Let's talk about the Feb 2016 Update! - ### Starbase Commander ###

Commander ideas

Not much to comment on here. All looks great, apart from baggy male clothes which make F and G "Station Commanders" look ridiculous.

Commander Voice auditions

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Abby T.)_01 --- Hearing it I picture myself as a 12 year old kid listening to my extremely unconfident/worried? older sister's notations.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Abby T.)_02 --- A little darker than the first take, but still in the same zip code.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Amanda M.) --- Sounds very sad, depressed and indifferent. I have a feeling that one day she might be found dead in her bed with an empty pills bottle on the floor...

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Carrie K.) ---  TYWORM MOTHER&U#KER!! She sounds like some sort of a closet dominatrix from Sex & The City.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Dorothy F.) --- Finally, an acceptable sample. Nothing special to note here though. Not overplayed or underplayed. Intonation for the most part matches the speech content ("seems friendly enough" is off). Third best.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Erika H.) --- Can I say a little overconfident 25 y.o. cosmetician?... Definitely not a Station Commander voice.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Julie Ann T.) --- Great timbre. Intonation is a little off in some sentences. Second best.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Karen S.)_01 --- Older lady. Great intonation. Can't decide on Tywom or Tyworm though.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Karen S.)_02 --- Better version of the above.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Laura P.)_01 --- This one seems too dam lively for a Station Commander. Another Sex & The City character?

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Laura P.)_02 --- A better version of the above, but intonation misses the context in some sentences.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Lauren L.) --- Maybe not the best timbre to listen to, but THE BEST intonation actor. The slight alarmness (proper to military personel) in the voice creates atmospheric tension in the described situations. Love it.

HUMAN COMMANDER (FEMALE) (Marcy E.) --- Speed of speech and intonation is all over the place.

The lip sync is the last thing I'd worry about in this game. Like literally.

My general comment in this area is that I thought that the lip-syncing was spot on.

You guys weren't kidding when you talked about how smooth it would be.

But... Question... Will the aliens be voiced? And Will you lip-sync their mouths/communication organs to their dialog? If so, wouldn't that mean that they were speaking English since their words matched up so well with their mouths? Or will they appear to speak like a badly dubbed Godzilla movie?

Julie Ann T. Was my favorite.  I already know I want to work with her... 

All the aliens will be voiced. There is a story link that will help this all make sense and it's not a Babel Fish :) 

You say that... But if they are voicing the aliens, and the syncing and facial movements aren't great, it will hurt immersion.

Case in point? "Life is Strange." That game would have been much more enjoyable if they had the same model expressions shown in the SCR sample video. That tech that SD is using is amazing.

^ yes, it's preeeeettty good, but far far from perfect (like word "but" in "but you didn't" completely mismatches the lips shape), hence my indifference to it. I choose to concentrate on the voice acting.

LA Noir facial expression tech still beats both if we're talking immersion. I'm not sure about applying it to alien faces and its price though.

I think the actor/actress for this role should be able to convey a wide range of emotions. They have to be able to deliver both good news and bad news, and I would be disappointed if it was always delivered in a predictable manner that was either too bubbly in one extreme or too distant in the opposite extreme. A playful combination of the two would be great to add some organic excitement to the dialog.

I don't mind the art style of either the 3D model or the quick character concept sketches, and the character animation seems very nice this early in the production. I am not personally concerned with the quality of the lip synching taking me out of the experience or sense of immersion and while I know it's something being focused on in the development, I hope it's not a detail being fussed over at the expense of more important gameplay elements.

Dorothy and Julie Ann

These strike me as too cold and authoritative. They seem like more experienced ship captains but lack the ambition and determination necessary for the kind of "take charge" attitude this character should probably have. They might be good in other roles but I would like someone who uses the full range of their voice and emotions.

Abby and Erika

Nice confident energy but maybe somewhat lacking in authority, basically the inverse of Dorothy and Julie Ann. I think they'd be a great fit for a more spunky sidekick serving in a lower rank, like a mechanic/engineer or an optimistic cadet ready for action. I think these two have a lot of potential for dramatic range and I'd like to hear them read something more intimidating or scary where they are genuinely sad or afraid.

Laura P

Her first read is one of my favorites. She doesn't rush through the material, uses the full range of her voice, has nice timing with dramatic pauses and isn't too dry or distant. She has a great combo of attributes that both command authority while being playful and a bit humorous.

Lauren

There's something I like about this one that the others lack: she has a little bit more of a hint of desperation and uncertainty in her read, as though she is facing a difficult challenge but trying to be courageous despite fearing the outcome, which I think is a nice tone for the game. I don't want the interactions to always sound the same and I'd like for dramatic situations to sound more desperate.

My top 3 picks in order of best to worst for Commander:

1. Laura P
2. Abby T
3. Erika H

Notes:

Julie Ann T would be perfect for a Syreen like race, she was the most sultry

Karen S would make a great engineer type 

My Picks and what i think of their voices:

Abby T (Worried)
Dorothy F. (robotic)
Erika H. (Hyper)
Julie Ann T. (Seductive)
Laura P. (Positive)

I wonder if we'll get a Poll for that, and some of them (they who will not be the star-base commander) need to voice other characters, because while i disliked the other voices, they are NOT horrible

 - Shade A.I

^ Don't you guys think Abby T. #1 sounds a bit too young for a Station Commander?

