View Full Version : Creative Assembly crappy battle speeches
Why do the non-roman factions always only have like 2 lines in their battle speeches? I loved the roman speeches before the battles....some of my generals would go on for like 5 minutes....but the other factions seem to just have 2 or 3 lines.
any explanation?
Doug-Thompson
10-12-2004, 22:38
Why do the non-roman factions always only have like 2 lines in their battle speeches? I loved the roman speeches before the battles....some of my generals would go on for like 5 minutes....but the other factions seem to just have 2 or 3 lines.
any explanation?
"To brave men, a few words are as good as many" -- a RTW quote.
Seriously, I don't know. I was really worried about the Parthians though. It seemed like every speech was a fatalistic warning of doom.
Then I realized: The speeches are tied to combat odds. If you're heavily outnumbered, you're more likely to get a speech telling the soldiers to do their duty before dying.
Never mind that you're a few horse archers who are just about to massacre several hundred peasants.
Why do the non-roman factions always only have like 2 lines in their battle speeches? I loved the roman speeches before the battles....some of my generals would go on for like 5 minutes....but the other factions seem to just have 2 or 3 lines.
any explanation?
Sure, you have only limited resources when developing a game, hence you put your money where you get your most bang for the buck. Everyone has to play the Romans, but they don't have to play the other factions. So you make great extended speeches for the Romans, less for the other. It may not be the answer you want, but did you really expect something else? Maybe a non-Roman conspiracy on the part of CA, maybe someone accidently deleted the non-Roman speech files?
Grifman
d6veteran
10-12-2004, 23:06
Then I realized: The speeches are tied to combat odds. If you're heavily outnumbered, you're more likely to get a speech telling the soldiers to do their duty before dying.
I love that about the speeches! One time when my Romans were greatly outnumbered *and* surrounded. I got a speech that went something like ...
" The Auspices ... well nevermind what they have said about this day ... "
LOL!
I think the battle speeches are great, and it is a shame to start a thread called "Crappy Battles Speeches" when really what you want it more of a good thing right? ~:)
Red Harvest
10-12-2004, 23:06
I don't mind them that much, although I do get tired of the "Today...is a good day..." Sounds like he is sitting on the couch of some psychiatric doctor discussing his meds. It's the pause and the delivery that really cracks me up.
Sure, you have only limited resources when developing a game, hence you put your money where you get your most bang for the buck. Everyone has to play the Romans, but they don't have to play the other factions. So you make great extended speeches for the Romans, less for the other. It may not be the answer you want, but did you really expect something else? Maybe a non-Roman conspiracy on the part of CA, maybe someone accidently deleted the non-Roman speech files?
Grifman
Was there really any need to be a smartarse? Don't you think I had considered this?
If this is the case couldn't they have got someone WITH SOME FREAKING TALENT to do the roman voice acting too perhaps? In the face of logic such as the above you shouldn't be surprised I am here asking this question....
Medieval Assassin
10-12-2004, 23:18
GFX707 I do not believe he was trying to be a smartarse, its just the truth, everyone needs to play as the romans, and not as the other factions, so why not make it better to play as the romans?
Also, _ALL_ the voice acting in Rome is horrible,
"The day is ouuuu-ou-oarsssssssssssssssss"
I can't believe it Shogun was great
"The enemy taisho has forsaken his honor! AND IS RUNNING LIKE A WHIPPED DOG!"
Orvis Tertia
10-12-2004, 23:27
I don't think that all of the voice acting is horrible. At worst, I might give it a C, but come on--think of what "horrible" could mean, and then tell me you really can't stand the voices in RTW! :bow:
Medieval Assassin
10-12-2004, 23:31
Theres completly horrible yes, but I still can't stand the "Victory is owwwooou-ourrrsss"
Alexander the Pretty Good
10-13-2004, 00:01
Thanks alot.
Anyhoo, I get a kind of sick pleasure from hearing the Roman anouncer say that "The day is ours!" because it sounds like he is about 12 years old and choking on a pretzel. ~;)
Though I haven't unlocked any of the non-Romans (I'm trying to earn it, short campaign, Julii, hard/medium), I have loved the speeches. Can't wait to hear the others... even if they are shorter. :bow:
Hu, well...
Actually, I found the Roman voices quite good.
Just wait to hear Carthage. Just wait, I tell you.
Medieval Assassin
10-13-2004, 00:40
The day is ouuuuu-owwwwwwwww-oarssssssssssssssssssssss
Hmmm.... I just got a "Tedious Speaker" vice on one of my Generals, i wonder if it was because i always cut his speach right at the start and moved to deployment phase....
DisruptorX
10-13-2004, 01:54
If you think the Roman announcer on said quote is bad, check out the "generic greek/carthage/whatever other factions use the same voice" guy saying:
"The enemy king/general is Keeld!" The pitch on "keeld" goes up so high and cracks so bad that it hurts my ears.
