Intro:
Here at Special Effect we are always looking at new ways for players to access their favourite video games.
In this video we will go through how to set up World of Warcraft to be played using voice and mouse
We will also include a brief demonstration on how to play the game in this way, and some additional features you may wish to add and how to do so.
Finally, there will be a brief overview of some alternative control methods, such as voice + joystick, voice + head mouse and voice + Eye control
Things you will need:
• Internet connection
• 7zip, Winrar or a similar software for extracting files
• A comfortable microphone
• A mouse or mouse alternative
• A blizzard account (this will be shown later in the video)
Showcase the game being played a few different ways so viewers can see if they think it is a suitable way to play
Setting Up GavPi:
In order to play World of Warcraft using voice control we will need a compatible voice control software. In this case we will be using GavPi.
GavPi is a free to download software that allows keyboard and mouse functions to be activated via a voice command. These functions and voice commands can be adjusted by you to suit your preferences.
You can download and set up GavPi manually, however, for beginners we recommend downloading the World of Warcraft Voice Control pack from the Special Effect Blog.
It is recommended to save the file to your desktop for ease of access later.
You will also need either 7zip or Winrar in order to extract the files from the folder. These can be downloaded for free online. For this video we have 7zip.
Once downloaded, right click the folder labelled World of Warcraft Voice Control and select 7zip then extract files. Extracting the files to desktop would be ideal for ease of access.
You may now delete the Zipped (original, un-extracted) file If you wish, to avoid confusion.
Open the new World of Warcraft Voice Control folder and select WoW Voice Control Folder.
Inside you will see 4 options, select “GAVPI”
Inside the GAVPI folder, run the GavPi application
If prompted, selected “yes” to allow Gavpi to make changes to your computer
A white box labelled GavPi: Graphical AVPI will appear
In the top left of this box select “File”
From the drop-down menu select “Open Profile”
Select the WoW XML file and press “Open”
You will know it has worked by looking in the bottom left of the GavPi window, which should now say “NOT LISTENING: WoW
This indicates that it is running the WoW profile, however, is currently not listening for any voice commands
To double check that it has worked, or to adjust any commands in future, select “Profile” from the top of the Gavpi window
Select “modify” from the drop-down menu, do not press “New” as this will wipe the preloaded commands from Gavpi, however, if you wish to start your own command list from scratch you may select new and save your new profile under a different name
If you accidentally pressed new, you can reload the WoW pre-sets again by following the previous steps.
If loaded correctly, when you select modify a large window should appear with lots of commands in it.
GavPi is broken down into 3 parts, Triggers (the voice command given to activate a button), Action Sequences (what actually happens E.G. hold w for3 seconds then release it), and Trigger events (Links the action sequence to the trigger E.G. if I say the trigger “forwards” the action sequence hold W for 3 seconds will occur.
For full details on how to create your own Gavpi commands check out our video in the description below.
By default, this GavPi profile will have these functions programmed into it (show table of commands)
These instructions are included in the World of Warcraft Voice Control folder labelled World of Warcraft voice control guide
At this point you may wish to test that Gavpi is working, If you have modified the default profile remember to save it as something different. Otherwise simply close the modification screen.
Ensure your microphone is plugged in and configured correctly, for full instructions on using your microphone with GavPi see out How to Gavpi video in the description below
Once ready, press the Listen button on the GavPi window, this will tell Gavpi to start actively listening out for the pre-set voice commands
Try out some commands and see if GavPi recognises them (E.G Jump, Forwards, Left, Right)
If you wish to change any of the trigger words, open the modify screen and in the Trigger section, right click the command you wish to edit, select edit and in the “Speech Recognition Word or Phrase” section, replace the word with the new voice command.
Make sure to save any changes you make under “file” > “Save As”
Setting up World of Warcraft:
In order to play World of Warcraft you will need a Battle.net account and the game. The game can be trialled for free up to level 20.
To get started head over to https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/?ref=battle.net
In the top right select “My Account” > “Create Free Account”
Fill in your details and select create free account, don’t forget to check your email to verify your new account
Once you have an account return to https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/?ref=battle.net and scroll approximately half way down the page
Select Blizzard Battle.net Desktop App
Download the App appropriate for your operating system, in this case windows
Once the App has downloaded and installed, log in using your new account and select World of Warcraft > Install
Note that the game is very large, so you may wish to save it to a separate hard drive
Login to the game and create your character. Make a note of which realm you made it on as this will be needed for the optional stage later.
