New User Questions

[peacefarm 4]

Hello,

Foremost congratulations and thanks to the MCE team for such a fantastic, customizable, and feature rich program. 
 

I've tried the demo and eager to purchase the full version. I will be using it exclusively tor the PMDG 737 in MSFS and have a few questions:
 

1. Do I need to purchase the MCE MSFS *and* "Multi Crew PMDG 737 MSFS"? If so, is the PMDG package what allows me to access the custom data refs/command I couldn't find in the demo? 
 

2. In regards to voices, are we able to make our own recordings? If so, how? I notice the voice packs are in a dll format so curious to know if there is a tool to record our own sound sets/responses. 
 

3. If unable to record our own voice packs, could we install natural sounding TTS voice packs off the net? If so, can you recommend a good source? 

4. What are some good sources for further learning MCE? I've read the manuals included with the DEMO, but I reckon the program has a lot more to offer. 
 

Many thanks in advance for your replies! 

[FS++ 710]

4 hours ago, peacefarm said:

Hello,

Foremost congratulations and thanks to the MCE team for such a fantastic, customizable, and feature rich program. 

Thank you. Always good to hear of brave and "free minded people" eager to explore a Demo in order to make their own mind about a product.

This is more than a decade in the making. The ultimate goal being to get as close as possible to "shared cockpit" nirvana. Ideally, a real world pilot wouldn't need to read the manual. Just need to speak aviation jargon.

I've tried the demo and eager to purchase the full version. I will be using it exclusively tor the PMDG 737 in MSFS and have a few questions:
 

1. Do I need to purchase the MCE MSFS *and* "Multi Crew PMDG 737 MSFS"? If so, is the PMDG package what allows me to access the custom data refs/command I couldn't find in the demo? 
 

In your case, the "multi Crew PMDG 737" is all you need. It has all the capability of Ultimate, just restricted to PMDG 737. If on the other hand you have at least 2 or 3 other planes you would need a co-pilot for, including upcoming PMDG 777 & 747 (which we will support via free updates to the MSFS edition, then the latter might be a better value.

2. In regards to voices, are we able to make our own recordings? If so, how? I notice the voice packs are in a dll format so curious to know if there is a tool to record our own sound sets/responses. 

Our FO recorded voice packs are massive. They come at about 4600+ recordings per voice. They are packaged inside a single dll per voice because when the installer copies files to the hard drive, it's quicker to find space for a big file and copy it in one go, rather than copy 50000 (total recordings) one at a time. It would take hours to install, as opposed to the couple of minutes.

We have developed an in-house tool that can make the recording process easier. No need to type file names and such.You just hold the CTRL key down as if transmitting to ATC, you read some text that appears in front of you, then release and wait for the next text to appear. Previous recording gets automatically named and saved.

The recording tool is available on request.

We'll then put them all together in a new dll, like FoSteve.dll or whatever

 

 

3. If unable to record our own voice packs, could we install natural sounding TTS voice packs off the net? If so, can you recommend a good source? 

In addition to the already available 10 human co-pilot recorded voice packs (only a few come with the Demo and the rest are free downloads), if you have ANY 32 Bit SAPI 5 TTS voice installed, MCE will detect it and you can assign it to any crew member.

Some people running Pilot2Atc already do that so that they don't get an intruder aboard. The same Fo TTS voice will then handle both cockpit duties in MCE and ATC in 2ATC.

4. What are some good sources for further learning MCE? I've read the manuals included with the DEMO, but I reckon the program has a lot more to offer. 

Indeed, there is more than meets the eye.

This forum has a lot of information as it is.

There are some undocumented features like being able to relocate the plane to ANY airport or runway via voice, and the ability to "teach" crew members to make sense of any speech you can come up with, including slang, German, French, Spanish or ANY foreign language.

See this thread

If you click the "?" blue square in the UI and follow that with a second click on some item, a TTS voice will explain what it does.

Many thanks in advance for your replies! 

You're welcome.

 

Answers embedded above

Edited March 5, 2023 by FS++

[peacefarm 4]

On 3/5/2023 at 5:14 PM, FS++ said:

Answers embedded above

Hi there, thank you so very much for your reply! 
 

I'm delighted to hear you confirm my suspicions on MCE being what I need (and more!). I will certainly pick up a copy and send you a request for the recording tool once things settle down at work for me in the coming weeks. 
 

Keep up the great work! 

[peacefarm 4]

On 3/9/2023 at 11:10 AM, peacefarm said:

Answers embedded above

Thank you again for such a wonderful software. I have invested in the MSFS version for the PMDG 737. 
 

Considering how rich in features MCE is, I've decided to approach the setup process by configuring it from the ground up. In other words, I'd like to disable everything and turn features on only as I have time to configure them each. 

