Sledgehammer's Voicepacks

[Sledgehammer]

Hello, everybody!

It's been a while, between the Freedom Reborn inconveniences, and my vacation (which consisted on camping, most of the time, so no computer...). But I haven't forgot about Voicepacks. In fact, you can now download Jean Grey...

The XML voice for Jean matches her personality quite well, in my opinion, as she sounds more tough and independent than in the 90s series, but without losing her calm demeanor. And this is why, for generic purposes, this works pretty well: she's feminine, but resolute when fighting.

Download it from here:

File: sh_jean_grey
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ffvc_1/

And you can find my other VPs in my website, the Freedom Force Voicepack Center: http://geocities.com/sledgehammer_ff/ffvc.html

You can download them individually through Yahoo! Groups, or through Crimson Quill's VPMAX, which contains every single pack I've created (except Jean, of course), plus dozens of extra VPs.

[Alphanaut]

Top notch work as usual. Question though: will you be supplementing some of your XML voicepacks with clips from MUA, ie for Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Jean Grey?

[crimsonquill]

Top notch work as usual. Question though: will you be supplementing some of your XML voicepacks with clips from MUA, ie for Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Jean Grey?

I think some of the actors between both games changed in some cases. Wolverine seems to be the same but the others are different enough to warrent their own packs (i.e. Colossus_MUA) which is what I am doing for my VPMAXv1.4 update which is the MUA Hero Edition. If Sledge decides to merge some characters then I'll adapt my collection to follow.

I don't mean to answer for you Sledge but just wanted to let people know that I was not doing to ignore duplicate characters between both games.

- CrimsonQuill

[Sledgehammer]

I think some of the actors between both games changed in some cases. Wolverine seems to be the same but the others are different enough to warrent their own packs (i.e. Colossus_MUA) which is what I am doing for my VPMAXv1.4 update which is the MUA Hero Edition. If Sledge decides to merge some characters then I'll adapt my collection to follow.

I don't mean to answer for you Sledge but just wanted to let people know that I was not doing to ignore duplicate characters between both games.

Not a problem, Crimson.

I'm going to add some more lines for those characters that happen to be in both XML and MUA, and have the same voice actor. Wolverine, Deadpool, Iceman and Storm come to mind. Colossus is, for 3rd consecutive year, done by a different VA. Iron Man is the same, but I notice a slight change in his voice, due to a different metal effect implemented for MUA. And Jean Grey is done by a new VA.

[Sledgehammer]

UPDATE:

I've finished Magneto. Maybe you'll need some time getting used to the voice (and pronouncing every word and every letter), but once you're comfortable with it, it's quite acceptable. He shows aspects of the old madman Magneto, and some lines represent the modern conflicted Magneto.

For generic purposes, this seems to be extremely versatile. He's not a megalomaniac, but some of it is there. He's also a man with true ideals, and he will try to accomplish that without thinking it twice. He's a natural leader, and he can be a rude hero, an anti-hero, or a merciless villain.

Download it from here:

File: sh_magneto
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ffvc_1/

[Sledgehammer]

UPDATE:

Bishop is available. He's your typical African-American with an attitude who enjoys a good fight. A couple of files can be suitable for a military guy ("Affirmative", for instance), so maybe Ultimate Nick Fury is another possibility.

For you, generic fans, your character must be African-American. With a fighting personality. And that's it, because this is a pretty standard pack, once you've covered those requirements.

Download it from here:

File: sh_bishop
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ffvc_1/

[BentonGrey]

Awesome!  Keep up the good work Sledge!

[Sledgehammer]

MINI-UPDATE (FOR GENERIC FANS):

Recently I've been checking my old VPs, and I noticed that Pyro didn't have a generic version of himself. I thought there were too many fire references to make a standard Aussie pack... But I was wrong. Just 4 or 5 fire expressions.

So, I simply created a Male Aussie pack. Now it's fairly generic. If you want a man from Down Under with a tough behaviour, this is your pack.

Crimson, you may want to add this to your next VPMAX. I didn't add any new files, I just added the .txt files in order to create a generic speech. If you're going to include this, I hope it isn't too much trouble.

