Alien: Solara - New Audio Drama!

Started by Anarchist86ed, Jan 28, 2018, 07:12:41 PM

Author
Alien: Solara - New Audio Drama! (Read 88,315 times)

Corporal Hicks

Fantastic! Downloading now.  :)

Anarchist86ed

As always we like reviews.

Corporal Hicks

I dug it! I fancy having a re-listen of the three so far but I enjoyed myself. Your sound engineering is spot on and the cast is great (Hennessy especially had me chuckling!). I also liked that you embraced the fandom theory of different factions of Engineers. I'm looking forward to seeing how you further use that.

I started to have an issue with the homages by the end of the episode though - specifically reused dialogue. I hate it in the actual films and the first few instances worked quite nicely but after "this crew is not expendable" I wasn't so keen. Started to find them really distracting and pulling me out the experience.

Anarchist86ed

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Apr 27, 2018, 06:55:40 PM
I dug it! I fancy having a re-listen of the three so far but I enjoyed myself. Your sound engineering is spot on and the cast is great (Hennessy especially had me chuckling!). I also liked that you embraced the fandom theory of different factions of Engineers. I'm looking forward to seeing how you further use that.

I started to have an issue with the homages by the end of the episode though - specifically reused dialogue. I hate it in the actual films and the first few instances worked quite nicely but after "this crew is not expendable" I wasn't so keen. Started to find them really distracting and pulling me out the experience.

You're overruled on the references, the cast likes them. They're all big alien fans so they appreciate putting in the nods. They particularly liked the crew not being expendable because they didn't want it to be another slaughter fest. So it's more for them than the audience. One of them says it makes them feel like they're in the universe, so that's good enough for me to keep them. Though going forward you won't find many more of them. Except the colonial marines. And pulse rifles. And drop ships. But those are required. And we'll learn a little more about the soon to be united systems military and the downfall of Wey-Yu. All from a non canon perspective.

The chief is probably my favorite character. He's unapologetic scummy.

I honestly didn't even want to address the engineers, but I figured that they're there and we may as well use them. In part three we learn a lot more about what went on in the lab and why the ship is there. But we don't learn about the "science experiment" for a while.

Deleted, because he didn't record it, was a story Chief Hennessy told about visiting LV-178 to prospect for trimonite but in the end all of his fellow prospectors disappeared in the sea of sorrows. I felt it was ok to lose this and just make a reference to the Marion and the miners. Probably best not to reference the new audible drama out anyway.

Chief: I went there once with a prospecting team. They wanted to search the sea of sorrows for any traces of trimonite, but the whole damn area was too toxic even after terraforming. I decided not to go, and they were never heard from again.

People seemed to get a kick out of Disney actually owning Wey-Yu in reality now. No, they don't make an appearance as a villain company. But the crew still finds it hilarious that the house of mouse might build better theme parks.

Trivia:

The sprayer sound effect is the slime blower from Ghost Busters.

The Narcissus was repaired and sold cheaply. The Captain bought it as a back up. The Nostromo had two shuttles, only one functional. At the end of the story the Narcissus will once again be the only functional shuttle on an M-Class ship. With a badly replaced rear hatch because the scrappers didn't bother trying to open it before cutting it off.

A second Negan reference.

Acheron WAS a better place to live than Plutus.

The flute sound is just sped up from a piece of music, I couldn't get a clean sound of the flute from Prometheus.

Greed over the good of Humanity always prevails.

Laser pistols were originally in Alien, but never actually shown or used.

Whatever's in those eggs, it was worth suicide to destroy.



As always there are of course issues with me not being able to make it perfect based on what you listen with. For instance, one line of dialogue spikes hard even though I lowered it by half. It sounds normalized on my laptop speaker, sounds normal on my phone, gets loud on my MP3 player, barely can hear it on my tablet. I do my best to fix these issues but there seems to be no way to perfectly level everything to sound the same in every way people may listen. Having OCD it drives me nuts when it sounds the same on one, then spikes on another. All I can suggest is pick a comfy volume. Hopefully any issues will be fixed when it's all melted into one episode.

Corporal Hicks

Quote from: Anarchist86ed on Apr 28, 2018, 12:46:06 AM
You're overruled on the references, the cast likes them. They're all big alien fans so they appreciate putting in the nods. They particularly liked the crew not being expendable because they didn't want it to be another slaughter fest. So it's more for them than the audience. One of them says it makes them feel like they're in the universe, so that's good enough for me to keep them. Though going forward you won't find many more of them. Except the colonial marines. And pulse rifles. And drop ships. But those are required. And we'll learn a little more about the soon to be united systems military and the downfall of Wey-Yu. All from a non canon perspective.

It's not like I have any say to be overruled. lol  :P Just giving my feedback as a listener and a big fan myself. It's purely the re-used dialogue I dislike. I can't stand it in sequel films. The first few instances in episode 2 were kinda fun but after that I just found them distracting.

