Why do all NPCs in RPGs talk to you the same way (dialogue complexity).
Why does every third orc in Azeroth say, "Time is money!" and a guard in Skyrim whine about an arrow in his knee? It's all because of the colossal labor …
Why recommended
- A Documentary short rated 8.8 — easy to watch in 1m.
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Why does every third orc in Azeroth say, "Time is money!" and a guard in Skyrim whine about an arrow in his knee? It's all because of the colossal labor involved in creating dialogue for thousands of NPCs in games, from Cyberpunk 2077 to Skyrim, where unique lines are a luxury.
Take Mass Effect 3: it has over 40,000 lines of dialogue, voiced by 114 actors. For The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the CD Projekt RED team wrote over 350,000 words—the equivalent of two large novels, requiring a tremendous amount of time and effort.
Each such line requires not only writing but also multiple voiceovers. Horizon Zero Dawn had 250,000 lines translated into 12 languages. This requires a huge team of writers, editors, actors, translators, and localization specialists.
One minute of voice acting in a AAA game can cost $300-500, not including writing and localization. Considering dozens of hours of gameplay and hundreds of characters, creating unique lines for each NPC becomes a prohibitive financial undertaking.
That's why developers like Bethesda and Rockstar Games are focusing on key characters. Perhaps this problem will be solved by generative AI, which in the future will be able to create unique, contextually appropriate dialogue for each NPC in real time.
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On a palm Studio
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AI Narrator
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