Ashe & SDA News: Delay + Your Thoughts on AI Voices! š¢
UPDATE ON AI VOICES AND POLL:
Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll! The results are in, and it's clear that while most of you enjoy the impressionist voices or are flexible about them (50+%), a significant portion (17%) find them disruptive to immersion.
I understand the desire for a consistent voice experience, and I share that preference! However, after careful consideration, I've decided to stay the course with the current implementation of impressionist voices for the main Ashe release.
Here's why:
Re-voicing everything is simply not feasible, just for NPC side character commentary in a mod that is not about them.
Splicing existing lines together wouldn't offer the same level of quality or creativity.
Using AI voices, even with an optional patch, would go against my ethical convictions and disrespect the talented voice actors who contributed to the mod.
To address those who dislike the impressionist voices, I'll provide an optional patch that disables most of the radiant NPC dialogue. This means you won't hear the impressionist voices outside of Ashe's main questline. However, the scripted dialogue for essential NPCs like Kleppr and Calcelmo will remain, as it's crucial for the story's progression.
Community-Made AI Patches:
If anyone in the community wants to create an AI voice patch for the mod (ONLY for vanilla NPCs, NOT for any of the new characters), you're welcome to do so, under the following conditions:
No Monetization: You may NOT enable donation points or accept donations for the AI voice patch. This ensures that no one is profiting from the unauthorized use of voice actors' likenesses.
I'm willing to allow AI-generated patches created by the community for the sake of player experience, provided they adhere to these guidelines.
Thanks again for your feedback! š
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Hey fam! Two quick updates: one about Ashe's release, and another about a poll regarding AI voices in my mods.
Ashe Early Access Delay:
I need a bit more time to polish Ashe for the early access release. I'm aiming for a November 21st launch, with the public release still planned for Thanksgiving weekend (November 28th). This gives me three extra weeks to focus on quality and make sure the early access version feels like a complete experience.
I know this means a shorter exclusive window for Patreon supporters, but I appreciate your understanding! I'm committed to delivering the best possible version of Ashe, and this extra time will help ensure a smoother and more enjoyable experience for everyone. I don't want to treat early access as a glorified beta; it's intended to be the full, complete mod that some people can play before others.
SDA 5.0 is still on track! I've just about finished processing your custom conversation requests (other than the few Patreons I'm still in DMs with) and will be focusing on the scriptwriting phase in December. Expect a final update on what made the cut around mid-December!
Now, about those AI voicesā¦
For those who've played the Ashe Prologue, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the impressionist voices used for some of the vanilla NPCs. Did you notice any jarring differences? Did they affect your immersion? SDA Laura and Kerstyn split-personality flashbacks? š³
Please take a minute to answer this quick poll below!
Your feedback will help me decide how to handle AI voices in future mods, both for Ashe and the final SDA update. It's a complex issue, and I'm trying to find a balance between ethical considerations and creating the most immersive experience possible.
Thanks, everyone! š
Comments (25)
will this be released on skyrim le??ššš
Eventually, but it'll be too much work for release unfortunately. Sticking with SE and Xbox support for the first couple of months, since that's the most manageable.
I don't mind hear impressionist voices here and there if they're barely noticable. I didn't play Ashe yet so i don't really know what the deal with impressionist voices.
Iām glad youāre taking care here not to infringe upon the actors, Marty. I think the voice acting/impressions was on a scale ranging from just fine to superb. None of it was bad that I heard. Some of it was really impressive. I could nitpick that one characterās lines were somewhat jarring right after her vanilla greeting, but it may have had more to do with levels. And not only did I vote that I like them, Iād still rather the one that bugged me be left in rather than removed. Itās fine. Clearing out everything tonight to load a new load order, actually. Iāll run the prologue again and go to some different places. Try to talk to some more NPCs. (I didnāt ever visit Calcelmo, for one thing.)