Steppe Merc
10-13-2004, 01:59
All non Romans have shorter speaches? ~:eek: Damn, I thought all factions just had two lines....
Again, the non Romans got jipped. :furious3:
crazyviking03
10-13-2004, 02:05
I love the "your sword arms will ache from over use!"
and, "a better soldier could be found in the latrine bucket!"
ChaosLord
10-13-2004, 02:26
Heh, the British speeches focus on one of three things. Gods, blood/killing, or drinking. They have been generally shorter then the Roman speeches, which is kinda annoying but I started skipping all the speeches anyway if it was an old one. One funny thing is one of the times the enemy general routed the narrator/announcer goes "The enemy general runs like a frightened goat! We should catch him and eat him, for goats are tasty." -Or something along those lines.
Was there really any need to be a smartarse? Don't you think I had considered this?
If this is the case couldn't they have got someone WITH SOME FREAKING TALENT to do the roman voice acting too perhaps? In the face of logic such as the above you shouldn't be surprised I am here asking this question....
If you had considered it, you wouldn't have asked the question because the answer is pretty obvious. Seriously, what did you think the answer was going to be? Your question made no sense. Either it was a conscious decision by the developers due to limited resources, or else they screwed up somehow and lost the speech files or some other such nonsense. Or I guess you could say they were lazy or stupid or didn't care about the other factions, or some combination there of. What answer did you really expect?
Grifman
Amon_Zeth
10-13-2004, 02:51
The day is oooooowwwwwaaaaaaaarrrrz!
I have to agree about the crappy voice acting... the Carthaginians/Greeks/Macedonians/whatever have the most bizarre accent. They shouldn't have faked an accent, and should have instead gotten an Arab and Modern Greek accent instead, it might not have been historically accurate, but it sounds better and it's less irritating than what they have now. But I like the battle speeches in general, except that my troops keep cheering when the general says the enemy is going to wait in the forest to come out and slaughter them all, yet, when he says they vastly outnumber the enemy, you can almost hear the virtual crickets chirping.
ChaosLord
10-13-2004, 03:11
Oh yeah, the off-timed cheers are funny. "The enemy will try to use the woods to hide their troops and ambush us." *cheer* I'll watch them cheer about being outnumbered, lacking proper counters to elephants/cav, its pretty funny.
"The enemy general runs like a frightened goat! We should catch him and eat him, for goats are tasty." -Or something along those lines.
It's, "The enemy general runs like a frightened goat! We should pursue him.... goats make good eating!".
The_Emperor
10-13-2004, 08:43
Yeah thats a good one. I like this one, "the enemy runs... this is now a hunt, No a Coward chase!!" ~D
I actually really like the Briton speeches though, I got one when I was assaulting the Gauls that started off saying "The Gods know we didn't ask for this war..." It was true because the Gauls kickstarted the whole thing by blockading the port at Londinium.
The Barbarians rule.
Shogun's fake Japanese accent was so much fun and amusing. I absolutely loved the enemy taisho is fleeing like a whipped dog part. Parthia's fake, I don't know what the hell it is, accent is annoying, however.
On a side note, Final Fantasy X had a big budget but the U.S. version voice acting was incredibly crappy, too. On the other hand, one of Blizzard's vice-presidents did the voice acting for the orc grunt and Diablo by himself and it turned out well. Just shows that budget isn't everything.
I dun know!
Realy,some of you people will never be happy will you,i like the speeches some are witty and others tell you what to look out for...but like all ways the game is out and I for 1 am enjoying it :furious3:
Boot
Count Fudgula
10-13-2004, 10:44
I think the speeches are great. I had one general say something along the lines of "It's looking a bit dodgy today lads, so I'm not going to risk my neck. Best of luck!". Of course my ten star ultra ninja general with the great speaker virtue delivers speeches which are quite inspirational *sits in front of PC monitor banging keyboard and mouse together*! I haven't had a chance to try with anything other than the Romans yet though.
frogbeastegg
10-13-2004, 11:32
I had one speech in my current Brutii game which was so good it could have been written specially and intentionally for the battle I was about to fight. My famous hero of a general and his small army of hardened veterans against a Macedonian horde of at least 22 full units of light lancers and assorted phalanx troops. I had 11 units, mostly hastati, and it was obvious I was going to be massacred.
The speech lasted for a long time, about two minutes and every single word was so ... apt. My general broke out the old "Friends, Romans, countrymen" thing. He talked of how poor the omens were, but how brave men made their own destinies, and today was a day for great deeds. He accused the Macedonians of fearful cowardice for bringing fully half their army to face my men. He spoke of past victories, of home, of loved ones who they might not see again. Roman pride, and Roman arms, and Roman steel; and how a good death was worth more than a shameful life. Finally he finished on a note eerily familiar from the credits song, "And remember, the Roman Gods are watching - make sure they are not ashamed!"