[crimsonquill]

Crimson, you may want to add this to your next VPMAX. I didn't add any new files, I just added the .txt files in order to create a generic speech. If you're going to include this, I hope it isn't too much trouble.

Not a problem at all... I've already gotten your 3 new packs added to v1.4 and still sorting my stuff for my MUA voice files which I start packing up this week. And of course BentonGrey's DC Animated packs shall be added as he polishes them up over the next week or so.

Which XML2 voice are you working on next? I'm dying for Sunfire to be made because I'm loving his XML costume and hex that I found in an Ultimate X-Men mod.

- CrimsonQuill

[Sledgehammer]

DOUBLE UPDATE:

Well, yes, Crimson... Sunfire is my next VP (Alongside Dark Phoenix, that is).

Sunfire has his Japanese accent, and speaks constantly about honor and respect. That is why he's a fantastic generic pack, if you have an Asian guy. This reflects the typical Asian fighter who doesn't want to fight, and only does it because it is his duty, and because the opponent is forcing him to.

Dark Phoenix (or the Phoenix Force, if you like), is a malevolent entity, who refers to others as "mortals", wants to destroy absolutely everything, and even speaks about "being reborn". For generic purposes, this must be used as an evil girl. She's full of hatred and is chaotic, often angry by the presence of adversaries (and even teammates). But also, she's extremely confident, usually not worrying about her injuries.


Download them from here (Attention, new Yahoo! group):

Files: sh_sunfire and sh_dark_phoenix
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ffvc_2/

[Alphanaut]

Great voicepacks as usual.Any chance you might do some minion VPs?

[BentonGrey]

Hey Sledge, I've got a favor to ask of you.  It seems you're more of a Marvel man than a DC fan, but I was curious if you wouldn't mind looking over the list of DC characters I'm including in my semi-mod, and see if there are any that strike you as being a good fit for one of your generic vps.  I'll go through them myself to fill in any gaps that are left by the time I finish everything up, but I'd love to get your opinion on some of them.  Thanks man!

[Sledgehammer]

From the ashes... PHOEN...

No! Sledgehammer's back, Ladies and Gentlemen!

I'm happy to announce my return here, in my lovely VP thread, which has been my own contribution to this fantastic community. I've been out for 5 months, approximately, dealing with personal issues and life changes (got a job related to my future profession, had to travel out of Buenos Aires quite a few times, moved to a new appartment, bought furniture, university stuff, etc.). That kept me out of touch with Freedom Force in general, which is a sad thing, because I truly love this game. But other things were always calling me first.

I'm sorry for the absence, because I think this community is quite different from others I've seen in the past. You don't find trolling, insults or general misbehaviour here. It's a small but loyal group that keeps this amazing game going in spite of being created 5 years ago. And I'm glad to be back.

But now the important news: VOICEPACK CAMPAIGN IS ON AGAIN! I don't want to anticipate too much, but expect a pack (probably two) by the weekend. Stay tuned :D

[Sledgehammer]

UPDATE:

This is not a VP. This is a collection of background music from Marvel Trading Card Game. I created a file that contains a Main Theme, and 19 instrumental tunes ready to be used in missions.

This is especially interesting for modders out there, who are searching for something different from our classic FF melodies. The files are perfectly looped, and put an emphasis on electric guitar and drums.

Feel free to test it, and to use it in your Mods. Just give me some kind of recognition, like a thank you in your readme file.

Download it from here:

File: sh_mtcg_background_music (45.5 MB)
http://rapidshare.com/files/47889303/sh_mtcg_background_music.rar

[Carravaggio]

Sweet, downloading now, this is the sort of thing that is also needed along with voicepacks, i have searched for good free heroic music a lot with mixed results. thanks SH!

[Sledgehammer]

First, I would like to know if those who downloaded the Background Music file, think it's worth it. I'm open to suggestions regarding that matter.

And next...

UPDATE:

Yes. I promised 2 Voicepacks. And here, you get two Voicepacks. Beast and Psylocke are ready for you to use them. These are sounds taken from XML I (well, Beast has a couple of XML II phrases, but I digress), and the extracting system I was forced to use is different from the one which allowed me to rip XML II and MUA. So, the files might sound a little bit different (a little louder and with a little more hiss, perhaps). This is unavoidable, but in-game, it's not that notorious. I would also like some feedback about this, telling me if it's such a big deal or I'm exaggerating.

