Version 0.9.9.9 - Pre release to v1 --WiP--
(This version is not compatible with TCAN v0.62)
Suggestions and constructive criticism welcome.
Namesets have been added in it's own post further down.
Please review and come with suggestions/corrections
Currently known bugs v099.9
- "Playership Follows Player" can't be turned off easily..
- Using the /PLO... tag (production line, least output ) will result in eternal loop.. so best to not use it.
This is probably the most advanced ship naming plugin you'll ever see.
Easy to use - hard to know. Simply turn on the AL and everything is done for you
(Except for numbering - you need to press a button for that.)
The highlights
- Completely menudriven
- Artificial Life
- Fully Automatic
- Colored
- Auto Naming
- Auto Aspecting (ship/station type, equipment and jobs determine aspect)
- Information about your ships/stations in name
- Symbol replacements for installed equipment and tasks
- Fully configurable ..and more. Much more.
- Main namesets can be used as Prefix and Suffix both for less wonky names.
- Minor changes and additions to nameset t file (8228-L044.xml)
- Hotfix from previous version is of course included..
- Wide/Narrow menus by the click of a menu entry
- Info-panel open/close for faster menu operation
- Numbering by the press of a button (not dynamic)
You can number as- Normal (1,2,3,4,5..)
- Leading Zeroes (scaled 1, 01, 001 )
- Roman (I,II,III,IV,V..)
- Greek Names (Alpha,Beta,Gamma,Delta,Epsilon...)
- Greek Characters (α,β,γ,δ,ε/Α,Β,Γ,Δ,Ε...)
- ICAO Phonetic Spelling(Alpha,Bravo,Charlie,Delta,Echo...)
- Quad tag format
Two tags didn't do the job, so they were expanded. They are not part of the objects actual name, so there's really no limit to the tags you can use.
If the tag turns up empty, it won't show. Neither will its attached brackets , if any, and their respective color codes. - External support scripts
Reserve or release an object from TCAN view. This is also an internal function, with the option of forcing release (from the Main Config -> maintenance menu) should some plugin bork it up. Some ships are better off not named by TCAN. #deca. ships are therefore hidden from TCAN view by default. If you want them part of the normal naming mechanism, select the only TCAN command that's left under general commands. - Additional "prepositions" for prefx
- Additional "conjunctions" for suffix
- Plenty of special characters.
About 384 of them including the alphabet with variations, greek letters and others. - Symbol replacement for pilot tasks and installed equipment
Available through main config and NameLoader - Optimized code
- More attention to details and more
- Oh Yes. Debug is turned OFF by default this time ;)
Features - quick overview:
- Used to name your ships, stations, satellites, lasertowers
- Playership auto-naming (own configurable aspect). Shipname follows player(set on by default). You're always in "Spaceforce One" or whatever name you choose, regardless of ship. Switching to another ship restores previous aspect and name. (This can also be turned off...)
- Dynamic Updates with dynamic tags. Otherwise no update. Satellites shouldn't have dynamic tags as default, so once set, they won't update. Note: doing changes in the aspect will perform an update.
Otherwise you can turn updates on or off for individual aspects. - Manual, Semi auto or Full Auto (Aspecting and/or naming)
- Name Generator with Primary and Secondary Name Sets
(approx. 70%:30% ratio) - 25(+5 custom) Prefix sets, 25(+5 custom) Suffix sets, 30(+10 custom) Main namesets - each containing an undeterminable number of entries
- In game name set editor
- Full xml dump of aspects settings and namesets for safekeeping and import
- Tag builder menu, Color picker menu, bracketing menu and more...
- Maintenance menu for partly to full reset of TCAN (includes restoring names to game default) and the objects it names. This also includes options for naming of NPCs, force release(on reserved ships) and the uninstall procedure.
If you wish a manual approach, make sure to turn off autoaspect in the config menu and leave the AL at semi dynamic for updates only. Use the NameShooter menu to alter object details.
Otherwise set the AL engine to "auto" for full auto-aspecting and auto-naming. That's when you press the 'r' key and lean back.
