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jmurdock
Old Fogey
Joined: 11 Nov 2003
Posts: 1285
Location: the heart of acadiana they like to call it |
It's enough to drive you nuts sometimes. At least they picked good voice actors (mostly)
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Thu Jan 01, 2004 11:01 am |
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balconygolf_ThE_bRiDe
Alien Dwarf
Joined: 26 Dec 2003
Posts: 705
Location: Greece/Athens or *BrOtHeRhOoD* |
quote:
Originally posted by Donut of Doom
I kept waiting for him to say, "Arrr, me mateys, it's time to be inducted into the 6th circle of magic!" 
Nice lol      I laughet a lot....
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Thu Jan 01, 2004 4:20 pm |
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poindexter1985
Village Dweller
Joined: 03 Jan 2004
Posts: 10
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Ehhh, I found the voice-acting to be pretty universally bad in both games, with the exception of Diego in Gothic 1. I also liked Thorus in Gothic 1 until I heard a ton of others that had the exact same voice.
You want to hear good voice acting? Play Knights of the Old Republic (comparing voice quality only, not the games themselves). With the exception of Trask's tutorial chats. Fallout and Fallout 2 have flawless acting, though I admit they have the advantage of not needing voice-over for every character. They were mostly professional TV/movie actors as well.
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Sat Jan 03, 2004 1:54 pm |
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Daedalus
High Emperor
Joined: 04 Jan 2002
Posts: 2516
Location: Estonia |
umm Gothic 1 imo had really good voice acting if u would play it till the end also 2 was not bad offcorse the best voice acting is in german versions of Gothic in german language ( i understand german language pretty well ) |
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Sat Jan 03, 2004 1:58 pm |
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Jaz
Late Night Spook
Joined: 20 Jan 2002
Posts: 9708
Location: RPGDot |
The original (=German) versions of both Gothics had pretty good voice-acting. |
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Sat Jan 03, 2004 1:58 pm |
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MageofFire
Griller of Molerats
Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 1594
Location: Monastery of Innos |
Actually for a video game Gothic and Gothic 2 had very good voice acting. They had something like nine hours of voice-overs for Gothic 2 and (though not quite as much) a lot for Gothic. I think almost all of the voice-overs are very convincing. Given, as I have mentioned above, I don't like Diego's new voice (in the English version at least, I've never heard the German version, not that I'd understand it anyway), but the voice actor is still pretty good. When compared the the voice acting of Neverwinter Nights, which made me glad most of the characters in that game didn't have voice-overs (or at least full voice-overs).
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Sat Jan 03, 2004 8:55 pm |
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poindexter1985
Village Dweller
Joined: 03 Jan 2004
Posts: 10
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I can't comment on the German versions as I've never played them, and I wouldn't have the foggiest idea what they're saying anyway.
There's one voice-actor in particular that is absolutely atrocious, the one that did Lee in Gothic 2. I don't remember if he also did Lee in Gothic 1, but the voice is all over both games. I don't know if it's the one most frequently used, but it's the one I most frequently notice.
Gothic 1's written dialogue or translation was a bit more awkward than Gothic 2 as well, but for the most part both worked well enough.
quote:
Originally posted by MageofFire
They had something like nine hours of voice-overs for Gothic 2 and (though not quite as much) a lot for Gothic.
Quality over quantity. I'd rather read a lot of text than listen to a lot of bad actors, which I end up doing anyway. I think that even if you stripped all of the non-human dialogue from KotOR, you would have quite a few hours of voice-over, and all of it is superb.
quote:
Originally posted by MageofFire
Actually for a video game Gothic and Gothic 2 had very good voice acting.
If it was for a Hitman, Jedi Knight, or even a Deus Ex game, it would be fine. But for a game that is largely dialogue driven, good VO is essential.
I admit that most of the best voiced games I can think of don't have nearly as much dialogue as Gothic (Fallout, Sacrifice, Starcraft, Max Payne), but once again, I prefer quality over quantity. If you've got too much dialogue to give good voice-over to it all, then don't.
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Sun Jan 04, 2004 5:35 am |
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Jaz
Late Night Spook
Joined: 20 Jan 2002
Posts: 9708
Location: RPGDot |
I don't have any of the German voice samples left on my HDD with the exception of Jackal (Gothic I):
Click me, I'm the original Jackal
EDIT
Here's a German voice sample of Diego, but beware - despite being short, it's nearly 500 KB:
Original Diego |
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Sun Jan 04, 2004 1:34 pm |
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Daedalus
High Emperor
Joined: 04 Jan 2002
Posts: 2516
Location: Estonia |
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by MageofFire
They had something like nine hours of voice-overs for Gothic 2 and (though not quite as much) a lot for Gothic.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quality over quantity. I'd rather read a lot of text than listen to a lot of bad actors, which I end up doing anyway. I think that even if you stripped all of the non-human dialogue from KotOR, you would have quite a few hours of voice-over, and all of it is superb.
