Why was voice acting in old RTS games so special? https://youtu.be/PJ5s81NRdQE?si=AIyFWv44mzRzX_Bj
>>724218197because they repeated themselves so much it got stuck in your head
>>724218197Simple: tech limitations forced developers to invest into art style. A lot of developers were also geeks and fans of their craft and had gatekeeped hobbies.Also no women.
>>724218197It was a time when VA wasn't a thing. They hired theatre actors to do it. Dedicated VA's are all talentless hacks.
>>724218197Because most of the VAs they got for DoW 1 & 2 were the same team that worked on ReBoot, Beast Wars, and the Ocean dub first 2 seasons of DBZ. Those guys are based beyond belief.
>>724218197They really toned down the zealotry after DoW1. >>724218407They really went all out in VA. There was absolutely no need to have so many lines per-unit, but they still did it.
>>724218197Because large game companies still took risks. Now they follow safe formulas for success, and creativity is not on the menu. Too edgy, too divisive, too niche.
>>724218197Because you only played the ones with actually good voice acting.
>>724220826Nah I still remember a lot of them fondly. Stronghold. Warcraft 3. Red Alert 2/YR. Battle Realms. I can still quote them today. A lot of these RTS games also have really catchy music. https://youtu.be/6FgtlpuQqAc?si=nvMn5VbxKA18OjOp
>>724218197>?si=Kill your fucking self
Came from a basic need to know what's going on and to who which eventually evolved into quality voice acting being a genre staple. Visual indicators are nice and all but when you're commanding an army or a fleet you need an extra layer of info to properly tell what's going on. Granted AoE2 exists and is proof that this doesn't matter but I'd argue that's because that game is going really hard on visual clarity without needing to sacrifice having great visuals which is why that game is fucking timeless.
It's not just RTS games. The new woke Space Marine game has unremarkable voice acting too.I can still hear Gabriel's and Isador's words in my head. Dawn of War was so special, man.
>>724218424>They hired theatre actors to do itThis
>>724218424This is the most correct answer in the thread
>>724218197>REDEEM THEM WITH SWORD AND FIRE!damnit DoW1's va went so hard
>>7242184242003's CnC Generals had like 50% of the units voiced by Steve Blum, and he was absolutely a voice actor already back then.Also the guy has way more range than i thought he does, i genuinely could not tell that pic related was voiced by him
>>724221450>>724222324Nah, plenty of modern VA's who can deliver lines with passion. It's a stylistic choice not to do it.
>>724222420DoW2 also had god-tier voice acting.
>>724218197Fucking love me some Dawn of War voice actinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb6cSEI1FLk
>>724222674I like their take on Eldar way more than DoW1's, at leasthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw7X7itUCVo
>>724222789Yeah, Warlock is prbly one of the best voiced Eldar units
>>724222789https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb6cSEI1FLkDoW1 probably has more lore accurate commissars, but i like how the DoW2 commissar is actually inspirational while also being a clear threat to the guardsmen.
>>724218197It was pretty much just Dawn of War that was like this, and it was because 40k was still hammy at the time. They weren't afraid to overact the lines.>THE GREATER GOOD IS COMING TO YOU FROM MY BOLTER, ALIEN
>>724218424I hate americans
>>724218424This. /thread
>>724224168The fuck you people on about. VA has been a thing since cartoons were being voiced in 30's.
>>724224241And they widely had a background in theatre. The VAs these days are specialists in "voice acting" on name only like how game developers are now specialists because they have "game development" degree.
>>724224410The first old VA that came to mind was Bugs Bunny, so I looked the guy up.. basically no theater background apart from some stand-up comedy.Second I thought of Micky Mouse, looks like the guy was a musician/sound designer.Third one that came to mind was Donald Duck, VA was a radio guy.Took a jump to something a bit later, Fred Flintstone.. voiced by an impressionist comedian.This ain't working chief.
>>724218197WE LIVE AND DIE AS BROTHERS!
>>724224881>comedian>radio guy>musicianAnd none of them had a degree in voice acting..
>>724225052Most voice actors nowadays don't have a degree in it either.
>>724218197>old RTS>Dawn of WarIt's not even that old, or I got old and didn't realize it.That being said, I don't really understand why people enjoy that game, the enemy AI was very poorly coded.
>>724218197They were made during the times when VAs were just actors who had gravitated towards voice work, rather than voice "actors" riding the coat tails of the few good ones due to union rules enabling them.They also tended to be cheaper and have less demands put on them, so you could get some concentrated great lines without breaking the bank.
