What do you think about the voice acting in Civ 6?

[halfhalfharp]

The only voice acting I can comment on is Sean Bean's, as I never play with leader animations on

He's...fine I guess. I do wish there was at least some variety in the quotes, as it is I just skip through everything he says now as well.

Is there a setting to turn off the tech quotes? I'd do that if I could, then I'd be even less qualified to comment on the voice acting.

Yeah i am annoyed by that.
When you finished researching Horseback Riding, you will hear "A man on a horse..."

And if you clicked civic tree/change government at the same time, you will hear "A man on a horse...." again when you exit the policy page.

And if you clicked on a AI leader screen after that, you will hear "A man on a horse..." again when you exit the page.

I don't really know whats the rest of the line. But I just can't shake off "A man on a horse..." from my head.

 

[Martinus]

I think it's a bit silly to call the prerecorded, scripted lines in Civ 6 "voice acting".

 

[Katakanja]

I think it's a bit silly to call the prerecorded, scripted lines in Civ 6 "voice acting".

I'm not aware of much "voice acting" that involves anything other than prerecorded, scripted lines

 

[Martinus]

I'm not aware of much "voice acting" that involves anything other than prerecorded, scripted lines

Well, to me voice acting means dialogue and the like - not repeating short lines on loop.

 

[Katakanja]

Well, to me voice acting means dialogue and the like - not repeating short lines on loop.

Ok, that's a fair argument for the tech/civic quotes, but it feels a bit dismissive of the work that the leader VA's have done, regardless of what one thinks of the quality of the work.

It's true no one speaks back to them, but their lines are still intended to be interpreted as a dialogue with the player themselves. Furthermore, it's the VA's job to deliver the lines in a manner that conveys emotion - if you turned off the leader's subtitles and animations but left on the audio, I would still be able to tell you when, say, Gilgamesh is declaring war against me or being complimentary just from the tone even though I have no idea what he's specifically saying. That's voice acting.

 

[halfhalfharp]

Ok, that's a fair argument for the tech/civic quotes, but it feels a bit dismissive of the work that the leader VA's have done, regardless of what one thinks of the quality of the work.

It's true no one speaks back to them, but their lines are still intended to be interpreted as a dialogue with the player themselves. Furthermore, it's the VA's job to deliver the lines in a manner that conveys emotion - if you turned off the leader's subtitles and animations but left on the audio, I would still be able to tell you when, say, Gilgamesh is declaring war against me or being complimentary just from the tone even though I have no idea what he's specifically saying. That's voice acting.

Yep, totally agree. its the verbal delivery in both emotions (intonation) and context (language accuracy) that is called Voice Acting. And voice actors are those pretending to be a certain character in the play to deliver the verbal information.

And we are discussing how well the VAs are doing on both of the above categories. (And sometimes we off track to discuss their gestures and clothing, but anyway.)

But I also understand what Martinus was trying to say. Take Sean Bean as an example, he is literally doing monologues, delivering a script more than being communicative. He is a narrator rather than a Voice Actor, as he isn't fusing himself into any specific character.

Narrators are still kind of voice actors, like Opera singers and movie stars are categorized as actors at some point. We can deny it or accept it, arguable.

 

[Guandao]

I'm gonna have to eventually do some research on the Civ6 leader voice actors to see if I can find more information on them. I know Monty and Gilgabro's voice actors are Mexican.

Genghis Khan's voice actor is Hu A Li Ma according to the wiki, so he's probably Chinese Mongolian.

 

[Morningcalm]

In future maybe they won't even speak their actual language, but accented English. That way the voice acting at least would be generally better. (Key examples of this include the Age of Empires III AI--I loved how grandfatherly and pompous Suleiman sounded in that game, and how snooty and witty Elizabeth I was).

And giving units their original languages back would be nice. Last time we had that we were in the Civ 4 glory days.

 

[FractalAdvocate]

In future maybe they won't even speak their actual language, but accented English. That way the voice acting at least would be generally better. (Key examples of this include the Age of Empires III AI--I loved how grandfatherly and pompous Suleiman sounded in that game, and how snooty and witty Elizabeth I was).