Beast comes with his trademark line "Oh my stars and garters", and plenty of "Most -insert your favorite eloquent word-" and "Indeed". Also, he (like Betsy) acknowledges the existence of the X-Men. For generic matters, he's the intellectual and intelligent hero, the genius. Quite well-versed and well-spoken, he's quiet and pacific, unless he's enraged.

Psylocke, as a generic pack, is a British gal with a tough demeanor, difficult to intimidate. It is thought as a heroine VP, but, in retrospect, may be suitable for a ruthless, cold-hearted villainness. Ideal for ninja fighters, or those heroines keen on melee combat.

Download them here:
Files: sh_beast and sh_psylocke
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ffvc_2/

(Attention: I've found out that Yahoo! has increased the MB available for each group. It's 100 MB now, so my first group suddenly has a lot of empty space. My next updates are going to be uploaded there).

[Carravaggio]

Downloading the BG music pack was definitely worth my time. I will be using the music in some upcoming EZScript missions/mods to replace FF's excellent but time specific music.
Any more like this would be greatly valued, regardless of its source, be it XML, MUA whatever. I would be happy to see you make a bit more of this sort of stuff available.

[Sledgehammer]

UPDATE:

Two more VPs, ready for you to grab. They are Jubilee and Emma Frost, from the XML games. Again, these may a have different sound quality than the XML II stuff (like Beast and Psylocke), but I think in-game, it's barely noticeable.

Jubilee brings her teenager slang with her, so be prepared to listen "scuzzball", "Jubester", "crud", "bogus" or "whatever", among others. I think this pack, as a whole, suits her very well. For generic purposes, your best choice is to match this VP with a sidekick juvenile character (think of Sea Urchin or Liberty Lad) ready to show the adults that she's ready to kick some butt. It can also work with a young heroine. Of course, the slang is the key here: if you character can handle it, this is for you.

Emma's full of "Dears", and has the bitchy attitude and the smugness. She enjoys being superior and degrading others. This is useful for Emma as a Hellfire Club member, and for Emma the X-Woman. This is especially interesting for generic characters, as the pack doesn't reflect a true heroine or a true villainess, but somebody in between. Very cold-hearted and quite emotionless, but ready to rumble.

Download them from here:

Files: sh_jubilee and sh_emma_frost
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ffvc_1/

[BentonGrey]

Ohh.......you know, I've been needing a better voice to go with Aquagirl and it sounds like Jub's voicepack will work great for that!  I've been meaning to tell you that I've downloaded a whole bunch of your packs and I've been using the generic versions for my mod.  Thanks so much for including those Sledge! 

[Sledgehammer]

UPDATE:

Two more XML Voicepacks here. Magma and Iceman (XML I) are finally ready. Magma, I don't know, I don't think it suits her Amara persona quite alright (the game considered her as Allison Crestmere), but I guess that'll have to do, anyway. I can't think of other girls more suitable for this voice, so, I'm matching the pack with Magma until someone comes up with a better choice. Besides, she has quite a few fire references, so I want to take advantage of that.

Iceman... You may be thinking: "Another Iceman?". Yes. I'm letting you choose between them. But I have another card up my sleeve: As we have already a Bobby Drake pack, and as I think XML II/MUA voice suits him, I decided to create this pack with another Marvel character in mind: Multiple Man. I think his voice tone and general sense of humor is quite Madrox.

I'm open to suggestions here, remember that my site has a list with Marvel characters being related to certain packs. So, if you consider that the pack should be linked to another guy, please be vocal about it.

For generic purposes, Magma is the eager teenage girl craving for action, and quite confident most of the time. Nevertheless, sometimes she can be a little insecure about herself and, especially, her skills. A sidekick might be your best choice here. On the other hand, Iceman is just like my other Iceman pack, a jokester who has fun while fighting.

Regarding JLH, I still have 3 more playables from XML to finish. Once they are done, it's all DC, baby! (Marvel fans, don't fret, I'm trying to find characters that match those JLH VPs, and I have a list of 5 or 6 already).

