From 46227e2003de28202cc4e82bca4f7f4745476c4e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Alexander Kassouni Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2026 17:51:13 -0700 Subject: init --- docs/gating.html | 180 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 180 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/gating.html (limited to 'docs/gating.html') diff --git a/docs/gating.html b/docs/gating.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e78ac0 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/gating.html @@ -0,0 +1,180 @@ + + + + + +1. Gating & voice selection — Animalese + + + + + + +

1. Gating & voice selection

Before a single character is converted, two decisions are made: whether +this message speaks at all, and with whose voice.

+ +

Voice mode

+ +

There are three voice modes, pushed to the audio engine by +sAdo_SetVoiceMode and stored in sou_voice_mode:

+ + + + + + +

Mode	Name	Behaviour
`0`	`VOICE_MODE_ANIMALESE`	full phonology, samples from the voice bank
`1`	`VOICE_MODE_CLICK`	every non-space character plays `NA_SE_BEBE`, one blip
`2`	`VOICE_MODE_SILENT`	nothing

+ +

The mode is not simply the player's config setting. It is the product of the setting +and of who is talking — mMsg_sound_voice_mode_get:

+ +

mode_type = Save_Get(config).voice_mode        // 0 animalese, 1 bebese, 2 silent
+if (msg has VOICE_SILENT flag) mode_type = SILENT
+
+if (mMsg_check_sound_animal(msg))
+    mode = { ANIMALESE, CLICK, SILENT }[mode_type]   // an animal is speaking
+else if (mode_type == SILENT)
+    mode = SILENT
+else
+    mode = CLICK                                     // narration, signs, menus

+ +

Source: src/game/m_msg_sound.c_inc:259

+ +

So the config's "animalese" setting only unlocks animalese for messages that pass +mMsg_check_sound_animal. Everything else — item descriptions, bulletin +boards, system prompts — is click mode no matter what.

+ +

What counts as an animal talking

+ +

mMsg_check_sound_animal (m_msg_sound.c_inc:66) returns true when the +VOICE_CLICK flag is clear and any of:

+ +

msg_p->show_actor_name — the window has a speaker nameplate;
mMsg_check_sound_special — message number in + 0x1743–0x1756 (event start), 0x1799–0x17AC (event end), + or 0x3A8A–0x3AF0 (Dial-a-Psychic);
mMsg_check_sound_shasho — message number in 0x35AF–0x35BE + (the conductor).

+ +

The special ranges exist so that disembodied event narration still gets a voice. +They are forced to spec 4 regardless of any actor +(mMsg_sound_spec_change_voice_force, :288).

+ +

Spec: which of the three voices

+ +

The speaker maps to a "spec" (2–9), and the spec selects a sequence and bank. +Na_SpecChange (game64.c_inc:3459) is the switch, and it is a no-op +if the spec is unchanged — otherwise it stops the voice sequence, clears the stay +cache, and starts a new one:

+ + + + + + +

Spec	Sequence	Bank	Instruments	Used by
2, 5, 7, 9	243	156	119	default villagers, most specials, male player, Timmy/Tommy, Farley
3	244	157	83	Wendell, Pete, Booker, Jack
4, 6, 8	245	158	119	Pelly, Phyllis, Mabel, Sable, Blanca, female player, Joan, event narration

+ +

Spec also selects a base timbre inside Na_VoiceSe +(game64.c_inc:2760), reapplied on every call:

+ + + + + + + + +

Spec	Volume (`_08`)	Pitch (`_14`)	Character
2, 3, 4	0.65	1.00	baseline
5, 6	0.90	1.00	player (louder, unmodulated)
7	0.90	1.30	squeaky — Timmy & Tommy
8	0.90	0.75	low — Joan
9	0.70	0.65	very low — Farley

+ +

Note that spec is orthogonal to bank: specs 5, 7 and 9 all use bank 156 and +differ only in this pitch/volume pair. There are three sample sets and eight voices.

+ +

Villagers

+ +

mNpc_GetNpcSoundSpec (src/game/m_npc.c:4116) indexes by personality:

+ +

static int spec_table[mNpc_LOOKS_NUM] = { 4, 4, 2, 2, 3, 4 };
+//   normal(girl) 4 | peppy 4 | lazy(boy) 2 | jock 2 | cranky 3 | snooty 4

+ +

An out-of-range looks falls back to mNpc_LOOKS_BOY (spec 2).

+ +

Special NPCs

+ +

Non-villagers fall through to mNpc_GetNpcSoundSpecNotAnimal, a linear scan of +l_sp_actor_name (m_npc.c:32). The default when not found is spec 2. +Everything in that table is spec 2 except:

+ + + + + + + +

Spec	NPCs
3	Wendell, Pete, Booker, Jack
4	Pelly, Phyllis, Mabel, Sable, Blanca
8	Joan
9	Farley

+ +

The player's own voice: specs 5 and 6

+ +

Specs 5 and 6 never appear in any NPC table. They are set from the submenu +(src/game/m_submenu.c:364) when a menu that can type text opens:

+ +

if ((menu_type == mSM_OVL_LEDIT && param0 == 0) ||
+    Common_Get(now_private)->gender == mPr_SEX_MALE) {
+    sAdo_SpecChange(5);          // male
+} else {
+    sAdo_SpecChange(6);          // female
+}
+sAdo_SetVoiceMode(0);            // force animalese on regardless of config

+ +

Two things follow. First, letter-writing and name entry force animalese even when the +player has set the config to click or silent. Second, specs 5 and 6 are treated as a +distinct class throughout Na_VoiceSe:

+ +

every punctuation code (0x81, 0x84, 0x85, + 0x86) plays NA_SE_BEBE instead of being silently dropped — + the typing click;
the ? pitch bump and ! volume bump never apply;
the emotion LFO is skipped entirely;
anti-repetition substitution is disabled.

+ +

See the editor path for what actually gets spoken there.

+ +

Timmy and Tommy

+ +

Two text control codes toggle a temporary spec override, used for Nook's nephews:

+ + + + + +

Code	Value	Effect
`mFont_CONT_CODE_VOICE_TRUE`	92 (0x5C)	restore `msg_p->spec`
`mFont_CONT_CODE_VOICE_FALSE`	93 (0x5D)	switch to spec 7 (pitch × 1.3)

+ +

Both guard on the actor being SP_NPC_MAMEDANUKI0/1, so the codes are inert in +any other message. m_msg_sound.c_inc:317–340

+ +

Hard gates inside Na_VoiceSe

+ +

Four early returns drop the call regardless of everything above +(game64.c_inc:2724–2735):

+ +

voice > 0x12B — NPC voice id out of range (299 max);
animalese mode and Nap_ReadSubPort(VOICE_GROUP, 0, 1) != sou_now_voice_seq + — the voice sequence has not finished loading yet, so early characters of the + first line after a spec change are silently dropped;
sou_scene_mode == 0 — audio not in a playing scene;
a == 0x85 && b == 0xFF && c == 0xFF — a lone mute character, + handled at the very top before any state is touched.

+ + + + + -- cgit v1.3.1