Yep.

Oh man, where to start. (I'm currently directing VO for a personal project right now, so this felt so familiar XD)

If I had to vote, my first vote would be Laura P.'s 2nd reading. So dark, feels suspicious, cautious. There's almost a Vulcan quality to it.

I really appreciate Karen S.'s 1st reading, feels a bit more fresh, as if humanity has very little experience in galactic affairs. However, Lauren L. is tied for 2nd in my opinion.

UPDATE!

There's a full screencap in the vault of our new starbase commander looking awfully cute in front of an equally beautiful background.

I'm curious why such a nice looking young girl has so much gray in her hair though...

Here's my take on that encounter dialog screen:

1. Don't make it fullscreen. It takes away from immersion. It makes me feel like I'm visiting their ship, being right infront of them during talks which wouldn't make sense if your encounter fella is hostile or their environment isn't human biology friendly (Mukay?).

2. Make it a non-transparent holographic screen inside Vindicator. See picture. !!! IMPORTANT !!! You also want to have player see his immediate surroundings during the conversation, I think it'll add tons of flavor to immersion and make those encounters a lot more memorable. Imagine meeting hostile Scryve around bright red gas giant... Or Mukay at a serene blue/green waterworld... MEMORABLE.

3. Drop your encounter vessel hologram here, some useful [and useless] info there and it'd be preeettttty good.

^ updated.

The voices all seem fine to me.    It's the visual artwork of the commander that really looks bad.  Something about the Face of the character and the eyes.   I mean it screams  scary looking human face.   If you're going to try to go for cartoony.  How about make her look more like Pixar.  The face of that commander girl is just ugly.    Maybe the face of the girls from Frozen Elsa and Ana looks better.

I'll give a more detailed check off on Voices:

AbbyT 01 =  Great.

AbbyT 02 = low energy.

Amanda M -  ugh. no good.

Carrie - medicore.

Dorothy - no good.

Erika H - pretty good.

Julie - too soft. low energy.

Karen S - medicore.

Laura P.01  - has personality.  pretty good

Laura P.02 - too low energy.

Laura L - too low energy.

Marcy E - no good.

I'd have to say  AbbyT 01 is good.   Erika H is also good too.   Those are my two best picks!

I like old SC2 dialog when you are "visiting" the alien vessel. May be one can make it as an option - like "cockpit" view or "immersion" view.

Abby T 1: Too fast a pace. You're supposed to be talking to me, not reading to me. The last sentence... comical effect is overdone, IMHO. Skreev does not equal Skrive.

Abby T 2: Same pace as above, uppity and youthful. Too youthful. I have the impression of dealing with a very young person, like 16 to 20 years old. I'd rather take over the command and send her back to cadet training, to make sure the human race survives.

Amanda M: It sounds like having to read the text was a chore to her. No other comment, as it disqualifies her.

Carrie K: Misprononounces the names of the aliens. Also, the question mark at the end of "do you have any reason to doubt him?" is supposed to feel like a question, NOT a statement. I find her pace and intonation natural. Her last sentence about having passed all the sanity tests was spot-on. That sentence is supposed to be funny in and of itself, and not feel like it is a joke being told. It has to be delivered 100% seriously, which Carrie does.

Dorothy: Feels authentic. Nicely delivered. No obvious, glaring mistake. Second pick.

Erika H: Too fast a pace. Also, the modulation of many of her final syllables makes me think of someone that is either disdainful, condescending or just plain pontificating.

Julie Ann T: I like that the voice itself, with its timbre, is more mature, more grounded. The attitude, however, is lacking. Plus, she cuts sentences in two.

Karen S 1: There is a sense of urgency that most others lack. I have the impression that what is being said is important. This being said, a question mark should bring a question. The lack of assurance in "seems friendly enough..." brings credibility to the sentence, adding depth to what is said. The Skrivy annoys me.

Karen S 2: The urgency sense is toned down a lot. Skrivy and question mark issues remain. Sanity tests became Security tests. I preferred the first take.

Laura P 1: Yuck.

Laura P 2: Reading too fast. Let the information sink in.

Laura L: Timbre is nothing to write home about, but I'll take her intonations, her sense of urgency any day of the week over a richer voice. What she says seems important not only to me, the listener, but to her as well, which lends credibility to the voice acting, and adds to the verisimilitude. Definitely my preferred voice. 

Marcy E: The first half of the audio sample almost got me to stop listening. But once I got used to her rythm and attitude, I found her to be entirely credible. Third choice.

I liked Julie Ann T's commander voice audition.

Er...I was always under the impression that it was just through a viewscreen, never visiting the ship. That is, of course, with the exception of a few particular encounters.

Lauren L - Had the best voice

Amanda M - Had the best timing and emotion

"Visiting" is just an expression. Like "full immersion screen" or something.

I think you're posting in the wrong feedback thread.  Since this thread discussion is about the Commander  arts tyle and voice over.  not UI.