Did my first flight with the demo today. Very pleased with the voices. However I am having some big problems understanding where in the flows I am, when to call for a flow vs a checklist, and generally what MCE expects me to do vs what the copilot will take care of. Aircraft is the Fenix A320 in MSFS.

Loaded the sim + aircraft, started MCE without issue. Passengers are boarding, aircraft is fueled. For the menu, I see the three buttons to the left, F/C/R for flows/checklists/requests. I took a peek through the menu options, and found the checklist page which has a list of available checklists (at least I assume that's what it is...) Before start, after start, before takeoff, etc. I then click the flow button when we're ready to go, expecting the copilot to configure the aircraft for start. I would assume clicking the flow button would be the before start procedure because that's the first available option in that list of checklists. Instead, the FO gets started with the cockpit preparation checklists, checking all the alarms, etc. Which is fine, but I just didn't know what the program expected me to do first. That sums up the biggest problem I had throughout the flight... I had no idea what flow or checklist will happen with those button presses, kind of just guessing.

After he finished the preparation check, as I was browsing the PDF for some of the other available aircraft procedures, found "Begin APU procedure". Great, lets call for that and see if it works. Voice detection worked great, F/O did the various checks, started the APU... .and then promptly disconnected the external power immediately after hitting the APU start button, with the result that I lost all power and had to wait for IRS re-alignment as the APU was not yet running and available.

After start, managed to stumble my way into the taxi flow... which is somehow different from the after start checklist.... but there is no taxi checklist in that menu list of available flows. Time for the flight controls check. F/O correctly detected my elevator/aileron check, but would not register rudder movement. So I was left with the flow button flashing waiting for me to do the rudder check, with no obvious way to tell it that I was doing it.

Time for the takeoff, call for the before takeoff flows. F/O seems to set the lights OK. Has the appropriate initial callouts, but no v-speed comments. Earlier I had seen a section for V-speeds and flex temp in the "monitoring section", but the data came pre-populated and was incorrect. There's also a "use data" option which doesn't seem to be explained in the manual. Would be nice if the F/O could just know this from what's entered in the PERF page. I was doing a Packs off takeoff, and it would be very nice if the F/O turns the packs back on after takeoff. But as I continued the initial climb, the F/O didn't actually do anything on his own volition. He made some callouts/transition height calls, but never started throwing switches. When I clicked on the flows button for what I hoped was the after takeoff flow, I was relieved to find that I made the right guess, but the F/O then immediately retracted the flaps from 2 to 0 despite being well below speed, the autopilot disconnected and I entered alpha floor protection. Got frustrated with it and ended the flight there.

 

Now, I'm sure there is lots of user error in this, there are probably very clear answers to all these issues. For example, maybe if I had just called for the after takeoff checklist immediately the F/o would have done things on his own. But I read the documentation ahead of time, or at least what I could find, and was left very lost and confused with this first attempt. I don't know what to call for and when. The only similar product I have is FS2Crew, and was looking at MCE as an alternative because of all the additional aircraft it supports and the former's sometimes lackluster voices. With FS2Crew, there's a little window that tells you exactly what phase of flight you are in, what the next flow/checklist will be, and what you are expected to do as the pilot and what the F/O will do. How do i get something similar, or even more simply which one of the documents should I be reading to help me through all the various steps of a flight with this particular aicraft I am testing (Fenix A320). I want a list of the available flows and checklists, and descriptions of what the copilot will do on his own within those vs what I am expected to do.

57 minutes ago, CIKSSFMO said:

Did my first flight with the demo today. Very pleased with the voices. However I am having some big problems understanding where in the flows I am, when to call for a flow vs a checklist, and generally what MCE expects me to do vs what the copilot will take care of. Aircraft is the Fenix A320 in MSFS.

One thing to keep in mind when coming from Fs2crew is that MCE isn't a scripted adventure which calls for scripted behaviour. You can ask your co-pilot to perform what you want, when you want and even using your own verbiage.

Loaded the sim + aircraft, started MCE without issue.

Even though you didn't have any issue with loading, I suggest to you and others to ensure the complex plane you intend to fly is set as the one MSFS loads on startup. The reason being complex planes create tons of Lvars (custom variables) that they don't seem to bother de-registering when the plane is unloaded.

Passengers are boarding, aircraft is fueled. For the menu, I see the three buttons to the left, F/C/R for flows/checklists/requests.

