Update NPC Radio Comms

[Hawkeye]

Radio and chatter

Thinking about comms.

I can imagine that ships will only be able to hail one another from certain distances?

Of course if this is the case, upgrades may be an option for longer distance communication?

With radio, this could be another way of monitoring areas aside from radar, imagine sitting dark using a moon to mask your presence, maybe radar gives off a signal but radio even though weaker allows to monitor, maybe waiting for a victim to pass by, or for missions, etc...

Or in high population areas there being a lot of traffic on the radio, background chatter that's gleaned from ship to ship chatter.

being out in deep space, with the radio frequencies open, just for immersion really.

 

[Giskard]

This 'radio chatter' you mention - I presume that this is coming from NPC ships only right?

I like the idea of ambient sound/effects like this. I keep on banging on about the use of sound in this game. I want it to be ground-breaking!

 

[Mobius]

I had requested ambient radio chatter when near space stations, more to just give it some atmosphere.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

it would be nice to hear an NPC say 'run for your lives, its andyb!' when i'm playing as a pirate but its not something i expect to be included. general background chatter could be good though

 

[cassius]

This 'radio chatter' you mention - I presume that this is coming from NPC ships only right?

Definately should be NPC only. The last thing i want to hear is people chatting about their day at work, how they just "pwned a n00b in teh ross154 system", or having an argument amongst themselves about which Transformers movie is the best

On the other hand if open channels are going to exist that players can commuicate on, it'd be easy enough for Frontier to include a nice little toggle on-off switch

If theres going to be "radio chatter" i'd very much like it to be from NPC's and relate to ingame situations, such as comms between ships and space stations about docking maneuvers etc. I imagine it being like the chatter you'd hear between airport towers and planes that are taking off/landing.

 

[Mobius]

If theres going to be "radio chatter" i'd very much like it to be from NPC's and relate to ingame situations, such as comms between ships and space stations about docking maneuvers etc. I imagine it being like the chatter you'd hear between airport towers and planes that are taking off/landing.

thats pretty much how i imagine it, just back ground chatter. and the odd Wilhelm scream when you destroy a npc ship.

 

[Giskard]

Yes, perfect! I think we're all in agreement here!

 

[DobrijZmej]

I should note that the implementation of voice chat (not charging the channel Internet) itself is quite time-consuming task.
Frontir can spend a lot of time for its implementation, but people will continue to use TeamSpeack and etc
Generation of speech based on the text - also not an easy task.
Maybe I was, would be happy if the developers spend their time on something better (the development of the plot missions, or models of stations / ships).
Maybe, I suppose, that this function can be purchased from another company and put into the game.

 

[Associat0r]

According to Newsletter 12

We do NOT have plans for NPC dialog such as this in the game itself, but you will be able to communicate with other players via voice chat if you want, so maybe this will have a similar flavour. Communication with game characters will be text-based via the messaging system.

I know this wasn't going to be in the initial release, but it's kinda disappointing to hear that this isn't planned at all, especially for things like wingmen, even simple radio comms really add to the immersion and situational awareness.
It has been done convincingly since the early 90's in flightsims, so this doesn't need a big budget, see links below for examples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg9l2-YqBBM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF-R59Z348k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBBuQjmzT2E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebSVSuaKWuM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyAUvMh44sA

 

[Capt. Hook]

well given the choice of repeated NPC phrases that quickly get stale out loud vs. text NPC replies that actually respond to players and show some level of AI then I know what I want.

Besides, who knows what might come down the tracks in future expansions? At this stage I personally would like the game to focus on getting the core systems working well first.

 

[Jenner]

I think that if FD makes the text comms sufficiently varied and context-appropriate, it'll be a worthy trade-off. Recording a bunch of NPC dialog is great, *if* you have a bit more than just the standard retorts. With text, though, you can say whatever is appropriate given the situation.

 

[Tinman]

According to Newsletter 12



I know this wasn't going to be in the initial release, but it's kinda disappointing to hear that this isn't planned at all, especially for things like wingmen, radio comms really add to the immersion and it has been done since the early 90's in flightsims.

