Pirate speech voice acting

For collaboration between the different artists creating music and sound for vegastrike.
Post Reply
Turbo
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:54 am
Location: TX, USA
Contact:

Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Turbo »

Team,

Thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy on Star World over the weekend, I'm thinking about the Pirates faction. The main problem with voice acting Pirates is that they come in 3 types (per http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/media ... on:Pirates):

* Organised Criminal Enterprise: Organized crime is generally only somewhat organized and somewhat about crime.
* Opportunists: The socially or economically downtrodden, most numerous of the pirate groups, enter piracy for a number of reasons. Some seek to leech from the more wealthy. Others are willing to be used as pawns or intermediaries by groups looking for some level of deniability. Pirates in this class often come from or are funded by such powers as LIHW or Forsaken worlds, or indirectly from the organised crime syndicates.
* Neo-Barbarians: Neo-Barbarians who’ve been given or sold spacecraft - usually through less than above-board transactions - often become pirates.

The ship-to-ship communication text is inconsistent. Words like "fuggedaboutit."suggests someone from a city in the Northeastern US. Terminology such as "whacked" comes from TV gangsters. There is one instance of "bloody hell" which is primarily British. Other ship-to-ship dialog is more generic, the kind of thing any uneducated English-speaking thug might say.

I am fairly sure that VegaStrike pirates would not sound like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cKCkbWDGwE
Not since version 0.4.3, anyway.

So, what was the vision for Pirates? What should they sound like, if they sound like anyone in particular?
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
Fendorin
Elite Venturer
Elite Venturer
Posts: 725
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:01 pm
Location: France, Paris

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Fendorin »

Some way you can explore or cancel:

Old school Mafia style?
Middle age Brigands?
B boys?
Junkie/liquid brain speaking?
Totally nervous/under C-booster voices?

etc
Turbo
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:54 am
Location: TX, USA
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Turbo »

Good suggestions.

I tried, and apparently I do not do a good old-school Mafia voice. I even tried to do Fat Tony from the Simpsons and didn't do that well either.

The only "b-boy" that I know is a break-dancing stage show in Korea. Nor do I recognize the word "C-booster." The middle-age brigands are in the YouTube link I posted above..."aaarrr, matey!"

Here is a sample of the "shady" voice I discussed in the Merchant Guild thread, doing the first half-dozen pirate lines. Does it sound like a pirate to anyone?
http://www.willadsenfamily.org/us/don/t ... sample.ogg

Feedback and other pirate voice samples are welcome.
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
Fendorin
Elite Venturer
Elite Venturer
Posts: 725
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:01 pm
Location: France, Paris

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Fendorin »

oh

By C-booster i mean this white powder from south america...
Means nervous junkie like in some Manga some bad guys are under nervous stimuli product

i did a vocoder voices maybe it's nice voices like kidnappers:
Edit:
DivShare File - Piratevocoderproposition.ogg
Last edited by Fendorin on Thu Jan 08, 2009 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
CLoneWolf
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 443
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 5:14 pm

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by CLoneWolf »

Turbo wrote:Here is a sample of the "shady" voice I discussed in the Merchant Guild thread, doing the first half-dozen pirate lines. Does it sound like a pirate to anyone?
http://www.willadsenfamily.org/us/don/t ... sample.ogg

Feedback and other pirate voice samples are welcome.
To me it sounds like "See, I'm 'so totally' harmless and worth of your trust..." . o O ( ...until I spot your goods ) :)
Fendorin
Elite Venturer
Elite Venturer
Posts: 725
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:01 pm
Location: France, Paris

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Fendorin »

i just did filter test on your voice
DivShare File - pirate_fendo sketch.ogg

but the result is not good the "acting" don't match so nice with the filter the voice should be more directive like a "mercenarie order" like "barbarian order"
or "japanese anger " maybe from Kurosawa movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3an5HDT-I4
you should be in the feeling of the soldier when you act you'r pirate voices
and after with a light down-ton filter it could be good no?
Turbo
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:54 am
Location: TX, USA
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Turbo »

Fendorin wrote:i just did filter test on your voice
DivShare File - pirate_fendo sketch.ogg

the voice should be more directive like a "mercenarie order" like "barbarian order" or "japanese anger " maybe from Kurosawa movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3an5HDT-I4 you should be in the feeling of the soldier when you act you'r pirate voices
So, you guys think the "slimy/shady" voice is too calm for the pirates faction. That voice was based on a Dr Who villian (from the '80s version of course) spiced with a bit of Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Hannibal Lechtor. The guy with this voice is calm, confident, and secretive. He will not get excited, because emotions would distract him from his goal. I think you are suggesting that a pirate would be more barbaric, emotional and unpredictable.

