Messages

Hm, so typing in your browser and in text editors and everwhere else works absolutely fine but in the two programs DOSBox and ScummVM it doesn't? That's incredibly weird seeing how these programs don't have very much in common as far as I know. Can you try opening the dos console (from the start menu in windows) and typing in there? Does that work?

You can change the language setting by hitting shift and alt and the same time, maybe you accidentally hit these keys in a game. Try doing it again and see if that changes anything, if it doesn't then the language setting is not the problem.

Will also compare the AT2020, pretty much my two concerns right now are budget and ease of use (ie, USB.) Well that and storage too, I live in a 1-BR apartment so nothing gigantor.

I would suggest you check out the deals you can get on the Blue Yeti and the AT2020, if there's a way you can get the Blue Yeti at about the same price as the AT2020, by all means, go for it. If it ends up costing you 50$ more I personally don't think it's worth it, to me they sound equal, the additional features of the Yeti are nice but not all that necessary and might not justify the cost. Storage shouldn't be a problem with any of these mics, they are pretty tiny and come in boxes slightly larger than shoeboxes, you can always store them in there in case they don't get their permanent space on your desk.

No worries, USB mics are absolutely fine for amateur and even semi-professional voice actors for sure, no doubt. They don't need any complicated setup, no great soundcards or anything. A USB mic and a simple recording software such as Audacity will do you just fine.

Do take a look at the Audio Technica AT2020 though, it's even cheaper then the Blue Yeti, it's also a USB microphone and after some quick comparisons I just did on Youtube it sounds just as good (do your own research though, so much in the world of audio recording is personal).

EDIT: Check this review out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24JQKOhBDRI (keep in mind the prices are out of date, the AT2020 can be bought for 100$ in the EU anymore, the Blue Yeti is still 50 bucks more expensive)

USB mics are good for beginners but I would advice for a 'real' setup which has the advantage of being much more flexible, if you want to add some good hardware effects (compressor, EQ, de-esser, reverb and so on) you can put them in, you can use a real tube pre-amplifier and so on and so forth. USB mics are cheaper but they can't really do most of that, at least not in realtime (ie. you hear what you're recording with the effects already applied and such luxuries).

I would suggest the Audio Technica AT2020 as far as USB microphones go (make sure to get the USB version, I believe it also exists as a normal XLR mic) just because lots of people use it and it never fails to impress in quality. It should be just below 100$ at the moment which as far as I can tell is cheaper then the Blue Yeti, can't say anything as to how the quality differs.

If you have a little more money to spend, I can heartily recommend a Rode NT1A and a Behringer Ultra Voice Pro combo. These items should be around 250$, it's a real set-up, it's got professional quality and it is flexible in the ways mentioned before. Make sure to get a pop filter, a good mic stand (you don't want vibrations) and maybe buy/collect diffusors for the walls (make your own little vocal booth in a corner of a room or something) and it'll be just about unbeatable for that kind of money.

As far as software goes (your DAW as it is often times called, your audio recording, editing and exporting tool basically) you won't need very much, Audacity should be fine. That's open source and you can record as many tracks as you want, the new versions can load up VST plugins (your digital effects, if you need any, like reverb, delay and so on) and it can export to MP3s and OGG files. I don't really see the need for voice actors to invest in expensive and complicated audio programs.

Hope this helps!

Wow that's my birthday. After all this time... :o

Try Dosbox and ScummVM. If these don't work you might be out of luck, 16-bit applications really aren't compatible with 64-bit operating systems to the best of my knowledge.

[What are some more up-to-date and better sounding alternatives to the Edison Orchestral VSTi I used?]

No worries, those are some excellent suggestion as well, Something13. I'm fighting for time to actually spend on the piece at the moment but I will update once I get some progress done based on all the feedback.

In the meantime, one big question I'm still having (mostly directed at Nikolas): What are some more up-to-date and better sounding alternatives to the Edison Orchestral VSTi I used?

Nikolas, I'm very happy you replied and I think your feedback is amazing. I was kind of hoping you'd reply because I know you are a genius at this kind of stuff but I also knew you weren't around much anymore on these forums!

First of all, sadly the Edirol orchestra is far from decent nowadays. Not with the products out. Just so you know. And FL is not the best sequencer to be doing such music.

I absolutely agree. As a DAW I just really like Fruity Loops (not an Ableton or Cubase fan, only like Pro Tools better) so I think I'll stick to it for the nearer future, but what would be better orchestra VSTis? It's all a matter of price/'availability'.

What is not really working (in terms of classical music, so... :-/ ) is the orchestration. For the first half of the work you have the strings playing 'pad' chords. Like one hand was playing the chords. Normally an orchestra would have much greater diversity in their orchestral strings. Like arpeggios, or other ideas. The melody, similarly remains 'unchanged' in timbre for most of the time. Your choice of reusing the same instrument is not really working.

