sthompson

I think the original FAQ postings got messed up when the forum software changed, and it hasn't been updated. If you look at the FAQ on the VAICOM site instead, it recommends using the "custom path" option for this problem. Typically the problem occurs when VAICOM gets confused about the location of your DCS installation and which version is in use and so is not updating the lua code properly. That sometimes happens if you moved your DCS installation and/or Saved Games folder without using proper procedures to update the registry. One way to diagnose it is to turn on debugging in VAICOM, restart VA, and then post the log file here. (Or better still, create a new "blinking menus" thread and post it there. This is the FAQ thread, after all.)

Try adding the name of the JTAC as part of that initial command. For example, if the JTAC is Playboy then give the command "Playboy, Playtime 30 Minutes." where the comma denotes a short pause. In general if you get "waiting for additional input" it means that you left something out of your command. Also, if you have not yet contacted the JTAC then you may have to first issue a SELECT command. (That isn't necessary if you are using Instant Select.)

Which version of VoiceAttack? Which directory is it installed in? Which directory did you copy the VAICOMPRO folder to?

The challenge for VAICOM since the beginning is that DCS has no stable, public API for communicating with the AI. The first version of VAICOM used simulated keystrokes via the menu system. But since the menus are dynamic this only worked if you installed lua mods that patched the menu system to create static menus, and those broke frequently when ED updated the DCS code. (I know because I tried to do the updating when versions 1.5 and 2 of DCS came out.) The current system bypasses menus by running lua code within DCS that interact with DCS AI directly. But there is no standardized way to do this, and so again I suspect that things are breaking frequently as DCS is updated. A further complication is that Razbam and ED are themselves introducing new AI interaction in the way of copilots / RIOs etc. (e.g. Jester, George, etc.) and none of those interfaces are documented publicly either. Hollywood and VAICOM PRO have shown that voice interaction with the AI is possible. But keeping it working probably requires more support from ED than I suspect they have provided so far. A standardized API would be enormously helpful. So would integration between that API and the track system so that voice commands were reproducible in track files. Caveat: These are my observations as a long term user and participant in these forums. Perhaps there have been behind-the-scenes interactions between Hollywood and ED that I'm not aware of.

The profile file is not installed but rather is created on the fly the first time you execute VAICOMPRO. There are two possibilities for why this hasn't worked for you: (1) Newer versions of VoiceAttack install in a different location from the other versions and the VAICOMPRO exe installer doesn't know about the new location. Try installing using the ZIP file instead. (2) Some of the important VAICOMPRO files (including the profile) are not created until the first time you actually run VAICOMPRO. This is per documented installation process. So you need to put the VAICOMPRO plugin in the right place, set up the options in VoiceAttack to run plugins, then restart VoiceAttack. When it restarts it will load the VAICOMPRO plugin, which will create the profile. Then you can import it and modify it to your keybinding preferences. Don't forget to run the FINISH step when done.

Have you checked the kneeboard transparency slider in the VAICOM settings pages? (This affects the VAICOM kneeboard page only.) Do other kneeboard pages look OK?

FYI, this is an old, obsolete thread, and you are not likely to get much attention here. A long time ago VAICOM support shifted to its own subforum at https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/329-vaicom/. Please post any follow ups there. That said, since VAICOM apparently uses the Windows registry to find the Saved Games folder you possibly did not use the right procedure for moving it. You can check this by navigating to C:\Users\[my username]\ and then right clicking on the Saved Games folder there. Then select the Location tab. Click on the Move button and then navigate to the new location on D and select it. Click "Apply."

I've often found when using VAICOM that I need to use the \ key (or ALT-\ depending on module) twice to get a response. Have you tried that?

You might search Windows 10 Settings for "App Volume and Device Settings." This provides an alternative interface for app specific volume settings. Perhaps it is more persistent across sessions than using the Sound Mixer.

For most of us, it's just magic!

You seem to have two issues and I was trying to be helpful on both. I didn't mean to imply that they were connected, although your original post seemed to suggest that you thought they might be connected. You now seem to think otherwise. Problem one: Errors importing the F10 menu. If others are doing this successfully from the same mission then it must be an issue in your setup. Unfortunately, this feature of VAICOM is pretty opaque and the error messages obviously aren't very helpful. I have a few thoughts about what the problem might be, but I'm speculating. First, if you use the Import F10 menu a lot then it's possible that you have added a lot of commands to the VAICOM database and possibly there is a limit that you have exceeded. Second, it's possible that the commands you are trying to import conflict somehow with ones already in the database. Third, the database might be corrupted. Either way, I would try a reset of your keyword database and your VAICOM profile to see if the problem goes away. BTW, when you say that "others have no problem" do they have the same settings for VAICOM? Problem two: You have flashing comms menu unless you specify a custom DCS path. Typically this means that your registry entry for the corresponding DCS version has a problem so that VAICOM cannot find that version of DCS using the registry. I would recommend that you use the "fix registry" solution again, being sure to put the version slider in the right place first. After that, and upon restarting VAICOM you should be able to turn the custom path off. Note that changes in these settings take effect the next time you restart VAICOM, so always restart after making a change to the custom path options. I hope this helps!

