Text to speech - software, options, integrated functionality ?

[lanelor]

Hello!

Some time ago I started thinking if I can have TiTS being read to me (getting tired of reading, plus being able to close my eyes for a bit) and what software can be used for this. With CoC2 beginning to take form I tested these two versions (TiTS_0.8.159_AIR.zip & CoC II-0.4.23-win.zip).

1) The Windows narrator is integrated in the os, has a plethora of voices and can be used to read everything you see on your display - every window, button, file name ... But it quickly becomes annoying as it tries to read every window title, frame, button label as you click or change what app is on focus. Moreover it is difficult to force to start reading from particular paragraph. This is easier in CoC2, but TiTS in particular has only "select all" working, so repeating a section requires to restart from the beginning of the text. In CoC2 I noticed you can mouse click on paragraphs and it will start from there, but it is still a bit inaccurate and hard to be sure what will happen.

2) The freeware program I used in TiTS is Balabolka. It loads the available Windows voices and can be set to read the clipboard, meaning you have control over exactly what part of the text is being read. Thinking about it, perhaps a small Auto Hotkeys script can be used to assign "select all"+"copy" to a single (mouse) key. This was working in TiTS, meaning select all marked only the scene. Now in CoC2, select all gets everything - party member 1 name, resolve, health, party member 2 name, resolve, health ... corruption, money ... You MUST have to mouse select the scene text and you have to be precise as starting from the middle of the screen above the scene text cuts the beginning of the first sentence. Otherwise works fine.

One small issue with these readers is that they totally botch parts like: eɪtʃ-eɪtʃ-HARDER! There are some "natural" voices that offer better reading quality, but are mostly part of specialized (paid) software. Some of them can be installed separately and Windows / Balabolka can use them, but they come from paid programs. Google and other companies offer quite good voice packages, paid of course, and which need some software integration.

With that in mind, what text to speech application are you using? Are there ideas about TTS being officially implemented?

Best regards,
Lanelor

 

[Sulegna]

Not sure if there's a difference between the browser version or the downloadable versions, but try using Narrator keyboard only, I've personally found that using the mouse has caused more problems than helps.
Narrator key + Home followed by Tab refocuses the screen reader right where the text starts for listing enemies in combat or scene descriptions while the Up and Down arrow keys will read paragraph by paragraph.
This does get a bit finicky though in combat. In which, I'd recommend using Ctrl + Narrator key + J/K/L to read previous, current and next paragraphs. Which those will bypass icons/images.
There is also the free to download NVDA, though my experience using it in general is limited and it feels a little less accessible for CoC2 in regards to keyboard only.
I do wish that CoC2 was a bit more accessible, but it works well enough as long as you're not expecting a timely way to read combat stats and checking for the boons.
I'm personally not too familiar with the inner workings of screen readers and how they interact with programs, flash players, etc., so this is the best info I've been able to discover while trying to speed up doing things within the game via screen reader.