The voice of Karen S'jet

[TimeBeast]

Played the demo and it confirmed my fears. Karen just isn't the same. I can accept the old Fleet Intelligence being 6 parsecs under and hence a new vocal actor, but it smelled fishy when I heard they were using Jennifer Graveness instead of Heidi Ernest, and the demo simply has confirmed that.

OK, its all done you may argue back, and there's nothing we can do about it? Wrong... I'm just wondering if there's anybody else who would be interested in some effort towards something like a voice pack with Heidi Ernest reprising the role.

[Mongoose]

As i recall they did the same thing for EliteForce... all the actors lent there voices to the cause except Jeri Ryan, latter they released a patch that added her voice (which was a HUGE improvment over the terrible voice actor that played her)

[Retroboy]

Chalk me up in the "I'd rather that Relic and the fan base spend their efforts on expansions and more missions and stuff, and not on reprising actors from HW1" club.

To get Heidi to do it, you'd have to pay her the going rate (which I'm assuming would be over $20/hour) and rent a studio and technician in her area (which would be well over $20/hour - say, $50). Assuming it took her one very hurried full 8-hour day to record the lines in the proper context, that's $160+$400 = $560 - without being placed into the game at that point!

It's not Heidi anymore. Ah well. *shrug*

-- Retro

[Kheturus]

Everyone assumes that Heidi sounds the same as she did 4 years ago.

Let it go guys, let it go.

[Afoxi]

True, but the game just doesn't feel the same. I'm adapting to it though...

[JamesX]

How can anyone disagree with a Pirate Cat

I do like the old fleet intelligence better. The voice was more Melancholy - and by extension fit the atmosphere on HW, that line when she said "Kirak (sp?) is burning" was just gut renching.

That aside, the New Karen doesn't sound bad. Her voice is huskier. I guess they wanted a more sexier Karen. My Beef is the Spider Skull picture of karen on every message she sends!!!! I want the old impersonal fleet command picture back. HW shouldn't be about individuals!!! It is about a people and their struggle. But that seems the direction where HW2 is going, focusing on the leader who embodies the struggle.

[yian]

Heidi was great. The new voice is not that bad but it does feel kind of weird to heard a different voice from the mothership. I could see that they really tried to link the new voice back to the old one by using a lot of classic lines, like "We are away," "We made it."... and so on.

But the voice in the black and white storyboards is the same, and that's awesome!

[Skeeter]

Wouldnt Karen S_Jet from HW1 be dead as hw2 is set 100 years into there future... I know she is intergrated into the MS but she wouldnt last 100 years would she? If she did she'd be very old (lookin at the box art) id be surprised if it really was her and not a new MS core (should be replaced every 20 yrs for a newer model )

[yian]

Well, I guess they must have replaced her body parts to some long-lasting synthetic materials over the past 100 years to keep her alive. And as the nature of a woman, she kept herself look pretty. Hehehe.....

[Toolfan]

Yes it is her, apparently she hasnt aged a bit because of the ship. She is somewhat dead really, her mind is in the ship. You can really think of it as kinda like The Matrix. This isnt anything original either, hundreds of science fiction games, movies and books have done stuff like this, where some person is plugged into a computer network. And they never bother to explain why that person hasnt aged.

[Skeeter]

Poor women No sex life anymore.

[Kushan_Pilot]

I certainly noticed it, and I only played the Tutorial so not to blow the story yet, but I adapted and enjoy it. We're not going to get the same feelings from HW using the same actors, they are unlikely to sound the same, and obviously, could have been worse than the ones we have-Which are darn good.

[PenDragon]

we're all disappointed that heidi is not the voice of fleet command again, but we'll get over it and begin to love jennifer.

[JamesX]

Only if they get rid of that freakish portrait

[Mechcommander]

Agreed.

[Polaris]

I do agree that the new Command/Intel voices are not the same, in a negative light.

But it's not that bad. It's really not.

What they should do is change that freaky picture >_>

[Qwaar-Jet]

I dont like the new Karan voice at all.It detracts atmosphere from a game that doesnt have any to start with.But we'll live with it.

[Noir]

I think the new fleet command voice is just as good as Heidi's,Fleet intelligence's voice is another story...

[Qwaar-Jet]

LOL, yeah I know what you mean.

[artemis chef]

i played the demo and the voice acting overall does the job, but it lacks emotion completely. it's like this completely dull, lifeless voice, like a robot or something. that was a the only disappointment i had tho.

