Resonance

[Vince Twelve]

Well, I know what you think! 

[The Ivy]

I think that's a really good solution. Besides, when all the text is voiced, I have a tendency to click through it (Sorry! I read fast ).

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I think the important thing is to consider how much larger the game would be were you to voice every single line in the game.  It would probably triple the size of the installer!

[Charity]

I always get this incomplete feeling in voice acted adventure games where the narration is plain old text.  I'm not sure if the contrast would be more or less jarring in the context of a thought bubble from a character whose spoken lines are voice acted, versus a big block of text from an unidentified narrator in same.  In a way it might help, because you would never have to ask "did they just say that line out loud or did they think it?" if you happened to miss the visual cues.  Though that could also be accomplished with some sort of echo filter and a "thoughtful" vocal inflection.

It is hard to say.  It might feel appropriate and it might feel jarring.  I think that voice acted thoughts would create a fuller experience (supposing you get good voice actors), but even if the player missed the voices at first, I think most players would adjust fairly quickly, and stop thinking about it.  I would consider it a valid corner to cut, if it saves you a considerable amount of time and effort.  It certainly wouldn't make me any less likely to buy this game.

[Dave Gilbert]

It's funny.  When I tested my games without voiceovers, the testers got bored.  But when the voiceovers were IN the game, they tended to click through them.  Kind of a catch-22, in a way. 

[Nikolas]

Time to post a real post and not bullshit! 

From my perspective I'd say that having the voice acting, when thinking in some... reverby voice would be fine I think. It works in the movies it should work in games as well. It's not difficult to apply so it's fine.

In addition, I have a feeling, but it remains to be seen, that voice acting does not need the 'perfect' quality. It shouldn't make too much difference if it's mono or stereo (whereas in music it does play an important part), and as long as it's not a completely lousy compression, it should sound fine and keep the voices clear and crisp, as they should be.

Given that I'd think that the added size wouldn't be substantial! Especially considering that the game is low res, thus graphics don't take too much size as well.

From Vince's part I'd imagine that he'd be swarmped with voice acting files, which is rather difficult. I mean it could very well get over 500 files, or more, which is a nightmare to keep tidy and all that. Plus the (probably) additional pay, and everything else. The compromise of having the thoughts silent is not a bad one, but it does remain to be 'voted' in or out by the beta testers...

[Vince Twelve]

I mean it could very well get over 500 files, or more, which is a nightmare to keep tidy and all that.

Haha... yeah, we're going to be a bit over that...  like 4 or 5 times that at least.    But this kind of discussion can go back to the development board.

I'll make a decision regarding the voice acting for thoughts once I get to a place in the game where I know that the script is finalized and mostly implemented.  We've just got Deirdra Kiai on board and she's cleaning up and rewriting numerous dialogs, so I'm nowhere near the time when this decision has to be made.

[Galen]

Having a stereo track for voice files would be plain wasteful. Even if you recorded it with a stereo-microphone there still wouldn't be much difference between the two channels.
I'm also pretty sure there are ways to reduce the audio size without changing quality by clipping certain frequencies that are either not easily audible to human ears or that go unused (e.g. cutting out the background noise but not the voice itself).

[InCreator]

Sorry if it's mentioned already in this thread, but I have a question:

Are backgrounds hand-drawn from scratch, or is some kind of reference used - and if, then what? Handdrawn scans? Basic 3D? Photo tracing?

I don't mean things that were looked at (we all look at photos etc when drawing by hand), but actual lines it was drawn onto.
Was any reference used?

I'm asking because I spot numerous techniques and style I use, only that those screens look slightly better and more professional than mine.

Apart from this offtopic, I'd say this is one helluva nice looking game. ProgZ' characters totally match the background style and everything looks very... tasty. Pity it's commercial...

