The Sound / The Voices / The Music

[Matthew Rorie]

I'm getting the impression that this game is already further along in development than the Aliens game. Have we even seen screenshots from the other game? The magazine article means we are getting screenshots of AP

 

AP is scheduled to come out before Aliens is. So far as I'm aware that's always been the case. And no, no screenshots have been released of Aliens.

[Tigranes]

Uh, Moatilla:

 

The advantage of getting less expensive actors might be that they can hire him for more hours, and actually get him to understand the script, the story and the setting properly

 

That would be the difference in my head. But it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to get a big name, either. As you say, look at Ron Perlman, etc.

[Pop]

Ron Perlman's only really a "big name" if you consider acting in movies a big name makes. He's a cult actor, he's seen his share of Direct to DVD films and even a Troma picture or two. His profile's relatively high these days what with Hellboy, but that film didn't do too well opening a week before the record-shattering Dark Knight.

[Whipporwill]

Your point is kinda killed since Patrick Steward isn't the only guy with bad voice acting out there, in fact quite a lot of the bad voice actors are inexperienced people who, I would guess, doesn't get paid a lot.

 

Patrick Stewart actually did pretty well. An actor's only as good as his material.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Halo 3 had some superb voice acting and it didn't have ny big shots.

 

Then again, it had a near-infinite budget...

[Pop]

From what I heard they had a few uncredited A-listers (for the time, at least) who stopped in for VA (they even had big-name bands making songs about Halo 2 for seemingly no other reason than the fact that Halo is serious business), but for the most part the VA was all B and C-list, which is just as well. The voice of Captain Anderson was heavily used in 2 and 3.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

The only awful voice-acting in Halo 3 was Miranda Keyes, but Keith Davids did a convincing job as the Arbiter, Master Chief never said too much and it had Ron Perlman as Lord Hood.

 

That's one of the reasons I enjoy the game so much. The sound quality is amazing.

[mkreku]

Does Bruce Campbell do voice overs? I always thought he'd make a great voice actor. Or Alan Rickman, but he might be a wee bit expensive..

[Pop]

Bruce Campbell's done VA for Evil Dead games, and I'm sure he'd be no more difficult to get ahold of than John Cleese.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Hugo Weaving did some voice-over acting in V for Vendetta (Due to originally having a different actor), and every line he's pronounced in that movie is vocal awesomeness.

 

Get him. Screw the cost, Sega needs a good game and trust me when I say Sonic Unleashed doesn't fit the bill.

Edited August 1, 2008 by WILL THE ALMIGHTY

[Jaesun]

I had thought that voice acting was done fairly early in production. At least that is what one Bioware dev mentioned in his blog. Maybe Obsidian does this differently.

 

Considering the outstanding voice acting done with Mask of the Betrayer, I can only guess the voices in AP will be good.

 

I just hope Mr. Thorton's voice will be sexy. Rarwr.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I just hope Mr. Thorton's voice will be sexy. Rarwr.

 

I just hope he doesn't have the male Commander Shepard syndrome.

[mkreku]

I just hope they've chosen someone with a little personality. Generic manly stud voice is so boring. Alan Rickman!

[Pop]

As much as I like Alan Rickman, getting him to play a guy in his mid-to-late twenties would be utterly awful.

[Zoma]

Bruce Campbell did the voice over of third person sci-fi shooter game by Konami called "BrokenHelix" for the PS1 game.

 

I recalled the game being super hard but hilarious as well in some part due to Bruce's over the top voice acting.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Let's start guessing.

 

I predict Ron Perlman will be in this game in some form or another.

[mkreku]

I hope they hire Britney for that twin gun wielding teen girl!!

 

 

 

 

 

(fap fap fap)

[Pop]

That's a safe bet.

 

A bunch of different VAs from the other games. That lady who played Handmaiden/Viconia, etc. etc.

[Lord2]

Who will score the music to the game? Is that decided yet...

[SirPetrakus]

Nalia will be in it cause she's everywhere and Dante will be Mike xD

[Cycloneman]

I hope they hire Britney for that twin gun wielding teen girl!!

 

 

 

 

 

(fap fap fap)

Dude.

 

Jailbait.

[Pop]

Who will score the music to the game? Is that decided yet...

Alexander Brandon, also some lady who Josh mentioned once. Can't remember the name...

[Lord2]

Never hear-- Wait, he did some music for Mask of the Betrayer. He's good!

 

A bit off-topic, but who did the music for Nwn2 (org.)?

[Joseph Bulock]

Never hear-- Wait, he did some music for Mask of the Betrayer. He's good!

 

A bit off-topic, but who did the music for Nwn2 (org.)?

 

He's done a lot more than that. Look him up. He's rad.

 

Fryda is also doing a bunch of our sound work, especially in the realm of effects and Voice Over processing.

 

Having most of our audio work handled in-house is freaking awesome.

[Rostere]

I must admit that I was quite disappointed with the music for both NWN 2 and it's expansion. It might be true that I had too high expectations, but what really bothers me is that I don't believe it's really a failure due to lack of talent as much as a failure due to having the wrong approach to music in games.

 

If you compare NWN 2 and BG 2, the music in BG 2 formed an important part of the game while the music in NWN 2 mostly feels like elevator music (or rather the fantasy RPG equivalent - but I think you understand what I mean). Now, you might say that you should go listen to CDs instead of playing games if you want good music, but if you look at things from that perspective, what is really the point of having any music at all in games?

 

The point of a game soundtrack is really to provide assistance in conveying the atmosphere created by the graphics and the story of a game. Many of the tunes in BG 2 have strong motifs that are easy to remember and hum along with and that was also their strength. This was a bold move, since if you create memorable music which sets the wrong mood, it will create a god-awful discord and be very disturbing. Chuck Berry is a good musician and UT is a good game, but Chuck Berry + UT = epic fail (No pun intended). The music for BG 2 hits the spot perfectly however.

 

Music should have the same role in games as in movies. In The Lord of the Rings, which should be a relevant example, music sometimes takes over the entire soundscape and affects how we feel about what is happening on the screen. (example) Music in games is a tool that should be used to the entire extent of it's power, it's not to be treated as muzak. I hope that Alpha Protocol really will incorporate music with the gaming experience.

 

The main menu of Civ 4 is another excellent example of how music is used together with graphics to form an audiovisual experience which succeds in capturing the very essence of the game, and the fact that this is achieved before the actual game even starts just makes it even better.

 

Ok, so this was a long post but hey I'm on vacation and it's bad weather