Gyges Skyeye
Delusions of Adequacy
Get Off My Lawn
19
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Posted - 2015.03.22 12:59:39 -
[1] - Quote
It was cool to see that in game Valkyrie footage pop up on the first day of the fanfest stream. When the footage began playing it was cool to see the fighter launch and emerge into space. After a few swooping turns, BAM uncanny valley hit. Everything looks the part of the Eve universe but it just felt off. I just rewatched the trailer to see if I felt the same now. Largely I do. There are a few FC'ish VO lines in there, but most of the sound is this pumped in garble of screams, explosions and such. To me it feels confusing and detracting. There is nothing in the voice over lines that is building immersion in your place as a fighter in this Eve battle.
The This is Eve trailer is a great resource in these regards. There is a constant exchange of information. Being in a fleet fight in Eve has the feeling of listening in to an air traffic control tower. Just like that control tower, FC's in Eve have their own format and cadence. You need to be able to capture that sense of expression to help build immersion and drive the narrative.
Often that format follows: "Ship Class, order order order. Next Ship Class, order order order". In Valkyrie you could build on this structure to keep the player immersed and queued in on when to expect critical instruction. The format would look like:
FC: Capitals, order x3
FC: Megathrons and Dominixes, order x3
FC: Fast Tackle, order x3
Raan: Fighters, order.
If you create a format like this, when players hear the FC VO barking out orders three by three they will become queued in that critical instruction is upcoming and be ready to absorb it, all the while we are throwing eve vocabulary at them and building a sense of place in the battle.
You can create additional patterns in the voice over that players can pick up on to queue them into the tempo and progression of the battle.
Small chat occurring between ships in the fleet or Raan and someone can indicate that the state of the battle is the same. Small chat can be anything from people shooting the **** in lull times to the FC calling primaries as the battle is ongoing.
Fleet Member: What do you call a Caldari dancer?
or
FC: Broadcast for shield reps if you need them.
or
FC: All ships lock ABA, ABA is primary.
A voice over line that comes from a non distinct fleet member that ends in an exclamation point can be used to signify that a change or benchmark in the battle has occurred. Or it can also be used to signify that a certain amount of time has passed. - much as league of legends begins the match with the announcer calling out time remaining before scripted combat begins.
Fleet Member: Local Spike.... Hostiles on Grid, Hostiles on Grid!
or
Fleet Member: FC is down! FC is down!
or
Fleet Member: FC link the Pap!
or
Fleet Member: Hostiles are two jumps out, ETA 30 Seconds!
Valkyrie is fortunate in that it has this really rich Eve IP to be born into. The visuals are all there but we need to bring audio into it. We always joke that Eve has no sound, but the success of the This is Eve trailer should quickly tell you that the sound of Eve where it's at. Valkyrie can do much better than the garble, garble, garble background noise. I hope some of my examples can be useful feedback to you guys so that I'll have done more than just criticize. |