Bis needs to make sound editing much easier!

[Dionysos 0]

I think it would be much easier for people if they could just select a voice from an extensive range of voices of all the characters from the original "Cold War Crisis", "Red Hammer" and "Resistance" then type in a special text box exactly what they want said, run their mission and the characters say just what is wanted of them all from the comfort of the "Mission Editor". This will cease many many hours of unneccesary stress and save the need of new sound tutorials to be written every five minutes and searching for pointless sound converters and all the rest of it. It could use both basic and advanced options for experienced editors, allowing to to (simply manually create voices by altering pitch, frequency and accent settings.) BIS must make something like this, it's essential.

[Placebo 28]

ME.

[KTottE 0]

Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard to do. Just re-code the entire mission editing system. No biggie...

Edit:

Oh btw, that was sarcasm...

Right now, OFP builds on a system where you enter the needed information into description.ext and stringtable.csv files. If you want to add a function/feature to assign/create sounds from within the editor, BIS will either have to:

1] Re-code the entire mission editing structure. Probably making it harder than it already is to create missions and scripts.

2] Add a whole heap of code to let OFP output the needed info directly into the description.ext and stringtable.csv files.

Either way, it's gonna be hard work to do it. Work I am not so sure that BIS wants to put into this.

I for one think that they should focus more on Independence Lost and OFP2

[Chris Death 0]

Dionysos - sounds to be a nice idea, but:

who would pay the developement??

I've never seen any game, including a mission editor, featuring

the option, you're asking for.

~S~ CD

[Kermit 0]

And there is a good reason why.  Have you ever seen a program that recognizes text, figures out the phonics, and turns it into voice?  The most advanced ones sound very stupid and very fake.  Weather radio broadcasters, I think, use them.  My old Amiga had a built-in one.  Trust me, it sounds nothing like a human voice.  It sounds very much like a robot from an old, cheesy science fiction movie.

[Edit: Spelling]

[Placebo 28]

rVoice Isn't bad, not perfect but as good as I've heard (obviously that depends which voice you choose, some are rather robotic sounding others are better)

[Dionysos 0]

"who would pay the developement??"

They put the mission editor upgrade in a big expansion pack (like Resistance, but just for the mission editor) So ultimately we do.

"And there is a good reason why. Have you ever seen a program that recognizes text, figures out the phonics, and turns it into voice? The most advanced ones sound very stupid and very fake. Weather radio broadcasters, I think, use them. My old Amiga had a built-in one. Trust me, it sounds nothing like a human voice. It sounds very much like a robot from an old, cheesy science fiction movie".

No, I don't think I have, but then again I've never ever looked for one. As I say why both looking for and wasting our time with difficult - to - use external programmes. Actually most of the computer voices I've heard are excellent perhaps even indistinguishable from Human. You're not thing about the standard Microsoft voice synthesiser are you?

And as for;-

"Right now, OFP builds on a system where you enter the needed information into description.ext and stringtable.csv files. If you want to add a function/feature to assign/create sounds from within the editor, BIS will either have to:"

Have you ever tried this yourself KTottE? It takes ages just to get a few words to appear on the screen. You don't think that that actually makes the game talk do you?!! All it is just a script for a few words to accompany the ".ogg files" when you make a character say something (probably the BIS .ogg files, unless you can make your own the excessively long way.)

People just haven't the time or the patience to go browsing the internet forever and a day looking for stupid speech programmes. They want something easy and accessible, but what's more they'd rather it was official, so they feel as if they know where they are with it, towards making "working" Flashpoint voice scripts for their missions. Not having to leave the "mission editing" "area" in Flashpoint will save no end of pointless messing about of very valuable time.

If they can alter the game engine so much for Resistance, why can't they just do this small thing for us? After all, improving the game is what we pay them for! I am certain everyone would buy another upgrade if it just made mission editing a bit more user-friendly.

[Placebo 28]

I would hazard a guess that only a small percentage do mission editing, prolly somewhere around 10%, that kind of percenage isn't goint to make it worth Bis' while releasing a mission editor specific upgrade

[KTottE 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Dionysos @ July 14 2002,00:48)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">They put the mission editor upgrade in a big expansion pack (like Resistance, but just for the mission editor) So ultimately we do.

No, I don't think I have, but then again I've never ever looked for one. As I say why both looking for and wasting our time with difficult - to - use external programmes. Actually most of the computer voices I've heard are excellent perhaps even indistinguishable from Human. You're not thing about the standard Microsoft voice synthesiser are you?

