Incline Disco Elysium - The Final Cut - a hardboiled cop show isometric RPG

[Prime Junta]

Just came out actually. Epic exclusive until December though, if I remember right.

Oh cool, I'll check it out. I have nothing against Epic exclusives.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Just came out actually. Epic exclusive until December though, if I remember right.

Oh cool, I'll check it out. I have nothing against Epic exclusives.

:disappoint:

Expected better of you, bruv.

 

[Prime Junta]

:disappoint:

Expected better of you, bruv.

Oh fine, here's my position in re Epic again.

First, Steam is a rent-extracting near-monopoly. I'm in favour of anything that serves to weaken its market position.

Second, Epic's revenue split with developers is materially fairer than Steam's, otherwise they wouldn't be getting those exclusives in the first place.

Summa summarum, Epic is clearly an inferior service for the end customer (me, for example, at least for now) but it's a better deal for developers. My solidarity is with the developers, and with weakening Steam's monopoly. Ergo, between Steam and Epic, I'll pick Epic.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Eh, I think it'd do more harm than good long term if it prevails. Best case scenario would be for Steam to renegotiate its share with the developers and for Epic to go under.

 

[Prime Junta]

Eh, I think it'd do more harm than good long term if it prevails. Best case scenario would be for Steam to renegotiate its share with the developers and for Epic to go under.

Yeah monopolistic middlemen just love to selflessly renegotiate their share with developers even when there's no market pressure to do so.

 

[Mortmal]

Whatever the platform you plan to use ,the shitty rockstar launcher is mandatory , so buy directly from rockstar site or buy a russian key . Absolutely no point to buy it on epic nor steam except to show your huge library to your imaginary friends.

 

[PrK]

Or wait for the Codex version like a self-respecting human being.

 

[Infinitron]

GOTY GIF:

 

[Latro]

I fucking love Disco Elysium!

 

[LESS T_T]

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/disco-elysium-chapo-trap-house-podcast-voice-acting-feature

How the "Last Living Soviet Video Game Developers" Recruited Chapo Trap House for Disco Elysium
ZA/UM Studio and Virgil Texas of Chapo Trap House tell us how they became comrades for a video game.


It was Titus Hardie, the leader of the unionized workers who operate as the quasi-local law enforcement of Revachol, who caught my ear. His voice sounded familiar, and I couldn't quite place it. Throughout Disco Elysium, more and more voices tickled the same sense—who the heck were these people? I felt like I knew them; beyond the I'm-very-invested-in-this-game sense.

It wasn't until credits rolled that it all clicked. Matt Christman, Felix Biederman, Virgil Texas, Will Menaker—all better known as most of the hosts that shoot the shit about politics on the far-left podcast Chapo Trap House. It's a podcast that dominated my earbuds during the 2016 election, and still on occasion ever since.

Chapo Trap House is the most successful creator on Patreon, and it's easy to see why: Its hosts are exuberant, funny, and intelligent. They're always a good time even when the world isn't. They host enlightening interviews (an interview with documentarian Adam Curtis hooked Disco Elysium lead writer and designer Robert Kurvitz on the podcast), and even discuss video games from time to time. It's the latter that gave Kurvitz the idea to reach out to the hosts to ask if they wanted to do voice acting for Disco Elysium, an RPG that likewise leaves no subject untouched and minces no words—be it heartbreak, the plights of the working class, or communism. Nothing is good or bad, nor black or white. (Except racism. Racism's always bad.)


Fuck The World is voiced by Will Menaker. When you meet these two punks, you can demand to have their jackets. Play it right, like I did, and you'll succeed, because why not? | Caty McCarthy/USG, ZA/UM


"There was a two-part special episode that Chapo Trap House did where they all played Call of Cthulhu, the Lovecraftian RPG, and recorded it," Kurvitz tells me. "[T]hat told us these guys are pen and paper people, and so are we. [Ed. note: Disco Elysium got its start as a Dungeons & Dragons campaign.] And not only are they pen and paper people, they improvise on spot and understand characters."

Similar to how I and many others fell into the Chapo Trap House hole, Kurvitz tells me that he started listening to the podcast during a time where there "might have been some political developments in the year 2016 that got people looking for some kind of solace." Chapo became that solace not just for disheartened Americans, but progressive-minded people across the globe. It wound up resonating all the way to Estonia, where Disco Elysium's developers are from.

