An immersive narration and lore companion for Vanilla World of Warcraft.
Hey everyone!
I'm the developer of SoftSpoken, and I'm happy to announce its first public beta!
SoftSpoken is a port and extensive reworking of the original Spoken addon, developed for Vanilla WoW 1.12 and OctoWoW in particular. It brings narrated quests, NPC conversations, books, and exploration to the original game client, alongside a unified in-game Compendium for revisiting the world you've discovered.
The project began as a port of Spoken by Rusty Key, which itself built upon the popular AI VoiceOver addon, regenerating much of its dialogue using newer voice models and introducing a number of additional features. However, Spoken wasn't designed for the original Vanilla client and lacked support for Turtle WoW's custom content.
With SoftSpoken, I've worked to bring those capabilities to Vanilla 1.12 while preserving and expanding upon the original addon's functionality. This has involved substantial reworking of its underlying systems, interface, and integration with the game, rather than simply making it compatible with an older client.
Particular attention has gone into making SoftSpoken feel at home in Vanilla WoW. Its interface draws extensively from Blizzard's original artwork and design conventions, with the aim of making the addon feel like a natural extension of the game itself.
What does SoftSpoken do?
SoftSpoken currently consists of three main modules:
SoftSpoken Stories
Brings narrated quests and NPC conversations to Azeroth, covering quest acceptance, progress, completion, and gossip. Alongside the original Spoken recordings, Stories also supports additional Turtle WoW AI VoiceOver audio, extending narration to the server's custom content.
Quests and their associated dialogue are preserved in the Compendium, allowing you to revisit previous conversations, replay available recordings, and follow the quest chains you've encountered throughout your adventures.
SoftSpoken Places
Provides narrated lore for Azeroth's zones and subzones as you explore, introducing the history and background of the locations you discover. Places keeps track of your exploration, gradually building a catalogue of locations whose stories you can revisit at any time.
It also integrates directly with the World Map, allowing you to browse location lore and access narration without leaving the familiar map interface.
SoftSpoken Writings
Brings narration to books, letters, scrolls, notes, and other readable objects scattered throughout the world. Narration follows the pages you're reading, while keeping a record of the writings you've discovered and where you found them.
Previously discovered writings can also be revisited through the Compendium, allowing you to read their contents and replay available recordings without having to return to the original object.
Azeroth's Compendium
A unified interface for discovering the lore of Azeroth.
All three modules come together in Azeroth's Compendium, a unified interface designed around discovery-based progression.
As you travel through Azeroth, undertake quests, and encounter books and other readable objects, their entries become available in the Compendium. These are organized into dedicated Stories, Places, and Writings sections, allowing you to revisit previous encounters, explore their associated lore, and replay available narration.
By default, undiscovered entries remain locked, allowing the Compendium to grow naturally alongside your character's adventures without revealing everything the world has to offer.
For those who prefer unrestricted access, these discovery requirements can also be disabled, effectively turning the Compendium into a more traditional encyclopedia of Azeroth.
Download & Installation
SoftSpoken is available through GitHub, where you'll find the latest release, installation instructions, and links to compatible voice packs.
GitHub Repository & Installation Guide
This is the first public beta, and development is still ongoing. Feedback, bug reports, and compatibility testing are very welcome! If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for improvements, feel free to share them here or through GitHub Issues.
Credits & Acknowledgments
SoftSpoken is developed and maintained by z1xel, based on Spoken by Rusty Key, with earlier foundations in AI VoiceOver.
Many thanks to the original developers, contributors, and creators of the compatible voice packs whose work has helped make this project possible. Full credits and licensing information are available in the GitHub repository.
I hope SoftSpoken gives some of you another reason to slow down, explore Azeroth, and appreciate the stories scattered throughout its world!