I think having leaders speak their own language is in a large part to make porting the game to other languages cheaper.

Unless VA changes in cost by CivVII or Firaxis becomes a much bigger deal, I doubt that'll change in the nearish future.

Fan voice mods if/when we have full modding access seems more likely for getting full english va.

 

[halfhalfharp]

I think having leaders speak their own language is in a large part to make porting the game to other languages cheaper.

Unless VA changes in cost by CivVII or Firaxis becomes a much bigger deal, I doubt that'll change in the nearish future.

Fan voice mods if/when we have full modding access seems more likely for getting full english va.

Yeah thats a good point. Besides, Accented English is a very biased form of a language. There is no formal identification of how an accent should sound as everyone's impressions to accents are different.

We have standard Chinese, standard Japanese, standard Russian... but who can tell me what is a standard accent of those languages lol?

Moreover, everyone in their respective nations will yell " We don't speak english like that". That can turn the language part into an offense.

Thus I feel that speaking accented english is not really good for the health of this game series. Of course, except for they are not selling Civ VII in non-english speaking countries .

 

[Morningcalm]

Yeah thats a good point. Besides, Accented English is a very biased form of a language. There is no formal identification of how an accent should sound as everyone's impressions to accents are different.

We have standard Chinese, standard Japanese, standard Russian... but who can tell me what is a standard accent of those languages lol?

Moreover, everyone in their respective nations will yell " We don't speak english like that". That can turn the language part into an offense.

Thus I feel that speaking accented english is not really good for the health of this game series. Of course, except for they are not selling Civ VII in non-english speaking countries .

Meh, accented English works just fine in Age of Empires III and presents opportunities for better voice acting. Too often the AI speaking their real language means Firaxis' voice group hires someone who can't speak the real language or is simply a terrible voice actor.

And people have already complained plenty about the VAs not speaking the real language of their country well, which likely generates worse results than people criticizing those speaking accented English. So we already have "turning the language part into an offense". (To be sure, some leaders have good VAs but they are the minority)

It would be nice to have the units speaking the real language ala Civ IV as well. Ideally you would combine leaders speaking the real language with units speaking the real language but Firaxis dislikes having too many voice audio files in the computer (which is why the leaders each have 7 lines in VI).

 

[God of Kings]

Civ VI only takes up approximately 10GB on the computer.

Many modern PC games easily take up well in excess of 20GB.

There is definitely more room for foreign language voice acting.

Don't forget that all copies of Civ VI contain narration voice acting in languages other than English as well.

 

[halfhalfharp]

Meh, accented English works just fine in Age of Empires III and presents opportunities for better voice acting. Too often the AI speaking their real language means Firaxis' voice group hires someone who can't speak the real language or is simply a terrible voice actor.

And people have already complained plenty about the VAs not speaking the real language of their country well, which likely generates worse results than people criticizing those speaking accented English. So we already have "turning the language part into an offense". (To be sure, some leaders have good VAs but they are the minority)

It would be nice to have the units speaking the real language ala Civ IV as well. Ideally you would combine leaders speaking the real language with units speaking the real language but Firaxis dislikes having too many voice audio files in the computer (which is why the leaders each have 7 lines in VI).

That is AOE 3, not civilization game series. Civilization series is a mixture of both accurate historical references and sandbox immaginary play. Thus the appropriate historical reference is the core that makes the game such attractive. Btw in AOE I think they tend to use native languages rather than accented Eng as well. (As what I heard in AOE 1&2, and also Age of Mythology. Although the narrator/information giver speaks in english, ofc, or else who can understand?).

And get back to Civ series, Lol the units speak native languages while the leaders speak english? That sounds like sth from colonial British empire.

And speaking a less proper form of a language is a motivation to improve their language selection, not an excuse to push them back to english.

