Arcen Games

General Category => AI War II => AI War II - Gameplay Ideas => : qipoi April 14, 2017, 01:11:59 PM

: Unit voices in AI War 2
: qipoi April 14, 2017, 01:11:59 PM
Even if it is too expensive to hire voice actors, can we have some kind of voice acting or functionality to add voice acting for the units? Or even just get the devs to do some voice lines for the fun of it. I always find it jarring when games have no unit lines, its hard to imagine I am commnading an army instead of a faceless blob of ships. I think my favorite lines for a space game has to go to the homeworld series, for their ice-cool professional soldier lines, really makes the game come alive, feel like you are commanding a fleet.

Even if you just provided the functionality, make it modifiable, that then let the players slot in the voice lines, that would be amazing.

That said you only really need lines for the core ship types+one set for buildings and one for the mothership, you don't the sub-types, which I think is only like 6 or so sets of voice lines.

What do you guys think?
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: BadgerBadger April 14, 2017, 01:28:25 PM
Well, they will be getting in voice actors for the Taunts, so it might be doable to get them to do some unit voices. I agree it would be cool!
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: x4000 April 14, 2017, 01:34:05 PM
We typically do sounds for the orders, rather than voice lines.  It wouldn't be super expensive to do lines for them, but I guess I worry about it becoming repetitive.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: BadgerBadger April 14, 2017, 01:41:03 PM
Why don't we revisit this in a few months when you are closer to getting voice actors in, and see what folks think once the game is more developed?
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: qipoi April 14, 2017, 01:51:18 PM
We typically do sounds for the orders, rather than voice lines.  It wouldn't be super expensive to do lines for them, but I guess I worry about it becoming repetitive.


I rather like the Homeworld voice lines for that exact reason. They are short, professional sounding, and to the point, thus don't really get repetitive. Thats my opinion of it, anyway. Thanks for the reply, by the way.

Would it be possible for you to make the lines in such a way that we can mod voice packs for them, like the way XCOM 2 coded the voice sets? Some of the fan content produced for xcom 2 was top notch.

https://youtu.be/MMd3xmGG9DM?t=524 Homeworld and its voice lines, for comparison. Short, to the point, professional. Not as wild and characterised as starcraft, or as gritty as company of heroes, but I think it sets the theme right, isn't too distracting, and is as short as possible to convey the message to the player without too much noise.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: qipoi April 14, 2017, 01:55:52 PM
Just thought I would add this, another touch I liked is that the units would refer to themselves by the hotkey group/fleet group you put them in.

EG: (Ctrl-1) 1+move there "Group 1 copies." (1, attack this) "Group 1 engaging" 1 under attack "Group 1 under attack". They say all of this quite deadpan so it isn't distracting. Unlike say, the marines from SC constantly screeching "I NEED BACKUP!" whenever they got attacked by 1 zergling.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Dominus Arbitrationis April 14, 2017, 02:03:52 PM
Just thought I would add this, another touch I liked is that the units would refer to themselves by the hotkey group/fleet group you put them in.

EG: (Ctrl-1) 1+move there "Group 1 copies." (1, attack this) "Group 1 engaging" 1 under attack "Group 1 under attack". They say all of this quite deadpan so it isn't distracting. Unlike say, the marines from SC constantly screeching "I NEED BACKUP!" whenever they got attacked by 1 zergling.

What do they say when they aren't in a group? Do they just say "Moving" or "Under attack"?

I do worry that could get annoying, especially if someone clicks multiple times, which isn't super likely, but in AIWC I've done that a few times. If they kept saying "Moving" they would repeat themselves a lot and be fairly annoying.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: qipoi April 14, 2017, 02:10:30 PM
What do they say when they aren't in a group? Do they just say "Moving" or "Under attack"?

I do worry that could get annoying, especially if someone clicks multiple times, which isn't super likely, but in AIWC I've done that a few times. If they kept saying "Moving" they would repeat themselves a lot and be fairly annoying.

Two things here: I would imagine that it would be modular. Most well planned strategy games let you tweak what your units notify you about. EG: Only voice notify under attack if in group. Or never voice notify under attack. Secondly In addition, you havea 10 second cooldown between the same phrase or between any phrase. The same selected group (or maybe globally) only say "moving" every 10 seconds, even if you clicked multiple times. The rest of the lines don't get said.

I have seen games that give you a huge amount of control over unit notifications as well, the conditions as well as the timings.

