Text To Speech : It just make sense

Afflict · Thu 03/03/2005 22:27:59

Well I was thinking about this last nite and I was just wondering What the
probability is of a Text to speech is as an addon for AGS? NO hear me out
Check out this lil program called talk it.exe on the net you can change
pitches speed and make huundreds of voices with this thing. some are so
real very close to decent i havent yet tried a new download but gona check
it out now. keep you updated. The thing is the game engine AGS can have this
preset program or addon in it and your game will only have text. what are
the benefits?

Lower space requirements for sound files.
More flexible engine
players will enjoy it more
the player can choose to put it on or off.

I found this on the web its a text to speech with the source code size 380kb +/-
http://www.filelibrary.com:8080/cgi-bin/freedownload/DOS/h/75/pctalk_8.zip

see if you can find sumthing better the source code I'm looking for is for pumaman
to mabe concider if he is gona put it in so he has the source already that he can just
tweak or use it.
more links
http://www.tucows.com/textspeech95_default.html
http://www.dyslexia.com/helpread.htm

this is a tutorial text file
http://www.vbforums.com/attachment.php?s=bca783bd0db50bdd509bec0417754693&attachmentid=26505

i dont know if this will help but aye its worth the pay off.

scotch · Thu 03/03/2005 23:07:50

I don't think there are enough AGS games with robots as characters to warrant this being added, currently.

Gregjazz · Thu 03/03/2005 23:19:37

Even the best computer generated speech can't get the emotion and acting into the dialogue. Also, how's the computer to know how the certain line of text is said?

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Fri 04/03/2005 01:37:45

I won't dig up the thread again, because I'm too lazy to do it, but this has already been brought up. Basically, everyone agreed that computer-generated speech (the suggestion used Microsoft Agent, I believe) is so crappy in terms of acting (and sometimes diction) that it would be murder. Besides, you can always use any such programs you want, record their output and use them in your game normally. It's your funeral, of course - it'd still sound crappy.

BerserkerTails · Fri 04/03/2005 02:21:07

But I wanted to make "Stephen Hawking Quest!!" :'(

Haha, no I agree with what's been said here. The computer generated voice, while fun as a novelty, would get on the nerves of the player after the first couple lines of dialog. Besides, can you imagine a game where every single character sounded the same?

Evil · Fri 04/03/2005 02:51:31

Like he said there are some good vocal patches, but none sound perfect. I remember 4 years back we used to play on the school's macs and they had atleast 100 different voice styles.

Gilbert · Fri 04/03/2005 03:09:59

Well the only circumstance that I'll want TTS is probably trying to make Daisy talk.

Ghormak · Fri 04/03/2005 03:17:08

Oh no... no, Gilbert! NO! I think that would drive any person crazy in less than three minutes.

Afflict · Fri 04/03/2005 18:12:49

Well then you guys really never heard talk it! its very very good and I wont
mind cause its got male and female voices that sound kinda real. The presets
are good and this is all last years tech. So I am sure when diggin hard and long
enough ill find something that wil be even better now. Ill post the file i have up
sumtime and let you guys check it out. Try finding it to lazy to do that now.

As for the fact of sounding the same I dont believe that for a second.

Using the output would be pointless as the file size would be the same as using
real voices.

And what could it hurt to have this in the engine as it can be turned off at the players
will. So ading a feature like this could be an intresting add on as it would get better
with time and who knows mabe our AGS tect speech will out speak the current
technology and maybe set the standard! Any coders willing to take a crack at it?

Pumaman · Fri 04/03/2005 19:41:01

This has already been discussed here:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=18044.0

and the conclusion was that it's not something that will be added to AGS in the forseeable future.

DCillusion · Fri 04/03/2005 19:45:03

Couldn't someone just use the program to make speech, save it, and put the speech into thier game?

BOYD1981 · Fri 04/03/2005 21:31:25

it would be useful if people wanted to make games for blind or partially sighted people...

Kweepa · Fri 04/03/2005 22:34:01

Heh.
I downloaded Microsoft Natural Voice Reader - and the first sample sounds a lot like Laverne!
177k Zip
You can't get this "quality" without paying for the enterprise version.

Hmm, if you go to nextup.com, you'll see that each voice takes up 200-300Mb. So not exactly a space saving then, unless you've got more than 10 hours or so of recorded dialog.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Sat 05/03/2005 01:36:14

Boyd - funny you should mention that, there IS one program made having those people in mind - StoryHarp. Miscrosoft Agent reads you the text, and you can either click the choice you want or SAY it. I don't think it ever got much use at all, but it remains quite innovative, methinks - not to mention VERY easy to use.

Afflict · Sun 06/03/2005 18:18:59

Doing this for the blind would be pointless (i mean making adventures)
in that case have a text base adventure with a text speech program.
I just think that the option should be open and as its not going to be
done in AGS I respect CJ's decision.

For now I guess it will be left alone altough I still think the technology is
way past the proffesional mark. Just you have to pay for the really
good ones. So yeah It was just a thought...

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Sun 06/03/2005 20:45:23

QuoteDoing this for the blind would be pointless (i mean making adventures)
in that case have a text base adventure with a text speech program.

Er, yeah. It's called StoryHarp. Lemme refresh your memory.

Quotethere IS one program made having those people in mind - StoryHarp. Miscrosoft Agent reads you the text, and you can either click the choice you want or SAY it. I don't think it ever got much use at all, but it remains quite innovative, methinks - not to mention VERY easy to use.

HillBilly · Sun 06/03/2005 21:13:01

Yes, I do think this has something to do with the topic(Click the link in the descriptions):

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2703

And if it's not, it's still funny.

Kinoko · Mon 07/03/2005 00:46:59

I have tears running down my face after hearing those... funny, funny stuff *Bender clap*