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God I hate that idea. It's basically trying to have the cake and eat it, re: voice acting. You have voiced dialogue, but there's no acting so it can be 'interpreted', the same way you could read your own inflection and stuff into text dialogue. Except hearing it spoken inherently gives it tone, best case scenario you'll get is the character sounds bored or lacks personality. I'd rather just have the text or have the character actually have a personality and be allowed to act.
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Jan 24, 2014 01:33
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Okay, one more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bLU7qU2heacSlavvy posted:If by robotic you mean there were no quirky, instantly likeable, endearingly silly, glowing characters and everyone was a shade-of-grey in a deliberately morally ambiguous setting, You're right, there's no character at all 
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Jan 24, 2014 01:54
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I always prefer emotionless, robotic voice acting to melodramatic overemotion.
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Jan 24, 2014 01:57
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JC has the nest voiceacting ever and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.
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Jan 24, 2014 02:11
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Cerebral Bore posted:JC has the nest voiceacting ever and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. Although I wouldn't had said no to having JC voiced by Elias Toufexis. That man's voice is just so amazing. 
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Jan 24, 2014 02:42
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Cerebral Bore posted:JC has the nest voiceacting ever and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. A BOMB.
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Jan 24, 2014 03:58
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Slavvy posted:A BOMB. Has there even been any comments from the developers about what happened with that delivery? I need to come across a sufficiently large enough sum of money that I could safely waste a few million to pay Gary Busey to record all of JC Denton's lines with no direction except for a big hat I pull pieces of paper out of that describe randomly assorted emotional and/or physical states. I suppose I could sell the resulting voice pack with profits going to charity... Probably something dealing with child hunger.
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Jan 24, 2014 04:29
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I dunno, I think the cold quiet spook thing was fine and not robotic at all. The big problem with the game's audio is that every line has a pause between it and the next, and that creates a very stilted feel to dialog in a very dialog heavy game. It's almost as if each line is it's own separate audio file and the game loads them as needed in order to cut down load times on the huge levels.
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Jan 24, 2014 05:23
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A BOMB sounds strange because how do you say A BOMB in a neutral tone?
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Jan 24, 2014 05:52
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AugmentedVision posted:A BOMB sounds strange because how do you say A BOMB in a neutral tone? You mean, ASIDE from tired zero wing references? Probably with a Speak And Spell.
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Jan 24, 2014 06:12
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FoolyCharged posted:I dunno, I think the cold quiet spook thing was fine and not robotic at all. The big problem with the game's audio is that every line has a pause between it and the next, and that creates a very stilted feel to dialog in a very dialog heavy game. It's almost as if each line is it's own separate audio file and the game loads them as needed in order to cut down load times on the huge levels. I think it's more to do with the way conversations are designed in the game. Every run of text has its own tag, and the voice clips are along for the ride. This way the branching and looping conversations work smoothly. If you're literally a baby and don't remember the status quo for voice acting when DX came out then I guess it doesn't make sense, but come the gently caress on. Voice actors hardly came into the equation in 2000. Unless you were MGS or Soul Reaver (which used the same outfit for the US voice acting, actually) the expectations were extremely low.
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Jan 24, 2014 06:44
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George posted:I think it's more to do with the way conversations are designed in the game. Every run of text has its own tag, and the voice clips are along for the ride. This way the branching and looping conversations work smoothly. Yeah, that's true. It's important to remember that Half-Life came out only a year and a half before Deus Ex and featured such groundbreaking innovations as "sections where you aren't meant to kill everything that moves" and "a plot told within the game rather than in between maps if at all." Meanwhile, previous first-person RPG's like Ultima Underworld 1 and 2 (also Warren Spector games, mind you) had occasional bits of dialog but very little voice acting and were primarily dungeon crawls. Plus, as I recall, even Metal Gear Solid's original voice acting wasn't exactly stellar and Soul Reaver had to work with some very melodramatic writing. So did MGS at times, actually. Still, all that may explain why Deus Ex's voice acting is the way it is, but knowing that doesn't help those who encounter the game now for the first time. The only real way to settle this argument is to say that yes, the voice acting is objectively bad by today's standards, but some folks have managed to accommodate for that or else look past it and not let the fact bother them. You can also say the same for the aging graphics and the setting based on a zeitgeist over a decade old. Oh, and thanks everyone for the gold rating. With only three episodes out, that's definitely a record for me.