When you are entering the epic part, it does offer a glimpse of your intentions, but not much else. The trumpet (?) is playing the melody and there's some percussion (timpani?), but the rest is again uninhabited. There are so many things you could be doing. Doubling the strings with some other instruments playing alternative patterns, reenforcing the bass with some tuba or trombone, adding some cymballs or gongs. Plenty of options.

These are excellent points, I'll see what I can do. By the way, I remember an awesome article you wrote, I was able to find it again but the link was broken, where you explained a lot about orchestration. Does that still exist somewhere?

Once again, thanks for replying. I love each and every simple "sounded nice" response but yours helps me even more!

I'd do it. Got a bachelor of arts in English studies, lived half a year in California, and I'm German.

@tzachs: Thanks. I'll definitely change up the note velocities a bit more, kinda forgot to do that in most parts. Good ears you got to pick up on that! The lack of rhythmic variation in the epic part is indeed working against it being a memorable melody but that is a stylistic choice, the long notes add tension and drama that would be lacking with shorter rhythmic bursts. I'll make sure not to write every song using these note lengths though, that would be bad.

@Chicky: Haha, thanks. I could have started the song out 2 bars later I guess, dunno, the single instrument beginning made it sound a bit more classical to me I guess. And riding a dolphin into Narnia is an epic analogy!

@Eigen: I'll give your sound and effects tips a try for sure, sounds like it all makes sense. To me the timpani and orchestra kit bass drum hits (I assume you refer to these when you say snare drum?) don't sound very wooden but I could definitely tweak their sound some more, maybe add in additional layers and such. I did actually mix the song using headphones as well as a 2.1 speaker system and it did sound balanced stereo wise to me but I'll do it again and, with the premise that the left side might be too loud, see again. I suspect these things come down to audio equipment quite a bit and my headphones aren't the very best I'm afraid.

@Tabata: I didn't know that song was called Requiem For A Tower but yes, that kind of modern classical-meets-epic film or video game music style was exactly what I was going for, I'm glad it sounded like that to you! The points you made were spot on (and in music, there really is no wrong, much less then in drawing for example) so thanks a lot for sharing your opinion, it does help. And I will make sure to post the next version here for you people to check out!

@Sephiroth: I see, the song should not get too loud (these things also are heavily impacted by your speakers/headphones) but there is a lot of dynamic in the volume levels - the first part is very quiet in comparison to the second one. If this were pop music, the levels would be compressed so that they are equally loud (this catches the most attention on the radio for example) but in classical music it is very common to have these huge changes in volumes over time. One of the reasons why classical music experts are always audiophiles and have the most expensive sound systems. I'd like to hear more people's opinions on this, though, is there any distortion in the song, any times where it starts to sound too loud? Or is the first part really uncomfortably too quiet on your sound setup?

To everybody, it took some time for you people to get started posting but now I'm extremely happy with the turn-out! You are helping and have already helped me a great deal, thanks a lot!

[HERE]

Well, I posted a music c&c thread for one of my songs pretty much exactly when you started this thread here. There has only been one response and about 25 listeners. Why don't you all go there and give me some feedback?

HERE is the link.

[/shameless but sort of on-topic plug]

Hey, thanks for the warm words! I like how you described the second part as adventurous and old-school RPGish as that is pretty much what I had in mind.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with the sound output of the second part being too clear/sharp, I'm afraid, could you elaborate a little bit?

And thanks for posting an opinion even without being a musician, it helps a lot to get feedback from non-musicians too.

I'll bump this one time (and only once) as it's been 48 hours without feedback.

What's wrong? Is there a technical problem? I know a handful of people have tuned in, were you able to listen to the piece? Is it so bad that nobody wants to say something? Or is it so good that nobody HAS to say something (or consider themselves worthy for giving critique)? Or is it just not 'spectacular' enough for somebody to care enough about?

I wish for constructive criticism but even if you have no idea about music I'd love to know where I stand. Is this enjoyable and good? Or don't you like it maybe? Anything!

[Streaming link, just open it in a new tab or window and it'll stream in the background by itself. No need to download!]

Hey there,

after years of being on the lookout for means to get a decent sounding orchestra VST I finally got myself Edison Orchestral - using it with Fruity Loops 9 XXL currently and it seems to do its job pretty damn well. Anyways, one sort-of-classically-arranged idea I always had lying around, composed as a MIDI, fell victim first and I made a real recording of it. I believe it actually was for a Tune Contest years ago and yes, it is supposed to sound as (melo-) dramatic and epic as possible pretty much.

Keeping in mind I have very little knowledge about real orchestra arrangements and stuff I'd like to know (a) what you guys think and (b) what I can improve, please! :p


Streaming link, just open it in a new tab or window and it'll stream in the background by itself. No need to download!

Oh and before I forget, it is not an entire symphony quite yet... More like two minutes work in progress haha.

Cheers!

Please don't think that (1) these forums start to flame newbies or (2) 'Studio3' is being treated unfairly in any way. The travesty is that everybody is actually trying extra nice to help him (Khris and monkey most of all) and he STILL makes it look like they are trying to flame him.

