Will Jester II be a grown up ?

[Extranajero]

11 hours ago, Victory205 said:

There was a famous, within the Navy, incident during WWII where an isolated young pilot was getting shot up by a swarm of Zeros, yelling over the radio for help. Nothing could be done for him, and he was garbaging up the frequency, blocking critical calls, so one of the grizzled veterans calmly transmitted, "Shut up and die like a man"

Shut Up And Die Like An Aviator - one of my favourite Steve Earle albums.
 

[IronMike]

19 hours ago, Bosun said:

Actually -

Would it be possible to get clips of the original, un-FX'd audio sample of the Jester voice to synthesize?  That way folks could mimic it better than the distored version, and then apply the FX again to get the radio distortion - thereby making individual Jester call file replacement much easier, for those that want it.  After doing a few of these calls with a new voice I'm putting in - it's actually very simple to replace a handful of calls, and takes no time at all. 

Or - even better - Release a special "Jester Package" that includes sample audio files non-distorted to synthesize in a program like ElevenLabs, the distortion macro, and instructions.  

Or - A 'Jester Editor', like a Mission Editor, that would include a Jester Voice that can text-to-speech in a single tool, so that anyone could type anything in it and reproduce the calls they want.  The Editor would then automatically re-save the file you wanted to replace.  That would fit the future-proofing you're doing for the deeper level fidelity of modules.

 

Noted, we will contemplate your ideas, and you may be pleased to hear that we already have been thinking in a similar direction, but I shall leave it at that, to a) not raise false hopes or b) make false promises yet. All of these ideas are great, as you know we are great fans of offering options and modularity, whenever we can. While we may not always want to compromise in how we approach things, we do want to give you all as many options as we can, so that you can enjoy it the way you like. That has and always will be very important to us and something we will continue to strive at.

19 hours ago, Raisuli said:

No wonder he drives me batty.  I didn't like late 80s pop culture the first time I had to live with it!  At least he's not 70s pop culture!

I guess Clown (Jester II) will be 60s pop culture, which is even worse and might cause traumatic flashbacks!  Fortunately PIC can dictate cockpit discipline!  "Tell me what I need to know, otherwise STFU!"

<edit>

I should add, for the record, that whether or not you like the result HB does everything insanely well.  I've seen very few software companies that pay attention to detail like this.  That doesn't mean it fits every audience, and there are things HB has done (very well) that I really dislike, even if I admire the quality of the work they've done!  It almost makes me sad to be critical, because the skill and effort that went into it is praiseworthy in and of itself. 

</edit>

 

Whaaat? I want to be deepfrozen and sent back to the 80s forever! But tastes will be tastes and no one can ever argue them.

Thank you for the very kind words, too, they are much appreciated.

Edited July 26, 2023 by IronMike

[Bosun]

4 hours ago, IronMike said:

Noted, we will contemplate your ideas, and you may be pleased to hear that we already have been thinking in a similar direction, but I shall leave it at that, to a) not raise false hopes or b) make false promises yet. All of these ideas are great, as you know we are great fans of offering options and modularity, whenever we can. While we may not always want to compromise in how we approach things, we do want to give you all as many options as we can, so that you can enjoy it the way you like. That has and always will be very important to us and something we will continue to strive at.

Whaaat? I want to be deepfrozen and sent back to the 80s forever! But tastes will be tastes and no one can ever argue them.

Thank you for the very kind words, too, they are much appreciated.

 

1.  I won't hold you to any promises - but awesome if you are able! 

2. Naked Gun, Spies Like Us, Police Academy......Airplane.....I mean - these are classics that are cornerstones of my humor lol. 

Also - when's the last time you rocked a work montage sequence to a modern pop song?  Honestly? The 80s will always be the staple culture of our society.  The proof?  Journey. Show me any song more universally known or sung in a bar from the last 10 years.  You can't.  Because modern music is under-written and over-performed, and its a sad reach to say any of the modern popular music in the last 10 years can reach across an audience and strike a chord in the souls of such a diverse group of people, as Journey or MJ, or any of the classics of that era.

