Voice vs Text in Games

[abnegation]

Just a quick question; In the following video pauses have been left for either voiceovers or text, which would you prefer?



Note that this is just something been played around with, Pokémon Safari is still currently a hack, so no comments on that please and thank you.

 

[The Dewitty]

Voiceovers would definitely be nice in cutscenes, but in regular gameplay I'd prefer text.

 

[nmorr]

That video makes me look sad, but I agree with Dewitty.

 

[abnegation]

Well in this case it'd be primarily for cut scenes, I forgot to mention that.

 

[Spira]

Text IMO. Voice overs will make or break the intro. (Unprofessional voice, high pitched voice, etc. could be annoying.) Also since voices aren't really in Pokemon games, I don't think it would fit it well if there were voices. Text IMO.

 

[Great Mazinger]

Amateur voice acting never ends well.

 

[Alistair]

To me, it really depends on how well it can be done and where it's placed. A voice for a one-liner NPC is a little useless and annoying. It's also a bit annoying when the voice acting is bad or in horrible quality. I think when it's well done, in at least decent quality, and only used in important parts, that voice acting can be a great addition to a game.

 

[thepsynergist]

Voiceover's in fan games tend to sound...bad. Just bad. Think of Tales of Phantasia on the GBA bad.

It's a nice idea, but unless you have a good voice, and it doesn't sound forced or lame, I wouldn't try it.

Text has always been my preferred version of dialogue.

 

[davidthefat]

Both, if you can pull it off like the modern games

 

[DarkDoom3000]

Voice acting ONLY if its actually good voice acting + good dialog.
If you have bad dialog is easy to cover up in text. But really comes across cringe-worthy in voice.

 

[dead-man-walking]

If you could do it like what Ascaron did to Sacred, Voice Over worth a try.

 

[Poeman]

>>

Amateur voice acting never ends well.

This is my response too

 

[aSeRo141414]

Text for me.. Because some of the voice couldn't understand.. BTW Voice will be coo too.. :D

 

[loliwin]

I think amateur voiceovers are good in a game with lotsa humour. XD

 

[JohnMasterLee]

Voice acting is very difficult to get right. It can make the game worse if the dialogue isn't great or the actors you use.

Try a two step process. Start off with text dialogue. And constantly refine it. Get a feel for what people like once you launch the game.

Once you got it down to where you like it, then you can start playing around with voice overs!

 

[Exorc]

Unless an extremely good quality microphone and convincing voice talents are involved, using voices may turn this potential masterpiece into a disaster. I suggest you stick to the way it has always been done, even in Genius Sonority's 3D RPGs: text.

And if you choose to do voices, use text regardless. You are an unprofessional voice actor probably with unprofessional equipment, so relying on voice alone would be foolish.