I have to admit, there was an absolutely ugly line I heard in the Alpha, and I don't think it's going to change. It's regarding the first mission where you fight the Hive Wizard.
The ghost says "There's a Wizard here. You see something floating in the air, you have to kill it."
Considering the ghost has already shown moments of Jestering and sarcasm, the better way to say that line is:
[quote]"There's a Wizard here. You see something floating in the air, kill it!"[/quote] Maybe add "Just, watch out for me."
It's okay to say something that makes you smile in the heat of battle, because there would/will be plenty of worse fights to get into that would make the ghost hush up and let you concentrate.
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Yeah it would be cool to inject comedy into some of the firefights to let you remember its just a game haha. I really think think the big issue is context, when you can't see the ghost it's easy to forget it is supposed to be a computer and not have that much emotion, kinda going for a Data feel from Star Trek. I think just little cues to remind the player that this thing is not really alive would help us understand why it sounds so even-keeled. Unfortunately I feel its probably a little late to start adding lines of dialogue but some minor effects could go a long way and bring in more context. It seems like this thread is gaining a modest amount of attention so hopefully something happens!
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Mmm, not likely (sorry for being a cynic on that one) because bringing Dinklage back to fix anything would cost a lot more money, and the way Harold Ryan is running the place, I wouldn't be surprised if the words "cut our losses" escaped his mouth by now. Now, I'm going to compare the Ghost to Cortana a quick second. I know she's part of Halo now, but she was still an advanced AI. There is nothing about the ghost that says it sounds like a cylon from the old Galactica show, but it could have a more "personified" feel to it. In fact, it does have that feel, it just doesn't drive it home. Another example is the first time the Ghost sees the Hive on Earth. That.... that just felt wrong. It wasn't surprised enough, it just didn't feel like anything. Now, I don't have Dinklage's sensually deep voice (and believe me, I'm impressed with the amount of bass that dude has) I could probably recording myself doing the same line but adding a bit of that surprise and fear (if the Darkness is the ultimate enemy, and it's REAL close to Earth, I'd say everything would be shaking in their space boots).
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It's not just that line. Throughout the entire first missions of the Alpha, Ghost has a very boring narration. It's like some average American Joe reading a list of ingredients on a cereal box.
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Its very much like how playtesting was described to me before. The voice acting was very basic just enough to give the test an idea where to go, what to do, etc etc.
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Would you really call the voice acting a test though? The game is two months away from completion. Games must be completed an entire month before launch. So really having 60 days changes nothing except for technical aspects of the game.
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Edited by Skeloton: 6/11/2014 6:28:43 PMI dunno, just saying the VA sounded like how playtesting, when it came to playing, was described to me. Those voices might be placeholders or just pre-Post-Effect voice acting...we'll see in the beta or full release.
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You do bring up a valid point, Skeloton. We will have to discuss again when we're all playing the Beta.
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Edited by Skeloton: 6/12/2014 6:26:35 PMTheres no guarantee that the beta will get the more finalized voices, but then again this "beta" (alpha included) is just a glorified demo.
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Well, to look at the other side of the coin, it could be that Bungie polishes their Alphas really well.
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Hmmm ok.
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Oh I know. Believe me I'm with you, the only problem is we can't grab the audio department by the shirt collar and tell them to do it again, but with more gusto. It's bad writing, and oddly enough, the lead writer left the studio. Coincidence? Frankly, I think Steven J. Bloom, vocally known as he may be, has had more experience in the robot role, so even if the script was bad, his voice could at least turn it around, or even, better, his experience would allow for a possible script change.
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Well Joe Staten's and Dave Mongan's departure had more to do with their work finishing on Destiny. Both of them had a very good relationship with Bungie when they left the studio. But yes, the voice and script wont change at this point because the game is close to completion. Technically Bungie shouldn't even call the game and Alpha. Developers are really starting to misuse the word Alpha and what it's suppose to mean in a dev-cycle. I honestly think the only reason Bungie hired Dinklage is because of his celebrity status and to attract all the screaming Game of Thrones fans out there. It's a shitty use of their resources and makes them look idiotic.
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Well, I'll give the decision of Dinklage a benefit of the doubt. It's a voice, and he has a pretty decent one. The thing with Staten and Mongan, however, is that by leaving, they can't go back and fix it, and it feels like it needs a fixin'. The released Alpha is technically still an Alpha, I've seen the bugs and glitches at work in the videos being shown. You have to remember that Bungie is incredibly efficient on polishing their games and leave very few things left untouched. That said, the Alpha that was released was a patched up version that has limited things to do, whereas the Beta will probably allow more things to be played and is designed to allow a large amount of people into the game in order to Stress-Test the servers and make sure there aren't any problems with the game if over 1000 people play at once (Bungie is only about, what, 600 people or so, with an extra 100 or so for outside sources?). I say, like the Emperor Papa Palpatine, "Everything is going exactly as I have forseen".
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They do have other writers at the studios. Not sure what the initiative is to go back and fix the script but you make all valid and true points.
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Haha, they do have other writers, you're right. They... just don't have the same Audio Director any more :)