UMM If there would be no voice actors i wouldent play the game u see for example Morrowind and Never Nights Winter i mean they maybe good but i havent played them over 1-2h cos there is like so much reading the game gets boring u know like that and also ur eyes pop out if u sit behind a monitor and read the game like a damn book |
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Sun Jan 04, 2004 2:25 pm |
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poindexter1985
Village Dweller
Joined: 03 Jan 2004
Posts: 10
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Thanks for the clips Jaz, but unfortunately my experience with German is limited to listening to Rammstein in middle school. Not exactly a quality reference point.
And to Daedalus, I think Morrowind is a radically better game than Gothic, but this isn't the place to discuss that. Nor is the Morrowind forum. It would be impossible to have a level, unbiased comparison in either place.
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Mon Jan 05, 2004 1:47 am |
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TheLonePaladin
Mighty Warrior
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
Posts: 1808
Location: San Francisco, CA |
| voices in the gothic series |
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i thought the voice overs in gothic 1 were awesome. ignoring the fact that it was obviously the same 5 guys doing different accents (some of which were hilariously pitiful), and on some occasions actually trying to change their voices, the voices really helped the experience. specifically, thorus, diego, and xardas seemed to really fit their characters.
however, in g2, while i didnt notice the change in "my" voice, there were some weird looping things with it. when your in the new camp...sorry...onar's farm(  ) and your talking to some peasant lady, the hero says "thanks thats all i wanted to know." but it gets sped up for some reason, and it almost makes it seem like he slips into a brooklyn accent, saying "tanks dats awll i wanted ta-know." they used that same recording a couple times..always made me cringe.
but the most annoying thing was diegos voice. when i first ran into diego, i hadn't met lester or gorn yet, and was really looking forward to a nostagic few minutes with diego. i was soooooo disappointed when some whiny redneck started talking instead of diego. i really hope they get the original voice actor for g3.
but by far the greatest tradgedy was the female actors. and i use the term actors loosely. did they even have more than one lady? and her voice was REALLY annoying, especially the 10000000000000th time i heard it, regardless of any cheesy stereotypical accent she tried to put on. and at least the 1 female actress in g1 had a british accent...that was awesome. i was like jaz when she heard jackal's voice.
i sincerely hope the g3 voices arent as disappointing as g2's.
to quote tommy tallarico, "if i wanted to read i'd get one of those....whaddaya calls ems...books!"
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Tue Jan 13, 2004 4:35 am |
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Boeman
Village Dweller
Joined: 31 Mar 2004
Posts: 10
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As someone who is often highly critical of the immersive aspect, I too must state my own disappointment with the English voice acting of Gothic 1 and 2.
Considering just how expansive the world of Gothic is; with its numerous NPCs and scope of depth (playing from three seperate professions, each with their own unique perspectives), PB should certainly be commended for their very ambitious goal of having every written dialogue in both games spoken.
Having said that however, the English voice acting leaves much to be desired. The main issue, in my opinion, is the horrendous interpretation from the original German version where common inflections are made. I'm talking about basic grammatical slipups that will leave even gradeschoolers stunned in its wake. It's the kind of terrible translation you see in games like Final Fantasy where one can't help but get the impression that non-native speakers of whichever country the game is being exported from are little more than second-class citizens. Pronunciation screw-ups only add to the frustration. So many of the game's characters have voices that betray their intended nature.
Let's consider some examples:
The unnamed Hero's own voice isn't too bad in itself but the execution is just god awful! The actor is seemingly reading off from the script. As a result, our Hero speaks in a lifeless tone, showing absolutely no emotional output nor serious intent in his speech and thus, it leads to a dull and lifeless character overall.
Lee, the leader of the mercenaries; a tough, hardened general formerly in service to the King's army. Rather than given a low, commanding voice, he's instead portrayed vocally by someone who would more easily pass for a Woody Allen knock-off. I have to cringe every time my character converses with him. In fact, were I blind, I would have guessed that the entire mercenary company in Gothic 1 consisted of just wimpy Half-Life scientists. High-pitched vocals simply don’t work for the tough man routine.
Xardas, much like the unnamed Hero, has an appropriate voice but again, fails on the execution. The reader is obviously taking his time reading from the script when he should have sped up the pace. This is particularly noticeable at times where urgency is required (which, basically when it concerns Xardas, is ALL of the time). I was also somewhat amused to hear him say “Come here you sum’ bitch!” in Gothic 2 when I attacked him. Talk about an unlikely retort from someone as prominent as the Necromancer. Of course, the fact that the voice of Xardas is heard from every third character in the game is of no help either.
