For you, survivor monologue on or off?

[Sgt Socks]

I'd be interested in knowing how others like to play their game. 

I always used to play my games with the monologue on. That was before I paid proper attention to each and every custom setting.

Now, I'm the person who (when I could still drive) literally threw her satnav out the window 😁 I got so sick of being told what to do. I don't want to turn right here, it's a dead end!

Anyway. I had been getting increasingly frustrated listening to Astrid complaining. Yes you can carry more, stop whinging. Yes I know you're cold. I can see you're thirsty, I'm working on it!

I suddenly realised the monologue was causing a disconnect and breaking my immersion. In many games I've become and inhabited the character so their monologue made sense.

I realised I play TLD as *me*. So I turned the monologue off and it has vastly improved my enjoyment of the game. Now I truly inhabit Great Bear as me.

This is obviously my own personal preference and reasoning. I'd love to hear how others see it and play it.

[Leeanda]

I always keep it on..  despite enjoying the silence sometimes I find it can get too quiet , especially given that I can go quite a while without seeing any animals at all.   On those long walks across the muskeg tracks I have had  many an interesting conversation with Astrid.🙂. Not all polite ones though.

[conanjaguar]

I suppose that’s one of those things that just comes down to personal preference.

Personally, I would prefer to leave it off, because I have lost count of the times when Will says “I could eat a horse” at the exact moment when a wolf barks at me. But, I’m not going to sacrifice feats for such a mild inconvenience.

[Guest jeffpeng]

Frankly.... I just turned voice all the way down in the sound settings. I'm really not gonna sit through 3652 days of MacKenzie complaining about being "a little" cold 9 to 5. I mean "I" eat regularly, I stay hydrated, I even try to have a healthy sleeping routine. But I really cannot do anything about it being -420°C (shhh, Lord Kelvin!) all the freezing time.

1 hour ago, Sgt Socks said:

I realised I play TLD as *me*. So I turned the monologue off and it has vastly improved my enjoyment of the game. Now I truly inhabit Great Bear as me.

That's the exact reasoning why Portal and Portal 2 (edit: and some other great first person games) have no character voice lines. Hard to immerse in some fantasy when "you" are having a voice that does not belong to you, saying things you wouldn't.

Edited October 10, 2022 by jeffpeng

[Sgt Socks]

On 10/10/2022 at 8:09 PM, conanjaguar said:

But, I’m not going to sacrifice feats for such a mild inconvenience.

On this I do have regrets, that my choice to shut up the incessant complaining prevents me getting the feats. Still, it gives me the excuse to have a super easy Pilgrim run every now and then and grind hard on the relevant feats. I've now got the ones I want and the silence is all mine 😊

[Sgt Socks]

On 10/10/2022 at 7:37 PM, Leeanda said:

I always keep it on..  despite enjoying the silence sometimes I find it can get too quiet , especially given that I can go quite a while without seeing any animals at all.   On those long walks across the muskeg tracks I have had  many an interesting conversation with Astrid.🙂. Not all polite ones though.

I do understand what you mean about the loneliness, and it makes sense to me having the company of another voice to journey with you. And indeed to swear like a sailor at! Makes a change from swearing at oneself 😁

[Sgt Socks]

On 10/10/2022 at 8:17 PM, jeffpeng said:

Frankly.... I just turned voice all the way down in the sound settings. I'm really not gonna sit through 3652 days of MacKenzie complaining about being "a little" cold 9 to 5. I mean "I" eat regularly, I stay hydrated, I even try to have a healthy sleeping routine. But I really cannot do anything about it being -420°C (shhh, Lord Kelvin!) all the freezing time.

That's the exact reasoning why Portal and Portal 2 (edit: and some other great first person games) have no character voice lines. Hard to immerse in some fantasy when "you" are having a voice that does not belong to you, saying things you wouldn't.

^^ what he said! 👍😁

[conanjaguar]

10 minutes ago, Hawk said:

You don't have to sacrifice feats to turn the dialog audio off. Just go to 'Options>Audio' and move the slider to the left (0%) for Voice. Save and load the game.

That option was bugged for a while but they appear to have fixed it in the latest update/patch. It now works - for me anyway.

I think I knew that, but, like an idiot, I didn’t mess with it . I’ll be sure to change it ASAP.

[odizzido]

I've tried both but I typically had it off I seem to recall. There were too many strange things, two examples I can think of being "I could sleep right here" or being complaining about being sleepy 5mins after a 12 hours sleep. Both of these things are just too far out there for me. In the game world no you can't sleep there, there is no option to do this, it's a lie that is exposed the moment the character says it. And yes in the game world you can sleep 23 hours a day as long as one of those hours is spent climbing a cliff, and this is too far off of reality for me to handle. I don't want to hear that you can barely keep your eyes open mere minutes after waking up from being as rested as you could possibly be.

[Sgt Socks]

16 hours ago, conanjaguar said:

I think I knew that, but, like an idiot, I didn’t mess with it . I’ll be sure to change it ASAP.

You're not the only one.... why didn't I think of that! 🤦‍♀️ Mind you there are other custom settings I don't want to let go of, I can live without a couple of feats I won't use. Hopefully this will make it better for you though. Thanks @Hawk!

[Sgt Socks]

13 hours ago, odizzido said:

I've tried both but I typically had it off I seem to recall. There were too many strange things, two examples I can think of being "I could sleep right here" or being complaining about being sleepy 5mins after a 12 hours sleep. Both of these things are just too far out there for me. 