Have you ever tried this yourself KTottE? It takes ages just to get a few words to appear on the screen. You don't think that that actually makes the game talk do you?!! All it is just a script for a few words to accompany the ".ogg files" when you make a character say something (probably the BIS .ogg files, unless you can make your own the excessively long way.)

People just haven't the time or the patience to go browsing the internet forever and a day looking for stupid speech programmes. They want something easy and accessible, but what's more they'd rather it was official, so they feel as if they know where they are with it, towards making "working" Flashpoint voice scripts for their missions. Not having to leave the "mission editing" "area" in Flashpoint will save no end of pointless messing about of very valuable time.

If they can alter the game engine so much for Resistance, why can't they just do this small thing for us? After all, improving the game is what we pay them for! I am certain everyone would buy another upgrade if it just made mission editing a bit more user-friendly.<span id='postcolor'>

Ok, first off. The payment issue.

It costs a shitload to develop computer games. Not only do you have to pay the people that are working for you (and beleive me, they get more than if they'd be pumping gas), but you have to buy good and powerful computers for them to work on.

That, my friend does not come cheap.

For the original game, the developers often get advance payments from the distributors, or take loans for the development cost.

In the first case you would have to have a very convincing idea, and/or a nice playable demo.

In the latter you would have to be so sure of your game, that you know the earnings would cover your loan.

Now, for an expansion pack, the developers will (mostly) cut in a little on the actual profit made from the sales of the original game. An expansion pack does not cost as much in terms of development, since all the hard work has already been done. All they need to do now is add the new features needed, correct the bugs that are likely to pop up in the process, and make some sort of content for it.

But, they do also need to think about the next project.

What will it be? Do we need to hire more people? Do we need new equipment? Do we need to update our equipment?

and so on. If game01 was a success, the developers are likely to grant money for the development of game02, but these things don't come cheap, so I would suspect that the developers would cut back on any unwanted/unnecessary expenses.

This means that they do not develop shit if they can't be certain that they would at least break even. (Earn at least as much money as the development costs)

And that means that we should be lucky that we even got OFP:R.

And like Placebo said, on the whole there's not an aweful lot of people that are actually making missions. He mentioned the figure 10%, so I'l stick to that.

Now, out of those 10%, it is probably only 6-7% that are working with sound/music, and that means only 6% of the entire OFP community would ever profit from this thing.

BIS knows this, and that is the reason they will not develop anything like this.

Now, as for the other things:

No, I have not added music/voices to my missions. But I know exactly how though, and all in all, it doesn't seem like the amount of work you make it out to be. Just read the tutorials carefully, and watch how you type when you write your description.ext and you should be fine.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">If they can alter the game engine so much for Resistance, why can't they just do this small thing for us?<span id='postcolor'>

Pardon my french, but this is the dumbest thing you've said in this thread.

They have not altered the game engine in any way. They have just opened up their code, looked at a few places and said:Let's put these new scripting commands in here. And we might need that new landGrid setting over here. Oh, don't forget to add the dialog script thingy right in here. What the heck, while you're at it, could you shove a couple new animations in there as well?

Then press CTRL+S =)

Now, there's a lot more work to it than that, but they haven't altered the game engine, just added to it. Add = Simpler than Alter.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">After all, improving the game is what we pay them for! I am certain everyone would buy another upgrade if it just made mission editing a bit more user-friendly.

<span id='postcolor'>

Wrong and wrong.

We payed because they made OFPCWC for us.

Not all of us payed to get OFP:R (not saying that ppl stole it, just saying that they haven't bought it.)

I know at least 10 people that refuses to buy OFP:R, because they feel that the upgrade should be free of charge.

Now, if 50% of the OFP community won't even buy OFP:R, what makes you so sure they will all buy The Super Cool Mission Editor Upgrade?

(Again, to clear things up. I'm not saying that those 10 ppl are 50% of the OFP community. What I am saying is that a significant part of said community will not buy OFP:R)

Oh, and by the way, mission editing in OFP is as user friendly as you can get...

Now, in conclusion, these are all arguments that would hold up. But you are forgetting one little thing. This is all dependant on whether or not BIS will:

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">

1] Re-code the entire mission editing structure. Probably making it harder than it already is to create missions and scripts.

2] Or add a whole heap of code to let OFP output the needed info directly into the description.ext and stringtable.csv files.

<span id='postcolor'>

So, I hereby declare this argument closed. Above reasons should be enough to convince you, and if not neither I or the moderators would want to see this turn into some sensless, pointless argument where nobody is actually listening to what the other side has to say.

KTottE, out