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BETA TEST: AVCS CORE Framework (v0.91b) - (profile for VoiceAttack)


=VG= SemlerPDX

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Profile for  VoiceAttack
by =VG= SemlerPDX

 

Description:

AVCS CORE is the new framework for any VoiceAttack profile I release in future, and provides awesome tools to any VoiceAttack user.  It can be used alone and by itself, or as a base to build a VoiceAttack profile around, including its functions in your own creations.  The Quick Command Creator cannot possibly replace the very easy and very powerful voice commands we can create through VoiceAttack in the standard fashion, but allow users to quickly create simple keypress commands for a phrase, or even advanced multi-step macros that can use a limited selection of common VoiceAttack actions.  The very fun Voice Authorization System lets us create passphrases that we can gate a QCC Command behind, for example, "Execute self destruct mode", 'command code required!', "Picard 4 7 Alpha Tango", 'confirmed'.

I've even created a special home page and forum section here at the VG website, and a channel in the VG Discord, to provide Help & Support for the many users of my profiles - with voice controlled bug reporting to make it easy to let me know when I need to fix something.



As I plan to release more and more VoiceAttack profiles for various games, I needed a framework to standardize my methods, and to help keep profiles used by other people up to date and in proper working order.  I never quite expected such a large user base, and with that I've decided to offer much more direct support through in-profile options menus and help & support options that tailor themselves to whatever AVCS4 profile is active.  By checking for just 8 bytes of an update number on the VG website when loading, AVCS CORE can provide a pop-up choice for users to view the latest changelog, apply the latest patch (or open the website to download a new major update version), or just postpone until later.  I've even included an option to turn off minor patch update prompts, and to roll back to the last version if desired!




The purpose of this profile is to function as the backbone of any AVCS4 game profiles I release, such as the current AVCS4 Falcon BMS Radios profile, and provide users with a host of profile and update control.  When AVCS CORE is first loaded by VoiceAttack, it will initialize itself and any other AVCS4 Profile that is switched to, bringing its full host of commands into the end game profile.  This includes the Quick Command Creator and Voice Authorization System, with new commands or codes saved to the Active Profile's save file.  Any other AVCS4 Profile that gets switched to will clear and re-load its own QCC Commands or VAS Passphrases (if any), working out of it's own save file as well.

Since AVCS CORE needs to load before any other AVCS4 Profile (including the AVCS4 Template Profile), it will be updated the least, and has been tested the most over the past 7 months of development.

Included is the AVCS CORE profile package that includes the AVCS CORE Profile and App designed for VoiceAttack, as well as the optional AVCS CORE Framework blank Template Profile for VoiceAttack profile builders.  To keep AVCS CORE startup fast for any AVCS4 Profiles, commands cannot be added directly to the CORE Profile, so the Template is available, and can include all of the functionality of AVCS CORE by including the CORE profile commands through its profile options.  This profile will have its own save file and config files folder in the VoiceAttack Apps folder along side other AVCS Profiles data.  Since AVCS CORE needs to load before any other AVCS4 Profile (including the AVCS4 Template Profile), it will be updated the least, and has been tested the most over the past 7 months of development.  I will continue to support all AVCS4 Profiles through AVCS CORE and its powerful profile control options.


Say goodbye to the keyboard, and enjoy the immersion! Cheers!
 




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I will be running a Public Beta Test for AVCS CORE and AVCS4 Falcon BMS Radios (1.3.90b), and users are encouraged to try out both, or just AVCS CORE and its included Template Profile, if desired.
Please use the voice command "Open Help and Support Menu" to communicate any bug reports.  These help menus can be expanded without new profile versions, so suggestions are welcome.
Thank you for checking out AVCS CORE for VoiceAttack!    -Sem   (Aug2020)


 

Features:  see full details in post ↓

 

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Already got the first bug reports on this Beta -- apparently the AVCS_CORE.exe application for VoiceAttack is not launching for some users.  The entire concept behind this was to allow me to update functions such as the 'sort save file' or even the method for initializing and identifying installed AVCS profiles other than CORE outside the actual AVCS CORE profile for VoiceAttack.  For example, if I released a game profile for Elite Dangerous and it added new command variable names to the save file, I could distribute it with a slightly updated version of the AVCS_CORE.exe application with those new sorting instructions in place, all without requiring other users of AVCS CORE Profile Framework to update.  Since they couldn't use or don't need those little updates for a game they may not play, it wouldn't matter to those existing users to have the most recent version of AVCS_CORE.exe.

