UPDATE: Added some headshots of the characters, for quick and easy reference. Also added a Friday, June 18 deadline for submissions.

So, here’s what’s going on. While I’m still nowhere near finished Life Flashes By, I have been able to complete a significant-enough chunk of the game to confidently say it’s somewhere between 25-33% done, at least at a level I’m happy with. As such, I feel it’s time to start looking for some fabulous people to do the voices. I’ll give some specifics in a bit, but first, a slight disclaimer.

This is going to be the first time I will ever work on a game on my own with voice acting, but certainly not the first time I’ve thought about it. Usually, in games developed by professionals, voice recording starts after ALL of the dialogue has been written. I’m going to do it a little differently, because I can, and because every time I’ve waited until I’ve finished all the dialogue, I’ve always been like “oh, to hell with it, I won’t bother with voices and just release the game as-is”. This way, aside from it being a way to force myself to do it, there will be the added benefit of having voice actors be a more significant part of the creative process; much in the way that visual art can prompt me to insert additional dialogue lines, so can the actual voices of the characters inspire me to do similar things, which makes for a richer, more integrated game all around. In theory, anyway.

Now, first things first, the most important voices are going to be those of the main characters of this game, so they, naturally, will be the first ones to be cast. If you’re interested in playing one of these roles, bear in mind that there will be several “chunks” of recording that will need to be done, as I complete different sections of the dialogue, and these will take place any time from now to some undefined point before November. Of course, since I do have a small budget, I’ll be able to pay you a fee of sorts, and you’ll get more exposure and creative input and things like that. Anyway, here they are:

Charlotte

You’ve already heard a little bit about her, but I’ll reiterate: she’s a middle-aged literary writer of moderate (though not terribly impressive) success, and the player character in this story. I envision her as rather snooty and more formal than usual in speech. Accent-wise, she’s somewhere between British and North American — she was born and raised in England, but moved to Canada in high school and has been living there since. Throughout the story, she will be portrayed at different ages, some of which may be played by different actresses, depending on who I get.

Sample dialogue lines:

“Who are you? WHAT are you? Why do you have wings? Why are you floating in my face? What’s happening to me… Is this it? Am I finally losing my mind?”

“I’ll have you know that my novels are grounded in the stark reality of the human condition, not fanciful daydreams of… whatever this is.”

“I’m not sure whether I should feel vaguely irritated or outright horrified by such a revelation.”

Trevin

The spirit guide of sorts, who guides Charlotte through a journey of her memories. Expressive, sarcastic, and a little bit hyperactive. I’m less picky about accent, since he’s more or less an imaginary character and isn’t from any particular part of the world, but I do imagine something Nathan Lane-esque when I hear his voice in my head.

Sample dialogue lines:

“Oh, I know. In fact, I think it’s safe to say I know far more about you than you realise.”

“It’s easier if I try not to think about it too much and focus on other people’s lives instead. Like yours, for instance.”

“Look, lady, I don’t put these ridiculous bureaucratic hurdles in place. I’m just doing my job. I promise, it’ll be quick and relatively painless if you just pipe down and cooperate.”

Other Characters

If neither of these two characters fit your voice type, send me some samples of your voice anyway, and I’ll try and find a role for you. Depending on how things go, I may do some subsequent posts requesting voices for more secondary characters as their roles need to be filled.

Please send all voice samples to “voices at deirdrakiai dot com” in any sound format of your choosing, in as high quality as possible, by Friday, June 18. I will be converting everything to ogg files for use in the game.