I've got no issues with references - I love them. I love the universe connecting that they entail and you're right - they're 100% needed to help keep it all together. I've enjoyed your use of them.  :)

QuoteThe chief is probably my favorite character. He's unapologetic scummy.

In an endearing way!  ;D

QuoteI honestly didn't even want to address the engineers, but I figured that they're there and we may as well use them. In part three we learn a lot more about what went on in the lab and why the ship is there. But we don't learn about the "science experiment" for a while.

I'm keen to see what else you have in store - even if you're not keen on the Engineers. I think they actually open up a lot of possibilities!

QuoteDeleted, because he didn't record it, was a story Chief Hennessy told about visiting LV-178 to prospect for trimonite but in the end all of his fellow prospectors disappeared in the sea of sorrows. I felt it was ok to lose this and just make a reference to the Marion and the miners. Probably best not to reference the new audible drama out anyway.

When is Solara set? I've not listened to the Audible yet but I've started re-reading the book and they weren't aware of the trimonite until the start of the book anyway. It was just a colony. It's also set well after Alien: Resurrection so it might have caused you some timeline errors.

QuotePeople seemed to get a kick out of Disney actually owning Wey-Yu in reality now. No, they don't make an appearance as a villain company. But the crew still finds it hilarious that the house of mouse might build better theme parks.

I'll admit that did give me a chuckle.  :P

QuoteThe Narcissus was repaired and sold cheaply. The Captain bought it as a back up. The Nostromo had two shuttles, only one functional. At the end of the story the Narcissus will once again be the only functional shuttle on an M-Class ship. With a badly replaced rear hatch because the scrappers didn't bother trying to open it before cutting it off.

I must have missed that! Did you namedrop it?

QuoteThe flute sound is just sped up from a piece of music, I couldn't get a clean sound of the flute from Prometheus.

Didn't like that! Breaking the fourth wall. Hated it in Covenant, distracting again here.

QuoteLaser pistols were originally in Alien, but never actually shown or used.

They make a brief appearance and get a quick mention in the Director's Cut IIRC.

QuoteAs always there are of course issues with me not being able to make it perfect based on what you listen with. For instance, one line of dialogue spikes hard even though I lowered it by half. It sounds normalized on my laptop speaker, sounds normal on my phone, gets loud on my MP3 player, barely can hear it on my tablet. I do my best to fix these issues but there seems to be no way to perfectly level everything to sound the same in every way people may listen. Having OCD it drives me nuts when it sounds the same on one, then spikes on another. All I can suggest is pick a comfy volume. Hopefully any issues will be fixed when it's all melted into one episode.

I've honestly had no issues with your sounds. In general, as long as the levels are even and they don't spike into the red there's nothing more you can really be doing.

Anarchist86ed

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on May 08, 2018, 08:10:05 AM
Quote from: Anarchist86ed on Apr 28, 2018, 12:46:06 AM
You're overruled on the references, the cast likes them. They're all big alien fans so they appreciate putting in the nods. They particularly liked the crew not being expendable because they didn't want it to be another slaughter fest. So it's more for them than the audience. One of them says it makes them feel like they're in the universe, so that's good enough for me to keep them. Though going forward you won't find many more of them. Except the colonial marines. And pulse rifles. And drop ships. But those are required. And we'll learn a little more about the soon to be united systems military and the downfall of Wey-Yu. All from a non canon perspective.

It's not like I have any say to be overruled. lol  :P Just giving my feedback as a listener and a big fan myself. It's purely the re-used dialogue I dislike. I can't stand it in sequel films. The first few instances in episode 2 were kinda fun but after that I just found them distracting.

I've got no issues with references - I love them. I love the universe connecting that they entail and you're right - they're 100% needed to help keep it all together. I've enjoyed your use of them.  :)

QuoteThe chief is probably my favorite character. He's unapologetic scummy.

In an endearing way!  ;D

QuoteI honestly didn't even want to address the engineers, but I figured that they're there and we may as well use them. In part three we learn a lot more about what went on in the lab and why the ship is there. But we don't learn about the "science experiment" for a while.

I'm keen to see what else you have in store - even if you're not keen on the Engineers. I think they actually open up a lot of possibilities!

QuoteDeleted, because he didn't record it, was a story Chief Hennessy told about visiting LV-178 to prospect for trimonite but in the end all of his fellow prospectors disappeared in the sea of sorrows. I felt it was ok to lose this and just make a reference to the Marion and the miners. Probably best not to reference the new audible drama out anyway.

When is Solara set? I've not listened to the Audible yet but I've started re-reading the book and they weren't aware of the trimonite until the start of the book anyway. It was just a colony. It's also set well after Alien: Resurrection so it might have caused you some timeline errors.