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Jan 24, 2014 08:04
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George posted:I think it's more to do with the way conversations are designed in the game. Every run of text has its own tag, and the voice clips are along for the ride. This way the branching and looping conversations work smoothly. Don't forget Fallout and Fallout 2. Just phenomenal voice talent.
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Jan 24, 2014 08:29
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Blade Runner had really good voice acting especially for the time. 
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Jan 24, 2014 08:36
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Gaz-L posted:God I hate that idea. It's basically trying to have the cake and eat it, re: voice acting. You have voiced dialogue, but there's no acting so it can be 'interpreted', the same way you could read your own inflection and stuff into text dialogue. Except hearing it spoken inherently gives it tone, best case scenario you'll get is the character sounds bored or lacks personality. I'd rather just have the text or have the character actually have a personality and be allowed to act. I honestly hate the idea of having an emotionless, bland character so that "audiences can project themselves on the character". Unless it's an RPG with dialogue choices where you really can project whatever you want onto the character, give the main character a personality! And not a bland one. Make them interesting and fun. Oh, and just want to chime in to say that Bobbin is doing a fantastic job, I'm really enjoying both the low-key playthrough and the Conspiracy Corner explanations. Great LP.
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Jan 24, 2014 08:54
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Gygaxian posted:I honestly hate the idea of having an emotionless, bland character so that "audiences can project themselves on the character". Unless it's an RPG with dialogue choices where you really can project whatever you want onto the character, give the main character a personality! And not a bland one. Make them interesting and fun. I agree with you about disliking this, but you can't say it hasn't been successful. Just look at how many people legitimately like Gordon Freeman or Master Chief, for example, despite one of them having no personality mostly by design and the other being a faceless walking blank. It does seem to connect with audiences in the specific context of interactive media.
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Jan 24, 2014 09:03
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Night10194 posted:I agree with you about disliking this, but you can't say it hasn't been successful. Just look at how many people legitimately like Gordon Freeman or Master Chief, for example, despite one of them having no personality mostly by design and the other being a faceless walking blank. It does seem to connect with audiences in the specific context of interactive media. Similar to how Samus' characterization developed despite having virtually zero voiced lines in the Metroid games (pre-Other M, I am NOT stepping into that shitstorm), a lot of gamers inform characteristics of these protagonists based on the fact that they ARE silent while they go about their work, and what that work entails. Especially in the case of Issac Clarke (for the first Dead Space, at least) and Gordon Freeman, audiences really like everyman fix-it characters that get poo poo done.
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Jan 24, 2014 10:07
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:Oh, and thanks everyone for the gold rating. With only three episodes out, that's definitely a record for me.
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Jan 24, 2014 10:16
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SWMadness posted:Especially in the case of Issac Clarke (for the first Dead Space, at least) and Gordon Freeman, audiences really like everyman fix-it characters that get poo poo done. Between bludgeoning mutant horrors to death with a spanner wrench, you had repair what felt like half of the ship, and then a repeat performance on the NEXT ship.
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Jan 24, 2014 10:16
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People only like Gordon Freeman because when you are Gordon Freeman you are apparently a nerd and a pretty girl likes you. Otherwise he's a floating pair of arms. JC might be a robotic autist but at least he's a character.
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Jan 24, 2014 11:35
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Cooked Auto posted:Although I wouldn't had said no to having JC voiced by Elias Toufexis. That man's voice is just so amazing. What a shame.
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Jan 24, 2014 12:31
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Cooked Auto posted:Although I wouldn't had said no to having JC voiced by Elias Toufexis. That man's voice is just so amazing. "Shut up, Megan."
