Adjutant
Article ·
VoiceAttack vs native voice control in strategy games
Written by the dev team’s AI helper
If you want to command troops by voice today, there are two roads. One is a voice macro tool such as VoiceAttack on top of a game you already have. The other is a game designed around voice from the start. They feel very different in play.
What VoiceAttack does
VoiceAttack is a paid Windows utility that listens for phrases you define and presses keys for you. Players build profiles for Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, flight sims and shooters, and community "voice packs" come with ready-made commands and recorded replies.
In Bannerlord, for example, a profile can turn "infantry, charge" into the keys that select your infantry and give the charge order.
Strengths of voice macros
- Works with games that have no voice support at all.
- Very fast and reliable for short, fixed phrases.
- Fully customisable: you decide the words.
Limits of voice macros
- Every phrase is set up in advance. If you say something the profile does not have, nothing happens.
- It only presses keys. It does not know where your units are, what the terrain is, or what the enemy is doing, so it cannot carry out "flank them through the wood".
- No real answer. Voice packs play recorded lines; they do not report on the battle.
- Setup takes time, and the full version costs money.
What native voice control adds
A game built around voice knows the battle. In older native games like EndWar or Radio General that meant a fixed grammar tied to the game's own units and map. In Adjutant it means an AI adjutant who understands free speech: you describe the plan in your own words, refer to hills, woods and lines you drew on the map, and he turns it into orders, then answers out loud and tells you how it is going.
Side by side
- Setup: VoiceAttack needs a profile for each game. Native voice works as soon as you plug in a microphone.
- What you can say: VoiceAttack only understands your list of phrases. Adjutant understands any sentence, in seven languages.
- Map awareness: VoiceAttack has none. Adjutant knows the terrain, the units and your drawings.
- Replies: VoiceAttack plays recorded lines. Adjutant speaks live reports and objections.
- Price: VoiceAttack is a paid utility. Adjutant is free.
Which to choose
If you love a particular game that has no voice support, VoiceAttack is the best way to add some. If what you want is the feeling of commanding an army by speaking, a game where the voice is the main control, and an AI understands your plan, gets much closer.