Game Commander

INTRODUCTION

Voice activation is not new; it has been around for a long time, but usually it requires that the user say out loud a lot of words so that the computer can identify his or her voice.

It is quite remarkable how so many people in the world speak a similar language; yet have difficulty understanding each other. Spaniards for example would have difficulty with Mexican dialects, or English people would have difficulty with some American accents. In some cases, even people within the same country have difficulty. It was with some scepticism therefore that I read about a new item of software being released that did not require voice training.

Quite simply, Game Commander from Mind Maker is a piece of software packaged with a good microphone as a primary input device, that is able to replace many of the keyboard actions used in games and business applications, with voice commands via a game or application template. It is very easy to make a template yourself if there is not one supplied for your favourite game. You can download many user created templates from the Game Commander net site or upload your creation for others to share. It will work with just about any windows application that uses keyboard commands

INSTALLATION

The software is supplied on a single CD, accompanied with a nice Labtech microphone, and a 54-page manual. The manual may sound large, but in reality the software loaded effortlessly, and after plugging in the microphone it was basically ready to use. I just checked the templates supplied and downloaded a couple from the net site that I wanted to check out. I chose to test it on FS98, Flight Unlimited III, CFS, and also I made a template for Hangsim, which wasn’t supplied as a template either with the package or on the net site.

To activate the program, just click on the icon that is on your desktop, and the Game Commander tool bar is displayed on your screen in the upper left corner. The tool bar is very simple, it just consists of two buttons, one with a picture of an ear, which activates listen mode, and the other for the main menu which activates a drop down list of selectable items.

USING GAME COMMANDER

Most commands are simple to understand and do not require further reading. Microphone level for example controls your sound and recording settings, Listen activates the program engine, Always on Top controls the toolbar visibility, and Hide Toolbar does just that. It is in the area of User and Commands that the fascinating stuff resides.

First of all, let me say that game templates are grouped together in folders or User Templates. You can edit the supplied Game Commander User Template if you wish by deleting any games templates you don’t want or add to it by importing a new game template from the web site or a friend. In other words, it is easy to do your own housekeeping, and keep the program neat and tidy. In order for the software to work properly, you MUST activate your chosen game or software BEFORE you activate the Listen feature in Game Commander. When you do this, Game Commander will allocate a template title to the current User Template. For example, I am using Word 2000, and Game Commander has automatically included a Template called WinWord in the User Template. These user created templates do not automatically come with commands unfortunately, so it is up to you to define the commands you want to use in each template. For example, when I activated Hangsim and then the listening mode in Game Commander, I was presented with an empty table of Hangsim Commands.

To add commands to Game Commander is simple. You just get your game to the point where you are actually ready to play it and would use keyboard commands and then hit Alt Tab to go to Game Commander. Using the add key, which activates a simple data entry form, you type in the command name eg. "Menu", and then input the relevant keyboard commands in the keystrokes to send box. Hit the OK button and your command will appear on your game command list.

You can go right through your command key card or whatever you have for your game and input the lot in one session. When you have finished you simply select save to save your new game template, and all your commands are now available to use in your game. You can activate or deactivate a command by using the check boxes, or add commands at any time. You can also select Save As to save a text file list of your commands that you can print out later. By hitting Alt Tab, you can go back into your game and it should now recognise your voice input.

This is an amazingly simple program to use, and the more complex your command list is, the more you will appreciate this. The manual covers all the nuances, such as entering multiple keystroke commands, (and the program really doesn’t care if you are working with a simple game such as Hangsim, or an involved complex program with multiple keystrokes such WinWord). For people who are really into games, this is an absolute must have piece of software to avoid having to learn all the 1001 keyboard strokes that you have to know to get your game to work to its fullest extent.

SO, HOW DOES IT WORK?

So, how does it work in practice? Well, as I stated in the beginning, I was a bit dubious about the claim of "no voice training required", and to a certain extent I was right. I achieved a hit rate, where the software would recognise my commands in FS98 of approximately 70%, FUIII and CFS were around about the 60% mark, and Hangsim that I made myself enjoyed a hit rate of just on 75%. This is not hard to accept when you consider that different people pronounce the simplest of words in different ways. For example, the word Menu, might by said by a citizen as "Mean You", and by another as "Main You", others might pronounce it as "Men You". So the hit rate came as no surprise.

The great news is that this is very easy to fix. You just go into Game Commander and highlight the command that may be giving you trouble and select the Train button on the right hand side. You are then given three opportunities to say the problem word yourself after which it is recorded in your games command list with a hash mark in front of it to indicate that it is a user input command. You can then select the Test button to check out the results and make sure the computer knows what you are saying to it. I went through the entire command list for Hangsim and tested each command and did the Train corrections and then re-tested in about 15 minutes. The result of that is that my hit rate is now up around the 95-100%. You won't get 100% all of the time because you have to speak fairly clearly, and with being excited or tired or whatever, you will slip up sometimes, but certainly 95% is a fantastic result. The command usually appears in your game screen anyway, so you know if you have been misunderstood. It is a simple process to repeat the command, to make it even easier you can even configure Game Commander to beep when it misunderstands or understands a command correctly.

For dedicated Roger Wilco users I believe there are ways to set up Game Commander so it won't interfere with your normal talking, so I can see very few bugs with this product. A couple of minor items, the Always on Top command will not function in 3DFX full screen mode, hence the Alt Tab switching, and it is recommended that you have a full duplex sound card. Most sound cards are full duplex these days, and I had no trouble with my crystal card, but you should check that before you buy the software. The system requirements state that you should have at least a PII 200 MHz machine, with 16mb of RAM, and 35mb of HD Space. I noticed no effect on frame rates, and the whole thing ran flawlessly.

CONCLUSION

To summarise, it is an innovative, well-packaged and very useful bit of software that will save you a lot of time and enhance enjoyment of your games. There is an extensive library of templates for the user on both the CD and net site, and if you want to make your own it is very easy to do. It will also prove useful for the business apps user. A real winner!