Demo yes/no? Speech yes/no?

[Dinonykos]

I think I have now finished 50-75% (incl. quests/events etc.) of a DC adventure. Now I am wondering if I shall put a demo online - or perhaps only send one to those who would like to test it. One question is: What does anybody expect from a demo? One Level? 10 Levels? 10 events? 100 events?

Another thing I am still thinking about is to include speech in the adventure. Would anybody be interested in helping me dubbing - e.g. by recording some sentences I would send to him/her in written form? I think it could be a lot of fun. On the other hand, since I naturally do not want to reveal too much of the story, I am not sure if this can work...

[manikus]

Originally Posted by Dinonykos I think I have now finished 50-75% (incl. quests/events etc.) of a DC adventure. Now I am wondering if I shall put a demo online - or perhaps only send one to those who would like to test it. One question is: What does anybody expect from a demo? One Level? 10 Levels? 10 events? 100 events?

I personally feel that one should make their demo just big enough to hook potential players. I would say that this could be done with anywhere from 1% to 10% of your final design, and it should always be the first 1% to 10%. I also have two other ideas along these lines.
1- The demo is not part of the game at all, but is a small, quick, mini-adventure in the same setting. I mean the kind of thing that can be played in 5 to 10 minutes. You can show off some of your graphics without giving away anything as far as the plot. Perhaps this mini-adventure/demo would contain back-story or what happens the day before the adventure begins or what happens the first day but told from the perspective of a shopkeep or farmer or some other 'mundane' character.
2- This is the method I plan on using when I get to the stage of thinking about demos. It is the kind of demo used in the GoldBox games. It is tightly controlled by the designer and only give away exactly what you want to give away. Here's a link to a short article explaining what I'm talking about and how to do it.
http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/uanews/nlhtm03/demo.htm

Originally Posted by Dinonykos Another thing I am still thinking about is to include speech in the adventure. Would anybody be interested in helping me dubbing - e.g. by recording some sentences I would send to him/her in written form? I think it could be a lot of fun. On the other hand, since I naturally do not want to reveal too much of the story, I am not sure if this can work...

I think voice would be great. But, I also appreciate wanting to maintain plot secrecy...
Here are 3 options that I can think of off the top of my head.
1- Voice artists would be the playtesters, or more precisely, the playtesters would be the voice artists.
2- Voice artists would only receive their lines, in small chunks (one or two sentences at a time) and not necessarily in order. (This doesn't seem too practical.)
3- Solicit the help of another community than DC. A couple of years ago, I was involved with a project doing an Animé RPG. There were plenty of people in the community willing to do voice work, but not nearly enough, so someone connected us with a couple of different groups who do voice work for games. Some people wanted money, but most people were willing to help for just the price of having their names in the credits and something to put on their résumés. I've long lost the links, but I'm sure a google search will yield lots of results.
4- (of 3) Contact a local theater group and see if they can help you - they may not have the time, but may know someone who does.
5- (of 3) You could do all the voices. I know in my DMing experience I've done many a silly voice (silly in how I felt, not necessarily how they sounded).
6- (of 3) Use snippets from online resources such as movies, lectures, sound clips, other games, etc.

[Dinonykos]

Originally Posted by manikus Perhaps this mini-adventure/demo would contain back-story or what happens the day before the adventure begins or what happens the first day but told from the perspective of a shopkeep or farmer or some other 'mundane' character.

I think this is a really good idea. Thanks! (The approach described on frua.rosedragon is also interesting!)

[Dinonykos]

Originally Posted by manikus 1- Voice artists would be the playtesters, or more precisely, the playtesters would be the voice artists.

Sounds good.

Originally Posted by manikus 2- Voice artists would only receive their lines, in small chunks (one or two sentences at a time) and not necessarily in order. (This doesn't seem too practical.)

Yep. I think it is quite difficult to do that, especially if the artists are not professional.

Originally Posted by manikus 3- Solicit the help of another community than DC.

I would have no problems with finding some artists since I have done several radio plays with some friends, however, none of us is a native speaker. So I wonder if - although I think we have a quite acceptable English - the outcome would be a little strange for native speakers playing the game...

