Opinions on Standoff Episode 1 (*spoiler warning*)

[KillerWave]

I spoted something that might have gone overlooked...
in the mission where the shuttles land on the pirate base, after the mission is complete, if you send a status request comm to them, the v.o. works fine, but the subtitles say things like "need lines".
Btw, i didnt know Ribera Aerospace went that far back

 

[A Standoff Fan]

A few humble suggestions

I am amazed by the tremendous work on episode one, especially on the cutscenes and music. So let me please give you a few suggestions:

1. Actually let us see Mr. B. leaving the cockpit in the after-mission cutscenes.
2. A few extra ships to fly maybe in later episodes (Morningstar perhaps?)
3. You put up some nice efforts on letting the player make a decision during the Sabre pursuit, would it be possible to make cutscene decision (like WC 3/4)

In my opinion, the choice of ships in the prolouge is great: Stilettos are just too cool to miss them up, and the Gladius is IMO a joy to fly aswell. This really is a new WC2 with better ships, graphics, music and smoother control.


Thank you, Eder; Thank you, Standoff Crew
-an amazed fan of your efforts

 

[Wedge009]

Great work, Standoff team! But a few of my opinions on various issues...

Oh...one nitpick...and excuse me for being an aggravating nattler about stuff....it's D-E-F-E-N-S-E, not D-FENCE

In Standoff, we actually intentionally mix British and American spelling

I noticed that. I thought the inconsistency was rather odd - I'm not sure if there is some American even in Bradshaw's e-mails. Even more confusing was hearing Bradshaw (Pedro?) mix English and American in his speech...

On that note, I sure hope everyone appreciates that's a real sax you hear playing, not MIDI.

I did. That was great stuff!

I know of the way the guns work... but the bolts move SO SLOWLY.... it draaaags.

I have to agree. Guns on the Gladius seemed to move excruciatingly slow. Was this deliberate? A consequence of the modifications? I can't remember WCP/SO's guns moving so slowly, or even the guns in WC2...

The pirate 'ending' was a nice touch...

I was terrified when I saw the base exploding immediately afterwards. I felt it wasn't explained well at first - I only understood what was going on when I heard Spoons talking to Bradshaw. Was this also a deliberate decision? Dramatic efftect, perhaps?

I took the original MIDIs, and the first thing I did was arrange them based on the original instrumentation...

Did you change anything since you did the music for UE's simulator music? I thought they sounded quite similar.

In any case, I take back some of my earlier criticism regarding sample quality. The piano for Jazz's Storm Clouds sounded very decent. The music for the credits - was that one of your compositions or one of the others that were mentioned in the credits? - was great too. Also, the instruments for the 'mission complete' music sounded quite clean.

I think the major issue with the MIDI rendering is the percussion. If only you could find a decent drum kit, I think the sound could improve a lot just from that.

***

I appreciate the effort put into making each ship's cockpit unique, and I understand the desire to recreate the cramped view of WC2's cockpits, but in the end I still leave the cockput struts turned off. I found the game engine's habit of moving the cockpit with every manoeuvre to be very distracting.

Also... the HUDs are huge! Maybe I'm just used to the tiny HUDs which resulted from the high-resolution patch to WCP and SO, but the proportion of screen that the HUDs take is rather large by comparison. I'm guessing again that this is from the desire to recreate the WC2 atmosphere?

***

Oh, and Q: sorry to hear that you lost your sanity.

 

[Pedro]

I noticed that. I thought the inconsistency was rather odd - I'm not sure if there is some American even in Bradshaw's e-mails. Even more confusing was hearing Bradshaw (Pedro?) mix English and American in his speech...

I can assure you I didn't, I don't alter my pronounciation to accomodate the spelling. How I speak is how any Cheshire person who has spent 3 years in Hull and spends their free time speaking Japanese whilst attempting to mimic the accent speaks... there may be a lot of speech patterns in there but I can assure you american isn't one of them.

