Yes, you read that right - you can now pilot your ship using just the power of your voice!
The voice commands are part of the "newship" beta so you will need to opt into it to try them out.
To use the voice commands you will obviously need a working microphone. Ensure it is working in windows 1st and that it is your default recording device.
Voice recognition is not 100% accurate. It is more than likely the game will ignore your commands occasionally. Speak clearly and if you're having real trouble then try doing the windows voice training to improve detection.
Unfortunately I cannot influence the speech detection system at all. I am using a Windows built in system so if it doesn't work I can't fix it :(
VOICE COMMANDS
There are 2 types of voice commands. "Standard" and "Autopilot". "Autopilot" commands deal with throttle and steering controls while "Standard" commands deal with every thing else.
AUTOPILOT COMMANDS
To use these commands you must activate the ship's autopilot by saying "Autopilot On". The ship should respond with "Autopilot on, Aye Captain!".
Control inputs from gamepads, wheels etc and mouse controls are disabled while the autopilot is engaged. However, you can still manipulate the bow thrusters if the ship is equipped with them.
To turn the autopilot off just say "Autopilot Off", your ship will respond and hand controls back to you.
AUTOPILOT COMMAND LIST
"Autopilot On" - Turns the autopilot on.
"Autopilot Off" - Turns the autopilot off.
"Ahead Slow"
"Ahead One Quarter"
"Ahead Half"
"Ahead Three Quarters"
"Ahead Full"
"Ahead Flank"
"Reverse Slow" or "Back Slow"
"Reverse One Quarter" or "Back One Quarter"
"Reverse Half" or "Back Half"
"Reverse Three Quarters" or "Back Three Quarters"
"Reverse Full" or "Back Full"
"Reverse Flank" or "Flank"
"All Stop" - Engines to neutral
"Port 5" - Left rudder 5 degrees
"Port 10" - Left rudder 10 degrees
"Port 15" - Left rudder 15 degrees
"Port 20" - Left rudder 20 degrees
"Port 25" - Left rudder 25 degrees
"Port 30" or "Hard to Port" - Full left rudder
"Starboard 5" - Right rudder 5 degrees
"Starboard 10" - Right rudder 10 degrees
"Starboard 15" - Right rudder 15 degrees
"Starboard 20" - Right rudder 20 degrees
"Starboard 25" - Right rudder 25 degrees
"Starboard 30" or "Hard to Starboard" - Full right rudder
"Rudder Amidships" or "Zero Rudder" - Centre steering
STANDARD COMMANDS
These commands are always active, you DO NOT need to switch the autopilot on to use them.
STANDARD COMMAND LIST
"Lights On" - turns the ship lights on
"Lights Off" - turns the ship lights off
"Engines On" or "Start Engines" - turns the engines on
"Engines Off" or "Stop Engines" - turns the engines off
"Raise Anchor" or "Anchor Off" - raises the anchor
"Deploy Anchor" or "Anchor On" - activates the anchor
"Radar" - switches the MFD to RADAR mode
"Sat Nav" or "GPS" - switched the MFD to GPS map mode
I will add more commands as we go forward. Suggestions for voice commands always welcome.
Let me know in the forums what you think of everything so far :D