While a "GalNet Radio" with user-stations would be quite cool, I am appreciative of what 3.0 has brought with the current GalNet News implementation. I have never paid any attention to what's really going on in the Galaxy, and this is a welcome step towards offering a way in which I am willing to interact. I didn't even mind the voice.
Galnet audio a missed oportunity?
- Thread starter kiario
- Start date
For the first time since I started to play ED I am getting some background info and stating to feel like I am a part of a living universe. I tried reading Galnet in the early days but gave it up. The robot voice doesn't particularly annoy me like it does on the YouTube videos. I'd like to give Frontier two thumbs up to whoever came up with the suggestion to create an audio news reader. I'd also love for them to include a music channel as others have suggested.
Think of it as a good starting point, those that don't want to read all the text of events can now just plug their ears in !! I'm pretty sure FD will want to expand on it and does open up possibilities.
I like GalNet audio. It is supposed to be 3304 after all - who has time to sit and read text?
That said, this should not be the be-all-end-all of what GalNet Audio is. Breaking news and recurring features, like that detailing the history of humanity (we have these and they are good), need to be regular features. The Hot Deal of the Day and a large number of additional "filler" material to round it out would make it a fantastic feature.
I get that some people think a "music station" would make a good addition, but honestly, that's something you can supply for yourself via your favorite music player. I'm rather keen on WinAmp, especially since the special function keys on my keyboard automatically control it.
That said, this should not be the be-all-end-all of what GalNet Audio is. Breaking news and recurring features, like that detailing the history of humanity (we have these and they are good), need to be regular features. The Hot Deal of the Day and a large number of additional "filler" material to round it out would make it a fantastic feature.
I get that some people think a "music station" would make a good addition, but honestly, that's something you can supply for yourself via your favorite music player. I'm rather keen on WinAmp, especially since the special function keys on my keyboard automatically control it.
Have to agree somewhat, Its a really nice addition though. A nice little space station with some news like GTA would be splendid though. ELITE FM
I started a thread on this subject recently – I was hoping that people would throw in some ideas. Galnet Audio has a lot of potential:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...-employ-more-writers-(or-let-users-have-a-go)
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...-employ-more-writers-(or-let-users-have-a-go)
These were my 3 main ideas, lifted from the above thread:
1) Some kind of archive of articles and narrative pieces related to the Elite universe, accessible at all times and regularly expanded.
2) Localised content: there’s already a great deal of textual content “hidden” within systems, so it would make sense if pilots were able to access it via Galnet Audio as they pass through and explore. Historical, societal and scientific info, Tourist beacon data and so on. This would generate a fairly rich and diverse tapestry of easily accessible content that would make the game feel much less homogeneous. I’ve always been of the opinion that any shortcomings in this regard were due to the challenges and size of the medium rather than anything else. Galnet Audio strikes me as the perfect means of tackling this challenge.
3) Allow users to submit articles, fictional pieces and journals (curated of course). I’m a fairly new player (around 7 or 8 months), but I’ve read that user submissions were published in the past. The Elite player base strikes me as a relatively passionate, bright and resourceful bunch, so I’m sure that talented voices would emerge given the opportunity.
1) Some kind of archive of articles and narrative pieces related to the Elite universe, accessible at all times and regularly expanded.
2) Localised content: there’s already a great deal of textual content “hidden” within systems, so it would make sense if pilots were able to access it via Galnet Audio as they pass through and explore. Historical, societal and scientific info, Tourist beacon data and so on. This would generate a fairly rich and diverse tapestry of easily accessible content that would make the game feel much less homogeneous. I’ve always been of the opinion that any shortcomings in this regard were due to the challenges and size of the medium rather than anything else. Galnet Audio strikes me as the perfect means of tackling this challenge.
3) Allow users to submit articles, fictional pieces and journals (curated of course). I’m a fairly new player (around 7 or 8 months), but I’ve read that user submissions were published in the past. The Elite player base strikes me as a relatively passionate, bright and resourceful bunch, so I’m sure that talented voices would emerge given the opportunity.
I think that the TTS engine is pretty good. Therein lies its power in any case – once the voice is installed, there’s virtually no limit to the amount of text that can be piped through it, unlike recorded audio content which requires a lot of space. It could read entire scientific papers for example - the sky's the limit.
I always listen to my own music anyway. I can read the news faster than they can speak it, so listening to it would be like pulling teeth. I have a playlist of classical, orchestral, symphonic and otherwise epic music that I always listen to. Battlestar Galactica theme, anyone?
I think that you may be underestimating its potential to bring life, narrative content and drama to Elite. It could become the thread that begins to bind everything together and engender a more diverse tapestry. Imagine if you had the option of listening to info about each system as you pass through it (historical, scientific, narrative etc) – it would make the galaxy feel much less uniform. There's already a lot of information there in text form, but it’s somewhat hidden unless you look for it.
Yes, I’m with you here. Classical and modern avant-garde stuff is my choice of soundtrack.
GalNet is a news channel not a music channel. The benefit of Gal-Net audio is, that you don't have to ALT-TAB to Inara or whatever site you use to read gal-net news whilst jumping or supercruising, now you can just listen to it in game while you do your thing. Nothing bad I can say about this.
They should make a intergalactic talk radio/call in/podcast Elite dangerous Roleplay segment every week. Think of all the good juicy conspiracies and backstory that could be added. Hints and clues. Chaos and insight into the universe. Surely somewhere in some Galaxy some space residents have broadcasts to tune into?
Yes, local news would add much needed variety to Galnet Audio, ESPECIALLY if you can listen to it by just being in that system (i.e. without having to be docked).
Without that Galnet Audio becomes boring & pointless very quick.
I pointed this out during the beta (to no effect it seems).
I'm amazed no-one on the design team forsaw this problem. Galnet Audio is a real lost opportunity, snatching failure from the jaws of success.
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Whilst Galnet audio is a nice feature, it's not something I will make much use of.
What I hope they can do is use various synth voices for the numerous NPC chat that appears. The galaxy feels very empty and just a text box popping up is pretty bland. Would be great to hear NPC speaking using that cool space radio filter.
BTW. What happened to the space radio filter for player comms?, that used to be so cool.
What I hope they can do is use various synth voices for the numerous NPC chat that appears. The galaxy feels very empty and just a text box popping up is pretty bland. Would be great to hear NPC speaking using that cool space radio filter.
BTW. What happened to the space radio filter for player comms?, that used to be so cool.
That's a pretty neat idea too. The first time you visit a new system, it could give you a summary of the text that's usually hidden in the System map (avoid lists of numbers!). But it would need to be configurable - not everyone will want to hear the scientific or political information.