How to use the Heatblur Jester wheel and VAICOM PRO ARIO voice commands to Jester at the same time

[sthompson]

This came up in a thread about something else. Credit goes to @Shane45 for the idea, but I thought this is an important answer to a FAQ that deserves its own thread:

To use both the Heatblur Jester Wheel in the F-14 and the ARIO voice commands for Jester in the same mission simply:

1. Make sure VoiceAttack is not running when you start the mission.

2. Start VoiceAttack (and thus VAICOM PRO / AIRIO) once you are sitting in your Tomcat.

You will find that the Jester wheel (the Heatblur one) works, and you can give voice commands to Jester. You can even use the "Jester, Options" command, but it brings up the Heatblur wheel without making the cockpit disappear, and you can then use the "Take xx" commands!" This seems like a great way to learn Jester commands, and should let you use the new ones even if VAICOM voice support for them isn't ready yet.

The only downside is that the DCS file editing that VAICOM PRO does when it starts will be ignored until the next time you restart DCS. This means that after a DCS update you need to run VAICOM PRO once, then exit VoiceAttack, then follow the instructions above.

[MAXsenna]

5 hours ago, sthompson said:

This came up in a thread about something else. Credit goes to @Shane45 for the idea, but I thought this is an important answer to a FAQ that deserves its own thread:

To use both the Heatblur Jester Wheel in the F-14 and the ARIO voice commands for Jester in the same mission simply:

1. Make sure VoiceAttack is not running when you start the mission.

2. Start VoiceAttack (and thus VAICOM PRO / AIRIO) once you are sitting in your Tomcat.

You will find that the Jester wheel (the Heatblur one) works, and you can give voice commands to Jester. You can even use the "Jester, Options" command, but it brings up the Heatblur wheel without making the cockpit disappear, and you can then use the "Take xx" commands!" This seems like a great way to learn Jester commands, and should let you use the new ones even if VAICOM voice support for them isn't ready yet.

The only downside is that the DCS file editing that VAICOM PRO does when it starts will be ignored until the next time you restart DCS. This means that after a DCS update you need to run VAICOM PRO once, then exit VoiceAttack, then follow the instructions above.

I agree! This should be stickies, and it also gives me hope that @Hollywood_315can find a permanent solution to keep the default Jester Wheel!

[Hollywood_315]

Hi all 

While the creativity is appreciated, be mindful please that such workarounds are not supported and can lead to state conflicts/stability issues on your system.
Having available either the standard wheel or AIRIO is by design. 
All functions of the standard wheel are available using the Jester..Options function.
Use of it should only be needed in exceptional cases: AIRIO is intended to use live dialog instead.

Thanks,
Hollywood

[speed-of-heat]

Can you not map a key or a button to "Jester ... Options "? 

[wowbagger]

Thanks for this tip.

I have all the Vaicom plugins and Vaicom itself is a wonderful game changer. That said, I always leave AIRIO disabled. For me there are too many verbal commands to commit to memory and the Jester Wheel serves as very useful and organized way of reminding me of the command options, and helps me find what I need, when I need it. Having the cockpit disappear with every Jester options interaction destroys the experience, so I leave AIRIO off. 

I was under the impression that having to choose one vs the other was the result of a technical limitation, rather than a design decision. Being able to use both fully would be a fantastic best-of-all-worlds situation which would maximize Tomcat effectiveness and immersion.

[sthompson]

3 hours ago, wowbagger said:

Thanks for this tip.

I have all the Vaicom plugins and Vaicom itself is a wonderful game changer. That said, I always leave AIRIO disabled. For me there are too many verbal commands to commit to memory and the Jester Wheel serves as very useful and organized way of reminding me of the command options, and helps me find what I need, when I need it. Having the cockpit disappear with every Jester options interaction destroys the experience, so I leave AIRIO off. 

I was under the impression that having to choose one vs the other was the result of a technical limitation, rather than a design decision. Being able to use both fully would be a fantastic best-of-all-worlds situation which would maximize Tomcat effectiveness and immersion.

My experience exactly.