EDIT: I'd like to take this opportunity to further shill home worlds sound design.
You can strategically use light radio static type effects to make the sounds of unit lines less sharp, so that they are easier on the ears and less distracting.

Sorry, to answer your first question: Alternatively you could have them just notify you of the sector they are in, instead of that they are under attack. "Sector 5, under attack" for when taking damage. Again this should be an option that can be toggled to voice or notification/beep only. The bloat of number of lines required is kept to a minimum, moreso if you use ARMA style sectional dialogue.

Sector (5) under attack.

OR when sector 50 is under attack.

Sector (Five, Zero) is under attack. Or Group (five, zero) is under attack. All you have to record is the main phrase (sector under attack) and the numbers 1-9, and you have infinite sector and unit dialogue that doesn't take up space or take too long to record.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: BadgerBadger April 14, 2017, 02:21:56 PM
What about adding some other voiceover things; like maybe to go with whatever other queues we have for incoming waves, or CPAs, the AI will also taunt you; "The attack on Murdoch will break your foolish defenses." "This CPA will finish you."   Or if a wave fails the attack, it could say "I have learned much about how to crush you."

Using menacing voiceovers along with your other queues would allow the enemy to take on more personality.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: qipoi April 14, 2017, 02:24:05 PM
Really though as long as I get the basics I am fine (moving, attacking.) I really just want my units to feel human, at least when I give them orders, anyway. Any extra lines, like units acknowledging they are in a group, is all gravy, just helps me understand which units and battlegroups I am commanding. Perhaps basic lines are good for ships, but 'Under attack' is best left to notificatitons, even then you could still give the option to turn that on or off.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Draco18s April 14, 2017, 02:24:56 PM
[quote author=Dominus Arbitrationis link=topic=19682.msg214505#msg214505 date=1492193032What do they say when they aren't in a group? Do they just say "Moving" or "Under attack"?

I do worry that could get annoying, especially if someone clicks multiple times, which isn't super likely, but in AIWC I've done that a few times. If they kept saying "Moving" they would repeat themselves a lot and be fairly annoying.
[/quote]

Generally quips are time-limited, i.e only one every ten seconds or so.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: x4000 April 14, 2017, 02:27:47 PM
All of this sort of thing would be moddable, so at worst that could be added in belatedly.  I'll see what we can do, but there was never budget set aside for something like this.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: qipoi April 14, 2017, 02:28:57 PM
What about adding some other voiceover things; like maybe to go with whatever other queues we have for incoming waves, or CPAs, the AI will also taunt you; "The attack on Murdoch will break your foolish defenses." "This CPA will finish you."   Or if a wave fails the attack, it could say "I have learned much about how to crush you."

Using menacing voiceovers along with your other queues would allow the enemy to take on more personality.

Bonus points if the super ships , uniques(like uh golems?) you can rebuild have slightly unique, more active voice sets, especially when they die. "Mayday, mayday!"(BOOM)

AI: "Ha. Ha. Ha."
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: qipoi April 14, 2017, 02:34:34 PM
All of this sort of thing would be moddable, so at worst that could be added in belatedly.  I'll see what we can do, but there was never budget set aside for something like this.

No worries man, I figured as much. I was mainly trying to make a case for you to provide the modding functionality/slots for us to add our own lines , but it looks like you were into that already.

Can't wait to add some Armada I or II Picard lines to the starship, or the calming homeworld mothership lines to the HQ ship. Can I get a vague confirmation that player made unit lines will probably maybe a thing? I Might go record some when I'm bored, or rally some people who I know have sexy voices.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: x4000 April 14, 2017, 02:35:29 PM
Player made unit lines definitely will be possible to mod in, yes. :)

Might want to throw it on mantis just so I don't overlook it, but it's not a problem whatsoever to add it.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: qipoi April 14, 2017, 03:05:56 PM
Player made unit lines definitely will be possible to mod in, yes. :)

Might want to throw it on mantis just so I don't overlook it, but it's not a problem whatsoever to add it.