 

[Wedge009]

Sorry, Pedro, I'm just being very picky. You sound very English, but (and this was at 2-3 am yesterday morning) it sounded like you said "sked-jool" - as opposed to "shed-jool" - for 'schedule', and "loo-tennant" - as opposed to "lef-tennant" - for 'lieutenant'.

But that reminds me of another thing - I think Q mentioned before that you wanted to re-record some lines, but I have to agree that Bradshaw sounds a tad expressionless in places. Scenes where I would expect the most emotion - the revelation of Squealer's defection and Sparrow's appeal - Bradshaw sounded quite... flat. The ending scenes with Spoons sounded quite good, though. I can't remember who voices Spoons - is he Irish or is that a deliberate accent?

 

[Pedro]

I have never, ever, in my entire life, not even once, heard anyone say shed-jool. However you're correct I did say lieutenant, we don't produce a lot of TV shows with ranks and the majority of brits say lieutenant like the americans (probably mostly due to star trek, how sad is that? ), obviously my grandparents wouldn't but this generation is another matter entirely, hell my parents say lieutentant not lefttenant.

Quarto told me I was too emotional when I learned of squelers defection, apparently I scared him. As for sparrows appeal that was a difficult one, bradshaw wasn't surprised, he wasn't afforded the luxury of following his emotions. He was simply dissapointed and I was trying to direct a lot of the sentances inwardly as if he was attempting to convince himself more than sparrow.
The lines I actually wanted to re-record were the taunts, they sounded whispered and emotionless. I do have to admit however I'm wrestling with the character, I'm a generally bouncy character where as bradshaw has a lot of inner turmoil, voicing the comm officer in UE wasn't very challenging as little personallity was required, in this case I'm feeling as though acting lessons would have been of great benefit to me.

Spoons is definatley not irish, I have a lot of relatives over there, I have no ideah what would make you say that. I'd have guessed his first language wasn't english (what a wonderfully multi-national universe wing commander resides in, unlike say star trek)

 

[Lynx]

I can't remember who voices Spoons - is he Irish or is that a deliberate accent?

Do I really sound Irish? First Eder thought I'm a Brit, now I'm Irish.

Actually, it's a (sort of) german accent., though oever here the german that we speak sounds a bit different. If deliberately I talked to one of those Germans with my accent turned on, most of them wouldn't know what the fuck I just said.

Oh and those voiceovers from Spoons about that Gothri...were they stretched or something? Seriously, I sound like I'm about to fall asleep.

 

[overmortal]

That's not an Irish accent. I do find it cool that so many of us have different accents, though. It's just a neat thing to have so many differences from teammates and friends, but so few of them show up in plain text that you tend to forget them. Like, I have a very noticeable southern accent, and I've done my darnedest to get rid of it, but it still came out very clearly in Freyers. That, and I was sick when I recorded most of my lines, so I probably sound more nasally than I usually do.

 

[Needaham45]

Did you change anything since you did the music for UE's simulator music? I thought they sounded quite similar.

In any case, I take back some of my earlier criticism regarding sample quality. The piano for Jazz's Storm Clouds sounded very decent. The music for the credits - was that one of your compositions or one of the others that were mentioned in the credits? - was great too. Also, the instruments for the 'mission complete' music sounded quite clean.

I think the major issue with the MIDI rendering is the percussion. If only you could find a decent drum kit, I think the sound could improve a lot just from that.

I changed a few minor things between the UE simulator music and the Standoff mission music, but generally, they're very similar in terms of what I did with the original MIDIs.

Piano MIDI patches tend to sound the best - piano was the first synthesizer patch they ever made I believe and the one the probably gets the most use. Hell, it's General MIDI number is 001 - the first patch. The music for the credits was my arrangement and performance of a classic alto sax jazz solo - Harlem Nocturne... well... the verse from it repeating over, and over, and over....