Mike, blast those 80s man.  We all do, and those who don't are only denying themselves their own humanity.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Bosun

[A10Yoda]

4 hours ago, IronMike said:

Noted, we will contemplate your ideas, and you may be pleased to hear that we already have been thinking in a similar direction, but I shall leave it at that, to a) not raise false hopes or b) make false promises yet. All of these ideas are great, as you know we are great fans of offering options and modularity, whenever we can. While we may not always want to compromise in how we approach things, we do want to give you all as many options as we can, so that you can enjoy it the way you like. That has and always will be very important to us and something we will continue to strive at.

Whaaat? I want to be deepfrozen and sent back to the 80s forever! But tastes will be tastes and no one can ever argue them.

Thank you for the very kind words, too, they are much appreciated.

 

"Radical!"

HB always 90 notches above their peers..  Keep up that HB can do attitude.  It is sure welcomed over some of the quality and responses from other venues...........and I will just leave it at that.

12 minutes ago, Bosun said:

2. Naked Gun, Spies Like Us, Police Academy......Airplane.....I mean - these are classics that are cornerstones of my humor lol. 

 

"I can't guess.  Probably another two weeks."

"You can't guess for another two weeks?"

Edited July 26, 2023 by A10Yoda

[Raisuli]

19 minutes ago, A10Yoda said:

"Radical!"

HB always 90 notches above their peers..  Keep up that HB can do attitude.  It is sure welcomed over some of the quality and responses from other venues...........and I will just leave it at that.

"I can't guess.  Probably another two weeks."

"You can't guess for another two weeks?"

 

Monty Python's greatness was still 70s; the Meaning of Life was downhill from there, but then there's Princess Bride.  Ok, you can have Airplane!, too.  Islands of greatness in a sea of banality... 

Besides, the bare majority of the 80s was spent chained to an oar.

[Lt_Jaeger]

I don't know, I'm kind of old (50+) but I love Jester as he is. Yes, I sometimes yell at him to shut the f... up, sometimes even turn the ICS volume down, but most of the times I'm happy with him and even burst into laughter of I hear, after all this time, something new. 

I was never part of an aircrew, but was a part of a team to spread airplane parts over a great distance, and thous did the same thing, lowered the intercom for guys that stepped on my nerves during an "training" engagement. These guys were as professional as the rest of the crew, but they did not fit my style. Long story short, there are times for some knuckleheads and there is a time to be dead serious.

Since I do a lot of training flights with Jester and only rarely engage in "combat", I really enjoy the GIB, even though some of the punch lines are lost on me, for being European with it's own 80s culture (someone said time machine to go back?). I love for him to be in a light mood and hope he did not get "castrated" too much in further iterations. 

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

I hope George and Petrovic get as much personality as Jester at some point
 

  

8 hours ago, A10Yoda said:

these are classics that are cornerstones of my humor

Ah the good old '80s. "The Gods must be crazy" will always be one of my favourites  

Edited July 27, 2023 by Raven (Elysian Angel)

[freehand]

48 minutes ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

I hope George and Petrovic get as much personality as Jester at some point
 

 

I hope not would stop using them If there is going to be humor dry English is king.

[Gunfreak]

16 hours ago, freehand said:

I hope not would stop using them If there is going to be humor dry English is king.

Well the Jurgen we can hope  for in the back of the Tornado will have a dry German humour. So dry Stalin makes a defensive pact with it.

[Wavehopper]

Sorry just to add my 10p's worth, it would be preferable to have a more bland Jester during high workload moments (the distraction Jester causes during AAR is pretty unbearable when you're learning and doesn't improve with multiple listenings).

 

I love the landing comments and pretty much all the rest of Jester, it's just those odd times you want to roll inverted at low level and hit his eject button.

 

Anyway, cheers guys. Absolutely love this module to death.

[IronMike]

4 hours ago, Wavehopper said:

Sorry just to add my 10p's worth, it would be preferable to have a more bland Jester during high workload moments (the distraction Jester causes during AAR is pretty unbearable when you're learning and doesn't improve with multiple listenings).

 

I love the landing comments and pretty much all the rest of Jester, it's just those odd times you want to roll inverted at low level and hit his eject button.

 

Anyway, cheers guys. Absolutely love this module to death.

The AAR is a very bad bug, which we simply were not able to locate so far, we tried several times and will continue trying. What happens is that all AAR jokes/calls get called and looped. It is a very, very sore thorn in our eyes. Our apologies.