I put it on mantis, as a Feature, under Audio. Thanks for the input everyone!
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: BadgerBadger April 14, 2017, 03:07:37 PM
In terms of budgeting, I think I was down for an AI Taunt from the kickstarter; could I use that to add a line for the AI to taunt you with when a cpa is 1 minute away? Or is that not what it was intended for ;)
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: BadgerBadger April 17, 2017, 01:02:22 PM
So Mantis 0019065 was opened for this, but it turns out that it was opened against AI War, not AI War 2. I don't see an obvious way to move it. Chris//Keith, could you move it? Or should we just open a new request tagged to AI War 2?
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: x4000 April 17, 2017, 01:07:47 PM
Looks like I can't move it, so I closed it and another can be opened instead in the AI War 2 project: https://bugtracker.arcengames.com/view.php?id=19065
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: TheVampire100 April 17, 2017, 02:39:28 PM
I thought the player ships are controlled by an AI and not piloted by humans? Or am I wrong on that end?
Would they than have an robotic voice?

I'm a little torn about voices on units. I remember the voices in Bionic Dues and while they were funyn at first, there were so little lines that they repeated themself already on the first mission. Since Ai War is even a bigger/longer game, you have them repeat even more.
I do like voices on units in some games. Blizzard did some excellent work on Warcraft 3 and Starcraft and they itnroduced this "portrait click" feature, if you click repeatingly on the portrait of a unit it will say something clever or humorous or even break the 4th wall and comments that you should stop clicking on it.
However, I'm used to the typical "boop" sound when giving orders, so voices might turn me off. Maybe.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: BadgerBadger April 17, 2017, 04:51:48 PM
I'm not sure if I'll want to play with voices for all the units, but I really would like the AI to say nasty things when it's destroying my planets, sending in a wave, sending an Exo, launching a CPA, and so on.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Draco18s April 18, 2017, 08:56:25 AM
Ya know, the default built-in could just be a bleep.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: keith.lamothe April 18, 2017, 09:57:24 AM
Ya know, the default built-in could just be a bleep.
That would often be an appropriate summary of what the unit is thinking.

"You thousand ships, go throw yourself into that wall of turrets and chip a few off"

"BLEEP!"
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: z99-_ April 18, 2017, 11:25:14 AM
I thought the player ships are controlled by an AI and not piloted by humans? Or am I wrong on that end?

The topic has come up multiple times, and there's never been a definitive lore statement as to which, if any, ships and structures have humans on them (at least to my occasionally faulty memory). I think there's a general consensus that the fleet ships aren't piloted, but starships and structures are more up in the air.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: x4000 April 18, 2017, 11:53:30 AM
Originally I felt they were pilotless, but that command stations had people in them in particular.  Now I'm kind of open, I'm not really sure which is the case.

I have also been looking into the VO stuff a bit, and I think there might be a way to handle this well, and without breaking our budget.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: TheVampire100 April 18, 2017, 09:45:47 PM
Well, ou throw tousand of them intot he abyss, hard to believe that you throw that many so happily to their demise if they are piloted by humans, especially if the human race is nearly extinct. Also the initial store page said something from "we use ships that use a safe AI".
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: keith.lamothe April 19, 2017, 08:03:54 AM
It seems unlikely that a space dock you put up on some isolated planet has an endless supply of humans to pack into that swarm of fleet ships you keep pumping out from there to attack the neighboring planet.

Human control makes sense, with the controllers all at your home command station (Ark) or other more-secure location, if you can handwave some kind of FTL communication that the enemy is incapable of spoofing. Which the game evidently does, since you can control all your units in real time.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Draco18s April 19, 2017, 09:12:11 AM
if you can handwave some kind of FTL communication that the enemy is incapable of spoofing. Which the game evidently does, since you can control all your units in real time.

Who said it can't be spoofed? Reclamation and zombies are a thing.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: x4000 April 19, 2017, 10:12:47 AM
I had read Forever Peace not all that long before writing the story (small as it was) for the first AI War, and I had remote-piloted drones in mind at the time, I think.  But with added AIs in there to compensate for slower human reaction times, and humans having to coordinate multiple ships at once due to shortages of staff, etc.  The sort of "safe AI" that is really just non-intelligent algorithms for autotargeting, etc.  It's running an algorithm and coming out with a certain result, and the humans' job is getting them in the positions where the algorithms will do the right thing.

As a fan of Ender's Game, I was also figuring on something along the lines of an ansible.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: keith.lamothe April 19, 2017, 10:29:33 AM
Who said it can't be spoofed? Reclamation and zombies are a thing.
But those appear to require physical access to the ship, rather than being something that can operate at a distance.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Draco18s April 19, 2017, 05:02:06 PM
Who said it can't be spoofed? Reclamation and zombies are a thing.
But those appear to require physical access to the ship, rather than being something that can operate at a distance.