>>724220826https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xngBF-sWsLg
>>724225293SNEED
>>724225171>It's not even that old, or I got old and didn't realize it.
>>724218197the vidya industry wasn't filled with amateurs back then
>>724222819>>724222789Yeah. DoW2 was the game that won me over Eldar. The voice acting was amazing there. Also, the DoW German dub is something else manhttps://youtu.be/knbZZ6qur-8?si=DdA_GMtzxn3oJe9M
>ELECTRICIAN IN THE FIELDhttps://youtu.be/7KRFcCNrn4o?si=bXDNgj453aNzYSW9
B O M B A R D M E N T
You can really feel that VAs back then had a lot of funhttps://youtu.be/aCR8xV7fb5w?si=V7dRBjAuN6K2IKo9They really didnt give a shit.
>>724218424i hate americans, companies and jews
In many of more "modern" RTS like SC2 or RA3 units often sound more like actors in a theatre than soldiers in the midst of battle, making the overall atmosphere feel closer to some sitcom where you could expect every other line to be followed by audience laugher track. Even the often silly lines from RA2 had a certain edge and a note of desperation to them.
>>724218197Since you would hear all those calls over and over again they had to be good or they would be annoying
>>724222986>>724226497Rent free.
>>724218424Hell not even off Broadway types. You get a theater actor that has atleast 3 years experience in just community center gigs, you'll be golden.
Any examples of RTS games with bad voice acting?
>>724222986The americans that made the games you cream yourself over?
>>724226813Dawn of War's soulstorm expansion. A lot of post 2010 RTS games really. Also CoH2's german, british, and USA factions compared to the CoH1 versions although that's just my opinion.
>>724226813starcraft 2Stormgate
>>724225293IGNORE
>>724226813I wouldn't say Battle Realms' voice acting was "good" but god damn it really got stuck in your ear. https://youtu.be/19j4rZQbjYw?si=fcsF1VGf8qj-R-c2
>>724226813Empire Earth
>>724226813One that comes to mind is Armies of Exigo, an old Warcraft 3 clone that was really bland and mediocre in every way possible.
>>724226813Total Annihilation.Just kidding, the only voice acting that is there is pretty good.
>>724226813st terran command
>>724226813Iron Harvest
>>724218273Nah. That's not the only reason. The quips in some older games are much more iconic than what we have nowadays. Cnc generals, bg 1 and 2, wc3.
>>724227863>INDUBITABLYGod the undead voice acting in WC3 was eargasm
>>724227863DO YOU HEAR THE VOICES TOO?
https://youtu.be/AgeH99j9ksI
>>724226813Warlords Battlecry 27th Legion
>>724227863>>724228417>MUST FEEDt. Naix from dota 1, going 0-20
>>724228417Played them for this reason alone.>>724228657No, but I thank you for the new shoes.>alright, I'm working, I'm working!
>>724222789I WALK THE WITCH PATH, AND IT LEADS TO WAR!
>>724222789It is a pity that the avatar does not speak in DoW 2. His voice goes hard as fuck in DoW 1.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbxAY9lmWdg
Writers and voice actors were allowed to have fun.Now it's all corporate slop written to offend no one
>>724226813The entire Russian faction of Tom Clancy's Endwar. None of them speak with any level of energy or urgency. Just calm badly accented acknowledgements without any personality at all.The US and Euro factions didn't have much flavor either but they at least reacted to the fight. Russians were the worst and least cared for in the VA department by a mile and that's saying a lot.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOLb2tc_8d8
>>724229407I forgot to add but this game fucking sucked.
>>724218424What an odd thing to think.
DO YOU HEAR THE VOICES TOO
Face defeat at the hands of your betters.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HYidC-zg9Q
>>724231787Gorgutz was the unquestioned king of the bants in dark crusade
>>724231787>>724231845>>724231917What a slut
>>724218424HOLY FUCK THIS MAKES SENSE!
>>724218197>Why was voice acting in old RTS games so special?it wasn't. it was special in Dawn of War though because it was 1) hammy but also very well done 2) few lines which means more repetitive which means it gets stuck in your head
Dreadnoughts are the one unit i love the most>"I will endure a thousand deaths before i yieldGod ddamn
>>724218197I READ YA... SIR
Naïve child.
>>724231917why eldar like this
Necron board buddy, leave with your gayass eldar
>>724232180Genuinely what the fuck was his problem?
>>724232727Post your sexist Necron
>>724232942chewed up regularly during training.
>>724218197it wasn't, you're just autistic.
>>724218197It was all whites.
