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Author Topic: Battle chatter  (Read 3498 times)

SilentAlfa

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Battle chatter
« on: August 29, 2011, 05:20:21 AM »

During the battle, maybe random battle text chat between ships could appear in the corner or at the top similar to Gratuitous Space Battles or Ace Combat. In starfarer, this would be especially useful given that commanders have different personalities. This would let you know when for example, a cowardly commander has found himself overwhelmed by the enemy and is retreating, when a suicidal commander has decided to throw his vessel against superior enemy forces, or you can see fighter squadrons being torn apart ship by ship as wingmen call for help. IMO it would also add some immersion to see ship-to-ship communications grow steadily more panicked and desperate as the battle goes. The chat could also be moddable with lists of phrases for various situations. Just a thought and it's entirely not necessary though :).
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Alex

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Re: Battle chatter
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2011, 08:04:49 AM »

I think you're right on, especially in that having captain personalities makes this that much more desirable. Just have to figure out a way to do it that doesn't flood the player with chatter, especially in large battles. Well, it's definitely on the list.
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Psiyon

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Re: Battle chatter
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2011, 08:18:55 AM »

I second this. However, I don't think battle chatter should be text-only. I think it would be best for the battle chatter to be voiced, with a text notification of what ship is saying it. Reason being is that when you're in the heat of combat, taking your eyes away for even a second to read a line or two of text on the edge of the screen could screw you over. With voiced battle chatter, you could hear somebody scream, "We're gettin' our asses kicked over here!" and you know right away that your ships are in trouble.

Alternatively, auditory battle notifications could be easily accomplished without getting voice actors to do a ton of battle chatter. You'd just need to have something like an adviser from any generic RTS game. You know, the person who says "You must construct additional pylons." In Starfarer, he could tell you things like when your forces are under attack, when you or the enemy capture an objective, or maybe when one of your powerful ships is taking critical damage.

Or, an alternative to an alternative, one which requires no voice actors and no money, is the addition of little blips and beeps or other sounds. When a ship of yours comes under attack, you could play a little, non-intrusive beeping noise that accompanies a text message saying "ISS Herpderp is receiving fire," and then you could play a very intrusive beeping noise when you get the message "ISS Herpderp destroyed." You get the idea.
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theShadow

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Re: Battle chatter
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2011, 07:08:14 AM »

I'm sure you could get some volunteers from the forums to record some voice snippets :p

I know I would anyway.
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Alex

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Re: Battle chatter
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2011, 05:57:57 PM »

I think it's safe to say we're not going to be adding voiceovers any time soon :) Regardless of cost (ha!), adding that type of content also locks you down into particular mechanics. It's hard to throw out and start anew after spending resources creating it, even if mechanics changes otherwise warrant it.

Sound cues for general battle happenings are a good idea, absolutely. We've got a few "battle objective changed hands" sounds in the pipeline already, and other sounds for important events should be coming along at some point, too.
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