Last Updated : 13 Aug 2024 - added all variables you can use in your strings
With Sonic Embassy : Random Access / Cmdr Reg G Si's YouTube video attracting a lot of new EDCoPilot users (Welcome Commanders!) I thought I should share how you can make your own custom greetings.
Customising the Fleet Carrier greetings to include your own examples is easy to do. All you need is a text editor (I recommend Notepad++, but regular Notepad will do)
Navigate to your EDCoPilot \ User Custom Files folder and edit the file EDCoPilot.SpeechExtensions.Custom.txt
Download the following file:
Now copy the lines from the file you just downloaded to the end of your EDCoPilot.SpeechExtensions.Custom.txt file
You now have all the example entries you need for creating your new phrases
File contents
Each line in the file can either be
a Tag name,
a Phrase (to associate with the preceding Tag name),
a REPLACE specification,
a comment, or
a blank line
Tags - Tags start with an @
Phrases - After the tag line, you can add as many phrases beneath that tag line. When the tag is used by the app, it will randomly select from the list of phrases it has associated with that tag
REPLACE specification - If you add a line saying REPLACE directly after the @tag line, EDCoPilot will ignore all phrases it has for that tag that are hard-coded in the app and that are coded in the master file (EDCoPilot \ working \ EDCoPilot.SpeechExtensions.Custom.txt). This results in ONLY the phrases in your Custom file being used for selection.
Comments - start with <!--
Let's look at an example :
line1 - @FleetCarrierOwnerLaunch <!-- when you launch from your FC
line2 - [<fcCaptain>]Thank you for your visit Commander. Come back to us soon. [<stationname>]Control to Commander <cmdrname>, all readings are optimal. Good hunting, Commander.
These 2 lines tell EDCoPilot to add 1 phrase to its "dictionary" associated with the @FleetCarrierOwnerLaunch tag and it will trigger generation of one of these phrases when you take off from your Fleet Carrier.
You can add as many custom phrases as you like under the tag. Add each phrase on a separate line.
The more phrases, the more variety you will experience in game.
Phrase structure
The phrase lines themselves consist of one or more dialog parts, separated by a the name of the character in square brackets.
Example [<fcCaptain>]Thank you for your visit Commander. Come back to us soon. [<stationname>]Control to Commander <cmdrname>, all readings are optimal. Good hunting, Commander
In our example, we have the Fleet Carrier captain (whose name is stored in token <fcCaptain> ) saying "Thank you for your visit Commander. Come back to us soon.
Then we have the Fleet Carrier Control Tower (whose name is stored in token <stationname>) saying their part of the conversation.
Note 1: You can have as many dialog parts as you like in a phrase line. Each part must begin with the [<characterName>] specification.
Note 2: You can also use a custom hard-coded character if you want : for example [John Doe] ... this will result in a random voice being assigned to John Doe before the line is spoken.
Tokens
Tokens are denoted by <>'s ... EDCoPilot will attempt to replace the <token-name> with the appropriate value when it generates the string. If it cant match that token name, it will just remove it from the string.
Tokens you can use specifically in the Fleet Carrier greetings are :
<fcCaptain> - the name of your Fleet Carrier Capitain
<stationame> - the control tower operator of your Fleet Carrier
<stationNick> - the name of your Fleet Character
<$padNum> - the landing pad number you were assigned when you requested docking and landed
<cmdrname> - your Commander name
NEW - if you are at another EDCoPilot users Fleet Carrier (there are specific speech @tags for this) ... you can also use the following variables:
<fcOwner> - the commander name of the owner
<fcOwnerSquadron> - the owner's squadron
<fcOwnerFaction> - the owner's minor faction
<fcOwnerStation> - the fleet carriers name
General tokens
Here's the list of other general tokens you can use in your phrases :
<an> : either a or an depending on if the next word starts with a vowel or not
<Commander> or <commander> - one of the total random ways it addresses you (skipper, beloved, mon capitan, smeghead, sir, ma'am etc)
<cmdraddress> - sir, ma'am, Commander, based on your gender setting
<shipAIName> - the name you assigned to your Ship AI in Settings - Ship AI Personality
<mycallsign> - the call sign of your own current ship
<myshipname> - name of your current ship
<fuelLevels> - (when in ship)
<StarSystem> or <starsystem> - current starsystem name
<Stationname> or <stationname> - current station name (if at a station)
<callsign> - a random callsign eg Falcon deLacy Romeo Alpha Zulu zero seven
<othercallsign> - a different random callsign (if one ship calling to another for example)
<flightnum> - random 3 digit number
<shipCorporation> - random ship corporation name , eg Aegis Research, you can add your own entries by adding entries to token @ShipCorpList in your SpeechExtensions.Custom.txt file
<shipCorpShipType> - a relevant ship type based on the chosen ship corp name eg "Freighter" for a trading company
<localdestination> - either a station / installation in current system, or if none, a local starsystem
<randomstarsystem> - name of a random system that has stations
Conditions
Add the following condition tokens to influence if / how a phrase is used. Note the rounded brackets for these
(profanity) - the phrase will only be picked if Profanity Mode is ON
(allbusiness) - this phrase will be included in the pick selection if Business Mode is ON.
(dislikesmining) - the phrase will only be picked if Dislikes Mining is ON
(dislikestrading) - the phrase will only be picked if Dislikes Trading is ON
(flirt) - only select this phrase if Flirt mode is ON
(notranslate) - Include this token if you are using translation services, but want to write some entries in your native language. This tells EDCoPilot not to send this phrase for translation but to use as-is. Note: this is a special token and must be included after every [<character>] portion if you dont want that portion to be translated. eg, [<Helm>](notranslate)this part will not be translated[<Science>]but this will be.
Add your own custom tags to generate combo-sentences for more variety
You can add your own Custom Tag with a list of phrases, that you can then use in constructing your Fleet Carrier phrases
Example:
@CustomFleetCarrierComment <!-- this is your custom tag name
Ship disengaged and clear for departure.
You are looking good. Watch for incoming traffic on your way out.
Ship disengaged. Come back to us soon.
All readings are optimal.
@FleetCarrierOwnerLaunch
[<fcCaptain>]Thank you for your visit Commander. [<stationname>]Control to Commander <cmdrname>, <CustomFleetCarrierComment>
When the @FleetCarrierOwnerLaunch phrase is selected, it will replace <CustomFleetCarrierComment> with a random phrase from the custom tag list.
This will add more variety to your phrases.
Tags for the Fleet Carrier greeting
As you will see from the file, there are tokens for
approaching the Fleet Carrier
requesting docking
docking
disembarking from your ship
launching from the carrier
leaving the no-fire zone
returning to the carrier within a few minutes of leaving
Once you have finished making your edits, save the file, and then restart EDCoPilot.
That's about all you need to know to get started.
Feel free to share any of your favourite examples in the space-chatter channel on the EDCoPilot Discord site.
Have fun!
* previous version of the article stated you needed a | between each spoken part in the phrase, but this is incorrect. You just need to start the next spoken part by specifying the character name in square brackets ... example "[<Number1>]Hey Engineering[<Engineering>]Yes, Number 1?"