[Tangent]

*rolls eyes*

I like the new voice of Karan Sjet a *lot* more than the new voice of Fleet Intelligence. My goddess, I was expecting him to start breathing funny and saying "Luke, I am your Father!" or something like that. :P (Well, not quite. But still... I think of FI as between a tenor and a baritone, not a bass. *blinks*)

However, I will state this one fact.

The voice acting isn't as important as the game. The game looks good, so far. And the voice acting isn't *bad*... it's pretty decent. It'll probably grow on us.

[NovaBurn]

Yeah I have to say that the new Karan Sjet is ok, but the game just isnt the same without Heidi in it. But OMG fleet intelligence sounds like he doesnt wanna even BE there. Granted its a new voice actor, but the in HW and HWC both fleet intel had carisma and personality in their dialogue. You could get a feel that they were in control so to speak. This guy sounds so low key and monotonous. Although it could pick up later on.

[Steppe]

just one thing. a studio for 1 day is about 500 dollars. but i think if you buy y mic for 100 dollars youd be fine. but forget the studio lol.

[Steppe]

ok the new voice actress is different but are you sure its such important.

[DFrost]

Ahh what the heck. It's almost the same. I mean there's really not THAT much difference (in my humble opinion) although I was a little dissapointed.

[TimeBeast]

Well, my arguments for retaining the original actress are as follows. Firstly, continuity. Secondly, pandering to the dedicated community. I'm sure many HW fans would have gotten that much more of a buzz to hear the original vocie of Karen S'jet uttering such lines as 'we are away'. Anyone who picks up the game with HW2 wouldn't care, so would it have really hurt to do it? Thirdly, I thought HW's voice acting was superb, and hence if it ain't broke, don't fix it. A new Fleet Intelligence makes sense, but along the same lines, Karen should more or less be the same.

The only arguments I can think for the new voice actress is in fact most of the community actually doesn't care after all, and perhaps it was cheaper :P

[JamesX]

Karen is fine. But Fleet intelligence!!!! I am at a lost for words!!!!

Maybe it gets better in the later mission. I sure hope so

[Kedyn]

Originally posted by NovaBurn
But OMG fleet intelligence sounds like he doesnt wanna even BE there.

ROFL!

I personally thought he was going to jump out of my computer and stab me in my sleep. He sounds like the kind of guy that everyone gets out of the WAY of when they're walking down a cramped hallway, because he sounds broodingly pissed off for some reason.

But, of course, Karen and FI are professionals, I assume, and it'll take quite a lot to see the kind of emotional outburst we saw in Cataclysm during the fight with the Bentusi.

[Larkaan]

I don't mind Karen's new voice, and, really, the Fleet Intelligence guy seems to fit the role.

Really, the guy is Military Intelligence. A spook, as it where. He's going to be pretty quite by his very nature, not some boisterous fellow.

[AlbinoEskimo]

Also to point out that voice actor's get a lot more than $20/hour as Retroboy used in an example. These people will make anywhere from $150-$1000/hour. Now that being said a good voice producer(title?) can finish up a session in a day or two so the cost still wouldn't be overly expensive.
My $.02

[Freakshow]

agree with most everything thats been said here. the perfect combination would be FI from HWC and heidi as fleet command. the demo's gameplay didnt draw me in, what did it or me was the introduction with the original FI voice. i nearly cried. but the two new voice actors dont add much to the atmosphere.

[Qwaar-Jet]

I dont suppose the devs are going to enlighten us about their rather odd choice of the voice of Fleet Intel?

[starrider]

Originally posted by Freakshow
the demo's gameplay didnt draw me in, what did it or me was the introduction with the original FI voice.

funny, to me it sounded more like the bentusi's voice in the intro....

but oh well. personaly i dont think the new karan is that bad, in fact i was so busy playing that i didnt ntice much. but the new intel guy... IMHO switch captian soban from mission 2 with fleet intel. the FI guy would sound better as a captian IMHO.

[Qwaar-Jet]

"funny, to me it sounded more like the bentusi's voice in the intro...."

It was.Dunno where Freakshow got the idea that it was the original FI.

[Freakshow]

ooo, well i liked it better anyways, i havent played HW in a while, damn scratched CDs, but i did get HWC again

[Gyokuran]

I didnt have any problem with the voice acting.

[JamesX]

Originally posted by Gyokuran
I didnt have any problem with the voice acting.

Not even the apathetic fleet intelligence?????? :blink:

[TimeBeast]

I wonder if there's enough community spirit to raise money and make our own voicepack?

LMAO at the recall of the Bentusi in HW:C. Yes, Campbell Lane is reprising his role as both the Bentusi and as narrator.