 

[Morningcalm]

That is AOE 3, not civilization game series. Civilization series is a mixture of both accurate historical references and sandbox immaginary play. Thus the appropriate historical reference is the core that makes the game such attractive. Btw in AOE I think they tend to use native languages rather than accented Eng as well. (As what I heard in AOE 1&2, and also Age of Mythology. Although the narrator/information giver speaks in english, ofc, or else who can understand?).

And get back to Civ series, Lol the units speak native languages while the leaders speak english? That sounds like sth from colonial British empire.

And speaking a less proper form of a language is a motivation to improve their language selection, not an excuse to push them back to english.

Age of Empires III had AI with historical quips far more flavorful than Civ AI, so I suggest you play Age III skirmish matches before summarily judging it as inapposite. Age III is the best example to counter anyone who thinks accented English wouldn't work. Did Napoleon ever allude to Austerlitz in Civ? No? Age III's Napoleon does.

Age used native languages for units and in Age III the AI had accented English for skirmish maps (Age I, Age of Mythology and Age II also had accented English for campaigns but the units all spoke native languages). It makes sense and it works. No one ever complained about it that I've seen either. And several of the Age III AI were praised for excellent voice acting (Elizabeth I, Suleiman, and Tokugawa among them)

Frankly, at the rate Civ V and VI have been going; there aren't many AI whom the native speakers don't complain about. Sometimes it's as small as a word choice (Hanguk for Seondeok, Indonesia for Dyah Gitarja), but other times it's the voice acting and/or language that suck (Poland, Sumeria, etc).

With accented English AI the voice acting would be better, you could still use flavorful native phrases or words, and the units would speak the proper language and have generally better voice acting (since all they need to is show they are taking orders).

 

[Guandao]

I would definitely miss the voice acting in the non-Englishancient languages though.... Civ 5 was a big reason I became interested in Linguistics in the first place.

As good as those AoE III voice actors were, a lot of them weren't from the appropriate ethnicity. Kangxi Emperor and Tokugawa's voice actors are White American, for example. I did thought Kangxi Emperor's voice actor was James Hong at first though lol. I know voice actors can get away with this as opposed to movie actors though.

But maybe a mixed English/native language approach could work. Though the other language versions of Civ will have to use the English dialogue (unless they hired VAs for Spanish, French, etc)

 

[halfhalfharp]

The AI voice acting is to make players feel like they are encountering other real civs, unlike the narrative purpose or just a few phrases spoken by units.

Using English is a convenient way to deliver but it cannot create the realistic feeling of encountering a leader from a certain nation and a certain era.
Personally I think it will be a great step backward and is a ruin to the game series.

Hojo Tokimune speaking strange accented English at encounter shall make me disgusted.

It is also a way to show the leader's background further, like CdM speaking French with Italian accent. Certainly English will not do the same effect.
(We are going to make her speak Italian accented Eng? Or French accented Eng? Both can't be right anyway. Why don't we just make her speak Italian French?)

Speaking of Napoleon, actually he spoke French with Italian accent too. And he was quite broken in French. His army mis-interpreted his orders a few times because of this. Yet he spoke Eng in AoE series, geez.
Its a solution to his language problem though lol, he can at least communicate well with his French soldiers, in English.

 

[Siptah]

I personally think we would be much, much better off if the leaders would just speak in the language the game is in. I don‘t even think we need accents. There are so many problems with the text in civ VI and so many leaders where the term „voice acting“ isn‘t appropriate. It takes away as much immersion as it generates. I‘d rather have well done, expressive and fitting voice acting. It‘s also not too uncommon anymore to have voice acting only in English or a select few languages in games - despite the game texts being localized. It doesn‘t hurt games in which texts are important, so why should it hurt civ with its history calls inspired brabbeling?

The voice acting recording and directing is outsourced iirc. Maybe Firaxis could, alternatively, do it in-house or convince their partner to raise the standards?

 

[Morningcalm]

The AI voice acting is to make players feel like they are encountering other real civs, unlike the narrative purpose or just a few phrases spoken by units.