[manikus]

Originally Posted by Dinonykos I would have no problems with finding some artists since I have done several radio plays with some friends, however, none of us is a native speaker. So I wonder if - although I think we have a quite acceptable English - the outcome would be a little strange for native speakers playing the game...

Well, if you and your group all have similar accents, it could be that one race or nationality, etc. speaks with that voice.

[SilentThief]

Not only that, but an accent might add some flavor to your game. My rationale for this is that the Dnd game is loosely based upon the romantic notion of knights battling dragons to save the princess (along with wizards and other mythology). To me, the knights and dragons translates to the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the round table. While there is no historic basis for King Arthur speaking like a modern day Englishman, it wouldn't be something that most of us Americans would complain about.

ST

[manikus]

As an aside, the tales of Arthur predate the stories of knights fighting dragons, which didn't start appearing until after the first crusade.

Also, the stories originate from different ethnic groups. The Arthurian tales are Anglo and/or Saxon in origin and the knight and dragon stories (I keep forgetting the princess, I guess you can tell which I always thought about more ) are French in origin.

[Arminius]

And of course you also had the Biblical influence dating back to the first century middle-eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. The imaginations of Christianized Europeans from that time forth were filled with visions of the armies of God wearing the armor of the Lord and wielding the sword of the Lord and doing battle with dark powers and evil in high places. This evil from above was sometimes represented in The Apocalypse [Revelations] as a fantastic Beast with the parts of different animals, or as a great red dragon.

And of course for the princess you had the 'bride of Christ' in the New Testament. This bride was the body-politic or kingdom of the faithful who's allegience was to God and to God alone. In the Old Testament it was the Israelites. In the NT it was Christians.

In the parables Jesus is the Groom awaiting marriage to a bride. Other parables depict him as a King awaiting the inheritance of a Kingdom. In both cases the parables were referring to the changing of the guard from the Old Testament administration and relationship between God and the twelve tribes of Israel to the new administration or New Kingdom and relationship between Christ and Christians [represented originally by the 12 apostles and the twelve embassies or churches mentioned in the New Testament]. Note the round table consisted of 12 knights as well. No coincidence there.

As for the Arthurian legends as we've come to know them today I'd say they were also largely influenced by the myths and legends and culture of European paganism as well. Particularly Celtic which is neither Anglo-saxon nor French-Norman but something older perhaps Pictish [similar to the Basque region of Europe which claims an older origin than the dominant European groups.]

Originally Posted by manikus As an aside, the tales of Arthur predate the stories of knights fighting dragons, which didn't start appearing until after the first crusade. Also, the stories originate from different ethnic groups. The Arthurian tales are Anglo and/or Saxon in origin and the knight and dragon stories (I keep forgetting the princess, I guess you can tell which I always thought about more ) are French in origin.

[Arminius]

Oh yeah and I too think voice is a great idea. I have been working on voice ideas for a while now too. Right now I am testing all the different text to speech software packages I can get my talons onto. I plan to experiment using a combination of text to speech software and lip-synch(chronization) software for use in DC.

Crazy Talk works great if you dont mind the tedium of editing every second of a sample to get it just right. It isn't hard to figure out how to do it, it is just a little too much like work for my tastes. lol. Then again, I guess so is editing graphics but I enjoy that. And maybe so is creating maps and editing them but I also enjoy that.

Most of the small text to speech programs available online are total crap unless you were looking for that vintage 80's WOPPER computer voice from War Games style. I beleive AT&T is at the bleeding edge of text to speech technology.

[manikus]

Originally Posted by Arminius As for the Arthurian legends as we've come to know them today I'd say they were also largely influenced by the myths and legends and culture of European paganism as well. Particularly Celtic which is neither Anglo-saxon nor French-Norman but something older perhaps Pictish [similar to the Basque region of Europe which claims an older origin than the dominant European groups.]

While some of the Arthurian tale may have roots in paganism just as Christianity does, it is very particularly a christian story, as the goal of the Knights of the Round Table are quested to find the Holy Grail.