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Voice Acting?

diewernerbruederdiewernerbrueder
edited June 2010 in Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent
Will there be any voice acting in the game? There doesn't seem to be any in the Grickle videos and the shots we have seen so far from the game doesn't seem to have any audible speech. I will probably still get it even if it doesn't have, but I'd just like to know for sure.
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Comments

  • Strong MaxStrong Max
    edited May 2010
    I don't know. I'm split as too if I want it or not...Ok, I've decided I want it.
  • jeeno0142jeeno0142
    edited May 2010
    I kinda hope there isn't. I recon it'd ruin the Grickle feel if they added voices. Still, if there are voices I'm sure Telltale have done it well.
  • LuigiHannLuigiHann
    edited May 2010
    I wouldn't expect voice acting... but then again, I wouldn't have expected large, mid-screen talk bubbles, so they could surprise me yet again.
  • tm_drummertm_drummer
    edited May 2010
    Why wouldn't there be voice acting? It's a Telltale Grickle-based game! It's not a Grickle short toon or a comic.
  • DideroDidero
    edited May 2010
    But no character in the Grickle universe has a voice. It could be a bit out of place if people in this game would be able to talk.
  • tm_drummertm_drummer
    edited May 2010
    No voice? They have a voice (a scream is a voice, and lots of them scream, especially in Graham's last short, "Channels")...so I would say they are able...they just don't talk...in sentences, anyway.
  • AlcoremortisAlcoremortis
    edited May 2010
    They talk in monkey voices.
  • jeeno0142jeeno0142
    edited May 2010
    tm_drummer wrote: »
    No voice? They have a voice (a scream is a voice, and lots of them scream, especially in Graham's last short, "Channels")...so I would say they are able...they just don't talk...in sentences, anyway.

    I'd say that is more of a sound effect than a voice personally.
  • LuigiHannLuigiHann
    edited May 2010
    Yeah, on the one hand, the videos never seem to have dialog, but on the other hand, the comics I've seen from him have plenty of dialog, and the game itself clearly has dialog, so there's really no fundamental reason why it couldn't or shouldn't be voiced. Sam and Max didn't have voices until they made a game out of it.
  • AvistewAvistew
    edited May 2010
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    there's really no fundamental reason why it couldn't or shouldn't be voiced.

    What about:
    a) they want to retain the feel of the comic and shorts by using only word balloons
    or
    b) they wanted to invest less money because it's a pilot and voice actors cost more than no voice actors
    or
    c) since there are lots of mini-puzzles, there will be much more characters than your regular episode cast, requiring more different voices that get less lines each, which isn't as practical to voice

    These all sound like plausible reasons to me.
  • LuigiHannLuigiHann
    edited May 2010
    I didn't say there was no plausible reason, and I probably should have noted that I do still think it probably will be voiceless, based on what we've seen so far.

    I'm just saying that they could have voiced it if they wanted to, and I don't think that would have been a bad or wrong choice.
  • AvistewAvistew
    edited May 2010
    Oh, definitely. It'll be good either way.
  • jp-30jp-30
    edited May 2010
    I've said it elsewhere, but if they can scream and make monkey noises, then their larynx's work, so a good compromise would be mumbling and other emotions conveyed via vocal sounds - just not words - Traveller's Tales has done this wonderfully with their LEGO games in recent years. And... no translations needed for other languages!

    But I'm sure whatever Telltale do, it'll be fine and it obviously will have been sanctioned by Graham Annable.
  • ObiWanThreepwoodObiWanThreepwood
    edited May 2010
    It's clear they can talk and form english words though, if you look at the screenshots. The one screenshot has a townfolk telling Nelson Tethers he doesn't like cops... though through a speach bubble, making me think there will be no voice.

    I think I'd prefer spoken dialogue, if I had a choice though.
  • StarEyeStarEye
    edited May 2010
    The speech bubble might be for those who prefers having subtitles as well. Having subtitles does not even slightly hint that there may be no voices. Every good game has them. I'm certain that the speech bubbles are there, not because there are no voices, but because they're the way they wanted the subtitles to be. Which makes sense in a game based on a comic.
  • jeeno0142jeeno0142
    edited May 2010
    StarEye wrote: »
    The speech bubble might be for those who prefers having subtitles as well. Having subtitles does not even slightly hint that there may be no voices. Every good game has them. I'm certain that the speech bubbles are there, not because there are no voices, but because they're the way they wanted the subtitles to be. Which makes sense in a game based on a comic.

    I don't know. Seems an odd way of doing subtitles to me.
  • AvistewAvistew
    edited May 2010
    jeeno0142 wrote: »
    I don't know. Seems an odd way of doing subtitles to me.

    I like it when subtitles are done that way. You always know who is talking and it's all comic-ey.
    Obviously wouldn't always work, but it can work very well.
    But I don't see voices as necessary, either.
  • S@breS@bre
    edited May 2010
    That its adapted from a comic doesn't really hold up. Look no further than Sam & Max and Bone. But speech bubbles do make a neat alternative subtitle system to simply putting the words across the bottom of the screen.
  • PinchpennyPinchpenny
    edited May 2010
    I think it's worth noting that in screenshots of their games, Telltale usually - if not always - have the subtitles turned off. It'd seem odd, then, that they'd have them shown for Puzzle Agent unless that was the only option.

