Jump to content
Game-Labs Forum

Germanico

Ensign
  • Posts

    53
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Germanico

  1. Right now the game controls are not optimized yet, so BEWARE OF CONNECTED GAME DEVICES.

    Joysticks, Controllers, Logitech G13, and Wheels can all mess up rudder controls.

    I was able to simply reboot and got them working again but possibly you need to disconnect them.

    It presumably depends on the individual settings and controller's configurable profiles.

  2. The rangefinder will not come back according to the info provided so far. Instead we now have ranging shot (SPACE bar) - firing a single gun to see where you are aiming.

    There still are some issues with the system and the mouse is to sensitive atm - but generally it is working (albeit with a steep learning curve for new players).

  3. ASUS ROG G750JW

    • Processor
      Intel® Core™ i7 4700HQ Processor
    • Operating System
      Windows 8 Pro
    • Chipset
      Intel® HM87 Express Chipset
    • Memory
      DDR3L 1600 MHz SDRAM, up to 32 G
    • Graphic
      NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
    Got it running well on High settings with soft clocking. I could prolly tweak it out some more but am to lazy - as the game is not optimized anyway.
    Sure the devs will increase performance and DX support for lower spec machines once the releases moves nearer. Right now that would be very low on their agenda.
  4. One of the downsides of offering single player and/or player generated content actually is a very sad one: player abuse. This doesn't make these features impossible (as can be seen in several successful online games) but very taxing from a design point of view. Being a small team there is just so much they can do for the time being. There is a constant tradeoff in working with a few hands on a project of this magnitude and comparisons to STO, WoT and others are of for exactly that reason. It obviously may change with the success of the game but initially I'd be happy they finish the game into Beta. This has nothing to do with ability - simply with the fact that most game project don't make it live. This in itself is a great accomplishment.

  5. Walking around has no relevance if not filled with meaningful gameplay.

    Even the oft required "I wanna walk in stations and live the awesome Han Solo Life" feature has often been a total letdown due to:

     

    a) similar or even same settings and tasks being used over and over (repetition kills fun)

    B) nothing to do of any sense

    c) if something to do, see a)

     

    Much more immersive and important is crew management as for instance done in Silent Hunter or B17 The Mighty Eigth.

    Know your men, train them, care for them, bury them.

  6. Myths of the Royal Navy (debunked) - clarifying some important points about the "harsh life" on board (better ask about life on land...)

     

     

    British age of sail navy conditions in the Caribbean (Archaeology):

     

    http://youtu.be/O-GUqJREw8I

     

    Not a documentary but very enjoyable nonetheless: Hornblower Miniseries 1

     

     

    Addicted to Sugar, Tobacco, Whiskey, Opium (BBC series about the empire and trade)

     

    http://tune.pk/video/1074581/documentary-addicted-to-pleasure-sugar-bbc-documentary-series

    • Like 1
  7. Greetings to all of you good Sirs,

     

    from HM most important fleet port Malta, in the Heart of the Med.

    I salute you and hope we will see each other online soon enough.

     

    In RL I am:

    • an avid weekend sailor
    • owner of a 40 year old wooden Enterprise
    • a digital games developer

    in order of importance - hehe :)

     

    *tips his hat*

     

    post-5358-0-35893200-1415700619_thumb.jpg

    post-5358-0-18223400-1415700768_thumb.jpg

  8. The trick with voice FX for games with crowds (like dozens or hundreds of men on board a wooden craft in perilous situations) is to not make one voice stand out to clearly for reasons of repetition.

    Unless, of course, the voice conveys some form of information, such as: "All Hands on Deck!" or "Fire!" which clearly accompanies some form of ingame action.

    This then is handled as a command or order and can even be attached to a distinctive voice actor, lending the faceless crew some character.

    Commands in turn could or should trigger a crowd response such as "Heave-to, Heave-to!" or similar.