Disco Elysium operates in a similar way as the podcast it's lended voices from. It's at once the funniest game you'll play this year, but also the most touching one you'll lay your hands on. The hosts of Chapo Trap House were carefully selected for certain characters, thanks to the help of Disco Elysium's artists who were big Chapo Trap House fans (they "have a luxury," says Kurvitz, "they can draw and listen to podcasts"), and it's easy to see why.

Matt Christman voices the loud and brash Titus Hardie, the aforementioned union leader who's intimidating at first, but later—at least in my playthrough—maybe the most trustworthy guy in town. He's a man whose heart is in the right place. Felix Biederman voices the scab leader who later turns out to be someone else entirely, and the heel turn is an effective one aided by the character's earlier non-descript presence during a strike of non-unionized workers. Will Menaker voices the pushover punk Fuck the World, a character I pestered until his friend, whose name I won't type here for vulgarity sake, gave me his jacket. Virgil Texas, maybe the resident "cool guy" of the group, portrays Disco Elysium's most mysterious character: a man who smokes on a balcony that overlooks the crime scene. He is referred to simply as the Smoker on the Balcony. There are a couple other side characters the hosts voice too: Menaker as the flea market-like salesperson Siileng, Biederman as Rosemary.

Spoiler

"I was just one role in what seems to be a sprawling and diverse voice cast," writes Virgil Texas of Chapo Trap House to me over email. "I played the smoker naturally, and I think my voice contributes well to the menagerie of accents you encounter in Revanchol."

Meanwhile, casting the small but densely populated neighborhood Martinaise where the Planescape: Torment-like RPG is set was its own unique challenge for a studio that moved from Estonia to London mid-development.

"[T]here was also a need for voices that sound a bit American, because the setting of Revachol is kind of French, but also American, white place, which is a cultural combination that works really good for hard-boiled detective stuff. We had plenty of people who have English accents and then we were even making some headway on getting French accents, but where do you get Americans? And we didn't really know anyone in America. Like, it was a huge step for us to come to London and Brighton," says Kurvitz. He does a funny voice to reenact the question that was on the tip of the team's tongue: "Does anyone know an American?" The answer, they discovered, was in the podcasts they listened to.

Other people that appear in Disco Elysium's voice cast aside from the chaps of Chapo Trap House include Dasha Nekrasova, co-host of the podcast Red Scare. "We produced VO for this game like in weird chunks during the production," Kurvitz says of the casting process. "We were constantly going around begging people to, you know, spit something into the mic, please. It was a real shoestring operation." Musicians Mikee Goodman and Mark Holcomb, from the bands Sikth and Periphery respectively, also appear as characters in-game. In an interview with rock and metal site Louder, Holcomb says the decision to do voicework for the game came naturally as he's a "roleplaying game nerd at heart."

"Our casting process was very guerilla," says Kurvitz. "Mostly we have U.K. music people, members of bands—like famous bands I won't throw up here now. There's something people have with doing VO for games: They want to do it. It's not as scary as coming onto a film set and being there physically, and a lot of people already do a voice work in bands, singing, and so on, and they wanted to try a bit of acting. It's a nice, calm situation to try it."


ZA/UM described itself as "the last living Soviet video game developers making this degenerate detective RPG" in its pitch to Chapo Trap House. | ZA/UM


On paper, it all sounds like a mish-mash of tastes—from metal musicians and leftie podcasters to the indie band British Sea Power performing the soundtrack—but it all works in the bleak world of Disco Elysium's Revachol.

And the developers at ZA/UM didn't have some magical connection to Chapo. They didn't know a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy—the typical thread for these sorts of connections. No, ZA/UM emailed Chapo's general email, where it presumably gets a flood of fanmail, maybe questions for the podcast, and probably a healthy dose of hatemail too. "It must have had some of the crazy keywords that worked because, yeah, I think the main keyword was 'VO for a video game,' which they really just wanted to do. So that's how we sort of put it together or got it started."

"ZA/UM reached out to us," Texas confirms. "They described themselves as the 'last living Soviet video game developers making this degenerate detective RPG,' so of course I loved it. I had not heard of these Estonian degenerates or their game before, but I was told their lead writer is a fan of ours." It's fitting, too, as during our separate conversation Kurvitz mentions offhand that of the Chapo Trap House hosts, Virgil Texas is his favorite.

