View Full Version : Character Voiceovers
Leaderhead voiceovers are one new feature that I could foresee being implemented in Civ5. It would provide a new level of immersion, and would make you feel like you were actually interacting with the historical characters.
CivRev has character voiceovers, albeit they all speak in nonsense language. For Civ5, let them actually speak in their real languages (with text subtitles). I think that would be really cool. If that's not favorable, then they could always speak English, just with accents.
In all prior Civ incarnations the characters themselves have been silent. Let them speak in Civ5! :D
And get William Shatner doing the voices of all of them.
:nod:
Or doing the tech voice overs, and the intro.
:nod:
And get William Shatner doing the voices of all of them.
:nod:
Or doing the tech voice overs, and the intro.
:nod:
I say no to Shatner doing voice overs. He's hard to work with. :p
Get renowned video game voiceover actors and actresses though. Like this:
Kevin Michael Richardson as Shaka Zulu
Jennifer Hale as Elizabeth I
Grey DeLisle as Cleopatra
Jim Cummings as Genghis Khan
And so forth. The comedic value would be through the roof. :bb:
I say no to Shatner doing voice overs. He's hard to work with. :p
That is the price you pay when you work with genius.
He would be soooooo good at it.
:nod:
That is the price you pay when you work with genius.
He would be soooooo good at it.
:nod:
I can see it now. Tech voiceovers with his traditional staccato diction.
"You've discovered... Sailing...
'All I ask... is a tall ship... and a star to sail her by...'"
It would rock!
And I am not joking.
It would be brilliant.
Christopher Walken would also be good.
I still vote for Brian Blessed. :bb:
"You have discovered GUNPOWDER! HAHA!
'Cry HAVOC! And let slip the dogs of WAR!!!'"
Henry Rollins would be good as one off the AGG leaders.
Jack Hawksmoor
08-05-09, 07:53
This really sounds like something that would be implemented in Civ5.
We are discussing Civ 5.
:nod:
Jack Hawksmoor
08-05-09, 08:03
I would never have guessed it due to title of the forum, OP or numerous other mentions of Civ5. Thanks :b:
ooops - i misinterperated you inital comment.
But glad I could clarify it for you.
:cute:
Hire these people for voiceovers:
http://aon.apolyton.net/
:) :)
I still vote for Brian Blessed. :bb:
"You have discovered GUNPOWDER! HAHA!
'Cry HAVOC! And let slip the dogs of WAR!!!'"
That Klingon guy from Star Trek 6 would do the 'Cry havoc...' one better :P
I forget the actor's name...
Metaliturtle
09-05-09, 02:03
James Earl Jones...
For Victoria
That Klingon guy from Star Trek 6 would do the 'Cry havoc...' one better :P
I forget the actor's name...
Christopher Plummer. Another classically-trained Shakespearean actor. He'd be just as good. :nod:
Get fans from the civ community to do voice overs, at least for unit defeats. :)
Get fans from the civ community to do voice overs, at least for unit defeats. :)
I could be a celebrity! :clap:
Great Pessimist
11-05-09, 03:16
A problem I could see is the voice casting. They wouldn't hire someone to read techs for BTS (Though the actor was not cheap admittedly), let alone many to read the same thing with three varying lines
Not to mention voices override the great (at least what will probably) music...
Leaderhead voiceovers are one new feature that I could foresee being implemented in Civ5. It would provide a new level of immersion, and would make you feel like you were actually interacting with the historical characters.
CivRev has character voiceovers, albeit they all speak in nonsense language. For Civ5, let them actually speak in their real languages (with text subtitles). I think that would be really cool. If that's not favorable, then they could always speak English, just with accents.
In all prior Civ incarnations the characters themselves have been silent. Let them speak in Civ5! :D
Not all.
Civ 2.
GIVE ME MORE SOLDIERS, NOBLE LEADER, THAT THEY MAY SHEATHE THEIR SWORDS IN THE BEATING HEARTS OF OUR ENEMIES!!
Me.
Probably will get tireing after a while, but it'll probably be included.;)
Rob (R8XFT)
16-05-09, 09:24
I, for one, would be happy for it not to be included; whilst it might seem good at first it would become tiring after a while - especially if you had to wait until they'd finished what they'd said until you moved on. At least with text, it's immediately there and you can skim-read it or ignore it if you want. Also, from a modding point of view, it'd be a real pain to have to mod it into every new leaderhead that's created.
Metaliturtle
16-05-09, 13:36
Could have an option to turn it off?
I think if we could turn them off it would be a nice addition,
And this is exactly why Firaxis didn't include Civ2-esque voiceovers and movies, IIRC.:D
It was a turn-off? :cute:
;)
It cost lots of money and most users turned it off after a short while.
