Voice acting poll #1

[XaverXN]

There's been a lot of discussion going on about voice acting in UFO:AI, i. e. audio comments from the soldiers in-game.
To speed up the opinion finding process, I will try to post a few polls here to evaluate the most controversely discussed points democratically. Of course, there is no direct consequence from the answers as the coders, story people and team leaders will finally decide whats done and what not.


So here's question one:

HOW 'PROFESSIONAL' WOULD THE SOLDIERS HAVE TO BE IN YOUR OPINION?

Meaning, would they be swearing or go yeehaw on a kill - or just say 'missed' and 'target down' or so?

[Wanderer]

Elite Commando or not... when a giant lizard who looks like a distant cousin of a Kangaroo yanks out a Particle Cannon after bounding over your head and takes a shot at you, putting a hole in the ground next to you 2 feet wide...

"Holy F'n S***" is NOT unprofessional, it's pure, unadulterated shock.

[Destructavator]

I see your point, although do we want to limit the game audience by creating a game that needs a rating?  I've seen LOTS of parents refuse to let their children anywhere near video games and movies that contain such content.

Or, could if we include the language could we have a game option that makes the program use an alternate set with bleeped-out words?  Generating audio tones like that is very easy to do in audio recordings, there are free utils that do that with sound files.

I admit that including such words would make the game kinda cool and realistic, but like I said, it would limit the players who would be allowed to download the game and also give the game a certain reputation.

Just my thoughts...

[Wanderer]

I admit that including such words would make the game kinda cool and realistic, but like I said, it would limit the players who would be allowed to download the game and also give the game a certain reputation.

I don't disagree, and I didn't present myself well, apparently.  A 'Yeehaw!' or something like that during a rage or a panic would be acceptable from an 'elite, professional' soldier in my mind, as I could see them muttering a whole lot more under their breaths as they fight these ... things.

[XaverXN]

I think the suitability for children is a bit offtopic here. That's something to be decided in a bigger context, so we should not care right now...

[tempsanity]

Elite commando also swear a lot
Ideal version - individuals, different ways of expressing themselves (probably too complicated). They should curse from time to time imho.

Sgt. Martin Sheen: "OMG Sheevar spotted!"
Eve Brown: "OMG! LAG!"
John J. Smith: "HAXX0R!"

;-)

Terror sounds would be great, like when they spot that Chryssalid-like alien:

"Oh my God..."
"What's this?" (in a suitable manner)

[Sectoid]

Sgt. Martin Sheen: "OMG Sheevar spotted!"
Eve Brown: "OMG! LAG!"
John J. Smith: "HAXX0R!"

OK, I'm going to frag any of my soldiers if they start talking in l33t-speak  :lol:

[ShinobiTeNo]

I cannot vote here, strange.....

Well my idea is that the soldiers speech should actually be live. Every soldier is a human, and every healthy human has emotions.  I mean, its a bad factor to add speeches like "Ok!", "Yes","No", "Affirmative" pronounced without a feel... it WILL turn the gameplay experience down.

Just look at some youtube Japanese shows, Japanese language is one of those where the pronouncation really matters... or replay a sound difference between normal soldier and commando unit  in first Command and Conquer in your head.... this is exactly what makes commando unit very important subconsciously, apart from sniper rifle of course .

[BTAxis]

I like the voice acting in the (original) Dawn of War as well. The Chaos Space Marines really sound like blood-thirsty maniacs they are. The trouble with FPS like that is that the voices can be tailored to suit the type of unit. IN UFO, all units are basically the same, save for gender. That makes it harder to make "appropriate" voices.

[BlakeD]

I realize that most of you are overseas, and may not have access to it, but then again, you may...

My impression has always been that the soldiers in PHALANX would be akin to the elite of counter-terrorist teams today.  I'm talking guys that can speak 5 languages minimum, can make an IED out of the stuff lying under your car seat, and shoot you with a handgun at 150 meters.  

A good representation, I feel, is the show "The Unit".  If you have access to it, it's a good source of inspiration for how the units should behave vocally, IMHO.

[qubodup]

my 4 cents:

leet language - only as an easter egg.

fu*beep*ck - no! annoying, instead no sound file

strong language - yes! but how about to only provide it as an add-on?

Take a look at FEAR at minute 30. http://speeddemosarchive.com/demo.pl?FEAR_extreme_11555