Hello, first I just want to say how much I love this game and really enjoy getting immersed in the game. I have never-ending praise for this game but unfortunately I'm not driven as much to express it as I am to driven to request a resolution for this problem I am having.
Personally I'm a survivor who likes to be prepared, so I listen to the Automated Emergency Broadcast System every day. Sometimes I leave it on all the time. I love the idea of the AEBS and the mystery of what lore might be behind it. I enjoy the text-based style of the game as I used to player older games of a similar style. I love the randomized muffled sound bites, it's such a cool way of adding some more immersion to the game without doing actual voice-overs.
However that being said, there is one sound bite that is not muffled enough and I personally find it very immersion breaking. At first I didn't know exactly what it was but I could definitely make out many of the words like former president Clinton, global initiative, more than X million dollars pledged, developing countries, poverty, disease, climate change. Hearing this so frequently while I organize and build my base or do whatever chores, it kinda became an ear worm so I had to figure out what it was. It's this 2006 clip of Chris Wallace talking about an interview with Clinton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnyrCVwGyK4
And now I just hear it clear as day every single time. So I'd like to make a request, and not just for me because I imagine this has to affect other players as well in some way. I have a two part suggestion:
1-Completely remove the Chris Wallace sound bite from the game
That's pretty self explanatory and doesn't require any elaboration.
2-Create a new sound effect for just the Automated Emergency Broadcast System
One that sounds more like an monotone droning automated voice like the old NOAA Paul voice. I think this would add a bit more substance and just be a nice little feature of the game many people will enjoy. Obviously I don't mean a voice over, but another muffled sound bite.
The type of voice I'm talking about is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pMFWOuoFPQ&t=21s
I know this might seem really silly to some people but it's not to me. I really appreciate any of the devs who take the time to consider this. Thank you and I really hope to see my suggestion make it in the game.
Here's the answers to the suggestion criteria if anyone was wondering more:
Is it somewhat realistic?
Yes, in fact the Chris Wallace sound bite about former President Clinton took place in 2006, while the game is set in 1993 in Clinton's inaugural year.
As for the second part, Yes! An automated weather broadcast system would have an automated sounding voice that sounds like it's saying weather-like things.
Does it fit with the spirit of PZ?
Yes! It adds more immersion and realism.
Would it make the game too easy?
It would not affect the difficulty in any way.
Would it require rewriting the entire game (like changing the camera view, for instance)
No, it likely would require little code changes
Would it add enough to the gameplay that it would be worth taking the time to add?
Maybe not. That depends on the devs views on immersion and having "out of place" things in their game and how hard it would be to sample that Paul voice from an old broadcast recording and muffle it then code the game so that that's the only sound effect the AEBS uses. I'm not a seasoned dev although I have some experience, and it doesn't seem like it would be that difficult although I can't say it should take precedent over what is being working on currently. At least removing the Chris wallace clip should be something that could be done in little time maybe?
Would it be found in Muldraugh, Kentucky common enough to be added?
Yes, I can't verify for sure but I'm sure you could tune in to an automated weather broadcast with a computerized voice in Knox County KY in 1993
For zombies: Does it fit at least somewhat into Romero/Brooks zombie lore (the basis for 'proper' zombies)?
N/A
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