discussion Why aren't more games voiced?

[spectrobb]

The NTL media games and daughter for dessert are the only games I can think of that are voice. I'm sure there are more, but I would think it would be a lot more common when you can use Ai instead of hiring voice actors. Is it because of the difficulty, large file size, or is it not something most people enjoy?

 

[Redyscom]

It's not common knowledge, but adding voice actors to games is VERY expensive, plus not everyone likes characters to talk.

Furthermore, no matter how advanced AI is, it still has that artificial tone that you immediately detect when you hear it, and it's limited to certain voice types. You can do it yourself with AI voice modifiers, but again, that falls back on the first problem: it's expensive.

There is a concept in production that talks about “doing more than what is asked for,” and it is also the reason why many AAA games are so ridiculously expensive to make, in terms of their retail price and long development times. I mention this because adding voices to AVNs falls into that category. It's not necessary, most people don't even ask for it, and many don't even like it. You delay development by doing something that doesn't even improve the value of the game.

 

[heroahoy]

I would rather have no voice acting than AI at least right now, it stands out way too much. Other than that, I would imagine people don't want to pay for good voice acting.

 

[spectrobb]

It's not common knowledge, but adding voice actors to games is VERY expensive, plus not everyone likes characters to talk.

Furthermore, no matter how advanced AI is, it still has that artificial tone that you immediately detect when you hear it, and it's limited to certain voice types. You can do it yourself with AI voice modifiers, but again, that falls back on the first problem: it's expensive.

There is a concept in production that talks about “doing more than what is asked for,” and it is also the reason why many AAA games are so ridiculously expensive to make, in terms of their retail price and long development times. I mention this because adding voices to AVNs falls into that category. It's not necessary, most people don't even ask for it, and many don't even like it. You delay development by doing something that doesn't even improve the value of the game.

Why not have moders make AI voice over that could be downloaded separate from the main game. There are already ones that add music and sound affects. I'm not sure how I would do it myself. I guess if there isn't much interest and most people prefer to use their imagination. Or other people who just skip most of the dialog anyway to get to the H scenes...

 

[Redyscom]

Why not have moders make AI voice over that could be downloaded separate from the main game. There are already ones that add music and sound affects. I'm not sure how I would do it myself. I guess if there isn't much interest and most people prefer to use their imagination. Or other people who just skip most of the dialog anyway to get to the H scenes...

So you would have to find people who want to do it, and knowing that it's not even something that people are looking for or actually want, there aren't many people willing to do a job that won't really be appreciated.

 

[Ttian]

Voice acting is not only expensive, it can also be a chore to find someone who can do lewd work. For most devs it just isn't worth the hassle.

 

[trc450]

-Expensive overall, it is surprisingly a lot work to record few voice lines (and do it well even as amateur) so even the hobbyist / enthusiast are not doing it for 'cheap'.

-Extra expensive if you go for multiple languages.
-It is quite hard to fit a character into a voice. Mismatches are common even in AAA games in my ears.
-File size increases a lot, though I still think it is worth it.
-For lengthy projects there is no guarantee that you can get same voice actor over and over again.

That said every voice acting I ever added to was worth it. Really adds to the character.

 

[naughtyones]

Most these titles are tiny or solo teams with a very limited or no budget, Any voice acting that would not make the game worse would be a large expense they can not afford.
These titles have episodic release schedules and frequent scene changes/adjustments meaning any time a new release is in the pipeline they would have to re-sign/get a hold of them to record there lines, this would also down the development cycle even more, something these games also try to avoid or they risk loosing interest to there subscribers or they move on.

 

[Mr.LewdRim]

It can be pretty expensive to pay for voice actors. Most sounds are royalty free ones.