I am not sure what you mean by "feeling of the soldier." All the soldiers I know are trained to control emotions until the work is done, though some are better at it than others. And, being in control of yourself would be the opposite of the Japanese warriors in that movie.
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
Fendorin
Elite Venturer
Elite Venturer
Posts: 725
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:01 pm
Location: France, Paris

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Fendorin »

I just thought 80% of pirate work is "how to for catch, what i want without fighting" (and 15% solding,5% fighting skill)
Then they better skill for pirate is should scare/afraid peoples or shy travellers

Be a pirate is a business you should survive not be so confident in you
And they need to try to scare people first and after fighting if need .

Keep your Confident voices for Purist or Unadorned or maybe Luddite (Hannibal lecter is a Psychopat, be pirate is not a mental sickness, most part of time is a refugee when you are already outlaw...)

And have a Strong/deep,anger voices is more a classic voice for pirate (is more easy for recognize)


About the "soldier" i was speaking of the samouraî in the Youtube sample-movie.

Anyway is just my point of view
CLoneWolf
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 443
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 5:14 pm

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by CLoneWolf »

Fendorin wrote:I just thought 80% of pirate work is "how to for catch, what i want without fighting" (and 15% solding,5% fighting skill)
Then they better skill for pirate is should scare/afraid peoples or shy travellers
IMHO if I was in such a business, I'd try something else first:
Lure/induce/seduce/trick, and that's where slimy manners come into it; failing that, I'd try to scare them as you say.
Turbo wrote:I tried, and apparently I do not do a good old-school Mafia voice.
Do you mean something like this?
http://olografix.org/groucho/vs/goodfellas.ogg
Wouldn't that be too, um... cliche?
Fendorin
Elite Venturer
Elite Venturer
Posts: 725
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:01 pm
Location: France, Paris

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Fendorin »

hmm.... yes a bit too cliché (lol)but is game...

If you can change your "level" voice and have a deepest voices effect ? the 3rd filter/effect (maybe "pitch" in english) in audacity put the pitch at -15 and E to D#.

it will be good and easy to recognize a voice of pirate when you play and you havent' time for have a look to the top of screen sentences/messages.
and it will change the "key" of your voice
Turbo
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:54 am
Location: TX, USA
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Turbo »

CLoneWolf wrote:Do you mean something like this?
The accent is Italian, but probably is too cliche'. The pirate voice we need is one that represents the pirate faction pilots. The voice I submitted initially would work for a boss, but not the pilots. We need a new voice, I think, to ensure variety.
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
CLoneWolf
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 443
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 5:14 pm

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by CLoneWolf »

Turbo wrote:The accent is Italian, but probably is too cliche'. The pirate voice we need is one that represents the pirate faction pilots. The voice I submitted initially would work for a boss, but not the pilots. We need a new voice, I think, to ensure variety.
*Agreed!* ....rivalin?? Wherefor art thou??
A voice! A voice! My Llama for a voice! (Deucalion III by William CLoneWolf)
John-H-Knight
Just a tourist with a frag'd nav console
Just a tourist with a frag'd nav console
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:56 am

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by John-H-Knight »

I think I can help. I am new to this but I can do a pirate voice and take derection. I do not need a texts to speach program. No slam intendead.
loki1950
The Shepherd
Posts: 5841
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 8:37 pm
Location: Ottawa
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by loki1950 »

Welcome John no need to double post :wink: have a look at and listen to some of the samples here and post a sample of your own 8) as we do welcome contributions i'm sure we can find something you you to do.

Enjoy the Choice :)
my box::HP Envy i5-6400 @2Q70GHzx4 8 Gb ram/1 Tb(Win10 64)/3 Tb Mint 19.2/GTX745 4Gb acer S243HL K222HQL
Q8200/Asus P5QDLX/8 Gb ram/WD 2Tb 2-500 G HD/GF GT640 2Gb Mint 17.3 64 bit Win 10 32 bit acer and Lenovo ideapad 320-15ARB Win 10/Mint 19.2
Turbo
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:54 am
Location: TX, USA
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Turbo »

Welcome John! We have many factions left to do. The list, guidelines, and tutorial links are here:
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/media ... ice_Acting
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
SCghst1
Merchant
Merchant
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:36 pm
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by SCghst1 »

In my thinking, i think of the pirates in Vegastrike as "normal" mercenaries just trying to steal your goods. ( lol)
If they could have a portrait i think of a guy with long black hair and glasses on. Very smart people who are dignified like the rest, and act like everyone else, just with a different view about obtaining money. i hope this helps
~VS Forever~
Turbo
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:54 am
Location: TX, USA
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Turbo »

I agree that it is easier to think of pirates as just generic criminals, not overblown stereotypes of gansters or guys with beards who say "Aaarrrrr". A certain amount of guile is needed to get away with hurting or killing others to make money (directly by attacking merchant ships, or indirectly by shipping dangerous or illegal cargo). So, they would be best served by appearing and sounding (relatively) normal, at least until they attack or otherwise show their hand.

