Are fully voice acted dialogs such a good idea?
Nihilus
Member Posts: 192
I'm beginning to suspect that the reason Enhanced Edition NPC dialogs are usually short, 'modern' or otherwise unsatisfying is because when they were written, the writers knew that they would be fully voice acted.
For instance, look at this gem from Minsc:
"Don't ask questions better left to aged sages. Boo is so quick and evasive and there is ever so much of Minsc to search, there is no hope of getting us apart!"
Could the original writers be so creative if they were constrained by full voice acting?
Does anyone agree, am I completely off here?
For instance, look at this gem from Minsc:
"Don't ask questions better left to aged sages. Boo is so quick and evasive and there is ever so much of Minsc to search, there is no hope of getting us apart!"
Could the original writers be so creative if they were constrained by full voice acting?
Does anyone agree, am I completely off here?
2
Comments
But the partial voice acting that Overhaul's got going on in a lot of the NPC's dialogs is even worse. Often they will only voice the first sentence in a series of 2 or 3. It doesn't add enough to the flavor of the NPCs compared to full voice acting, or no voice acting at all. It leaves me wanting more or wishing I could just read it all myself.
I'm hoping that SoD does dialog like BG2, leaving voice acted bits to only important or plot-centric NPCs, instead of the half-measures taken in BG2EE.
I definitely do see how one could argue differently, though.
That is usually how the voice acting worked in BG2, the NPCs would only do he first line if what they were saying to establish tone and then the rest the player read much like how you described how EE did the voice acting.
Fully voiced NPCs and PCs, limit the creativity players and writers have in making the game and I was never fond of it unless I was playing a character with a predetermined persona.
I agree with his points of what he talks about at 4:05 about voice acting
Now that I read myself (not out loud, though), perhaps you are onto something. If the writers know everything will be voiced, it is unlikely someone will write something like the Melicamp dialogue unless they have complete faith in the voice actor. Could be, although I don't think that was EE situation, but could be. In any case, if some dialogues seem 'modern' is because they actually use modern wording.
I like the "conservative modder" way of doing stuff - a simple soundset, then a "soundtrack" through .mus (very few) or PlaySound("mysound") (most).
[long form]
Only a very few mods add a ton of voiceovers for dialogue. Those that do often have some players immediately ask for replacement .cre voice sets and a way to remove the sounds and soundsets from the game, either because they don't like the voice, or there is a significant difference in volume, etc. And modders have a helluvu time getting VO work done in the first place; even if you know what you are doing and have an H4next or a good mic and sound setup, it means amateur acting and trying to use your own voice. And if you do happen to find a good one in the community, (SisterV, Sir Kaltherine, I am looking at you...) you will find that voice coming out of several mods from different characters. Then there is the time delay- write 40 to 60 lines, send them off, hope to hear back from someone within 2 years...
So conservative modders do a soundset (or assign a professionally developed one) to give a taste of the character voice, and then add in music or recorded soundtrack snippets to play to set the mood (or in some cases just use the same snippet to indicate that NPC is talking).
And I want Oscar the Grouch and Elmo as assigned, but Rassaad has to be Grover, Minsc has to be Big Bird, Xan by Mr. Snuffleuppagus...
and I want Viconia voiced by Katy Perry only she has just inhaled helium from a balloon