If you wish to uninstall TCAN, you can do that too. It cleans up after itself.
Installation
- 1. Turn off any name changing functions from other plugins.
TCAN supports CAG,CLS,EST,PSC and SFM through the /PITA (pilot task) tag.
If these name your ships/stations, it will only cause problems, so turn off their naming functions and wait for the names to be restored. - 2. Since TCAN is a pure naming plugin, it can not function properly with other renaming plugins. Names will get all borked.
So you must uninstall them first per their uninstall procedure. - 3. Save Your Game. Exit.
If you have a pure renaming plugin, remove the plugin. - 4. Iinstall TCAN and start the game.
Once started, save, then load that save. - 5. Set your hotkeys.
There are 3, and you will probably use them a lot.
The menus are available through the main config menu which can be accessed through ship commands. Alternatively use Cycrow's community plugin menu. - 6. You probably don't want to name your satellites or lasertowers. If you are running SEWN, and you simply must rename your sats, remove them all from the SEWN grid first, or the names will get mixed up. You can turn on the grid once the names are set. Satellites running SEWN should not include dynamic tags (uppercase tags). Default aspect for satellites contains static tags only.
- 7. From the config - set your company name.
(Full name and initials), then set a Virtual Headquarter. This can be anywhere that isn't an enemy station. It's what you might consider a gathering point for your ships in lack of a proper hq.
Most aspects contain the tag for company initials as default. The other two can be added as you see fit.
None of these has any practical value. It's just for personal preference.
Since this takes (unnecessary) space from the name, you can delete them by entering a single space rather than entering a name.
Allow AutoAspect ON - otherwise it's advised to leave the rest of the options as they are. (ON by default).
Here you can ignore aspects for satellites and lasertowers too. (They're ignored by default)
If you wish to keep your old names as "unique name", then set the option here as well. It is set to OFF by default.
Unique name is either automatically generated or you can keep the old or change it yourself. It's your ship's actual name without the tags. Such as "Your Buster" that you renamed to "Mighty Devastator".
For the sake of the experience, you might want to turn off that save option. If you kept unique names from a previous TCAN, set to ON. - 7. TCAN is set to SEMI Auto by default (tag updates) - so nothing should in fact happen until you set the AL engine running at full auto. Do that.
Make sure you're not in an epic battle or otherwise very busy defending your assets. You would want to see this. - 8. Press 'r' on the keyboard and lean back.
( Note that fresh ships from the yard don't have an identifiable job, so once they have one, the aspect will NOT change. You will have to do this manually - for now. Do this through the ship's autopilot -> general commands or use the NameShooter hotkey.)
Future versions might include aspect renewal.
- Your ships and stations (and satellites - if you must!) will gain "aspects" from what they do or what they are.
- Each aspect contains a configurable colorized tag string and nameset entries.
- Tags found in the aspects will be translated for each ship/station.
Depending on the number of ships this could be a lengthy process. The higher the update interval, the longer it takes. Once all aspects has been set, you won't notice TCAN's presence. (The old names will be saved once TCAN starts it's autonaming process, and can be retrieved on uninstall.) - The update itself is set to default 20 seconds. This can be changed, but not much further down. As such TCAN can not be used to monitor shields and hulls as if your life depended on it. If your system runs slow, change the update frequency. Tags will update per the interval set. The wait between each object update is scaled to the general update frequency, so the longer you set, the longer it takes between objects. Downprioritizng TCAN so to speak.
Don't panic! Even if everything is automatic, you may still edit everything. Just know that if you edit the aspect, you edit ALL ships set to that aspect. This only applies to the settings and tags. Unique name remains unchanged.
Unique name can also be edited or changed or regenerated.
3 hotkeys. Remember those.
Until version one, there will be no more SPK. Instead, install as archive using the plugin manager. Remove and install the new one without an in-game uninstall to upgrade. Since it's undergoing changes, that means the number of files may change as well.
TCAN version v099.9.zip - extract to your X3TC folder or (X3TC\Addon folder for AP)
Please note that a revision change (from rev 8 to 9) does not perform an auto-update. The only changes that require an action is to import the namesets (reset to default - using either option available from the nameset editor). If you've made changes, dump to log first. Then apply your changes to the new 8228 xml file.