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Jan 24, 2014 22:00
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If I remember right, he's actually married to the voice actress that did Megan. Which does explain why their dialogue in the beginning works so well.
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Jan 24, 2014 22:06
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I'm not going to lie, that is both surreal and amazing. I am mildly surprised that the voice of Adam Jensen has played played through the game he voiced twice.
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Jan 24, 2014 22:53
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Cerebral Bore posted:JC has the nest voiceacting ever and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. JC Denton and Duke Nukem have the same voice actor.
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Jan 25, 2014 02:32
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Are Gunther, Anna, JC, and Paul the only augmented UNATCO agents?
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Jan 25, 2014 02:39
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Carter is augmented too (a little), and Jordan, the augmented bartender in New York, used to be an agent. I think that's it in terms of named characters, but there may be others we just don't run into.
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Jan 25, 2014 02:57
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Farecoal posted:Are Gunther, Anna, JC, and Paul the only augmented UNATCO agents? Technically. All the other augmented/enhanced people work for FEMA or MJ12, but the lines in Deus Ex tend to be a bit blurry. E: idonotlikepeas posted:Carter Good catch, I didn't realize he had prosthetic legs. unfair fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Jan 25, 2014 |
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Jan 25, 2014 02:58
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SWMadness posted:Similar to how Samus' characterization developed despite having virtually zero voiced lines in the Metroid games (pre-Other M, I am NOT stepping into that shitstorm), a lot of gamers inform characteristics of these protagonists based on the fact that they ARE silent while they go about their work, and what that work entails. It works for Isaac and Samus because they're almost entirely alone (and I would've loved if they'd let, say, Jennifer Hale voice Samus in Corruption). Not so much for Freeman in HL2 when he keeps being spoken to by people and they act like he's replying. It feels like that joke from Portal 2 where you hit Space to 'talk', except Valve aren't in on it. Basically, silent protagonist works one of three ways: 1. They're not actually silent. You could argue this is what Freeman is, but this is tricky to pull off outside of something like Baldur's Gate or KOTOR, where you pick the dialogue and the other characters respond. Otherwise you're playing as Chewbacca and other characters have to repeat what you 'said'. 2.They are silent, but that's because there's no one to talk to. Metroid's a good example. Who would Samus speak to? She's a freelancer working alone, so unless you give her a wisecracking computer to chat to (and people hated when they DID do that in Metroid 4) she's going to be quiet. 3. You never address it and basically have the character be a prop in an ensemble. Basically, the other characters are important and do all the talking, and barely acknowledge you're there. Again, arguably like in HL, except Freeman is treated as VERY important, so you're constantly reminded he's mute. I always find it weird when someone uses Half-Life as an example of this idea done well, when Bioshock's hero is almost identically treated and gently caress if I could tell you anything about his personality. Compare to Infinite, where Booker is able to have some agency, or at least the illusion of it, in the story. Gaz-L fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Jan 25, 2014 |
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Jan 25, 2014 03:11
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Night10194 posted:I agree with you about disliking this, but you can't say it hasn't been successful. Just look at how many people legitimately like Gordon Freeman or Master Chief, for example, despite one of them having no personality mostly by design and the other being a faceless walking blank. It does seem to connect with audiences in the specific context of interactive media. That's not very fair to Freeman. He also has the tendency to hop around wildly and on tables and things whenever anyone tries to have a conversation with him for any length of time.