The new F (Flow), C (Checklist) and R (Requests) buttons are something we added recently to provide button control. There will no doubt be a few things to iron out there, unlike voice control which we have been doing for more than a decade.

The idea is that the FO will automatically detect the flight phase as he has always been able to, then call for the relevant flow as he sees fit. Documentation would need to state that to differentiate between "cockpit preparation flow" and "before start flow", the user would need to set beacon light on as a hint.

I took a peek through the menu options, and found the checklist page which has a list of available checklists (at least I assume that's what it is...) Before start, after start, before takeoff, etc.

You guessed right. What you may not know is that when using voice control, MCE allows users to assign their own virtual or real world checklist. That means, the headers are dynamically fetched from submitted checklist text file and they may vary from one user to another. The checklist headers themselves determine the trigger sentence to use. So if your custom checklist has "before takeoff below the line" listed header, you could call it with the header name "before takeoff below the line" and append the word "checklist"

On the other hand, button control for checklist is scripted in the sense it will always be, "before start checklist", "after start checklist", "before takeoff checklist", "after takeoiff checklist". Agsin, with FO automatically detecting flight phase and read the correct section from the default supplied checklist.

I then click the flow button when we're ready to go, expecting the copilot to configure the aircraft for start. I would assume clicking the flow button would be the before start procedure because that's the first available option in that list of checklists. Instead, the FO gets started with the cockpit preparation checklists, checking all the alarms, etc. Which is fine, but I just didn't know what the program expected me to do first. That sums up the biggest problem I had throughout the flight... I had no idea what flow or checklist will happen with those button presses, kind of just guessing.

You could eventually click the R button, then select a request to run a specific flow from the list if you think Fo is running the wrong one. Can cancel a flow by clicking again once it's started.

After he finished the preparation check, as I was browsing the PDF for some of the other available aircraft procedures, found "Begin APU procedure". Great, lets call for that and see if it works. Voice detection worked great, F/O did the various checks, started the APU... .and then promptly disconnected the external power immediately after hitting the APU start button, with the result that I lost all power and had to wait for IRS re-alignment as the APU was not yet running and available.

MCE flows aren't hard coded. Go to <Command> tab in MCE UI and click <Voxscript> button.

You should see a list of pre-made flows. The flows names being the actual trigger sentences, so if you can't be bothered to memorize them, rename the to something that pops to your mind naturally and voila, now Fo will execute that flow using your own verbiage, even if it's "let'get ready to go" to mean "beofre start flow".

Select one of the flows and click <Edit>.

Should see a "Verbose" option. Enable it for a flow where you want to hear Fo comment on anyting he does, or switch option OFF for silent execution.

Click <Edit script commands" and you should see a list of all actions Fo will be taking as part of the flow.

Here is what most folks coming from Fs2crew get mistaken...

By default, the pre-made flows will typically have many of the actions required to setup an entire panel. Onviously not realistic as most users will want so hands on there. The purpose being to give you an idea about the kind of speech commands you could eventually use directly to get the FO to make a switching outside any flow.

Now, it's just a matter for you to decide what you would rather handle your self (select item and remove it from the flow), or add more items if you wish. Do not forget to save the flow. After that you'll have the perfect task sharing for any airline SOPs, so you won't have to beg us to change FO behaviour so he doesn't touch this item or the other. You decide.

All this is possible thanks to the "speech simulator" that Voxscript is. You could create many other custom flows, say to handle emergencies and teach your Fo which items he needs to handle and in which sequence, all triggered by a custom sentyence of your choice.

After start, managed to stumble my way into the taxi flow... which is somehow different from the after start checklist.... but there is no taxi checklist in that menu list of available flows. Time for the flight controls check. F/O correctly detected my elevator/aileron check, but would not register rudder movement. So I was left with the flow button flashing waiting for me to do the rudder check, with no obvious way to tell it that I was doing it.

Could be a bug with rudder detection with this specific plane we have to look at (FO not reading it).

Time for the takeoff, call for the before takeoff flows. F/O seems to set the lights OK. Has the appropriate initial callouts, but no v-speed comments. Earlier I had seen a section for V-speeds and flex temp in the "monitoring section", but the data came pre-populated and was incorrect.

