Belthan Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Based on a quick tag search of FO3 & FNV mods, the voiced protagonist in FO4 won't be an issue for most mods (the overwhelming majority add new objects, textures, etc. with no new dialog). It may not even be a problem for mods with limited new dialog, because there will probably be enough generic player dialog that can be repurposed for common "yes", "no", "maybe", "can I get directions", "now you die", etc. scenarios. However, for those of us who specialize in quest mods, companions, and so forth, this has the potential to be a big problem. Now, the obvious solution is just to find voice actors who sound like Courtenay Taylor and Brian T. Delaney, but IMHO unless the impersonation is spot-on perfect, that approach is likely to be an immersion killer. Anyway, I'm considering two rather radical ideas, both of which would probably require significant support from the modding community, and I just wanted to see if anybody thinks either one is worth doing. 1) Total player dialog replacement. Get two voice actors who are affordable and highly available to re-record all of the player dialog. Release it as a modder resource. Modders can then use those actors and have their original dialog sound seamless with the vanilla dialog. I'm very serious about this one, and I'm already reaching out to some actors to see if they're interested in that much work. It might even be interesting to players who don't particularly care for their character's vanilla voice. 2) Kickstarter. This may be a pipe dream, but the idea is simply to crowd-fund and approach the agents for the actual actors with a credible stake. Besides the obvious question of whether anybody out there would actually make a pledge, it also has a ton of logistical issues that would need to be worked out. For instance, assuming the talent is interested and contractually eligible to do it, who gets first dibs on their studio time, and so forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallout2AM Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) The first one will happen anyway, in my opinion, and pretty soon. It's the first thing I thought when I've read the player was VA. There are some professional voice actings I've heard for Skyrim which I consider superior to vanilla - well there are some cases in NV too, the first which comes in my mind is your QV ghoul. Replacing the PC voice is different than voicing a quest, it gives a lot more exposure and doesn't involve choices like "ok I don't like that quest / that conflicts blablabla / so I won't install it". More or less, it will be like putting a 4k texture on the voice... Edited August 4, 2015 by Fallout2AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManehattanProject Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I know for us that we plan to use both. We have some talented (and professional) voice actors on the team and I'm confident that we'll be able to approach it close enough, but we'll use the current statements as much as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyBatterian Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I for one, am going to replace all the files with silence as a voiced protagonist ruins my role playing experience, provided the game doesn't have an option to disable it which I sincerely hope it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManehattanProject Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 I for one, am going to replace all the files with silence as a voiced protagonist ruins my role playing experience, provided the game doesn't have an option to disable it which I sincerely hope it does. That's an interesting perspective. Personally, after playing Mass Effect, I always had trouble going back to KOTOR because of the lack of a voiced protagonist. As long as I can choose the response, I feel the character becomes even more real. Different strokes for different folks, in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belthan Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 I for one, am going to replace all the files with silence as a voiced protagonist ruins my role playing experience, provided the game doesn't have an option to disable it which I sincerely hope it does.Interesting. Would eliminate any vocal inconsistency between mods, and be much easier than total voice replacement. <snip> Personally, after playing Mass Effect, I always had trouble going back to KOTOR because of the lack of a voiced protagonist. As long as I can choose the response, I feel the character becomes even more real. <snip>I love Mass Effect, but to me it's an apples-to-oranges comparison. A sense that your choices have consequences is essential to an RPG, and the Paragon/Renegade system undeniably provides that in a dramatic and sometimes momentous fashion. However, in an open world RPG like the Fallout or Elder Scrolls games, I find that an unvoiced protagonist gives me the freedom to imagine a more nuanced self-image of who my character is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaiauxn Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 From what I saw in the game play video, all of the context of the player's dialogue choice comes from the voiced dialogue. If it's silenced, you won't be able to read the player's dialogue, and the game will force you to wait until the NPC starts to reply, or until the silence timer runs out - however the scripted that to proceed to the next file. It's probably embedded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaemonGrin Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 From what I saw in the game play video, all of the context of the player's dialogue choice comes from the voiced dialogue. If it's silenced, you won't be able to read the player's dialogue, and the game will force you to wait until the NPC starts to reply, or until the silence timer runs out - however the scripted that to proceed to the next file. It's probably embedded. Subtitles are generally standard thing due to hearing impaired gamers etc. So I don't really see that being an issue unless Bethesda said F'm XD I personally look forward to it. Our beloved open world "RPG" games have to evolve at some point. I remember when fallout fans were steamed about fallout 3 not sticking to the established formula. I for one am glad, I tried playing 1 and couldn't stand it honestly. I like voiced mains mainly because I get involved more in their story and it is their story no matter how you try to code it. If FO3 was my story?? I wouldn't be looking for my dad, never knew him. If FNV was my story?? I'd be a junkie ex gambler cause no way in hell would I be wandering the mojave delivering packages with giant rad scorps and trigger happy fiends etc running around. I would have lost all my money at Atomic Wrangler, to poor to enter the strip living in Freeside trying to catch a rat to eat if I could even move from all the junk Jet that shady vendor Dixon got me hooked on. The first true RPG experience I've seen in Fallout are the survivalist mods like Dust. I admire what was attempted with this mod though I hate seeing "Quest Failed" XD wasn't even trying to do it lol. Anyway yeah I look forward to hearing his/her story and the inflections used to really get into caring about the protagonist which I never really achieved in FO3 and FNV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyBatterian Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Yeah, games need to evolve, but I'd prefer if they keep some of the RPG in the RPG, as much as I love the FPS aspects. A voiced protagonist just lowers replay value for me... I like to play different characters and play the game many times. Having the same voice every time doesn't work for me, but as long as I can mod it out, I'm cool with whatever they want to do. I'm sure some people will just love that feature. I also play with subtitles regardless because there is often noise in the house and I can't always hear the NPC clearly, or I can't understand what they say if they have an accent or slurred speech. I surely hope they did not remove them... that would be unacceptable and make the game much less enjoyable for me. As for voice acting... I'd much rather have silence than listen to bad voice acting by kids who don't blow their nose and have a motorcycle idling in the background, a bad mic, or just plain no idea what clean audio is. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaemonGrin Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 As for voice acting... I'd much rather have silence than listen to bad voice acting by kids who don't blow their nose and have a motorcycle idling in the background, a bad mic, or just plain no idea what clean audio is. :D No kidding! I approve of their attempts but if it makes my ears bleed or I find myself blowing out my speakers from white noise trying to hear them etc yeah just leave it textified! The option to mute player character and turn on subtitles would be an awesome option for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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