Re: No ship-naming?

[Little.B]

Okay, hit me (one more time  ) if I'm wrong but until yesterday I thought that shipnaming would be a feature of the game. Now a german page published a short Q&A (six questions) with Activision Germany and there they said that ship naming is not in the game. Who's wrong? Little me? Them? Hopefully them!  ???

 

This really caused some confusion over here...

 

Q: Welche Einheiten kann man umbenennen? Nur die großen Kreuzer oder auch kleinere Schiffe wie z.B. TIE-Geschwader?

 

A: Gar keine, es gibt diese Funktion nicht.

 

Q: Which units will we be able to rename? Just larger cruisers or even smaller ships like TIE squadrons?

 

A: None of them. This is not a feature of the game.

 

Source: GameCaptain.de

[Necro]

well u can..kinda

 

theres a txt file in the main folder for capital ships with a list of possible names it uses

 

like  my first VSD is the bombard

[Teradyn_pff]

Yes, I think this is what was meant when we were told we could name ships.  I am not sure if "rename" was specifically stated.  Tis one of those issues where they didn't consider the context in which we were speaking.

[Nevets]

I thought it was originally not in, the demand was so much, so they put it in....soooo now they lied to us again?

 

how could they not put this is in? It seems like something everyone wants in, when looking on feedbacks of other forums a lot of people ask "so how can I rename ships?". It can't be that hard to put it. It allows for personalization of the game which I think is really lacking in this game.

 

Just seems like a big big mistake and if its not in I hope it is in the first patch.

[Darthscharnhorst2]

I thought it was originally not in, the demand was so much, so they put it in....soooo now they lied to us again?

 

how could they not put this is in? It seems like something everyone wants in, when looking on feedbacks of other forums a lot of people ask "so how can I rename ships?". It can't be that hard to put it. It allows for personalization of the game which I think is really lacking in this game.

 

Just seems like a big big mistake and if its not in I hope it is in the first patch.

 

I agree 100%.  This along with units not earning exp really takes away a large part of the immersion / personalization aspect of the game.  While it appears you can edit the files, I think the names are drawn randomly and there has been no word if they in fact repeat before the list is completed.  I doubt we will get experience for units, but Renaming ships cannot be that hard to code and the Dev's are always asking for feedback *makes you think they would add a sought after feature or two*.  Sadly, the game has probably already gone gold.  Maybe we can hope for a patch.

[Teradyn_pff]

If you have played the demo or the mods at all, you will notice that ships die pretty easily and quickly.  I am not sure that renaming your ships would be that useful.  There really isn't too much of an individualized ship interface anyway. 

[Necro]

capital ships can be named as i said, look in your main gamedata/data folder folder there's like victory_destroyer.txt with a bunch of names.

[Little.B]

There are still a lot of "crap" entries in the files so there might also be old "crap" files. But lets not hope so.

[Relentless]

capital ships can be named as i said, look in your main gamedata/data folder folder there's like victory_destroyer.txt with a bunch of names.

 

But how do you activate them? And if you activate them, will all of the Victories be named the Massacre of whatever name you choose?

[Teradyn_pff]

The game pulls from the text files at random for the names when a ship is created/spawned.  This is an interesting question as it may hint at an individualized entry for each ship.  I suspect though, that the names are randomly assigned when you spawn them in combat.

[Nevets]

I just don't like the fact that they told us it was in. I told a bunch of people it was in when they asked. Now they told us its not it, making me look bad.

[Teradyn_pff]

Well, it is in, "from a certain point of view" as a famous jedi once put it.  You can put whatever you want in those text files and the names you added will show up in-game.

[Necro]

theyre always active select your beginning vsd for example it says

 

Victory-class Star destroyer

"bombard"

[Nevets]

Well, it is in, "from a certain point of view" as a famous jedi once put it.  You can put whatever you want in those text files and the names you added will show up in-game.

 

But will I be able to name all the ships I want in game, like will two star destoryers be able to have two different names?

[Samheyn]

But will I be able to name all the ships I want in game, like will two star destoryers be able to have two different names?

 

The game ships with a list of names for ships (1 file for each type) and will use the next unused name from the top of the list.

So you might not be able to change the names in game but you can edit the list before starting a game and insert names you like

[Darthscharnhorst2]

If you have played the demo or the mods at all, you will notice that ships die pretty easily and quickly.  I am not sure that renaming your ships would be that useful.  There really isn't too much of an individualized ship interface anyway. 

 

True, but I think you can mod the *hit points or equivalent* of a ship so there is some hope that a sense of realism can be added in future modifications.  Hearts of Iron has a good system of ship naming which generated from a list in order of appearance.  However, the player also had the option to rename the ships after they were launched.  In battle ships were lost faster than EAW but they did earn exp.

