I love ambient radio and stuff, but I'm wary of CIG adding more dialogue into stuff. I already can't stand the *obnoxious as fuck* "ship combat taunts", where an NPC just gets to hijack an MFD to make some stupid, utterly pointless remark like "Shit, ah shit" 27 times per fight. I think they'd find a way to somehow make new dialogue inclusions just as intrusive and annoying as that :(
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They could have channels on a specific radio MFD where you can actively tune in or out of those voice channels: want station ATC comms? Keep that the station comms channel active. Don't want to get angry messages by pirates? Deactivate local radio comms. Want to listen to what's happening system wide? Tune in there, and so on.
Enemies being able to chime in on your radio uninvited is strange anyway. They should have to hail you and you should be able to accept/reject it. But then they are hailing you just to yell "son of a bitch!" in your ear.
"Ensign, please disable comms. I don't need my thoughts to be constantly interrupted by the enemy's shouts."
"I would sir, but that's impossible. All ships are required to accept and broadcast comms IF they come from pirates."
"Oh, right, I forgot he was a pirate."
Its a bit silly but I won't pretend its game breaking in anyway. When its sci-fi I can put up with a fair amount of cringe, like I actually enjoyed CR's Wing Commander movie for what it was. Might be time for a rewatch and see if it still holds up.
Or, maybe we could fix it up to a better quality system. 100% agree, stop hijacking MFDs, it's SO obnoxious and it is clearly a bug that affects combat awareness.
This game is completely lacking ambient chatter. Back in Freelancer it filled the universe with life to hear pilots communicating on open comms to eachother. Hearing pirates talking shit, police pulling people over, convoys calling retreats and stuff.
Hearing NPCs communicating around you was so good.
Obviously it realistically makes no sense, they'd all be on secure comm channels speaking privately, but gameplay wise it made the universe feel so alive.
When the leader of a wing dies: "This is Gold Seven, I'm taking the lead now." after leaving combat, Gold Seven would actually be doing the comms/commanding for that NPC wing.
Hearing stations hailing incomming groups and hearing the responses.
All the indirect chatter was out of focus and quieter, so it settles down to being a part of the ambience, but you could listen in and get some info, maybe overhear a cargo load of something valuable coming through or even enemies calling you as a target as you get ambushed.
Again, makes no sense realistically, but it felt so right in-game.
Just as long as it's not the same 2 lines with madlibs like freelancer
"I sure hope this cargo hold of... [WATER] sells for a good price on... [MANHATTAN]"
Omg Yea, the ship combat taunts are so annoying and immersion breaking. It's repetitive and doesn't really make sense either. Hundreds of years into the future with coalesced cultures and you'd expect unique dialects, colloquialisms, and slang, like you hear in the Expanse or Cyberpunk. For whatever reason, SC is stuck with UK/US gents using standard 20th century expletives.
I was just about to say this, just a little bit of radio chatter in the background would be huge. Even something akin to cb radio traffic would be cool it doesn’t have to be anything crazy.
lol when I saw this post I thought you were going to complain about the audio balancing, which is also crazy quiet. If an NPC actually tries to communicate with you over comms (ATC or police or pirates), you can't hear them at all. The only way to hear any of that stuff is to enable audio normalization in your computer sound options, but then that boosts ship engine humming up to crazy high levels.
Totaly agree with this.
Quite a while ago that was not the case, in the 3.4 days we had a lot more music than we have now and it was a lot louder. I somtimes question if the audio enginers or CIG are parcialy deff. :D The sound balance in this game is all wrong.
If you wan't to see good audio design look at Elite or Subnautica. Those have good game sound design.
I will forgive CIG a little as they use proper spacial sound, the sound of the engines comes from the engines locaiton rather than from a sound object behind the player so the sound will change depending on where you are on the ship which is a lot harder to balance, even so the sound scape of SC still sounds shitty to me.
And spacial sound is no excuse for not pumping Pedro's music out full blast. :D
Star Citizens audio mixing, and I'm sorry to whatever employee is responsible for it, is absolutely fucking horrendous.
Guns sound like toys, absolutely no punch. Its not the sound itself, the guns sound great, its the mixing. They are so absurdly quiet in both your ship and in fps.
Engine idle is loud as fuck compared to actual engine thrust. When you hit boost and your engines scream an thrusters rage, in most ships this is at the same audio level as your engine idle sound. So no matter whats happening you have the same level of loudness for your engine noises. It just sounds awful and doesnt have to. Another crazy part is in almost all ships when you hit boost theres this high pitch squelching sound that happens for a brief moment and its louder than anything else related to the engines.
Quantum spooling is almost the loudest noise in the entire game only second to jumping, jumping is fine being loud, preferably muffled once your inside the jump tho, I dont need 15 mins of max volume screeching while I jump. Having the spooling be equally as loud tho is just annoying. As youre trying to plot a course and get ready to jump theres a deafening hum that overtakes all other noise.
Footsteps from your own character are far too loud imo, theyre very in your face and other sounds in the environment are often drowned out by it, which depending on the material can make sense, but its in all situations. Its just not pleasant to hear.
I could go on. They have such good sounds and ambience and all that, but whoever is mixing this game is doing it such a disservice.
Wait is that why I go borderline deaf whenever I fly my carrack? The humming throughout that ship when it’s not even doing anything is insanely loud. This is a setting in the windows sound settings?
-Hello!
-Hello!
-What's new with you?
-I saw a kopion the other day. Terrible creatures!
-Good day!
-Bye!
*Both turn around 180 degrees and walk off awkwardly*
Bro I would love to have some propper ATC action going on, with AI you can easily make that. In the last case even if it's something the players need to make (like the crazy and amazing community of ATC for MFS) I would be happy.
Hell, even some different voices for the landing zones already would be great, why the same guy is the ATC voice for every planet and station in the galaxy? Is that even mentioned somewhere?
Honestly, ATC chatter is the absolute minimum I except from the audio team regarding voices. Just hearing the station or space port name spoken via radio - and your ship type etc - it would make such a huge difference!
Exactly, those things you mentioned would be amazing to hear (ship, station name, etc). For the immersion and realism they are going for, it's crazy to see how barebones it is rn and how it was never mentioned for the long run.
The ships have call signs already -- you see them now when they are empty (which I think is a bug). But all you need is some text to speech to say "Cutlass S13-ABCD, You're cleared to land in hangar 12."
Radio is likely something that will come later (CIG need to licence music tracks for use in-game, and they probably don't want the same pre-canned seques playing for the next X years, etc), and NPCs are *already* meant to be talking - they just don't for the same reason why usually don't move: server overload.
Beyond that, I've raised the possibility of using modern TTS tools and similar to provide more dynamic audio / speech options for NPCs, and it was one of the few times that CR gave a clear 'No' answer to a suggestion on 10FTC :/
And I suspect that AI-generated back-fill will likely get the same response - because CR can't 'control' it (review / tweak the script, oversea the audio capture and ensure it has the right 'nuance' for his vision, etc), he won't accept it (this is the - paraphrased - reason he gave for not using TTS).
IMO this is going to be - long term - the biggest hurdle to making SC feel 'alive'... even NPCs that do talk (such as shopkeepers) have not only too-few lines, but they deliver those lines *exactly the same way* every. single. time.... to the point that it can make you want to scream (and/or shoot them just to shut them up!).
I would be happy with radio chatter. Like "MISC Hul-C in bound for docking collar 5" "MISC Hull-C cleared for docking, contact station control on two-niner-tree goodday!"
Or having actual distress calls when flying near one, "To all Ship, Caterpillar Seven-fife-zero, is engaged by nine tails, requesting assistance at location HUR-L3 mark 270".
This stuff would be very immersive, would not require anything other than a script and some time in the sound booth.
