Development Blog: July 1, 2023

Sprints #28-30 have come to an end. This quarter we focused on audio, specifically gladiator Voice Commands. Voice Commands are quick 3 key combinations that activate dialogue lines for each gladiator while in combat or on Rome. Players can quickly press a combination of keys to communicate with their team, enemy or friends in the general area. Players will also be able to quickly press multiple key combinations to combine words or phrases to make their own. There are a total of 108 unique dialogue lines that players will have access to, and each gladiator will have their own voice. This quarter we created the script, implemented the UI and recorded our first 3 gladiator voices. We want to give a big shoutout and thank you to Andy Mack and Erin Lundquist who voiced our first 3 gladiators. Our goal is to record 2-3 voice actors a month and demo each new one in upcoming blog posts.

Think you have the voice of a gladiator? Send us your resume and reel, we would love to hear it! You can email us at careers@neutrinogaming.com. Thank you to everyone so far who has reached out, we received an overwhelming response of extremely talented voice actors and referrals. We already have several more actors lined up and ready to go, and are excited to share them with you soon.

Code
  • Implemented the Voice Commands window
    • Implemented a limiter to cut down on spam for voice commands
    • Implemented the script in the chat window as various lines are played
  • Restored the front-end inventory system to a usable state
  • Reworked UI window positions
    • Certain windows are now anchored reliably to the sides/corners of the display
  • Updated the Credits window, breaking down the list of names into more specific categories (Developers, Voice Actors, QA, Special Thanks)
  • Continued testing and troubleshooting networking functionality
Design
  • Wrote the script for gladiator Voice Commands, containing 108 different dialogue lines in total
  • Wrote the script for gladiator combat sounds such as grunts, hits, deaths and breaths
  • Created the UI window for gladiator Voice Commands
Art
  • Continue working on set dressing Rome
    • City Wall
    • Cemetery
    • Tiber River Bridges
    • Begun planning caves
  • Continued optimizing Rome, improving performance
Audio
  • Directed recording sessions, edited, mixed and implemented voice commands for 3 gladiators
    • Antonius Damos
    • Aeliana Cassia
    • Linos Diodoros
  • Directed recording sessions for miscellaneous gladiator combat sounds for Antonius, Aeliana and Linos
    • Getting hit
    • Attacking
    • Getting dismembered
    • Dying
    • Heavy breathing while sprinting
  • Begun in-editor volume mixing, this will be an ongoing work in progress as we get more sounds in
  • Continued working on the combat music
QA
  • Tested gladiator Voice Commands general implementation of the window, script, key combinations and functionality
    • Listening for line errors
    • Looking for typos within the chat window
    • Made sure all lines, voices and commands match the script

Voice Command Demos