PC Voice Sets - conlang accents ?

[Sensuki]

In the RPGCodex Q&A, I asked a question about the Voice over distribution in Project Eternity.

 

Josh Sawyer responded with:

We haven't developed an extensive plan for our VO, but we're going to focus on major NPCs, companions, and player voice sets. We will probably have a good amount of walla (background/ambient crowd noise) but will not try to have a lot of voiced one-off lines for minor NPCs.

Icewind Dale 1 had 24 Voice sets (12 Male, 12 Female) in the default game, and 6 more in the expansion.

 

The male voice set is mostly the same guy doing different voices and there's a couple different ones.

 

The female voice set is kind of similar although I think more actresses are used.

 

Anyway Eternity is more nuanced than Icewind Dale is as far as races, culture and ethncity goes.

 

I think it will be very interesting to see what we end up getting for player voices, because I wouldn't be surprised if Josh Sawyer has pronounciation guides for accents from different regions or something - that would be cool.

 

I'm really interested in the Vailian accents in particular, a combination of chocolaty dark actors/actresses with the pseudo-italian/occitan pronounciation will be very interesting (if they end up being accented, it might be more expensive to do because it will take longer to get right).

 

Having some Cultural or Ethnicity based voice sets would also be cool because you could throw in some conlang words or phrases for battle cries, curses etc. It would be funny if a particular culture had a tendancy to mix common tongue words with their own when they get angry.

 

Here's also hoping that we get a similar amount, or perhaps slightly more voice sets.

 

Another thing that got kind of monotonous in the Infinity Engine games was that the game always played the voice set of the highest party member in the formation order every time you had a group selected. It would be cool if it played a random character's voice instead or the option of randomness was available in the sounds menu - something to make voices less monotonous anyway.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Sensuki

[Messier-31]

As for the voice-sets to be used by your PC, I think it would be sweet if:

 

- as in IwD, there would be plenty to choose from;

- as in BG, all would be more or less universal.

 

There was no real choice given in BG; and in IwD you had ONE for a bard, ONE for a drow, etc.

[motorizer]

The voices in the IE games sounded unnatural to me, like the actor/actress was trying too hard to sound like a caricature of a class. And there were too many overacted hammy war cries etc.....

Some natural sounding voices please.

[Nonek]

The dwarf soundset from Icewind Dale was almost perfect for me, I believe that it was the same old gent who performed as Kresselack and the Elder God in Legacy of Kain, Tony Jay if I remember correctly.

 

Personally I always like old insults, swiving and such. Crude expressions in ancient languages are also nice, in my old p&p norse setting one of the characters would in the heat of anger chastise him enemies as Nithlings and Skraelings. Really angry character, a berserk, and this just added to his fearsome aura.

[smithereen]

I have only one request for the PC (and NPC) voice-sets: try to make them a little bit understated. Wacky one-liners and hammy battle-cries are all well and good - in moderation. "Well, looks like I'll have to go on a killing spree!" was hysterical - the first three times I heard it. Ditto "Go for the eyes, Boo! The eyes! RAAARGH!"

Well, that last one was probably funny more than three times, but the point stands. Even in Minsc's case, save the really overdone lines for one in every dozen battles or so.

[Messier-31]

Gnaaaaaar! Aaaargh! Hurrrrr... get the idea?

[teknoman2]

and as in all IE games, you should have the option to record some lines of your own and add them in the game for the pc

[Kjaamor]

I can't; I'm allergic! Well, alright; I'm not that allergic!

 

This never got old for me.

 

EVAR.