MaLa Plugin - Speech V1.6

[loadman]

Speech 1.5

includes Flash N' Speech for the rest of us 
It can either just Speak the button actions
or Flash N Speak if using a Pac-Drive , MaLa hardware or a  Led-Wiz modded   with
 the ’IO-Warroior40-P’ chip.

I abandoned this old thread for obvious reasons.



This plug-in requires MaLa v1.02 or higher to utilize the 'Flash N speak' function, 'Speak' alone will work with earlier versions.

Special thanks to Swindus, SGT and Headkaze for your help and support.

New in this version
- Added config maker
- Added filter to skip test in brackets or special characters like '*'
- Enabled 'Flash and speak' for Led Controllers
- Option for Sound Boost and/or Pause Music
- Config maker checks OS is capable of playing speech on start-up
- Button on Config maker to load windows speech control panel
- Option to just have Speak with No flash (for users without any Led Controller)
- Test Button for with Flash and Speak enabled "will flash Leds" for Player 1
if MaLa (v1.02 or higher) is running in the background.

To skip 'Speech' hold down the ESC key.

It's far from perfect but I think it's at a stage where I am ready to get feedback.

Download from here:

Enjoy   

[arzoo]

Looks slick! Another great plug-in from loadman 

[SGT]

Works great for me so far.

Q*Bert is perfect.  Especially appreciate the ignoring of bracketed information.

Thanks a lot loadman.  Great job! 

[Space Fractal]

thanks for pm.

Haven't play much on my arcade for some reasons. Rather, thanks for the update, installing it next time I play on my arcade  .

[ARTIFACT]

omg i cannot wait to get his setup!!

is it possible to have it read the HISTORY and TRIVIA when the info screen is displayed?

that wuld ROCK!!!!!

thank you!

[CM]

Not a hijack attempt .. but curious if there is a MalA fix for using 2 PacDrives yet?  Andy W confirmed it looked like a bug and was sending a 2nd board to Mala dev a few weeks back.   

[swindus]

Not a hijack attempt .. but curious if there is a MalA fix for using 2 PacDrives yet?  Andy W confirmed it looked like a bug and was sending a 2nd board to Mala dev a few weeks back.   

The 2nd board arrived here some days ago. Will get into this in the next days.

[CM]

Not a hijack attempt .. but curious if there is a MalA fix for using 2 PacDrives yet?  Andy W confirmed it looked like a bug and was sending a 2nd board to Mala dev a few weeks back.   

The 2nd board arrived here some days ago. Will get into this in the next days.

Thanks! 

[loadman]

Not a hijack attempt .. but curious if there is a MalA fix for using 2 PacDrives yet?  Andy W confirmed it looked like a bug and was sending a 2nd board to Mala dev a few weeks back.   

The 2nd board arrived here some days ago. Will get into this in the next days.

Thanks! 

Good News,  Then you can confirm the Flash N speak works with 2 Pac-Drives  please    COOL!

omg i cannot wait to get his setup!!
is it possible to have it read the HISTORY and TRIVIA when the info screen is displayed?
that wuld ROCK!!!!!
thank you!

Not something I would want sorry 

[BULL]

this realy rocks bigtime

Loadman you´re THE MAN 

[lettuce]

Ok just a quick one, i have selected Speak N Flash, button i only get the speaking commands but no flashing of the buttons, any ideas?

[loadman]

Ok just a quick one, i have selected Speak N Flash, button i only get the speaking commands but no flashing of the buttons, any ideas?

Note: This is not for a normal Led-Wiz. Use one of the Led-Wiz Plug-ins for flash N Speak.

If you are using the Button 1 test in the config maker then you need:
1) Mala 1.02 or greater running in the background
2) Pac-drive or MaLa hardware set-up in Mala already
3) Details from mala.mlc file loaded

Actually using the plugin:
1) Use Mala 1.02 or later
2) In the ini file should be the path to your mala.mlc file that you saved previously in the config maker

eg:

Code: [Select]

MLC_file=C:\mametable\MaLa v1.0 RC6b\mala.mlc

[ARTIFACT]

omg i cannot wait to get his setup!!
is it possible to have it read the HISTORY and TRIVIA when the info screen is displayed?
that wuld ROCK!!!!!
thank you!