Once your character has been made, enter the world. Once you are in the world you will be able to run about, jump and many of the Gavpi features will work. The game is playable in this state; however, I recommend completing the next step.
(Optional) Log out and close World of Warcraft. Right click the icon and press open file location > retail > WTF > Account > Double click the account > Double click the realm you made your character on > Double click your character > Delete all the files except for the saved variables folder > copy and paste the contents (not the entire file) of the “copy WTF” folder into where you just deleted the files. (This will swap the keybinds of the character to match those in Gavpi, expanding their usable spell buttons from 10 to 30.)
By default the voice commands for Alt Keybinds actually trigger the Numb pad keys. This makes no real difference to gameplay at all, other than the keybinds appearing as Num pad 1, Num Pad 2 etc..
If you find that these specific keybinds appear to not work, you may have to toggle Num Lock on
I don’t think we need to actually show this stuff unless you think its worth it if they can find one setting they can find it all and it is also included in the written instructions
Optional Recommended Settings
Settings:
Windowed: Esc > System > Graphics > Display mode > Windowed depending on preference. (You will need the game in windowed in order to use the built-in windows on screen keyboard for chat functions).
Click to move enabled: Esc > Interface > Mouse > Click to move ticked
Auto loot: Esc > interface > controls > Auto loot ticked
Sticky Targeting (Sets the game so that you cannot accidently click off your target): Esc > interface > controls > Sticky Targeting ticked
Lock cursor to window (If playing in windowed mode). This will prevent the mouse from accidently leaving the game window: Esc > Interface > Mouse > Lock cursor to window ticked
Always adjust camera (Sets the camera to always automatically follow your character): Esc > Interface > Camera > Camera following style > Always adjust camera
Larger Nameplates (increases the size of the healthbars of players and enemies making them easier to see and click): Esc > interface > Names > Larger Nameplates ticked
Multi Action bars (This MUST be enabled for the game to work with Gavpi): Esc > Interface > Action bars > enable bottom left, bottom right, right 1, right 2
Optional Recommended Addons:
Twitch.com has a desktop app that can download all addons and install them into your game for you, it will also keep them updated and working. I highly recommend using this app to manage the addons.
Addons:
• DialogKey (Sets spacebar to accept things like group invites and dungeon queues. It also allows you to use the numbers to select quest rewards E.G. 1, 2, 3 for reward one, two, or three.
• GTFO (Gives audio alerts if you are standing in something bad E.G fire)
• Deadly Boss Mods (A very comprehensive addon that will set sound alerts and extra information for all aspects of the game, a must have)
• MiksScrollingBattleText (allows you to set sound alerts to a plethora of in game events such as low health, out of range, dangerous spells etc)
• Auto Turn in (Automatically accepts and turns in most quests for you, unless you need to select a reward. This can be helpful if pressing the small accept button is proving difficult)
Additional Ways to play:
GavPi can be combined with alternative mouse controls to include a variety of ways to play including: (Show a little clip of it in action)
• Joystick
• SmartNav
• Cursor Control
However, some of these may include additional setup not covered in this video
Outro:
In this article we explain how you can play World of Warcraft [PEGI 12] with voice control and a handful of mouse options. This will be a step by step guide on how to download, install and use the programs necessary to begin your adventure in Azeroth!
Before we begin: You will need the following prerequisites
- A computer capable of running the game details here.
- A file extraction software, such as Winrar or 7Zip
- A microphone/headset set up to capture your voice, for advice on how to do this watch our voice control guide here. 0:30s – 0:40s
- Whichever mouse control option you prefer, E.G. eye tracker, joystick, mouse or head-mouse.
- A Battle.Net account and the game installed
- A strong internet connection (to run the game)
Step 1: Download and Setup Voice Control!
This can be found on the SpecialEffect Blog by searching or clink the link “here“.
Once the folder has downloaded, right click it and select Extract Files. Be sure to save the files somewhere memorable as we will need them later!
We will be using the free to download GavPi software to control our character in the game. You can find this folder inside the Voice Control Pack via: World of Warcraft Voice Control Pack > GavPi > GavPi (Application) 
Open the application and this window should appear…
At this point, select settings and press save.
Next we need to load up the pre-programmed voice profile! This contains a list of general commands needed to control most aspects of the game such as walking, attacking and selecting. In order to do this we must select file > open profile > WoW.xml
If for some reason WoW.xml does not appear you can find it manually through: World of Warcraft Voice Control Pack > World of Warcraft Voice Control > GavPi > Profiles > WoW.xml.