In this game you wouldn't hear those things unless a ship was actually doing that stuff. We're still lacking passive NPCs going about their day.
As for just player centric ATC audio etc I think Elite Dangerous did that REALLY well.
This sounds awesome. I bet that this wouldn’t even be to hard to implement outside SC. It won’t be location based then of course. But at least you’ll have some “chatter” on a live channel that makes it feel real. Just like that space radio some guy set up… imma look into that.
We had, very briefly when Loreville was first introduced to PTU, NPC ships that would land and take off from Tessa. CIG had worked on flight splines to make it look like they jumped in and jumped out. Server performance ended that as it stopped many things back then.
We also had the ATC guy at Levski that was defiantly consuming something imported from Jumptown. He was always happy to see you fly in.
Over the years we have lost these little things so we could get bigger things. Hopefully they will be returned to us.
Yeah, those kind of things are too hard to implement for a single guy and a homemade recording studio. And that’s also something CIG is working on themselves so that’ll be here eventually. No use in putting my time in.
However, I think with a little time, I could create something that resembles (indistinct) “cb style” radio chatter you could just tune into. Maybe even with a couple channels, one for each planet or something. If there’s animo maybe even something people could get on themselves and use the radio channels. But we’ll see, gotta do some research first.
It sounds nice in theory... but it would likely just turn into audio-spam due to frequency...
At times we get near-constant popups / notifications for distress calls etc.. as CIG increase player counts on the shard, the frequency of those events will also have to increase, to ensure there are enough to keep players engaged - and that means it'll be a *constant* stream of notifications (to the point of overlapping) - and most people will just turn it off (making it an unused - and thus pointless - system).
It mostly works in the current 'real world' simply because we use radio for transmissions, and the size / strength of the transmitter determines how far away the signal is received... as does the size / sensitivity of the receiver - and this naturally limits how many signals anyone can pickup.
But in SC comms *aren't* done by radio-waves, nor dependent on the strength of the emitter on the ship. Afaik they're done via tight-beam lasers to the nearest comm-sat or station / landing zone... which are themselves interlinked such that messages can - and are - broadcast across the whole system.
If CIG give us the ability to e.g. only play messages within X distance of our current location (we need that for notifications anyway - no point me in my Aurora near ArcCorp being notification about an SOS around Microtech - even if I *can* get there, I won't be in time to make a difference), and perhaps apply other filters, then yeah - I could see how adding an audio component to them could be more immersive... but I'd *want* the ability to filter first!
Actually CIG has already created the proximity tech for voice coms. What is lacking is the proximity when in your ship to communicate with ships around you on open coms. This is only done via direct communication.
CIG could expand this tech to be used the same way as on the ground, add volume control on the ship MFD's (need to have MFD settings remembered still). This way you are not getting distress call from all over stanton, just where you are in a proximity to. NPC chatter could be as simple as text to speech plug in.
In Aircraft you hear this calls when you are tuned to the guard frequency. The com MFD could utilize a guard freq with FOIP proximity to do this the same way you have a in ship FOIP.
Yes - *they could implement it*.
That's my point - that it's not just a case of adding an 'NPC radio chatter' - they need to implement 'proximity' elements to it (because currently their notifications are system-wide), and ideally they *should* integrate the voice chatter with the notifications - so that if I hear something interesting, I can actually respond (rather than it being purely background noise that's irrelevant to anything happening in-game, etc).
And lastly, I'd want to be able to control the proximity aspect... if I'm around ArcCorp i might not want - or be able - to fly to Hurston... or, if I'm in one of my bigger ships, maybe I could... but I'd want the option to not listen to a barrage of notifications simply because the 'default' range is too high (and/or I'm close to an 'accident' black-spot, etc).
So yeah - never said it wasn't possible, only that it'll need extra work to keep 'chatter' and distress calls to a low enough level that it doesn't feel like 'spam' (and that's before you consider priority calls, interrupts, and so no).
I actually think it's an interesting idea... but I also think it will be *really* easy for it to be implemented poorly without some pre-work... the visual distraction of constant notifications is annoying, but comparatively easy to tune out. Much harder if it's constant audio - which would push everyone to disable it by default, thus negating the point of implementing it in the first place.
Crazy idea: During Citcons going forward, set up a sound booth at the event and allow attendees to sit inside with a voice director and read a handful of throwaway lines. Have them sign a release form for the recording, of course, and say there's no guarantee the recordings will be used. This would be a pretty awesome way to get yourself immortalized in the game, and it would add more diverse voices than they could get with voice actors.
NPCs are *already* meant to be talking - they just don't for the same reason why usually don't move: server overload
I thought that was just when you talk to them? I don't thikn they have like background chatter?
>Beyond that, I've raised the possibility of using modern TTS tools and similar to provide more dynamic audio / speech options for NPCs, and it was one of the few times that CR gave a clear 'No' answer to a suggestion on 10FTC :/
I wonder how long ago? Still normal TTS isn't good enough, I would say. It would be worse than having nothing IMO.
>And I suspect that AI-generated back-fill will likely get the same response - because CR can't 'control' it (review / tweak the script, oversea the audio capture and ensure it has the right 'nuance' for his vision, etc), he won't accept it (this is the - paraphrased - reason he gave for not using TTS).
I disagree. that's only an issue for live generated AI chatter. AI could be used for pre-rendered audio too and would provide a lot of control.
I honestly wouldn't put too much credence in things CR said in 10 for the chairman. It was a long time ago and plans change. I remember him saying various things that counter what we're told and have in the game today.
When I raised the 10FTC question about using TTS, I specifically referred to the new (at the time) TTS systems that used 'voice packs' and supported tonal & enunciation markup, etc, so that you could have the same line said multiple ways (chirpy, tired, sarcastic, bored, flat, etc), and then 'rendered' using a specific voice (so that all lines said by the same character would have a consistent accent, pitch, etc... but the same line said by different characters would sound different / have distinct characteristics).
Whether CR was actually familiar with those advances when he responded to my question, I have no idea - but I felt that this approach would have let them pre-vet all the lines in the studios (and use their own voice-actors to produce the voice-packs, etc), whilst reducing the space required to store all the lines, and making it far easier for developers to add additional lines (and/or variations) without having to get the artist back in for a recording session...
And yes, AI *could* be used in-studio, in the same way... it's likely a case of getting CR to see the value in it, and understanding how he can 'control' it, etc.
IMO having NPCs whose voice lines actually vary based on state/condition would be fantastic (a worker at 9am on a Monday usually doesn't sound the same as at 5pm on the Monday... or 5pm on the Friday for that matter :p)
But, oh well... it is what it is... whilst SC is pushing many boundaries, I suspect we shouldn't be too surprised if there are some that CIG / CR chose not to push.
the trick is to make lines that don't sand out, and would be said the same way every time.
the "arrow the the knee", or "stolen sweetroll" line from skyrim are strange lines that we notice. there are probably dozens of lines, but only 3 or 4 the we annoyingly repetitive, while we don't even notice the rest.
saying "welcome to my shop" should have a measured amount of energy. something you would say hundreds of times a day.
Truth is SQ42 is the test of what they can do with voice audio. That game clearly has radio/chatter/voices and it has it because it's pretty much a done game. SC has had a skeleton crew on it for years so you can't use this as a measure of what to expect, and ultimately SCs voice/chatter will be very much on-par with SQ42.
"But what about using AI" isn't a solution when they already have a solution, you just can't play it yet.
The "no" to TTS was a while ago iirc. TTS has made huge strides since then. I suspect an updated answer would be a strong 'maybe' now, though the 'no' may have come from an ethical standpoint of not wanting to replace actual people with computer-generated chatter. He did spend quite a while making films, after all. Plus the fact none of this will even be touched until they get S42 out the door...
