Design Names
 

when creating design names for ships, what is the minimum do you need to have in the list?

Re: Design Names
 

Nope, not at all. However, if you're planning to use the file with an AI yoou'll probably need a good few hundred entries, becasue the AI dos gobble them up. Human players tend to be (usually) more economical with their names.

Re: Design Names
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You'd think that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Design Names
 

AI will run out of names in a long game and start naming ships 'design 4002' if the list is not long enough.

Re: Design Names
 

So what do you think? 100? 1000?

Re: Design Names
 

100 is certainly not enough. 1000 is probably more than the AI will need.

Re: Design Names
 

it depends on the length of the game... an AI with several types of attack ships, WPs, fighters and sats (etc) might need well over that.

Re: Design Names
 

I do the same a trooper, but use acronyms, indicate what they're carrying (APB12.4 is four Anti-Proton Beam XII, (c6k/s~) is 6,000 kt of Cargo and unlimited supplies), and so on). That way I can tell what a ship is any time and I can tell the ones I've named form the ones that haven't yet earned a name.

Of course, were I playing against humans this would be a bad idea. Wouldn't want some KotH veteran to be able to tell my colonizer Light Cruiser from my mine layer Light Cruiser.

But I havn't put them in a file, I just type them in as I go. Maybe a file would be better....

Re: Design Names
 

Roman numerals are limited to XV or XX, I don't remember the exact number.
I think there have been some improvements in a patch but a good AI in a large galaxy used to run out of names in a long game if its design name list was shorter than 2,000 or 3,000 names http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

Using acronyms will let your enemy know your designs without need to scan them. Designations go to the design type, names are just to distract.

[ July 09, 2003, 16:01: Message edited by: Andres ]

Re: Design Names
 

Then again, it is a great deception to use those names or acronyms against humans. Maybe your "Princess class Population Transport" looking so plump and vunerable there all alone on the warp point ***bats eyelashes*** is really your newest unnamed fully trained Violator class APB12 assault ship just waiting for juicy little ships to come by.

Slick.

Re: Design Names
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Not for custom ship names, which is what he was talking about.

Re: Design Names
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I got slammed like this several times in PBW until I finally started remembering to check the design class name. Of course, you can still name your attack ships "Princess," but I can see if the class and the design name match.

One other trick which has been mentioned elsewhere on this forum is to change the ship number. For instance, build a single "Plague"-class frigate and rename it to "Plague 0005." When your opponent sees it, he has to decide 1)If you really have biological weapons, and 2)If you really have at least 5 of them. If he's the accepting type, he may not even consider that you're bluffing. The same can work with just about any type of ship--it at least gives the appearance that you have more ships than you really do.

Re: Design Names
 

I've found my tactic for ship naming quite optimal - i have a nice file with ~1500 insects names which i choose randomly for any given ship - my upgrades go to like IV ror V, then i switch to a different name. Does knowing that that cruiser is called Appletree Aphid help you much? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif and those are completely random, i only have like one or two favorite early-game names. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Design Names
 

It depends on the player. I generaly use the same name for a determinated ship function (mine sweeper, carrier, mine layer, pop transport, warp point creator...) and add roman figures for the Version. So I use about 30 names during a whole game.

Re: Design Names
 

Taking a break from my shipset making...man i dont know if i can come with 100 names let alone 1000!

Re: Design Names
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">One method would be to get (or make) a list of adjectives and another of nouns, then run every possible pairing.

Very Short example:
Adjectives:
Fast
Slow
Noisy
Quiet

Nouns:
Fox
Hound
Chicken
Mouse

Names:
Fast Fox
Slow Fox
Noisy Fox
Quiet Fox
Fast Hound
Slow Hound
Noisy Hound
Quiet Hound
Fast Chicken
Slow Chicken
Noisy Chicken
Quiet Chicken
Fast Mouse
Slow Mouse
Noisy Mouse
Quiet Mouse

The number of parings is Adjectives * Nouns; 4*4=16 in the example above. If you can come up with 32 adjectives and 32 nouns, you will have 1024 names available; 50 adjectives and 50 nouns yields 2500 possibilites; 100 and 100 yields 10000. This could simplify your naming problem somewhat. It would even be possible to build an Excel spreadsheet to produce them.

Re: Design Names
 

Oh ok then that sounds like an excellent idea
I will try it right away

Re: Design Names
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Doesn't it loop and start re-using names but adding Roman Numerals to them?

PvK

Re: Design Names
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That is what I do, except that I use Tolkein based names files. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Doesn't it loop and start re-using names but adding Roman Numerals to them?

PvK</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Unfortunately, no. It starts at design 0001 and goes from there. Create a game with an AI using a names file with just one name and see for yourself. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[ July 10, 2003, 08:09: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

Re: Design Names
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It does loop, but only 15 or 20 times, after that it runs out of names, so the list has to be long enought to prevent that.