That sold me on the speech aspect; I love it. It was so hard to believe that brilliant speech had been pieced together from singe lines of dialogue; it felt like someone had written it specially for this battle.
I wish I could have kept a replay of that battle, along with the speech. A salute: to my army, each and every man dead in honourable combat having taken at least one enemy down with each of them.
Today’s lesson: paved roads in enemy territory allow armies to spring up from what seems like nowhere. Use more than two spies to scout.
fastspawn
10-13-2004, 13:18
i once got a speech where the general not only spoke to give inspiration, but also dissected the enemy forces, and actually gave quite good advice on how to deal with each portion. I have no idea why that occured, was it because he had a spy in the town? was it because of some VnV he had?
I still have no idea.
Anyway, i saw this speech which was rather funny,
I am known as something of a philosopher. Some ask me, 'Why are we here?' The answer is often complicated... but today we are here to kill all those bastards.
I have yet to hear it though.
Yeah thats a good one. I like this one, "the enemy runs... this is now a hunt, No a Coward chase!!" ~D
I actually really like the Briton speeches though, I got one when I was assaulting the Gauls that started off saying "The Gods know we didn't ask for this war..." It was true because the Gauls kickstarted the whole thing by blockading the port at Londinium.
The Barbarians rule.
It says that even when you started the war.
Zatoichi
10-13-2004, 13:45
That 'the day is ours' thing - anyone else expecting to hear Scooby Doo demanding a Scooby snack right after?
Anyway, I try not to let it bother me too much, I generally enjoy the speeches - especially when you hear the general demanding 'Attack the elephants, men! Kill the pink trunky beggars!' when there are no elephants within 2000 miles...
I had a quite good General that was however not known for his personal bravery in combat, his speach starts along the lines of:
"Hmmm... huh... hello... I really didnt want to be here, but my mother said..." with lots of mumblings. Not very inspiring but quite funny ~:)
Mori Gabriel Syme
10-13-2004, 14:58
I had a speech unlike any other I've had before, possibly because due to a shortage of adult males in the Scipii family, I was using a general I would ordinarily have left sitting in a Sicilian city.
As his army stood to assault the city with 5:4 odds against the rival faction leader, he began his speech, "Many of you are probably wondering about tonight's entertainment." His encouragement consisted of assuring the men that the women in camp would suitably appreciative after the battle.
It must have worked because his army steamrolled over the rival army.
Soulflame
10-13-2004, 15:10
In my Greek Cities campaign I abandoned Syracuse almost completely. I left in a single unit of peasants so I could at least kill some of the Scipii and got a profit from the city a few turns more.
When the Scipii finally attacked, the leader of the peasants was appointed to give an inspiring speech. He ended his very short speech with "You will be victorious, this I pledge to you!". He must have missed the 650 Scipii outside the walls... ~;).
They did end up killing 250 Scipii (they killed about 20 velites themselves, the rest was done by the walls). But when they had 50 men of the regiment left, they routed, the 'general' peasant too :p.
crazyviking03
10-13-2004, 15:19
I had one scipii general say "They may have the moon people on their side, but we have funny hats! And it will shield us from their gaze!" and the whol army errupts in a roar. I didnt know what to do, haha
Doug-Thompson
10-13-2004, 15:29
I had one scipii general say "They may have the moon people on their side, but we have funny hats! And it will shield us from their gaze!" and the whol army errupts in a roar. I didnt know what to do, haha
Please tell me you're making that up. I assume the leader had the "unhinged loon" vice.
Please tell me you're making that up.Nope
I assume the leader had the "unhinged loon" vice.I've had that speech from Marcus the Mad, later Mighty then even later the Cruel
Despot of the English
10-13-2004, 16:07
So far I have only played the Romans and I dislike their speeches. The Roman generals sound like WWF wrestlers and the Roman 'pieces' on the map sound like US marines on manoeuvres.
Yeah I totally hate the stupid american accents. Hate hate hate.
Axeknight
10-13-2004, 16:24
My ubersuperninjamaster general (a 2-star I've farmed to a 9-star) has tedious speaker. It makes me laugh every time...
"Hello. Today we are here to do battle. I know most of you don't want to be here today, but, you know, sometimes life is like that. You have to do something you don't want to do, just because someone is telling you do it. I myself didn't want to be here, but my mother said I had to for show and all... So here we go."
~D
fastspawn
10-13-2004, 16:29
is there a way to add one own's speeches into the mix?
Captain Fishpants
10-13-2004, 16:43
Thanks indeed for the kind words of praise.
