Nicholas Thurkettle - Voice Actor
@nthurkettle.bsky.social
Actor/Writer/Filmmaker. Shakespeare junkie. Road tripper. Cat lover. Profile pic by @missluuna.bsky.social linktr.ee/nthurkettle
Got it! I haven't seen any indication that Pinnec is that much more powerful than anybody else in the game; but I think from the beginning you can tell from his vibes that he's a formidable warrior.
November 12, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Got it! I haven't seen any indication that Pinnec is that much more powerful than anybody else in the game; but I think from the beginning you can tell from his vibes that he's a formidable warrior.
I haven't played yet, from what I've seen he's not statistically OP compared with other playables, but IMO his moveset and animations do a great job portraying him as a badass you don't want to see on the other side in a battle, so I'll take it!
And I love learning stuff like this.
And I love learning stuff like this.
November 12, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I haven't played yet, from what I've seen he's not statistically OP compared with other playables, but IMO his moveset and animations do a great job portraying him as a badass you don't want to see on the other side in a battle, so I'll take it!
And I love learning stuff like this.
And I love learning stuff like this.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing that. My only gaming experience with Lu Bu was the original NES RPG of "Destiny of an Emperor," where he was powerful but if you added him to your party he'd inevitably betray you and switch sides and I was like "Wait a minute, Pinnec would NEVER..."
November 12, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Awesome! Thanks for sharing that. My only gaming experience with Lu Bu was the original NES RPG of "Destiny of an Emperor," where he was powerful but if you added him to your party he'd inevitably betray you and switch sides and I was like "Wait a minute, Pinnec would NEVER..."
Like it seems to be an aesthetic thing - feathers and spear. If that's what it means then cool cool I like his design too!
November 12, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Like it seems to be an aesthetic thing - feathers and spear. If that's what it means then cool cool I like his design too!
I've seen this in on-camera too. Sometimes to audition for a film I have to share my IG account and how many followers I have. That's not what I went to school for. I'm not wired to farm follows by streaming every night. I love having meaningful interactions at cons, but that pressure threatens it.
November 12, 2025 at 6:39 PM
I've seen this in on-camera too. Sometimes to audition for a film I have to share my IG account and how many followers I have. That's not what I went to school for. I'm not wired to farm follows by streaming every night. I love having meaningful interactions at cons, but that pressure threatens it.
As for the concept of a player-voiced protagonist: Having heard an example of someone cloning my voice against my wishes, the issue is, A.I. doesn't know how to act. A voice that sounds like yours but doesn't express itself like you is more jarring than immersive. Look up the "Uncanny Valley Effect"
November 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
As for the concept of a player-voiced protagonist: Having heard an example of someone cloning my voice against my wishes, the issue is, A.I. doesn't know how to act. A voice that sounds like yours but doesn't express itself like you is more jarring than immersive. Look up the "Uncanny Valley Effect"
The question to me is - What does it do that can't be done by an actor? If your game has a lot of text and you want a vocal option for accessibility, an audiobook narrator can record over 10K words in a single session cleanly and clearly for a few hundred bucks. I've done that in my bedroom closet.
November 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The question to me is - What does it do that can't be done by an actor? If your game has a lot of text and you want a vocal option for accessibility, an audiobook narrator can record over 10K words in a single session cleanly and clearly for a few hundred bucks. I've done that in my bedroom closet.
They really do believe that they've unlocked the secret vault where the Holy Grail of "FAST, CHEAP, *AND* GOOD!!!" has been hidden away; when the reality is that it will be none of these things. It won't even be cheap once the VC dries up and Silicon Valley jacks the price.
November 12, 2025 at 1:36 AM
They really do believe that they've unlocked the secret vault where the Holy Grail of "FAST, CHEAP, *AND* GOOD!!!" has been hidden away; when the reality is that it will be none of these things. It won't even be cheap once the VC dries up and Silicon Valley jacks the price.
When I was just about to publish my short story collection, the editor who'd worked on a previous book project with me let me know their true name; so I opened up the publishing master docs and replaced their deadname. You just have to give a damn is all.
November 12, 2025 at 12:27 AM
When I was just about to publish my short story collection, the editor who'd worked on a previous book project with me let me know their true name; so I opened up the publishing master docs and replaced their deadname. You just have to give a damn is all.
Speaking of legendary, a closing example: Koji Kondo composed the now instantly-recognizable overworld theme for the first “Legend of Zelda” IN ONE DAY when Nintendo realized their original pick, Ravel’s “Bolero,” was still protected by copyright. Could A.I. turn defeat into victory so well? (END)
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Speaking of legendary, a closing example: Koji Kondo composed the now instantly-recognizable overworld theme for the first “Legend of Zelda” IN ONE DAY when Nintendo realized their original pick, Ravel’s “Bolero,” was still protected by copyright. Could A.I. turn defeat into victory so well? (END)
The embrace of collaboration and the surrender of absolute control go hand-in-hand. So does accepting that you may never feel completely ready to stop working, but you must stop working nonetheless. And you never know when an element you didn’t control makes your work legendary.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
The embrace of collaboration and the surrender of absolute control go hand-in-hand. So does accepting that you may never feel completely ready to stop working, but you must stop working nonetheless. And you never know when an element you didn’t control makes your work legendary.
