[Lewis B]

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the delay in publishing this interview, I was just waiting on ArenaNet approval. I hope you enjoy it! Bobby is a really great guy.

Exclusive Interview: ArenaNet's Bobby Stein

Lewis B

[Romanator0]

Great read as usual. Can't wait to see what the finished cutscenes look like.

[xXx87]

Awesome Bobby!Thx to will make this game greatest!

[SunRoamer]

Great read Lewis, good to know how they want to change things up and improve those cinematics. Great job!

[Trise]

Very nice, Lewis. I especially liked the part about the voice acting :). But seriously, excellent questions and some very interesting answers. I'm a little disappointed about no voice selection, but when they put it that way, I understand. One really good voiceover is preferable to half a dozen bad ones. Also, big props to ArenaNet for weighting VO feedback according to whether or not the person has actually experienced the context. Sometimes the individual lines of random NPC's just don't make sense on their own, but all together it works.

Eagerly awaiting the new sync in the conversation scenes, but there's one other nagging question... I understand about not creating large FMV or animated artwork scenes, but will Guild Wars 2 feature in-world scenes such as Guild Wars 1 had, preferably within instances so the "minor details" wouldn't be too much of a problem? or will all important conversations take place in the same format?

Thank you Lewis for asking, and thanks Bobby for answering. Both of you keep up the good work! :)

[Geikamir]

Glad to hear there has been a lot of rerecording done and that the animators are working on syncing. All great news.

[Baktwerel]

Great interview! I'm a bit sad about not having a choice to pick our character's voice but I expected it to be a lot of work already, so I am not complaining. As others have commented, if they improve on the animations and the syncing, it will be even more awesome. Looking forward to the final version!

As a side note, I wonder if there will be introductionary videos (like the ones about the German and English voices of Destiny's Edge) about the 10 people who will be acting for your characters. How they liked voice acting so far, how they try to make us feel like a hero through their acting, any fun moments etc.

[sircusa]

A very good interview. It touches on important details no one hasn't really asked much as of late and is generally the biggest problems the game currently has. (I mean cutscenes, the voices are perfectly fine to me) Unfortunate that we don't get to select a voice but then again I didn't really care too much.

Probably should've left that bit in the brackets about SWTOR, baiting people is bad =P

[Cloudpiercer]

I can't wait to see the new animations for the cut scenes. The animation bothered me a lot more than the actual voices. I don't expect to much though as this just boils down to you talking to a person, a task that would usually involve you and 20 other people crowded around an npc. I have no idea how they plan on recording all that voice work in so many different languages.

[SebaZ]

If they can get facial animations that are as good as SWTOR's in the game, then I won't have any more complaints about the cutscenes. Even if they leave most of the cheesy voice acting as it is, which seems to be the case.

[SunRoamer]

Trise said:

Eagerly awaiting the new sync in the conversation scenes, but there's one other nagging question... I understand about not creating large FMV or animated artwork scenes, but will Guild Wars 2 feature in-world scenes such as Guild Wars 1 had, preferably within instances so the "minor details" wouldn't be too much of a problem? or will all important conversations take place in the same format?

So far I think nothing is indicating that GW2 will feature in-world scenes like GW1 had, at least not in the same magnitude. BUT we have seen some small cinematics, such as when you defeat one of the big bosses at the end of the personal story, for instance.
However in all the story playthroughs I have seen I think this was the only actual cinematic... most of the story and conversation play out in the game itself. Also, killing big baddies like the Shatterer or Tequatl results in them dying in a rather spectacular manner, however this is presented entirely within the actual gameplay and not through cinematics. (though for the big boss battles a dev recently said that they are thinking about changing the in game camera so the boss seems to be more present. I guess they will do this by simply locking the camera onto the boss, as it is done in many singleplayer games)

So, all in all: Some of the important, and more lengthy, conversations will be presented through the cutscenes we already know from all the gameplay vids. There are some ingame cinematics like in GW1, but they are used to a lesser extent then in GW1. Most of the story progression and occurences happening in the world will be presented through gameplay, not cutscenes.

[unraveled]

Great article Lewis, thank you.

Just one teeny little thing. Well, two actually.

