I would suggest using punctiation and other non-letter symbols, instead of words, because they wouldn’t have to be translated and can be interpreted in lots of ways, so you don’t have to come up with/keep track of a load of vacabulary during scripting, and keeps the speech bubbles small.
Examples
Singing: (♪♪♪) ; (♪♪-♪) ; (♪.♪)
Random talking: (…) ; (.,.) ; ( . ) ; (… )
beiing gripey (for instance when stuck): (@*#!)
etc.
Would love to see speech bubbles when the villagers are around the camp fire resting telling ghost story’s
when they are constructing they would talk about what they need for there next task like im picking up wood/stone/chair
When mining and they find an ore they would be telling others about the great find
Tree
House
Rock
Gold coins
Rabbit
Goblins
A undead
Rabbitman
Maybe a field or desert depending on the kingdom
A sun or moon
Campfire
The town banner
And various tools
Yay! A new release! I know, what I will do next summer… ahm… I mean, this weekend.
Regarding speech bubbles:
Those bubbles could be filled with icons, representing current tasks, needs, whishes or fears of the Hearthlings. Different colors of the icons could categorize them. Things they fear (like seeing an enemy or starving) could be represented in red. Needs/tasks could be blue, similar to the currently used ‘hungry-icon’. Whishes could be represented in multi-colored icons (whish to own a bed, talk to someone, play with a pet, etc). Hearthlings could not only state their thoughs this way, but also talk to others about it (at the campfire, while sitting with others at a table). Maybe other items for social interactions could be implemented, too.
I have a question about speech: is it planned to give the Hearthlings some form of voice (actual words or just some gibberish)? Or will they stay silent?
There’s been some discussion about this recently. If it happens (emphasis on if) it will be gibberish, as “actual words” would be very difficult to translate (each translation mod would need a voice actor).
Perfect (if it happens ). I would prefer gibberish as well. It is just so much more flexible and leaves room for interpretation. I remember an interview with Will Wright about the speech in the Sims series. There, he mentioned that not giving his Sims ‘real words’ was born out of the idea to prevent repetition and to leave as much as possible to the players fanatsy. So, they invented ‘Simlish’, which is a trademark of the series today. Long story short: for gibberish!
I think that their speech should be inline with the rest of the game. They should say simple cute things, positive compliments to each other, maybe a praise Cid occasionally.
I just mentioned it as an example, where gibberish talk worked quite well. I am sure, ‘if’ TR implements something like that into SH, they’ll come up with something of their own - fitting the games style.
I think those simple and cute things could directly relate to the “gripes and praises” page of the town journal – so the hearthlings talk about food, how peaceful and beautiful their surroundings are, how happy they are, any monster stories they’ve encountered recently, etc. Those comments are mixed together with a smattering of purely “decorative” phrases, such as exclaiming about seeing a rabbit/fox/raccoon, or those compliments and religious devotions you mention (remember, whereas the Ascendancy might throw the occasional “Cid’s blessings!” or “Praise Cid” around as a form of greeting, the RC would probably be more inclined to “May Rayya’s Light show your true path” or something along those lines)
But regardless of the small details, I very much agree that hearthlings should say simple and cute things to each other, in fitting with their existing personalities and art styles.
Perhaps if we get Goblins/Goblinoids (the whole family from Ogres through Kobolds and down to the Goblin peons) as a playable race, they could stick to more gruff conversations as befits their nature…
And with Dwarves as a playable kingdom (eventually), they could be more pragmatic and less prone to chit-chat.
“Weather’s cooling down…”
“Aye”
“Saw a fox the other day, might need to check the fences round the chicken coop.”
“Aye”
“Nice armour.”
“Aye”
“Could use a good meal”
“Aye”
Like Bees! I love it : ).[quote=“TMS_Stoneaxe, post:4, topic:26130”]
Tree
House
Rock
Gold coins
Rabbit
Goblins
A undead
Rabbitman
Maybe a field or desert depending on the kingdom
A sun or moon
Campfire
The town banner
And various tools
[/quote]
Good ideas : ).