Download them from here:

Files: sh_magma and sh_iceman_2
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ffvc_1/


EDIT: If you think a voice sounds like a DC character, please, say so. I try to stay away from there as it's not a territory I'm that familiar with. I'm far more knowleadgeable about Marvel, so any help regarding DC will be appreciated.

[Carravaggio]

Top stuff SH, keep'em coming, there are thousands of meshes and skins, but only few sources for voices and FX, guys like you and QC are keeping the art alive

[BentonGrey]

Awesome stuff Sledge, I'll see if I can't find a use for these guys, and I just can't wait for your JLH voices!

[cmdrkoenig67]

Hey SH...I just updated my list and listened to a few of the VPs...Emma Frost, Psylocke and Beast are all great...However, Magma is really off(no offense is meant to you in this)...The voice actress is great, but it sounds nothing like I imagine Magma as sounding.  Amara/Magma is supposed to be a highly educated, very royal, cultured young lady, not an Americanized teen.  Again, nothing against you, Sledge buddy...I just have to wonder why they went with this style for the voicing of the character.

It makes a great generic young woman VP.

Dana

Edited to correct the spelling of a character name...I have no idea who Paylocke is...LOL!

[BentonGrey]

She was to serve as our introduction to the X-Men, that's why Cmdr.  It's the same reason Jubilee was included in the cast of the cartoon. :P

[cmdrkoenig67]

Oh...Does she appear first in the game or something (before the rest of the X-men, I mean)?  I don't own any of these games, unfortunately.

Dana

[Sledgehammer]

Hey SH...I just updated my list and listened to a few of the VPs...Emma Frost, Paylocke and Beast are all great...However, Magma is really off(no offense is meant to you in this)...The voice actress is great, but it sounds nothing like I imagine Magma as sounding.  Amara/Magma is supposed to be a highly educated, very royal, cultured young lady, not an Americanized teen.  Again, nothing against you, Sledge buddy...I just have to wonder why they went with this style for the voicing of the character.

It makes a great generic young woman VP.

I understand what you mean. I have the same problem: this is not Amara. Heck, I don't think Allison Crestmere would sound like that either.

But I still can't find another character that may speak like this. Out of the New Mutants, Illyana is Russian; Rahne is Scottish; Dani Moonstar and Karma seem to have more serious personalities; and Tabitha? Maybe her Boomer/Boom-Boom era, I don't know now that she's in Nextwave.

Or perhaps one of the New X-Men? Wind Dancer (she's Venezuelan though), Mercury or Wallflower? And out of X-Men's world, this isn't Kate Bishop (Hawkeye), Thor Girl, or anybody I can think of.

Some kind of feedback on the matter would be appreciated. The more I consider it, the more I'm inclined to match Tabitha with this voice. At least, it's better than Magma...

[Sledgehammer]

Oh...Does she appear first in the game or something (before the rest of the X-men, I mean)?  I don't own any of these games, unfortunately.

Her role was like Jubilee's in X-Men TAS, or Kitty's in the older comics/Pryde of the X-Men: the common girl that introduces us to the superhero world. She was going to be kidnapped by Blob and Mystique (she was a regular girl whose powers have just manifested, and was scared about them) when Wolverine and Cyclops rescued her. From then, you experience the X-Men world through Allison's eyes, and eventually she joins the team, after gaining some experience through Danger Room sessions. Meanwhile, you have to battle the Brotherhood and the Sentinels while the story develops. Pretty interesting game, in fact, and probably with a better plot than XML II and MUA.

I particularly enjoyed the three of them, and hopefully they'll release either XML III or MUA II in 2008. Besides the obvious amount of fun that the games provide per se, you can always extract the sounds and enjoy them in FF too! :)

[Panther_Gunn]

As with BG's packs, I've finally gotten around to d/l'ing a few & giving them a listen to.  As a minor threadjack, I actually have complaints about the *source material* that I feel the need to vent on.  (no, it's not a standard Marvel bash)

My first observation was that the scripting/dialog team got a bit lazy.  Many of the lines are *extremely similar* (in both feel as well as verbage), if not downright exactly the same, between multiple characters.  Then I noticed that multiple characters seemed to be breaking the fourth wall with some lines (particularly what's been used for the Inactive lines), almost to the point to acknowledging being part of a game and/or receiving orders.  That was what I found most distastful about it, in general.  And please, tell me that the Iron Man character was supposed to be James Rhodey and not Tony Stark.  I know, the argument could be made that the lines were done in Tony's "bodyguard" cover story manner, but that sounds more like a weak attempt at covering bad writing, to me.