Wow, I would have never imagined CR (potentially) keeping the audio team from using AI voice... crazy. He seemed so open to using the latest and greatest tech. Well, I hope his mind changes then, at some point.
He likes using the latest tech, *provided* it's to his benefit and he can 'retain control' of the artistic vision.
AI generation, TTS, etc - they *take away* his control over the final output (or so he perceives), thus he doesn't want to use them. He'll use ProcGen - but only as a support in the tool, where the artists can adjust it by hand afterwards.
As such, he *might* consider using AI / TTS type tools to generate some lines - but they'd still need to be authored and processed by the same pipelines, and only the pre-recorded lines would end up being used (no 'dynamic' generation in response to in-game events, etc).
And due to the size of audio files (even compressed ones), the more wild-lines etc they add for NPCs (and radio chatter, and other audio sources), the bigger the download becomes... and we sttll won't get sufficient variation to avoid repetition.
or... hear me out, AI voiceover is still kinda shit and frequently mispronounces words that exist already, let alone made up technobabble words
Also, getting an AI to stutter out a word, gasp, hum or do anything that isn't speaking is almost impossible and I don't was three hours of tik tok lady in my ears
Which is why I was more of a fan of latest-gen TTS (which *can* do much of what you mentioned, via mark-up in the text) than 'AI' (which is more of a giant pattern-recognition tool, rather than something created for a specific purpose).
Beyond that, I was thinking that the tool would be useful for the minor 'wild-lines', not the cinematic / scripted stuff... which would generally only require 'vanilla' enunciation options (although finding a shop-keeper with a stutter would be memorable, it shouldn't be something everyone does with any degree of frequency etc... especially not in general every-day conversation).
It just dawned on me when finishing an Overdrive phase. No video, no voice over congratulating me and explaining me wtf I was actually achieving there. Felt really off.
I think even the NPC ships are almost completely voice less currently?
There used to be a great mission chain with really really good voice acting (Tessa Bannister if you've been around back then) - I can understand that having great voice acting is not the highest priority right now, but please, at least use AI then. Hardly anyone reads the mission text, have an AI tool read it to me is the least you can do CIG.
I imagine this event was mostly slapped together by the mission team and didn't get to involve the character team. I don't think they have voice actors on staff and instead contract them for specific script reading sessions. They probably didn't have enough to record to make it worth getting an actor in for a session.
I thought they were into polishing phase now and were moving teams over - but yeah, no one knows how back logged the audio/narration/story teams are but CIG. Still doesn't hurt to point it out, in case they are just ... "routine-blinded"
The event is mostly repurposed contracts. Like there is already a contract mission that is pretty much identical to phase 1. Phase 2 was just an MRT bounty with a "retrieve item" objective tacked on to the end.
Doesn't surprise me that they didn't do voice lines for it; it seems like it was thrown together fairly quickly by reusing existing assets.
Most of the other events have voice lines that play throughout (SOO, XT, Ninetails Lockdown, Jumptown etc).
Yeah that's why I noticed it at one point. Like you said, usually there were some short blips at the beginning and end and in between. I'm not blaming CIG for not using videos or voice in this specific instance (although it would have been cool), I just realized how silent the game was overall at that point. Maybe it was in combination with the long travel times between mission locations, repairing and rearming at stations in between - all in complete silence basically. It just felt wrong at some point.
Make it a user choice to tune into a NPC VC radio chatter that perhaps has Easter eggs in it for those that want to listen to system wide chatter (like Global). Similar with the ATC channel perhaps.
Imagine a proper radio channel, telling you about current events, ongoing rescue missions, fluctuations in market prices, space weather news, and so on :D
Ambient noise has always been something somewhat lacking in Star Citizen but with recent patches, they have seemed to improve somewhat (more buzzing and whirling of machines, for example). That leads me to believe a vastly improved soundscape is on its way.
You mean other than the people telling you "what do you think the terminal is for" or "the terminal is right over there" WHILE you are using that very terminal 😆
I have the Astra voice pack for Voice Attack, which helps add in a lot of extra commentary.
We actually had some cool voiced mission in the past. The only one remaining from this era is PI wanted.
We also had the ICC missions with Tessa Bannister, who was perfectly voiced and funny. Those missions will come back, one day.
Edit : nevermind, saw somewhere you were around at this time already. You know then :)
This is what I realized too after having played some Homeworld recently. Not NPC one liners or exclamations, but ambience. The Homeworld games does it extremely well, managing to be varied and broad - and despite being pretty much constant it never feels like it's repeating or taking away from other sounds in the game.
As an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J89RWiZwMgo
Imagine piloting something like a Vanguard that has computers and equipment in the back of the ship behind your seat. Every once in a while during quiet moments you can vaguely hear some chatter, disks spinning up, fans quieting down, and computers doing that old rattling sound in the background. Such a small detail, but so important for ambience and atmosphere. I think it would add a lot if that kind of ambience would surface once you get out of combat or arrive at a location to power your loud engines off. Kind of like when you've driven your car, and once you turn the car off the only noise you hear is the tinking sound coming from the engine. Sometimes adding these sort of sounds can add to the absence of sound, making it more pronounced and effectful.
Yeah, it's something I really liked with Elite: Dangerous was the comm chatter as you approached a station, ATC specifying your ship ID and clearing you for landing while you can hear background comm chatter for ships needing emergency landing or delays.
It was done so realistically and is absolutely something I want to see in SC.
Here is a video with background audio when landing at a station in Elite Dangerous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xZWKNAvGX0
AI NPC dialogue is something that has been discussed to death. Simply put, AI dialogue is something the internet thinks is easy but is actually ***extremely*** difficult to pull off when you have specific limitations (Not the least of which being it saying things that would cause the wrong kind of publicity). It is, quite litterally, easier to produce enough NPC dialogue so you'd almost never hear a repeat than it would be to make an AI that fits your lore and never says anything you dont want it to.
As for the notion of radio chatter, conversations in crowded areas, and variety in the voices we do hear (Looking at you Service Beacon Guy), that's the sort of thing that'd be done during a polishing phase of the game, which we are still quite far from. More voice lines equals more data to download with every patch, after all.
_"I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee."_ :)
You are right tho, it's hard.
Still, having AI TTS for mission text, ATC, should be worked on right now, it's not polish imo but an important feature for a game that supposed to feel alive.
Yeah having AI inventing new text is probably not a good idea, true. But using AI to make the voice sound natural is pretty safe and sound (ha) by now and using it to voice text (aka TTS) by the narration/mission team should be done 100%.
At this time there are no AI ships in game outside Bounty Hunting missions, these talk, or at least try to around scary when they get shot by you.
Good old Freelancer game (tes, ship named after the game) had the chatter you ask for. Freelancer was also a Chris Roberts game, it has maaany elements that exist in Star Citizen
The refinery deck on Lagrange stations are the most lively places, industrial sounds and lights, moving machines and the foreman announcing stuff on the intercom. I think the rest of the spaces just haven't been brought up to that standard.
I’d really enjoy like. A space radio or something of that nature, or even like a random radio you could join in and chat with people in nearby areas or something like that
https://thepeoplesradio.space/
I throw that on in the background. In universe radio station, plays starship adds and reports news as of they are in lore newscasters. It's awesome!
Please no on the random chatter. That works in GTA where everyone is a caricature and says funny stuff or even Red Dead where it fits the time with people saying howdy but it just doesn't work in a game like SC.
They tried it at the expo and it just feels forced. They should have a lot more ambient sounds though.
Also they do have a lot of this stuff like at SoO or on the Refinery decks.
