So the new dlc coming will use ai generated voice work it says on steam page

[Skeeter]

AI GENERATED CONTENT DISCLOSURE
The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Game contains recorded as well as AI generated voice lines based on licensed voice artists

So ego is heading into ai generated stuff too it seems, tho i kinda got the impression i think when it was brought up that they wouldnt use ai but seems they will be. Not that i mind tbh if it helps fill out content and it is of good quality as in if any flaws they can fine tune it. And hopefully no actual voice actors that they employed in the past mind too much.

Thoughts?

[Alan Phipps]

If this remains about X4 and the DLC then fine, but if it becomes another general pro/con AI generation/voicing thread then it will go to Off Topic.

In my opinion, ship AI voice used through all game situations would be an obvious candidate for AI voicing in order to quickly add new lines for new situations (yes, I do like current Betty with all her quirks but time is money).

New and perhaps briefly used situational characters would also be likely candidates for AI voicing. Generation of content and voice for background ambient chatter, of variations on NPC comments, challenges and responses, etc could also be considered usefully, in my opinion.

[SparvieroGed]

I'd love to see IA used to bring more life in the universe. Not just about mission dialogues, but also"radiant" dialogue about battles happening in near sectors, wars status, trade offers, stations built..I'd love to listen to npcs commenting about what 's going on around them.

[chew-ie]

I wouldn't read too much into that. The english VO was always computer generated (at least to my ear and / or when comparing it with the German VO) - might be just the need to label that nowadays accordingly.

[mr.WHO]

AI generation would be good for Betty, Station anouncer, Station traders and more ship chatter.

For actual storyline voice lines (e.g. Boso Ta, Dal Busta), I'd prefere living voice actors.



Edit:

A minor spoiler, but for Timelines, from what was found in beta files, it make sence to have AI voicelines for main plot characters - you'll find out when Timelines release

[Axeface]

It is an inevitable move and the lines i've heard are brilliant (said this elsewhere but i'm still not sure whether the new boso lines are AI... which is impressive in itself, but surely they are, why give boso a new voice? I suspect they are placeholder and they arnt going to hire an actor for placeholder).

Better quality than weaker voice actors, cheaper, can immediately generate all languages with the same voice and the future possibility for curated dyanamic voicing.... outside of fully being able to talk to npcs, which is a long way off for a game like x4 (but not for other types of games) this would allow incredibly impactful features like dynamic sector or ship naming (so we can name our assets and have them voiced).
They will be able to generate translations with the same actors voice too even if they dont speak those languages... the quality of revoicing already recorded lines is absolutely insane, have you all heard the revoice mods for baldurs gate 3? When the base recording is good the results from AI are astonishing.

The obvious future is a place where good voice actors still have work because if you want something said in a very specific way it may be best to have them acted, also certain people have very cool voices that will need to be licensed (maestro ) - but the vast majority will be ai generated and you wont be able to tell.

I wouldn't read too much into that. The english VO was always computer generated (at least to my ear and / or when comparing it with the German VO) - might be just the need to label that nowadays accordingly.

Betty is voiced just like any other character, its just pre-recorded lines that are arranged to form what the devs want.

For actual storyline voice lines (e.g. Boso Ta, Dal Busta), I'd prefere living voice actors.

I just want whatever results in the best quality experience, anything else would be madness.

[LameFox]

I have such low expectations for the voice lines in this game I don't think I can even be disappointed anymore.

[mr.WHO]

Come one - actors doing Boso Ta, Dal Busta and Terran Secret Service lady done very good job.

[chew-ie]

I wouldn't read too much into that. The english VO was always computer generated (at least to my ear and / or when comparing it with the German VO) - might be just the need to label that nowadays accordingly.

Betty is voiced just like any other character, its just pre-recorded lines that are arranged to form what the devs want.

Oi - I stand corrected. X4 is one of the last games I play in german because of the terrible english voice (never liked english Betty ).

To me it always sounded like me playing around with speech synth on my sisters iBook back in the days.

[Skeeter]

What i was thinking was the case with the dlc with ai voiced work is that since they're revisiting old x games stuff then maybe they would like to bring back some old voices from them games but cant, either actors are retired or don't want to. So (with permission maybe) they used ai to generate new lines by sampling old voice files and recreated their old voices for the new dlc. Could be wrong of course and using ai to create new voices.

Ah well, we shall see i guess.

@chew-ie im thinking ur thinking of the use of voice filters they use to change the recorded voices, tweak em, filter em to sound a bit diff and then chuck em in the game. I think they host the filters on the main download page or something for some races that people can mess about with.

[LameFox]

Come one - actors doing Boso Ta, Dal Busta and Terran Secret Service lady done very good job.

Some are okay but unless they replace the really weird ones the whole experience gets dragged down. It's like the audio equivalent of those old Paranid ships.

As far as AI voices go, I'll be honest if you're not having the game do something a real person can't do (like read out my player name or other unscriptable interactions) I'd rather avoid generative dreck in principle.

[adeine]

If this means we can bring back voiced lore and encyclopaedia entries played throughout the game (in stores, trades, etc.) as in prior games, this would be an excellent addition.

There's no reason we can't have both (human voice lines where it matters, pregenerated AI lines for the rest). If you train on the existing voice lines the disconnect shouldn't be too bad, especially if you manually adjust/select the output.

[MegaJohnny]

Ouch.

Very keen to know if future Egosoft products will also lack real voice acting.

[Alan Phipps]

Not sure how something future can 'also lack real voice acting' when the planned DLC specifically has both real and AI voicing (if you believe the statement in the OP).

[MegaJohnny]

Fair enough - you've got me there.

My concern is over the ratio of real to approximated voices, and the specifics of how the voice actors affected by the move have been compensated. I don't want to get off-topic (and apologies if I have already) so will leave it at that.

[thegreybetween]

The single biggest thing I miss in the X Universe is the full BETTY treatment of the encyclopedia. It adds very little to the game, and given the scope of the content and how it may change, Egosoft's stance of skipping the bulk of the narration makes sense. But it was so awesomely immersive, and I loved spending time just drifting around the galaxy letting BETTY tell me about trivial things like Cahoona Meatsteaks.

Assuming they had the consent of the voice actor, and fairly compensated her for the AI likeness, I'd really love to see a return to full-BETTY encyclopedia entries even if it meant AI. It would allow for an affordable and convenient way for massive content coverage that would easily and dynamically adjust to changes, and given that BETTY is a computer anyway, it would be a pretty intuitive place to test the AI voicing without breaking the immersion.

[adeine]

It adds very little to the game,

I'd say immersion adds a fair bit to the game. It's part of what gave X games their personality and why X4 feels a bit more like a spreadsheet simulator sometimes.

[jameskearse]

Could a developer or someone who knows about this sort of stuff clarify what this means? Are the "licensed voice artists" licensed by Egosoft? Are they being paid royalties by Egosoft or someone else? Why is Egosoft using generative AI in finished products?

[Caldari Navy]

New serious boso ta voice is amazing no ofrnce to owen or whos voice is it but i love more seriousness in x4 .
Dont mind ai voice as long as game talks to me more im happy.

[LameFox]

New serious boso ta voice is amazing no ofrnce to owen or whos voice is it but i love more seriousness in x4 .
Dont mind ai voice as long as game talks to me more im happy.

New serious voice? Isn't it just a placeholder during the beta?