That's true.
Probably uses quantum encryption.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Dominus Arbitrationis April 19, 2017, 05:57:09 PM
Looks like I can't move it, so I closed it and another can be opened instead in the AI War 2 project: https://bugtracker.arcengames.com/view.php?id=19065

I moved it since no one made a new issue for it. I've set it to be assigned to you, Chris, with the status Assigned and resolution Open.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: BadgerBadger April 19, 2017, 06:27:26 PM
Hah, so Dominus can do things that even Chris can't figure out!
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Toranth April 19, 2017, 06:51:39 PM
Who said it can't be spoofed? Reclamation and zombies are a thing.
But those appear to require physical access to the ship, rather than being something that can operate at a distance.
Hacking secure systems generally requires physical access, so it makes sense.

Ya know, I kinda like the idea of 'spoofed' units.  Imagine the fun of seeing some of your units moving around - you can highlight them, get their status, even 'give orders; and get an acknowledgement! - only they don't actually do what you say, and when they get to their target, suddenly Poof, they're back in AI colors and attacking you.

Actually, maybe I don't like it.  Let's not do that.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Dominus Arbitrationis April 19, 2017, 06:56:48 PM
Hah, so Dominus can do things that even Chris can't figure out!

Heh, just don't ask me to do the crazy coding Chris and Keith do. That stuff is basically magic to me. Web/database servers, on the other hand, I can usually handle pretty well. :)
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: Draco18s June 21, 2017, 09:12:21 AM
Heh, just don't ask me to do the crazy coding Chris and Keith do. That stuff is basically magic to me. Web/database servers, on the other hand, I can usually handle pretty well. :)

Don't worry, its magic for us too. ;)
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: WolfWhiteFire June 21, 2017, 12:16:05 PM
Ya know, I kinda like the idea of 'spoofed' units.  Imagine the fun of seeing some of your units moving around - you can highlight them, get their status, even 'give orders; and get an acknowledgement! - only they don't actually do what you say, and when they get to their target, suddenly Poof, they're back in AI colors and attacking you.
I believe I actually asked about the possibility of a similar situation in either the discord channel or one of the kickstarter updates, I remember asking about the possibility of having it where the Nemesis can take over some of your units, and send them to do its bidding if you aren't observant and careful. Where your turrets and ships and the such will only attack them either once they make a move or when you tell them too, the only differences being this would only happen with the Nemesis active, and maybe set to a high enough difficulty, and that it would use your own ships, so they wouldn't switch back to AI colors.
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: powpow February 09, 2018, 08:28:22 AM
What about adding some other voiceover things; like maybe to go with whatever other queues we have for incoming waves, or CPAs, the AI will also taunt you; "The attack on Murdoch will break your foolish defenses." "This CPA will finish you."   Or if a wave fails the attack, it could say "I have learned much about how to crush you."

Using menacing voiceovers along with your other queues would allow the enemy to take on more personality.

Bonus points if the super ships , uniques(like uh golems?) you can rebuild have slightly unique, more active voice sets, especially when they die. "Mayday, mayday!"(BOOM)

AI: "Ha. Ha. Ha."

I would absolutely love there to be voice acting for the AI, having recently finished XCOM 2 - War of the Chosen which features boss aliens that constantly show up to disrupt your plans and taunt you.

Voice acted AI:
- is way more immersive and atmospheric than simple text
- makes the game feel alive and responsive to your actions
- adds personality and would be a memorable talking/selling point ("that b*stard AI just ripped my base to shreds and laughed at me! I'll show it who's boss!")

I appreciate your extremely limited budget but I hope this makes it into the final game!
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: BadgerBadger February 09, 2018, 10:51:57 AM
Voices are definitely going to be a thing in AIW2. At the moment you get voices for placing new buildings and moving Planetary Constructors, and Fighter voices will be in for .706. I'm not sure what the schedule is for other things, but there will be a lot of audio!
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: powpow February 09, 2018, 07:02:50 PM
YES!!!!!!! Looking forward to it :)
: Re: Unit voices in AI War 2
: WolfWhiteFire March 29, 2018, 10:04:25 PM
With voices for AI and various taunts, something that could be somewhat funny/interesting and good for new players is an AI that mocks your mistakes, even stating what they are, when it fights you, for example if it deals a large blow against you (such as taking back a system, killing flagship or ark, etc.) with cloaked units it could have taunts for those situations. Could be a useful sort of tutorial AI, also a good way to motivate players to prepare for more things (who's laughing now you arrogant AI?)