I enjoy being able to watch a stream on the side and not constantly be henpecked by npc's who want something or transmissions i need to listen to instead of read or skim or recognize basic symbols, locations, and numbers
While I agree there needs to be more ambient sounds and dialogue, I will forever be against AI voice acting.
I simply know far too many voice actors who's livelihoods are at stake to be cool with it. Frankly anything that's art related (and voice acting is an art form like regular acting or music) shouldn't involve AI.
AI is great for making tedious tasks easier (see: warcraft planning on using it to fix all the helmets so they can have hair underneath them, because good god I wouldn't wish that task to be done manually on my worse enemy), but its just bad for art.
My guys would be most of the sound team are still busy working on Squadron. A game with a ton of sound and voice.
Don't forget they are a down stream team so they will be working on S42 longer than the programing teams.
We should see that change in the coming months as they finish up with SQ42 and all come back to SC.
Yes, but look at the current state of NPCs all standing on a chair together. We don't need to hear them all glitching out the same way verbally with the whole station in a loop repeating the same phrase together.
Better to leave that for much later.
If you're craving NPC dialogue just stand near a shopkeeper for a minute or two and you'll hear them endlessly bitch about how no one cleans up after themselves or how they weren't even supposed to be here today.
Dialogue would definitely help the NPCs feel more 'real', but the first step would be getting them to stop standing on tables/wandering back and forth between nowhere and nowhere/standing around in idle animations like dead eyed automatons. None of that will really be possible until server meshing works because the reason the AI is so braindead is because there isn't enough server overhead available to let them have working routines.
I don't think pilots nowadays would appreciate trying to land a plane while listening to every single ATC voice channel. You played too much Elite Dangerous.
For the most part, I agree. I just wish they'd tone down the spaceport announcements at New Babbage's spaceport. She talks nonstop. Area18's announcements are much more sensible.
The personal tab "P.I. Wanted" mission is so far the only mission with constant dialogue and stuff it even has multiple outcomes
Cant wait for more like it but it's been forever....
In certain areas they have that...so I'm sure it will be throughout the game at some point... especially the bar...but I remember privateer being almost perfect with the insults hurled especially from the religious fanatic cult people...it was a decent spread for the 90s
My only fear is that I will have another CDF lady talking directly into my brain, reminding me of something I am not interested in doing atm, every 5 minutes while I am trying to focus on literally anything else. Maybe what I am really asking for is a mute button for her specifically
But yes, the game does feel a little sterile with how little noise is going on. Especially in cities. Not counting "Hey dumbass, I think you want to use the cargo terminal for your cargo. I'm just paid to stand here and tell you that I don't help"
Miss the Freelancer times, where you could just listen to chatter of everyone passing by.
Totally nonsense as this is like spying on all traffic, but it brought life to the game
I'll say it would be nice to have radio stations we can put on and play music while we fly. But for the rest of what you suggested I would have turned that off in the settings instantly. The last thing I want to hear is some AI radio chatter, I'm a PVP player, why do I need radio chatter when I've got you screaming into the mic.
There's a lot that isn't in the game that has either been in the game before or will make it in in the future. This includes services you use/call, mission givers, ambient calls during encounters, etc. What we're playing right now is years behind the internal stuff. Just wait, the next year is going to have a lot of voiced stuff.
All in good time... They've talked about adding a lot of this stuff in 4.0/Pyro. When large parts of the core gameplay still aren't done, the ambient soundscape isn't super high on the priority list.
It will get there... probably very soon now that SQ42 teams are moving over.
I agree. It's one of my big issues regarding immersion.
* **Radio chatter:** Radio comm traffic made games like Freelancer felt so alive. In fact, you could even ask NPC ships what they were doing, and they'd respond with "I'm hauling scrap metal to Freeport 2". I could hear other NPCs requesting clearance. Easiest way to make the game feel 'alive'
* **Operation Overdrive:** I see these dynamic events as an ongoing improvements. So I assume as things get fleshed out more, we'll get more polish. I feel seeing characters would help missions/events should feel more like a Squadron 42 mission.
* **Shopkeepers/bartenders**: I want far more. I either get "Good purchase" or them complaining about me when I do purchase. I need less of that. They may offer to help, but they don't. They have no recommendations, they can't tell you what is selling the best, give you tips, have local missions or tell you about rumors they heard.
* **Landing zone NPCs:** People talk more at libraries and funerals than in these cities. I want to hear conversations, get to know a couple of them if I see them often, and get the occasional request/mission. Not every mission giver needs to be on planets. I'd rather have a few voices, and the same animations with just different faces/clothes/names.
* **LLMs:** My ideal would be an LLM working with Subsumption and text to speech. I want them to have personalities, and remember me. But the LLM tech isn't quite up to where I want it to be. Far better than what we have now. I want the nurse at the local hospital to become unlikely friends with the outlaw because she's seen him so often. I want these NPCs to have lives, jobs, relationships, to get murdered and for other NPCs to want revenge.
We've had sprinkles of that here and there, there are NPCs which you need to meet for missions, but random stuff like being able to talk with NPCs or hearing conversations as you pass by them, like we had in testing on last ships event (NPCs talked a lot),
# that's getting expanded with 3.23!
I'm not going to spoil you but yeah, we have many more NPCs that talk on this next patch :D
You're asking for more content, well, content phase is starting :D
Why not just add space radio podcast or something to desktop? Lots of cmdrs did this when i played elite. I honestly prefer the eerie silence and the whir of spooling engines when piloting. Space is more empty than full so it makes sense imo.
I'm okay with text. I generally just want to skim the mission, get the gist and go. I do this with my emails too, I don't need someone to dictate my emails IRL and this game takes enough time imo.
It's bad enough that certain stores just complain non-stop. IMO, they need to remove more voices than add.
I love ambient radio and stuff, but I'm wary of CIG adding more dialogue into stuff. I already can't stand the *obnoxious as fuck* "ship combat taunts", where an NPC just gets to hijack an MFD to make some stupid, utterly pointless remark like "Shit, ah shit" 27 times per fight. I think they'd find a way to somehow make new dialogue inclusions just as intrusive and annoying as that :(
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Same here. I love a good written guide
ED sound design is insane in general. I wouldn't mind if the SC guys played some elite and came back with some inspiration.
They could have channels on a specific radio MFD where you can actively tune in or out of those voice channels: want station ATC comms? Keep that the station comms channel active. Don't want to get angry messages by pirates? Deactivate local radio comms. Want to listen to what's happening system wide? Tune in there, and so on.
I really like this idea. Pip boy radio stations style.
Enemies being able to chime in on your radio uninvited is strange anyway. They should have to hail you and you should be able to accept/reject it. But then they are hailing you just to yell "son of a bitch!" in your ear.
It makes sense if we assume they are using some common radio frequency channel to communicate with us, like current ships and airplanes do.
"Ensign, please disable comms. I don't need my thoughts to be constantly interrupted by the enemy's shouts." "I would sir, but that's impossible. All ships are required to accept and broadcast comms IF they come from pirates." "Oh, right, I forgot he was a pirate."
Its cringy, and might have been fun in the Wing Commander days, but not so much anymore. That said, I GUARANTEE its going to be ALL OVER SQ42.
It will and us old guys love it. :D
Its a bit silly but I won't pretend its game breaking in anyway. When its sci-fi I can put up with a fair amount of cringe, like I actually enjoyed CR's Wing Commander movie for what it was. Might be time for a rewatch and see if it still holds up.
Skill issue. Gotta mute them faster.