I'm in complete agreement with you Odiz. I knew when my "Sat Nav Rage" was reaching boiling point with the game (and I'd properly paid attention to the Custom Settings) it was time to turn it off. What a wonderful revelation it has been!

[UTC-10]

I leave character speech on, almost all the time, though I do have occasions when I get so mad I turn off the voice for awhile.  In those cases, like when I get the rather rare sprain, and am in a bad mood, I also turn on camera damping effect so I don't sway while limping along.  

In large part I tolerate the character commentary because I understand that a lot of it were audio cues related to things like burden being carried, energy levels, hunger, thirst, how cold he got.  Not super necessary things to know, but occasionally I'll get the "I did each snow if the hypothermia won't kill me" and realize I really should give him a drink.  

Everyone has their own feelings on the matter.  

 

[Sgt Socks]

1 hour ago, UTC-10 said:

I leave character speech on, almost all the time, though I do have occasions when I get so mad I turn off the voice for awhile.  In those cases, like when I get the rather rare sprain, and am in a bad mood, I also turn on camera damping effect so I don't sway while limping along.  

In large part I tolerate the character commentary because I understand that a lot of it were audio cues related to things like burden being carried, energy levels, hunger, thirst, how cold he got.  Not super necessary things to know, but occasionally I'll get the "I did each snow if the hypothermia won't kill me" and realize I really should give him a drink.  

Everyone has their own feelings on the matter.  

I know what you mean about the cues for thirst, hunger etc. It took me a little while to adjust my attention after turning the monologue off. There were a few times I did a little bit of damage.

However I think if a player is generally vigilant no major issues should occur. I know even when I had the monologue on I had trained myself to tune her out to the extent I ignored those cues anyway. For me the ever present icons are enough to prevent me killing myself because of thirst.

I found the inconsistencies in the verbal cues intensely frustrating. Like being told she was hungry when there were more than enough calories in her system. It became a bit like "crying wolf"... I ignored the verbal cues because I knew I was monitoring the situation and acting accordingly depending on the conditions. Being told how hungry you are when being chased by a bear seemed like rather an inappropriate interjection!

It is definitely to Hinterland's credit that they offer so many custom options which allows each person's preference to be accommodated. The monologue is certainly one area which has no right or wrong approach.

Edited October 17, 2022 by Sgt Socks

[twyn1]

I leave it on but at very low volume, same for the music (which is excellent, but sometimes creepy/intrusive) .

I wish there was a way to mute just the swishing/clanking sound when walking while still allowing for other sounds like wildlife and wind.

I do forget to check thirst levels, hunger when I am immersed in crafting something that takes a long time, so the "cues" do help there.

That said -- there are many times when I tell "Astrid" to stuff it and stop whining.

 

[UTC-10]

4 hours ago, UTC-10 said:

"I did each snow if the hypothermia won't kill me" and realize I really should give him a drink.  

 

I can't believe that I wrote that instead of "I would eat snow if the hypothermia wouldn't kill me".  😅

[Sgt Socks]

5 minutes ago, UTC-10 said:

I can't believe that I wrote that instead of "I would eat snow if the hypothermia wouldn't kill me".  😅

😄 And I didn't pick it up either! Shows I need to remember to wear my glasses.

I wonder what "doing each snow entails" 🤔🙂

Edited October 17, 2022 by Sgt Socks

[Mistral]

Always off, it's extremy annoying.

[stratvox]

I leave it on, the various things they say and the sounds they make tell you important info about the state of your survivor, and I tend to play with the meters off so it's good to get that feedback.

[past caring]

On 10/10/2022 at 7:12 PM, Sgt Socks said:

I'd be interested in knowing how others like to play their game. 

I always used to play my games with the monologue on. That was before I paid proper attention to each and every custom setting.

Now, I'm the person who (when I could still drive) literally threw her satnav out the window 😁 I got so sick of being told what to do. I don't want to turn right 

I realised I play TLD as *me*. So I turned the monologue off and it has vastly improved my enjoyment of the game. Now I truly inhabit Great Bear as me.

Well....

Will annoyed me so much in Story Mode ("It takes losing her in a plane crash to make you realise you still love her? No wonder she left you. Stop moaning you utter roaster") that though I am a bloke I cannot be doing with him in Survival Mode. 

So I play as Astrid. And though I consider myself fairly trans-aware, I can't say I have any desire to "be" her. So I play her as me - with regular muttering under my breath, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Stop whining. Really? Really? You could make use of this? Why else pick it up? You've never been so hungry in your life? Actually, let me remind you about yesterday......". 

And so on. 

And if by some chance we end up with a mod that allows Will to make an appearance, she's going to put a cap in his ass, the melt.

[Sgt Socks]

23 minutes ago, past caring said:

And if by some chance we end up with a mod that allows Will to make an appearance, she's going to put a cap in his ass, the melt.

You get a 💙 on your post for this alone! I have a rifle loaded and ready just for the occasion 😁

[MattD]

12 hours ago, past caring said:

You've never been so hungry in your life? Actually, let me remind you about yesterday......". 

This one made me spit out my drink laughing. I'm going to use that one next time she says that. I leave the monologue on because I have the meters hidden while I normally play. The cues tell me when to check them.