(minor suggestion) AI Units Voices.

[Jwk the Hemp Monkey]

Would it be possiable to have units randomly select their 'voice' from a set of sounds. And then make it so that the next same-type of unit randomly selects a different voice.

That way the units wont all 'sound' like clones of eachother. And anyone who is nifty with sound editing programs should be able to make loads of new scion/isdf/hadean/whatever needed voices.

Would be a nice polishing touch.

[Zero Angel]

I like this one  

[Tempest Storm]

I asked for this once too, according to both Ken and Nathan importiung new sound capabilities is alot more work than its worth.

[FlashFire]

I agree...

That scavenger voice is starting to annoy me...  

[deadscion]

The average ODF has references to at least 8 wav files for one purpose or another.
With Approximately 10 unique ships per race (just to round it off) this is a requirement of 80 seperate WAV files which BZ2 already provides.

A lot of the statements could be reduced to generic response statements like "acknowledge" or "Yes Sir"

Each generic statement could be recorded in different levels of fear or stress to be used by the AI ships depending on the level of action in the imediate area.

Then players would forget these were just AI and start telling the sissies to get busy hahahahaha!!

[Avatar]

Retroboy had a hilarious post on the Acti boards about the way a macho Tank Pilot is 'altered' when jumping into a Scav...  that "Jimmy Olsen" voice comes at a high cost...



-Av-

[CmptrWz]

If we want to make a plausible explanation:

Generic responses to generic commands were pre-recorded are are stored in each unit and are simply played back. Thus the commanding officer instantly knows what kind of unit is responding. Much easier then trying to remember which type of unit a specific pilot last entered, right?

[Huscar]

Hmm, can't you see that from the icons or did I miss something here?

[CmptrWz]

I don't always have time to look at my icons. I hit a group I think is a certain type of unit and tell them to go somewhere. By the voices I can tell, usually, which group I actually hit.

[Jwk the Hemp Monkey]

thats a good point, however, if we were to have 3 different 'scavenger' voices, that only scavengers used, then one would be able to tell which type of unit it is...and have lots of different 'piolets'.

[Avatar]

All RTS games have distinctive sounds for each unit, activity, or occurrence that help the player keep track of things on a subconcious level.  To use Age of Mythology as an example, combat sounds a horn, completeing a building makes a small drum roll, picking up a relic makes a thump, and selecting a worker makes him say "leige".  

It's all to help you keep track of things going on elsewhere while you're looking or doing something somewhere else.  BZ2 follows along with this style of identification.

Seems to me Warcraft had each character use the same voice but say one of a couple of things when selected... That way you had some variety but could still tell by the voice who you'd picked.  That would be cool for BZ2 but where would the 'extra' voices come from?

-Av-

[General Cooke]

Or how about the actual pilots themselves? Whenever I go a-sniping, in that mission, Counterattack, I bring a bunch of Scion vehicles back to base. But as you know, when ISDF pilots get in them, whoosh, species change!

[FlashFire]

Yah... I dont liketo hear a captured sentry with its sentry voice.