Using English is a convenient way to deliver but it cannot create the realistic feeling of encountering a leader from a certain nation and a certain era.
Personally I think it will be a great step backward and is a ruin to the game series.

Hojo Tokimune speaking strange accented English at encounter shall make me disgusted.

It is also a way to show the leader's background further, like CdM speaking French with Italian accent. Certainly English will not do the same effect.
(We are going to make her speak Italian accented Eng? Or French accented Eng? Both can't be right anyway. Why don't we just make her speak Italian French?)

Speaking of Napoleon, actually he spoke French with Italian accent too. And he was quite broken in French. His army mis-interpreted his orders a few times because of this. Yet he spoke Eng in AoE series, geez.
Its a solution to his language problem though lol, he can at least communicate well with his French soldiers, in English.

If the aim is to make leaders feel realistic, Firaxis has done a terrible job, or as you fear "a ruin to the series", both because of the awful leader backgrounds (which do the opposite of adding atmosphere), and many of the leader voice actors having terrible delivery (Robert the Bruce hasn't much energy).

Not all of us English speakers will be taken in by bad voice acting just because it happens to be in the correct language. As earlier pointed out (by Siptah and others), plenty of native speakers of other languages have mentioned issues with leaders from their nation speaking their language terribly. Danes pointed out how cartoony Bluetooth in V sounded, Dutch people objected to both voice acting in V and VI, and so on. Frankly it seems many voice actors are hired just because they can speak a language, not because they can speak it well with good inflection. And we all remember the awfully meme-worthy delivery of Elizabeth in Civ V (and the frankly similarly unimpressive delivery of Victoria in VI).

Having accents for other languages or speaking other languages is all well and good, which is why accented English (if done properly) won't be a problem.

Re: Napoleon speaking English, that would only be encountered if you were not playing as Napoleon. The troops would speak French when under your command.

I would definitely miss the voice acting in the non-Englishancient languages though.... Civ 5 was a big reason I became interested in Linguistics in the first place.

As good as those AoE III voice actors were, a lot of them weren't from the appropriate ethnicity. Kangxi Emperor and Tokugawa's voice actors are White American, for example. I did thought Kangxi Emperor's voice actor was James Hong at first though lol. I know voice actors can get away with this as opposed to movie actors though.

But maybe a mixed English/native language approach could work. Though the other language versions of Civ will have to use the English dialogue (unless they hired VAs for Spanish, French, etc)

A fellow appreciator of the Age III voice acting, welcome!

And yes, it's true VAs get away with that quite often. Daniel Day-Lewis played both Lincoln and a hard-boiled American oil man because of his acting abilities (he's British). Similarly many professional VAs can cast a nice illusion using pitch and tone in ways that a regular person (like the academics Civ V favored, for example) simply don't know how to use properly. When I heard Tokugawa and Kangxi in Age III, I was under the belief they were Asian-American actors until I checked the credits.

A mixed English/native language approach would work well I think, and as suggested earlier I think it would strike a nice balance between good voice acting and native speakers.

 

[halfhalfharp]

If the aim is to make leaders feel realistic, Firaxis has done a terrible job, or as you fear "a ruin to the series", both because of the awful leader backgrounds (which do the opposite of adding atmosphere), and many of the leader voice actors having terrible delivery (Robert the Bruce hasn't much energy).

Not all of us English speakers will be taken in by bad voice acting just because it happens to be in the correct language. As earlier pointed out (by Siptah and others), plenty of native speakers of other languages have mentioned issues with leaders from their nation speaking their language terribly. Danes pointed out how cartoony Bluetooth in V sounded, Dutch people objected to both voice acting in V and VI, and so on. Frankly it seems many voice actors are hired just because they can speak a language, not because they can speak it well with good inflection. And we all remember the awfully meme-worthy delivery of Elizabeth in Civ V (and the frankly similarly unimpressive delivery of Victoria in VI).

Having accents for other languages or speaking other languages is all well and good, which is why accented English (if done properly) won't be a problem.

Re: Napoleon speaking English, that would only be encountered if you were not playing as Napoleon. The troops would speak French when under your command.