 

[Yamirus]

To me sometimes voice acting isn't needed, in porn games having just sfx is fine, I also wouldn't play the game if it was voice by AI

 

[spectrobb]

To me sometimes voice acting isn't needed, in porn games having just sfx is fine, I also wouldn't play the game if it was voice by AI

It's not needed, but it adds something. It makes me much more likely to pay attention to the dialog rather than skipping it. I just discovered this game that is made with AI voiceover. Yes, you can tell it isn't real, but it is getting very good and I don't mind it. The graphics on this game are incredible, and the story is very interesting. It has a standard VN mode with no ai voice over for those who don't prefer it as well. I have posted a request to have it added to LC.

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[ObservantShadow]

Because AI voice sucks
And hiring multiple voice actors is a whole additional expense
Only devs that are making good money will be willing to pay for such a thing
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Love & Sex: Second Base

They've never officially released a full public game everything that's public is Demo unless leaked by subscribers

 

[curio]

Main thing is that theyre just stupidly expensive, especially for someone making their first game, or want their games to be free. Most of the money goes into developing the game with none left over

 

[sijas]

It's not common knowledge, but adding voice actors to games is VERY expensive, plus not everyone likes characters to talk.

Furthermore, no matter how advanced AI is, it still has that artificial tone that you immediately detect when you hear it, and it's limited to certain voice types. You can do it yourself with AI voice modifiers, but again, that falls back on the first problem: it's expensive.

There is a concept in production that talks about “doing more than what is asked for,” and it is also the reason why many AAA games are so ridiculously expensive to make, in terms of their retail price and long development times. I mention this because adding voices to AVNs falls into that category. It's not necessary, most people don't even ask for it, and many don't even like it. You delay development by doing something that doesn't even improve the value of the game.

i think the voicing in Chatgtp or gemini is quite good, but those can probably not be used for this

 

[Narch]

Costs, scheduling, preferences (Finding the right voice for each character can be hard and costly). And then there's the extra coding that goes into syncing the audio to the scenes, the toll it can take on performance and the increase in file size. When it comes to AI voices i'd say there's aways the fear of backlash and copyrights, like how old voices from TTS ended up having to be removed from some content, the issue of AI voices struggling to reach some notes and the extra knowhow needed to program the voice right

 

[AlBetGam]

It's an expensive hassle that doesn't add much to the profitability of a game. You're probably going to get more players who dislike the voicing than who like it so much they decide to contribute money.

(Personally, I've yet to hear a voice-acted AVN that sounded good. When I read dialogue I can mentally produce voices for the characters, and in every case I prefer this voice to whatever computer voice the dev is using.)

 

[SilentHunter]

You need money to hire professional voice actors. And it's a lot of money. Using AI for voice acting is the easiest option, but it would be better not to have it. I always turn off the sound in games, turn on one of my playlists and play quietly. Gameplay is more important to me than synthesized groans.

 

[eshkermene]

I remember there was a flash game, I think it was by pinktea, where it was just voice. There are dialogue choices that determine where it would go but other than that it was just one image of a maid and the voice. It was so cringy I really hated it. A lot of japanese games are voiced but it's fine because you can't understand them. If it's voiced in english language it has a "porn acting" effect.
Seriously, play any VN and try to imagine how it would sound like if it had dub. The writing in these is just not meant to be voiced

 

[FreddieManny11]

Probably hard to find people who want to voice porn games (god forbid someone you know who isnt as open minded finds out) and also you run into the issue of needing them over and over again across multiple years.

 

[spectrobb]

I remember there was a flash game, I think it was by pinktea, where it was just voice. There are dialogue choices that determine where it would go but other than that it was just one image of a maid and the voice. It was so cringy I really hated it. A lot of japanese games are voiced but it's fine because you can't understand them. If it's voiced in english language it has a "porn acting" effect.
Seriously, play any VN and try to imagine how it would sound like if it had dub. The writing in these is just not meant to be voiced

There is a reason NTL media pays for professional voice over. There is clearly at least some market for people who appreciate it. AI might not quite be there yet, but it has come a long way recently. If AI can be used to dramatically reduce the cost of decent voice over, I would imagine the option will be increasingly common. Obviously everyone has their own preferences.