I did write a few jazz things, but we never got around to using them for the prolouge. I was told, how sad is this, a few YEARS ago that we were looking at doing a film noir type thing so I wrote a few things down, but never ended up using them. That could change in later episodes, but in the prolouge all the jazz were arrangements and my performances of jazz standards.

I agree with you about the percussion. Certain instruments are very good, while others... not so much. I also think you'll hear an improvement as we go - my music notation program is only about 4 months old at this point (I finally got Sibelius... an industry standard program in September), and every time I use it I learn something new about it. Actually, the Standoff Overture was the first thing I ever wrote using the program, along with the rest of the Standoff music after it. So as I learn more about the inner workings and details of the program, it can only get better.

Oh, and Pedro - stop knocking Star Trek. I like Star Trek.

 

[Pedro]

Oh, and Pedro - stop knocking Star Trek. I like Star Trek.

I like Star Trek too, not that it can hold a candle to Stargate but its a sad state of affairs when peoples pronounciation is influenced by it.

 

[Eder]

1. Actually let us see Mr. B. leaving the cockpit in the after-mission cutscenes.

That would be so much extra work, you have no idea... I can tell you that it's not going to happen, sorry to disappoint you.

2. A few extra ships to fly maybe in later episodes (Morningstar perhaps?)

Since the player's carrier in later episodes isn't such a hot piece of machinery, it won't get terribly hot ships like the Morningstar. What you will get to fly are Rapiers and Sabres mostly. Depending on your performance you might get a few Crossbows too.

3. You put up some nice efforts on letting the player make a decision during the Sabre pursuit, would it be possible to make cutscene decision (like WC 3/4)

I don't think there's any way to do that in SO's engine... we just use a scripting command to make movie number X or Y play, and then we can't interfere with the gameflow anymore until the movie is over (or the player skips it).

In my opinion, the choice of ships in the prolouge is great: Stilettos are just too cool to miss them up, and the Gladius is IMO a joy to fly aswell. This really is a new WC2 with better ships, graphics, music and smoother control.

Glad you like it.

I have to agree. Guns on the Gladius seemed to move excruciatingly slow. Was this deliberate? A consequence of the modifications? I can't remember WCP/SO's guns moving so slowly, or even the guns in WC2...

I'm pretty sure it's the same speeds as in WC2, the apparent difference could be because the engine's AI is on afterburners half the time.

I was terrified when I saw the base exploding immediately afterwards. I felt it wasn't explained well at first - I only understood what was going on when I heard Spoons talking to Bradshaw. Was this also a deliberate decision? Dramatic efftect, perhaps?

Actually, we intended to have a dead-end mission in the traitor path where you would have to fight the Lionheart (and a different cutscene of course), but we figured it wouldn't be worth the effort. Me and Quarto don't really like the "Squealer set you up!" scenario which we ended up using, but ending that branch of the campaign how we wanted to would take too much of the team's time.

Also... the HUDs are huge! I'm guessing again that this is from the desire to recreate the WC2 atmosphere?

Yup, it was a deliberate decision.

 

[Lynx]

There's one taunt that sounds really strange to me, that female pilot one, "We've checked your file pirate, you're dead!" It sounds more like they checked his file and found out that according to the file he'ssupposed to be dead.

 

[TCSTigersClaw]

Episode1was very nice.Not big but very nice.I still play it and try to find if there is a hidden mission or smth.In the last mission you have to make 2 decisionsn1 in the beginning and 1 in the end.Very good.

I tried to kill Sparrow (she really pissed me off) but no luck

 

[cff]

Actually, it's a (sort of) german accent., though oever here the german that we speak sounds a bit different. If deliberately I talked to one of those Germans with my accent turned on, most of them wouldn't know what the fuck I just said.

I bet I would understand you <g>. There ain't much worse then a heavy southern Germany accent when it comes to ununderstandable slang. Except maybe "Platt Deutsch".

