That's... really bad, if the game is at fault. I sure as heck hope not. The Godot Engine has its slew of issues with audio drivers, but I don't *think* it would be able to change your audio like that. The game has to read your audio input and output devices, but the devices you choose are just what the game itself utilizes. If anyone else has experienced this as well, that would be important to learn. Also, I don't know if this is a replicatable problem on your PC or not when using the game.

That has been requested by others recently, and unlike some of the game's issues, this is something I think I can look into and add. Should be doable, but no promises.

This is the answer. Some people's defender tools flag the program as malicious, which makes sense, because I'm just one guy making a game in Godot. If anyone is concerned about the virus flagging, then do not run it.

Good question--none of the content you'll see in clips and shorts are in the base game. Those are created by other users. The current base version of The Choicer Voicer only has basic content to get started.

I've been getting multiple posts each day to the effect of "I bought the game without knowing there isn't a Mac version", so I'm pinning this topic for visibility. Nowhere on the store page does it say there's a Mac version. At the very top of the store page it says, "for Windows and Linux" (I didn't even write that, that's automated by Itch for the benefit of viewers).

So why is there no Mac version?

Because exporting for Mac is much, much more arduous than Windows or Linux. I'm just one guy--I'm not going to be able to get Choicer Voicer signed and notarized as an application. Any possible export would apparently require Mac users to circumvent protections on their operating system. It's not outside the realm of possibility, but this is why it hasn't been done. Of course, it'd be nice to have, both for me and for you.

If you want a refund, you need to contact Itch support. If you can't play it, I want you to get a refund, but I don't have a means to individually refund customers.

In the dub pack you used, does the `_backing_track` file have the voices? If the creator didn't isolate the vocals out of the background, that would do it. If the backing track doesn't have vocals, then I'll need to look into it.

Ah, that test build only has the Compatibility version for the sake of testing. The other builds include both standard and Compatibility

I appreciate each of you contributing your specs. Hopefully the more reports I get about this, the easier it will be to pinpoint the cause. Hopefully it's a problem with what I coded, as opposed to another Godot Engine issue. For now, I can only speculate. I would be interested in hearing whether this is a problem with any other Godot games, though.

I could look into adding an option to player data in a future version to point to folders other than `AppData/Roaming/YeahMaybe/ChoicerVoicer/game/`, if that's what you're looking for? Unsure how easily it could be backported to the current codebase (could possibly cause friction), but I can put it on my radar.

I appreciate the detailed report 🫡 Great to hear this test build is solving the issue for some people!

Quick note, I'm an idiot and used the wrong Linux export template. If you tried the Linux version before the timestamp on this comment, it wouldn't have worked. Whoops...

If you already tried 0.5.2-dev2 on Linux and your mic didn't work, please try it again now.

The bug in the Godot Engine is specifically with *recording* not working. The mic works, and can pick up sound, but it fails to record properly. So you're saying that yesterday, it was recording properly, and now it's not? And you were using the same game version (which, btw?) and same audio setup?

A standalone download. It's another version release. It's not the final version of 0.5.2, but an in-progress one.

If you're saying that you can't hear your recording during Dub Mode when clicking "hear clip again", that's intentional. It's just to hear the clip again. As the description for the mode says in-game: "You can re-record as many times as you wish in this mode, but you cannot hear your recordings until the dub is complete."

I've uploaded a dev build of 0.5.2 which was exported with a custom version of Godot that includes a pull request that possibly fixes the dreaded mic bug, where audio is heard but not recorded.

If your mic hasn't been working in previous versions of The Choicer Voicer, please try out this dev build and let me know whether or not it's fixed.

It's a much-needed feature that I plan to add, yes! Not everyone's mic setups are delay-less, and accounting for delay would make it easier for people to route friends' audio when streaming together.

I've just uploaded a test build for Windows and Linux, version 0.5.2-dev2, that was exported with a custom Godot build that includes a pull request that ALLEGEDLY fixes the mic bug. If you're affected by the bug and your mic doesn't work on previous versions, please try this dev build and let me know if it's fixed or not.

I would look into the link from Scott. I've never requested a refund myself, but I totally understand if a refund is needed. Especially with how many people are still experiencing the broken mic bug.

I'll repost what I said in a recent post about common questions I've received:

"As a Steam lover myself, I get it. However, a Steam release is nowhere on the horizon. I'd say a minimum of six months, and that's being generous. There's a couple simple reasons for this:

• The game is still in alpha. I think many people forget this or don't even take it in, but the current iteration is the result of my flying by the seat of my pants in the spring of 2024. It's lacking several features and modes, and isn't anywhere close to what I want it to be yet. Once it becomes feature-complete enough, and I'm confident saying it's in beta, Steam will be more palatable to me.
• Ease of use. Itch is stupid easy to get started on as a first-time game developer. Steam on the other hand is a much more complicated process. Yes, I'm sure I'm capable of jumping through all the necessary hoops, but when the game isn't in a state to be released on Steam, I'm not eager to spend my time investigating all of that.
• There's a popular Godot Steam kit for adding amenities like Steam achievements to your Godot game. I want that, and it will have to be added to a rewrite--aka whatever the beta will eventually be. And that's additional time and learning that, once again, is being spent towards other things (or wasted towards other things, in the case of this forsaken mic issue...)

