Meet The Cast (so far..)
JANUARY 31ST, 2025
Character Rig & Models - Timothy Davies
Character Textures - Ginger L.v.A
With the development of Heart Of Ember ramping up, I’m thrilled to announce the first two voice actors who were handpicked for this project. You heard them in our recently published reveal trailer; now you can become familiar with the names behind the voices!
The wonderful & talented Kisaka Toriama was chosen as the voice talent for our protagonist, Rayne. The character of Rayne is written to present herself as sportive & confident, at times to a fault, in order to suppress her fears during the consequential events in the game’s story.
When I first met Kisaka during a boom in the indie V-tuber scene in 2021, I took notice of her voice acting demo reel pinned to her page. It was just at that time that I was wanting to attach a voice to the lead of this passion project, then titled 2 Shots In The Dark (it’s been a while!). The reel had a variety of clips of her previous performances, including a commanding & bold tone, with the added showcase of a humorous performance to lighten the mood. Instantly I knew this was the range that Rayne's character called for. I immediately messaged her regarding the role, & she's been excited about bringing the character to life off the bat! I look forward to working with her further.
We can’t forget the master chef ally, Louis Glover, voiced by the incredible Jacob Perry. Immediately chosen from a casting call, Jacob promptly presented his act of a composed & patient mentor. Louis is written to be a helping hand for Rayne in her journey back to Earth, in exchange for him tagging along & getting to fulfill his lifelong dream of feeling the warmth of the sun.
Prior to approaching Kisaka, I had drafted a script of some early scenes in the game, one of which being the conversation sparking Louis & Rayne’s alliance. I pictured him as a tender-hearted guide in Rayne’s time of need & knew exactly what I was looking for. After a casting call on Voices.com had closed, I picked out Jacob’s the moment I pressed play. He fit the role exactly how I conceptualized it, with his performance providing a character that is 'strong enough to be gentle'. Alongside that, Jacob also proved to be very enthusiastic about the role! It brought a great air to the production that inspired me to pursue this project & work past the obstacles of a solo-developer.
Both voice talents had recorded their lines back in the summer of 2021, with some re-recordings done in 2024 to better fit the developed context of the scene. On a personal note, I’d like to thank Kisaka & Jacob for their patience throughout the years, as Heart Of Ember has finally graduated from being a mere passion project of mine to a fully realized production. While I’m still primarily a one-man show, I’ve been hard at work on a vertical slice that’s finished the grey-boxing stage, along with a script that fits the length & scope to keep the focus on the project at hand!
There are currently three more fully written supporting characters for Heart Of Ember’s story, one of whom is Rayne’s AI companion, KAY-C. While concepts are always bouncing around, I’m set on keeping the scope to a manageable size so as to not derail the project. More details will be released about the role of KAY-C in the coming months, with the remaining characters being reserved for when the vertical slice has been completed.
Be on the lookout for casting calls in the future!