What I hear behind this argument is a need for control, with A.I as the false solution. It isn’t just about paying all those humans, it’s about what they bring to the table. Inevitably, there’s some element you can’t control. But the mistake is when you miss how their artistry ADDS to the work!
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
What I hear behind this argument is a need for control, with A.I as the false solution. It isn’t just about paying all those humans, it’s about what they bring to the table. Inevitably, there’s some element you can’t control. But the mistake is when you miss how their artistry ADDS to the work!
All of this is to say - I don’t buy the explanation. Especially in a world where every game gets patches, bugfixes, DLC…You can make changes. What you can’t do is infinitely dither against a deadline. No, not even with A.I., which I GUARANTEE will not give you exactly what you need on a first pass.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
All of this is to say - I don’t buy the explanation. Especially in a world where every game gets patches, bugfixes, DLC…You can make changes. What you can’t do is infinitely dither against a deadline. No, not even with A.I., which I GUARANTEE will not give you exactly what you need on a first pass.
Another uncomfortable truth about creating is that you truly can never predict how your work will be received. Lack of control is baked into the process. What last-minute tweaking can do, though, is offer an illusion of control for people too anxious to let go. So it HELPS that there’s a cost.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Another uncomfortable truth about creating is that you truly can never predict how your work will be received. Lack of control is baked into the process. What last-minute tweaking can do, though, is offer an illusion of control for people too anxious to let go. So it HELPS that there’s a cost.
George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which changed 20th century music overnight? A rush job written in five weeks to beat a rival working on a similar idea. The “root beer” scene that thematically-defined “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?” Filler they shot when the episode came in two minutes short.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which changed 20th century music overnight? A rush job written in five weeks to beat a rival working on a similar idea. The “root beer” scene that thematically-defined “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?” Filler they shot when the episode came in two minutes short.
The fact that there is a hard limit to changes, that the time and resources required escalate on a curve as deadlines approach, is painful but actually a blessing. Countless iconic works of art share a story about how they escaped into the world with their creators uncertain about them.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
The fact that there is a hard limit to changes, that the time and resources required escalate on a curve as deadlines approach, is painful but actually a blessing. Countless iconic works of art share a story about how they escaped into the world with their creators uncertain about them.
There is such a thing as self-defeatingly precious. Past a threshold, dithering is just dithering. Maybe you improve the experience by 0.1% for a small part of your audience, make it worse by 0.1% for another part, and the rest couldn’t register the differences even if you showed them side by side.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
There is such a thing as self-defeatingly precious. Past a threshold, dithering is just dithering. Maybe you improve the experience by 0.1% for a small part of your audience, make it worse by 0.1% for another part, and the rest couldn’t register the differences even if you showed them side by side.
My training as a writer really happened at my college newspaper, where the new issue came out Friday whether I liked it or not. I realized that no matter what, my words would be imperfect, and possibly compromised; but nonetheless the best I could do under the circumstances. Some of it was garbage.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
My training as a writer really happened at my college newspaper, where the new issue came out Friday whether I liked it or not. I realized that no matter what, my words would be imperfect, and possibly compromised; but nonetheless the best I could do under the circumstances. Some of it was garbage.
So it’s a rare hypothetical, but a valid one. The question is - when is it a way to expedite improvements on deadline, and when is it an excuse to micromanage? Because if you create anything, a universal truth you learn is that eventually, you have to *commit* to a choice you’re not sure about.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
So it’s a rare hypothetical, but a valid one. The question is - when is it a way to expedite improvements on deadline, and when is it an excuse to micromanage? Because if you create anything, a universal truth you learn is that eventually, you have to *commit* to a choice you’re not sure about.
Sometimes this is handy, as when the movie version of “Cats” was accidentally released with incomplete VFX. Since the movie was delivered via digital files instead of physical reels, a corrected film was provided to theatres within days; so “Cats” could live or die on its own, um, cinematic quality.
a woman dressed as a cat with blue eyes looks at the camera
ALT: a woman dressed as a cat with blue eyes looks at the camera
media.tenor.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Sometimes this is handy, as when the movie version of “Cats” was accidentally released with incomplete VFX. Since the movie was delivered via digital files instead of physical reels, a corrected film was provided to theatres within days; so “Cats” could live or die on its own, um, cinematic quality.
Technology makes it more possible to iterate and tinker than ever. Marvel Studios now can apply a human character’s makeup *after* filming the scene (which looks waxy and strange but made sets more COVID-safe during peak pandemic.) They can even change a character’s costume.
doctor strange is wearing a black jacket and a red cape while standing in front of a fireplace in a room .
ALT: doctor strange is wearing a black jacket and a red cape while standing in front of a fireplace in a room .
media.tenor.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Technology makes it more possible to iterate and tinker than ever. Marvel Studios now can apply a human character’s makeup *after* filming the scene (which looks waxy and strange but made sets more COVID-safe during peak pandemic.) They can even change a character’s costume.