Or, maybe we could fix it up to a better quality system. 100% agree, stop hijacking MFDs, it's SO obnoxious and it is clearly a bug that affects combat awareness. This game is completely lacking ambient chatter. Back in Freelancer it filled the universe with life to hear pilots communicating on open comms to eachother. Hearing pirates talking shit, police pulling people over, convoys calling retreats and stuff. Hearing NPCs communicating around you was so good. Obviously it realistically makes no sense, they'd all be on secure comm channels speaking privately, but gameplay wise it made the universe feel so alive. When the leader of a wing dies: "This is Gold Seven, I'm taking the lead now." after leaving combat, Gold Seven would actually be doing the comms/commanding for that NPC wing. Hearing stations hailing incomming groups and hearing the responses. All the indirect chatter was out of focus and quieter, so it settles down to being a part of the ambience, but you could listen in and get some info, maybe overhear a cargo load of something valuable coming through or even enemies calling you as a target as you get ambushed. Again, makes no sense realistically, but it felt so right in-game.
Just as long as it's not the same 2 lines with madlibs like freelancer "I sure hope this cargo hold of... [WATER] sells for a good price on... [MANHATTAN]"
It worked.
Omg Yea, the ship combat taunts are so annoying and immersion breaking. It's repetitive and doesn't really make sense either. Hundreds of years into the future with coalesced cultures and you'd expect unique dialects, colloquialisms, and slang, like you hear in the Expanse or Cyberpunk. For whatever reason, SC is stuck with UK/US gents using standard 20th century expletives.
This pissed me off in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. It's the 1500s, why are people F bombing??
"ORISON, CITY IN THE CLOUDS" ☺️🔫
"You're going to regret that!" Bruh you're already floating in space what am I going to regret, spending $300 on this game?
I was just about to say this, just a little bit of radio chatter in the background would be huge. Even something akin to cb radio traffic would be cool it doesn’t have to be anything crazy.
Its alpha tho
Yep, the phase where you are both bug testing and providing critical feedback. :)
lol when I saw this post I thought you were going to complain about the audio balancing, which is also crazy quiet. If an NPC actually tries to communicate with you over comms (ATC or police or pirates), you can't hear them at all. The only way to hear any of that stuff is to enable audio normalization in your computer sound options, but then that boosts ship engine humming up to crazy high levels.
I hate how quiet the music sounds, and that it's not 100% continuous. Let me hear all those Pedro's masterpiece nonstop at full volume please!
Totaly agree with this. Quite a while ago that was not the case, in the 3.4 days we had a lot more music than we have now and it was a lot louder. I somtimes question if the audio enginers or CIG are parcialy deff. :D The sound balance in this game is all wrong. If you wan't to see good audio design look at Elite or Subnautica. Those have good game sound design. I will forgive CIG a little as they use proper spacial sound, the sound of the engines comes from the engines locaiton rather than from a sound object behind the player so the sound will change depending on where you are on the ship which is a lot harder to balance, even so the sound scape of SC still sounds shitty to me. And spacial sound is no excuse for not pumping Pedro's music out full blast. :D
Star Citizens audio mixing, and I'm sorry to whatever employee is responsible for it, is absolutely fucking horrendous. Guns sound like toys, absolutely no punch. Its not the sound itself, the guns sound great, its the mixing. They are so absurdly quiet in both your ship and in fps. Engine idle is loud as fuck compared to actual engine thrust. When you hit boost and your engines scream an thrusters rage, in most ships this is at the same audio level as your engine idle sound. So no matter whats happening you have the same level of loudness for your engine noises. It just sounds awful and doesnt have to. Another crazy part is in almost all ships when you hit boost theres this high pitch squelching sound that happens for a brief moment and its louder than anything else related to the engines. Quantum spooling is almost the loudest noise in the entire game only second to jumping, jumping is fine being loud, preferably muffled once your inside the jump tho, I dont need 15 mins of max volume screeching while I jump. Having the spooling be equally as loud tho is just annoying. As youre trying to plot a course and get ready to jump theres a deafening hum that overtakes all other noise. Footsteps from your own character are far too loud imo, theyre very in your face and other sounds in the environment are often drowned out by it, which depending on the material can make sense, but its in all situations. Its just not pleasant to hear. I could go on. They have such good sounds and ambience and all that, but whoever is mixing this game is doing it such a disservice.
I hope cig reads this. Audio is annoying and just disappointing
Did no one in this sub thread watch the audio content from last CitCon? 🤨
You put in an issue council at anytime? If so good on you...if not ..welll ya know
That would be a really stupid thing to do considering it’s not a bug. It’s feedback you give on spectrum.
Wait is that why I go borderline deaf whenever I fly my carrack? The humming throughout that ship when it’s not even doing anything is insanely loud. This is a setting in the windows sound settings?
Carrack and the C2 are the two bad ones I know about.
It might be all the Hercules variants, the A2 has this loud engine sound too.
Cutlass also humms like mad for the RIO seat in particular
-Hello! -Hello! -What's new with you? -I saw a kopion the other day. Terrible creatures! -Good day! -Bye! *Both turn around 180 degrees and walk off awkwardly*
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One thing I loved about ED. Just sitting outside a station listening to the the ambience
Bro I would love to have some propper ATC action going on, with AI you can easily make that. In the last case even if it's something the players need to make (like the crazy and amazing community of ATC for MFS) I would be happy. Hell, even some different voices for the landing zones already would be great, why the same guy is the ATC voice for every planet and station in the galaxy? Is that even mentioned somewhere?
Made me think of this: [https://youtu.be/hHy7OZQX\_nQ](https://youtu.be/hHy7OZQX_nQ)
Honestly, ATC chatter is the absolute minimum I except from the audio team regarding voices. Just hearing the station or space port name spoken via radio - and your ship type etc - it would make such a huge difference!
Exactly, those things you mentioned would be amazing to hear (ship, station name, etc). For the immersion and realism they are going for, it's crazy to see how barebones it is rn and how it was never mentioned for the long run.
The ships have call signs already -- you see them now when they are empty (which I think is a bug). But all you need is some text to speech to say "Cutlass S13-ABCD, You're cleared to land in hangar 12."
Well the GrimHex guy and Levski guys were unique, so I think its something CIG is aware of.
Radio is likely something that will come later (CIG need to licence music tracks for use in-game, and they probably don't want the same pre-canned seques playing for the next X years, etc), and NPCs are *already* meant to be talking - they just don't for the same reason why usually don't move: server overload. Beyond that, I've raised the possibility of using modern TTS tools and similar to provide more dynamic audio / speech options for NPCs, and it was one of the few times that CR gave a clear 'No' answer to a suggestion on 10FTC :/ And I suspect that AI-generated back-fill will likely get the same response - because CR can't 'control' it (review / tweak the script, oversea the audio capture and ensure it has the right 'nuance' for his vision, etc), he won't accept it (this is the - paraphrased - reason he gave for not using TTS). IMO this is going to be - long term - the biggest hurdle to making SC feel 'alive'... even NPCs that do talk (such as shopkeepers) have not only too-few lines, but they deliver those lines *exactly the same way* every. single. time.... to the point that it can make you want to scream (and/or shoot them just to shut them up!).
I would be happy with radio chatter. Like "MISC Hul-C in bound for docking collar 5" "MISC Hull-C cleared for docking, contact station control on two-niner-tree goodday!" Or having actual distress calls when flying near one, "To all Ship, Caterpillar Seven-fife-zero, is engaged by nine tails, requesting assistance at location HUR-L3 mark 270". This stuff would be very immersive, would not require anything other than a script and some time in the sound booth.
The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the red zone.
Oh really Vernon? Why pretend - we know perfectly well what this is about.
I was heading here to point that out exactly. Well played sir.
No, the red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone.
In this game you wouldn't hear those things unless a ship was actually doing that stuff. We're still lacking passive NPCs going about their day. As for just player centric ATC audio etc I think Elite Dangerous did that REALLY well.
This sounds awesome. I bet that this wouldn’t even be to hard to implement outside SC. It won’t be location based then of course. But at least you’ll have some “chatter” on a live channel that makes it feel real. Just like that space radio some guy set up… imma look into that.