I guess that depends on how you choose to interpret what they wrote. They didn't say anything about future updates did they? At this point "the game" is what's going to be released this March. When the walking around expansion gets made they are probably going to add some form of NPC speech, at what level of detail probably depends on how well this game sells. When that happens they might as well record some NPC chatter that can be used in space too.

 

[djh]

According to Newsletter 12



I know this wasn't going to be in the initial release, but it's kinda disappointing to hear that this isn't planned at all, especially for things like wingmen, radio comms really add to the immersion and it has been done since the early 90's in flightsims.

Bear in mind that if Frontier do something, they want to do it properly.
Now think about the time, cost and thoroughness that would be necessary to do spoken word dialogue...multiple actors, multiple lines, multiple accents, multiple languages, multiple emphases in the phrases, multiple responses for your actions...
I recently played the Mass Effect trilogy and was highly-impressed at how much responsive dialogue there was in that series...but they used full-on professional actors and I'm sure the whole process was a mind-bogglingly complex job just to cover all of the bases. And even then, it didn't take long for me as a player to hit the limits of the NPC conversations.

As much as it would be cool to have, if Frontier has limited time and resources, I'd rather they went to a better game rather than paying voice actors.

 

[Associat0r]

Bear in mind that if Frontier do something, they want to do it properly.
Now think about the time, cost and thoroughness that would be necessary to do spoken word dialogue...multiple actors, multiple lines, multiple accents, multiple languages, multiple emphases in the phrases, multiple responses for your actions...
I recently played the Mass Effect trilogy and was highly-impressed at how much responsive dialogue there was in that series...but they used full-on professional actors and I'm sure the whole process was a mind-bogglingly complex job just to cover all of the bases. And even then, it didn't take long for me as a player to hit the limits of the NPC conversations.

As much as it would be cool to have, if Frontier has limited time and resources, I'd rather they went to a better game rather than paying voice actors.

You don't need a high budget for simple radio comms that still sound immersive, especially since I assume they would add static to it.

 

[Maxeren]

You don't need a high budget for simple radio comms that still sound immersive, especially since I assume they would add static to it, see links below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg9l2-YqBBM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF-R59Z348k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBBuQjmzT2E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebSVSuaKWuM

I agree... station chatter when docking etc. is something i would miss alot emmersion wise

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

This of course is hard to do on currently scheduled time, so I wouldn't expect it on initial release.

However, while there are numerous challenges to giving NPC "voices", they can be solved be FD and backers interested in that. It's not like it's make or brake issue, but having them would be a) essential part of immersion c) and what's important it is very very hard to imagine walking expansion with silent NPCs

Solutions to this is:
a) voice synth (expensive, and IP sensitive, and...but would fit game perfectly);
b) prerecorded words with DSP envelopes and real time wizardy (could be cheaper and less IP sensitive).

However, I can agree that FD could start with prerecorded phrases for certain actions with NPCs. It doesn't cost a lot, and you can change pitch and tempo to give impression of different people. Or even get different voices from backers, clean them up, try different pitches, and combine something truly random and authentic in same time.

 

[psykokow]

I think text based allows for a Far greater selection of interactions and removes that feeling of 'small in game feature'

If they can use a voice synth for it, then even better... BUT how many different voices can be generated that way?

That could be a limiting factor... now I know the technology has come on soo much in that field...but is it still prone to strange pronounciations?

Anyway I will miss voice chatter NPC wise... but it is what it is..

and it will be epic all the same.

 

[Valkyrie]

A simple distortion filter and EQ cutting the low end would give player to player comms the right touch for that kind of voice comms in game and add a ton of immersion in the process.

Also, great newsfix. Hopefuly we can get another newsletter tomorrow.

 

[Valkyrie]

I made an example here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URsaHh0RXGA

This simple filter could be optional for in game comms and I think might add a lot of immersion for those who wanted such a thing.

 

[jabokai]

I remember somebody suggesting on some thread or other (apologies for the vagueness) that digital distortion effects would be better than analogue type effects. I kind of agree as it would just sound a bit more "future", no?