1. A female Command voice for INFASA
Because Command messages are usually voice acted by males, only, the Inferno Team has decided to make an original choice: a female Martian Command voice.
The request has been posted on Hard-Light Productions, and the fellow community member Rian has volunteered to create the voice files. The Inferno Team's intentions were simple: having a female voice wasn't enough, the texts Rian had to voice act were exclusive and original. Part of the result can be seen here and here.
2. Utility of built-in messages
As specified elsewhere, INFASA will not be voice acted before the release. The presence of an original voice for Martian Command would lead people to believe that we changed our mind, but nothing has really happened.
Rian has voice acted built-in messages and not actual messages coming from Martian Command. A list of built-in messages is composed of a given number of messages which can be sent during the mission depending on the situation: it may be the arrival of hostile units, the deployment of a support ship, the destruction of a support ship, a cease fire warning, a disertion warning, etc. etc.
Those built-in messages are supposed to make the gaming experience more unique. All other messages coming from Martian Command will feature a female animated head - thanks to the SCP, it's possible to modify all built-in messages, their personae and their head animations. The same thing can be done to built-in messages sent by pilots, but the INF Team hasn't decided to extent those modifications to pilots, yet.
Should INFASA be voice acted in the future, Rian will be strongly encouraged to take active part and voice act all messages coming from Martian Command. Her skills are remarkable, and the INF Team would be more than glad to have them as top notch VA.
3. Working on the voice files
Having the voice files wasn't enough - the voices also had to be converted to a standard format used by FreeSpace Open. "Telling" the game to use the new files was also necessary.
It was also important to modify the voice files themselves by adding the same audio effects of the goold old FreeSpace 1 Command voice. The files have been modified in FL8 by adding the classic transmission channel open/closed - useless to say that the results are encouraging, but may need further processing in the future.
One of the most important features of INFASA is the compatibility with the FreeSpace Port. Because the Port makes use of the Command Persona featured in FreeSpace 1, our own Martian Command Persona had to complement, not replace, its predecessor. INFASA will feature both Command personae:
* Terran Command
* Martian Command
Only the Main INFASA Campaign and other INFASA missions will make use of the new Martian Command persona. Everything else played in INFASA will have the old Terran Command persona to keep the classic FS1 feeling.