If all is well we should now be able to check that our setup is working. The bottom left of the GavPi window should now read NOT LISTENING: WoW, which means that the program is running the WoW profile, however, it is currently not actively listening for any commands. In order to do that we need to plug in our microphone and press listen.
Try saying some of these phrases and see if GavPi picks them up:
- Forwards
- Left
- Right
- Jump
- Click
- Spellbook
- one, two, three, four, five
If all is working as intended your GavPi window should look like this:
If you are not seeing this occur some common issues can be:
- Microphone not setup properly
- Voice too quiet or too loud (this can be adjusted in your microphone settings)
- Unclear speech.
GavPi works best when words are spoken clearly and calmly, however, it should still work even if you have a fairly strong accent. If for any reason the commands are not good for you, you can modify the command word needed to trigger any given action.
This is done by making sure GavPi is not listening by pressing stop. Then, select profile > modify.
From this window you can edit any trigger or action sequence via right click > edit. A full guide on how to edit or create your own profiles can be found here.
A full list of pre-programmed controls as well as step my step instructions can be found in World of Warcraft Voice Control Pack > World of Warcraft Voice Control > World of Warcraft Voice Control Guide.doc
Step 2: Setting up World of Warcraft
At this point the game will be playable with most of its features available to you. However, it is highly recommended that you take this extra step as it will allow you access to 30 different ability buttons as opposed to the standard 10.
Once you have made your Battle.Net account and downloaded the game. Log in and create your first character, you should be able to do this using the click command in GavPi by pressing listen and leaving the software to run in the background, and using the Windows on screen keyboard. It is recommended you allow the Battle.net App and game to remember you for ease of access in the future.
It is important to make a note of which realm you have made your character on.
Once you have made your character, enter the world and have fun using your voice to control your character! In order to achieve the 30 buttons we are after we will have to change some settings in the game. We want to enable multiple action bars, to do this press Esc > Interface > Action bars > enable bottom left, bottom right, right 1, right 2
Additional settings you may wish to change at this point would be:
- Windowed You will need the game in windowed in order to use the built-in windows on screen keyboard for chat functions).
- Click to move
- Auto loot
- Sticky Targeting (Sets the game so that you cannot accidentally click off your target)
- Lock cursor to window (If playing in windowed mode). This will prevent the mouse from accidentally leaving the game window
- Always adjust camera (Sets the camera to always automatically follow your character)
- Larger Nameplates (increases the size of the health bars of players and enemies making them easier to see and click)
Full instructions on how to adjust these can be found in the World of Warcraft Voice Control Guide Pg 3 – 4.
The final stage of setup is to tell World of Warcraft which buttons we would like our 30 buttons to be. By default the World of Warcraft Voice Control Pack will make them 1-10, shift 1-10, control 1-10, and alt 1-10, (however it is important to note that due to limitations in the software alt 1-10 are technically speaking num-pad 1-10. It was felt alt 1-10 was easier to say).
To do this we first need to log out of our lovely new adventurer and exit the game. Esc > exit game. Once out of the game right click on your World of Warcraft desktop icon or application icon and select open file location. This will bring you to where all the files for World of Warcraft are currently stored on your PC.
Select the retail folder > WTF > Account > whichever account you wish to modify (if there is only one select that one) > the realm your character was made on > The name of your new character. If done correctly you should end up on a screen that looks somewhat like this:
Delete the Bindings Cache wtf file.
This essentially wipes the default settings from WoW to be replaced with the ones we want. Now we must open the World of Warcraft Voice Pack once more and select the copy WTF folder. Inside you will find the replacement Bindings Cache wtf file, simply drag and drop or copy and paste this file into same folder that we were in previously. This will now tell the game to use 1-10, shift 1-10, control 1-10, and alt 1-10 as commands for those multiple actions bars we set up earlier!
Step 3: Adventure forth and save the world!
That’s it! Upon logging in once more you should now see your shiny new action bars filled with their corresponding keybind! In order to check this is working you can open your spell book, drag and drop a spell onto one of the new bars and, with GavPi listening, say the keybind name!
You may find it easier to change the keybind trigger words to the actual spell names, this does work. However, we used the keybind names as it allows you to use the same setup across multiple characters.
Step 4: Optional Extras
In World of Warcraft there are special downloadable modifications that can help you in game. They are not needed and are purely down to personal preference, however a list of some which may be useful can be found in the Voice Control Guide. It is strongly recommended to use the Twitch App to download, install and update these as it makes life very simple. You can find it here.
Thank you and happy adventuring heroes!
If you have any questions please use the “Contact Us” section of the blog.
Developer Resource:
For more video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/