I also have some critiques on the construction of the voice packs, but as they may come off as highly opinionated & heavy-handed, I can go over that here or via PM, at Sledge's preference.

[Sledgehammer]

I also have some critiques on the construction of the voice packs, but as they may come off as highly opinionated & heavy-handed, I can go over that here or via PM, at Sledge's preference.

Go ahead, be my guest. As long as everything is done in a constructive way, I'm open to suggestions, from you or from everybody else.

EDIT: Oh, and it can be done over here. That way I can see if more people think the same way, or not. Having 3, 4, or 1000 members debate over this will give me a better perspective of how to improve my work than if you just PM me and nobody gets to know your opinion.

[crimsonquill]

My apologies for answering this before Sledge gets your comments, but since I am working on the Activision based Marvel packs too there are some notes I'd like to speak up on as well...

My first observation was that the scripting/dialog team got a bit lazy.  Many of the lines are *extremely similar* (in both feel as well as verbage), if not downright exactly the same, between multiple characters.  Then I noticed that multiple characters seemed to be breaking the fourth wall with some lines (particularly what's been used for the Inactive lines), almost to the point to acknowledging being part of a game and/or receiving orders.  That was what I found most distastful about it, in general.  And please, tell me that the Iron Man character was supposed to be James Rhodey and not Tony Stark.  I know, the argument could be made that the lines were done in Tony's "bodyguard" cover story manner, but that sounds more like a weak attempt at covering bad writing, to me.

I personally think that the writing team on XML1 & 2 pretty much were basing the dialogue from a handful of source material and probably most of the animated Marvel library. They came close on some voices but made due with the actors available to fit the "sound" they felt fit the characters. MUA did much better on casting the major roles especially Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Blade, and Doctor Strange which have far more personality injected into the scripting. I think Justice League Heroes really pulled off the interactive dialogue and MUA shows the same attempt but were limited because of having such a huge cast to have every hero character make quips to each other. Iron Man appears in XML2 after the team assembles the peices of armor for someone to wear in later missions because of Apocalypse wiping out most of the heroes and cities in the United States (see Age of Apocalypse like plotline). And yes alot of the scripting was the same between characters thus you get everyone saying the same things for various actions - It's more or less just making the dialogue quicker to throw together. Oh yeah, Raven loved breaking the fourth wall in XML1 & 2 as well as MUA as well because they knew that the player was part of the team too and the writers just had a ball with it - especially in Deadpools case (like that was obvious from his comic appearances).

I also have some critiques on the construction of the voice packs, but as they may come off as highly opinionated & heavy-handed, I can go over that here or via PM, at Sledge's preference.

I can't speak for Sledge - so you and him can chat in private or public (if Public then I can weigh in more on my MUA stuff) on his work.

Based on the Voice Pack assembling FAQs that I have read and what these games provide we just work with what samples we can pull from the data files (which are incredibly huge in some cases with the tools we have available - which is one out of date extraction program and one demo sound decoding program which costs big cash to be sent a full version from the UK - hence we get to only hear 5 seconds of the original whole WAV/VOX sample in perfect clearity. Any more dialogue we have to use an alternate method which isn't as perfect and loses some of the sound quality which requres more sound editing to compensate) and tetris them into what we hope works as far as FF dialogue goes. Again, I am speaking here because I'm sure you probably would have the same comments on my work as you would with Sledge since we are using the same tools and I'm hardly the genius with sound editing tools that he is (heck, I'm still fighting "normalizing" the samples I have without them sounding bad within the FF environment).

Of course I'm just a week or so away from releasing VPMAXv1.4 so you are welcome to look over my work in that collection and make your own comments too.

- CrimsonQuill