[W0ps]

I quite liked the FI guy... although I question his thrustworthyness...

but what annoyed me is that everytime I click a ship I hear the same "confirmed" message, by the same voice. And when I click the mothership it's also way too hastefull... Like some woman shouting mothership in my ear. MOTHERSHIP instead of mothership.. I hope full version has more voices.

[SpinDizzy]

She sounds younger and more cute to me. I quite like it.
If you're talking about voices, theres only one line of speech that
deserves to be taken out IMO, that annoying.
Hit Hit! Damage Report! It's a perfectly good line to say, it's just that it sounds dumb how the voice actor says it.

[TimeBeast]

It's the demo... they skimped on the voices. Used the sound producers voice as a placeholder, I believe. I could be sorely mistaken and we might have to put up with it :S

[Skeeter]

Mod hw2 and replace the voices with standard non mission specific voices from hw1 into hw2.

If possible...

[operator]

Originally posted by Skeeter
Mod hw2 and replace the voices with standard non mission specific voices from hw1 into hw2.

If possible...

Modding the game? Before it's even released? Boy if this doesn't tell you how bad hw2 is...

[Tangent]

Originally posted by operator


Modding the game? Before it's even released? Boy if this doesn't tell you how bad hw2 is...

No, it tells you how GOOD it is that people are planning on ways to made new games out of it. That people like the engine to the point that they will mod it for Babylon 5, Battlefleet Gothic, Starfleet Battles, Star Wars, etc.

[Nerath]

It took me a while to get used to Karan's new voice (once I stopped ranting to the air about it). But, once I listened, I liked it. Not more than her old voice, but it was fine. It has a little more expression. I like Karan's old tone better, but her new expression and less monotone is way better to me. If I had a say and there was no budget, then I'd say get Heidi Ernest back, but with more expression. Actually, the new British-esque accent is pretty neat. I sometimes hear it when Karan talks.

As for someone shouting MOTHERSHIP in your ear...I like her new "Mothership" voice. Dunno why. It has more expression to me. He he he...

Fleet Intel's old voice was so much better than it is. His voice is so much lower than it used to be...that's much more of a change than Karan's (to me).

Also, I'm glad Homeworld 2 isn't as impersonal as its predecessor. The impersonal part of HW annoyed me immensely. I love single character development - and minor character development. *cough*Raiders*cough*

And I like Karan's portrait. 'Nuff said for me. Karan looks cool. I don't care how many people hate her mechanical and watercolor-painted look. Her portrait rocks.

[JamesX]

Originally posted by Nerath
And I like Karan's portrait. 'Nuff said for me. Karan looks cool. I don't care how many people hate her mechanical and watercolor-painted look. Her portrait rocks.

:?:

[Unknown Target]

One comment on the first page of this thread said that they might've wanted the voice to have more sex appeal than the original HW's.

Now, I am probably the only one who thinks this, but I am getting really, really, reaaaalllllyyy tired of games that, if it has a female character in it, they have boobs that could pass for Mt. Everest, and have voices that make them sounds like a porn star.

Anyone else think this?

[Nerath]

I rather like her new voice for its expression, like I said earlier. Not for the appeal; I'm female. Well, I'm an artist of sorts (I don't draw nude people, but I do look at anatomy to draw realistically), and I agree that the way they portrayed her chest is way out of proportion, not to mention that the breasts are too far apart. I'm not flaming Relic's art at all; I couldn't even sketch out what they do in their awesome cinematics. But, I feel only a little qualified to offer my perspective as an art-experienced person.

Yeah, I'm tired of sex appeal in games. No, I don't think her voice was for appeal. Maybe the breasts were. I don't know.

[Unknown Target]

The breasts certainly were. They used to be, not small, but proportinate to her body. Now she looks like Lara Croft.

[Tangent]

Actually, remember. The Hiigarans are not exactly human. So maybe their breasts (for the females) are further apart than human breasts.

To be honest, I far prefer the Karan Sjet shown in the cinematic for the introduction of Homeworld 2 to that of her in the Trailer, that had her dressed but straining her outfit. This one... well, it's probable she's naked in the core, which makes sense (if you need medical teams to rush in there to operate, you don't want them having to cut clothes or a skinsuit off).

I didn't think Karan's breasts were *huge* or anything. Probably a C or D cup. And remember, without support, they will hang apart. Breasts hanging naturally without support will appear to make almost a 90 degree angle in how they fall. It's just human foibles that have women constrain their breasts into an awkward garment meant to both conform to "decency" (covering) and also create an illusion of increased size. *chuckle*

As to how I know this... I'm not just a writer, I also do sketching and drawing. I'm not *great*... but I do know a few things.

Robert A. Howard, writer of the FIPL, etc. etc. etc.