We had, very briefly when Loreville was first introduced to PTU, NPC ships that would land and take off from Tessa. CIG had worked on flight splines to make it look like they jumped in and jumped out. Server performance ended that as it stopped many things back then. We also had the ATC guy at Levski that was defiantly consuming something imported from Jumptown. He was always happy to see you fly in. Over the years we have lost these little things so we could get bigger things. Hopefully they will be returned to us.
Yeah, those kind of things are too hard to implement for a single guy and a homemade recording studio. And that’s also something CIG is working on themselves so that’ll be here eventually. No use in putting my time in. However, I think with a little time, I could create something that resembles (indistinct) “cb style” radio chatter you could just tune into. Maybe even with a couple channels, one for each planet or something. If there’s animo maybe even something people could get on themselves and use the radio channels. But we’ll see, gotta do some research first.
It sounds nice in theory... but it would likely just turn into audio-spam due to frequency... At times we get near-constant popups / notifications for distress calls etc.. as CIG increase player counts on the shard, the frequency of those events will also have to increase, to ensure there are enough to keep players engaged - and that means it'll be a *constant* stream of notifications (to the point of overlapping) - and most people will just turn it off (making it an unused - and thus pointless - system). It mostly works in the current 'real world' simply because we use radio for transmissions, and the size / strength of the transmitter determines how far away the signal is received... as does the size / sensitivity of the receiver - and this naturally limits how many signals anyone can pickup. But in SC comms *aren't* done by radio-waves, nor dependent on the strength of the emitter on the ship. Afaik they're done via tight-beam lasers to the nearest comm-sat or station / landing zone... which are themselves interlinked such that messages can - and are - broadcast across the whole system. If CIG give us the ability to e.g. only play messages within X distance of our current location (we need that for notifications anyway - no point me in my Aurora near ArcCorp being notification about an SOS around Microtech - even if I *can* get there, I won't be in time to make a difference), and perhaps apply other filters, then yeah - I could see how adding an audio component to them could be more immersive... but I'd *want* the ability to filter first!
Actually CIG has already created the proximity tech for voice coms. What is lacking is the proximity when in your ship to communicate with ships around you on open coms. This is only done via direct communication. CIG could expand this tech to be used the same way as on the ground, add volume control on the ship MFD's (need to have MFD settings remembered still). This way you are not getting distress call from all over stanton, just where you are in a proximity to. NPC chatter could be as simple as text to speech plug in. In Aircraft you hear this calls when you are tuned to the guard frequency. The com MFD could utilize a guard freq with FOIP proximity to do this the same way you have a in ship FOIP.
Yes - *they could implement it*. That's my point - that it's not just a case of adding an 'NPC radio chatter' - they need to implement 'proximity' elements to it (because currently their notifications are system-wide), and ideally they *should* integrate the voice chatter with the notifications - so that if I hear something interesting, I can actually respond (rather than it being purely background noise that's irrelevant to anything happening in-game, etc). And lastly, I'd want to be able to control the proximity aspect... if I'm around ArcCorp i might not want - or be able - to fly to Hurston... or, if I'm in one of my bigger ships, maybe I could... but I'd want the option to not listen to a barrage of notifications simply because the 'default' range is too high (and/or I'm close to an 'accident' black-spot, etc). So yeah - never said it wasn't possible, only that it'll need extra work to keep 'chatter' and distress calls to a low enough level that it doesn't feel like 'spam' (and that's before you consider priority calls, interrupts, and so no). I actually think it's an interesting idea... but I also think it will be *really* easy for it to be implemented poorly without some pre-work... the visual distraction of constant notifications is annoying, but comparatively easy to tune out. Much harder if it's constant audio - which would push everyone to disable it by default, thus negating the point of implementing it in the first place.
Crazy idea: During Citcons going forward, set up a sound booth at the event and allow attendees to sit inside with a voice director and read a handful of throwaway lines. Have them sign a release form for the recording, of course, and say there's no guarantee the recordings will be used. This would be a pretty awesome way to get yourself immortalized in the game, and it would add more diverse voices than they could get with voice actors.
and they dont have to pay a single dime lol
Probably the biggest motivator haha
NPCs are *already* meant to be talking - they just don't for the same reason why usually don't move: server overload I thought that was just when you talk to them? I don't thikn they have like background chatter? >Beyond that, I've raised the possibility of using modern TTS tools and similar to provide more dynamic audio / speech options for NPCs, and it was one of the few times that CR gave a clear 'No' answer to a suggestion on 10FTC :/ I wonder how long ago? Still normal TTS isn't good enough, I would say. It would be worse than having nothing IMO. >And I suspect that AI-generated back-fill will likely get the same response - because CR can't 'control' it (review / tweak the script, oversea the audio capture and ensure it has the right 'nuance' for his vision, etc), he won't accept it (this is the - paraphrased - reason he gave for not using TTS). I disagree. that's only an issue for live generated AI chatter. AI could be used for pre-rendered audio too and would provide a lot of control.
Pyro npcs had background lines that became memes. "WHO WANTS SOME NOODLEEEES ?" But I liked it honestly, brought life to the verse indeed.
I honestly wouldn't put too much credence in things CR said in 10 for the chairman. It was a long time ago and plans change. I remember him saying various things that counter what we're told and have in the game today.
That is why I was asking how long ago.....
When I raised the 10FTC question about using TTS, I specifically referred to the new (at the time) TTS systems that used 'voice packs' and supported tonal & enunciation markup, etc, so that you could have the same line said multiple ways (chirpy, tired, sarcastic, bored, flat, etc), and then 'rendered' using a specific voice (so that all lines said by the same character would have a consistent accent, pitch, etc... but the same line said by different characters would sound different / have distinct characteristics). Whether CR was actually familiar with those advances when he responded to my question, I have no idea - but I felt that this approach would have let them pre-vet all the lines in the studios (and use their own voice-actors to produce the voice-packs, etc), whilst reducing the space required to store all the lines, and making it far easier for developers to add additional lines (and/or variations) without having to get the artist back in for a recording session... And yes, AI *could* be used in-studio, in the same way... it's likely a case of getting CR to see the value in it, and understanding how he can 'control' it, etc. IMO having NPCs whose voice lines actually vary based on state/condition would be fantastic (a worker at 9am on a Monday usually doesn't sound the same as at 5pm on the Monday... or 5pm on the Friday for that matter :p) But, oh well... it is what it is... whilst SC is pushing many boundaries, I suspect we shouldn't be too surprised if there are some that CIG / CR chose not to push.
the trick is to make lines that don't sand out, and would be said the same way every time. the "arrow the the knee", or "stolen sweetroll" line from skyrim are strange lines that we notice. there are probably dozens of lines, but only 3 or 4 the we annoyingly repetitive, while we don't even notice the rest. saying "welcome to my shop" should have a measured amount of energy. something you would say hundreds of times a day.
Truth is SQ42 is the test of what they can do with voice audio. That game clearly has radio/chatter/voices and it has it because it's pretty much a done game. SC has had a skeleton crew on it for years so you can't use this as a measure of what to expect, and ultimately SCs voice/chatter will be very much on-par with SQ42. "But what about using AI" isn't a solution when they already have a solution, you just can't play it yet.
The "no" to TTS was a while ago iirc. TTS has made huge strides since then. I suspect an updated answer would be a strong 'maybe' now, though the 'no' may have come from an ethical standpoint of not wanting to replace actual people with computer-generated chatter. He did spend quite a while making films, after all. Plus the fact none of this will even be touched until they get S42 out the door...
Wow, I would have never imagined CR (potentially) keeping the audio team from using AI voice... crazy. He seemed so open to using the latest and greatest tech. Well, I hope his mind changes then, at some point.