The speech system, as you've worked out, uses a phrase bank tied into various aspects of the battle and the general's personality. It took a lot of work to make sure that the individual texts worked together, and keep the comments 'on message'. There are a few funny ones in there because I'm easily tempted into the dark ways of naughtiness... oh yes.
The length and components of a speech are dependent on the number of units present, btw, so for smaller battles you'll here a completely different set of opening remarks.
I had one speech in my current Brutii game which was so good it could have been written specially and intentionally for the battle I was about to fight. My famous hero of a general and his small army of hardened veterans against a Macedonian horde of at least 22 full units of light lancers and assorted phalanx troops. I had 11 units, mostly hastati, and it was obvious I was going to be massacred.
The speech lasted for a long time, about two minutes and every single word was so ... apt. My general broke out the old "Friends, Romans, countrymen" thing. He talked of how poor the omens were, but how brave men made their own destinies, and today was a day for great deeds. He accused the Macedonians of fearful cowardice for bringing fully half their army to face my men. He spoke of past victories, of home, of loved ones who they might not see again. Roman pride, and Roman arms, and Roman steel; and how a good death was worth more than a shameful life. Finally he finished on a note eerily familiar from the credits song, "And remember, the Roman Gods are watching - make sure they are not ashamed!"
That sold me on the speech aspect; I love it. It was so hard to believe that brilliant speech had been pieced together from singe lines of dialogue; it felt like someone had written it specially for this battle.
I wish I could have kept a replay of that battle, along with the speech. A salute: to my army, each and every man dead in honourable combat having taken at least one enemy down with each of them.
Today’s lesson: paved roads in enemy territory allow armies to spring up from what seems like nowhere. Use more than two spies to scout.
Axeknight
10-13-2004, 16:49
"Over there stand the Gauls. Mad, dangerous, and hairy beyond reason!"
The 'rousing speech' feature was truly a brilliant idea. I think its great when you get one general talking about the good omens in one battle, and then somewhere else you get "today we make our own destiny, and we are not ruled by the flight of some damned bird!"
I love the pre-battle speeches. It's one of the little things that makes RTW so fun to play.
My ubersuperninjamaster general (a 2-star I've farmed to a 9-star) has tedious speaker. It makes me laugh every time...
"Hello. Today we are here to do battle. I know most of you don't want to be here today, but, you know, sometimes life is like that. You have to do something you don't want to do, just because someone is telling you do it. I myself didn't want to be here, but my mother said I had to for show and all... So here we go."
~D
That is one the BEST pre-battle speeches in the game. I also bust out laughing every time I hear it.
Yeah I totally hate the stupid american accents. Hate hate hate.
Oh please... ~:rolleyes: The problem isn't the American accents it's the kind of voice actors they hired combined with the overall quality and feel of the voiceovers. The Romans spoke LATIN so an English speaking American accent is no worse than anything else. Most of the unit & general voices are simply way too cartoonish for me to take seriously. The voice actors they cast seem better suited doing goofy cartoon characters than men of action. Personally I think they should have hired classically trained voice actors with some serious presence. Who knows? Maybe the actors they hired were capable of doing the kind of voices we all wanted to hear but the Activision suits insisted on having them sound more like the voiceovers used in Command & Conquer and Warcraft III.
Axeknight
10-13-2004, 16:55
The general speech accents aren't too bad, its 'The day is ours!' and the agents/generals on the campaign map I'm not too fond of. I can live with it, though.
I tend to do Latin homework while playing RTW.
Oh please... ~:rolleyes: The problem isn't the American accents.
Wrong. The best way to ruin ANY historical game's atmosphere is to have americans do the voiceovers. See LOTR:ROTK with Viggo Mortensen doing the "Let the lord of the black gate come forth" in a quasi-Irish accent to see what I mean.
I'm sick of american accents where there shouldn't be american accents.
Bob the Insane
10-13-2004, 17:24
I had a very good speech when a settle was actually stormed by the Egyptians, explaining that the soldier where all that stood between the good people of the town and the evils that would befall them if the enemy won...
Very envocative...
I am also running a Germania campaign and a brillent general and faction leader, his speaches just got shorter as time went on, in they end it was practically "enemy over there, you kill!!"
Wrong. The best way to ruin ANY historical game's atmosphere is to have americans do the voiceovers. See LOTR:ROTK with Viggo Mortensen doing the "Let the lord of the black gate come forth" in a quasi-Irish accent to see what I mean.
I'm sick of american accents where there shouldn't be american accents.
That's ridiculous. Don't blame an entire generation of actors for the producer's and/or publisher's casting decisions. Butchering accents goes both ways. There are numerous British actors who try to do American accents and sound like complete garbage (i.e. Ewan MacGregor). I've also heard British actors attempt French, Italian and Spanish accents with equally disastrous results. I won't comment on LOTR because that is ahistorical fantasy silliness that Tolkien pulled out of thin air. All the actors were given voice coaches to help them produce the accents Tolkien thought those various ethnicities & races should have. If you have a problem with Mortensen's accent send an e-mail to Peter Jackson because he was the one who ultimately determined what was acceptable in his LOTR trilogy.