Quote

Is there anything your still not happy with, that your able to share with us?

you're*

Sorry ;)

[Lewis B]

Curse your keen eye unraveled! ;) it's been through Tap and ArenaNet! :) thanks for highlighting :D

[Trise]

SunRoamer said:

So far I think nothing is indicating that GW2 will feature in-world scenes like GW1 had, at least not in the same magnitude. BUT we have seen some small cinematics, such as when you defeat one of the big bosses at the end of the personal story, for instance.
However in all the story playthroughs I have seen I think this was the only actual cinematic... most of the story and conversation play out in the game itself. Also, killing big baddies like the Shatterer or Tequatl results in them dying in a rather spectacular manner, however this is presented entirely within the actual gameplay and not through cinematics. (though for the big boss battles a dev recently said that they are thinking about changing the in game camera so the boss seems to be more present. I guess they will do this by simply locking the camera onto the boss, as it is done in many singleplayer games)

So, all in all: Some of the important, and more lengthy, conversations will be presented through the cutscenes we already know from all the gameplay vids. There are some ingame cinematics like in GW1, but they are used to a lesser extent then in GW1. Most of the story progression and occurences happening in the world will be presented through gameplay, not cutscenes.

Guild Wars 1 scenes had coordinated movements of all the involved characters, like actors in a scene, not just a single enemy. I won't be disappointed if that isn't in the game, but I think it would be cool if it was.

Sabrewolf appeared to capture one such scene in his demo experience from PAX East (but was immediately overshadowed by conversation scenes), and 4thVariety's footage from Gamescom implies that some scenes will in fact be acted out, such as the arena entrance. Neither, unfortunately, directly show acted scenes, so the question remains unanswered...

[Kasama]

Great interview there Lewis.

It's always hard for sound guys. If people don't like the art or animations of a game, they usually just don't play it. But very few people will stray away from a game because of the audio, so everyone will have an opinion on it. But on the other side, it also makes for good feedback.

[unraveled]

Lewis B said:

Curse your keen eye unraveled! ;) it's been through Tap and ArenaNet! :) thanks for highlighting :D

Most welcome, and thank you again for a great article. I always look forward to reading your interviews and impressions - first rate every time. Ignoring the odd grammatical error :p

Very encouraging to read about the cut scenes being overhauled and VO continually being improved upon (within reason as stated of course). Can't wait to lose myself in this game :D

Edited by unraveled, 08 October 2011 - 12:57 PM.
added quote for context

[Twisted Metal]

Now that is an "Exclusive interview" :p

Nice work, Can't wait to see the final product of the Conversation cut scenes.

Trise said:

/Snip

I don't know if they will have any scripted control of your character past the conversation cut scenes, but they do have intros and cut scenes for dungeons such as the one for the Ascalonian Catacombs:



I think that tells the story really good.. better than the Guild wars 1 stuff IMO.

[Makovorn]

Thank you Lewis! Wow, I didn't know the news of the cut-scene revamp will come so soon after your previous GW2 article hinting at it. Pleasantly surprised :D

Thanks for a great article. So glad you got in touch with Bobby. He's such a great guy. :)

[Luckyman]

That's alot of VO! I'm excited to experience all the voice integration.

[Grit]

Great interview - Thanks Lewis and Bobby Stein!

While watching videos from the recent conventions, I was also very impressed by the Charr voice acting. They really captured the mood :D

[SunRoamer]

Trise said:

Sabrewolf appeared to capture one such scene in his demo experience from PAX East (but was immediately overshadowed by conversation scenes), and 4thVariety's footage from Gamescom implies that some scenes will in fact be acted out, such as the arena entrance. Neither, unfortunately, directly show acted scenes, so the question remains unanswered...

I know what the scenes in GW1 were like ;) And like I said, there are some cutscenes which are similar to the ones we know from the first installment, but they are used to a lesser extent. You only have them in scenes where you get physically moved (i.e. after you finish the tutorial, when you move into the gladiator pit etc), and they don't involve much acting.
Most of the stuff the GW1 cutscenes did seem to be split among the dialogue cinematics, rare concept art films (like, as a dungeon intro), actual gameplay and the occasional "we need to teleport you somewhere so we disguise it by having a cinematic"-cutscenes.

[Whiteraven]

Trise said:

Eagerly awaiting the new sync in the conversation scenes, but there's one other nagging question... I understand about not creating large FMV or animated artwork scenes, but will Guild Wars 2 feature in-world scenes such as Guild Wars 1 had, preferably within instances so the "minor details" wouldn't be too much of a problem? or will all important conversations take place in the same format?