It now seems like it would be best for me to either create a much more robust application with better compatibility and external debugging outside use through VoiceAttack, OR I concede and include its functions as inline functions as I do already throughout my profile(s) for such things.

My early tests for a more complete command line application are working well, but I'm not fond of the much, much larger size for the exe for a simple external list of functions to call from VA with arguments, to get a return or result.... 25MB vs. 124KB .... so far I've been able to keep the download packages around 1MB, it helps bandwidth costs on this site remain low no matter how many users these profiles get, and I'd like to keep it in that realm.  I'm currently leaning towards working it into a VoiceAttack Plugin, or including each function as an inline function directly into the AVCS CORE Profile.

I'll need to tinker and thinker on this for a few days, but if anyone has not been able to get this beta test to work so far, I can say that the very next beta test will.  I can see right away where it was too ambitious to have such a simple application work as a part of my Core framework now, and so that can't be part of what causes the whole thing to not work.. if it was just the sort function not working, the save files might look ugly, but at least the test package overall would have functioned.

Thanks for the support and feedback, and your patience!  Updates soon.... Cheers! :drinks: 

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v0.91b Major Profile Update (beta)

Due to some initial issues right off the bat, it seems the concept of having some AVCS CORE functions outside the profile itself as part of an App for VoiceAttack would have included a bit more work, but more importantly increased the profile package size from around 1MB to over 25MB, and it's just not worth it.  The idea was specifically for things like my Save File Sort function that orders the lines of the save file into a readable alphanumeric sorting, where AVCS4 module specific entries were properly grouped together (like saved Quick Commands or VAS Passphrases), and any new AVCS4 profile such as Elite Dangerous could introduce new sorting rules by simply including a new version of the AVCS_CORE App for VoiceAttack in it's profile package.  This would have removed the need to update the base AVCS CORE profile that all AVCS4 game profiles rely upon anytime I wanted to modify those game-specific functions.

I've done away with the app completely now, and recreated the simple functions like sort and initialize as inline functions for VoiceAttack.  This requires everyone to download a new version of AVCS CORE and the AVCS4 Falcon BMS Radios (beta) profile if currently used.

Thanks for your patience during the beta test rounds here, the end goal for AVCS CORE is to be a stable un-changing profile that can handle profile management for any new AVCS4 game profile I create in the future without needing updates itself, and I think we're well on our way to that.  Cheers!

Please be sure to download the AVCS4 Falcon BMS v1.3.91b Profile (if used), this updated changed the AVCS CORE function commands inside AVCS4 BMS, too...

 


BETA Release AVCS CORE v0.91 Changelog Aug-22-2020

	! USER NOTICE!
	-This is a major profile update, users of v0.90b must download the new v0.91 beta test profile
		-(AVCS CORE profile version 0.90b will be retired in 30 days)

Fixes/Improvements:
 -AVCS_CORE App removed in place of internal systems - was too slow, and had compatibility issues


___ (previous version changelogs) ___

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Quote


BETA Release v0.90 Changelog Aug2020

New Commands:
 -AVCS CORE Commands Included into AVCS4 User Template Profiles so users can add commands, adding to CORE increases its load time
 -"Create a new Voice Authorization Phrase" and other included commands in Voice Authorization System
 -VAS can allow QCC commands to be locked behind a required authorization phrase as set by users, in up to 10 weighted levels
 -Integerated Bug Reporting and debugging options for easy troubleshooting
 -Versioning allows for Mutiple prior versions (reinitialization required) for easy profile version rollback if desired
 -Included UPDATE command to allow users to import previous saved user settings and saved Quick Commands from previous version of profile
 -Full profile control through command, "Open CORE Options Menu"
 -Better user support through command, "Open Help and Support Menu"  (will expand in time)
 -User settings save file control through command, "Open Save File Menu"  (includes save file backup and restore system)
 -...and much more (see posts at avcs homepage)