 

[Wedge009]

I have never, ever, in my entire life, not even once, heard anyone say shed-jool.

That's because the world is slowly, but inexorably, becoming assimilated into speaking the American language...

Quarto told me I was too emotional when I learned of squelers defection, apparently I scared him.

About the only sign of emotion was the anger in the line where Bradshaw realises Squealer didn't defect. But in the end, I guess everything sounds okay. Certainly the effort to get everyone to record lines and put them together in a coherent scene is impressive, and I don't mean to detract from that by being overly critical.

Do I really sound Irish? First Eder thought I'm a Brit, now I'm Irish. Actually, it's a (sort of) german accent.

Sorry about that. I've met a couple of Germans, but I don't think they sounded much like Spoons. Of course, each individual is different - multi-cultural diversity is a wonderful thing.

Like, I have a very noticeable southern accent, and I've done my darnedest to get rid of it, but it still came out very clearly in Freyers.

I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with Freyers, but then, I've only had time to play through the first chapter once.

The music for the credits was my arrangement and performance of a classic alto sax jazz solo - Harlem Nocturne... well... the verse from it repeating over, and over, and over...

That was really nice. A well executed, recorded and mixed live performance beats even the best samples every time.

I also think you'll hear an improvement as we go - my music notation program is only about 4 months old at this point (I finally got Sibelius... an industry standard program in September), and every time I use it I learn something new about it... So as I learn more about the inner workings and details of the program, it can only get better.

Great!

There's one taunt that sounds really strange to me, that female pilot one, "We've checked your file pirate, you're dead!" It sounds more like they checked his file and found out that according to the file he'ssupposed to be dead.

That sounded like it was used straight from Privateer, though...

 

[Tempest]

That sounded like it was used straight from Privateer, though...

That's because it was. We needed some insults that were for pirates directly, since we wanted our own pilots reserved for the cats (as can be heard with the kitty remarks against pirates.. it's too hard to give everyone seperate taunt lines for different enemies. Extra work, recordings and package size) - And thus, Privateer was out friend in that regard.

 

[Lynx]

Sorry about that. I've met a couple of Germans, but I don't think they sounded much like Spoons. Of course, each individual is different - multi-cultural diversity is a wonderful thing.

No need to be sorry, it's actually cool since that indicates that my pronounciation isn't toatl crap.

That sounded like it was used straight from Privateer, though...

Really? Don't remember that one...but it still sounds strange.


Oh and one another nitpick on Standoff. The particle cannon effect doesn't look too good. While other weapon effects like laser and Massdriver and Neutron gun look very good the particle effect looks like two color bitmap done in Paint. Make the borders semitransparent .
And the flak gun looks like a flamethrower. But I guess ther's not too much you can do ybout that in the SO engine.

 

[Ironduke]

That, and I was sick when I recorded most of my lines, so I probably sound more nasally than I usually do.

Funny thing is, the sound of Freyer's voice was definietely my favorite in Standoff. So please try to be sick again if you happen to do any more recordings!

Besides, did I mention I really like those huge cockpits and the big crosshair? I wasn't quite sure when the first screenshots were released, but in the game itself it feels perfectly right. Again, nice WC2 touch!

 

[Pedro]

Ok... I'm not too good with names but theres only one speech you could be refferring to and its the one where Quarto almost had me re-record because I sounded much too angry in his opinion... wait... are you being sarcastic wedge?
I mean I'm not proud of those voice-overs by any means, I'd re-record most of those lines most for being too flat, but that one...
do me a favour and replay that mission, a quote might help

 

[overmortal]

Pedro, I *loved* how you all but screamed at squealer in the line about "people died in that raid". That rocked. Personally, though, I thought your confrontation with LeBlanc sounded a little flat. However, I also decided to interpret it as a very heavy heart, sapping Bradshaw's strength to raise his voice. Some of your taunts sounded a little non-chalant. But, then again, I wanted to redo some of my stuff, too.