A fellow appreciator of the Age III voice acting, welcome!

And yes, it's true VAs get away with that quite often. Daniel Day-Lewis played both Lincoln and a hard-boiled American oil man because of his acting abilities (he's British). Similarly many professional VAs can cast a nice illusion using pitch and tone in ways that a regular person (like the academics Civ V favored, for example) simply don't know how to use properly. When I heard Tokugawa and Kangxi in Age III, I was under the belief they were Asian-American actors until I checked the credits.

A mixed English/native language approach would work well I think, and as suggested earlier I think it would strike a nice balance between good voice acting and native speakers.

How good does the VA in native languages sound like, only native speakers can know. They will still give the realistic feelings for non speakers, who are majorities.

But having the VA speaks English, everyone will be able to judge and criticize.

Thus language inaccuracy doesn't reduce the realistic feeling into dust, I supposed. Accuracy of a few languages and totally not doing the languages for the whole game are two different levels.

Even if there is a miss in language accuracy from leaders to leaders, for example, Attila from Civ V, doesn't hinder the realistic atmosphere for most players, who are non speakers of the language.

At least he is speaking Garbage Chuvash rather than English. And we won't feel like everyone that we encounter is from post British colonies. Language inaccuracy/VA not meeting expectations here can be tolerated for me, but not a language mis-selection for the whole game.

And please stop using AoE series to compare. Civ series have a diplomatic screen for every encountered leader. That is where their VAs should be focused on rather than the units/narrative cinematics. Its all okay to speak eng if we remove this feature, muting the leaders' lines for good and tearing away one of the best features in Civ series. But hearing them all speak English demerits the whole game.

 

[Siptah]

How good does the VA in native languages sound like, only native speakers can know.

What? Why? Only speakers of those languages know if it is correct or not, but how good the voice acting is can be judged by anyone. And it sure isn't inaccuracy that 'ruins' the leader screens, but bad voice acting. Some people care that Cleo, Tomyris and Frederick aren't speaking the correct languages of their times, far less people are interested in the grammatical mistakes in their lines. But we all care if the lines aren't delivered with expression, with a nice voice and fitting to the animation.

Also keep in mind that the leaders talking is a feature of only the last two civ games and I wouldn't it consider "one of the best features in civ series." It is a whole lot of work for only a little bit of immersion. It is nicer than the silent nods etc. of civ IV in my opinion, but there is still way too much silence and not enough lines to make the leaders screens really immersive. As a feature it is way too half-baked to be a core thing (and of course doesn't add to the gameplay). I really wish Firaxis would invest more time in gameplay and AI development instead of in these shenanigans that most players click away quickly or disable after a few games anyway. (If I want to hear how certain languages sound there are plenty of other ways to do that)

In the end it seems to be about personal preferences. Silent leaders - Native languages - All english - No leader animations and voice acting at all. You'll easily find people that prefer any of those and make a case for it.

I also think it is a good idea to look at other games and game series how they handled the issue. The approach of civ V and VI isn't very common. Most games that have people/leaders you encounter speaking to you translate the lines or have them in english for all localizations. An exception that comes to mind are the Knights of the old republics games that have aliens speak like they do in the movies, which makes a lot of sense for this game and adds to immersion. Age of Empires and most other famous RTS like most C&C, WarCraft, StarCraft etc have all longer dialogues translated into english, usually with accents if appropriate while units often respond in 'native' languages where appropriate. Most RPGs that I played where you often meet people that speak foreign languages also translate voice acting into english with accents. Now, you can make a case that it is a unique feature of the newer civ titles and thus shouldn't be abandoned. But in that case, they should aim for more quality. To get back to age of empires example: just look how it evolved from AoE I to AoE II (both in game and narrations) to AoM and AoE III. It got way better with every game. (I still wonder why the Greeks in AoM have no accent when talking english though...) Civ V to Civ VI isn't that much of an upgrade in that regard. We have some more fitting languages now, but the number of lines wasn't significantly increased and the voice acting itself isn't better imho.