An issue I have with many games is that the in-game music clashes with what I'm playing on my music-player.
I suggest that the various sounds for the game each run on a separate 'track' or channel.
When Dialogue is playing, other tracks are partially, or completely muted. (I'm hearing impaired and speech is a very complex information source - I need to be able to hear it clearly.)
Replace 'Ambient Sounds' and 'Background Music' with whatever is playing on my music-player. Possibly, this could be a toggle, or Preferences setting.
It might be useful to have a pop-up in-game music/sound control window.
Attack sounds and other situational sound indicators should still be running on the top 'track'.
Be Well!
Fireheart
Most games already allow you to adjust the volumes of the different tracks,. And I think the chance of this game getting voice cast is slim to none, so I wouldn't worry about having to hear dialog.
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I never set anything on fire accidentally!
The Titan Legacy - Defender of the Inner Flame
Voice over artists are available... I know a guy who has done work for Neverwinter and Champions Online (as well as a few other smaller projects out there... a Nancy Drew game I believe).
Not sure as to how much he gets paid per project, but it is *not* a staggering amount.
Interfacing with umpteen potential music players is probably a waste of time at best and may be outright impossible at worst.
I can't think of a PC game where it didn't have an in-game adjustment for volume. Usually segregated by different channels, usually divided into music and sound effects at the very least.
I like to listen to podcasts or movies while I play video games, so usually I do exactly what you're wanting to do. Music off, SFX onm have Winamp on in the background, or Netflix or Hulu up on my other monitor.
[color=green]BIZZARO MEDIA FOLLOWER[/color]
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Getting one guy to say a few lines is quite different from voice casting a game. It is a great deal more than just paying for the actors' time. Not to mention hours of dialog makes the game that much bigger of a download.
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I never set anything on fire accidentally!
The Titan Legacy - Defender of the Inner Flame
Neverwinter is not that much larger of an install compared to City Of Heroes. And voice casting is not just "reading all of the mission text", it is something as simple as the "grunts" and acknowledgements for starting a conversation with the NPC (or actions).
It can even go so far as to the background chatter of NPC's in some area's.
City of Heroes could well have been called City of Mutes... well, at least as far as the NPC's went anyways.
There are probably a lot of people within the community who would jump at the chance to be a voice in the game, and for FREE!
There could be a competition to find the ones that make it, get people to send in a short voice clip or YouTube video of them reading something out.
I think it would be amazing if the community could have a part of themselves in the game world. They wouldn't even have to have major parts, perhaps just someone as a background NPC talking about how the train is late, or mentioning some random plot somewhere.
There are games like APB: Reloaded which allow you to import music from your computer and then play it as you play with the in-game player (your car stereo), pretty nice, in my opinion.
Tek-oh-lot
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLO5WNy4pQs] Damage Inc Story Arc [/url]
It could be called that by snarky people. It could also be called a hella better option than a game with cheesy voices or bad voice acting choices.
Personally, I'd probably mute the voices and use a text option so I could listen to music in the background.
And on the actual topic of the thread, I would personally love a game capable of playing music of my choice - and automatically muting it under the appropriate circumstances. IE when 'zone' music comes up. Voice acting would go over a lot better if I didn't have to suddenly tab out and mute my own music every time it came up.
My two pennies, anyway.
(Fix'ed a mistake I ignored when I posted.)
Longtime City of Heroes player, longtime writer. :) Working in Nebraska.
COT: Mission tips writer, studying Cinema 4D animation program