[Gambit21]

On 7/25/2023 at 3:16 AM, IronMike said:

Brevity and "comms discipline" can quickly turn into screaming and cussing. Which is also why I would not agree with Jester suddenly becoming "behaved" or "boring" when Master Arm gets flicked on. 

 

Indeed... almost without exception, (if the situation is severe enough) comms discipline goes out the window...and the voice raises a few octaves.

"pig squeals" that may become the subject of teasing later on.

 

 

[Victory205]

On 7/26/2023 at 4:43 AM, G.J.S said:

There’s a Time and place . . . 
Echoing Victory205, aircrew in general are “business above brashness”, however humour does shine, and so it should. People ARE people after all…

Thank goodness that Jester isn’t British. I’ve had the pleasure of flying with an FAA/RAF exchange RIO/WSO on several occasions. This is what it sounded like-
 

 

[G.J.S]

5 hours ago, Victory205 said:

Thank goodness that Jester isn’t British. I’ve had the pleasure of flying with an FAA/RAF exchange RIO/WSO on several occasions. This is what it sounded like-
 

 

[IronMike]

7 hours ago, Victory205 said:

Thank goodness that Jester isn’t British. I’ve had the pleasure of flying with an FAA/RAF exchange RIO/WSO on several occasions. This is what it sounded like-
 

 

This and worse is probably how we all would have sounded and looked like had we ever been blessed to fly in your backseat, hahaha.

"Please, just one more roll!"

"Can you light the AB again?"

"Let's do another loop!"

"Yay! One more, one more!"

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by IronMike

[Extranajero]

On 7/27/2023 at 1:09 AM, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

I hope George and Petrovic get as much personality as Jester at some point
 

 

 

I hope to god they don't - those two are just fine as they are.

[A10Yoda]

On 7/28/2023 at 5:36 AM, Extranajero said:

I hope to god they don't - those two are just fine as they are.

I doubt they will.  Some of the contributors are extremely against that stuff.  At least for the AH-64..  

...tor likes his guys straight and to the point.

[draconus]

On 7/26/2023 at 1:17 PM, IronMike said:

...we're here to have fun. Would this be a professional sim aimed at irl training, he would ofc exhibit none of that, to the contrary, he would be structured to offer only ever that which is needed.

I came to DCS specifically to enjoy the most realistic combat flight sim experience I can get for home PC. There was even some version actually used to train A-10C systems in VR. Realism is the fun for me. I don't know where did you get this idea to "entertain" us with the module and make artistic "persona". Imho you should focus on the perfect aircraft simulation and professional RIO but let's see what new options you come up with. I agree the jokes are small part of Jester and he's not that goofy all the time. I still would prefer cursing and not toned down one

[Dragon1-1]

On 7/26/2023 at 1:17 PM, IronMike said:

Would this be a professional sim aimed at irl training, he would ofc exhibit none of that, to the contrary, he would be structured to offer only ever that which is needed.

Actually, if this was a professional sim, Jester would not have been a part of it at all. The F-14 is flown by two crewmembers, and both of them would train together, hence no need for Jester, there would always be a human in the second cockpit. One thing about professional sims is that AI of all sorts tends to be a secondary concern or even absent entirely, because you can always find enough humans to put in those roles (plus, they'll be fighting humans in any real war, anyway).

Besides, from what I heard, professional crews aren't that far off from how you made Jester. They may have their own preferences and little in-jokes, but it's important to remember those guys and girls were usually inseparable friends and were having very real fun flying the jet. In a way, they were there to have fun, too, as well as do their job, because let's face it, flying and fighting something like the F-14 is fun. In fact, ACM is often described as most fun you can have with your clothes on. You'll hear that from Vietnam-ear Phantom jocks, too, they loved flying that thing, and would goof around when nobody else was looking, too. This might be an American thing (they seem take it easier than most other militaries, in general), but it's a US jet after all.

[probad]

at least in reality i can tell my friend to stow it with the star wars

jester is not my friend its just a crutch for when i'm not flying online. i simply wish it would stop trying to pretend its something that it isn't and will never be.

 

developing some kind of parasocial relationship least of all with a dumb video game mockery of a human is something alarming to me. i will never encourage it. as much as i enjoy the momentary transport of immersion and roleplay, i think its incredibly important to maintain a separation between fiction and reality.