    Merely speculation, of course.
  • jp-30jp-30
    edited May 2010
    But it makes for a more intriguing screenshot with the speech bubble, than just having a guy on a snowmobile and another attending to a sign.
  • Gman5852Gman5852
    edited May 2010
    LuigiHann wrote: »
    Sam and Max didn't have voices until they made a game out of it.

    No they had voices. They had a tv show if you remember.

    Also this no voice thing could be interesting.
  • GinnyNGinnyN
    edited May 2010
    Gman5852 wrote: »
    No they had voices. They had a tv show if you remember.

    Nope. The game was first.
    Gman5852 wrote: »
    Also this no voice thing could be interesting.

    Agree.
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited May 2010
    I don't think there will be voice acting. Having speech bubbles rather than subtitles means that all the visual placements have to take the speech bubbles into consideration. Why would you bother doing that if it's just an alternative to the spoken word?

    Additionally, in the types of logic puzzles they've shown (e.g. the arm-wrestling puzzle), you would generally want to be able to review multiple statements simultaneously. This just isn't possible without them being written down (unless maybe you are some kind of super-ginormous genius).

    I think it will be like Professor Layton, in that cutscenes may be "voiced" or... "sound-effected" to some degree, but puzzles at least will almost certainly involve the speech bubbles. That would also fit with the style of Annable's animated shorts.
  • jeeno0142jeeno0142
    edited May 2010
    I agree with Puzzlebox. I recon the cutscenes (if any) will be sound effects and not voices. I just don't see voices as working in the Grickle world. Maybe I'm just not be imaginative enough.
  • jp-30jp-30
    edited May 2010
    Dear Telltale,

    Is it a big secret as to whether the game will be fully, partially voiced or unvoiced?

    If not, could someone from staff possibly make a comment?

    Thanks,
    Your enquiring fans.
  • BadStrongBadStrong
    edited May 2010
    I'm hoping there will only be sound effects (i.e. screaming) with some of that awesome music on the Puzzle Agent site playing to add to the creepiness.
  • JenniferJennifer Moderator
    edited May 2010
    BadStrong wrote: »
    I'm hoping there will only be sound effects (i.e. screaming) with some of that awesome music on the Puzzle Agent site playing to add to the creepiness.
    I agree. I don't mind either way if there's full voice acting, partial voice acting, or no voice acting, but if there's no screaming, it just wouldn't be Grickle.
  • JedExodusJedExodus
    edited May 2010
    I'll say you'll get that sorta jibberish that you hear in The Sims as opposed to full speech or no speech. No evidence, it's just a guess :)
  • BrainiacBrainiac
    edited May 2010
    JedExodus wrote: »
    I'll say you'll get that sorta jibberish that you hear in The Sims as opposed to full speech or no speech.

    I suddenly have the need to see characters from Ōkami as drawn by Graham Annable...
  • diewernerbruederdiewernerbrueder
    edited June 2010
    Well, according to the new trailer, it does seem to have voice acting :)
  • jeeno0142jeeno0142
    edited June 2010
    Yeah, and contrary to my opinion before it does seem to fit in the Grickle world.

    Proved wrong again... when will it end...
  • taumeltaumel
    edited June 2010
    Hmm, i don't like the voice in the trailer of the protagonist, too high and positive.

    I would prefer no voice acting at all, beside of some noises, or at least a deeper and darker mood but maybe the voice only exists in the trailer but there it feels rather displaced, at least in a way i understand Grickle.
  • IrishmileIrishmile
    edited June 2010
    Too high and positive? We do not know what kind of character he will be yet so I think saying the voice doesn't fit is a little premature.
  • taumeltaumel
    edited June 2010
    Yes, too high and positive, the accentuation makes it sound so normal, so usual, it just doesn't fit to the special mood i for instance get out of the Grickle videos.
  • Secret FawfulSecret Fawful
    edited June 2010
    I get the idea that he'll be a nice guy who we won't want to see bad things happen to, but will happen to him anyway. Grickle's videos have always given me an ordinary person put into horrible situations vibe. that's part of the hilarity of it to me.
  • taumeltaumel
    edited June 2010
    I like the desillusioned, melancholic, paranoid and weird part of Grickle which plays a certain string inside me and which i'm missing with this interpretation.
  • AvistewAvistew
    edited June 2010
    I really like the voice.
  • ShauntronShauntron Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2010
    taumel wrote: »
    Yes, too high and positive, the accentuation makes it sound so normal, so usual, it just doesn't fit to the special mood i for instance get out of the Grickle videos.

    I mildly had this concern when pulling those voice lines from the game in order to use them in the trailer, because he doesn't really sound like Nelson is narrating a trailer and they're from different more conversational contexts. Nelson is definitely the most normal guy though, there's plenty of "strange" to go around in this game!
  • LinqueLinque
    edited June 2010
    The voice acting seems absolutely excellent in this game. I'm far more satisfied with the voice clips in this trailer than most other Telltale Episodes. I was skeptical about voices for this game, I am no longer.
  • taumeltaumel
    edited June 2010
    Shauntron wrote: »
    I mildly had this concern when pulling those voice lines from the game in order to use them in the trailer, because he doesn't really sound like Nelson is narrating a trailer and they're from different more conversational contexts. Nelson is definitely the most normal guy though, there's plenty of "strange" to go around in this game!
    Thanks for the explanation. Let's wait how it turns out in the game but from the trailer i would have prefered if either it would have been a game without any speech, beside of screams, sighs and such in order for leaving room for your imagination or if Nelson would have a different and more grown up voice who also accentuates different and is slighty more depressed and such...
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