Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #140 on: January 13, 2014, 03:23:38 AM »
One thing I'm hoping for in particular is a big improvement in the voice acting.  Bethesda seems to be really lazy in that department.

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Offline Crudblud

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #141 on: January 13, 2014, 10:36:53 AM »
One thing I'm hoping for in particular is a big improvement in the voice acting.  Bethesda seems to be really lazy in that department.

Do you mean the quality of the acting or the quantity of actors? It's a staple that they race each other to shatter the illusion first in each new TES or Fallout game, but I'm wondering how much money and time Bethesda actually sinks in to v/o as is. Their special NPCs can be well voiced at times, Max von Sydow was pretty awesome as Esbern, and we already talked about Malcolm McDowell's highly entertaining President Eden, unfortunately they probably can't afford to populate the entire game with unique performances from people who can actually act. Maybe they should focus on casting people who can do lots of different voices, instead of Jennifer Hale types who all do the same voice no matter who they're supposed to be? Of course, having said that, I do wonder if Bethesda even tells the "talent" what their character is when they give them a set of lines to read.

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Offline Snupes

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #142 on: January 13, 2014, 11:50:32 AM »
Yeah the engine is terrible, but I always thought the awkward faces and movement was part of the charm.

Really? It's just horribly painful for me. I never feel like I'm interacting with a real character, I always feel like I'm being shoehorned into some weird little box to listen to someone babble out a poorly-written script with horrible acting (most of the time). Way too many of the voiceovers sound like a cold reading, like they're just now seeing their lines, or maybe got a few minutes to think about them. The stiff animations, though...*shudder*...I can never take the games seriously as "exciting" or "dynamic" for that reason. Everything's so stiff and awkward and feels so slipshod, and it just makes the whole experience really 'meh'. That's why I do not think Skyrim is a very good game and never want to play their games more than once.
There are cigarettes in joints. You don't smoke it by itself.

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #143 on: January 13, 2014, 12:06:19 PM »
Yeah the engine is terrible, but I always thought the awkward faces and movement was part of the charm.

Really? It's just horribly painful for me. I never feel like I'm interacting with a real character, I always feel like I'm being shoehorned into some weird little box to listen to someone babble out a poorly-written script with horrible acting (most of the time). Way too many of the voiceovers sound like a cold reading, like they're just now seeing their lines, or maybe got a few minutes to think about them. The stiff animations, though...*shudder*...I can never take the games seriously as "exciting" or "dynamic" for that reason. Everything's so stiff and awkward and feels so slipshod, and it just makes the whole experience really 'meh'. That's why I do not think Skyrim is a very good game and never want to play their games more than once.
I'm not picky. If the writing is good and the game playable than any stiffness doesn't bother me. I think they make fun games.

The voice acting does bother me a little though.

Maybe it's just my level of expectation though. It's a video game, not real life. Games with impeccable NPC writing and animation usually don't give you a lot of freedom in exploring the world so it's just a sacrifice I accept.

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Offline Snupes

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #144 on: January 13, 2014, 06:09:22 PM »
Yeah, I'm usually pretty forgiving as well, but I dunno, I think they're particularly bad at it. A good example of it done right is Dragon's Dogma. I keep getting absolutely entranced by that game; I think it's better than Skyrim on almost every level (minus the insane amount of stuff you can do in Skyrim) and it doesn't feel as shoddy as Skyrim's world does. That said, there are considerably less characters, and the smaller game probably meant they had enough in the budget to hire more than one male and one female local voice actor, but still.
There are cigarettes in joints. You don't smoke it by itself.

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #145 on: January 13, 2014, 06:21:45 PM »
Yeah, I'm usually pretty forgiving as well, but I dunno, I think they're particularly bad at it. A good example of it done right is Dragon's Dogma. I keep getting absolutely entranced by that game; I think it's better than Skyrim on almost every level (minus the insane amount of stuff you can do in Skyrim) and it doesn't feel as shoddy as Skyrim's world does. That said, there are considerably less characters, and the smaller game probably meant they had enough in the budget to hire more than one male and one female local voice actor, but still.
Another thing is that Bethesda games are also heavily moddable. They even give the tool set they use to create the world.

