
Simlish, the language that defined The Sims - tintinnabula
https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/7/21126705/the-sims-simlish-language-history-20th-anniversary-game
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stock_toaster
The article reminded me of Pingu[1], which also used an invented Grammelot[2]
named "Penguinese".

Fond memories of watching Pingu with my kid. I'm not sure which of us enjoyed
it more! Noot noot!

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingu)

[2]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammelot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammelot)

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alisonatwork
There is a bit more of an in-depth take of the history of Simlish and the
people who created it in this article:
[https://www.techradar.com/news/simlish-how-an-improv-game-
tu...](https://www.techradar.com/news/simlish-how-an-improv-game-turned-into-
the-most-recognisable-language-in-gaming)

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snthd
The timing of the articles (both in the same week) makes it appear to be a PR
push.

[http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html](http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html)

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erk__
The reason for the timing is likely that The Sims was released on february 4th
in 2000 so it is the 20 years anniversary.

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jeanvaljean2463
The Sims is where I learned the appropriate way to interact with others based
on what provided higher relationship status. I grew up in a very rigid,
structured family without a lot of external interaction so this was my primer
to "succeeding" later in life. I still experience crippling anxiety from
social interactions, but at least the The Sims provided an appropriate
socialization path to allow for quasi normal relationships with coworkers.

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James_Henry
I played quite a few of the Maxis games and I thought that the Simlish of the
Sims was the natural progression from the Sim noises of SimCopter which can be
heard here:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKDsoasXgQU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKDsoasXgQU)

~~~
TwoBit
Sim Copter was indeed the first appearance of the Sims. The Sim character tree
editor was first used for Sim Copter, which was in development concurrently
with Sims. They were "project X" and "project Y" respectively.

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emilfihlman
Heh, based on the title I first thought it was a novel domain specific
programming language, not a human language!

