TownTalk

Overview

TownTalk is a purely cosmetic addon for MineColonies that replaces the default silent colonist interactions with fully voiced dialogue lines. Every worker in your colony, from Builders and Miners to Knights and Alchemists, will speak out loud in response to what is happening around them. The mod includes 8 distinct voice profiles (4 female, 4 male) performed by professional voice actors, and covers 47 different colonist roles with situational lines for greetings, farewells, danger, weather complaints, housing satisfaction, and much more.

The mod adds no items, blocks, or recipes. It works entirely as a client-side resource pack that injects sound events into the MineColonies sound system. Once installed, it simply works. Your colonists will start talking immediately with no configuration needed.

Prerequisites

TownTalk requires MineColonies to be installed and running. You need an active colony with assigned workers for the voice lines to trigger. The more developed your colony is, with more worker types employed, the more variety you will hear. If you are just starting MineColonies for the first time, you will begin hearing voices as soon as you place your Town Hall and your first colonists arrive.

Voice Profiles

TownTalk includes 8 distinct voice profiles, split evenly between 4 female voices and 4 male voices. Each colonist in your colony is assigned one of these profiles, giving your workers individual personality even when they share the same job. The voice actors behind these performances are Elle Ray James, ShallowVA, ItBeMeMrButts, Tabsers, Sammieqt_, Andrew LaRiviere, and Jodi Hansen.

Having multiple voice profiles means two Builders standing side by side will likely sound different from each other. This variety prevents the dialogue from feeling repetitive even in large colonies with many workers sharing the same role. Each voice profile has its own set of recorded lines for every situation, so the same greeting delivered by a male1 voice sounds completely different from the female3 version.

Supported Worker Roles

TownTalk covers the full roster of 47 MineColonies worker roles. Every job in the mod has dedicated voice lines tailored to that profession, on top of the general lines that all colonists share. A Miner will talk about digging and ores, a Cook will comment on recipes and meals, and a Knight will reference combat and patrols.

Standard Workers

The core workforce roles each have unique job-specific lines: Builder, Deliveryman, Miner, Lumberjack, Farmer, Undertaker, Fisherman, Shepherd, Cowboy, Swineherder, Chickenherder, Rabbitherder, Ranger, Knight, Composter, Student, Florist, Enchanter, Researcher, Healer, Pupil, Teacher, Planter, Beekeeper, Netherworker, Quarrier, and Druid. These workers hear general colony lines plus employed worker lines plus their own job-specific dialogue.

Crafter Workers

Crafting-focused roles get an additional layer of dialogue. On top of general lines, employed lines, and their job-specific lines, they also receive crafter-specific lines about workbenches, batch crafting, and material requests. The crafter roles are: Baker, Cook, Smelter, Sawmill worker, Blacksmith, Stonemason, Stone Smeltery worker, Crusher, Glassblower, Dyer, Fletcher, Mechanic, Concrete Mixer, Cook Assistant, and Alchemist.

Training Roles

Military training roles have their own voice lines as well. The Archer in Training and Combat Trainee roles each have dedicated dialogue about their training exercises, separate from the full Knight and Ranger combat roles.

Non-Worker Roles

Even colonists without jobs are covered. Visitors passing through your colony and Unemployed citizens waiting for a job assignment both have their own set of idle dialogue lines. Visitors will comment on your colony as outsiders, while unemployed colonists will express their desire for work.

Voice Line Categories

Colonist dialogue is organized into 17 situational categories. MineColonies triggers the appropriate category based on what the colonist is currently doing or experiencing, and TownTalk provides the actual spoken audio for each trigger. This means the voice lines are not random chatter. They are contextual responses to real in-game events.

Social Interactions

When you approach a colonist, you will hear Greeting lines like friendly hellos and welcomes. When you walk away, they deliver Farewell lines. The Interaction category covers general conversation when you click on a colonist. These three categories form the backbone of the social experience with your workers.

Mood and Satisfaction

Colonists vocalize their emotional state through several categories. Happy lines play when morale is high, while Unhappy lines indicate dissatisfaction. Good Housing and Bad Housing lines reflect how the colonist feels about their living situation, whether it is a spacious upgraded home or a cramped starter shack. High Saturation lines play when the colonist is well-fed, and Low Saturation lines indicate hunger.

Situational Responses

The remaining categories cover specific situations. Bad Weather triggers when it rains or storms, with colonists complaining about getting wet or, occasionally, singing in the rain. Danger lines are panicked calls for help during raids or when hostile mobs are nearby. Sick lines play when a colonist is ill. Go to Bed triggers at the end of the workday as colonists head home. Missing Equipment fires when a worker lacks the tools they need. Success plays on task completion, and Noise covers ambient work sounds and idle chatter.

How the Sound System Works

Under the hood, TownTalk works by registering a built-in resource pack that overrides MineColonies' sound events. The mod generates a comprehensive sounds.json file that maps every combination of worker role, voice profile, and situation category to the appropriate audio files. For example, a male Builder commenting on bad weather triggers the sound event "citizen.builder.male1.badweather", which pulls from a pool of weather-related lines recorded by the male1 voice actor.

The layering system is what makes the dialogue feel natural. All colonists share a base set of general lines covering universal situations like greetings and weather. Employed workers get an additional set of work-related lines on top of the general pool. Crafter workers get a third layer of crafting-specific dialogue. And every role has its own unique job lines. This means a Blacksmith might say a general greeting, an employed worker comment, a crafter observation about their workbench, or a blacksmith-specific line about forging, all depending on the context.

Notable Voice Lines

Part of TownTalk's charm is the personality baked into the voice lines. Builders will exclaim about the smell of fresh timber and joke about how builders party ("they raise the roof"). Farmers reference oddly specific wheat counts. Cooks will offer you baked potatoes and wonder how to make a cordon bleu. Deliverymen shout "Out of my way, delivery coming through!" as they rush between buildings.

The general pool includes gems like colonists working on forming a union, asking if you will protect them from barbarians, and questioning whether they are going to get fired. During storms, you might catch someone belting out "Thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening" or "I'm singing in the rain." The danger lines are genuinely urgent-sounding panic calls that add real tension to raid events. At bedtime, colonists say goodnight with lines like "My bed is calling" and "Another day of work finished."