Voice acting?

[Winter]

Lately I've been wondering about voice acting. Do we want it? If so, when do we want it, how much of it do we want, and exactly what should it entail (voiceovers, soldier voices (we should specify exactly which lines would be required here), maybe an audio UFOpaedia?)?

I'd be happy to contribute some voices if it might be useful.

Regards,
Winter

[v29a]

in my opinion it would be pretty cool to have ... if we can reach a halfway descent quality.

all thoses recorded samples should sound consistent ... there arent many people with the right equipment at home.
maybe we should do some test recordings and decide later ...

[Psymong]

I like that idea a lot.
The only problem would be that it would take a lot of audio for this.
Might be worth it if we found someone with a good voice for the job.

What we want is the voice from the guide in the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy radio shows . Fantastic voice that man's got.

[v29a]

btw: we would need localized voices then wouldnt we?

[vorticone]

How about spoken words from the soldiers in their native languages? Like a soldier with an english name speak english, a german name speaks german, italian speak italian, I guess you get my point.

Something like "Moving out.", "Verstanden.", "Si." and so on.

[Winter]

btw: we would need localized voices then wouldnt we?

Not need as such, though I'm sure some people might want it. Personally I'm only interested in doing (and hearing) voices in English.

Regards,
Winter

[Elbenfreund]

i like the "soldiers native language" idea !:)
also ufopedia is nice, but if we do so we would actualy need to have the aim to do it for all languages. considering the fact that open source is always work in progress it would be enough for a release to have a english version ready. we could offer / ask for  localized versions later...

[nahen]

You know, just in case, go to http://voice123.com/ and see if you can find voices there.

[Elbenfreund]

unfortunatly this seems to be a commercial one, isn't it ?

[Northen_Wolf]

I don't like the idea of diffrent languge speaking, BUT i would like to hear English with diffrent accent for example: Guy from russia speaks english with russian accent and also would use some russian words inside hes text. But not talk all the time in russian. Guy from Estonia would speak english with estonian accent, guy from german with german accent sometimes using words like "Halt" and stuff...... (sorry not good with german languge )

Talking in hes own languge all the time would also be dumb as if every person speaks his home languge it would be hard to understand eachother...

[Elbenfreund]

Talking in hes own languge all the time would also be dumb as if every person speaks his home languge it would be hard to understand eachother...

maybe i got something wrong, but that "communicative aproach" is no valid point at all as it is just "one way communication" anyway. it is the player who is to understand the came characters. I think voice acting is more of a tool to create atmosphere than to transport information. and i think that for this aspect most people prefer their own language simply because they are far more sensitive to stilistic differences. Nevertheless as said before an english version vor the release should be enough.

Thanks for your time, eric.

[Northen_Wolf]

Talking in hes own languge all the time would also be dumb as if every person speaks his home languge it would be hard to understand eachother...

maybe i got something wrong, but that "communicative aproach" is no valid point at all as it is just "one way communication" anyway. it is the player who is to understand the came characters. I think voice acting is more of a tool to create atmosphere than to transport information. and i think that for this aspect most people prefer their own language simply because they are far more sensitive to stilistic differences. Nevertheless as said before an english version vor the release should be enough.

Thanks for your time, eric.

?eric?


 Under most pp perfer theyr own languge u mean theyr own languge sounds? so there will be diffrent audio msgs for each languge? For example if ur game languge is german is the audio u hear german or what?

all i ment is guy(troop, not player) from china/usa/estonia/russia (in game) speak languge with his country accent.... that takes some time but i belive least some guys will help u:D it would be c00l to hear russian speaking with russian words between english.... Sorry if i misudersttod and for my typos and nutsy text

[Elbenfreund]

hey northen_wolf !

i fear there is a danger to misunderstand each other with the line "
I don't like the idea of diffrent languge speaking" ... i got it like that. I dont want localized versions but an english version with accents. so to summerise there seme to be thre emajor options:

1) english only
2)we desperately need localised version for release
3)if any voice acting at release, english will be enough BUT with an dedicated remark towards wanting to extend the speech-base with other languages if volunteres show up

Each of those three can be done with more or less effort: from one speaker for all to different nations get different accents. I would prefer option three, and of cause as good as we can manage (this explicitly includes your cool feature of accents)

ok, if i got something wrong, nevermind me otherwise thanks for your time, eric.

btw: has anyone any experience with voice acting / tecnical aspects at all ? how to create a good aplication text potenial speakers need to read and stuff like that ?

[Northen_Wolf]

sorry for my crappy english btw

... "i got it like that. I dont want localized versions but an english version with accents" <-- thats right only english sounds with different country accents it would be c00l(yeah, realy) to hear japanese guy(only an example) to mention something in japanese or listen russian trying to say english words(some speak quite good btw)....

Its possible to get speakers from diffrent countrys, its not "must be" and it will take lots of work and time as we don't want 1-2 words repeting over and over again...

btw: ???eric?  :?:  :? W*F?

Btw2: is it possible to attach somekinda "From" value to soldier so it would tell wich audios to play?? i have no idea how to program, but i got a terrible weapon, my mind!

btw3::idea:
Idea wouln't the sounds for each translation make ufo:ai BIT TOO big?

[sirg]

I also was thinking about voice acting. I don't know if Winter had in mind the Jagged Alliance 2 voice acting style, but I'm suggesting something similar.

I have some ideas regarding this topic. First, because you already have localised versions of the game, it will be hard to have voice acting for all the localised versions. So, to sort this thing out, the voice acting should be in an optional add-on, and in the begining, start only with English voice acting.

I would like some voice acting for the soldiers, like each having a set of vocal replies during combat - the common "yes, yes sir" and other typical lines ("good as done", "ready and waiting", "I'm on it", "One alien less", "Shoot to kill"). Besides, they could also say "I'm out (of ammo)", "I'm under fire", "I'm hit", or "I got you now", "You're disection material" (when an alien is killed), or say something when using reaction fire. A problem is having soldiers from all over the world, so there should be several voices for each kind of line (to fit each actor type) plus several accents to accomodate for each continent/country.

The designers should think about how many soldiers a player will have/use in a game, from start to the finish. If there will be less than four squads, then it would be nice if the soldiers will have a clearer identity, like a file. Fallout Tactis featured a similar system, but the player controlled only one squad.

Some voice acting could be used on the geoscape as well, to hear feedback from your pilots or even base commanders (when you click on a base or craft). Civilians should have some lines as well, like "heeeelp", "we are under attack", "we're all going to die", "my sister is missing", etc.