I liked to hook myself up to my portable CD player when I played my hoods so there was no real reason to turn the sound on.
When I finally did I could NOT stand listening to my Sims babble -
it was like nails on a chalkboard for me. But in time, I got rather used to it and nowadays it's no big deal. I've often wondered if they are really saying anything that means something when they chat but I've come to the conclusion, (after listening to them for almost 3 years now), that no, I don't think it means squat.
I do feel the talk bubbles that show above their heads are related to what's happening in their life, (to a degree), but I don't think their actual words mean anything.
I like to take a lot of pix while my Sims talk to each other because they show so much emotion and character. They make for some great pix for my stories and I can even build a whole story-line around what kind of talk is taking place between them.
* Common Scenario *
A married couple begins a chat about finances over breakfast.
It starts out innocently enough,..
By the time breakfast is served
a full-fledged argument is about to take place!
I use these kinds of pix all the time for my stories.
That's why I'm always saying that my Sims create their own stories. Yeah, I can have them change topics while they converse in the hopes they might come up with something in a chat bubble that goes along with my story but I prefer not to do that. I let them chat about whatever they like and take lots of pix.
I know of a gamer that refuses to allow the Sims in his hood to eat together at a table because they talk so much over a meal. This is quite true, they talk much more than they eat. But I've found that is where I get a lot of the most interesting and oftentimes, important pix for my stories.
Simlish Alphabet
I think Simlish is one of the most ingenious aspects of the games creation!
Kinda funny how it can sound like a mixure of different languages to me and I would have loved to watch the voice actors in progress when they recorded all the chatter for the game. I was talking to another gamer not long ago telling her I preferred one adult female's voice over the other one and she'd never realized there was more than one. There is definitely more than one, (there are 2 that I can tell), and they are quite different from the other. One is a lot more feminine than the other, (which is the one I prefer).
As far as I can tell, there's 2 voices for each sex and each age -
but I'm still not totally sure on that with the kids. The adult male voice's are rather similar and I don't have a preference with there. I love how they did the kid's voices and the teens are really good too. Now the toddler voices, I don't care much for those. And the elder voices can get on my nerves, (especially the male's).
I have tried to pick out words or phrases that might be English -
the first one that comes to mind is for the adult males when they are cheering on another Sim, sounds like "Fraggle Rock!!" and of course whenever an adult male says "Shay Shay", I come alert, (cause that's my name). I don't write any of the Simlish down and of course now that I'm trying to write about it I can't remember much more than the two I just mentioned. You'd think I would be able to speak fluent Simlish with as much time I put into Simming. Although presently I've been playing with the volume way down, (just loud enough to hear what I need).
Kind of amazes me that I played for so long without ever hearing anything in the game, like the baby lullaby after a Sim gets pregnant or the chimes when they fall in love.
Simlish is just one of many enchanting aspects of the game and one of these days I'll post come Sim conversations that have been translated into English for the pure enjoyment of sharing them here.
But until then,...Dag, Dag!
