One of the things we like to do in Recursion is make videos. One of our more technical creators with access to motion capture resources has done some work to bring that to the PlanetSide 2 universe, resulting most famously in the rap music video Ambush.
Not as heavy on the motion capture this time around, the latest video provides some background story on the oft maligned fourth faction play that happens in PlanetSide 2. Why would players abandon their side and choose to fight for their sworn enemies? In the case of the New Conglomerate, you can check out this video and see for yourself what would drive us to pursue our freedom…through other means.
To build some hype for the latest PlanetSide Battles Server Smash, this time pitting the European Woodman and Miller servers against each other in a continent wide conquest match in the recently released swamps of Hossin, I contributed some narration to this trailer put together by Redolent. Welcome to the jungle!
What started as a simple program to track our session statistics in PlanetSide 2 to find areas where we could improve, the potential was soon realized that we could transform this into something much greater. Adding some event detection logic allowed the addition of “Achievements” into PlanetSide 2, and not soon after we expanded this idea into included audio and visual elements that aim to capture the classic Unreal Tournament gameplay feel, adding a whole new dimension to the game.
To advertise the features of the latest update to Recursion Real Time Stat Tracker, featuring a fully integrated Direct3D overlay that allows the program data to be viewed while playing the game, I created the following trailer, with a quick vocal stinger at the end in addition to the ingame achievement events that I provided the vocals for.
Last week, Rise of the Triad was released, in which I play the roles of Taradino Cassatt, Ian Paul Freely, and the announcer for the game’s multiplayer mode!
You can hear a bit of my work in the introduction for the game:
Of course to hear all the crazy one liners and throwbacks to twitch shooters of the 90s, you’ll have to grab the game on Steam or gog.com. Not quite sold? How about this quick trailer I whipped up? Fair warning, with a game of this nature and heritage, there is a fair bit of language and violence. Okay, I’m being modest, there’s a ludicrous amount of language and violence!
Quick on the heels of my last story, we ended up dropping on an embattled tower to defend it, only to be pushed out by an overwhelming amount of enemy armor and aircraft. Deciding that we weren’t quite done, what happened next is worth a listen, as we execute a tactic we have come to call The Anvil Drop.
So it seems I am starting something of a habit of encountering stories that strike me as experiences to be shared. Takes a bit of time to write up afterwards, but I think the result is worth it. This time around our crew was pushed back to our warpgate, our only point of ingress onto the battlefield. With only one territory left on the map to defend, we made our last stand against the combined forces of the Terran Republic and Vanu Sovereignty. I decided to frame this story from the standpoint of a rallying cry for the troops, emboldening them as they march out to face down the enemy and protect our outpost.
I’ve been playing a bit of Planetside 2 (a bit may be an understatement at times), and by far one of the changes that have added the most fun to the game for me has been the addition of the Harasser, an armored buggy capable of equipping a battle-tank secondary weapon and carrying another soldier in the back for extra pain dishing. But what I like the most about this glorious machine is not it’s armaments (impressive as they may be), but rather its uncanny ability to get you into the most absurd of situations due to its mobility. Mobility that is multiplied by the unlockable NFI-2000 turbo, giving you a quick boost of acceleration to get you up to speed, up to a fleeing enemy, or…hell, even up walls if you time it right.
Just such a situation happened the other day, where me and my gunner were perched atop a rock archway lobbing missiles at passing enemy armor below. Well, the enemy armor found their way out of our sights. Sure would take a long time to drive down, so I decided that a more direct approach was needed here. What happened next is a story that just begged to be told, so check it out as I narrate the crazy course of events that so often transpire when behind the wheel of the Harasser.
So, we’re well into the new year and I have not yet made an update to chronicle everything that has come to pass in my world of voice acting. I’ll just claim that I’ve been busy, let’s go with that. There’s a lot of content I’m about to throw at you, so strap in and get ready to feast your eyes and ears on what follows!
Firstly, if you’ve been following Marauder Shields then you are probably already aware that Koobismo.com has launched as the home of all things related to Koobismo and the team of storytellers that join him, to bring you the conclusion to the Marauder Shields webcomic and many more productions in the future. As part of the launch you can check out the following video I narrated detailing the background of the webcomic that launched this little endeavor:
Speaking of narrating, I’ve added a new compilation video to the Voice Acting section of my site, featuring a few examples of narration I have done recently. You also watch that video here:
Wrapping up the list of updates, there have been a number of releases in the past two months that feature my voice in some capacity. Here are some of the more prominent features:
Marauder Shields: Episode 27, where I am introduced as the voice of Thane
Marauder Shields: Episode 31, where I narrate a codex entry on the infrastructure dilemma of Earth after the technological surge from the discovery of the Mass Relays
Things are really starting to heat up (as if they ever truly cool down) in the universe of Marauder Shields, culminating in the first of a two-part mid-season finale that is set to change the course of the greatest war the galaxy has ever known.
In Episode 39: The Debt, Part 1, I continue to portray Admiral Hackett, who makes a decisive call and rallies the United Fleet.
The other day it was announced that I will be taking up the role of the narrator for Rotating Cube Games’ Mindworld: Shattered Dreams, an episodic FPS Action Thriller based in the Half-Life 2 engine. With a hefty dose of psychology and emotions, this looks to be a story that will capture your intrigue and take you deep down the rabbit hole of a subconscious mind.
The next news release should feature some samples that I can update you with, but until then check out what Mindworld is all about! Narration is one of my favorite realms of voice acting, and it will be an interesting challenge if I am to tell a story where the pacing may be at the player’s control (see The Stanley Parable for an example of this done spectacularly).
