Ashe & SDA News: Delay + Your Thoughts on AI Voices! 📢

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! 😊

_____________________________________________________________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 voices…

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? 😳

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! 😊