[Vince Twelve]

I don't know all the details of his techniques, but I know that he does use basic 3d to build some of the more complicated scenes.  (I believe he just uses Google Sketchup to get buildings or whatever in perspective)  And he often takes textures that are meant for 3D programs, but he lays them on manually in photoshop and will paint over them at least partially to make them blend with the scene.  There are also, I believe, some photo references used for shape or texture.  And he loves to use grunge brushes to make things dirty.  (This isn't a shiny, picturesque city, afterall.) 

He also works in a higher resolution and we scale it down for the game, which pixelizes it somewhat and hides some of the imperfections.  If we kept the backgrounds higher-res, he'd have to be spending a lot of extra time polishing things up, which would increase his fees and would probably increase the cost of the game!

Let me know if you want more specifics than that.  I could ask him.  Actually a background from start to finish would be an interesting developer diary.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Why not?  I already hosted a developer diary on the evolution of Anna!

[InCreator]

Let me know if you want more specifics than that.  I could ask him.  Actually a background from start to finish would be an interesting developer diary.

It definitely would... But I'm quite familiar with the style he's using and pretty positive I can reproduce it with much less effort (no resizing, my detail faking methods, etc). It's simply an eye of a designer I lack, those light solutions and general shapes - and especially composition (love the blue room background!!!) he makes - are very unique.
Such diary entry would benefit many other artists though, no doubt.

Actually, I'd love to see exactly what goes on in ProgZmax's head when making those sprites! I mean, what's the workflow and how are colors selected. How come they match backgrounds so well, yet stand out nicely? My characters never seem to really fit my backgrounds, mainly due low detail and bad color choices...

But I personally wouldn't want to stall you though, you have a cool game to make.

[Nikolas]

Why not?  I already hosted a developer diary on the evolution of Anna!

hmmm...

Maybe a music one as well?

[Peder 🚀]

Maybe a music one as well?

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Backgrounds, characters and music!
They are all welcome and would be very appreciated!

Though even better! Maybe make it a "making of the game" thingie that will be included as a bonus on the game CD (aswell as published on the internet).

[Stupot]

RE: Voiceovers.
You could quite easily save voices for any important cutscenes, as well as the intro and finale sequences.  I don't think anyone expects you to put voice to every line of dialouge (let alone the thoughts as well).

I personally like voiceovers and feel that they complete a good game, and filesize is not a problem for me, but I could just as easily go without.

[Sallow]

WOW! Simply breathtaking! Seriously, your screenshots made my mouth drop open!
Will the game be free, or will there be a fee to pay?

It's funny.  When I tested my games without voiceovers, the testers got bored.  But when the voiceovers were IN the game, they tended to click through them.  Kind of a catch-22, in a way. 

You know, I admit that I am guilty of clicking through voiceovers. I think that people really like hearing the characters with their own voices, but at the same time, people get impatient when listening because they read through the caption before the voiceover is finished playing, so they click through. 

[Vince Twelve]

Thanks Sallow!  I'm hoping that the finished version will drop your jaw even further.

The game will be commercial.  The price hasn't been determined yet, but it will likely be inline with what you see from other similar indie offerings.  In other words: it will be well worth it.

[Peder 🚀]

In other words: it will be well worth it.

You can say that AGAIN!

Anyway, about voiceovers, I mostly NEVER click thorugh the voices, and I honestly feel a game with voices feels more complete and more interesting to play than games without!

There is loads of good games without voices but I feel the game gets more interesting WITH them.
A good example in my mind is Le Woltaires last game a second face where he only mostly used voices in cutscenes, and that alone worked very well as specially cutscenes gets more interesting WITH voices!
It gives you a better experience cause then you can also concentrate more on whats happening rather than reading the text.. (Sorry Vince Twelve for "advertising" another game in your thread! but it IS a really good example of how it can be done).

[i k a r i]

I would definitely pre-order this game if the buyers would get something in exchange  .

Because it really makes me want to spend my money ASAP,

[Nikolas]

I would definitely pre-order this game if the buyers would get something in exchange  .

I'm sure Vince would gladly send you a confirmation e-mail in exchange of buyind the game before out! LOL