus. 
I tried:
1- increasing the repeat count (2 to 4) - negative result
2- the other commands in “Prepard3D demo.vkp”. They work correctly

At this point:
3- I deleted the other two “ demo.vkp” files not pertaining to P3D
3- I deleted the command under consideration and recreated it in VoxKey
4- suspecting conflicts with other key assignments in P3D, I changed both the FMC and VoxKey to other key combinations. Each one of them was tested manually in flight, and worked (silencing the horn). On voice, however, none of them generated the desired action, even if - as before - the spoken command was recognised (as written on screen in red font).
I am frankly at a loss, I cannot figure out further tests. Maybe we should drop this.

At any rate, when in flight (with A/P OFF) MCE responds correctly to the command “autopilot on”. 
When the A/P is ON, on the contrary the command “autopilot off” or equivalent variants have no effect. The FO asks for a confirmation, but no action follows (repeatedly). Any explanation?

Sorry for bothering you so much, thanks for your patience …
Giorgio
 

1 hour ago, goggi said:

Hello,
I am running the US English language, and of course when acting P3D has the focus. 
I tried:
1- increasing the repeat count (2 to 4) - negative result
2- the other commands in “Prepard3D demo.vkp”. They work correctly

At this point:
3- I deleted the other two “ demo.vkp” files not pertaining to P3D
3- I deleted the command under consideration and recreated it in VoxKey
4- suspecting conflicts with other key assignments in P3D, I changed both the FMC and VoxKey to other key combinations. Each one of them was tested manually in flight, and worked (silencing the horn). On voice, however, none of them generated the desired action, even if - as before - the spoken command was recognised (as written on screen in red font).
I am frankly at a loss, I cannot figure out further tests. Maybe we should drop this.

At any rate, when in flight (with A/P OFF) MCE responds correctly to the command “autopilot on”. 
When the A/P is ON, on the contrary the command “autopilot off” or equivalent variants have no effect. The FO asks for a confirmation, but no action follows (repeatedly). Any explanation?

Sorry for bothering you so much, thanks for your patience …
Giorgio
 

It's OK, no bother at all.

Technical challenges always welcome at FS++

Download this file

Unzip and replace fsInsider64.dll inside \Prepart3D v4\ installation folder.

MCE simulates the keyboard press by telling fsInsider64.dll to do it inside the sim.

Since the other commands in the profile worked, I wonder whether something is wrong with the Voxkey tool when creating new commands.

Just to make sure, go to \My Documents\ folder and delete the entire <Voxkey> folder

Run MCE app wizard.

Start->All Apps->Multi Crew Experience->Run app wizard. No need to proceed with the wizard. Exit as soon as it starts.

By then, the <Voxkey> folder in \My Documents\ folder should have been re-created with default fully working profiles.

No need to delete unused ones. Just add your commands to "Prepar3D Demo.vkp"

 

Eventually, after adding commands and no luck with them, send the "Prepar3D Demo.vkp" profile to support for inspection.

You never know when a hidden character makes it into the file or something unexpected happening after editing.

As far as we are concerned, this issue (if confirmed) must be sorted as soon as possible.

Regarding auto-pilot...

By design, to prevent Fo accidentally switching AP OFF say when airborne after you left the cockpit, to turn it OFF, FO must hear a clear confirmation. Reply with any of these within the next 10 seconds.

"yes", "affirmative", "affirm", "confirmed", "positive", "go ahead", etc...

By default, if you keep silent for the next 10 seconds, Fo will assume you didn't really mean it.

Many commands are secured that way.

Now, if you never leave the cockpit and find those prompts rather annoying, here is how you can bypass them.

In Voxscript panel, create your custom command to get rid of autopilot.

Because built-in commands have precedence over custom ones, your custom command must be different from any built-in one by at least a character.

I am going to use "get rid of autopilot off". You could use "hey autopilot off" or "I said autopilot off" or anything really. 

Create a new script and use "get rid of autopilot" as the name.

It will act as an aliased command for "autopilot off".

Set the script to verbose and add a single command to it. "autopilot off".

Now MCE will receive "autopilot off" as before, but because the command is seen as scripted, it is assumed intended. There won't be any prompt to confirm, unless you secure the script itself with option "Requires confirmation".

 

 

 

 

Edited March 12, 20188 yr by FS++