Fixes/Improvements:
 -Set First Use to present user with Get Choice box for Profile Update Notifications and Preferred Profile (auto-switch) choice
 -Setting 'CurrentBackupIndex' and 'SaveFileBackupCount' to 'Not Set' inside F_SFS_LOAD_ALL  (was getting corrupted in save file)
 -Separated 'new_profiles.txt' file from AVCS4 profiles and AVCS CORE profiles to handle two imports before first time run/initialization of either
 -Added Duplicate Profile check, informs user of non-functional AVCS profiles (if ending in 'dash number' such as '-1')
 -Edited Preferred Profile command to allow for any user profile to be set to be auto-switched to after AVCS CORE finishes initializing
 -Included VoiceAttack Profile Builders Template profiles for use of AVCS CORE as a standalone profile framework for any game

___

BETA Release v0.80 Changelog July2020

New Commands:
 -"Add a new Voice Command" and others in new Quick Command Creator system
 - QCC can be used to create Simple Keypress Commands or Advanced Multi-Step Macros with a limted selection of common VoiceAttack actions
 -"Edit Keypress Timings" to open options menu to set custom timings

Fixes/Improvements:
 -AVCS CORE Profile and Updates Management systems allow version control and user notification of updates (minor or major)
 -Full Profile Update Control added with user choice, only downloads if allowed by user (only checks 8 bytes of a version number before that)
 -Profile Updates set to allow choice for majority of fixes/changes to occur without new VoiceAttack Profile download/import  *called "LIVE UPDATES"
 -Physical Profile Updates set to allow previous versions to remain installed without conflict, and also import/uninstall previous version files  *called "MAJOR UPDATES"
 -Fixed integer/decimal recognition in Save File system "LOAD_ALL" command
 -Set most profile variables to config files in VA Apps Folder (edit with "Open Advanced Core Options" command)
 -Set most commands to Text Variables, read from config files

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 minute ago, =VG= SemlerPDX said:

v0.91.2 Patch Update Released -- Minor config fix
 


BETA Release AVCS CORE v0.91.2 Changelog Sept-2-2020

   This is a simple Live Update patch fix, no new profile download is required - the following fix applies to this update:

Fixes/Improvements:
 -Added complete extracted phrasings for simple Yes/No confirmations to allow all variation types (reported getting 'cancelled' for "yes I am")
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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, no news is good news I guess... The Beta Tests have been out for about a month, seem to have a few dozen users, and aside from a known issue that will be addressed in an upcoming major release, regarding international decimal separators, and some general optimization to decrease profile initialization and loading time, this Beta seems to be mostly stable and working well.  I've been using it myself in random games, creating new commands with the Quick Command Creator, using the CORE options menus, and have had no issues either.  It will be just a little while before the next major beta version, but it will include optimizations, fixes for anything on the list, and (hopefully) some custom GUI's.  I do intend to create some basic instructional materials as well as some tutorial and demonstration videos, but I've been busy around the house with Fall coming.

Thanks to everyone for checking out the current Beta Tests!  Cheers! :drinks: 

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  • 2 months later...

New Major Profile Update Version -- 0.92 -- Dec. 6 2020

BETA Release AVCS CORE v0.92 Changelog Dec-6-2020

	! USER NOTICE!
	-This is a major profile update, users of v0.91b must download the new v0.92 beta test profile
		-(AVCS CORE profile version 0.91b will be retired in 60 days)

Fixes/Improvements:
 -Improved AVCS_CORE profile initialization optimized again for decreased load time - most noticeable on first use
 -Fixed All Decimal Variables now compatible for international users via cultural invariant token "DECINV"
 -Fixed infinite loop on Minor Version Rollback toggle and version display errors following toggle
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