Not something I would want sorry 

Think of it as a feature request ... Talk about 80's feel! Think about it!

[loadman]

omg i cannot wait to get his setup!!
is it possible to have it read the HISTORY and TRIVIA when the info screen is displayed?
that wuld ROCK!!!!!
thank you!

Not something I would want sorry 

Think of it as a feature request ... Talk about 80's feel! Think about it!

If your serious then it's not a item that can be handled by a Plug-in.  It would have to be native support by MaLa. Send a request to Swindus... You never know.

Back on track... I found some small bugs (LED flash rate and Sound Boost) and will release another beta in the next few days. It would be super cool if someone was to find more bugs so I can squash them this week.   

[CM]

OK I gave it a test with 1.02 and 1.04 w/2 PacDrives 

1) Flash&Speech worked, but it did not read off the button names for all games.  The more popular games were all ok, so I'm guessing its not a bug and simply that the control label info may be lacking on the lesser-known games??

2) PacDrive board #2 (P2) issues:
- P2Button#1 does not light or flash, however it does Flash P2Button#6 
- P2Button#2 lights and flashes correctly, but then stays lit when it moves on to flash/say button #3.  (Can't remember but I think P1Button#2 did the same)
- P2Button#3 = OK
- P2Button#4 = OK
- P2Button#5 = OK
- P2Button#6 = Nothing happens

I also re-checked the mala.mlc LED settings and verified they were mapped correctly in 1.02 and 1.04 before setting up the speech.ini.

[ARTIFACT]

OMG!!!

i finally got it installed and running
I love it! total throwback... ala Berzerk ''intruder alert!'' wooow

thank you for the great work

[BULL]

Love this plugin.

Do you think it would be possible to make it repeat the spoken controls after the game has started by pushing a button (for those with short memory - like me  )

 - Also if you could make it speak swedish that would be mega cool - 


(if you can´t make it speak swedish thats ok but you dropp a few notches in my book)

[loadman]

OK I gave it a test with 1.02 and 1.04 w/2 PacDrives 
1) Flash&Speech worked, but it did not read off the button names for all games.  The more popular games were all ok, so I'm guessing its not a bug and simply that the control label info may be lacking on the lesser-known games??

This data is read from controls ini. This is set in
MameConfig-addtional
You can try an obtain a better version of this file or go in and add items yourself manually.  But don't forget to refresh main game list in MaLa afterwards otherwise your changes will not be recognised.

Code: [Select]

[1942]
gamename=1942 (set 1)
numPlayers=2
alternating=1
mirrored=1
tilt=0
cocktail=1
usesService=0
miscDetails=
P1NumButtons=2
P1Controls=8-way Joystick+joy8way
P1_BUTTON1=Fire
P1_BUTTON2=Loop
P1_JOYSTICK_UP=Up
P1_JOYSTICK_DOWN=Down
P1_JOYSTICK_LEFT=Left
P1_JOYSTICK_RIGHT=Right
You just need to add new items starting with the rom name eg:
[1942]
gamename=1942 (set 1)
P1NumButtons=2
P1_BUTTON1=Fire Loadman Cannon
P1_BUTTON2=Oil Slick Stuff

2) PacDrive board #2 (P2) issues:
- P2Button#1 does not light or flash, however it does Flash P2Button#6 
- P2Button#2 lights and flashes correctly, but then stays lit when it moves on to flash/say button #3.  (Can't remember but I think P1Button#2 did the same)
- P2Button#3 = OK
- P2Button#4 = OK
- P2Button#5 = OK
- P2Button#6 = Nothing happens
I also re-checked the mala.mlc LED settings and verified they were mapped correctly in 1.02 and 1.04 before setting up the speech.ini.

I will have a quick look at this but there is a chance this is related to the config error you reported in MaLa with using two Pac-Drives. Don't you think? But in any case can you send your mlc file (post it here or e-mail to me) 

Love this plugin.
Do you think it would be possible to make it repeat the spoken controls after the game has started by pushing a button (for those with short memory - like me  )

Well, The Plug-in or Mala has not got control while the game is running.. Sorry   

- Also if you could make it speak swedish that would be mega cool - 
(if you can´t make it speak swedish thats ok but you dropp a few notches in my book)

Have a look above. You can edit controls ini to convert the relevant items to Swedish. 

