Suggestion; Customizable commands

[LivingHellfire]

In most MMOs you can create macros and binds so that you can utter whatever you like whenever you wish. This is sort of what I'm suggesting.

I realize this is a long-shot, but what I think would be excellent is if Cryptic borrowed some of the voice-input technology the likes of which Ubisoft is using to produce Tom Clancy: Endwar.

In short, instead of using a keyboard for everything I think it would be crazy immersive to be able to simply speak commands to your NPC crew. This would require a set of parameters to allow the machine and system to acclimate to your voice, you'd have to set the computer up to recieve your commands, so it would be a bit picky to start with, but as much as that might be a minor hassle at first, picture this;

Instead of pushing buttons on your keyboard, imagine if you could simply say;

"Red Alert" - and have the shields go up.
"Set course, <system of destination>" - Navigation automatically sets the most commonly used, direct course from your current location
"Take us out of here/Engage" - Ship jumps to warp to pre-set destination.
"Target Next/Last/Nearest/etc..." - Self-explanatory
"Fire Phasers"
"Fire Torpedoes"
"Quarter/Half/Full impulse power" - set speed of ship

You get the idea. Some might not be feasable, others might be and there may yet still be others that I haven't thought of. I have no idea if this would work or could be incorporated into the game, but it would really go a long, long way to immersing the player in the world and into the role as a starship captain.

[Jezebel1669]

"Take us out of here/Engage" - Ship jumps to warp to pre-set destination.Couldn't we have "Make it so" instead. :)

[r2data]

In most MMOs you can create macros and binds so that you can utter whatever you like whenever you wish. This is sort of what I'm suggesting.

I realize this is a long-shot, but what I think would be excellent is if Cryptic borrowed some of the voice-input technology the likes of which Ubisoft is using to produce Tom Clancy: Endwar.

In short, instead of using a keyboard for everything I think it would be crazy immersive to be able to simply speak commands to your NPC crew. This would require a set of parameters to allow the machine and system to acclimate to your voice, you'd have to set the computer up to recieve your commands, so it would be a bit picky to start with, but as much as that might be a minor hassle at first, picture this;

Instead of pushing buttons on your keyboard, imagine if you could simply say;

"Red Alert" - and have the shields go up.
"Set course, <system of destination>" - Navigation automatically sets the most commonly used, direct course from your current location
"Take us out of here/Engage" - Ship jumps to warp to pre-set destination.
"Target Next/Last/Nearest/etc..." - Self-explanatory
"Fire Phasers"
"Fire Torpedoes"
"Quarter/Half/Full impulse power" - set speed of ship

You get the idea. Some might not be feasable, others might be and there may yet still be others that I haven't thought of. I have no idea if this would work or could be incorporated into the game, but it would really go a long, long way to immersing the player in the world and into the role as a starship captain.

Problem is, we'd need higher bandwidth capacities and it'd eat up a huge chunk of download for those of us who have quotas.

[LivingHellfire]

Problem is, we'd need higher bandwidth capacities and it'd eat up a huge chunk of download for those of us who have quotas.

That's certainly true, but that doesn't mean that it has to be mandatory. There's no reason why, even if they do something like this, that other players can't still use the old fashioned method of mouse and keyboard. It may even be faster and more efficient to do it that way.

[DurMan667]

Problem is, we'd need higher bandwidth capacities and it'd eat up a huge chunk of download for those of us who have quotas.
UNtrue. The voic commands would only effect the end user's system. It would be no different from re-mapping the keyboard. You're jus setting the system to interpret audio input as key/system commands.

[Jezebel1669]

Problem is, we'd need higher bandwidth capacities and it'd eat up a huge chunk of download for those of us who have quotas.Umm, no it wouldn't. All the interaction between you and your NPC crew would be dealt with by your own computer without needing to send signals to the server until the command had been given. Whether that command is vocal or a button push it wouldn't take up any extra bandwidth.

[r2data]

UNtrue. The voic commands would only effect the end user's system. It would be no different from re-mapping the keyboard. You're jus setting the system to interpret audio input as key/system commands.

Probably true, but then what about other player voice commands? and if they put this in, I would assume there'd be voice communications as well. Then bandwidth and download quota will definitely be a big issue.

[Jezebel1669]

That's something different. VOIP chat would indeed take a lot of bandwidth, but you wouldn't necessarily need that and it'd be different from just commanding your ship with voice commands.

[LordDave]

-already said-