Female vocals in Gothic 2 are especially bad. Spoken in a very annoying pitch, it certainly made me feel fortunate that I didn’t have to hear any of that in the original Gothic. I took a great deal of restraint on my part not to draw my sword and skewer every female NPC I had to encounter.
Perhaps the worst of all were the Brotherhood. I suspect that PB intended these people to be different than the stereotypical wise and disciplined monks. Some are junkie weed smokers while others are devout followers but have maintained their laid-back personalities. Even laziness and cowardice are depicted here and for that PB certainly earns my respect. Nevertheless, in two separate missions where you are asked to retrieve the focus and travel to the orc burial cave, it’s easy to see that this is where the biggest offenders for voice acting lies. In the focus mission, you encounter a maddened novice who forces you to endure the most horrid speech you’ll ever hear in ANY game for some time to come: ‘Only me! Die!” Guess what? I practically did after listening to that. It sounded like some poor soul under the delusional effects of intoxication as opposed to anything fanatic. The exact same problem occurred with the last templar left in the burial cave. “The Sleeper demands… a human sacrifice!”. Right, want more cheese with that whine?
Fortunately, not all NPCs suffer from the aforementioned problems. A few of them actually shine quite well and interacting with them provided me with the illusion that I was playing a game which was developed in North America, if only for but a moment. Diego, Thorus, and Cor Angar and especially the diggers and one of the rogue vocals are always a pleasure to hear. Whenever I had to cross over to the New Camp, I always made it a personal policy of mine to sell a stalk of swampweed to the low-voiced rogue “Here you go son, I’ll take a stalk for 10 ore. Come back anytime brother”. That line was dead on. The miners in the old mine were just as convincing with their parched and coarse speech. Oddly enough, the character I was most impressed with was Mud. How ironic that the one person who PB intended to be the most annoying turned out to be THE liveliest person in the whole Gothic franchise (yes that includes Gothic 2 as well).
Despite these faults, the game is still enjoyable nonetheless and it is a testament to Gothic as a whole that such badly marred voice acting didn’t entirely detract from the immersive experience. I am actually quite grateful that PB decided to convert this old-school and leather-tough RPG to the NA market.
I understand that the development team of Gothic 3 is concentrating on the game engine first while leaving the story to be completed later. If so, I highly encourage them to find a different studio to produce the English voice-sets, preferably an American company whose clientele includes game developers. It is also advisable that PB hire a SEPARATE script writer for the English version as well so we don’t end up with stupid phrases such as “We’re quits now,” from Stone in the original Gothic.
Fans of any genre of gaming will agree that quality voice acting can often make or break the immersive experience. After all, I doubt companies such as Blizzard, Sierra, or EA make it a habit to ship international versions of their games with shoddy voice-work. Piranha Bytes shouldn’t either. |
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Mon Apr 19, 2004 9:34 pm |
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Daedalus
High Emperor
Joined: 04 Jan 2002
Posts: 2516
Location: Estonia |
most of that kind of games dont even have voice overs so imo the voice acting is good. But offcorse all u listed here is totally right and it would be cool if they would fix those problems but that will take alot of more money + time |
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Tue Apr 20, 2004 12:20 pm |
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Bartacus
Il Buono
Joined: 24 May 2003
Posts: 4706
Location: Belgium Flemmish part |
I fully concurr with you, Daedalus.
quote:
Quality over quantity. I'd rather read a lot of text than listen to a lot of bad actors, which I end up doing anyway. I think that even if you stripped all of the non-human dialogue from KotOR, you would have quite a few hours of voice-over, and all of it is superb.
Kotor, superb voice-over? Well everyone's got a right for an own opinion.
Btw, I prefer hearing someone speaking to me then an awfull Morrowind with to much text to read. That's what I like about Gothic: You can read the text and I can hear the communication.
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Tue Apr 20, 2004 2:17 pm |
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Joeman
Protector of the Realm
Joined: 03 Jan 2004
Posts: 254
Location: USA |
I like Vatras a lot. That's nicely done.
I am trying to figure out who does Abuyin. That could be the guy who does Milton.
The voice of nameless hero has different pitch. That almost has me fooled. The manner of expression is exactly the same, that's why they sound almost a like. Both of them would say "can YOU, teach me something?" They also have the same flat midwest accent.
Xardas / Jack / Cord is poorly done. It sounds he just reads from the script.
Bromar cracks me up for some reason. Some day I will go to a Russian whore house and see if that's really what they sound like.
It seems like there is not one but two ladies. I like her American southern accent on some of the characters. That sounds sexy.
Overall, I think it could have been better but I am happy with it. I am not holding to a high standard because I think gothic series is first of its kind. It will get better in the future. Also I don't think they are given a lot of time to do this. There is a lot of work required since there are over a hundred named NPC's and several nameless NPC's who all have something different to say between chapters. I prefer all voice rather than having to read text.
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Tue Apr 20, 2004 7:40 pm |
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