Edited August 2, 2023 by probad

[RevampedGrunt]

20 minutes ago, probad said:

at least in reality i can tell my friend to stow it with the star wars

jester is not my friend its just a crutch for when i'm not flying online. i simply wish it would stop trying to pretend its something that it isn't and will never be.

Jester's my friend, his stupid little jokes shouldn't affect your skill much anyways. Having at least someone telling you some info certainly beats flying solo. 

[freehand]

You must remember Americans actually believe Budweiser is a beer.

Edited August 4, 2023 by freehand

[IronMike]

On 8/2/2023 at 9:48 PM, probad said:

at least in reality i can tell my friend to stow it with the star wars

jester is not my friend its just a crutch for when i'm not flying online. i simply wish it would stop trying to pretend its something that it isn't and will never be.

 

developing some kind of parasocial relationship least of all with a dumb video game mockery of a human is something alarming to me. i will never encourage it. as much as i enjoy the momentary transport of immersion and roleplay, i think its incredibly important to maintain a separation between fiction and reality.

 

I'm sorry, but this makes me chuckle a bit. I think the fact that you are sitting behind your desktop, or in your sim chair, under your VR headset, with a joystick in your hand, at home, is disclaimer enough that this is not real. I can assure you, we are not trying to create skynet.

On a serious note, it would go against all rules of story telling, if one would on purpose try and create characters you cannot connect or identify with. There is also no harm in having imagined relationships, we do in stories, fairy tales, novels, movies, books, or even when falling in love with a flame who at that point may be stil entirely clueless about your existence... It would be unhealthy not realizing the imaginatory character of your relationship, but this then is not the fault of the novel, movie or character, etc... but rather an issue the concerned individual needs to deal with. The better a story teller, the more immersive the story, the more you forget about everything around you. This is one of the purposes of story telling, with many benefits, one of which is, well, just to relax a little bit, the other to dream, the third to inspire, and not the least to connect us in thought and emotion. Like doorways to each others' thoughts, ideas and worlds.

Edited August 4, 2023 by IronMike

[IronMike]

On 8/2/2023 at 2:20 PM, draconus said:

I came to DCS specifically to enjoy the most realistic combat flight sim experience I can get for home PC. There was even some version actually used to train A-10C systems in VR. Realism is the fun for me. I don't know where did you get this idea to "entertain" us with the module and make artistic "persona". Imho you should focus on the perfect aircraft simulation and professional RIO but let's see what new options you come up with. I agree the jokes are small part of Jester and he's not that goofy all the time. I still would prefer cursing and not toned down one

In other words, you came to have fun.

And we provide you with fun that you seek, by translating it to your screen as we know. I don't think you would enjoy it as much if we ran a numbers simulation based on your inputs? No graphics? Or, maybe just triangles? Or, let us be less extreme, how about campaigns without any story, voice acting, etc. Or better even: how about no missions at all, since, we do give you the realistic module, and you all do with it as you please. We could also remove Jester entirely and still fulfill that goal alone. Some few may enjoy that, plenty more less. Plenty enjoy jester as is, some less. There is a spectrum of things that are needed, and you fit on it somewhere, and others somewhere else. What you (or anyone) individually, personally need/s, is not as important, as what you, the audience, in general needs. And that is the entire spectrum of things we need to think about vs you basically enjoying the aspects you enjoy more or less. The sim is, in the end, for entertainment purposes only, always was and always will be purely that. The professional side you mentioned will never be made available to you (in general I mean, ofc), and the one that will, will never be made to serve a professional purpose. Your idea of being entertained may lean on realism, but it is still a request to be entertained in the end, to provide you with a video game based on certain principles for your leisure time, and any end conusmer home-sim, will always be made for that primarily, to entertain you. It's not a bad thing, and it does not hinder or speak against what you want out of it. One could even argue, that because we can do these for entertainment purposes, you get to enjoy the realism part of it in the first place.    

Edited August 4, 2023 by IronMike

[SgtPappy]

On top of all this, it's entirely possible to replace Jester's unwanted lines with complete silence or even your own voice if you felt like it.

Perhaps this isn't exactly by design, but I would hazard to guess that those who really don't like Jester have sunk enough time into DCS to know that their various mods and liveries are implemented the same way as replacing said voice lines.