Every voice re-recorded with ElevenLabs v4, and a new Nanny you won't forget
By Encrypted Cat / 0xKOT · Originally published on itch.io
ElevenLabs just released their new Eleven v4 models, and I couldn’t resist. I re-recorded every line of dialogue in The Cradle, all 292 lines in English and Russian, with Eleven v4 Turbo. The difference is honestly stunning: more breath, more hesitation, more fear in the right places. Whispers finally sound like someone is right next to you.
The Nanny is much creepier now
The biggest change is her. Her old voice was too gentle, more like a kind nurse than something that walks the halls at night. She now has a new voice in both languages: slow, eerily calm, with a cold smile you can hear. When she whispers “Sleep, little one”… you’ll want to be somewhere else.
A new voice for Vetrov
In an earlier update I said Vetrov was voiced by a clone of my own voice. Hearing it through a whole playthrough, I realised it didn’t fit him, so Vetrov has a new voice. He’s a tired, nervous man sent somewhere he shouldn’t be, and he now sounds like it. I kept a Russian accent in his English on purpose. He’s a Soviet radio engineer, after all.
Everyone else
- Gromov on the radio, the 1976 tape and the children are all re-recorded on v4 Turbo, with the same voices you know.
- The walkie-talkie crackle, the tape hiss and the phone line are all still there. The voices just sit inside them better now.
Also fixed
In the final chase, Vetrov used to shout “To the lock!”, and there are two doors that could mean. Some players ran into the wrong room. He now shouts exactly where to go, and the objective says it too.
Headphones on
If you’ve already played, the new voices are a good reason for another run, and the ending hits differently now. Let me know in the comments what you think of the new Nanny. I’d love to know if she got to you.
Thanks for playing.