Your concept of what is and and what is not appropriate in RTW defies logic and is purely a matter of personal taste. There are classically trained American actors who would have done a fine job in RTW. But again, to be brutally honest if there shouldn't be American accents in RTW then there shouldn't be any English ones as well.
ChaosLord
10-13-2004, 19:05
Oh yeah, during my conquest of Egypt I had alot of battles where I was outnumbered. So one of my generals favorite lines was "I see we're outnumbered by the enemy, but then we do have such a fearsome reputation so perhaps they were afraid." I've had the "Gods know we didn't ask for this war..." as the Britons too, fighting the Germans after they backstabbed me.
Sociopsychoactive
10-13-2004, 19:29
Personally I love the speeches, but even better is when you get a speech that, to me, would inspire more confidence if it was replaced with "Lets all get our throats cut lads!"
I had one the other day against the scithians, that went something like...
"I cannot join the fight myself, this is not cowardice just prudence...
We are not ruled by portents, no matter how bad they may be, we are warriors, and not ruled by the flight of some damn bird!
They outnumber us badly, but we will fight like Lions to make up for it!
That said, they are the stronger, so brute force will not be enough to win this day
They have many cavalry, and we will have to be creative as we have no spearmen to counter this with.
Before the end of the day our sword arms will ache from over-use!"
I mean, if I were a soldier I'd want to turn around and strngle the guy making the speech! AND I won the battle in the end!
I particularly like the speech where my Brutii general talks about slaughtering the enemy and wanting to see blood, and then goes on to talk about 'bathing in the blood of his enemies'. Very inspiring. I haven't had a lousy speaker yet but I will start watching for them.
That's ridiculous. Don't blame an entire generation of actors for the producer's and/or publisher's casting decisions. Butchering accents goes both ways. There are numerous British actors who try to do American accents and sound like complete garbage (i.e. Ewan MacGregor). I've also heard British actors attempt French, Italian and Spanish accents with equally disastrous results. I won't comment on LOTR because that is ahistorical fantasy silliness that Tolkien pulled out of thin air. All the actors were given voice coaches to help them produce the accents Tolkien thought those various ethnicities & races should have. If you have a problem with Mortensen's accent send an e-mail to Peter Jackson because he was the one who ultimately determined what was acceptable in his LOTR trilogy.
Your concept of what is and and what is not appropriate in RTW defies logic and is purely a matter of personal taste. There are classically trained American actors who would have done a fine job in RTW. But again, to be brutally honest if there shouldn't be American accents in RTW then there shouldn't be any English ones as well.
Bla bla bla. Keep typing. American accents ruined RTW. Face it.
Well, I assume those speeches sit somewhere on the hard disk in some sort of audio format files and are assembled together at runtime. Here is a challenge to the modding community, let’s find someone who speaks perfect Latin with the right Roman accent and do the speeches right as they were supposed to be.
Finding someone who speaks accurate ancient Gaelic would prove to be more difficult though.
- barvaz
Mr. Juice
10-13-2004, 20:52
Oh no! A well thought out arguement to my posts! I don't know what to do! There. Fixed it for you.
~;)
When we are speaking English portraying ancient races we speak with a classical English accent....it's just what's done. Not a distinct american accent with a flimsy pretense of englishness drawn over it where the voice actor in question has maybe seen prince charles on TV once. We do not go "Yes sir move out yeeha go get em boys" like command and freaking conquer!
Anyone who thinks otherwise is american.
When we are speaking English portraying ancient races we speak with a classical English accent....it's just what's done. Not a distinct american accent with a flimsy pretense of englishness drawn over it where the voice actor in question has maybe seen prince charles on TV once. We do not go "Yes sir move out yeeha go get em boys" like command and freaking conquer!
Anyone who thinks otherwise is american.
I am not American, I don’t like much the voice that is used in the speeches (although the idea itself is brilliant and implemented relatively well) and I still think your arguments are….hmmm…what are your arguments?
The language and accent are totally misplaced and not authentic so what difference does it make if it is American English not authentic or Classic English not authentic (or German or Spanish or whatever)?
The publisher of this game is American, targeting a market consists of US being the single country with most customers, what did you expect the voice acting to be?
- barvaz
crazyviking03
10-13-2004, 21:25
and where are you from, GFX707?
Colovion
10-13-2004, 21:25
Some American accents can be alright - but I guess teh British accents in Spartacus and other movies have made me think that English Accents are more austere and regal than the American accents. American accents are just not well respected as being upper class because of this ingrained thought pattern.
Regardless, I'd rather have a British Accent for my Roman Troops.