I work for a 737 carrier and my goal is to use MCE to match our procedures as close as possible as a tool to remain current.  

So far, I have had great success with setting up the checklists. Now I'm working on flows and have a few questions:

1. Is there a way to disable the FO from saying what they're doing after every step? Ie "logo light on" - Can he just do it and not say he's doing it?

2. Is there a way to add custom commands that are not working or added to the command list? I noticed the igniter position commands are not working. Also, I can't find the wing body overheat button test command. It would be really great to be able to add to the already existing list of commands. I use LVARS for my home cockpit so wondering if I can add them in a similar way? 
 

2a.  Is there a way to have a push button (for example the ATTEND button) to trigger a VOXSCRIPT event? It would be nice to have an announcement play when the button is pressed. 
 

3. Next up I want to work on ground services. While I like the current command options, my carrier does things in a very specific way:

Me: "Hey guys this is nose number XXXX, are you on?"

Ground: "Hi captain, yes, 3 man crew on wireless. Pre-push items are complete, standing by"

Me: "Roger, A's off, door lights are out, parking brake is released - you're cleared to push"

Ground: "Alright starting push, you're cleared to start both engines"

**DEFAULT or GSX PUSH TRIGGERED**
 

(more custom lingo for the disconnect)

**PUSH TUG DISCONNECTS**
 

.... is this possible?

 

Sorry for the long post but thank you in advance for your guidance. I look forward to hearing from you! 

 

 

[FS++ 710]

12 hours ago, peacefarm said:

Thank you again for such a wonderful software. I have invested in the MSFS version for the PMDG 737. 

Always good to hear such feedback.

Considering how rich in features MCE is, I've decided to approach the setup process by configuring it from the ground up. In other words, I'd like to disable everything and turn features on only as I have time to configure them each. 

I work for a 737 carrier and my goal is to use MCE to match our procedures as close as possible as a tool to remain current.  

Definitely can do. You can create custom flows for emergencies and even have the FO read out sections of the QRH while handling the failure with occasional scheduled pauses in the flow so you can tell him to continue when you're ready. 

So far, I have had great success with setting up the checklists. Now I'm working on flows and have a few questions:

1. Is there a way to disable the FO from saying what they're doing after every step? Ie "logo light on" - Can he just do it and not say he's doing it?

Yes and it's very simple. Go to Voxscript panel, select a flow and click <Edit>. Turn option "verbose" off and the crew member that executes the flow will do that silently.

Incidentally, people often mistake the fact we ship pre-made flows with verbose option enabled as lack of input from real world pilots. Not at all, we do that intentionally so that the first time you trigger a flow, you can see exactly what the FO is doing. By default he handles almost everything, with the view that all the user has to do is go through the list of handled items and remove the ones he/she deems his/her area of responsibility. That way there is no arguing as to who does what. Eevery MCE user will have the flows as per his/her real world or virtual airline SOPs. And it gives you an idea about the kind of speeh commands you could use to direct FO to handle something via a direct voice command and not just by triggering a flow.

 

2. Is there a way to add custom commands that are not working or added to the command list? I noticed the igniter position commands are not working. Also, I can't find the wing body overheat button test command. It would be really great to be able to add to the already existing list of commands. I use LVARS for my home cockpit so wondering if I can add them in a similar way? 

There is no possibility to associate a speech command directly to some LVAR. 

We don't usually boother with the Body Overheat button. Could be added.

It is possible to train the FO to understand your natural speech. However it assumes he's already trained to handle a particular item. Have you tried

igniter to left

igniter set to right

igniter to both.

Now, if a different trigger sentence tends to spring to your mind naturally, see this thread on how you can teach the FO to understand ANY speech you may come up with by tying the custom speech to some built-in speech command he's trained to react to.

2a.  Is there a way to have a push button (for example the ATTEND button) to trigger a VOXSCRIPT event? It would be nice to have an announcement play when the button is pressed. 
 

Only in the less exciting button control mode. The "F" button when clicked will trigger a flow that is determined by the flight phase you're in. A joystick button can be assigned to trigger the F button, however, you have no control as to which flow will be triggered. Not suitable for voice control.. 

3. Next up I want to work on ground services. While I like the current command options, my carrier does things in a very specific way:

Yep, can do. Your imagination is the limit here.

The Mechanic human recorded voice packs are very limited compared to FO pack, therefore for custom replies you either make use of a quality TTS voice (assign it to the Mch), or have some audio recordings (made by a friend) and use them as replies to your own voice input (use the <+sound> button to provide a wav file path

Me: "Hey guys this is nose number XXXX, are you on?"

In Voxscript panel, click <New> button and type the command above. It will be listed and MCE will tell the speech engine to recognize it, but doesn't know what to make of it.

Select the custom command and click <Edit> button.

