Voice Acting in Adventure Games

[Blackthorne]

Question:

I was talking with a fellow developer, and we were wondering what people thought about narrators in adventure games. Should they be voiced? Do you enjoy having a voiced narrator, or do you turn it off if there's an option?


Bt

EDIT: Corrected the spelling of the word wondering. As in I'm wondering how the fuck I messed up a fucking word like 'wondering'.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Not that much of a fan. The voodoo lady narrator was gud in Gabe Knight 1, but apart from that, I prefer the narrator to shut up.

 

[Starwars]

Not a fan either unless it's an extremely good voiceactor with a great voice.

But... most probably no.

 

[Erikolaz]

I'm generally a fan of it. A voiced narrator can definitely add to the charm and atmosphere of an adventure game. Quest for Glory 4 is a good example.

 

[Outlander]

Ideally, an option should be available to mute all voice acting. It's easy and cheap to implement, too.

 

[DaveGilbert]

From a developer standpoint, a narrator is a huge time and financial investment that only adds a cosmetic enhancement to the game, and one that the player will rarely miss if its not there. From a player standpoint... I rarely like them. But YMMV, as with all things.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Perhaps look at the narrator in the context of sound design?

If voiced narration adds something beyond cosmetic value, do it. If not, leave it.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Then again, graphic adventure games are all about cosmetics.

 

[jfrisby]

I enjoy a narrator, over the main character saying "it's a door" or whatever (except maybe the Discworld games, which did a nice mix). I liked Viginia Capers, Gary Owens, Rhys-Davies, all the Sierra narrators, and the narrator in QfI. I don't think I really missed the lack of VO in HQ's though. I'm pretty sure the first time I played SQ4 was the disk version, and still loved it.

 

[Blackthorne]

I'm torn; I like narrators in games, but they can be annoying at times. I also could play with the narrator turned off and be just as fine. I was just curious as to what people thought - I was discussing this with my co-developer on QFI, and we came to the conclusion that we weren't sure if it mattered or not to voice a narrator.

Bt

 

[agentorange]

I enjoyed the narrator in Gabriel Knight for a time but eventually grew sick of how much time the voiced descriptions were taking, so I muted it. In general I dislike voice acting in adventure games because it is so much faster for me to read the text. I'll listen to the voice acting enough to get a sense of it in my head, then either skip or mute the voices.

 

[Korgoth of Barbaria]

I prefer a voiced narrator. They can add greatly to the atmosphere of the game, and can even greatly enhance the quality of a game. For example I can't imagine Space Quest IV without Gary Owens' sarcasm tinged narration, and his repeat performance in 6 is one of the best parts of that game.

But the option to turn the voices off should always be there.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

I'm torn; I like narrators in games, but they can be annoying at times. I also could play with the narrator turned off and be just as fine. I was just curious as to what people thought - I was discussing this with my co-developer on QFI, and we came to the conclusion that we weren't sure if it mattered or not to voice a narrator.

Bt

What if a simple click of the mouse stops the narration? You don't have to listen to it over and over again.

 

[Sceptic]

I agree with D. Gilbert, and not just about narrators. Speaking of voice acting in general, it's always a huge drain on your resources as a developer; if it's absolutely stellar, it'll add a lot to your game (even if, as DG pointed out, only to the cosmetic aspect), but if it's even just ok (never mind outright bad) it'll add absolutely nothing and will have been a huge waste of resources. The problem specifically with narrator VA is that it can be quantitatively as big an investment as all the rest of the VA combined, and that the player will be hearing that, a LOT. Therefore that quality of that one VA will leave a much more lasting impression than a passing bad VA that one only hears for a minute or two.

I think there are exactly three voiced narrators that I truly feel added to the game and were worth it: Space Quest 4 & 6, Quest for Glory 4, and Leisure Suit Larry 6-7. GK1's was good, Hell's was ok (probably by contrast to how bad the rest of the voice acting was), but I think every single other adventure game with a voiced narrator should've spent their money elsewhere; even if the voice wasn't bad per se, it doesn't add enough to be worth it, especially if I end up clicking through it anyway.

So my advice ultimately would be, if you're going to do it, make sure it's absolutely GREAT.

 

[Blackthorne]

What if a simple click of the mouse stops the narration? You don't have to listen to it over and over again.

Yeah, that is absolutely a must.

Bt

 

[Curious_Tongue]

How does narration make the player feel?

Do you want the player to feel isolated, or do you want them to feel like someone is always close by?