When we are speaking English portraying ancient races we speak with a classical English accent....it's just what's done. Not a distinct american accent with a flimsy pretense of englishness drawn over it where the voice actor in question has maybe seen prince charles on TV once. We do not go "Yes sir move out yeeha go get em boys" like command and freaking conquer!
Anyone who thinks otherwise is american.
Better not let Mom & Dad catch you on the computer at this late hour... ~:rolleyes:
When we are speaking English portraying ancient races we speak with a classical English accent....it's just what's done.
It wouldn't be better to use an Italian or Greek accent speaking English? You make no sense.
The battle speeches are far better than I thought they'd be. When I heard about the idea, I thought it could not work but it does. Like Froggbeastegg says, they are sometimes very appropriate and generally fit well. Sometimes they are laugh out loud funny. I'm not sure I would criticise the voice acting too much - yes, it's not Patrick Stewart or John Hurt but it's fine. My generals tend to open with the line "You know me - a true Roman of the old school..." and it gives me a lift.
OT: I think Viggo Mortensen was fine in Return of the King. His speech before the Blackgate was very well delivered - "There may come a day when the courage of men will fail..." - and was the standout piece in the trailer. In the actual movie, I preferred Bernard Hill's "Ride to ruin and the world's end" speech - rather like a John Prescott speech at a Labour Party conference, it had a raw power that cannot be reproduced when written down.
It wouldn't be better to use an Italian or Greek accent speaking English? You make no sense.
My thoughts exactly. The fact is we don't know what an ancient Roman would sound like speaking English. Probably like Yoda is my guess, at least regarding sentence structure. "Around the survivers a perimeter create!"
I am not American, I don’t like much the voice that is used in the speeches (although the idea itself is brilliant and implemented relatively well) and I still think your arguments are….hmmm…what are your arguments?
The language and accent are totally misplaced and not authentic so what difference does it make if it is American English not authentic or Classic English not authentic (or German or Spanish or whatever)?
The publisher of this game is American, targeting a market consists of US being the single country with most customers, what did you expect the voice acting to be?
- barvaz
Fine. They may as well have lightsabres.
Better not let Mom & Dad catch you on the computer at this late hour... ~:rolleyes:
Wow a default insult! How generic.
Think up your own "wit".
It wouldn't be better to use an Italian or Greek accent speaking English? You make no sense.
Well yes it would, but you obviously haven't listened to the Greek general in the game.... ~;)
The battle speeches are far better than I thought they'd be. When I heard about the idea, I thought it could not work but it does. Like Froggbeastegg says, they are sometimes very appropriate and generally fit well. Sometimes they are laugh out loud funny. I'm not sure I would criticise the voice acting too much - yes, it's not Patrick Stewart or John Hurt but it's fine. My generals tend to open with the line "You know me - a true Roman of the old school..." and it gives me a lift.
OT: I think Viggo Mortensen was fine in Return of the King. His speech before the Blackgate was very well delivered - "There may come a day when the courage of men will fail..." - and was the standout piece in the trailer. In the actual movie, I preferred Bernard Hill's "Ride to ruin and the world's end" speech - rather like a John Prescott speech at a Labour Party conference, it had a raw power that cannot be reproduced when written done.
Theoden's speech was great (apart from riding around going "RIDE NOW! RIDE NOW!" when all his men are like "Yeah we would if youd STOP RIDING AROUND IN FRONT OF US YOU STUPID OLD MAN") but Aragorn's was too negative and gloomy and not very uplifting really. I mean it was all like bla bla bla and the age of men comes CRASHING DOWN and if it was me I'd have turned around and walked home.
Wow a default insult! How generic.
Think up your own "wit".
After a post like this...
Anyone who thinks otherwise is american.
Why would anyone bother?
Fine. They may as well have lightsabres.
Trust me, they would have if Activision believed it would bring significantly more sold copies ~;)
Gregoshi
10-13-2004, 22:19
Okay, can we stop with the bickering? As is usually the case, it comes down to individual preferences in matters such as these. So, there is little point in continuing beyond stating your preference.
Let's try to be civil. If anything it means we don't have to read your "comebacks".
Theoden's speech was great (apart from riding around going "RIDE NOW! RIDE NOW!" when all his men are like "Yeah we would if youd STOP RIDING AROUND IN FRONT OF US YOU STUPID OLD MAN") but Aragorn's was too negative and gloomy and not very uplifting really. I mean it was all like bla bla bla and the age of men comes CRASHING DOWN and if it was me I'd have turned around and walked home.