;)
It cost lots of money and most users turned it off after a short while.
I never turned it off. The council was just about the best part of the game.
Me.
I never turned it off. The council was just about the best part of the game.
Not the space race movie? :shifty:
Voiceovers wil be a serious pain for anyone making new leaderheads. I hope they don't go this route.
Not the space race movie? :shifty:
I watch in game movies once then skip them every time.
The advisor council never went away in my gameplay. It was hokey, it was tongue-in-cheek, it was funny, and it was incredibly useful.
Talking leaderheads, I agree, are a fairly bad idea. Too much overhead that's just going to irritate most players.
But bring back the animated advisory council please. On top of being "flavor" they serve a useful function.
Me.
I think this would be a great idea. At least, I did initially. But, it probably would grow old. Except if you could start switching around the voices. Imagine Fran Drescher's voice coming out of Shaka or Montezuma's head. That would entertain me for at least 9 hours (about long enough for me to play a nice epic- speed game).
Well, it looks like voiceovers are in! And in their native tongues, too!
http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2497
Metaliturtle
23-02-10, 00:59
Christopher Walken is doing Washington.
Someone said Bismarck looks like Anthony Hopkins is gonna do him. That's amazing to imagine but I doubt Hopkins speaks much German ;)
Metaliturtle
23-02-10, 01:19
I said that because Anthony Hopkins former name was Adolf Hopschmitz... :D
That's a scary thought. Anyhow, Walken alone would give the game a M rating, him and Hopkins would probably make it 18+ only (upon presenting a note from a mental health professional) :D
Metaliturtle
23-02-10, 01:30
No, they are both lovable characters who wouldn't scare anyone.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/95/Heyes.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wr6RQ1OrNEQ/Sf-_nInHFdI/AAAAAAAAAhw/Q-NdiJ26lww/s400/Walken+sleepy+hollow.jpg
Wrong pic ;)
http://bucket.littlemeanfish.com/walken.jpg
Metaliturtle
23-02-10, 01:36
Who WOULDN'T Give their kids to him?
Now that I think of it, posting pics of Walken should be preceded by a visible warning ;)
That's a scary thought. Anyhow, Walken alone would give the game a M rating, him and Hopkins would probably make it 18+ only (upon presenting a note from a mental health professional) :D
18+? Oh well, seems I can't get the game then. Damned South Australian attorney general with his disagreement with 18+ rating for games. :rant:
Wrong pic ;)
http://bucket.littlemeanfish.com/walken.jpg
AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! MY EYES! IT HURTZ!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, you live in a silly Orwellian country. Count on them banning Civ5 because it allows you to wage war.
Metaliturtle
23-02-10, 01:47
AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! MY EYES! IT HURTZ!!!!!!!!!!!!
Always fun when an owner takes it MORE off topic :D
Don't you mean TWO owners? :D
Metaliturtle
23-02-10, 01:55
touche
I doubt they'll be able to afford big names for the voices. I wonder if they'll use people from the standard pool of video game actors then? A la Jennifer Hale, Cam Clarke, Kath Soucie, etc. The only other option I can think of is getting random people to do it, like with unit voiceovers in CivIV.
They don't necessarily need somebody fluent in the requisite tongues (although I'm sure that helps), they only need who can pronounce the right words.
After all, who's going to do the Latin, Egyptian, Nahuatl and so forth?
The most important thing is that they be pleasant to listen to. There's nothing worse than an annoying sound you have to listen to repeatedly.
The problem is that actors who "can pronounce the right words" aren't okay, so the problem arises for most languages, really. If it's not an actual speaker of the language, then it will sound horrible to anyone who is. Verified by movies ;)
I would be incredibly honored if anyone offered for me to do a voiceover (hint, hint, if anyone is looking). I have a nice voice (except for the fact that I sound a little nerdy...) with a decent range, and it's sort of a dream job to me.
Do you speak the languages of all 18 civs? ;)
The problem is that actors who "can pronounce the right words" aren't okay, so the problem arises for most languages, really. If it's not an actual speaker of the language, then it will sound horrible to anyone who is. Verified by movies ;)
Well there's no problem with having a German speaker do Bismarck, or a French speaker do Napoleon and so forth.
But for all of the dead languages then? Who will do Julius Caesar's Latin? Or Hammurabi's Akkadian? Or Ragnar's Old Norse? Or Montezuma's Nahuatl? And on and on...
You simply cannot find native speakers for dead languages.
Edit: And CivRev-style gibberish is NOT an acceptable option.
Even for German and French speakers, I think they'll have to go outside of the most popular computer game voice actors, I guess those are English speaking. Though I'm sure there's an abundance of general actors that can do the job.