Not sure when you downloaded, we have changed "Simco_64_Ldr.exe" to not try to find the Vspeeds in FCU until at least one engine is running.

Get this patch and replace that file in \Multi Crew Experience\ installation folder

 

http://www.multicrewxp.com/Latest-Beta.zip

Please be patient, as it may take him up to 1 to 2 minutes to work out the data in PERF page

There's also a "use data" option which doesn't seem to be explained in the manual. Would be nice if the F/O could just know this from what's entered in the PERF page.

This option has been there from the Prepar3D & FSX days, so people can do without MCE call-outs at all if they wish to use altrnatives.

Normally, when you click the "?" and follow that with another click on any item in UI, a TTS voice should explain what the item does. But I'm not sure every item is covered.

I was doing a Packs off takeoff, and it would be very nice if the F/O turns the packs back on after takeoff. But as I continued the initial climb, the F/O didn't actually do anything on his own volition.

You can make him do it by simply adding commands "pack one on" and "pack two on" to the "after takeoff flow" or whatever you renamed it to. Even other actions like "disarm spoilers". Even using a custom flow triggerd with something like "Do your bit with the packs" (Now, that's mind reading) where the flow has those packs commands added to it.

He made some callouts/transition height calls, but never started throwing switches. When I clicked on the flows button for what I hoped was the after takeoff flow, I was relieved to find that I made the right guess, but the F/O then immediately retracted the flaps from 2 to 0 despite being well below speed, the autopilot disconnected and I entered alpha floor protection. Got frustrated with it and ended the flight there.

Will be checked.

One thing that may be tricky right now is the mix of voice control and button control. For instance, if the user machine has no speech engine available, it's obvioulsy going to be "button control".

But when the user has speech reco available to him, MCE will assume you're in "button only mode" when you disable all MCE speech reco.

If you don't disable it, when you run a flow and say something needs confirmation, like disconnecting GPU or other critical item, MCE will prompt before going ahead. If it's in pure "button control", then it is assumed as intended.

In other words, don't use the F, C, R buttons if you want total control on what happens and very eager to confirm something when Fo wants you to, like extending gear above VMO.

When voice control is available, FO won't be retracting/extending flaps or gear on his own either. He'll wait for you to call for them to be extended or retracted on demand and as many times as you like.

Now, I'm sure there is lots of user error in this, there are probably very clear answers to all these issues. For example, maybe if I had just called for the after takeoff checklist immediately the F/o would have done things on his own. But I read the documentation ahead of time, or at least what I could find, and was left very lost and confused with this first attempt. I don't know what to call for and when. The only similar product I have is FS2Crew, and was looking at MCE as an alternative because of all the additional aircraft it supports and the former's sometimes lackluster voices. With FS2Crew, there's a little window that tells you exactly what phase of flight you are in, what the next flow/checklist will be, and what you are expected to do as the pilot and what the F/O will do. How do i get something similar, or even more simply which one of the documents should I be reading to help me through all the various steps of a flight with this particular aicraft I am testing (Fenix A320). I want a list of the available flows and checklists, and descriptions of what the copilot will do on his own within those vs what I am expected to do.

You can use all the stuff yoiu are used to with Fs2crew in MCE, by renaming the flows to sentences you are used to for a start. Then you will discover that in the context of MCE, when we say "voice control", we mean it.

It wasn't a button control product that was built for button, then later "converted to voice" by simply replacing a button (or joystick) click with a trigger sentence that you have to memorize and only speak as per the scripted adventure.

Freedom of speech is the motto here (That's why we spent more than a decade refining this). Voice Control stops being fun when you have to constantly pause and try to remember what you can say and when.

The idea is that a trained pilot or serious flight simmer who is already familiar with aviation jargon, including ATC, will hardly have any need to read the documentation. 

90% of supported aircraft switches have a bunch of speech commands to set them to desied state directly. A flow is nothing more than a speech simulator, acting as if you gave those speech commands in a sequence. Kind of, When I say this, do this, do that, pause a bit o until I tell you to continue, notify me here and there and report when you are done with the task.

You probably noticed that we go that extra mile by getting FO to dial FCU SPD, HED, ALT, VS, VHF and transponder

Go to <Script command> panel and click <Command> button.

Should see a list of many of the speech commands to check that the FO knows the state of items and set them at will.

Here is a video with PMDG 737 showing that feature. Enjoy your Demo. Obviously, the A320 will have a different set of commands.