If you'd carried on listening after the line about the age of men coming crashing down, you'd here him add "but it is not this day!". It was a very good speech. Besides, the only thing you originally critisised was the line he says that goes "Let the lord of the black gate come forth!" and you're right, he does sound quasi-Irish when he said that one line. But come on, it's just one line, and it's not that bad at all. Oh, and Theoden didn't literally mean "ride now and crush me under your hooves at this very instant". Obviously. ~D
Oh, and as for the American accents in the game: generally, they're fine. I've had the odd silly one like "Out of moves! Sir!" and things like that when they sound like they belong in the armed forces of this day and age, but apart from that it's fine, really.
Everyone loves the STW whipped dog line. Nobody is ever going to do one better than that in any game, Total War or not. :bow:
Whomever wrote that line and whomever read it out deserve a medal. Or perhaps a pint. ~:cheers:
I'd also like to add that the speeches in RTW are very well done. They're funny, inspiring, useful, and just plain odd/dull when they're supposed to be. They reflect many factors of the game and I think it was a very well executed idea, highly original too!
HicRic, 90% of the speech was negative doom and gloom and for anyone to have thought that merely sticking "aha but not this day" on the end was going to inspire thousands of men to die for him is kind of silly....
Also Viggo Wiggo slips a lot when saying "lord" etc. i.e when talking to Boromir as he is dying....beats me why they didn't just pay some English no-namers less to play the parts better....
anyway back on topic, I think the speeches themselves are great, and a new feature that I totally love.
Indylavi
10-13-2004, 22:39
This is a good site of the history of English
http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm
If you’re being so picky on sounds of accents than you'll notice that this "classical" English accent is just as wrong as an American accent, especially for the time of Rome. It should be a Celtic accent if anything else. There is a nice downloadable WAV file on that site of what English would sound like in about 500AD
All in all the accents don't really bother me. If we go for true historical accuracy or even close accuracy most people wouldn't understand a single word said. ~:)
Because English no-namers wouldn't play the parts better, they'd just pronounce some words differently. ~;) Viggo is a good actor, I felt.
I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on the point of the speech-I found it inspiring, you didn't. Fair enough. :bow:
A good point about not understanding there, Indylavi, but in MTW most of the unit shouts and things like that were in languages appropriate to the time (I think. At least, I didn't understand them!) So a fair point might be to ask why this didn't happen in RTW. And a good counter point would still be the one you made-that people can understand them when they're in english. ~;)
Indylavi
10-13-2004, 22:54
Money is usually the reason for things not being added into a game. Would it have been better? Perhaps, but voice actors cost money and good voice actors cost even more money ~:) To be honest I don't really care about voice acting in games myself. I don't even bother with it really. Voice is simply something I use to advance the plot. Feel of a game to me is how well it plays, does it very generally fit in with the time depicted and not so much acting. After all I have never played a game many times over because I liked the acting in it ~:) If I want good acting I'll watch a movie. If I want to interact in a fun way I'll play a game. That's how I feel about it myself and why voice acting doesn't bother me at all. Could it be better? Of course but I don't lose any thought over it
Steppe Merc
10-13-2004, 23:00
My speeches tend to be very sad... but then, I have never played as the Romans. (Yeah! Resist the Man! ~D )
They are all two lines, and all about gods and the enemy pooping in their pants...
Orvis Tertia
10-13-2004, 23:08
This whole American vs. English accent argument is getting a bit silly. The fact is that an actor from either country could do a fine job or a lousy job. And I don't really get the impression that the acting in the game smacks of Americans trying to sound British. There's not much that sounds British, really.
Anyhoo, I like most of the voice acting for the Romans. There's just a line here or there that sounds silly, but I give the acting a B.
I have only heard the intro movies for some of the other factions, and the Carthaginians have the oddest accent I have ever heard. It could be perfectly accurate for all I know, but it is certainly unfamilliar.
One of the obviously american voice actors for the Romans (the older deeper-voiced guy) is actually pretty good. It's the others that are terrible.
Wrong. The best way to ruin ANY historical game's atmosphere is to have americans do the voiceovers. See LOTR:ROTK with Viggo Mortensen doing the "Let the lord of the black gate come forth" in a quasi-Irish accent to see what I mean.
I'm sick of american accents where there shouldn't be american accents.
Since most movies are made in America, and most movies feature American actors, you've got one choice - you can stop watching movies :)
Grifman
Actually, i think most of the movies are made in India, but we never see them.
I find that besides the fact that real local accents (when possible) would perhaps provide a better atmosphere, this is an issue that only really makes sense if you are English... we others (non english speaking natives) are not as sensitive to the american/english accent, as long as is not too obvious.
(I do take some issue with the "aye-aye, Sir" from the Admirals....)
I personally would feel confortable with Classical english accent, as it has some tradition in representing Romans since Shakespeare... but that's me.
