It's Going To Be Harder To Add Quests Naturally, since every NPC has 100% voiced dialog Options

[RobRendell]

A lot of mods that added quests to Morrowind would add additional dialog options to existing NPCs in the game, providing hooks into the new content.

It just struck me: with every line of dialog voiced by voice-actors, we're going to find it hard to put any additional works into existing NPCs' mouths. It'll be a bit jarring if your extra dialog is not voiced, but not as jarring as it'll be when the NPC's voice changes when they say your lines...

Is there any software out there that allows you to readily synthesise new speech for a given voice, if you can feed it enough samples of the voice you want mimiced?

[Neela]

There is a program called Audacity which is free. It doesnt synthesize speech but you can record your own voice and then modify its frequency and speed (among other things)to produce dramatically different sounding voices.

[Deathbane27]

Hmm... Yeah, the characters in my mods will have to be the silent type. They won't use any dialog set up for their race, just the stuff that I voice for them.

This post has been edited by Deathbane27: Oct 28 2005, 06:15 AM

[RobRendell]

Neela, thanks for the pointer - it could help if we want to do lots of distinctly-voiced NPCs and aren't good at putting on funny voices naturally.

Deathbane27, I don't think our own custom NPCs will be a problem... we can voice all the dialog for them, including all the standard stuff. Well, not a problem apart from lame voice acting, at least in my case

I was specifically concerned about adding an extra bit of dialog to an existing NPC, in order to tie your quest into the larger game. Like, adding some extra dialog to the arch-mage of Cryodil so he can send the player off to your pocket universe or something, while leaving his other conversational gambits intact.

So, to add a bit of extra conversation to an existing NPC, the options as I see them are:

* throw away Bethesda's voice actor's work and re-voice all the target NPC's dialog (which would be a bit intrusive, and could be a lot of dialog for important NPCs)

* find a fan who's a good vocal mimic to record the new lines for you

* have the new lines spoken in a different voice (could work if the NPC was suddenly possessed or something, but that could only be used in moderation, not for every extra piece of dialog on existing NPCs)

* have the new lines un-voiced.

* find some software that can sample the existing dialog and allow you to synthesise new lines using the sampled voice, if such software exists.

Any other ideas?

[The Wolf]

Is there by the way subtitles in Oblivion or will it be just talking?

[RobRendell]

NPCs talking with you have both voice and subtitles.

NPCs talking between themselves have just voices, no subtitles.

[Neela]

another alternative for the existing npcs (that I plan on using...) would be whispers. Human whispers are pretty indistiguishable from one another. So if the situation/quest is sort of behind the scenes they could break into a whisper with the player. Though this might be a problem if the software doesnt recognize or allow voice volumes for the lip-syncing. It wont look like they are whispering.


Maybe a possibility though

[Momaw]

I'd be extremely surprised if Oblivion didn't have the option to turn on subtitles for anything and everything, including overheard dialogue.

I don't see the voice acting as a barrier to good modding. Consider it an incentive to improve your story and writing skills. A quality story with nobody narrating is better than somebody skillfully narrating a junk story.

[Brood]

I would like to have new voices in my TC, but I don't see a problem with just using text, it would be a little detrimental to the atmosphere, but Morrowind fans had no problem with text-based dialogue.

[BlackVenoM]

lolz do u think they voiced it?
its a machine making any word tfor the NPC's....thats better then voicing them couse it will be hard to get them saying hamster OFF whne u try to block thire way home

[RobRendell]

Actually, my understanding is that yes, every line is voiced by, err, hand

In other words, they've got voice acting for every line in the game. Even some random insignificant NPC abusing you for blocking their way home. All done by real live human voice actors, not by some in-game voice synthesis. 50 hours of voice samples, filling half the DVD.

The "whisper" idea is cute, Neela. It could only be used a few times before it became repetitive, though. You'll have to get your mod out quickly, to reserve the idea ;)

Momaw, Brood, I presume that having "unvoiced" dialog works, but the lip-synching is apparently driven by the audio, so that would mean the NPCs mouth won't move with a slient audio file. It will still be be odd when an otherwise-fully voiced NPC suddenly stops talking and starts just staring at you while text appears on the screen... telepathy, perhaps?

Oh well, we can always insert all-new NPCs into existing locations to link in mods. No problem with fully voicing a new NPC. It will just be a problem if it would make logical sense for someone already in the world should be saying something new (like as I said, the arch-mage, or some regular point of contact in one of the guilds, or similar).

