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The Beta Profile, or Voidflakes Station and Ship Commands (VSaSC), is a constant work-in-progress that uses advanced conditions to function. It contains a very comprehensive selection of commands for managing your ship's systems in-game. However, due to the complex nature of these conditions and the way they are configured and tied into each other, some explanation is required to help you run the profile efficiently and get the most out of using it. It is for this reason that we highly recommend using the Basic Profile until you are well accustomed with Voice Attack and how it works with the game before trying the Beta.
We also suggest getting acquainted with our Voice Attack Tutorials on YouTube right here.
This guide will help you learn the 'technical' side of the Beta Profile, where it's limitations lie, and how to get everything working as it should.
GETTING STARTED AND RESETTING PROFILES
The first and definitely most important thing to remember about the Beta Profile is that when you first start up Voice Attack, the condition values for the commands have not been set - their value is currently Null. This means none of the commands have been initialised - you must give Voice Attack a command to set the conditions to Zero. Once this is done, Voice Attack will be able to change the condition values as you issue commands.
To intialise the profile, simply say "RUN DIAGNOSTICS" (or press 'F3') if your ship is docked at a station, or alternatively say "SYSTEM CHECKS" (or press 'F4') if you are currently flying or in Supercruise.
If you have any issues with commands or panels getting de-synchronised, you can use either of these again during gameplay to reset the profile. Whenever you engage or disengage your Frame Shift Drive the profile automatically resets on the fly, this greatly minimises the need for user interaction to keep the profile synced up correctly.
Note: For this to work properly you must have your weapons, cargo scoop, etc. retracted and your panel screens set to their default tabs:
Left panel: Navigation
Right panel: Status
Comms panel: Comms Feed (the screen with the text window)
USING PANELS AND PANEL-BASED COMMANDS
Using the panels in the Beta Profile is relatively easy, simply call out the name of the Panel tab you want to access and it will pop up for you! One thing you must remember is that the Sub-Targets and Target Cargo tabs on the Left Panel are greyed out until you have a target selected.
While you have no target these tabs cannot be selected, however Voice Attack would still assume they are available as it cannot hook directly into the game. It is up to you to remember not to call for these tabs while they are unavailable, or alternatively just call up another tab then correct it manually on the keyboard to sync back up
While on the Panel menus, pressing 'Q' and 'E' (by default) to cycle through the tabs will not synchronise in Voice Attack. While it is technically possible to set up, doing so will permanently cause 'stuttering' to occur on your Yaw movements during flight, as Voice Attack would be attempting to register your holding 'Q' to yaw left as a single keypress rather than holding the button down. This disruption was extremely cumbersome especially during combat and landing, so the decision was made to remove this function and only allow it to synchronise through voice commands. This does mean that you can MANUALLY re-synchronise the Panel tabs using the keyboard, if they get mixed up.
A small number of commands used in the Beta Profile work by accessing options available via the Left and Right Panels, including "REQUEST DOCKING PERMISSION". These commands are set up to find the appropriate Panel tab - in this case, the Contacts tab - then scroll and select the appropriate option. As the Contacts tab is constantly changing, and cycles up/down, Voice Attack cannot use conditions to determine what position (i.e. a ship or station) is highlighted on the tab - this means it must assume you are at the very top of the Contacts tab, which by default should be the local space station, anyway.
As we can usually assume that most pilots will request docking shortly after coming out of Supercruise, this is generally not an issue. It just means that if you've been looking through the Contacts list for one of your friends/wingmen before docking, you will need to scroll back up to the top of the list before asking for a landing bay.
Note: If you wish to type messages via the Comms Panel, it is recommended that you enable Keyboard Mode (see below) so that you can type without interruption, then disable it again once you're finished.
TOGGLE COMMANDS AND HOW THEY WORK
Many of the commands in the Beta Profile work as toggles, usually switching from Value '0' to Value '1'. These generally consist of actions with On/Off switches, such as Hardpoints, Landing Gear, and Cargo scoop. You can use these toggles in the following way:
"DEPLOY HARDPOINTS" - This will deploy the weapons for you
"RETRACT HARDPOINTS" - This will retract the weapons for you
This next one is a little more special:
"HARDPOINTS" - This will toggle between the above two commands, regardless of which one is selected. If your toggle commands are de-synchronised, you can use THIS command to get them retracted. Then just reset your profile as explained earlier in the guide.