Screenies
Unfortunately, due to my ISP killing my webspace in exchange for cloud system, screenies are unavailable at this time.
Uninstall
1) Select Uninstall from TCAN Main config - at the very bottom. You will get a confirmation menu, breathe easy ;)
2a) SPK - Disable or Uninstall in the X Plugin Manager
2b) ZIP - There's currently no .bat file to remove tcan with in the zip file, but using the search function in windows, look for "*.tcan.*" (in \scripts) Click and shift-click to select and press delete. Then do the same with 8226,8227,8228 (in \t).
---- This is the TCAN breakdown ------------------------------
AL Config:
- Off
- Hotkey only - set and translate tags(once). Will not update.
- Semi Auto - Dynamic mode. Tags will update.
- Full Auto - Full Auto.
TCAN is based on 37 "aspects" in which ships and other objects are adherent to.
Each aspect can be configured using 6 of 100 different namesets(or none at all)
- Primary Nameset
- Secondary Nameset
- Primary Prefix
- Secondary Prefix
- Primary Suffix
- Secondary Suffix
Each aspect holds it's own configurable set of tags that yields different information.
Many tags that aren't pre-formatted can be formatted to:
- Capitalize
- UPPER case
- lower case
- nUt CAse (changes every update).
- Full Text
- Abbreviation
- Truncation
- Initials
- Quick Extract
- Extraction
Max length of Abbreviation and Truncation can be configured.
Abbreviation takes the first characters in each word according to Max Characters setting. Special handling for "Super Freighter XL".
Mercury becomes:
MeX, MeSX, MeSFX,MeSFXL - depending on Max Character setting.
Truncation just cuts the first word after Max Characters. The rest is discarded.
Extraction works much like abbreviation, except that letters are taken from front, somewhere in the middle and last. Primarily consonants from first letter in the syllables or initials if there are many words. There's special measures to keep the extraction unique. So Mistral and Mercury will come up as MsSFX and MrSFX rather than two MSFX. Same goes for similarities with races, sectors, and wares - ( as soon as I'm made aware of this)
Quick extract takes 2-3 consonants after the first letter in sequential order. No special measures towards uniqueness.
All aspect data can be imported as well as exported.
The export creates a textfile to where your savegames are, and in full XML format.
Just rename and move to <X3TCroot>\t. Then import it.
- To edit tags use
The Tagbuilder menu.
There's no rule stating you need only use tags. Plain text works as well.
Anything separated by a space or tag character is considered their own item and handled as such.
Add tags through:
The Tag Picker Menu
A growing list of tags you can add to your aspect. As long as there's information in the tag, it will take up space in the ship name. Otherwise not.
Add special characters through:
The Character Picker Menu
Here you got upper and lower case alphabet with variations, and greek letters in addition to special characters - including those on your keyboard.. These are seen as offsets rather than the characters themselves as some characters tend to disappear during export.
You can bracket everything with
The BracketPicker Menu
Brackets comes as tags, and will place a bracket of your choice around a tag. Brackets will not show up if the tag is empty.
Once you're happy with your tags and brackets, you can paint them with
The TagPainter Menu
Paint tags and brackets as you see fit. Brackets are handled separately as an overlaying item, so the colors you use on brackets does not affect anything but brackets.
Editing Aspects
The NameLoader menu.
Individual handling of objects:
The NameShooter menu.
Global options and menus from:
The Main Configuration Menu
Here you can set your "player corporation" name, initials and virtual HQ. They can be used as tags, and the initials are default in every aspect. If you don't want any, that's cool. Delete using a single space when setting the name/initials. After all, they do take up unnecessary space and have no actual value besides personal preference.
The rest should be self explanatory.
Then there are where all the names come from. Yes, it's
The NameSet Editor
Here you can add, replace, edit to your hearts content.
You can also send the entire set of names to a full XML formatted log file that you can rename and place in the \t folder.
Once that's done, you can then import it and find that your changes are now permanent.