Disco Elysium is the first video game Chapo Trap House has done voice acting for, but it didn't end up being a setback when it came time to record in New York. "They were absolutely, very professional in the booth," says Mikk Metsniit, head of publishing, marketing, and communications at ZA/UM Studio. "We actually got all their lines done within like one day; even half a day, I should say. Getting there and actually seeing them read the lines, and like they got accustomed to the characters so fast. So if we didn't know better, they were absolute professional voice actors already." Kurvitz adds to that point: in a way, they are. All podcasters are.

For Kurvitz, one of the best unintended consequences of employing famous podcast hosts as voice actors on Disco Elysium is that fans of the podcast are now playing when they otherwise might not have. "There's this saying that there's an Estonian in every port," says Kurvitz. "No one knows it; only Estonian people know it. It's dumb. There really isn't an Estonian in every port, but there seems to be a Chapo Trap House fan in every forum."

 

[ScrotumBroth]

All of the VA are exquisitely blending with the setting. It's such a refreshing change.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Eh, I think it'd do more harm than good long term if it prevails. Best case scenario would be for Steam to renegotiate its share with the developers and for Epic to go under.

Yeah monopolistic middlemen just love to selflessly renegotiate their share with developers even when there's no market pressure to do so.

There now is, but a monopoly in this regard would be a good thing. Nobody wants to have a hundred platforms doing the same shit for different products.

Steam for games in general and new releases, GoG for a niche market based on retro games and DRM-free products, plus - as much as I hate them - developer specific clients, but that's about it.

 

[Prime Junta]

There now is, but a monopoly in this regard would be a good thing.

If Steam was a cooperative by participating studios I’d be all for it.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

There now is, but a monopoly in this regard would be a good thing.

If Steam was a cooperative by participating studios I’d be all for it.

If only, comrade. That being said, it's a matter of what's worse for the gamer and I think that a properly managed monopoly is better for everyone involved.

Developers could renegotiate their terms if they were to make a common front, although that's not going to happen anytime soon.

 

[turkishronin]

:disappoint:

Expected better of you, bruv.

Oh fine, here's my position in re Epic again.

First, Steam is a rent-extracting near-monopoly. I'm in favour of anything that serves to weaken its market position.

Second, Epic's revenue split with developers is materially fairer than Steam's, otherwise they wouldn't be getting those exclusives in the first place.

Summa summarum, Epic is clearly an inferior service for the end customer (me, for example, at least for now) but it's a better deal for developers. My solidarity is with the developers, and with weakening Steam's monopoly. Ergo, between Steam and Epic, I'll pick Epic.

Monopolies are ok

 

[Daedalos]

When u tryna finish the first couple of days, aaaaaaand

 

[Prime Junta]

Monopolies are ok

Only if they're under democractic control and exist for the public benefit. Private monopolies are the worst of the leeches.

it's a matter of what's worse for the gamer

As far as I'm concerned it's a matter of what's better for the developer. As gamers we really should be giving a shit about games, and if developers are getting squeezed dry by monopolistic middlemen, that won't make for very good games either. If, that is, solidarity with the people actually doing the work means nothing to you, and you're only concerned about your own benefit.

So I'm buying my games from whichever service gives the developers the biggest cut.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Monopolies are ok

Only if they're under democractic control and exist for the public benefit. Private monopolies are the worst of the leeches.

it's a matter of what's worse for the gamer

As far as I'm concerned it's a matter of what's better for the developer. As gamers we really should be giving a shit about games, and if developers are getting squeezed dry by monopolistic middlemen, that won't make for very good games either. If, that is, solidarity with the people actually doing the work means nothing to you, and you're only concerned about your own benefit.

So I'm buying my games from whichever service gives the developers the biggest cut.

The biggest cut is given by their own platforms, against which I have nothing. I simply do not think that it is in anyone's best interest to split between platforms. Steam, for better or worse, provides both a decent service to the player, as well as the largest outreach for the developer.

 

[fantadomat]

So I'm buying my games from whichever service gives the developers the biggest cut.

Nah,i buy from the places i like,like gog. Don't really care about cuts and shits,the principles are important for me. I prefer to support both the distributor and the developer. I do look for my own self interest,and that is supporting devs that could bring me more good games in the future.