With dead languages it's easier because there's nobody who would be annoyed at his language being butchered ;) Though ideally those voices should be done by people who speak a language that's phonetically somewhat similar, when possible. So for Old Norse, get someone who speaks a North Germanic language.
I'm curious how the Vikings, if included, will be voiced. They spoke Norrønt/Norse, we know how it sounded, but I've never heard a believeable version, only Hollywood's disastrous quasi-Norwegian-Danish-Swedish-Icelandic kishkebab version.
Do you speak the languages of all 18 civs? ;)
Unfortunately, no. But I speak at least two civs' language, though I doubt I could do a truly believable British accent. I could try at that one, though.
I'm curious how the Vikings, if included, will be voiced. They spoke Norrønt/Norse, we know how it sounded, but I've never heard a believeable version, only Hollywood's disastrous quasi-Norwegian-Danish-Swedish-Icelandic kishkebab version.
I think their inclusion is only a matter of time. If not in vanilla Civ5, they'll surely be in an XP.
Here's hoping they manage a reasonable sounding version of Old Norse. :b:
(Vikings rock! :thor: )
Unfortunately, no. But I speak at least two civs' language, though I doubt I could do a truly believable British accent. I could try at that one, though.
British accent? There are over a dozen English accents as it is, not to mention Welsh, Scottish and Irish. :p
Well, there would probably only be a couple of variants on those in the game, anyway... Besides, why so many accents? American English only has a few main ones, and you can usually only tell them by the use of regional dialect. Probably has something to do with the fact that they've spoken English on that one little island for centuries before the invention of radio, television, etc, which generally helps to reduce regional differences. Well, that discussion could get deep...
They'll especially get into problems with leaders who lived in eras when their voices could be recorded.
Whoever does those will need to provide a good impression of the historical leader. Among leaders who have already been in Civ, this will apply to FDR, Mao, Churchill, de Gaulle, Gandhi, Lenin and Stalin.
Nah. That would maybe pose a problem for players who are well versed in history, but not a significant number of players. I think that reasonably few players really remember the manners of speech of Stalin or FDR. Even those who have heard recordings probably wouldn't be fazed much unless they speak the language. Say, I don't speak Hindi or Gujarati, so I probably wouldn't be able to tell if a voice is "similar" to Gandhi or not.
Well it needs to be passable, I think. The voice needs to sound like it came out of the person as depicted in the game, for immersion's sake at least. Whether or not that is entirely accurate is not always important.
But just for reference:
Stalin: YouTube- Re: stalin
Mao: YouTube- Mao Tse-tung Speech
Gandhi: YouTube- MK Gandhi's Speech (Real un-edited Voice)
FDR: YouTube- F.D.R.'s First Inaugural Speech: Nothing to fear
Churchill: YouTube- Sir Winston Churchill Speech - We shall fight them on the be
Vikings should be voiced by an Icelandic person. Icelandic is the most similar modern language to the Norse language of 1000 years ago.
Latin can be spoken by anyone familiar with the language, but preferably someone from Spain, Italy, France or Romania.
Akkadian would be difficult, but I'd recommend someone familiar with classical Arabic or Hebrew.
Montezuma is not so hard, since there are still people who speak that language, although the accent might have changed in 500 years.
Ancient Greek and Egyptian would be dealt with in a similar way.
Egyptian would be dealt with in a similar way.
Hmm. Well, Egyptian Coptic may be descended from ancient Egyptian, but it's not really very close. Besides, there are only a few hundred speakers left. Most other Egyptians speak a dialect of Arabic.
The best that can be done is to get someone who speaks the closest relative language (Coptic) and teach them how to speak the ancient dialect (or as close as we can get it). No one will know the difference.
colonelmustard
24-02-10, 04:42
Maybe they'll pick random players from the GameSpy lobby for the voice overs.
"#$%&* noob noobed the @#$%n Monarchy" and such ;)
I do a good Tok Pisin if that is any help.
Seriously though - this in all probablity will be "cool" for a while - then will be another reason to play with sound off.
Having menu options to turn a variety of sound options off and on would be nice.
I suspect that it will allow both the original language and English. If not, then I would hope that there is an option to only turn off leader voiceovers, although I'm not sure if I'd ever exercise such a feature.
With leaders whom we have recordings for, why not use those recordings? Although finding a recording of Roosevelt saying "All your base are belong to us" might be a little hard, I'm sure there's got to be a way of editing one together (and there's got to be some way to make it flow nicely).
Heraclitus
27-02-10, 14:53
No. The reason is real leaders often sound boring to modern young attention deficit audiences.
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