[Ilion Sturmlied]

I'm sure that Voices are not mandatory for the npc's.
It adds flair to the world but it would be very hard for modders to add new npcs and quests.

I'm planning to do some mods myself and I will not record all the voices for my npcs!

[xycolian]

Is there by the way subtitles in Oblivion or will it be just talking?

I'm sure there'll be an option to have subtitles

This post has been edited by xycolian: Mar 5 2006, 10:52 AM

[Pieinsky]

Personally I dont mind haveing only written language as a venue of communication. I think people can still make great mods without actual verbal diologue. + your character never speaks and its still okey.

[Agent Griff]

Even though I'm no professional voice actor I'm pretty good at doing voices. I have a microphon so it won't be that hard to record my own pieces of dialogue.

[Ghogiel]

I think its a great idea to have all the dialog voice acted. I don't think it causes to great a problem to over come. All that happens is it opens up a new job role in a mod team, VOICE ACTORS.

All would be needed is for quest modders to post up a 'voice actors needed' thread and prospective voicers could get a script and a character personallity profile. And they'd be set. I think this is the best option because you can possibly get the most diverse accents. Just think having the part of a nord played in thick glaswegen accent or something

Alternatively record your friends and family for the voice roles. Someone also mentioned a voice modifer program for tweeking.
You don't want to listen to your dad's voice everytime you speak to that mage do you.

Then that still leaves the problem of seemlessly adding new dialog to existing NPCs. As RobRendell has addressed. The best options would be to have someone who could mimic the voice well enough, in all likely hood that'll be difficult in most cases. might work with some tweeking. still this all adds up to lots of work *sigh*

[foxo]

A voice change actauly happens in the fame, I burst out laughing. In the [vague spoliers] thieves guild quest where you must... acquire something... a certain monk says one line of dialogue in one voice, and then another ina totally different one. BTW, this character is not essential to talk to, so you may only encounter him if you look carefully.

[RobRendell]

Actually, you don't have to even go that far afield to find NPCs with mixed voices. If you come in to the Imperial City Merchant District from outside (likely, given where you emerge above ground), one of the first NPCs you meet is an old woman beggar. When asking you fora coin or saying farewell, she has a querrelous old woman's voice, but if you get her talking about rumours or try persuading her, her voice suddenly gets much younger.

Oh well, it's unfortunate, but not a game wrecker. I'd still have preferred it if they could have done speech synthesis with each NPC having a bunch of parameters to determine their tone of voice etc., but I have very little idea how difficult that would have been.

This post has been edited by RobRendell: Mar 27 2006, 06:20 AM

[Foi4895]

Have you thought about ways to start quests that aren't NPC dialouge?

In the back of a cave you find a book written by a mage from sometime in the second era wrote. The cave goes from being a cave to a worked stone. Imperial style. If they take the time to read the book they find an easy way into the Imperial underground estate, if not a very hard lock with some magical trap waiting on the other side, and a few attranochs standing guard.

The quest is a test. A fabled test of thievery and skill. The prize is legendary. 15,000 gold pieces, (maybe write some code to decide what kind of prize to award based what combat skill is the highest, second highest and so on, making the reward to this extremely hard dungeon too good to pass up.) and some magical item.

Offer clues along the way etched in the walls, or tatooed on some monsters forhead (would be easy to code that, an invisible wanted poster attached to the body) that a smart hero can think his way through and a tough one could slam through.

Make the dungeon very difficult, but make the reward seem more than worth the effort. You would never need to use a bit of spoken dialouge but it would be more fun than at least half the quests in the game.

[Gomez']

I really hope there's a way to mimic voices for other races.

I'd love to see a bit more variety to the town guards, like at the

*SPOILERALERT*SPOILERALERT*

Big battle outside of bruma t'wards the end of the game.

And all of the guards are lined up outside behind Martin, its a bit of a drag that they're all imperials'. That's a perfect place to observe all the races of tamriel working together for the same cause, Argonian to Dunmer, Bosmer to High Elf,

It would have been cool, but the voice acting negates that interspecial dream.

And you couldn't make good enough mimics.

Ouch.
*ENDSPOILERALERT*ENDSPOILERALERT*

I'm interested to see how the first few mods with voice acting will fare for oblivion.

They'll probably lackluster and mediocre in their quality, yet, it's worth playing if only for the sake of a good laugh, at least we're making progress. Bethesda opened a whole new world of "Awww man" to the ES modding community.

This post has been edited by Gomez': Mar 30 2006, 08:23 PM