 

[fantadomat]

Monopolies are ok

Only if they're under democractic control and exist for the public benefit. Private monopolies are the worst of the leeches.

it's a matter of what's worse for the gamer

As far as I'm concerned it's a matter of what's better for the developer. As gamers we really should be giving a shit about games, and if developers are getting squeezed dry by monopolistic middlemen, that won't make for very good games either. If, that is, solidarity with the people actually doing the work means nothing to you, and you're only concerned about your own benefit.

So I'm buying my games from whichever service gives the developers the biggest cut.

The biggest cut is given by their own platforms, against which I have nothing. I simply do not think that it is in anyone's best interest to split between platforms. Steam, for better or worse, provides both a decent service to the player, as well as the largest outreach for the developer.

I generally agree,but i don't really own or care to own a steam account. All the games i really care about are on GoG,the rest are just shit i pirate to kill the time. I like old RPG games and that is all there is to it.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Monopolies are ok

Only if they're under democractic control and exist for the public benefit. Private monopolies are the worst of the leeches.

it's a matter of what's worse for the gamer

As far as I'm concerned it's a matter of what's better for the developer. As gamers we really should be giving a shit about games, and if developers are getting squeezed dry by monopolistic middlemen, that won't make for very good games either. If, that is, solidarity with the people actually doing the work means nothing to you, and you're only concerned about your own benefit.

So I'm buying my games from whichever service gives the developers the biggest cut.

The biggest cut is given by their own platforms, against which I have nothing. I simply do not think that it is in anyone's best interest to split between platforms. Steam, for better or worse, provides both a decent service to the player, as well as the largest outreach for the developer.

I generally agree,but i don't really own or care to own a steam account. All the games i really care about are on GoG,the rest are just shit i pirate to kill the time. I like old RPG games and that is all there is to it.

I've already stated my support for GoG given that it caters to a niche (/specialized) market based around retro titles and DRM-free games in general. Epic and Steam are generalistic platforms that are competing for the same titles.

 

[AwesomeButton]

The name Dolores Dei keeps reminding me of Doris Day:

 

[fantadomat]

Monopolies are ok

Only if they're under democractic control and exist for the public benefit. Private monopolies are the worst of the leeches.

it's a matter of what's worse for the gamer

As far as I'm concerned it's a matter of what's better for the developer. As gamers we really should be giving a shit about games, and if developers are getting squeezed dry by monopolistic middlemen, that won't make for very good games either. If, that is, solidarity with the people actually doing the work means nothing to you, and you're only concerned about your own benefit.

So I'm buying my games from whichever service gives the developers the biggest cut.

The biggest cut is given by their own platforms, against which I have nothing. I simply do not think that it is in anyone's best interest to split between platforms. Steam, for better or worse, provides both a decent service to the player, as well as the largest outreach for the developer.

I generally agree,but i don't really own or care to own a steam account. All the games i really care about are on GoG,the rest are just shit i pirate to kill the time. I like old RPG games and that is all there is to it.

I've already stated my support for GoG given that it caters to a niche (/specialized) market based around retro titles and DRM-free games in general. Epic and Steam are generalistic platforms that are competing for the same titles.

Yeah,i agree with you mate,i didn't meant it as a piss at you . If i had to choose,i would go with steam tho,epic is cancer and only retards that deserve to be mined by the chink cyber beauro are using it. Steam at this point is pretty comfortable and too fat and lazy to poke at other platforms.

 

[turkishronin]

Only if they're under democractic control and exist for the public benefit. Private monopolies are the worst of the leeches.

That kind of monopoly can only exist with government help. Lolbertarians are wrong, owning 70 percent of the market is not a monopoly. Mono means "one", absolute 100 percent that will allow predatory business practices. And private monopoly is most likely close to be achieved when some company holds an advantage in technology(like Nokia back in the day) not in video game platforms.

 

[Comte]

Only if they're under democractic control and exist for the public benefit. Private monopolies are the worst of the leeches.

That kind of monopoly can only exist with government help. Lolbertarians are wrong, owning 70 percent of the market is not a monopoly. Mono means "one", absolute 100 percent that will allow predatory business practices. And private monopoly is most likely close to be achieved when some company holds an advantage in technology(like Nokia back in the day) not in video game platforms.

The Mullahs run all the monopolies in Iran