Is it even possible to do this well without voice actors?
We were originally going to have them for our dialogue and do a sort of Telltale-esque narrative system with a character speaking and giving the player a few choices. In our current prototype (shown), we write out all the answers in long-form, but that’s because we don’t have a voice actors yet. We were going to simplify the long-form like Deus Ex does. So, in the example, the final version would have the answers say “Sure” and “Sorry” with the longform written out small below it.
However, because our Kickstarteris looking like it might not succeed, I’m looking to cut voice actors, among other things, to save money as we move forward without the extra funding. I just want to know what the best way to do a choice-based narrative is without voice actors. I want to avoid big text blobs like we have in the picture, but I don’t want to do a linear RPG narrative system where it’s just a simple back and forth.
Do you guys know any examples of games that have done a choice-based narrative system that didn’t have voice actors, and did it well? Or do you have any ideas? Thanks!