We have seen this actually! It hasn't been happening as often as GW1, but it has happened. It was a wartower video of the charr personal story, he gets to the point where he's fighting his warbands legionnaire in an arena. The cinematic flies over the stands of people and shows your character in the center of the arena. Pretty cool actually. :cool:

http://www.youtube.c...0Lk0qQ4#t=1526s

Edit: Oh I've been ninja'd

Edited by Whiteraven, 08 October 2011 - 03:11 PM.

[Jeros]

Nice read on the interview, smart questions about valid concerns...but to be totally honest, I could care less about voice acting =/ Then again, I'm the guy that will read a 900 page book in a day...

[Gigashadow]

This is great, the lip syncing was not up to the high standards of everything else in the game, and so it stood out. Glad to see they have spent a lot of time making the level of awesomeness consistent.

[Nemi]

Quote

Tap: When speaking to prominent NPC’s during your personal story, the game shifts to a cinematic where your character and the NPC are placed on screen next to one another, surrounded by a cinematic black border as they talk. On most of these occasions the acting has been absolutely fine, but the animations (lip syncing and gestures) have been incredibly distracting. They fail to convey the emotion in the acting and as a result the cutscenes end up feeling awkward. How are you working with animators to ensure that the dialogue you and your team write is conveyed accureately and with emotion, through the animation?
Bobby: Much of the personal story is told through what I call conversational cinematics, with two or more characters speaking against a painted background. The current visual presentation isn’t final, so what you’ve experienced at the Eurogamer Expo will look different by the time we ship the game. Our animators and programmers have been working really hard this past year on a new system that provides lip-syncing in place of the simple jaw flapping animation that’s in right now. You’ll also see a greater variety of gestures that will be timed to the VO, as well as improved lighting. All of this will retain that painterly aesthetic that is the signature style of Guild Wars 2.

This is really great news. I share Lewis' opinion on the current cutscene animations, so this answer really lifts up my spirits in hope for things to change for the better here.

Beyond that: Thanks for another great interview, Lewis! I always enjoy these, since valid concerns are adressed and as such they're always informative.

[Yoh]

Great Read. Many thanks :D

[CharrGirl]

Great interview :3

Sad I won't be able to choose my voice. I personally think that our char's voices are more important then dozens of NPC-s but that's my opinion.

It will be funny to see how one default voice will apply to every character age choice. (old looking and young looking char get to sound the same?? )

IF they ever add more voices via cash shop, I'd be the first to buy it. For a new game, it's gonna be pretty stupid to sound like everybody else on the battlefield.

Edited by CharrGirl, 08 October 2011 - 05:33 PM.

[ilr]

LoL, sometimes it's not just the V/O, sometimes the Scene & backstory conspires to make the cheesiest moments ever


And yeah, really hoping Facial Vertex animations get the work they desperately need.

EDIT: Tho' I also hope there's a few unintended DERP-faces just for lulz....

Edited by ilr, 08 October 2011 - 05:50 PM.

[ibajiah]

Trise said:

Eagerly awaiting the new sync in the conversation scenes, but there's one other nagging question... I understand about not creating large FMV or animated artwork scenes, but will Guild Wars 2 feature in-world scenes such as Guild Wars 1 had, preferably within instances so the "minor details" wouldn't be too much of a problem? or will all important conversations take place in the same format?

You could count NPC's running up to you to shout at you about their village burning as an in-game cut scene :p

I am also concerned about the generic voice options for player characters, but this line really piqued my interest.

Quote

An actor might capture the attitude and essence of the race, but lack the tonal qualities that we’re looking for. In those cases we’ll try to manipulate the audio to bring it within range.

If they give players access to some of these options, such as adding sliders (similar to face details) to change base, treble, and pitch, that will be enough for players to create unique voices for their chars without having to cast multiple actors. Someone suggested this idea before, and I think it's an excellent solution.

It's really easy to forget this game is still in alpha sometimes, and most likely, VO isn't on the tippy-top of their priority list, so I'm sure everything Bobby said will hold true by release. If not, it's still ok, because as one Massively writer so eloquently put it, I'd rather have a great game with poor VO, then a game with great VO and uninspired gameplay

Edited by ibajiah, 08 October 2011 - 06:46 PM.

[Grit]

All-encompassing tone manipulation for fully voiced lines isn't something that can be done willy-nilly by the end user. If they were to give us tone options, each of them would have to be thoroughly tested by A-net personally to make sure everything still sounded alright. But that would probably be a lot easier than re-recording every line.