Oh cool, I like the idea of using the speech bubbles as a way to give the player information.[quote=“BarbeQ, post:5, topic:26130”]
Some form of voice
[/quote]
Its very much still up in the air what we are going to do about voices - but we are leaning heavily away from ‘true voices’ (comprehensible words).[quote=“YetiChow, post:12, topic:26130”]
I think those simple and cute things could directly relate to the “gripes and praises” page of the town journal
[/quote]
Great ideas : ).
and that above should be icons of things from in game like trees rabbits and such meanwhile having it so if they are starting to get hungry various foods
if they’re starting to get sleepy houses and beds
if sitting around the campfire monsters and ghosts or what theyve done today so if they build a house a house and if they mined or chopped trees stone or trees
if they find something they should point to it and tell the others (with what it is in the speech bubble) so like gold and goblin camps i think we all have ideas similar to these so i would say we are relativley on the same page
i think a combination of different things after eachother seems interesting like there been a fight that maybe you won and its shows a goblin then like battle thingy then maybe a hero that defeated them then the other ones nods can be so many things.
I think combining animation with the bubbles would be a cool idea
What if they communicated via iconography only? What if they ask each other for help in this way?
e.g. “Hey, I’m tired. Would you help haul crops from the farm so I can rest for a while?”
This might be represented by a slumping gait, a wiping of the brow followed by a speech bubble containing a bed. The hearthling wanders past someone who just finished a job but is otherwise okay to work, so you see a new speech bubble that shows the other hearthling’s portrait and an icon of a food basket followed by a question mark. The other hearthling looks at the tired hearthling, throws them a big thumbs up and sets off for the farm.
The AI implications here are that a hearthling can transfer a task it currently has assigned to it, when its basic needs are nearing their low thresholds. Players could even be granted the ability to define through the UI which hearthlings are able to do favors for others. A favor would be defined as a task it normally isn’t permitted to perform, but for overflow purposes, it will perform upon specific request.
Example: I don’t want my blacksmith to haul normally. But if a huge chunk of mining just completed and there’s suddenly a huge uptick in hauling, the normal haulers would still handle it themselves until one of them burns out from exhaustion and asks for help. Only then might the blacksmith jump in to lend a hand. And, when they do, using the above speech bubble interaction, we the players get to witness it.
Such a system would even allow for fun little touches like granting an XP bonus to hearthlings that complete tasks that were transferred to them, as a reward for being a team player.
you have a point but i feel you wouldn’t be able to hear it unless you get really close or be able to turn off the noise plus the goblins growl and so do certain monsters that don’t appear to have mouths so i feel that if it’s not an option or a distance thing then people who find it weird must either
Pretend that they have mouths
Or
Just sorta except that the artistic choices choose for them not to show mouths and it’s just how this games universe is but i hope it’s got a distance thing to it so i can zoom in on them and listen to the little muh muh muhs and watch them have a random badly strung together conversation
This would be an amazing bit of character simulation, totally adding to the feel that these little cubic guys have their own lives and brains.
Currently, I spend a lot of my design time trying to second-guess how the hearthlings will use the structures I’m building; and trying to figure out where the inefficiencies (e.g. travel time, access to crafting stations, bottlenecks such as not being able to find materials nearby, or inadequate storage leading to items scattered all over the place) will show up. Watching one hearthling walk right past another when they’re having trouble with something like that is frustrating, even though I understand why it’s done that way.
If in the future the hearthlings can call out for help, or get their friends to prioritise a different job (e.g. if a hearthling has mined themself into a corner, they yell “dig me out!” and the other workers prioritise mining tasks in the vicinity of that stuck hearthling), that would greatly reduce the number of headaches we face when something does go wrong.
). I would prefer gibberish as well. It is just so much more flexible and leaves room for interpretation. I remember an interview with Will Wright about the speech in the Sims series. There, he mentioned that not giving his Sims ‘real words’ was born out of the idea to prevent repetition and to leave as much as possible to the players fanatsy. So, they invented ‘Simlish’, which is a trademark of the series today. Long story short: 
for gibberish!
can be so many things.