custom names based on unit type

[Helmet]

I figured-out how to give custom random names to my custom races. Here is the problem...

One particular race is actually composed of two different types of creatures: ones that fly and ones that don't. I would like the names within each group to be unique to that group.

Is there a way to designate a set of random names based on unit type rather than race?

Right now it looks like I'll have to split the single race into two different races if I want to apply two different sets of names. I'd rather not do that.

[WhiteWolf]

Directly in the [race] tag, I don't think so. This could be a useful future addition to WML maybe.

In the meantime, it's fairly easy to implement an event for this.

Code: Select all

# in your [race], implement the non-flying names.
[event]
    name=unit placed
    first_time_only=no
    id=flying_unit_renamer
    [filter]
        type=your,flying,types
        [filter_wml]
            [not]
                [variables]
                    has_been_renamed=yes
                [/variables]
            [/not]
        [/filter_wml]
    [/filter]
    
    {VARIABLE_OP names rand "your,list,of,flying,names"}
    {VARIABLE unit.name $names}
    {VARIABLE unit.variables.has_been_renamed yes}
    [unstore_unit]
        variable=unit
        find_vacant=no
    [/unstore_unit]
[/event]

Place the event into every scenario.

[Lord-Knightmare]

Hmm, one trick could be to assign different genders to the unit type. Flying units could all be female, while the non-flying are males.

male_name_generator (Version 1.13.5 and later only): Like name_generator, but specific for male names
female_name_generator (Version 1.13.5 and later only): Like name_generator, but specific for female names
male_names, female_names: lists of names (i.e. non-translatable strings). They are inputted into the Markov name generator to generate random names. male_names describes units with gender=male; female_names describes units with gender=female

off-topic

Given your recent flood of WML posts, I am very curious to see what campaign you are making, Helmet. Might give it a whirl. :p

[Helmet]

Directly in the [race] tag, I don't think so. This could be a useful future addition to WML maybe.

I think it would be a nice addition to WML. That way, if a designer wanted a totally different kind of name for, say, Dwarvish Thunderers, they could do it, no problem.

In the meantime, it's fairly easy to implement an event for this...

That code you wrote is "easy"? While I was trying to figure it out, my brain overheated and almost caught on fire. Best Buy's "Geek Squad" had to rush to my house and install a heat sink on my cortex.



The code looks great, WhiteWolf. Thanks!

Hmm, one trick could be to assign different genders to the unit type. Flying units could all be female, while the non-flying are males.

Hmm. That solution could actually work story-wise, as both groupings are giant bugs.

Right now, there are only two species of bug: the crawling kind and the flying kind. A gender-based division could work. But if I make another campaign in the future and include a third type of bug who needs its own list of unique names...that might create a complication.

Thanks for the idea Lord-Knightmare, I'm going to give it some thought.

off-topic

Given your recent flood of WML posts, I am very curious to see what campaign you are making, Helmet. Might give it a whirl. :p

I hope you do. It's basically done and in the playtest phase.

[WhiteWolf]

That code you wrote is "easy"?

Easy, as in short, it's just a couple of lines, not a 600 lines long external library

That way, if a designer wanted a totally different kind of name for, say, Dwarvish Thunderers, they could do it, no problem.

Yes, so for the actual implementation I think the correct way to do this would be introduce a key to [unit_type], that allows to override the selection of names inherited from [race]. (ex: female_names= and male_names= sound like reasonable key names to me).

It would definitely be a convenience to have this, but because it can be event-implemented, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort though.

But if I make another campaign in the future and include a third type of bug who needs its own list of unique names...that might create a complication.

Yes, that's an alternative solution, but as you guessed here, it would impose severe limitations regarding future expansions to your race.

[Helmet]

Yes, that's an alternative solution, but as you guessed here, it would impose severe limitations regarding future expansions to your race.

I decided to go with your solution, for that reason. I playtested the code and it works great. Thanks again!

I put the code in a macro, so it's just one little line in each scenario.

[Celtic_Minstrel]

Right now it looks like I'll have to split the single race into two different races if I want to apply two different sets of names. I'd rather not do that.

Why not just make two races that have the same name? They'd have a different ID and a different name grammar, but everything else would be identical.

Whitewolf's example code is very simplistic and doesn't provide anything near the amount of variation that the built-in name generator, but with use of some Lua it would be possible to make it use the built-in generator.

[Helmet]

Why not just make two races that have the same name? They'd have a different ID and a different name grammar, but everything else would be identical.

There is a very good reason that I did not make two races with the same name, Celtic_Minstrel.

It never occurred to me (sigh).

WhiteWolf's code worked when naming new recruits, but I recently realized that when I created a new flying unit with a specific name, it renamed the unit to something else. I was contemplating a solution involving one of the variables when I read your post.

It took me maybe a minute to try-out your idea. It worked. Thank you.