In next screen, if you intend to use a TTS voice, disable option "verbose" so that the built-in reply doesn't get used.

Click <Edit script Commands>.

There are two ways you can proceed from here:

If the custom request involves ground mechanic needing to connect gpu or things like that, you would need to tie your command to a built-in one so that action can take place.

If on the other hand you just want mechanic to verbally acknowledge, either use the <Notify> button to add some speech the TTS voice would be uttering, like the following...

Ground: "Hi captain, yes, 3 man crew on wireless. Pre-push items are complete, standing by"

Or, if the speech above has been recorded by a friend, click <+ sound> and provide the path to the wav file, which will then be listed.

Don't forget to save.

Me: "Roger, A's off, door lights are out, parking brake is released - you're cleared to push"

Do the same for the command above

Ground: "Alright starting push, you're cleared to start both engines"

**DEFAULT or GSX PUSH TRIGGERED**
 

(more custom lingo for the disconnect)

**PUSH TUG DISCONNECTS**
 

.... is this possible?

You can also converse with cabin crew the way you do in the real plane if you have the real world recordings or some quality TTS voice you can put to good use.

Again, if the custom command needs to prompt the cabin crew to take action on the doors for example, you need to tie your custom command to a built-in one like "cabin crew open service doors", "cabin crew close all doors", "cabin crew get ready for departure"(where they make sure the doors are closed.

Sorry for the long post but thank you in advance for your guidance. I look forward to hearing from you! 

It's OK, I don't mind. It will help others in the long run. People rarely read the documentation these days, and don't even know that you could converse with the FO freely and in ANY language if you wanted.

And that's why MCE is the choice of the professionals. It's not a scripted adventure waiting for you at key times to utter something (and only that thing) that acts as a trigger for a button, that would be "voice activated button".

Instead, it is designed from the gound up for "voice control". It's a fully interactive crew simulation, with no assumption as to what help the user expects from the his crew (not just the FO).

You request what you want, when you want and using the speech you want. 😎

See this video. Don't laugh at David's German accent.

<media> 

 

 

[peacefarm 4]

Hi Gerald, thanks again for the top-notch support! 😎

On 3/18/2023 at 12:54 PM, FS++ said:

Yes and it's very simple. Go to Voxscript panel, select a flow and click <Edit>. Turn option "verbose" off and the crew member that executes the flow will do that silently.

That did the trick, thanks! 

On 3/18/2023 at 12:54 PM, FS++ said:

Now, if a different trigger sentence tends to spring to your mind naturally, see this thread on how you can teach the FO to understand ANY speech you may come up with by tying the custom speech to some built-in speech command he's trained to react to.

Thanks for the link to post.  I guess where the other user and I are getting stuck is ... what if it's not on the drop-down menu of commands? I remember back in the old FSUIPC days there was a way to save command for home cockpits, etc based on mouse macros.  While *most* everything we need is in the list of commands, it would sure be nice to be able to add to it.  Little things like wing-body-overheat test while not of great function in a sim, is great to have built into the flows as to not disturb our usual flows by "omitting" it.  Things like pulling the knob on the STBY attitude indicator to cage it, etc.  While I can imagine it taking a long time for all the products you support, I wonder if there is a way we can help with that somehow.  While it might not be useful for many, the ability to add to the list would be the key that unlocks the already massive capabilities of the addon.  

On 3/18/2023 at 12:54 PM, FS++ said:

Have you tried

igniter to left

igniter set to right

igniter to both.

Yes, I've tried to both verbalize and assign it within the command's dropdown, but they do not move.  I don't have this issue with other commands such as lights, etc.  Any other ideas? 

On 3/18/2023 at 12:54 PM, FS++ said:

In Voxscript panel, click <New> button and type the command above. It will be listed and MCE will tell the speech engine to recognize it, but doesn't know what to make of it.

Thank you, because of your suggestion, I now have a working ground service system going the way I want! 🙂

----------

To recap, here are the pending issues:

1. Ability to add items to the custom command list? (ie: wing body overheat test, standby altimeter cage knob pull, etc. bits and pieces we'd like to add with time)

2. Igniter position commands not working (L, BOTH, nor R).  Tried via voice and Voxscript custom command. (MSFS PMDG 737)

3. (I know weird, but....) our airline doesn't read the title of checklist but instead gets right into reading the items.  Is there a way to omit the FO saying "xxxx checklist" at the beginning of a checklist? We do however say the name of the checklist when done with (ie: "before start checklist complete").  We're a very large US carrier and this gets guys ALL the time during training as it sure is different from the norm but one that I'd like to incorporate nevertheless, if possible? 

4. How can I disable the greeting from the mechanic upon starting the program? I read on another post that we should disable the greeting in the .ini file, but I never found the said entry to turn it off.  