The commands shared across all supported planes aren't listed there.

<media> 

 

Thanks for feedback.

Answers embedded in your post above

Thanks for the detailed support. Tried it again, went much better now that I knew what to expect and wasn't trying to follow a script as much. I was also able to successfully edit some of the scripts so that for example the APU start procedure wouldn't disconnect the external power. Where are these scripts saved? I tried looking through the MCE folder and couldn't find them.

When editing/creating my scripts, is there a searchable text file or something similar that MCE has available for an aircraft? There is the list in the in-game voxscript editor but it can be difficult to find things. For example, on the A320 the nose light has an off, taxi, takeoff position. I'm trying to modify the before take-off flows so that the copilot will turn this to take-off in addition to turning on the main landing lights. However I'm having trouble finding the phrase for it, I can only see taxi light on/off while I need to set it to the third, take-off position.

16 minutes ago, CIKSSFMO said:

Thanks for the detailed support. Tried it again, went much better now that I knew what to expect and wasn't trying to follow a script as much. I was also able to successfully edit some of the scripts so that for example the APU start procedure wouldn't disconnect the external power. Where are these scripts saved? I tried looking through the MCE folder and couldn't find them.

When editing/creating my scripts, is there a searchable text file or something similar that MCE has available for an aircraft? There is the list in the in-game voxscript editor but it can be difficult to find things. For example, on the A320 the nose light has an off, taxi, takeoff position. I'm trying to modify the before take-off flows so that the copilot will turn this to take-off in addition to turning on the main landing lights. However I'm having trouble finding the phrase for it, I can only see taxi light on/off while I need to set it to the third, take-off position.

You're welcome

You can use commands "taxi light to taxi", "taxi light to takeoff".

Flows are saved to \My Documents\Multi Crew Experience\Myvoicescripts\Copilot\ folder.

Each supported type of aircraft would have its own folder.

Because Fenix A 320, FlyBuwire mod as well as Asobo default plane are all A320, the same pre-made flows are found in <ASOBO_A32-NEO> folder.

There is a file named "Available_Commands.dat"

That;s where the list of built-in commands comes from. You can open it in Notepad. 

You can equally edit flows in Notepad, but I don't recommend it until you are into heavy customization like adding all sorts of flows to handle failures.

If it's the odd command you need to add, do that via the Voxscript interface. It will ensure the command exists(when you test it) and that you aren't typing upper case or 3 instead of "three".

Refrain from using any other tool than Notepad, not Notepad++ nor XML editors or other tools which may add invisible characters that can render the file unusable.

Not all built-in speech commands are listed in the "Available_Commands.dat"

I mean not commands such as "set speed two fifty", "selecy flight level three two zero", "extend gear manually, "com one one eighteen seven", swap com one"....and thousands of others that apply to all planes

If you speak something naturally and after trying it a couple of times you are met with silence, you can assume the command doesn't exist.

Either make a request for it to beadded and it's a matter of updating speech grammar files (files in CandC folder) so no need to update the program itself.

Or, if you want, you can educate your FO to understand your own speech without us getting involved.

Here's a secret that's not even advertized. 🙂

You could use a side functionality of Voxscript as a "Translator".

In "Command" tab of UI click <Voxscript> button.

Create a new flow and give it the trigger sentence of the item you had in mind. It can be anything you want, even meaningless sentences in other languages.

The new flow will be listeded. At this stage MCE will submit it to speech engine and will be recognized, but has no clue what to make of it.

Select it, click Edit and in next screen enable Verbose option.

When you get to "Scipts Commands" panel, unlike with a custom flow where you will be adding a ton of switching as a task for Fo to perform, you need to look-up the documentation once in order to find the useful buil-in command, click <Command> button and type the built-in command FO is trained to react to and click <Add>. Don't forget to save.

Fom then on, when you speak naturally, whatever you have typed will act as if you spoke the built-in command it was tied to, And Fo would know what to do even if the command was "gosh I always foget about that thing" 🙂

That opens the door for non-English speakers to have trigger sentences in their own language if they want.

For those who want to customize button control actions, open <BTN> folder and you'll see the flows triggered by the F button.

Should you want a more hands on operation, delete all the lines that you deem your area of responsibility. Leave them as they are if you want Fo to handle everyting. For now,only removing items is OK.