QuotePeople seemed to get a kick out of Disney actually owning Wey-Yu in reality now. No, they don't make an appearance as a villain company. But the crew still finds it hilarious that the house of mouse might build better theme parks.

I'll admit that did give me a chuckle.  :P

QuoteThe Narcissus was repaired and sold cheaply. The Captain bought it as a back up. The Nostromo had two shuttles, only one functional. At the end of the story the Narcissus will once again be the only functional shuttle on an M-Class ship. With a badly replaced rear hatch because the scrappers didn't bother trying to open it before cutting it off.

I must have missed that! Did you namedrop it?

QuoteThe flute sound is just sped up from a piece of music, I couldn't get a clean sound of the flute from Prometheus.

Didn't like that! Breaking the fourth wall. Hated it in Covenant, distracting again here.

QuoteLaser pistols were originally in Alien, but never actually shown or used.

They make a brief appearance and get a quick mention in the Director's Cut IIRC.

QuoteAs always there are of course issues with me not being able to make it perfect based on what you listen with. For instance, one line of dialogue spikes hard even though I lowered it by half. It sounds normalized on my laptop speaker, sounds normal on my phone, gets loud on my MP3 player, barely can hear it on my tablet. I do my best to fix these issues but there seems to be no way to perfectly level everything to sound the same in every way people may listen. Having OCD it drives me nuts when it sounds the same on one, then spikes on another. All I can suggest is pick a comfy volume. Hopefully any issues will be fixed when it's all melted into one episode.

I've honestly had no issues with your sounds. In general, as long as the levels are even and they don't spike into the red there's nothing more you can really be doing.

When is Solara set? I've not listened to the Audible yet but I've started re-reading the book and they weren't aware of the trimonite until the start of the book anyway. It was just a colony. It's also set well after Alien: Resurrection so it might have caused you some timeline errors.

Late October, 2180. Actually it takes place around Halloween. A little over a year after alien 3, which is why the atmosphere processor explosion on Acheron is recent news and also a joke in part 2 about Disney sending kids to LV-426 to clean up radiation and bits of colonists.

Deleted from the script was a reference to the Captain having dinner on LV-426 and being annoyed by a little girl with a doll and a kind of weird accent who wanted to know what it was like living in space.

Since we're not canon, I only reference some canon things to suit our needs. I threw in the LV-178 reference just to describe Plutus as being an even worse shit hole than it was.

Didn't like that! Breaking the fourth wall. Hated it in Covenant, distracting again here.

Again, a cast member got a kick out of it. Besides, I needed an excuse for him to be able to turn on the console and David could figure out their technology with absolutely no explanation, so John can too.

They make a brief appearance and get a quick mention in the Director's Cut IIRC.

Maybe, but it's still a blink and you'll miss it thing. But just like in Alien, our laser pistols never get used.

I must have missed that! Did you namedrop it?

The kid couldn't pronounce it so he tried to and called it the Narcsistas. The chief doesn't find it space worthy because the rear hatch repair was sloppy because the scrappers who found it didn't bother trying to actually open it first. In part 3 Mr. Deckard gets a kick out of hearing the Narcissus was docked with Solara the whole time and tells the Captain the story of it's former crew and how the survivor passed away from severe chest pains.

I'm keen to see what else you have in store - even if you're not keen on the Engineers. I think they actually open up a lot of possibilities!

I more or less imply the engineers were trying to create something new and royally screwed up. But believe it or not, my creatures won't really be the bad guys, I kinda want you to sympathize with them for the meddling the engineers did. There is not one single reference that David is responsible for the xenomorphs. This is the single most infuriating concept from the entire franchise. I'm retconning that the engineers were ultimately disappointed with the species, labeling them inefficient. They worked to make them more efficient. We do hear from engineers in part 3.

XenoHunter99

Good work :) The dialogue is entertaining. I think Hicks handled most of the quibbling. I got the Narcissus reference right away. I like that. The old girl had to go somewhere. Better to another M-class than the scrap heap. On to Part 3! :D

Anarchist86ed

Part 3 is 90% done.

Corporal Hicks

Glad to hear it! Looking forward to more.

Anarchist86ed

If you think about it, you'll know when part 3 will be released. Since we last released on 4/26.

XenoHunter99

Cool! Look forward to it  ;D

Corporal Hicks

Quote from: Anarchist86ed on Jul 02, 2018, 05:21:36 PM
If you think about it, you'll know when part 3 will be released. Since we last released on 4/26.

I'd guess Aliens' anniversary?

Anarchist86ed

Next Wednesday.

Good episode. We get introduced to a comic book character. If you guess who, I'll let you listen to an unfinished version.

No one will, but hey a bump's a bump.

The Cruentus

Herk Mondo?  :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Corporal Hicks

One hint?

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