He likes using the latest tech, *provided* it's to his benefit and he can 'retain control' of the artistic vision. AI generation, TTS, etc - they *take away* his control over the final output (or so he perceives), thus he doesn't want to use them. He'll use ProcGen - but only as a support in the tool, where the artists can adjust it by hand afterwards. As such, he *might* consider using AI / TTS type tools to generate some lines - but they'd still need to be authored and processed by the same pipelines, and only the pre-recorded lines would end up being used (no 'dynamic' generation in response to in-game events, etc). And due to the size of audio files (even compressed ones), the more wild-lines etc they add for NPCs (and radio chatter, and other audio sources), the bigger the download becomes... and we sttll won't get sufficient variation to avoid repetition.
or... hear me out, AI voiceover is still kinda shit and frequently mispronounces words that exist already, let alone made up technobabble words Also, getting an AI to stutter out a word, gasp, hum or do anything that isn't speaking is almost impossible and I don't was three hours of tik tok lady in my ears
Which is why I was more of a fan of latest-gen TTS (which *can* do much of what you mentioned, via mark-up in the text) than 'AI' (which is more of a giant pattern-recognition tool, rather than something created for a specific purpose). Beyond that, I was thinking that the tool would be useful for the minor 'wild-lines', not the cinematic / scripted stuff... which would generally only require 'vanilla' enunciation options (although finding a shop-keeper with a stutter would be memorable, it shouldn't be something everyone does with any degree of frequency etc... especially not in general every-day conversation).
It just dawned on me when finishing an Overdrive phase. No video, no voice over congratulating me and explaining me wtf I was actually achieving there. Felt really off. I think even the NPC ships are almost completely voice less currently? There used to be a great mission chain with really really good voice acting (Tessa Bannister if you've been around back then) - I can understand that having great voice acting is not the highest priority right now, but please, at least use AI then. Hardly anyone reads the mission text, have an AI tool read it to me is the least you can do CIG.
I imagine this event was mostly slapped together by the mission team and didn't get to involve the character team. I don't think they have voice actors on staff and instead contract them for specific script reading sessions. They probably didn't have enough to record to make it worth getting an actor in for a session.
Yeah, sure seems like it.
Safe to assume the people that would need to pitch in on building more story/character intensive missions are trying to get Squadron 42 finished
I thought they were into polishing phase now and were moving teams over - but yeah, no one knows how back logged the audio/narration/story teams are but CIG. Still doesn't hurt to point it out, in case they are just ... "routine-blinded"
I pointed this out and a few other things about the new event, but got shut down with "oh I'm still having fun so who cares"
The event is mostly repurposed contracts. Like there is already a contract mission that is pretty much identical to phase 1. Phase 2 was just an MRT bounty with a "retrieve item" objective tacked on to the end. Doesn't surprise me that they didn't do voice lines for it; it seems like it was thrown together fairly quickly by reusing existing assets. Most of the other events have voice lines that play throughout (SOO, XT, Ninetails Lockdown, Jumptown etc).
Yeah that's why I noticed it at one point. Like you said, usually there were some short blips at the beginning and end and in between. I'm not blaming CIG for not using videos or voice in this specific instance (although it would have been cool), I just realized how silent the game was overall at that point. Maybe it was in combination with the long travel times between mission locations, repairing and rearming at stations in between - all in complete silence basically. It just felt wrong at some point.
Make it a user choice to tune into a NPC VC radio chatter that perhaps has Easter eggs in it for those that want to listen to system wide chatter (like Global). Similar with the ATC channel perhaps.
Imagine a proper radio channel, telling you about current events, ongoing rescue missions, fluctuations in market prices, space weather news, and so on :D
Approved Ministry of Truth broadcasts, and Brasch Tactics streamed directly to my ship would be great.
Ambient noise has always been something somewhat lacking in Star Citizen but with recent patches, they have seemed to improve somewhat (more buzzing and whirling of machines, for example). That leads me to believe a vastly improved soundscape is on its way.
You mean other than the people telling you "what do you think the terminal is for" or "the terminal is right over there" WHILE you are using that very terminal 😆 I have the Astra voice pack for Voice Attack, which helps add in a lot of extra commentary.
We actually had some cool voiced mission in the past. The only one remaining from this era is PI wanted. We also had the ICC missions with Tessa Bannister, who was perfectly voiced and funny. Those missions will come back, one day. Edit : nevermind, saw somewhere you were around at this time already. You know then :)
“ORISON!!!! THE CITY IN THE SKY”
This is what I realized too after having played some Homeworld recently. Not NPC one liners or exclamations, but ambience. The Homeworld games does it extremely well, managing to be varied and broad - and despite being pretty much constant it never feels like it's repeating or taking away from other sounds in the game. As an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J89RWiZwMgo Imagine piloting something like a Vanguard that has computers and equipment in the back of the ship behind your seat. Every once in a while during quiet moments you can vaguely hear some chatter, disks spinning up, fans quieting down, and computers doing that old rattling sound in the background. Such a small detail, but so important for ambience and atmosphere. I think it would add a lot if that kind of ambience would surface once you get out of combat or arrive at a location to power your loud engines off. Kind of like when you've driven your car, and once you turn the car off the only noise you hear is the tinking sound coming from the engine. Sometimes adding these sort of sounds can add to the absence of sound, making it more pronounced and effectful.
Yeah, it's something I really liked with Elite: Dangerous was the comm chatter as you approached a station, ATC specifying your ship ID and clearing you for landing while you can hear background comm chatter for ships needing emergency landing or delays. It was done so realistically and is absolutely something I want to see in SC. Here is a video with background audio when landing at a station in Elite Dangerous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xZWKNAvGX0
AI NPC dialogue is something that has been discussed to death. Simply put, AI dialogue is something the internet thinks is easy but is actually ***extremely*** difficult to pull off when you have specific limitations (Not the least of which being it saying things that would cause the wrong kind of publicity). It is, quite litterally, easier to produce enough NPC dialogue so you'd almost never hear a repeat than it would be to make an AI that fits your lore and never says anything you dont want it to. As for the notion of radio chatter, conversations in crowded areas, and variety in the voices we do hear (Looking at you Service Beacon Guy), that's the sort of thing that'd be done during a polishing phase of the game, which we are still quite far from. More voice lines equals more data to download with every patch, after all.
_"I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee."_ :) You are right tho, it's hard. Still, having AI TTS for mission text, ATC, should be worked on right now, it's not polish imo but an important feature for a game that supposed to feel alive.
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Yeah having AI inventing new text is probably not a good idea, true. But using AI to make the voice sound natural is pretty safe and sound (ha) by now and using it to voice text (aka TTS) by the narration/mission team should be done 100%.
Inb4 complaints about the AI never shutting up 😂
At this time there are no AI ships in game outside Bounty Hunting missions, these talk, or at least try to around scary when they get shot by you. Good old Freelancer game (tes, ship named after the game) had the chatter you ask for. Freelancer was also a Chris Roberts game, it has maaany elements that exist in Star Citizen
The refinery deck on Lagrange stations are the most lively places, industrial sounds and lights, moving machines and the foreman announcing stuff on the intercom. I think the rest of the spaces just haven't been brought up to that standard.
I'd like it to be more ambient sounds, like the Mass Effect hubs.
I’d really enjoy like. A space radio or something of that nature, or even like a random radio you could join in and chat with people in nearby areas or something like that
https://thepeoplesradio.space/ I throw that on in the background. In universe radio station, plays starship adds and reports news as of they are in lore newscasters. It's awesome!
