frankkulakmods

Customize Language Barriers with lb_settings (v2.0)

Added 2021-08-08 17:54:15 +0000 UTC

This tutorial will show you how to customize Language Barriers using the provided lb_settings.cfg file. It assumes no knowledge of coding or modding, and only requires you to use a text editing program (such as Notepad++, TextEdit, or Atom).

Please note that this tutorial is for Language Barriers v2.0. If you are coming from the previous version, please note that the settings file has changed quite a bit, and the former version is not compatible with v2.0 - you have to remake it (don't worry, it's very similar, just with more options this time).

Open lb_settings.cfg with a text editor

Open lb_settings.cfg with any text editor of your choice. Your computer (either Windows or macOS) should come with a text editor pre-installed. To make things easier for the future, I recommend associating the .cfg file type with your text editor, so that you can double-click it to open.

Once opened, the file might look like gibberish to you, and that's OK. I'll show you what all of it means below.

[NATIVE LANGUAGES]

This section contains settings pertaining to the assignment of native languages.

Maximum Languages: Sets an upper bound for the number of native languages a sim may be assigned by default. This must be an integer value between 1 and 7, and is set to 2 by default.
Bilingual Chance: Sets the percent chance that a particular sim will speak more than one language natively. This percent stacks if Maximum Languages is higher than 2. For example, if Maximum Languages is 3 and Bilingual Chance is 0.5, the chance for a sim to speak 3 languages natively is 0.25 (0.5 chance to speak 2, and then 0.5 chance on top of that to speak 3). This must be a decimal value between 0 and 1, with a higher value indicating a higher chance to be bilingual. It is set to 0.2 (20%) by default.
Consider Parents: Whether or not a sim's parents' languages should be considered when assigning them native languages. If True, then a sim will most likely speak at least one of their parent's native languages, even if their home world, occult type, or traits would usually make them speak another language instead. If False, sim's parents' languages will be ignored when assigning languages, and it will instead use their home world, occult type, and traits only. This value must either be True or False, and is True by default.

[GUARANTEED SECOND LANGUAGES]

By default, sims are guaranteed to have at least one language in common (between levels 8 and 10) with their parents, partner, and home world. For example, if an alien who speaks Sixami is living in Windenburg, they are guaranteed to speak Windenburgish at at least level 8. If they are married to a mermaid who speaks Toki Sulani, then the alien and mermaid must have at least one language in common as well. In this scenario, they both most likely will know Windenburgish due to living in Windenburg, but if that is not the case, then either the alien will know some Toki Sulani, the mermaid will know some Sixami, or both. This section lets you adjust how this works.

Current Household: Determines whether guaranteed second languages apply to sims in the active household (the one you are currently playing). If True, then sims in the current household will have guaranteed languages set. If False, they will not. This is True by default.
Played Households: Determines whether guaranteed second languages apply to sims you have played in the past, but are not playing currently. If True, then sims in previously played households will have guaranteed languages set. If False, they will not. This is True by default.
Non Played Households: Determines whether guaranteed second languages apply to sims you have never played before. If True, then NPC sims will have guaranteed languages set. If False, they will not. This is True by default.
Parents: Determines whether or not languages will be guaranteed between parents and their children. If True, children will be guaranteed to share a fluent language with each of their parents. If False, they will not. This is True by default.
Partner: Determines whether or not languages will be guaranteed between romantic partners. If True, partners will be guaranteed to share a fluent language with each other. If False, they will not. This is True by default. "Partners" includes sims who are dating, engaged, or married.
Home World: Determines whether or not a sim is guaranteed to speak an official language of their home world fluently. If True, they will. If False, they may not. This is True by default.

TIP: Want your sim to have to learn the language of the world they live in? Just set either "Current Household", "Played Sims", or "Home World" to False. Or, you can leave these settings alone and just cheat away their default skills - they won't be reassigned.

[RANDOM SECOND LANGUAGES]

By default, sims have a chance to speak random second languages as well. The way that a sim's chance to speak another language is calculated is too complex to include in this file, as is the algorithm used to determine what level they should speak it at (these are configurable by editing the tuning of Language Barriers, but not the settings files). So, this section is just for enabling/disabling random languages for certain sims.