     

    As much of the game is spent "under fire" or in other "repetitive" situations hearing one man cry out over and over again would quickly lead to an "arrow in the knee" syndrome: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-took-an-arrow-in-the-knee 

    Imagine sailing your craft for 4 hours realtime listening to the same bloke repeat "mhhh... dunno, but this grog ain't as good as under Nelson" again and again every few minutes. Brrr...

    So we need a well tuned set of differing voice recordings for differing situations. Only then can the player really immerse himself in the ambiance of a tall ship.

    • Like 1
  9. Im not really sure I want to dwell on the human cost of these encounters. I'd prefer any wounded/death screams be capable of being muted/turned off by the player.

     

    I understand and salute your objections. Please don't misunderstand this thread as a call for violence. Though it was a very brutal way of fighting, my request is more about the commands and Orders interspersed with human "noise". Additionally there should of course be the already existing boom of guns and all the other soundscape elements. 

    Pain and screams should definitely not be the dominant element - just one of many.

    Depending on the system used by the devs muting specific sounds should not be a problem - though tbd at their discretion.

    • Like 1
  10. Screams are not so much of an issue as swearing and offensive language. In case of NA I would not be worried to achieve a 12+ PEGI rating.

     

    PEGI 12: Videogames that show violence of a slightly more graphic nature towards fantasy character and/or non graphic violence towards human-looking characters or recognisable animals, as well as videogames that show nudity of a slightly more graphic nature would fall in this age category. Any bad language in this category must be mild and fall short of sexual expletives.

     

    For the German USK it's basically similar. As long as the game doesn't depict any excessive violence (which it doesn't) that's fine. It also wouldn't be accurate in a historical sense to have the officers swear like common seamen. So that can be ruled out as well. 

  11. That may be a dream from my side but that would bringa lot of immersion to the action.

     

    It's really not an issue anymore. You simply buy some sounds online and stick'em into the game - depending on the engine it's as simple as 1-2-3. 

    Step 1 is to write a few requirements, step 2 is to look for the ready files or voice talent to provide online, step 3 is integration of finished takes. 

    So you neither need a large team nor a lot of money. What it takes is some writing talent (in our case the community could provide good assistance) and a small budget of a few thousand Euro/Dollars.

  12. Indeed. Good to see that this being addressed by the community. A looped Walla with guys caughing simply doesn't cut it in a 30+ Dollar/Euro game.

    Although I don't expect the full Bioware-Monty I definitely want some voice commands and acting. Been there myself and done it often enogh - it ain't as expensive as it used to be.

    We just have to push the guys for it. Most of the coders are not very aware of "emotions" and "language" if you get my drift ;)

  13. Having searched the forum and watched the videos on youtube I felt obliged to open a thread about the game's sound aspects. 

    From what I've gathered there seems to be the rather typical game-dev focus on graphics, animation and visual effects over the importance of sound.

     

    I would like to stress the importance of good sfx, voice acting and music to make the action come alive - at a much lower cost than e.g. added particle effect layers...

    Sound, especially voice commands and shouts, the ambiance of a wooden ship reacting to weather and wear and an adaptive soundscape will do miracles for the imagination and immersion.

    Players initially won't need animated crew under deck with physical dismemberment mode set to "on" if they can hear the effect of a broadside. Simple as that.

     

    Right now it seems that the majority of the on-board sound consists of walla's (muted voices coughing or talking incomprehensibly), bosun's whistles, bells and gun's going of. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walla

    Simply put: that's just not enough and it's not what combat would have sounded like. Where are the in-language commands being yelled? The calls for assistance, the orders, the screams of the wounded?

     

    To underline my point listen and compare these two - without watching: 

     

     

    Of course I am not proposing to come up with an audio budget to rival Master And Commander, but just using some of the acoustic elements will make this game come a long way in player immersion.

     

    Required Sounds:

    1. Yells, Cheers, screams (indistinguishable) single and group
    2. Orders: nautical, combat, encouraging, disciplinary (in nation's language) indiv.
    3. Shouts: similar to Orders but more emotional (in nation's language) indiv.

     Proven source for professional multilingual recordings at a budget: http://www.voices.com/ 

    • Like 3
×
×
  • Create New...