[Space Fractal]

I have just finally tested it. It now works very fine here.

It only one quick left: I have these annoying "are you sure to quit" messages in config. It only do that, straight after I saved it config.

Other it so minor quick, and it not notice in normal use.

[Space Fractal]

Another tiny request:
I use my E-Stik on the second joystick to play Q-Bert as that way this game should been played. Whold been nice, if it could search for text files with the same name as the game, what he should say.

This may reflect pinball games as well (I might remap them as well)....

Otherwice it a pretty good plugin 

[loadman]

I have just finally tested it. It now works very fine here.
It only one quick left: I have these annoying "are you sure to quit" messages in config. It only do that, straight after I saved it config.
Other it so minor quick, and it not notice in normal use.

Yeah that was me being slack.  Ideally the config should not confirm that you wish to quit if you have not changed anything from the last save.  It was not a high priority for me as the config is a 'set and forget' affair.

Another tiny request:
I use my E-Stik on the second joystick to play Q-Bert as that way this game should been played. Whold been nice, if it could search for text files with the same name as the game, what he should say.
This may reflect pinball games as well (I might remap them as well)....
Otherwice it a pretty good plugin 

You can edit controls.ini to make it say whatever you want.  Just do not forget to refresh game list afterwards so MaLa reads this file again.   

[CM]

Not a hijack attempt .. but curious if there is a MalA fix for using 2 PacDrives yet?  Andy W confirmed it looked like a bug and was sending a 2nd board to Mala dev a few weeks back.   

The 2nd board arrived here some days ago. Will get into this in the next days.

Is it "next days" yet?         Last update was Aug 31st ... so we're worried about you!

[loadman]

Not a hijack attempt .. but curious if there is a MalA fix for using 2 PacDrives yet?  Andy W confirmed it looked like a bug and was sending a 2nd board to Mala dev a few weeks back.   

The 2nd board arrived here some days ago. Will get into this in the next days.

Is it "next days" yet?         Last update was Aug 31st ... so we're worried about you!

Don't be worried. I know he is alive.  Work and family come first and all that...

When Swindus re-enters MaLa development (he does it it waves) I will ask him to check this plug-in with two pacdrives

[loadman]

Latest Version on -site

[pie taster]

Sorry for the stupid question...

I'm using the Speak Text from the LedBLink Plugin that is working well for me.

So does this Speech V1.6 provided any additional benefit?

[loadman]

Sorry for the stupid question...

I'm using the Speak Text from the LedBLink Plugin that is working well for me.

So does this Speech V1.6 provided any additional benefit?

Nah...

* The first version of this plug-in was realeased before LedBlink or LedWiz Plug-in
* This Plug-in is no more for users without Led-Wiz

[arzoo]

* This Plug-in is no more for users without Led-Wiz

I think what Loadman meant to say is the speech plugin was designed for people who are not using the LED-Wiz. It might be a typo or some strange Aussie syntax 

[loadman]

* This Plug-in is no more for users without Led-Wiz

I think what Loadman meant to say is the speech plugin was designed for people who are not using the LED-Wiz. It might be a typo or some strange Aussie syntax 

Yeah, What he said 

[G1zm0]

tryed this speech prog, but after running the config prog all  get is error saying

"floating point division by zero"

[loadman]

tryed this speech prog, but after running the config prog all  get is error saying

"floating point division by zero"

I just downloaded it and worked for me in a fresh directory.

The first thing the config prog does is a speech test.

It only works if you have speech on your OS.  (Like a standard XP install)

What OS are you using?  IS a cut down XP?

If you do not have XP, you may need to install the Microsoft Text to Speech Reader.
It can be downloaded for free here:
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/developers/downloads/tts.asp

[G1zm0]

downloaded the ms speech program and msreader2.1 and installed  them, rebooted pc, ran the config file and got same floating point error.

i am trying to run it on full blowen vista premium.

*could the flash& speak function be set up to use the uhid?  as i think it has pac drive incorporated in to it, i know it has led function

[loadman]

downloaded the ms speech program and msreader2.1 and installed  them, rebooted pc, ran the config file and got same floating point error.

i am trying to run it on full blowen vista premium.

*could the flash& speak function be set up to use the uhid?  as i think it has pac drive incorporated in to it, i know it has led function

Don't know if it works with Vista.    Need to test that.