So yeah. It's something I want, but with additional hurdles plus the current state of the game, I'm not comfortable putting it on Steam at this time. However, it is something I want just as much as you do, and I to make it a reality at some point." The 100 dollar cost is something I can pay, it's moreso... the everything else. Which I do plan on tackling.

Some pull requests on the Godot Github propose that the issue is audio setups with multiple channels, ie surround sounds ones such as 5.1 or 7.1. In your instructions, you also mention changing the format to 1 or 2 channels as well as changing to 44100 Hz. Would you be able to confirm whether your mic works when using 44100 Hz but more than 2 channels? (assuming that's something your settings allow)

I would like to know more about your PC specs as well as those of anyone else experiencing this. It's an incredibly rare glitch, and I have no clue what circumstances cause it. I assume this is only in the gameshow studio?

The most well-known and long-running issue with the game is some mics not working. This is an issue with the Godot Engine that still hasn't been fixed by the devs. Use this topic to share what your setup is that isn't working, and share any workarounds you've discovered until an actual fix is implemented. Please contact the Godot Foundation and encourage them to prioritize solving this problem in-engine.

Your mic may not work if you have a surround-sound audio output. Godot has a bug where its "record" effect does not work properly when there is more than one audio channel. The Choicer Voicer is reliant on the record effect working properly.

For people experienced with audio software, consider examining some pull requests that attempt to fix the issue. I have two from user "Buzzlord" here and here.

EDIT: If your mic hasn't worked in previous versions of The Choicer Voicer so far, please try the latest dev build, version 0.5.2-dev2. Let me know if your mic works for 0.5.2-dev2 if it wasn't working before.

I agree completely, and it would be an option if it could be. Due to game engine limitations, it can't create a new video with the dub audio replacing it. Dub replays rely on the dub pack's timing data to reconstruct it each time in-game.

You don't. Look at your library instead of the store page. Anyone who buys the game gets access to all future Itch updates for free.

Dev here. I can't pin comments, but I'd like to reiterate that the mic working but not recording is the most well-known bug the game has, and has existed probably for The Choicer Voicer's entire lifespan. I have a warning about it in bold print in the store description, which I ask people please read and consider before purchase.

If you need a refund because your mic won't work, that's completely fair and valid--please refund it. But please also check your mics first. This is an incredibly frustrating bug to have, because it's an issue with the Godot Engine and it still hasn't been fixed. I'm aware of a possible third-party fix, but was waiting for it to be merged by Godot's dev team. This still hasn't happened.

This post by Jodin Joceran /post/16106189 details a possible roundabout fix. Until I find a way to truly fix it, this may be worth looking into. I apologize for the frustration, as this has affected dozens if not hundreds of you.

Removed for the time being because it was a low-effort joke mode for 4.4.14. Perhaps I can add it back in a later update.

Accounting for mic delay is a much-needed feature, but will require a complete re-write of a lot of older systems in order to get it working. Unfortunately, I'm unable to give an ETA on that.

Not available yet, because getting the full release out was my top priority. I mainly just have to properly gut the full version to create it. But yes, the demo is important--I need to give non-payers an easy way to edit and check packs, and 0.5 introduces the clip metadata editor.

Edit: Demo for 0.5 have been added 🫡 It's identical to the paid version, except that game modes cannot be initiated. Includes the voice pack editor of course, which can be found under "Extras."

I agree, it is crazy that this is still an issue. But it's one I cannot fix myself because it's an issue with the Godot Engine itself; it's very likely due to the issue described in this pull request: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/pull/92532

I believe a fix will be added for Godot version 4.5, which is being worked on, so ideally that will fix it for Choicer Voicer as well, whenever I move the project to Godot 4.5

⚠ Warning to those reading new comments: There appears to be an influx of bots that are scanning the top sellers on Itch and are commenting on each of them with links to malicious downloads, claiming they're "free" or the "latest update." For your own safety, do not click those links.

Itch seems to be slow to react to this new tactic, so all I can do is delete them as I see them.

The issue is most likely due to an issue with the version of the Godot Engine being used. There's a bug of some kind where microphone recording and playback won't work if the output(?) device is surround sound. Unfortunately, it appears out of my control for the time being, but some people have had luck by changing their audio output device.

Well that's bizarre. I've never seen this kind of issue reported before. I'm curious what you're running it on, but that alone can't help me diagnose the issue.

It's an issue I am well-aware of, and have no fix for yet because it's an issue with the engine I'm coding in. It's mentioned in the second paragraph of the game description above.

Some players reported that their microphones had a surround-sound setting of some sort, and disabling it fixed that, but unfortunately I do not know the details of what they did or used.

My puzzle game "Debased" ended up being about nothing due to time constraints, haha. The in-world explanation for the gameplay is that you're a virus trying to get through firewalls, which isn't mentioned anywhere in the game. Top priority was getting the game functional, so I never had the time for it. I was originally going to have a basic intro animation explaining what's happening, but in retrospect I'm almost glad I wasn't able to throw that in, because it would've suuucked.

Apologies, I had that code for it, but then testing showed that it easily glitched, so I removed it and haven't returned to it since. I'll try to prioritize it soon.

For now, only solo and local multiplayer. No online capability in-game.