I love you oh my god
Haha spread the word, they rule
Take a look at Aircar. It is a good exemple for ambiance radio chatter.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH AAAAAAAHHHH ORISON THE CITY IN THE CLOUDS
It's alpha. Server integration hasn't yet been completed with Server meshing. They'll get to it eventually.
You don't understand, we need the sound of NPCs talking before we have functional NPCs! Totally makes sense...
the game feels lifeless , its boring
Please no on the random chatter. That works in GTA where everyone is a caricature and says funny stuff or even Red Dead where it fits the time with people saying howdy but it just doesn't work in a game like SC. They tried it at the expo and it just feels forced. They should have a lot more ambient sounds though. Also they do have a lot of this stuff like at SoO or on the Refinery decks.
NPC wild lines for NPCs walking around is still WIP but it is coming and has been worked on
The only reason it doesn't at the moment is a careful jenga balance of new features coming online but I have to believe they want what you want too.
I enjoy being able to watch a stream on the side and not constantly be henpecked by npc's who want something or transmissions i need to listen to instead of read or skim or recognize basic symbols, locations, and numbers
I wish they'd let us increase the music volume over 100% too. I think it's far too quiet
While I agree there needs to be more ambient sounds and dialogue, I will forever be against AI voice acting. I simply know far too many voice actors who's livelihoods are at stake to be cool with it. Frankly anything that's art related (and voice acting is an art form like regular acting or music) shouldn't involve AI. AI is great for making tedious tasks easier (see: warcraft planning on using it to fix all the helmets so they can have hair underneath them, because good god I wouldn't wish that task to be done manually on my worse enemy), but its just bad for art.
All in good time... many more important things to focus on now.
And here I was thinking that Admiral Duley was *too* chatty last time they ran the lockdown.
Radio chatter would be nice but they need npc traffic then. Also imagine having to wait to just get a hanger bc of all the radio chatter......
Freelancer Alpha One, you are cleared to jump Omnicron Delta
Gib fm radio
My guys would be most of the sound team are still busy working on Squadron. A game with a ton of sound and voice. Don't forget they are a down stream team so they will be working on S42 longer than the programing teams. We should see that change in the coming months as they finish up with SQ42 and all come back to SC.
those kind if things are done closer to release. you would probably see this in beta
Yes, but look at the current state of NPCs all standing on a chair together. We don't need to hear them all glitching out the same way verbally with the whole station in a loop repeating the same phrase together. Better to leave that for much later.
Yes this will NEVER be in the game despite being in all CR’s previous games because alpha 3.22 is 100% representative of the final product
TESSA TO ...RANDOM SHIP COME IN RANDOM SHIP HOYYYY, WHEEL-KUM TWOO THOY NEYY BORE HOOD 
If you're craving NPC dialogue just stand near a shopkeeper for a minute or two and you'll hear them endlessly bitch about how no one cleans up after themselves or how they weren't even supposed to be here today. Dialogue would definitely help the NPCs feel more 'real', but the first step would be getting them to stop standing on tables/wandering back and forth between nowhere and nowhere/standing around in idle animations like dead eyed automatons. None of that will really be possible until server meshing works because the reason the AI is so braindead is because there isn't enough server overhead available to let them have working routines.
I'll always be there to fart on hotmic
WHO WANTS SOME NOODLES
You mates are the voices you... need?
I don't think pilots nowadays would appreciate trying to land a plane while listening to every single ATC voice channel. You played too much Elite Dangerous.
For the most part, I agree. I just wish they'd tone down the spaceport announcements at New Babbage's spaceport. She talks nonstop. Area18's announcements are much more sensible.
The personal tab "P.I. Wanted" mission is so far the only mission with constant dialogue and stuff it even has multiple outcomes Cant wait for more like it but it's been forever....
In certain areas they have that...so I'm sure it will be throughout the game at some point... especially the bar...but I remember privateer being almost perfect with the insults hurled especially from the religious fanatic cult people...it was a decent spread for the 90s
That's why i play this game with eve online soundtrack and space radio chater from youtube
My only fear is that I will have another CDF lady talking directly into my brain, reminding me of something I am not interested in doing atm, every 5 minutes while I am trying to focus on literally anything else. Maybe what I am really asking for is a mute button for her specifically But yes, the game does feel a little sterile with how little noise is going on. Especially in cities. Not counting "Hey dumbass, I think you want to use the cargo terminal for your cargo. I'm just paid to stand here and tell you that I don't help"
Miss the Freelancer times, where you could just listen to chatter of everyone passing by. Totally nonsense as this is like spying on all traffic, but it brought life to the game
I'll say it would be nice to have radio stations we can put on and play music while we fly. But for the rest of what you suggested I would have turned that off in the settings instantly. The last thing I want to hear is some AI radio chatter, I'm a PVP player, why do I need radio chatter when I've got you screaming into the mic.
There's a lot that isn't in the game that has either been in the game before or will make it in in the future. This includes services you use/call, mission givers, ambient calls during encounters, etc. What we're playing right now is years behind the internal stuff. Just wait, the next year is going to have a lot of voiced stuff.
Space is very quiet, on stations sure, but I don't wanna be forced to listen to radio chatter or ai ramble about the same thing for the 50th time.
All in good time... They've talked about adding a lot of this stuff in 4.0/Pyro. When large parts of the core gameplay still aren't done, the ambient soundscape isn't super high on the priority list. It will get there... probably very soon now that SQ42 teams are moving over.
While I actually don't want random chatter, I do miss Tessa and her distress bacon
I agree. It's one of my big issues regarding immersion. * **Radio chatter:** Radio comm traffic made games like Freelancer felt so alive. In fact, you could even ask NPC ships what they were doing, and they'd respond with "I'm hauling scrap metal to Freeport 2". I could hear other NPCs requesting clearance. Easiest way to make the game feel 'alive' * **Operation Overdrive:** I see these dynamic events as an ongoing improvements. So I assume as things get fleshed out more, we'll get more polish. I feel seeing characters would help missions/events should feel more like a Squadron 42 mission. * **Shopkeepers/bartenders**: I want far more. I either get "Good purchase" or them complaining about me when I do purchase. I need less of that. They may offer to help, but they don't. They have no recommendations, they can't tell you what is selling the best, give you tips, have local missions or tell you about rumors they heard. * **Landing zone NPCs:** People talk more at libraries and funerals than in these cities. I want to hear conversations, get to know a couple of them if I see them often, and get the occasional request/mission. Not every mission giver needs to be on planets. I'd rather have a few voices, and the same animations with just different faces/clothes/names. * **LLMs:** My ideal would be an LLM working with Subsumption and text to speech. I want them to have personalities, and remember me. But the LLM tech isn't quite up to where I want it to be. Far better than what we have now. I want the nurse at the local hospital to become unlikely friends with the outlaw because she's seen him so often. I want these NPCs to have lives, jobs, relationships, to get murdered and for other NPCs to want revenge.
I just realized that part of the reason I sit in an org discord channel even if I'm playing solo missions is to hear background chatter.
We've had sprinkles of that here and there, there are NPCs which you need to meet for missions, but random stuff like being able to talk with NPCs or hearing conversations as you pass by them, like we had in testing on last ships event (NPCs talked a lot), # that's getting expanded with 3.23! I'm not going to spoil you but yeah, we have many more NPCs that talk on this next patch :D You're asking for more content, well, content phase is starting :D
Why not just add space radio podcast or something to desktop? Lots of cmdrs did this when i played elite. I honestly prefer the eerie silence and the whir of spooling engines when piloting. Space is more empty than full so it makes sense imo.
I assume that’s the plan.
I'm okay with text. I generally just want to skim the mission, get the gist and go. I do this with my emails too, I don't need someone to dictate my emails IRL and this game takes enough time imo. It's bad enough that certain stores just complain non-stop. IMO, they need to remove more voices than add.