Let's forget for the moment that the game reveals every ship's faction when it comes into sensor range, and maybe beyond sensor range for the AI.
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
denyasis
Hunter
Hunter
Posts: 75
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 10:31 am

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by denyasis »

This migh tbe a little off kilter, but bear with me, sorry

Why not an "angrier" voice from each faction for the "Opputunists" elements?

One could guess that pirates are space going analogs of modern criminals, and I'm sure almost every faction would logically have a criminal element. So, why not do the pirate lines using the voices/accents of the other factions, perhaps making them sound a bit more gruff, insane, threatening etc.

It would make some sense to gte attacked by 3 pirates and each of them have a slightly different accents based on the faction where they grew up,no?
Turbo
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:54 am
Location: TX, USA
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Turbo »

That would work, but we don't want the same ship to change voices every time he says something. The game can support choosing and remembering a "persona" for each ship, based on the available voice sets for each faction, because PGG does it, but I'm not sure how it's done.
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
Coraxus
Merchant
Merchant
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 12:46 am

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Coraxus »

Despite listing factions that requires voices in the Wiki page, I've been looking around and I've yet to find a list that categorizes various voice types. If you know the link, please share, otherwise I have an idea how to list them in the following:

None-Combatant Vessels

  1. Friendly Greetings
    A nice and friendly greeting from non-combative vessels of factions the player has favorable record with. This vessel might know about this player based on their records, or heard about them elsewhere and will be more open to them, or simply that is how the faction behaves in general to newcomers. They may even provide helpful tips about their faction and trades.
  2. Neutral Greetings
    Formal greetings from non-combative vessels of factions the player has a neutral record with. They likely do not know this player and will possibly provide tidbits about their faction and other information such as rules and regulation as well as tips to help both parties avoid troubles.
  3. Hostile Greetings
    Hostility and not-so-friendly gestures emanating from non-combat of factions the player has an offensive record with. They can be offensive given the nature of what factions they belong to.
    1. Defensive
      Non-combative vessels issuing passive warnings either from their response of action or that of their faction, and possibly an ultimatum to leave them alone. They will want to avoid and ignore this player.
    2. Offensive
      Non-combative vessels threatening to take the initiative to engage in a direct combat with the player. They may possibly indicate their intentions are not always deliberate.
Combatant Vessels

  1. Friendly Greetings
    A nice and friendly greeting from combative vessels of factions the player has favorable record with. This vessel might know this player based on their records, or simply that is how the faction behaves in general to newcomers. They may even provide helpful tips about their faction and give them assurance of security.
  2. Neutral Greetings
    Formal greetings from combative vessels of factions the player has a neutral record with. They likely do not know this player and will possibly issue orders to player and might offer tidbits about rules and regulations regarding the faction they serve.
  3. Hostile Greetings
    Combative vessels threatening to take the initiative to engage in a direct combat with the player. They may possibly indicate the player had violated their law and will likely demand that they comply with their orders or else face consequences.
-----

Now, regarding escort voice and such, I'm not too deep into VS to understand the work around. In conclusion, this guideline suggestion I provided is merely an example on how voice types should be laid out. Of course as I said earlier, if one is laid out, I'd like to know where it can be found, thanks in advance.
CLoneWolf
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 443
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 5:14 pm

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by CLoneWolf »

Coraxus wrote:Despite listing factions that requires voices in the Wiki page, I've been looking around and I've yet to find a list that categorizes various voice types. If you know the link, please share, otherwise I have an idea how to list them in the following:
[...]
Now, regarding escort voice and such, I'm not too deep into VS to understand the work around. In conclusion, this guideline suggestion I provided is merely an example on how voice types should be laid out. Of course as I said earlier, if one is laid out, I'd like to know where it can be found, thanks in advance.
In much smaller detail, what you described in your categories is in the xml files for each faction, in the form of very short comments like "hit while happy", "taunt", "random good chatter" and the like; so far, those have guided us choosing the way to say the various sentences, mixed with the style we chose for each faction, according to their description in the wiki.
Check your data/communications folder for those xml files.
Coraxus
Merchant
Merchant
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 12:46 am

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Coraxus »

Okay, thanks for the info, I'll take a peek and try to learn how they are organized and such.
Turbo
ISO Party Member
ISO Party Member
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:54 am
Location: TX, USA
Contact:

Re: Pirate speech voice acting

Post by Turbo »

The XML files you want to study are located in the folder C:\Program Files\Games\Vegastrike51\win32\data\communications (your install path may vary slightly).

Then you can pick a faction and start recording, right?? :D
Turbo

There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
Post Reply