Lonewarrior
10-16-2004, 15:51
Fowarding this from a junior patron
Voice actors aside, I find the speeches to be a great part of the game (they should have been recorded in Latin, for the sake of accuracy). I think one of the reasons non-roman factions do not have as many speeches, besides the previously mentioned reasons, is that there are tons of records of Roman speeches. I recall having read that CA used historical speeches in the writing, and it would have been fairly difficult to recreate speeches from cultures whose records have not survived as well. I mean, what kinds of records do we have from Gaul or Brittania from 200 b.c.? Probably only Roman records, and they surely didn't record the speeches of vanquished barbarians very well. Then again, I suppose CA could have just made some up?
My personal favorite speech: one of my family members had the VnV "hiding from the world" which later turned into "unhinged loon." His crazy line was something like " the enemy are very angry because I have eaten all their bees. They have not tasted honey for many months and are very angry." Of course he's my best general, who cares if he's an unhinged loon?
I was also put off by the American accents with the Romans, but only initially. I guess I've had one too many viewings of I, Claudius, and I was expecting some generic Royal Shakespeare Company accent.
The more I thought about it, the more apt it became. Of course we should have the Romans talking like us. America may not be the New Rome, but we're the closest thing in the world today, and the accent is entirely appropriate because of that. And it's not a little sly of CA to make us yanks into centurions.
My only sadness with the voices is one imposed by the system -- real oration would have much more tonal inflection, varied pacing, and well-placed climaxes both of rhetoric and vocalization. The system they used of individual phrases strung together must have been hell for the voice actors, since the end of every bit must match the beginning of the next. Totally prevents real oration.
Hey, I'm not really grumbling, I just wish I could hear some hard-core oratorical skill. This is Rome, after all. It would have been interesting to sit in on the voice-over sessions, and see if they could have worked in more variation in the pitch and inflection of the orators.
And BTW, the Carthiginian voice sounds exactly like Borat.
Rome had an empire....america has....well the US. Unless you count McDonalds restaurants. Britain was more akin to Rome than the US....but this is a silly argument. Just pointing that out.
and lol, yes! I totally agree on the Borat observation
Jango Fett
10-17-2004, 03:44
can anyone send me a save file of an unhinged loon general? im dying to here his battle speeches.. please post so i can private message you my msn address.
One of my favorite lines is the one about blood. I think it is only said when you have the Blood vice. It goes something like:
"I want see blood! Lots and lots of blood! Let it rain blood!"
I probably got it completely wrong, but whatever.
Warmaker
10-17-2004, 07:22
I've played the Julii mostly so far (Dacia is pretty fun). I like how the speeches are tied to the situation and the general. The more powerful generals tend to have the better, longer speeches. The worst ones tend to have alot of uncertainty, like "and... ummm..." Very uninspiring for a Legionairre to hear your general say that as your getting ready to face off against the Parthian cavalry!
Accounting Troll
10-17-2004, 12:14
Actually, I think the Roman voice acting is pretty good. I've seen far worse in high budget Hollywood films. The actor managed to capture the arrogant 'Rome is best' attitude that Roman leaders had.
I had one Brutii general run away from battle and after that all his speeches included a section where he would try to justify his tenadancy to skulk around at the rear - I thought it was hilarious.
One of my favorite lines is the one about blood. I think it is only said when you have the Blood vice. It goes something like:
"I want see blood! Lots and lots of blood! Let it rain blood!"
I probably got it completely wrong, but whatever.
"I want to see blood! I want to bathe in their blood! I want to bathe in their blood for a week!"?
Warmaker
10-17-2004, 19:50
"... and let your battle cry be,'Victory! Victory! And glory to Rome!'"
I love that one before critical battles!
my fave general gives the most amusing speeches, one of his traits is "unusual" so it affects the way he speaks.
"i dont want to be here, but i have to, blablabla?, my mother told me to make something of myself, so here i am...(almost all sait in a mutter)" the normal speech bits then (my fave part "and a double portion of hay, *pause* to the bravest horse on the battlefield!" (here the romans all cheer.) first time i heard this i pissed myself laughing, i guess next time im going to have to record it, cus its just too funny
Kekkonen
10-18-2004, 08:26
"I want to see blood! I want to bathe in their blood! I want to bathe in their blood for a week!"?
"Now go, kill them all!" [End of speech]
Zatoichi
10-18-2004, 13:25
As I've said before, I like the speeches feature - I can't ever skip one because I never know when I'm going to hear another great nugget - I had another fun one yesterday - the general finished up with something along the lines of: 'We have many pointy things, very pointy indeed!' I wish I could remember these things better - I'm too busy laughing to commit them to memory...
It's a massive shame that the non-Roman factions don't get very long or detailed speeches. Ah well, yet another reason to make my next campaign a Roman one.
Kekkonen
10-21-2004, 10:35
Last night, cleaning out some rebels:
"There stand the rebel slaves. Notice the puke stains. Fear is not nice to look at, is it?"
(Not word for word, but that was the general idea.)
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