Machines, Tech, Tweaks, Sounds, FX, & Music Sci-fi, BattleTech, Betty voices Atmospheric & Immersive Themes, Efficiency Imagine the atmosphere of being in a (retro) futuristic mech lab working on machines / robots / mechs / cars while having a smoke or drinking a beer. (Or not if you abstain.) An environment where people use machines and Betty voices to accomplish great feats in efficient amounts of time. In this thread, post any of the following... cool tech such as machines, gadgets or tweaks that simulate these themes interesting peripherals or computer gaming setups that enhance the experience cool sounds that you think would be appropriate or related to these themes (retro-)futuristic music that generally fits in with 80s / 90s / 8bit(chiptune) / scifi / steampunk / cyberpunk / MechWarrior What also inspired the creation of this thread is changing all my windows sounds to be the female robot computer voice which is a popular theme in sci-fi media. Apparently this is old news but I'm still enthralled. Now, instead of the deafult windows chimey thing, the bitchin' Betty from MW4: Mercenaries says "Power Restored! Systems Online!" when I turn my computer on!!!!!! Spoiler: My thoughts on the female robot computer Betty voice... Who came up with this idea? Where was the first female computer robot voice ever featured in what show, movie, book, game, or comic? Why is the concept of the Betty voice appealing for nearly any application? Then again, it makes sense having a seemingly sentient voice telling you everything about a system rather than primitive chimes or dings. I like the Betty voice - it's what you want to hear. Similar to the concept of HAL9000 from Space Odyssey. HAL sounds like he is annoyed at us whereas whoever voiced Betty in MWO sounds helpful and calming all the time. I think it's the tone of the Betty voice. It is crystal clear, calming, and helps you focus. How else can we incorporate Betty voices into things? Spoiler: Here's how you change your various windows sounds... You need to successfully convert your files to .wav for them to be played as windows sounds. All of the Windows sound files (on Windows 8.1, at least) are located in "Local Disc (C)\Windows\Media." You will need administrative access to alter this folder and these files. Changing the Log On/Off and Shut Down (Exit Windows) sounds seems easily possible in most Windows versions through simple regedits. Doing a quick search should help you find out how for your version. For windows 8.1, I left a link below... http://lifehacker.com/5959230/customize-the-logon-logoff-and-shutdown-sounds-in-windows-8 ^ Follow the 'regedit' instructions here to be able to easily change your log on/off and shutdown (exit Windows) sounds. Changing the Start Up sound - The only way of doing this I'm aware of is to download and run either of these two programs 'Startup Sound Changer' or 'WinAero Tweaker' (I have used 'Startup Sound Changer' myself and it worked great) http://ccm.net/download/download-23680-startup-sound-changer http://winaero.com/index.php You can find robot computer betty windows sounds at this link (not made with MW sounds, these replace most of the various windows sounds) http://winsounds.com/category/misc-windows-sounds/ Use these websites and the tools they provide to make custom windows sounds with the MW4 Betty voice from this video/file... http://convert2mp3.net/en/ http://mp3cut.net/ http://audio-joiner.com/ http://audio.online-convert.com/convert-to-wav Now you can hear a voice telling you what is actually happening in your system rather than the Windows Orchestra playing dings and chimes for you. Spoiler: I converted and uploaded some MW4 betty voice sounds - downloads All Functioning Systems: Nominal Communications Offline Communication Online Online1 Online2 Power Restored; Systems Online Shutting Down Warning Spoiler: Here's some interesting discussions about MWO sounds... https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/2...-we-have-a-sound-back-of-closed-beta-soundsp/ Search 'Reddit' for "OutreachHPG / could we maintain a list of all available sounds" if you're interested. Enjoy and please share any thoughts or content.
If I really was, I'd also have this! The battletech mechpods! or a newer 21st century version. http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Virtual_World_Entertainment http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=131361.0
You know... Actually I'm thinking to do something alike, but in much more hardcore way... <accidentally punches the power on button> Spoiler: Something like this ;)