Silent or Voiced Protagonist?

[nukeheal]

And CP2077 will be which again?

As we already know CP'77 will be multi threaded story based game. We can assume it will have few strong characters in it aside from our created protagonist. Tho its a first open world game by CDPR from what we seen so far they didnt give player much options when it came to mmo questing.

It's like comparing CP2077 to GTA3 and GTA4 games.. what is the difference? hmm both are story based games but one is much better then another in every way.

 

[muadmouse]

I hope CDPR will go for a silent protagonist. Not only would this allow the player to freely imagine what their character sounds like, but would free up resources to be spent elsewhere - like in added NPC dialogue.

Cyberpunks can come from any social and ethnic background (not to mention have all sorts chrome that affects speech), and since it is all but impossible to cover a significant number of them with voice actors, it's better left to our imaginations. If CDPR does decide to go with a voiced protagonist, I hope they'll include the option of silencing the protagonist.

And yes, silent protagonists look absurd and idiotic in cutscenes. Personally, I have absolutely no need for such cinematic tricks; I haven't played a game yet that cutscenes improved in any significant way.

As I see it, what's on the display and what comes out of the speakers is but raw material for the game that takes its final form in my imagination.

 

[Garrison72]

Am I the only one who never imagines what my silent PC sounds like? Furthermore, am I the only one who doesn't even consider that what my PC sounds like is important for role playing? If she's silent, then I'm busy reading the text, not imagining her with a southern Louisiana accent.

Seriously, that argument seems so bloody trivial to me.

 

[username_3641692]

I don't know wish to choose, since i can say for me is been so normal to not hear the main character voice, as well as hearing them. But for real this game needs to have some voice in the character we create. DON'T CARE WHO IS AS LONG AS IT'S DONE RIGHT.

 

[227]

Am I the only one who never imagines what my silent PC sounds like?

Sometimes I'll read the words in random, clumsy accents to offset the "coolness" of my character and amuse myself (everyone should try this sometime), but other than that I never, ever imagine their voices.

 

[p45k]

No, please God no, we, well I, need a voiced protagonist. Hire a male VA and a female VA.

This! this is what i loved about Mass Effect. Having an intelligent, articulate, badass character playable as both male or female who gave voice and visual representation to our choices within the world.

It also goes toward making the game equally accessible/interesting to both female and male players alike.

 

[sympathy4saren]

Ok with either.

 

[sympathy4saren]

Is Christianson available?

 

[gregski]

Am I the only one who never imagines what my silent PC sounds like? Furthermore, am I the only one who doesn't even consider that what my PC sounds like is important for role playing? If she's silent, then I'm busy reading the text, not imagining her with a southern Louisiana accent.

Seriously, that argument seems so bloody trivial to me.

No, you're not the only one. Hearing my character speak, no matter his voice or accent, sounds far more natural than reading through thousands of lines of text. I can't imagine a modern STORY HEAVY game without fully voiced dialogues.

And the argument about resources...If they are going to have voiceovers for all tens or hundreds of NPCs in the game, which will end up being far more dialogue lines than our female and male PC lines combined, I don't think adding 2 more voiceover actors for our male & female protagonist would eat up that much of their money.

 

[killerjv]

Cannot imagine this game without a voiced protagonist.

 

[barbaric]

This discussion will continue as long as the RP vs. PvP argument. Voice the protagonist, don't voice the protagonist...whatever. As long as the game doesn't suck.

 

[sspbourne]

I know this is a tall order, but I would like a selection of voices to pick from for each gender. But that's a lot of voice acting costs, though, if you want a different VA for each voice.

 

[cmdr_silverbolt]

"I know this is a tall order, but I would like a selection of voices to pick from for each gender. But that's a lot of voice acting costs, though, if you want a different VA for each voice. "

Yeah, is it possible to have a bunch of options for male/female/cyborg voices? I don't want my Solo to sound like my Corporate, it just doesn't feel right.

 

[Sunder]

This is all hypothetical, but if you could choose one voice actor for the male and one voice actor for the female character, which would it be? It's perfectly fine to list several for each.

For males, I personally enjoy Simon Templeman and Michael Bell. But then again, I remember them quite fondly from the Legacy of Kain games. Maybe Joseph Kucan even, i.e. Kane from Command and Conquer games. Whoops, almost forgot to mention, but I rather enjoyed Robert Carlyle's voice in Castlevania Lords of Shadow.

As for females, personally, I like Jennifer Hale, and not because of Mass Effect, because I've not played it, I like her because of her work in Planescape Torment as Fall-From-Grace.

 

[cmdr_silverbolt]

Personally, I don't care about the specific actors. I would like to choose between a range of voices with different personalities- a gruff voice, a sweet voice. etc.

 

[m0zleyv1bez]

"I know this is a tall order, but I would like a selection of voices to pick from for each gender. But that's a lot of voice acting costs, though, if you want a different VA for each voice. "

Yeah, is it possible to have a bunch of options for male/female/cyborg voices? I don't want my Solo to sound like my Corporate, it just doesn't feel right.

This is why I am weary about voiced RPGs that let you create your own character. I have all these different playthroughs and all my characters sound the same.

 

[Sardukhar]

Yeah very much this. My filthy Tremere in Bloodlines didn't sound or act at all like my cool and deadly Toreador or my raving-loony Malk. In my head, a lot more giggling took place.

So either multiple voices OR an option to turn off voiced dialogue for the protagonist, please.

 

[cmdr_silverbolt]

You know what, it would be interesting if instead of voicing out the script, the VA would instead make "appropriate noises" for wherever needed in the game. That way CDPR doesn't have to get a million VAs, but we could also have a range of voice themes with different personalities.

 

[wisdom000]

"I know this is a tall order, but I would like a selection of voices to pick from for each gender. But that's a lot of voice acting costs, though, if you want a different VA for each voice. "

Yeah, is it possible to have a bunch of options for male/female/cyborg voices? I don't want my Solo to sound like my Corporate, it just doesn't feel right.

You realize that by doing so, the game would be significantly smaller in terms of gameplay... the sound files for the voices take up a LOT or room.

So how much are you willing to give up for having lots of voice choices for the main character?

 

[cmdr_silverbolt]

I don't know anything about that aspect of game development, so I can't comment about it. But many games have numerous voiced characters, so I imagine it would be something similar. If it's unfeasible to give each role a unique voice, then at least players should get options for 2-3 (4-6 because two genders) voices with different personalities.

That said, story, quests, and game mechanics take priority over an aspect like voice acting.