But aside from that, I love big worlds with an almost endless amount of little side quests and dungeons to explore and I generally dislike JRPGs and I really dislike survival horror games.
And c'mon, Bethesda has more than one male and one female voice actor. Let's not exaggerate.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #146 on: January 13, 2014, 07:05:55 PM »
That's why I do not think Skyrim is a very good game and never want to play their games more than once.

better than Skyrim on almost every level...doesn't feel as shoddy as Skyrim's world does

B-B-B-Blanko?

Offline Blanko

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #147 on: January 13, 2014, 07:27:17 PM »
P-p-p-popular opinions?

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #148 on: January 13, 2014, 08:34:15 PM »
You have no popular opinions, Blanko.  Nobody agrees with you.  Nobody likes you.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #149 on: January 13, 2014, 08:48:21 PM »
sadaam
The Mastery.

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #150 on: January 13, 2014, 10:23:43 PM »
You have no popular opinions, Blanko.  Nobody agrees with you.  Nobody likes you.
No, everyone agrees with Blanko's harsh criticisms. Only a minority enjoy Bethesda.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #151 on: January 15, 2014, 08:58:57 PM »
Anyway, going back to the voice acting, I agree with Crudblud and Snupes.  With the obvious exceptions of the roles for the well-known actors, it seems like Bethesda's casting process consists of making some calls to their "usuals," a bunch of stock voice actors to give stock performances for dozens of characters and thousands of lines.  It's not so much penny-pinching as it is lazy.  BAAAWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! >o<

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #152 on: January 15, 2014, 09:23:15 PM »
Anyway, going back to the voice acting, I agree with Crudblud and Snupes.  With the obvious exceptions of the roles for the well-known actors, it seems like Bethesda's casting process consists of making some calls to their "usuals," a bunch of stock voice actors to give stock performances for dozens of characters and thousands of lines.  It's not so much penny-pinching as it is lazy.  BAAAWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! >o<
Yes, that is the only thing I actually have a problem with.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #153 on: January 15, 2014, 09:59:45 PM »
Just be glad they didn't use the same voice actors as they did in Oblivion.
The Mastery.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #154 on: January 16, 2014, 06:18:35 PM »
They did, actually.  At least a couple of them.  In particular, there's Wes Johnson - you might not know him by name, but he's the guy who voiced the male Imperials in Oblivion.  He voiced a handful of characters in F3 and Skyrim, and he was certainly able to put on some different voices for them.  So I'd guess that the monotony probably has more to do with the actors usually not getting much context or character for each line than them simply being untalented.
« Last Edit: February 03, 2014, 05:49:47 PM by Saddam Hussein »

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #155 on: January 16, 2014, 06:37:11 PM »
There's a voice actor they use in almost all of their games and he was in some old Disney/Nickelodeon movie. I'm not sure who he is but I recognize his voice and it drives me crazy every time.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #156 on: January 16, 2014, 06:43:06 PM »
Who did he voice?

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #157 on: January 16, 2014, 06:46:23 PM »
Who did he voice?
He does a lot of little extras. I can't think of any important characters.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Survivor2299
« Reply #158 on: January 25, 2014, 02:22:24 AM »
I don't really have an issue with the mechanics.  It's actually the time limit that's driving me nuts.  I don't know how long it "translates" into in real time, nor how long it's going to take me at a minimum to find the water chip, and I don't know if I'm supposed to be hustling the whole time because every minute counts, or if there's no rush and I have enough time to take it slowly and explore the world.  In any case, the uncertainty won't let me relax and enjoy the game.  Are there mods to get rid of it?

I was hoping for a response.  What can I do? :(

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Offline Crudblud

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Re: Survivor2299
« Reply #159 on: January 25, 2014, 12:11:31 PM »
I don't really have an issue with the mechanics.  It's actually the time limit that's driving me nuts.  I don't know how long it "translates" into in real time, nor how long it's going to take me at a minimum to find the water chip, and I don't know if I'm supposed to be hustling the whole time because every minute counts, or if there's no rush and I have enough time to take it slowly and explore the world.  In any case, the uncertainty won't let me relax and enjoy the game.  Are there mods to get rid of it?

I was hoping for a response.  What can I do? :(

Play faster. But seriously: don't worry about the time limit, it's there to make you feel tense but you actually have ample time to get the water chip unless you are literally walking in circles for hours on end in the fast travel screen.