There's nothing more I can contribute to this thread or the situation as a whole, just wanted to say that I had to laugh so hard at

Look I did all that I mean hello I had this topic as solved but I never really tested it out by playing the game.

that I actually made that my signature.

blueskirt, those are some absolutely excellent suggestions for the classic fight mode! These will make it straight into our considerations I promise. Thanks a ton!

selmiak, most likely there will be a setting in the game menu, not just before you start a new playthrough. Basically you access the menu and just like you can switch the text reading speed, voice speech on or off or the walking speed you can also adjust the combat mode. The default will be the SCUMM-classic setting I think. There will probably be a reminder and a quick way to switch the setting in a pop-up window before you begin the first fight. So you will be able to switch the fight mode at any given point in the game (except when you are currently in a fight already of course).

No worries, cianty.

Unfortunately, you have misunderstood us again - this is not an April Fools joke. ProgZMax brought that up in his original post in this thread by comparing our efforts to a joke game made to, I guess, troll people on the day. This is a serious beta release (that happened to be released on Easter, 3 weeks later) that shows an early version of the mechanics of one way you can play the fights in FoY. We have nowhere called it an April Fools joke release or have used that as a means to 'defend' against (constructive) criticism anywhere.

If the mere fact that the arcade fights are one of two possible selections is in the game really bothers you, which you have re-stated, then there isn't much we can do to help you (don't mean to offend you here, everybody has their own taste - the logic behind it still irritates me a bit but that's fine). In that case, I hope you give it a try anyways once it is released!

@Ascovel and Wyz: Thanks for the feedback. We DO worry about the FoA purists because we, in a way, are too. But we, as a team, we're able to say that we simply want to make FoY fun for all sides and types of players. Wyz, agreed on all points pretty much, there will be more attacks including special combos and such later, animations will be reworked and so on. This is a simple holiday special to give the people waiting for the release something fresh and new.

I am very surprised that ProgZmax's comment receives so much hostility. Didn't I just read an interview on the AGS blog where someone praised the honesty of the AGSers? So this is probably the first time I read someone NOT posting sugar-sweet praises about the Fountain of Indy Demos and he immediately gets shot down?

His comments didn't receive hostility. Where exactly was he 'shot down'? If at all, his posts were filled with some degree of negativity - undeservedly comparing our hard work to an April fools joke for example. The rest was simply misinformed due to not reading/understanding that this combat mode will only be an option in the game, not a necessity. What honesty has to do with anything I don't know. We are always looking for constructive criticism and have a past of dealing well with it.

I am not a fan of this easter egg/special either. It totally feels out of place, the jumping does look silly - bottom line it's not what I like to see in an Indiana Jones adventure game that is meant to be in the tradition of the previous official titles. So should I not state my opinion if that's what it is? Is this thread for praises only?

To my mind, the fact that such a thing is included in the game degrades the product - regardless of whether you can choose to circumvent it (you'll have to know it's there in order to avoid it). That's my opinion, Zmax's and a few others and it's entirely up to Screen7 to make of it whatever they will. But if we can't have such discussions here then the announcements should be kept to a website only.
[/rant for freedom of speech]

If you have an option to have your fights be arcade or classic style, you choose the one you like and you will never even see the other one in the game, the mere fact that it exists somewhere degrades the game? I honestly didn't expect anybody to seriously share this (ridiculous, in my opinion) sentiment. We do everything to satisfy you people by offering two different fighting mechanics and now this isn't enough? It's a little frustrating you have to understand. :p

Please don't pretend like you are defending freedom of speech (thus implying we are in fact only looking for positive feedback), that is not the truth at all. I made good and valid points (amongst the other FoY staff that posted) and dismantled the points ProgZMax and you have made. In case you don't want this game mode in the game AT ALL (even though you only need to not choose it at some point and then are free to forget about it entirely), then FoY might not be for you I'm afraid.

Will you do the same for the SCUMM mode, with a demo to showcase how it will play in the full game so we can help you finetune it? I ask because I found the SCUMM mode in the v1.2 demo unbalanced and easy with the right mouse button that blocks every punch.

BTW, giving us the choice between both modes is a real cool move!

Thanks blueskirt! That's not a bad idea after all and I agree that the demo fight in the demo, albeit a lot of people (more than I thought apparently) really loved the way it worked, wasn't much of a challenge in any way. That was, as I said, one of the reasons to make it a bit more exciting and give it some more depth that the player can choose to make a part of hers or his FoY experience (or not!) at will.

The demo fighting did reflect the SCUMM combat system very closely, however, so I'm sure the aforementioned SCUMM FoA purists would be very upset if we ended up changing much about the classic fighting mode in FoY... As a sidenote, I have to admit I always thought that fights in SCUMM sucked incredibly hard (about the only thing that did) - so, any ideas in particular? Maybe we could get away with just changing the blocking functionality? Maybe you can block high, mid and low and have to choose the right section in order to block (then turn down the animation speed so you can, if you are quick, actually react in time)? I will also have to play the FoA fights again for reference..