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Jan 25, 2014 03:54
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It's not surprising why gamers love Freeman so much really, he's very identifiable
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Jan 25, 2014 04:05
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Pwnstar posted:It's not surprising why gamers love Freeman so much really, he's very identifiable yes okay nerds funny we get it I never really noticed the fact that Freeman was silent, which I think is just Valve being good enough at writing
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Jan 25, 2014 04:17
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A lot of media has blank-slate main characters with very little personality or defining character traits expressly so the consumer can place themselves in the role of the protagonist. Works for romance novels, CYOA game books, many dialog/moral choice heavy RPGs, dating sims and more! Twilight the book was so popular in part because Bella Swan was practically an avatar for the reader. Then there's games like Alpha Protocol and Mass Effect that give the main character several distinct and strong personalities to choose from. P.S. FemShep4lyfe
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Jan 25, 2014 04:56
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Farecoal posted:Are Gunther, Anna, JC, and Paul the only augmented UNATCO agents? In terms of the larger world, I'm pretty sure those four are simply the only ones working out of UNATCO's New York headquarters. Considering that UNATCO is a global organization, I imagine that all the other augmented agents are simply working in hot spots elsewhere on the planet, much like Paul was before the night began. In fact, considering that J.C. is a junior agent on his first day and Paul has recently transfered back from Hong Kong, there are now twice as many agents in New York than there are normally.
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Jan 25, 2014 04:56
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There are a lot of games that have the protagonist serve as functionally mute, but are there any that have protagonists that are literally afflicted with mutism and that the game's world acknowledges the fact?
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Jan 25, 2014 07:47
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:In terms of the larger world, I'm pretty sure those four are simply the only ones working out of UNATCO's New York headquarters. Considering that UNATCO is a global organization, I imagine that all the other augmented agents are simply working in hot spots elsewhere on the planet, much like Paul was before the night began. In fact, considering that J.C. is a junior agent on his first day and Paul has recently transfered back from Hong Kong, there are now twice as many agents in New York than there are normally. Interesting that Paul was supposedly there for an assassination mission (kinda hypocritical, aren't you, Mr. Paul "We're cops, no killing" Denton?), didn't remember that bit. As for mechanically augmented people, I seem to recall they were heavily discriminated against in most professions by the time of Deus Ex so a lot of them were in combat-oriented government professions like UNATCO agents. Regarding the sequel talk, while IW was rightly criticized for many things, I can't really call any game with that pretty decent intro, the ability to pull off psycho amusements like killing someone then tell the AI patterned after them what you did or taking a flamethrower to rich schoolgirls (with appropriate NPC reaction) a complete waste of time. Also really liked the remix of the main theme they did for the game. Human Revolution of course, minus things like the boss fight stuff and push-button endings, was pretty drat good overall.
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Jan 25, 2014 07:47
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Gimbal lock posted:There are a lot of games that have the protagonist serve as functionally mute, but are there any that have protagonists that are literally afflicted with mutism and that the game's world acknowledges the fact? Drakengard.
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Jan 25, 2014 08:45
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Gimbal lock posted:There are a lot of games that have the protagonist serve as functionally mute, but are there any that have protagonists that are literally afflicted with mutism and that the game's world acknowledges the fact? The upcoming South Park game, oddly enough. Apparently it makes them all think you're a bit full of yourself.
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Jan 25, 2014 10:45
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Gimbal lock posted:There are a lot of games that have the protagonist serve as functionally mute, but are there any that have protagonists that are literally afflicted with mutism and that the game's world acknowledges the fact? Crysis 2, if memory serves "vocal cords" weren't something the nano-suit ever got around to fixing until the third game anyways. Agent Interrobang posted:Drakengard. Drakengard is especially funny in this regard because the character in question still got his own dialogue boxes for some reason.  Edit: Something more on topic, how well does the liberty island of DX map to the real life thing? Obviously there wouldn't be a UNATCO HQ or a shrine dedicated to the decapitated head of lady liberty. I'm talking more about the statue's interior, the basic shape of the island and the locations of the ferry docks and so-forth. MechanicalTomPetty fucked around with this message at 10:58 on Jan 25, 2014 |
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Jan 25, 2014 10:51
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Someone posted comparison photographs in the Deus Ex thread (I think that was at the same time as the last Gabriel Knight LP had comparison pictures of the relevant New Orleans areas, which is why it stuck with me, but I still can't find the post) and things were fairly similar.
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Jan 25, 2014 11:22
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