A glimpse at my StarCraft 2 project. (tiny update 3/4/09)

[Marco]

It's been kept pretty much hush hush now, but I figured I'd let the 'old school' community have a look.  I've been working on the web site itself for a while, refining it, going through about 4 different versions until I finally have something close to an end result - a simple but necessary thing - a web site for my StarCraft 2 campaign.  I'm really proud of it because I haven't made a web site without Joel's assistance for so long.  And while the web site isn't functional yet  (its essentially just a giant placeholder), the basics have been taken care of leaving me with one less task to have to worry about come release. 

http://www.celestialreverie.com/

Of course, we're going to replace the artwork at the top, though still, it has a nice touch.  We're also going to replace the video trailer that is there now (which is just a filler) with our own video trailer.  The first trailer will be an audio trailer which I will splice together using SC2 gameplay and cinematic footage that is available before the game releases.  Audio editing skills has improved substantially since the SC1 era.  The campaign is coming along nicely considering I don't have a map editor yet.  I have the entire plot fleshed out from start to finish.  I've been adding to it ever since StarCraft 2 was announced and after all that time its complete.  I've only named one of my characters so far, finally, after a year of pulling his strings and putting him in dire situations.

Audio editing is also top priority.  I still have time to experiment, so I'm making the most of it by trying to refine my editing techniques.  The hard truth I've learned though is that for best results, each sample must be crafted in its own unique way.  This is also the first campaign where I personally will voice characters.  Day after day I continue to experiment with my vocal range as well as my editing techniques to come up with new combinations that will entertain.  Here are a few samples of said vocal and editing ability:

http://www.celestialreverie.com/android02-01.mp3 - potential voice for a generic artificial intelligence that will be seen throughout much of the length of the campaign.
http://www.celestialreverie.com/terran-voice-01-v2.mp3 - A voice for a terran inspired by a popular television show.
http://www.celestialreverie.com/terran-jackass-02.mp3 - A voice for an annoying Terran personality.

I have a few Protoss experiments that sound better than most of my Fall from Grace stuff but in my opinion still isn't the greatest.  I'll continue working on them and once I'm ready for some criticism I'll post them here.  For now though, I feel I can do better on my own so I'm not going to post them yet.  Well thats about it.  Nothing too major, just showing off a few things to what are mostly just long time regulars of the campaign community.  I'll post some more here at a later date.

[Lavarinth]

First.

I applaud your current state for your project, Desler. The site looks good and looks like it'll work well. The audio samples you supplied, I have a few thoughts on.

The first one, android, I found a little difficult to understand. In fact, actually I'm still unsure. I think he's saying "This is not an allowable (a normal?) arrangement, our alliance is temporary." Either way, the android effects feels more organic than mechanical. A little.. Watery, somewhat. His pacing of words feel too shifty, personally, for an android.

The second one. I laughed. However, also felt a little.. Feminine. Probably a combination of the pitch and the first few words. The effects are well though, reminds me of the Civilian in StarCraft in terms of the effects.

The third I thought was well done and can't say much more on. Same thing with the effect.

[Marco]

also felt a little.. Feminine

There isn't a thread on this entire forum that makes me feel secure about my sexuality any more.

[Inuyasha7]

ROFL I know you came out of the closet earlier.

[Frozty]

Wow, Desler.  The website is extremely well done considering the lack of actual material, lol. 

The voices were all done well, however, I will have to agree wtih Lavvz:  I had to listen to the android voice twice to figure out what he was saying at the beginning.  The effects on all three of the voices are good and feel like they belong, if you know what I mean.

[Marco]

Wow, Desler.  The website is extremely well done considering the lack of actual material, lol. 

The voices were all done well, however, I will have to agree wtih Lavvz:  I had to listen to the android voice twice to figure out what he was saying at the beginning.  The effects on all three of the voices are good and feel like they belong, if you know what I mean.

Wait... are you making a pass at me?  I'm so confused.  Hmmm, android clarity eh?  The effects took a while to work out.  I'll try to adjust my voice acting a bit and see if I can't adjust the clarity from an acting standpoint.  I'd hate to lose the effects.  That isn't some lame 'underwater' filter or something like that, took a bit of time to work that out.  =)

[Frozty]

A 'praise pass,' if you will.  Just stating that there is not a whole lot of material on SC2, yet, seeing as it isn't released yet.

[niGGa_Train]

Pretty awesome.

I agree with the general consensus on the android, the second one, I found to be a little lacking? it's too staccato-y, you know? the voice is phenomenal, it just sounds like it took a lot of effort to do. the jackass is flawless.

What are you using, Goldwave?

[Marco]

Adobe Audition actually.  It has some things which allow you to work with the waveforms more quickly than the other editors - specifically you can use visual graphs to adjust settings rather than typing in settings or always using a preset which helps a lot when trying to achieve a specific sound.

[wibod]

Pretty awesome.

I agree with the general consensus on the android, the second one, I found to be a little lacking? it's too staccato-y, you know? the voice is phenomenal, it just sounds like it took a lot of effort to do. the jackass is flawless.

What are you using, Goldwave?

Quoting for epic name.

Desler> How long before it crashes and burns?

[Lavarinth]

The effect on the android is fine, as always, it's the voice acting that makes thing hard to listen to.. Clarity is key. What version of Audition?

[AA7Dragoon]

Hey, not bad, Desler.  It feels a little bit like the old days.

With a similar title, will we be seeing any returning characters or themes related to your previous campaigns?

[Marco]

The android sounds really clear to me, but I guess it would.  It's Audition version 3.0, and I really like it just because of that which I already mentioned.  The title of the project, Celestial Reverie, is not of any relation to my previous campaigns.  There will be no Rond, no 7576, no Shaddox, whatever.  A completely new story with completely new characters.  It had to be done, as I didn't feel like I could salvage the old story.  I can safely say that I will never go back to those old stories.

[Maglok]

Most awesome Mr. Desler. After Oracle, you now show your up to stuff. I find this all to be very promising. How are you on scripting? Can't listen to the audio @ work.

[Marco]

The script is another story - I've only named one character so far and I'm waiting for more details on StarCraft 2 to emerge so I can get into specifics.  I'm sure once the beta rolls around there will be information pouring in.  It's really a matter of seeing what I have to work with, because I'm trying not to get too complicated with this project and add in a bunch of stuff I don't really need.  If it ever does come to that, it will be after the series has started and gained enough attention to add on some reputable and reliable people from the community.