As much as I'd like to think of myself as a good planner and organizer (on the projects that I take, not in my real and personal life), I have to admit that it's not the case when talking about Backfire. I think I avoided approaching this project in an overly geometric manner to compensate for my rather ordinary life. We seem to be OK with it so far, even though Ben would like doing things in a more standardized manner (setting micro-deadlines and stuff). Anyway, I'll get to the point. The game making process in my mind, in this semi-chaotic system that I run, is comprised of bricks that need to be developed (they're in dust form at first) and integrated into a final working product. These ideas are chewed a bit as they come and, based on their potential, are either kept or scrapped. Instead of developing them in a structural and productive way, I often find myself playing with the most appealing ones when there's higher priority work to be done. So here we are, looking for voice actors.
I know how much better an idea is conveyed with the clever use of voices compared to text only. Our own voices are nothing to brag about. I sound like a piece of dry wall, no use in hiding it. Besides, voice acting is not just about a cool sounding voice, you also need some acting skills.
My only approachable English speaking fellows are around the sdf.org community. I tried there and had some luck with one guy who agreed to do the narrator (intro). His voice was good, but his microphone was lousy and the quality of the files were lacking. We decided to buy him some better equipment - nothing fancy - but the guy, who seemed very into it at first, backed down. No reason was given. Boo-hoo!
It's true that I haven't made clear to him what the deal was. While we can't afford to pay money for these voice services, I should've told him what we can offer. It's not much, but maybe it's not exactly nothing, either. All the actors will be featured in the credits, plus they will receive a digital copy of the game and a digital booklet containing juicy story details and some game history, along with an invitation to participate in our future projects. Of course, I do realize that the entire "package" mostly appeals to gamers / geeks, so I wouldn't be surprised if our voice actors - provided we find some - would come from this demographic.
So far we need at least five different voices. Some of them could be played by the same actor.
1. Narrator - provides the narration of the intro and outro
2. AI - the voice of the ship
3. Admiral X (the name is unknown or not released to the public) - provides the voice for the radio communications between the HQ and the ship
4. Allied voice - a voice of an allied pilot
5. Alien voice - heavily post-edited
Finding myself back to square one, I got distracted and abandoned the search - for the time being. This makes things worse, probably, having this chunk of unfinished business just hanging there.
I know how much better an idea is conveyed with the clever use of voices compared to text only. Our own voices are nothing to brag about. I sound like a piece of dry wall, no use in hiding it. Besides, voice acting is not just about a cool sounding voice, you also need some acting skills.
My only approachable English speaking fellows are around the sdf.org community. I tried there and had some luck with one guy who agreed to do the narrator (intro). His voice was good, but his microphone was lousy and the quality of the files were lacking. We decided to buy him some better equipment - nothing fancy - but the guy, who seemed very into it at first, backed down. No reason was given. Boo-hoo!
It's true that I haven't made clear to him what the deal was. While we can't afford to pay money for these voice services, I should've told him what we can offer. It's not much, but maybe it's not exactly nothing, either. All the actors will be featured in the credits, plus they will receive a digital copy of the game and a digital booklet containing juicy story details and some game history, along with an invitation to participate in our future projects. Of course, I do realize that the entire "package" mostly appeals to gamers / geeks, so I wouldn't be surprised if our voice actors - provided we find some - would come from this demographic.
So far we need at least five different voices. Some of them could be played by the same actor.
1. Narrator - provides the narration of the intro and outro
2. AI - the voice of the ship
3. Admiral X (the name is unknown or not released to the public) - provides the voice for the radio communications between the HQ and the ship
4. Allied voice - a voice of an allied pilot
5. Alien voice - heavily post-edited
Finding myself back to square one, I got distracted and abandoned the search - for the time being. This makes things worse, probably, having this chunk of unfinished business just hanging there.