Current Household: Determines whether random second languages apply to sims in the active household (the one you are currently playing). If True, then sims in the current household may have random languages set. If False, they will not. This is False by default.
Played Households: Determines whether random second languages apply to sims you have played in the past, but are not playing currently. If True, then sims in previously played households may have random languages set. If False, they will not. This is False by default.
Non Played Households: Determines whether random second languages apply to sims you have never played before. If True, then NPC sims may have random languages set. If False, they will not. This is True by default.
Maximum Languages: Sets an upper bound for the number of second languages a sim may have when they spawn in. This must be an integer value between 1 and 6, and is set to 3 by default. If a sim has already met this limit from their guaranteed second languages, they will not get any random second languages (that is, this number subtracts the number of guaranteed languages a sim has first, and then uses the result as an upper bound for random languages).

[SECOND LANGUAGE INHERITANCE]

By default, sims who are children or older will speak their parents' native languages at level 4, if they do not speak them natively and have not already been guaranteed those languages at level 8 (Example: Mother speaks Toki Sulani natively, lives in Windenburg and speaks Windenburgish fluently as a second language. If her child speaks Windenburgish natively, they will speak Toki Sulani at level 4).

Inherit from Parents: Whether or not second language inheritance should be enabled. If True, then children and older sims will inherit their parents native languages as described above. If False, they will not.
Inherited Level: What level the sim should inherit from their parents. This must be an integer between 1 and 10, and is set to 4 by default.

[TODDLER LANGUAGE ACQUISITION]

Toddlers do not have native languages, and will slowly learn the languages that older sims speak to them in. When they turn into a child, their language skills determine which native languages they acquire. By default, a toddler will acquire up to 3 native languages, if they are above level 5 each. If no languages meet the threshold, they will just acquire their highest language.

Required Skill Level: The level threshold that a language skill must be at for a toddler to acquire it as a native language. This must be an integer between 2 and 10, and is 5 by default.
Maximum Languages: The maximum number of languages that a toddler can acquire natively. This must be an integer between 1 and 6, and is set to 3 by default.
Reset Skills: Whether or not the skills associated with the native languages a toddler acquired should be reset to 0, since the skills are no longer useful after having earned the native speaker trait. This must be True or False, and is False by default.

[TODDLER LANGUAGE INHERITANCE]

Toddler language inheritance is different from second language inheritance, since it only affects toddlers. This affects which language skills toddlers should have by default. By default, all toddlers will inherit each of their parents' native languages as skills at level 3.

Current Household: Determines whether toddlers in the current household should inherit languages. If True, they will. If False, they won't. This is True by default.
Played Households: Determines whether toddlers in previously played households, but not the current active household. should inherit languages. If True, they will. If False, they won't. This is True by default.
Non Played Households: Determines whether toddlers in households that have never been played should inherit languages. If True, they will. If False, they won't. This is True by default.
Inherited Level: The skill level the toddler should inherit. This must be an integer between 2 and 10, and is 3 by default.
Maximum Languages: The upper bound for the number of language skills a toddler will inherit. This must be an integer between 1 and 6, and is 2 by default.

[REGIONAL LANGUAGES]

This section determines the official and minority languages of each world. Official languages are used to determine which native languages and guaranteed second languages sims from that world should speak, and minority languages are used to determine which random language skills they may have.

You will see every residential world listed in this section, followed by which languages are spoken there. The syntax is "<world name> = <official languages> / <minority languages>", where the official and minority languages are separated by commas. If you want to add a language to either side of the "/", simply list it with a comma.

Example: Willow Creek by default is "Willow Creek = Simlish / Selvadoradian, Windenburgish", which means Simlish is its only official language, and Selvadoradian and Windenburgish are its two minority languages. If you want Windenburgish to be an official language alongside Simlish, simply move it to the other side of "/", being sure to separate it with a comma, like "Willow Creek = Simlish, Windenburgish / Selvadoradian". If you don't want Selvadoradian to be a minority language, simply remove it, but do NOT remove the "/". This would look like "Willow Creek = Simlish, Windenburgish /".

Important: Every world must have at least one official language, but they are allowed to have no minority languages. Every world must have a "/" separating the official and minority languages, even if there are no minority languages (just have a "/" at the end of the line). Only put commas between language names, and be sure to spell everything correctly, and keep it all on one line.