USING KEYBOARD MODE AND VOICE CONTROL
The Keyboard Mode is a feature which allows you to completely disable all of the command keybindings and responses in order to type freely when entering a destination in the Galaxy Map, or when you would like to send a message to another player. To activate, simply say "KEYBOARD MODE ON" or "TYPING MODE ON" - you should hear a response from Astra as well as a little 'bump' sound to notify you. Remember to turn it off again once you've finished typing, or you will find many of your ship's controls are disabled!
Voice Control is a similar feature that, obviously enough, allows you to completely disable Voice Attack from listening to you. This can be great if you get a phone call, or just want to type something without Voice Attack mis-interpreting your keypresses as sounds. (The 'clacking' noise from my keys apparently sounds like the word "UP".... repeatedly!)
As with the above commands, this can be toggled with "VOICE CONTROL OFF" and "VOICE CONTROL ON".
If you happen to be Alt-Tabbing to another window, for example to check your e-mail or log in to Facebook, it is recommended you enable Keyboard Mode and disable Voice Control so you are not disturbed while typing. You can simply click on the 'Headphones' and 'Keyboard' buttons on Voice Attack for the same effect.
USING THE GALAXY AND SYSTEM MAPS
The "GALAXY MAP" and "SYSTEM MAP" can be called up and switched off by name, even toggled between the two. However, if you are looking at a star system on the Galaxy Map, and click the on-screen button to view it's local System Map, Voice Attack will be unable to follow that action. Likewise, it is also unable to follow the on-screen buttons back to the Galaxy Map or to exit the screen. We are currently reviewing this feature to see if it can be made more user-friendly.
When entering the System Map and Galaxy Map, the Keyboard Mode is automatically activated (and switched off on exit), allowing you to type freely without de-syncing the profile or getting loads of voice responses from ASTRA!
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Hopefully this guide will answer many of the often-asked questions about the Beta Profile and it's use! This section will of course be updated as new functions come into use or if anything requires better explanation.
Thank you for reading, and fly safe, Pilot!
Voidflakes
We also suggest getting acquainted with our Voice Attack Tutorials on YouTube right here.
This guide will help you learn the 'technical' side of the Beta Profile, where it's limitations lie, and how to get everything working as it should.
GETTING STARTED AND RESETTING PROFILES
The first and definitely most important thing to remember about the Beta Profile is that when you first start up Voice Attack, the condition values for the commands have not been set - their value is currently Null. This means none of the commands have been initialised - you must give Voice Attack a command to set the conditions to Zero. Once this is done, Voice Attack will be able to change the condition values as you issue commands.
To intialise the profile, simply say "RUN DIAGNOSTICS" (or press 'F3') if your ship is docked at a station, or alternatively say "SYSTEM CHECKS" (or press 'F4') if you are currently flying or in Supercruise.
If you have any issues with commands or panels getting de-synchronised, you can use either of these again during gameplay to reset the profile. Whenever you engage or disengage your Frame Shift Drive the profile automatically resets on the fly, this greatly minimises the need for user interaction to keep the profile synced up correctly.
Note: For this to work properly you must have your weapons, cargo scoop, etc. retracted and your panel screens set to their default tabs:
Left panel: Navigation
Right panel: Status
Comms panel: Comms Feed (the screen with the text window)
USING PANELS AND PANEL-BASED COMMANDS
Using the panels in the Beta Profile is relatively easy, simply call out the name of the Panel tab you want to access and it will pop up for you! One thing you must remember is that the Sub-Targets and Target Cargo tabs on the Left Panel are greyed out until you have a target selected.
