Voice Crew Commands are now available for user submission via Steam Workshop. Here are both voice acting direction guidelines as well as technical instruction for recording, file names, and uploading.
Voice Acting Direction
You should have a clear idea who your character is. If your character has a deep voice, then it can reasonably be expected that a deep voice is present in all recordings. The main thing is that your character’s personality is consistent in each of many lines you will need to record.
Please note that your character will be in three distinct roles on the ship. The character’s intonation and emphasis will differ between commands issued as a Pilot, Gunner, or Engineer. Tips that we’ve given our past voice actors include:
Pilot is the most commanding, authoritative, and confident presence on the ship. Gunner issues commands with slight impatience (always wishing the ship could be turned faster), but is always informative and respectful (or at least tries to be). Engineer issues command with anxiety and frenetic energy (everything is always on fire).
More things to keep in mind when delivering your character’s lines is to use a voice that carries. You could call it your outside voice. Imagine the need to project your voice across to the other end of your mansion of a house, or through the walls to your neighbor (for those of us in cramped apartments). You can try elongating and spending more time on each syllable to ensure that words are heard clearly. Remember that loud does not mean clear. There’s no need to spit out crew commands faster than Eminem spits our rhymes (although that may be funny too).
Last thing, take a breather between takes. Let your voice heal and catch your breath!
Script
Download the script here.
Recording Instructions
We want to make sure your voice comes through clearly and audibly without interference and noises in the background. Use pop guard if you have one and make sure you eliminate noise from the recording. Record in a room that doesn’t contain a lot of reverb.
You should save one .wav file for each of your voice command line, and you should name the file to match the command line so you can easily find it when you’re uploading using the Workshop tool.
Uploading Instructions
When you open the Guns of Icarus Workshop client (by selecting Workshop Tool in the menu when you first open the game), you’ll now see a Create Voice Command option at the bottom of the main screen. Clicking on that would take you to the screen to upload and submit your voice command files. Each voice file should correspond to a command. It’s best to name each of your voice file to match the voice command. You can browse through all the command categories on the left side of the screen under Types.
To upload a voice file for each voice command, click on the “+” sign to the left of the command, and find and select the corresponding voice file. Go through all the categories and all the commands to select a voice file for each command line for upload. Once you’ve completed this, name and describe your voice command set at the upper right of the screen under Item Info. Also, be sure to add a Preview image by click on the “+” sign under Preview. Once you’ve completed your file selection and your Item Info, simply hit Publish Item at the bottom right of the screen.
If you want to edit your uploaded voice command set, you can always go to View Published Items from Main Menu, and click on the pencil icon to edit it.