I don't have personal experience with this but have read the VoiceAttack and VAICOM manuals and know that VAICOM will communicate with DCS running on a different machine on the same network, provided you use the manual setup method. But I've never understood how this could work in practice since you would then have VoiceAttack and DCS running on different machines and thus not sharing the same input devices. You could not have your VAICOM TX key assignments on the same device as your DCS HOTAS, for example, because those would be on different machines. The VAICOM manual describes how to set up VAICOM for such an arrangement but it is less clear how to set up VoiceAttack, and I don't see any hints in the VoiceAttack manual. I know that some people run DCS in server mode on one machine and a separate client copy on a client machine. But in that setup I'm pretty sure you would want VoiceAttack and VAICOM to be running on the DCS client machine so that they can share the same input devices. So I think your first step should be to figure out how to set up VoiceAttack. I suggest you ask about that on the VoiceAttack forums. Once you get that working then setting up VAICOM should be relatively straightforward (albeit tedious) using the guidance in the VAICOM manual.

Absolutely, although the options for changing the position and scale of the keyboard are no longer compatible with DCS. (So don't try to use them!) The VAICOM kneeboard is just a single kneeboard page that goes inside the regular kneeboard. KBB builds other static keyboard images that also go in the regular kneeboard. BTW, it's vAIcom, not vIAcom. The "load the batteries" graphic has been seen before and represents some kind of corruption of the DCS installation causing DCS to not find the proper graphics. A DCS repair usually fixes it. I don't think it has anything to do with VAICOM. However if your DCS was corrupted I'm not surprised that the VAICOM kneeboard also disappeared. In any event, excellent that you got it working!

Chatter is on by default if you check the "Auto-start" box under chatter settings. (But you won't hear it unless the radios are powered.) The voice command "chatter" toggles it on and off.

According to the user manual, VAICOM installs different lua mods for each version. So it's unlikely that using the OB setting as a pointer to a second stable copy will work using the automatic installation methods. If you did that, VAICOM probably would install the OB mods onto your stable installation, and who knows what the result would be. However I'm pretty sure you can solve this problem using the manual lua installation method. Be warned that this is tedious, there are numerous ways to screw that up, and you will need to redo it periodically after a DCS repair or update. To use this method you would not use the "custom DCS path" option and instead check the "Manage DCS-side Files manually" option. And then you need to export some files from VAICOM and do a variety of lua file edits manually. See the section in the user manual entitled "Managing DCS-side (lua) files manually."

From the manual: MP Server Special Menus Through the ‘Import F10 Menus’ function it is possible to add server-specific commands to the voice commands set. Imported F10 menu items get ‘Action’ in front of the phrase: for example an imported menu item ‘Push to Waypoint 2’ would become ‘Action Push to Waypoint 2‘ on import. This can then become anything you like in the keywords editor. This import will only work if the server has implemented the F10 menu in the standard compatible manner (which is the case for most servers). MP limitations Multiplayer mission designers can take great liberties in mission design, e.g. by introducing custom callsigns, custom menus and all kinds of other tweaks outside of the default spectrum. VAICOM PRO cannot support these by default. Where the mission design makes use of the standard features, VAICOM PRO will support them. But some limitations may apply on some specific servers. Regarding the issue with manually setting the DCS path, have you tried using the "fix registry" option? Generally you can turn off the manual setting of the path once you fix the registry. Be sure to restart VoiceAttack and then DCS after making the change.

Why do you think it's anything other than a design decision. Keep in mind that for a gunsight you want the gunsight and the target airplane (which is essentially at optical infinity) to be in focus at the same time. Your car designer probably thinks that you will see the road ahead better if the speed indication is NOT in the same focal plane as objects on the road ahead.

Most likely you did not have "Import F10 Menu" checked on the old machine. You do have it checked as seen in your screen shots. And if you have that checked then every F10 menu item in every mission you fly is going to get saved by VAICOM in its database. It's not smart to leave it turned on in my view. I'm not aware of any way to delete them from the database except by resetting it.

Sounds like you might have the "Hold AI Transmission" box checked on the MP page.

When the new clouds were introduced we were told that the AI can see through them but that this would change in the future. I don't know whether that has changed. I've often wondered if lights matter, especially at night.

I don't have any problems along these lines. Why aren't you using the standard "Finish" procedure to update keywords? That may be your problem. You may also have a corrupted VA profile, or a corrupted VAICOMPRO database.

The name of the product is vaicompro, not viacompro. Are you sure you copied the email address properly? Just asking because you mistyped the name in your post so maybe you did when entering the email address too.

In my experience this is almost always because you did not follow necessary procedures after a DCS update. Whenever you update DCS you must (1) exist DCS; (2) exit VoiceAttack, (3) restart VoiceAttack, and (4) restart DCS in that order. Otherwise the lua files do not get updated properly, and the flashing comms menus are symptom of that.

Me too.

See today's update of openbeta, which lists this bug fix... DCS: F-14 Tomcat by Heatblur Simulations Fixed Multiplayer Seat Switching not working.