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[gilliam]

For the half dozen of you who actually saw my last thread and the one that possibly is wondering if I forgot about it, I am working my way through all the threads relevant to the mechlab and will be posting what I have found to be the general consensus regarding customization sometime within the week.

I had planed on making this month's omidiscussion about how the clans should be introduced and dealt with, but I have changed my mind and pushed it to next month. I also plan to ask about your thoughts on combined arms. If anyone has any other ideas for discussions let me know.
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With that out of the way, this month's discussion is on sound. I want to know what everyones opinion is on voice acting, comms, music and sound effects.



First off comms. For multiplayer games where teamwork is essential, it is important to be able to effectively communicate with your teammates, and in any game, it can be nice to chatter a bit with your opponents before the match and offer congratulations or condolences after the match.

-Would you prefer MWO to include integrated voice chat like many modern FPSes?
--if so how should channels be handled? Should here be just one channel for the entire team or should there be multiple channels like Battlefield for different squads, the team as a whole and the commanders?
--Should there be an open channel for players to broadcast to their opponents?
-If you don’t want integrated voice chat how should communication be handled?
--Should there be an easy way to advertise a teamspeak or ventrillo server?
-should there be a way to send canned messages?
-Any additional thoughts comments or concerns?



Beyond player voices, games usually have voice acting for various things from tutorials to tutorials and even world-building. Since Mechwarrior 2, the 'Mech itself has had a voice, commonly known as Betty giving you status reports; A certain announcer known as Duncan Fisher has also worked his way into the community's heart enough to make an appearance in a fan project.

-What do you feel we need voice acting for? Should there be any narrations? Should there be announcers for Solaris style matches or a faceless commander barking over the speakers in battles? Should the ‘Mech inform you that you just lost an arm?
-What kind of stuff should be announced?
--Are there any specific aspects of your ‘Mech's operation that absolutely must be announced by Betty?
--are there any other things Betty should tell you? (for example, in MW2, at the beginning of missions you are told your location and the local time and temperature.)
-Is there any voice talent you would like specifically? (For reference MW2’s betty was voiced by Carole Ruggier, and George Ledoux is the voice of Duncan Fischer [also note MWO takes place several decades earlier])
-Do you have any additional thoughts?



Sound effects also play a part in fleshing out a game and making the game world feel real/alive. Do you have any thoughts regarding the sound effects?

-Every action game has explosions, but should they go more more subtle and have unique sound effect for every weapon or just each class of weapon?
--Should we hear sounds from general mech operation? Creaking joints, hum of the reactor, etc.
--should we be able to hear noises our own mech puts off and possibly be able to diagnose problems by what we hear? the knee actuator makes a specific grinding noise when it is hit and you can recognise the sound of your ultra autocannon jamming etc.
-Are there any other aspects that are important to you?



Lastly, music can be used as a mood enhancer (or killer if done wrong). How should it be handled?

-Are there any genres of music you don’t want to hear?
-Are there any genres of music you feel would fit this game?
-Would you like to have a conventional score with various different tracks playing depending on the map, or should the music be procedurally generated on the fly based on the situation (for instance a flying leitmotif when you hit the jump jets, or a more frantic pace as your ‘Mech heats up)?
-What else would you like to add regarding the in game music?

Remember, I am just hoping to get a general feel for the community's feelings on this issue. Feel free to ignore questions and answer ones I didn't ask. Share anything you feel relevant. Also beware, I am likely to add more questions if I think of any.

[Kargush]

I'm a long-time player of ArmA II with ACE2 and ACRE. So I'd love "realistic" sounds and comms. Static, the terrain having an impact on comms (good luck getting a clear and understandable message in to that guy in the deep canyon on the far side of the map, unless you've got the comms gear to handle it (why, hello there mr. Cyclops)), sound that travels (an explosion in the distance will not be heard as soon as you see the blast, the sound has to cover the distance). If there could be different comms channels for each lance, and 1 "command" channel that lance commanders could use to keep in touch, that would be very sweet. Engine sounds would be nice, as well as sounds from weapons fire and such. I'm not sure if sounds from motivators and actuators would be needed. And obviously, a large neurohelmet on your head is likely to mute most sounds a little.

Just don't make the huge flashy sounds and effects they used in MWLL. Perhaps my one complaint there is that weapons and all are a tad loud when you consider that the pilot is in a cockpit and is wearing an enclosing helmet. Anyone who's worn a heavy motorcycle helmet knows what that does to most sounds that aren't loud to begin with, especially when you've got the engine running,

EDIT: Music. Have something there, but as always, make it an option to just turn the music off. Just don't try to create "radio channels" with "period music" please. Keep it simple.

And as for voices, one of my complaints about the ArmA series of games is the automatic voices. "5. Is down." Or "Man. 12 o'clock. Far." Sounds stilted and artificial, and unless you want to spend lots of money (or get a lot of volunteers) you'll end up with precious few lines that then have to be spread around. Like in Skyrim where it seems every 3rd guard NPC used to be an adventurer until they "took an arrow to the knee." Not that I don't love Skyrim, but that is a little annoying at times.

Edited by kargush, 03 December 2011 - 07:31 AM.