While you have no target these tabs cannot be selected, however Voice Attack would still assume they are available as it cannot hook directly into the game. It is up to you to remember not to call for these tabs while they are unavailable, or alternatively just call up another tab then correct it manually on the keyboard to sync back up
While on the Panel menus, pressing 'Q' and 'E' (by default) to cycle through the tabs will not synchronise in Voice Attack. While it is technically possible to set up, doing so will permanently cause 'stuttering' to occur on your Yaw movements during flight, as Voice Attack would be attempting to register your holding 'Q' to yaw left as a single keypress rather than holding the button down. This disruption was extremely cumbersome especially during combat and landing, so the decision was made to remove this function and only allow it to synchronise through voice commands. This does mean that you can MANUALLY re-synchronise the Panel tabs using the keyboard, if they get mixed up.
A small number of commands used in the Beta Profile work by accessing options available via the Left and Right Panels, including "REQUEST DOCKING PERMISSION". These commands are set up to find the appropriate Panel tab - in this case, the Contacts tab - then scroll and select the appropriate option. As the Contacts tab is constantly changing, and cycles up/down, Voice Attack cannot use conditions to determine what position (i.e. a ship or station) is highlighted on the tab - this means it must assume you are at the very top of the Contacts tab, which by default should be the local space station, anyway.
As we can usually assume that most pilots will request docking shortly after coming out of Supercruise, this is generally not an issue. It just means that if you've been looking through the Contacts list for one of your friends/wingmen before docking, you will need to scroll back up to the top of the list before asking for a landing bay.
Note: If you wish to type messages via the Comms Panel, it is recommended that you enable Keyboard Mode (see below) so that you can type without interruption, then disable it again once you're finished.
TOGGLE COMMANDS AND HOW THEY WORK
Many of the commands in the Beta Profile work as toggles, usually switching from Value '0' to Value '1'. These generally consist of actions with On/Off switches, such as Hardpoints, Landing Gear, and Cargo scoop. You can use these toggles in the following way:
"DEPLOY HARDPOINTS" - This will deploy the weapons for you
"RETRACT HARDPOINTS" - This will retract the weapons for you
This next one is a little more special:
"HARDPOINTS" - This will toggle between the above two commands, regardless of which one is selected. If your toggle commands are de-synchronised, you can use THIS command to get them retracted. Then just reset your profile as explained earlier in the guide.
USING KEYBOARD MODE AND VOICE CONTROL
The Keyboard Mode is a feature which allows you to completely disable all of the command keybindings and responses in order to type freely when entering a destination in the Galaxy Map, or when you would like to send a message to another player. To activate, simply say "KEYBOARD MODE ON" or "TYPING MODE ON" - you should hear a response from Astra as well as a little 'bump' sound to notify you. Remember to turn it off again once you've finished typing, or you will find many of your ship's controls are disabled!
Voice Control is a similar feature that, obviously enough, allows you to completely disable Voice Attack from listening to you. This can be great if you get a phone call, or just want to type something without Voice Attack mis-interpreting your keypresses as sounds. (The 'clacking' noise from my keys apparently sounds like the word "UP".... repeatedly!)
As with the above commands, this can be toggled with "VOICE CONTROL OFF" and "VOICE CONTROL ON".
If you happen to be Alt-Tabbing to another window, for example to check your e-mail or log in to Facebook, it is recommended you enable Keyboard Mode and disable Voice Control so you are not disturbed while typing. You can simply click on the 'Headphones' and 'Keyboard' buttons on Voice Attack for the same effect.
USING THE GALAXY AND SYSTEM MAPS
The "GALAXY MAP" and "SYSTEM MAP" can be called up and switched off by name, even toggled between the two. However, if you are looking at a star system on the Galaxy Map, and click the on-screen button to view it's local System Map, Voice Attack will be unable to follow that action. Likewise, it is also unable to follow the on-screen buttons back to the Galaxy Map or to exit the screen. We are currently reviewing this feature to see if it can be made more user-friendly.
When entering the System Map and Galaxy Map, the Keyboard Mode is automatically activated (and switched off on exit), allowing you to type freely without de-syncing the profile or getting loads of voice responses from ASTRA!
.
.
.
Hopefully this guide will answer many of the often-asked questions about the Beta Profile and it's use! This section will of course be updated as new functions come into use or if anything requires better explanation.
Thank you for reading, and fly safe, Pilot!
Voidflakes