For crying out loud.

[Doodlebug]

For longer than I care to recall something has been annoying me on an almost subconcious level. I've never really managed to put my finger on what was wrong, something I couldn't pin down, until now that is.

Those dreadful British voice files. I don't doubt that the voice actor was actually a native speaker but oh boy! The more I hear them the more annoyed I get. I've reached the point of frustration that they sound increasingly like a cross between Mr Humphreys from "Are you being Served" and Norman Wisdom.

At first I thought it was just an intonational thing. The emphasis on the phrases seems all wrong and most unmilitary sounding but then I realised there was more going on than I had first thought.

Who wrote the script? Too many inappropriate modern words for my taste. Since when would a 40's Tommy say barbecue, son of a bitch, listen up or frig(!!!!) That's just to quote a few. There have to be others. I can think of better and more appropriate period phrases than that without even trying.

Barbeque: brewed up.

Listen up: Pay attention to the officer.

Son of a bitch: Gor blimey.

As for swearing the average Anglo saxon isn't that creative even now. A fairly limited vocabulary of two or three swear words used in differing combinations would suffice for most situations.

The accents are alright as far as they go but I've more than a sneaking suspicion that the officers should all speak with more of the BBC English about the voice. They'd more that likely be ex-grammar school, university or middle class types and taught to "speak properly" anyway.

And for my final rant. Medics??? Why the hell do they keep shouting shout for a non-existant person?The cry if need arose would be for a "Stretcher Bearer". It's basic stuff for pity's sake. For a game that prides itself on accuracy it don't half take the shine off things. For real immersion the audio environment is just as important as the visual.

[gibsonm]

Doodlebug,

I must admit when I was asked to do some Australian voices (I don't know if any of them made it in - probably all on the digital "cutting room floor"), I swapped some American phrases for what I thought were more Australian responses.

Having worked with soldiers for a fair while now and having heard their responses to some orders / situations I think the responses I used were more accurate than the scripted ones.

However not being a veteran of the desert (the military member from that generation of my family spent most of their time in a Japanese "rest camp" called Changi) I can't guarantee that my phases were accurate in terms of being current in the 1940's.

[ December 29, 2004, 01:45 PM: Message edited by: gibsonm ]

[Znarf]

So produce a mod - "1940's Vintage UK Soldierspeak."

Gor blimey, I'd use it!

[Macphail]

me too

[Steiner14]

Ah, Dave, now i understand, why you don't send your next turn!

And i thought it were my devastating Nebelwerfer barrage.

ps: take the time you need to recover from the shock!

[ December 25, 2004, 05:00 AM: Message edited by: Steiner14 ]

[Ardem]

Actually I don't mind the Australian voice scripts, they remind me those awful voices on those 1950 ads that we get on television every now and then 'As we were in 1950' hahahah.

And some of the expressions remind me of things my pop used to say. So my opinion is they got the aussie right for a change.

[Doodlebug]

Originally posted by Ardem:

Actually I don't mind the Australian voice scripts, they remind me those awful voices on those 1950 ads that we get on television every now and then 'As we were in 1950' hahahah.

And some of the expressions remind me of things my pop used to say. So my opinion is they got the aussie right for a change.

I only cringe at the Brit voices. The other nationalities sound fine to me. Perhaps that's because I can't understand a blessed thing some of them are jabbering. A little feedback on first language perceptions would be interesting.