Until you actually edit the namesets, there's no need for either action. With the default namesets you already have a lot to choose from.
Note that the export doesn't nearly hold the amount of comments as the original, so you might wish to keep a backup handy for some light reading.
Although the Nameset editor is a nifty addition, you might want to consider altering the textfile directly by alt tabbing out and opening it up in a pure text editor. Once that's done, you can simply import it in-game.
TCAN Namesets
- NameSet
The main nameset consists of 30 defined sets, and 10 customizable ones.
Namesets include names, places, titles, objects and perceptions for starters.
Just not actions, or verbs. Verbs are reserved for the prefix and possibly suffix part.
You may of course do whatever you wish with the customizable namesets to create interesting combinations.
Example entries:
- Bull, Princess
- Eagle
- Wolf
- Prefect
- Hero
- Devastator
- Horizon
- Prefix
- 25 defined
- 5 custom
Ordinarily, prefixes are actions (verbs) or situations combined with the main nameset.
You also have a percentage option of adding "The" in front. (This is probably going to give the translators and me a headache.)
Examples:- [The] "Sitting" Bull
- [The] "Sulking" Princess
- [The] "Flying" Eagle
- [The] "Howling" Wolf
- [The] "Determined" Prefect
- [The] "Brave" Hero
- [The] "Glorius" Devastator
- [The] "Golden" Horizon
- Suffix
- 25 defined
- 5 custom
Suffices are similar to prefices, except for one thing. No verbs. Well, generally.
If you can use "of" with the suffix, then it's acceptable. In other words, states and situations.
Examples:- Bull [of] "Sits" (* note)
- Princess [of] "Sulks" (* note)
- Eagle [of] "Flight"
- Wolf [of] "Howls" (* note)
- Prefect [of] "Determination"
- Hero [of] "Bravery"
- Devastator [of] "Glory"
- Horizon [of] "Gold" (** note)
(*) I said no verbs! So these words need to be exchanged with something else that can compare.
If there aren't any, no problem. Just remove the problem.
Using "Sits" and "Sulks" and "Howls" can't be considered good english in this setup, and particularily not with the "of".
The result simply looks weird. If there are no comparable situations, then we leave them out.
(**) Gold is an object. While it's the only thing that "fit", it's still not an option to use it. The sentence looks wonky at best (especially without the "of"). - The Result
The primary nameset will always be there. The prefix and suffix options are configurable with a percentage chance plus override. If both are 0%, you get at least one of them with "ForceA-FiX". You can also place suffices in place of prefices and vice versa - or use either instead of primary nameset. It all depends on how you want it. From the few examples above, we can combine them into this:
- The Flying Princess of Determination
- Brave Horizon
- The Sulking Prefect Gold
- The Golden Determination
- Devastator Glory
- Golden Glorious
- Hero
- The Glory
More than often, the combined words makes up a good name for your object.
If it doesn't, just click the button to generate another name.
Unfortunately - I left a whole bunch of verbs in the suffices as I tested the thing, so you'll get lots of wonky names. If nothing else, it's good for a laugh.
Planned upgrades:
Full numbering support based on local, universal, and attachment with numerical, alphanumerical, greek names and symbols, latin and finally ICAO phonetic spelling.
More tags and get all current tags working as they should
Full external plugin support with complete synergy
Here I will need help. It is hard to come up with suggestions on my own. I aim to add plenty more words, actions, situations and names to the default nameset. So any suggestion will be taken into consideration, and probably added to the nameset.
Each entry has a theme. Some themes may be empty. No titles, no names. Right now, the names are a mess, in particular the suffix part, and need to be placed into narrower categories for a better naming setup. Switching categories around will have an impact on aspects currently in use in-game. So once an update is available, the new aspect names might change drastically. If you have heavily customized the aspects far beyond the default, you will have to do it again. Just so you know :P
- That is all
Orf
Edit [1st Dec 2015]: replaced outdated with working xdownloads link. X2-Illuminatus[/i]
Edit:[10th Jan 2016]:Thanks. My ISP decided cloud would do much better than any stupid webspace.
Orf.