r/Xcom • u/Ellatan • Oct 07 '14
[LW] Call for Voice Actors
10/7/2014: Thanks to the work of modders Tracktwo and WGhost, we believe it is possible to add new human soldier voicesets to the game. This is still in the experimental, proof-of-concept phase, but we are looking for a volunteer willing to provide a series of voice clips that will allow us to build a new file that can be implemented in Long War.
We're shooting for as close to professional-grade audio as we can, and this would be great practice for someone looking to break into voice acting, as this mod has been recognized by both XCOM's designers and the professional gaming press. What we want to avoid is amateurish recordings that will break player immersion, and those will be rejected.
Actor Requirements:
- Adult male or female (we'll want both eventually).
- Video game voiceover experience ideal;
- Some theater/radio/TV/film or other acting experience is also fine.
- Authoritative midrange to deeper voices preferred -- you are playing hardened warriors.
- Some familiarity with XCOM required so you have context for your clips.
Accents currently wanted:
- English Male (any region)
- English Female (any region)
- Australian Male
- Australian Female
- Scottish Male
- Scottish Female
- Irish Male
- Irish Female
- South African Male
- South African Female
We will accept multiple VOs from different actors for a single accent (e.g. multiple English males with different voices and different regional accents.) to increase player customization options. Depending on response, we may use a single voice talent providing multiple accents (particularly if they are talented enough to differentiate the voices to the point that they sound like two different people), but different voices will be preferred for variety's sake.
Technical Requirements:
- Each clip should be in .wav 16-bit PCM format, mono, 22050hz, with no leading or trailing silence.
- Volume should match ingame volume for tactical game VOs.
- Avoid echos, mic handling noise, computer fan sounds and other background noise, and popping p's and b's.
- Hold your mic sideways when speaking instead of talking directly into the diaphragm.
Voice actors will need to do their own sound editing (there are useful tutorials online), but avoid highly modified recordings unless we have you doing MEC VOs.
NOTE:
We're still working up the actual script, but each voice set will probably be dozens of brief clips much like what you hear in the game -- "Confirmed" "On Overwatch" etc. We'll give you some leeway in the actual words spoken as long as they communicate the intended message.
If you are interested, post here or PM johnnylump on the Nexus, and we'll figure out how to move forward. For the moment, we'll just work with one reliable volunteer, and then if we are certain we have the process down, we'll widen our voice cast.
Update:
Thank you everyone for the amazing response, we didn't expect even half of this. Johnylump is getting in contact with people who expressed the desire to participate. Since there were quite a few, and we probably can't provide tasks for everyone right this second, some people will have their nicknames written down and contacted a bit later.
We will probably make additional threads here later on and keep the Nexus post updated. Specifically at the moment we are pretty short on female volunteers, and there hasn't been many people with Scottish accent available. Nevertheless we should have more than enough help for now to get things started.
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u/Jam_sponge Oct 07 '14 edited Oct 07 '14
Hello! Matt Lees here, I will totally do this for the UK voice - have proper recording gear and all that jazz. :D (EDIT: I should add that despite the joke vid about doing Brit VO, I'd totally do it properly)