Thank you for the feedback! Balancing ethics with an engaging player experience is always challenging, especially with tools like ElevenLabs AI available today. Regarding the levels, theyāll definitely be adjusted for the final release. The voice lines in the prologue (and even in my current WIP builds) havenāt been fully mastered yet; that will happen closer to release. As for other NPCs like Calcelmo, Iām pleased to say heās one of the most convincing. Even with a skeptical ear, I could barely tell a difference. Though heās not in the current builds, heāll be in the final release as a main quest character. Without giving too much away, Calcelmoās voice type is similar to Tolfdirās and even Septimus Signusās, which is perfect for adding depth to Asheās interactions. Like Calcelmo, Tolfdir and Septimus are also scholars and artificers, which opens up great possibilities for commentary and shared backstory with Asheās character!
So, finally tried the mod and Ashe got stuck in the Hall of the Dead in Whiterun
Hey there! Please reproduce the bug again, then fill out the bug report form (linked in the prologue release post) along with detailed steps to replicate said possible bug. Thank you!
You've done very well making the best of what you have and finding decent impressions for new dialogue. I honestly didn't even mind back when Serana still went Laura Bailey occasionally. If your ethical position is that Ysolda and Camilla have to sound a little different because Corri English never agreed to let you use her voice recordings (a reasonable position for a legal and ethical issue that is still unclear), then Ysolda and Camilla can sound a little different.
I voted - I played the demo but not sure if I have heard the impressionist voices yet.
If you've been around Riverwood (particuarly the Riverwood Trader), Whiterun you might have heard them! The NPCs are assorted though, so you won't find them or hear the voices in just a couple places :)
i'm gonna be 100% honest but i do not care if you use AI voices if you have the voice actors permission
Many of these voice actors who worked on the original game are simply not reachable (either retired or are in big agencies, only reachable through big studios usually). Also from my experience talking to voice actors, unless they sign onto a project with the sole purpose of recording a voice for an AI model, they are almost always 100% uncomfortable with their likeness or voice being trained.
I finished the entire Ashe demo and didnāt notice anything that wouldāve irked me. I think I did notice new dialogue for some NPCs but, to my ears, it blended nicely unlike other mods I played where it was really obvious and robotic.
I got surprised when Camilla started speaking new lines with different voice suddenly. I didn't know it was from this mod. anyone can distinguish the differences if you are used to the game imo.
Is this for either AI or impressionist voices, or both?
As long as main characters continue it be voiced by real VAs I don't have an issue with it. I don't think it's much different than doing voice line splicing. If the NPCs have little screen time I don't mind.
Thank you for your feedback! What do you think of the current quality of the impressionists though?
I am a fan of elevenlabs as they do compensate the voice talent. Voice talent makes roughly 3 cents (usd) per 1000 characters. The elevenlabs library requires them to give consent to to be used commercially and the user gets a commercial license to use those voices while on a paid subscription. It is pretty decent as you can do khajit accents and argonian ones as well.
Training a voice though without permission is bad though.
I really dislike AI voices, just because they don't sound like a real person and because they have questionable morality. Like did that voice actor give permission for their voice to be banked for AI?
Thank you! That's one of the ethical considerations that spurred me to hire impressionists in the first place. Other mods use AI and Bethesda has not issued a public statement (either than banning it for official "Creations") about it, so oftentimes mod authors operate around this grey area, treating AI voices (from vanilla game voice files) as justifiable as "modded" content. A whole rabbit whole here, as even this justification has plenty of ethical, legal, and logical flaws. But nonetheless to say its not completely frowned upon in the community, especially considering the benefits (near total parity with original voice lines, untold storytelling possibilities).
I view ai voices as a better version of voice splicing existing audio lines. Use the same source, but one is more natural and can say more
That's how I see it as well. I'm all for it.
Generally I'm OK with AI voices provided they have the right accent, etc.
What do you think about the ethics regarding their use?