4 ms·

Those games are shooter-slop anyway. I can't remember the last time I cared about voice lines in Quake or Unreal Tournament or any other multiplayer shooter.

Those games are shooter-slop anyway. I can't remember the last time I cared about voice lines in Quake or Unreal Tournament or any other multiplayer shooter. It's not an RPG or a rich-story genre game, so who cares.

tapoxi 11mo ago
Arc Raiders has NPCs in the game hub which deliver quests and exposition, its not entirely within the context of a raid.
ryukoposting 11mo ago
I kinda see your point. The warm feeling of knowing a real human told me "die, bitch!" isn't a feeling I've ever taken away from playing UT. On the other hand, lots of AI-generated VO is very easy to spot, and sounds awful. It stands to reason it could meaningfully take away from even a completely plot-free game. If I were a voice actor, I'd feel insulted that anyone would find it comparable to my work.
- mikkupikku 11mo ago
  It really depends on the voice. For some reason, AI impersonations of Dagoth Ur are remarkably accurate even though Dagoth Ur has only a few sentences of dialogue. I've listened to several audiobooks made with his voice and they're very close to dead on, just with some cadence issues and occasional heterophone fumbling. Other voices cloned with the same tech are usually much worse. There's something about the nature of Dagoth Ur's voice in particular that makes it work well.
  - throwup238 11mo ago
    That’s what I’ve been missing in my life. Dagoth Ur reading Go the Fuck to Sleep to my kids.
  - nottorp 11mo ago
    I don't remember Dagoth Ur's voice but I'm guessing it had effects applied to it to sound ominous? So it was artificial already.
    - mikkupikku 11mo ago
      I could be wrong but I think it was just voice acting. However he sounds very eloquent speaks clearly with good pronunciation.
      - nottorp 11mo ago
        No, if anyone is wrong it's me. I played Morrowind ages ago. I also have an OpenMW playthrough ongoing (for the last 4 years) but I haven't made it to Dagoth Ur yet :)
        antisthenes 11mo ago
        > I also have an OpenMW playthrough ongoing (for the last 4 years) but I haven't made it to Dagoth Ur yet :) You can make it to Dagoth Ur in about 4 minutes :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeSAOxCk8dY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeSAOxCk8dY
        nottorp 11mo ago
        Oh come on, it took longer than that to set up openmw on mac, extract the game files from the steam windows distribution and doing various config/plugin tweaks. Now I'm cleaning up the whole map as a leisurely pace. Now and then not every week. I might be done by 2028-29.
  - ryukoposting 11mo ago
    > AI impersonations of Dagoth Ur are remarkably accurate even though Dagoth Ur has only a few sentences of dialogue If there are only a few sentences of dialogue, how can you know it's "accurate?" "Plausible" is the more appropriate word here. The AI is filling in the blanks left by a limited sample set. I'd imagine that's why it "works well" - you don't have a complete reference point to compare to. Ex: in your mind, what does Dagoth Ur sound like when he says "awww what a cute puppy!" Now, what does the AI sound like? Is there any reason to say one interpretation is more correct than the other?
falcor84 11mo ago
I don't know if that's what you were already referring to, but for me, the shout-outs for "Double Kill, Multi Kill, Ultra Kill, MONSTER KILL!!!" account at this stage for probably a majority of the nostalgia for the original Unreal Tournament. Of course it didn't hurt that the game was phenomenal and a great fit for its time, but still, I think that the quality of voice lines can make or break a game.

tapoxi 11mo ago

Arc Raiders has NPCs in the game hub which deliver quests and exposition, its not entirely within the context of a raid.

ryukoposting 11mo ago

I kinda see your point. The warm feeling of knowing a real human told me "die, bitch!" isn't a feeling I've ever taken away from playing UT. On the other hand, lots of AI-generated VO is very easy to spot, and sounds awful. It stands to reason it could meaningfully take away from even a completely plot-free game. If I were a voice actor, I'd feel insulted that anyone would find it comparable to my work.

mikkupikku 11mo ago
It really depends on the voice. For some reason, AI impersonations of Dagoth Ur are remarkably accurate even though Dagoth Ur has only a few sentences of dialogue. I've listened to several audiobooks made with his voice and they're very close to dead on, just with some cadence issues and occasional heterophone fumbling. Other voices cloned with the same tech are usually much worse. There's something about the nature of Dagoth Ur's voice in particular that makes it work well.
- throwup238 11mo ago
  That’s what I’ve been missing in my life. Dagoth Ur reading Go the Fuck to Sleep to my kids.
- nottorp 11mo ago
  I don't remember Dagoth Ur's voice but I'm guessing it had effects applied to it to sound ominous? So it was artificial already.
  - mikkupikku 11mo ago
    I could be wrong but I think it was just voice acting. However he sounds very eloquent speaks clearly with good pronunciation.
    - nottorp 11mo ago
      No, if anyone is wrong it's me. I played Morrowind ages ago. I also have an OpenMW playthrough ongoing (for the last 4 years) but I haven't made it to Dagoth Ur yet :)
      - antisthenes 11mo ago
        > I also have an OpenMW playthrough ongoing (for the last 4 years) but I haven't made it to Dagoth Ur yet :) You can make it to Dagoth Ur in about 4 minutes :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeSAOxCk8dY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeSAOxCk8dY
        nottorp 11mo ago
        Oh come on, it took longer than that to set up openmw on mac, extract the game files from the steam windows distribution and doing various config/plugin tweaks. Now I'm cleaning up the whole map as a leisurely pace. Now and then not every week. I might be done by 2028-29.
- ryukoposting 11mo ago
  > AI impersonations of Dagoth Ur are remarkably accurate even though Dagoth Ur has only a few sentences of dialogue If there are only a few sentences of dialogue, how can you know it's "accurate?" "Plausible" is the more appropriate word here. The AI is filling in the blanks left by a limited sample set. I'd imagine that's why it "works well" - you don't have a complete reference point to compare to. Ex: in your mind, what does Dagoth Ur sound like when he says "awww what a cute puppy!" Now, what does the AI sound like? Is there any reason to say one interpretation is more correct than the other?

falcor84 11mo ago

I don't know if that's what you were already referring to, but for me, the shout-outs for "Double Kill, Multi Kill, Ultra Kill, MONSTER KILL!!!" account at this stage for probably a majority of the nostalgia for the original Unreal Tournament. Of course it didn't hurt that the game was phenomenal and a great fit for its time, but still, I think that the quality of voice lines can make or break a game.