I have been working on a project over the last month to command my STO starship using voice commands. Around release time I ran across a video that sort of demo'd the concept so after some thought and research, I decided to try to make it work.

Though I had some parameters I wanted to follow in setting up voice commands:
No heavy programming
Mostly reliable
Have the option for confirmation replies after a command

I tried various voice command software programs, finally settling on one called e-Speaking, which works in conjuction with Windows Voice Recognition and Text-to-Speech. It's not elegant but it falls within my parameters and is not difficult to use.

So I played with it, tried different settings and commands and eventually came up with a mostly reliable system for voice commands.

Here is a demo of it working on Youtube:

STO Voice Command Demo

To get this working I had to get a good understanding of STO /commands and
key binds. There are other sources that go over these, but here is a link to my chart I used for my science ship.

STO Voice Commands Chart

This system will work on XP, Vista and Win 7.

The e-Speaking software costs $14, the Windows Speech Recognition software is free from Windows for XP, included in Vista and 7.

There are some other command based software programs, I tried out about 7 of them before settling on e-Speaking. They have a trial version, but you can't add new commands. I had acquired and earlier version that allowed me to add new commands and play with the software, but it was a little buggy.

If you have Vista or Win 7 the speech recognition software is already installed. For XP, the other components needed are .net and Speech Recognition bundled in Office 2002 and later. Installation instructions. If you see Speech in your system control panel, open it up. If it is installed you will see something like Language: Microsoft English(US) v6.1 Recognizer.

None of the key command voice software will work without the MS Windows Speech Recognition software. It is possible to create macros directly within Speech Recognition, but I found that to be difficult and even more difficult to have voice replies.

Once you have it set up, first run the configure microphone. Then you will need to train the computer to your voice. There is a Train Profile that has a couple of prompted scripts that take about 10 minutes each. (at least on Win 7)

E-Speaking also has a tutorial and demo. Make sure to run through those as well. The more you speak to the computer, the better it learns your voice.

Now the system is not perfect. I have had instances where a voice command didn't active the power I wanted, even though all the parameters were correct. That is something I am still trying to perfect. Also occasionally the voice recognition software may interpret a cough or 'damn it' as a command and activate that command. The software listens for sound and tries to interpret it as an existing command.

Another problem is the sound of your voice and accent. You may need to train some words or phrases separately if the computer constantly gets it wrong.

It is a little bit of work to get the system set up for Voice Recognition, but I am enjoying the game more now and I believe it is worth the effort.

That's pretty cool.

Once they fix the autofire thing on ships I'm interested. (Currently, I've got 7 beams and would have to say spacebar about 45 times a second).

I would suggest starting off simple with the basics like throttle control, weapons firing and energy presets. Doing tray powers takes a lot of planning.

One of the issues I had, which may be connected with Win 7 is using key modifier commands (shift, ctrl, alt) were also pressing the unmodified key. I think STO reads key commands differently than using a simple sendkeys command, and with Windows 7, I was getting that error. If I pressed the key combo on the keyboard it worked fine. This was an issue in more than one of the programs I tested.

While trying to get a good set up, I probably deleted my binds about 4 times and reloaded them, due to conflicts and mis-bound keys. That is why I wanted to get it working well before publishing my findings on using voice commands.

There are basicly three types of commands that work between e-Speaking and STO; STO Options Key presses, Bound Keys, and /Command line commands.

STO Option keys are commands that you set up in STO Keys.

Bound Keys are where you set up commands that are key presses but the command not listed in the STO Options Key list. You should consider having all your critical commands bound to a key.

/Command commands are entering the command in the chat line, starting with a slash. Non-critical keys commands work best here, like zooming the camera, opening the Map, Character Profile, etc.

You can save a list of all irregular key binds from STO by using /bind_save_file <filename>.txt. This will save the named file to your Cryptic Studios/Star Trek Online/Live folder within your programs storage area. You can always right click on the game link then find target to find the location.

When assigning commands to trays, Cryptic uses basic computer notation. IE, the first tray slot is 0 (zero) but on screen and the key press is 1 (one) Tray activation commands require three numbers to identify the location of the slot.

/trayexecbytray 1 2 3 for example. The first number specifies if the tray is ground (0) or space (1). The second number is the tray number. The 2 would actually be tray 3 on your UI. The third number is the slot in the tray, starting at zero. 3 would actually be slot 4.

So the command /trayexecbytray 1 2 3 would activate the power in the third tray, fourth slot while in you are in space.

Some commands are toggle only, like activate Full Impusle and all the UI window screens. But you can always create two voice commands that hit the same command. I have Activate Full Impulse and Drop Full Impulse that engages the full impulse command key.

On e-Speaking's support website, they have instructions for using special keys commands and combinations of keys, along with timed key presses. e-Speaking Action Codes Keep this handy as you will refer to often to use specialized keys like Ctrl and Alt.

I am really hoping that Cryptic either eventually takes this idea and imbeds it into STO or allows for direct injection of commands without using the keyboard or chat box. That is one of the problem areas I have encountered, is that the commands don't always get translated properly.

I've been using this since Head Start.

I set mine up in 35 min.. it is easy

in Vista / Windows 7, the software is already built in.

1) Go to Start Button, in the search box, type in Speech Recognition

2) Click Speech Recognition

3) Set up Microphone (sometimes this will state Microphone Volume is too low.. Ignore this message)

4) right click the microphone on the docked panel and select Configuration > Improve Voice Recognition.

5) repeat Improve Voice Recognition 3 times.

6) Download and Install Windows Speech Recognition Macros (free)

7) right click the icon in the system tray and select New Voice Macro.

8) Select Send Keystrokes

9) Type in the word you want to day in the top box, put the key to activate it in bottom box.

10) configure in game keybinds to work along with Voice Macros. (Computer symbol next to mini map, Options button, Keybinds tab)

Done. 35 min total time to a fully voice activated game.

just make sure that you launch both the Speech Recognition software and Macro Software before playing.

I have mine configured to control all weapon buffs, shield facings, defensive buffs, shield buffs, map, journal, speed, full power impulse on an off, etc.

No need to BUY anything for Vista / Windows 7.

for XP, L&H Voice Express is the exact same thing build into Vista / Windows 7. So for XP, you would have to buy the Voice Command software.

I use spacebar for phasers.. 2 and 3 for front and rear torps, q and e to adjust speed, mouse to steer ship. Voice commands for everything else.

Also using the Windows Speech Recognition Macros, you don't have to say "spacebar".. you can say "Fire" and the macro will press spacebar.

Yes it is true you can use the Speech Recognition macros, but not if you use XP. And it is free. And it works for you, Pestalence_XC.

But I also wanted vocal confirmation to my commands, as in the bridge officer replying to my commands. To do this you need to edit each macro's xml file. Because of this, it did not fix in my requirements for no heavy coding.

I don't know if you watched the video, but you can see this in action, that is why I made the video.

Awesome work!

Any chance of a sticky for this thread?

Beat me to it lol.