5. I look forward to trying the recording tool you sent me.  Due to the nomenclature used in our company's checklist, I'm having to use TTS voices for checklists.  With the recording tool, will I be able to have a friend record our specific replies and then have the FO use the recordings or is the tool only for the preexisting commands/set verbiage? 

6. Since I'm only using the MSFS PMDG 737, will all my Voxscripts and checklist transfer over to each model (-7/800) and/or each livery? 

-----------

I look forward to your thoughts!

THANKS FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE SUPPORT and for helping us ELEVATE our sim experiences to new heights! ---->> NVpkT1U.png (1253×908) (imgur.com)

 

 

 

[Burge 28]

Bloody hell this is awesome

[FS++ 710]

18 hours ago, peacefarm said:

Hi Gerald, thanks again for the top-notch support! 😎

You're welcome

----------

To recap, here are the pending issues:

1. Ability to add items to the custom command list? (ie: wing body overheat test, standby altimeter cage knob pull, etc. bits and pieces we'd like to add with time).

The list itself could be added to by simply editing "Available_Commands.dat file in aircraft scripts folder \My Documents\Multi Crew Experience\Myvoicescripts...

However, it won't work for the following reason.

Each listed command must exist as a built-in command. Speech files in \CandC\ folder must be updated

FO needs to be trained to handle the specific item once the speech engine has recognized it. This involves sending a request to "Simco64_Ldr.exe" (our other app) to tell it to set the switch or dial accurately. And depending on the supported plane, it could be some command to say PMDG 737 SDK or on planes that don't have one, attempt to manipulate Lvar or just Simconnect built-in variable variable. We'll add that funtionality for body overheat and a few other items you mentioned.

The only ones that can be added are those items that may have been overlooked and not listed but respond when you manually type and test them. Example "set speed v two"

2. Igniter position commands not working (L, BOTH, nor R).  Tried via voice and Voxscript custom command. (MSFS PMDG 737).

I just checked and those igniter commands are working in Ultimate Edition.

The issue seems to be in the optimized "Simco64_Ldr.exe" that was shipping with Multi Crew PMDG 737 specific product.

For now, download this file, unzip and replace "Simco64_Ldr.exe" in \Multi Crew PMDG 737\ installation folder

http://www.multicrewxp.com/Simco64_Ldr.zip

If access to link above is denied, copy the entire line and paste it to your browser address field.

The optimized version essentially recompiles the same source code by excluding everything that isn't related to the PMDG 737, as the file services many planes.

A new update will be out for the PMDG 737 later this week.

3. (I know weird, but....) our airline doesn't read the title of checklist but instead gets right into reading the items.  Is there a way to omit the FO saying "xxxx checklist" at the beginning of a checklist? We do however say the name of the checklist when done with (ie: "before start checklist complete").  We're a very large US carrier and this gets guys ALL the time during training as it sure is different from the norm but one that I'd like to incorporate nevertheless, if possible? 

No problem. We'll add a new option to "mce.ini", like

[Checklist]

ReadHeader=0

It will be ON by default (when option is missing) and you can disable it by setting it to 0

4. How can I disable the greeting from the mechanic upon starting the program? I read on another post that we should disable the greeting in the .ini file, but I never found the said entry to turn it off.  

That's actually the ramp agent, not the mechanic. He pops-in obviously on ground, when engines are off and as soon as the battery is ON. You can disable it as follows..

[RAMP]

NoGreetimng=1

 

5. I look forward to trying the recording tool you sent me.  Due to the nomenclature used in our company's checklist, I'm having to use TTS voices for checklists.  With the recording tool, will I be able to have a friend record our specific replies and then have the FO use the recordings or is the tool only for the preexisting commands/set verbiage? 

I suggest you send your custom checklist to support in order to ensure he's checking everything as expected.

6. Since I'm only using the MSFS PMDG 737, will all my Voxscripts and checklist transfer over to each model (-7/800) and/or each livery? 

In Prepar3D & FSX we used to have flows in separate folders per PMDG variant.

Now, with MSFS, they are all stored in.\My Documents\Multi Crew Experience\Myvoicescripts\Copilot\Aircraft\PMDG B737 MSFS\ folder

Once they are in place, a flow with a specific name (trigger sentence) is always assumed to have been edited and won't be overwritten by subsequent installation.

If you do a lot of work on them, I suggest you make a backupp just in case.

-----------

I look forward to your thoughts!

THANKS FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE SUPPORT and for helping us ELEVATE our sim experiences to new heights! ---->> NVpkT1U.png (1253×908) (imgur.com)

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by FS++

[peacefarm 4]

Thanks for the help again, Gerald.  I will continue this conversation via our email thread.  I will be sure to update the thread as new developments come about in case users have same questions in the future.  🙂