 

But otherwise I agree.  I don't blame the Dev's for their approach, it is at its core a run of the mill RTS *Don't flame it is! *  but I certainly don't care for the lack of immersion beyond the graphics and immortal heroes. I think they could have incoperated a lot more depth and realism like diplomacy, unit experience and renaming, killable or captured heroes, no free spawing units, etc and still have achieved a game that was easy and fun to pick up but allowed experienced gamers to have fun with the deeper features, *think madden*.  I think they were right to do away with a lot of the mechanics that were tedious and not fun, but I think they might have been a bit overzealous or like Madden for the 360 felt that many players wouldn't miss componets that raise the experience to the next level  ???

 

On a side note I have fooled around with the name files and have got an ISD Scharnhorst to appear so it works.  However, the naming does appear to be randomly selected.  My hope is that the names are not allowed to repeat until all names on the list have been used *could generate a list of 100 names to never get a repeat* but I am not sure if it does or not.   Theres always hope for an expansion that will include *new features that will immerse you in the SW galaxy*, well at least I can hope  ;D

[Nevets]

But otherwise I agree.  I don't blame the Dev's for their approach, it is at its core a run of the mill RTS *Don't flame it is! Tongue*  but I certainly don't care for the lack of immersion beyond the graphics and immortal heroes. I think they could have incoperated a lot more depth and realism like diplomacy, unit experience and renaming, killable or captured heroes, no free spawing units, etc and still have achieved a game that was easy and fun to pick up but allowed experienced gamers to have fun with the deeper features, *think madden*.  I think they were right to do away with a lot of the mechanics that were tedious and not fun, but I think they might have been a bit overzealous or like Madden for the 360 felt that many players wouldn't miss componets

 

Yup I agree, I get with where they are coming from with getting rid of some tedious features like resource collecting, that was kind of boring, but at the same time they gutted everything that made the game personalized.

 

-No ship naming

-No diplomacy

-No experience

-No Create a hero

-No personalized base building

 

I wish they understood complicated doesn't always mean not fun. A lot of times it adds to a game. Now I can understand for multiplayer too much stuff could slow down the game and make it not fun, but I hope in an expansion they spend more time on single player conquest and add a lot of deeper content, make it a game we can play for months.

 

anyway atleast we have modding.

[noian]

Yup I agree, I get with where they are coming from with getting rid of some tedious features like resource collecting, that was kind of boring, but at the same time they gutted everything that made the game personalized.

 

-No ship naming

-No diplomacy

-No experience

-No Create a hero

-No personalized base building

 

I wish they understood complicated doesn't always mean not fun. A lot of times it adds to a game. Now I can understand for multiplayer too much stuff could slow down the game and make it not fun, but I hope in an expansion they spend more time on single player conquest and add a lot of deeper content, make it a game we can play for months.

 

anyway atleast we have modding.

Horaay for Modders!

[Teradyn_pff]

Well, single player may be all that some people play a game, but good multiplayer is what keeps a game alive.  Think about the modded games out there and then think about how many of those are multiplayer.  I think that if they were to make it to where you can rename your ship in the game, there would need to be a way to pull up each ship individually in galactic mode.  Currently there is no such interface and if you are trying to name your ships in combat, you need to play someone a little better or turn up the difficulty in the singleplayer because you have too much time on your hands.

[Nevets]

Eh, I will probably play multiplayer somewhat, but I will more than likely be playing singleplayer most the time, similar to rebellion.

 

if you are trying to name your ships in combat, you need to play someone a little better or turn up the difficulty in the singleplayer because you have too much time on your hands.

 

If I was doing it in singleplayer, I wouldn't do it in combat, I would do it in galactic mode, when I am managing everything else. And if I want to name all my ships at once I would just pause the game.

 

Multiplayer it probably would be as big of a deal, but I would atleast want to name my flagships and that wouldn't take to long to do when I am managing everything else.

[Zer_Teron]

Unless they left it in then modders will not be able to allow Renaming. Its impossible, but i suspect that they are wrong and that its still in.

[Dorkthehunter]

I am definately saddened by the fact taht I won't be able to build Bambi's Revenge, but oh well....life goes on...at least we can upgrade the ship's weapons, shields, and armor. That is close to customizing.

[Darthscharnhorst2]

Well, single player may be all that some people play a game, but good multiplayer is what keeps a game alive.  Think about the modded games out there and then think about how many of those are multiplayer.  I think that if they were to make it to where you can rename your ship in the game, there would need to be a way to pull up each ship individually in galactic mode.  Currently there is no such interface and if you are trying to name your ships in combat, you need to play someone a little better or turn up the difficulty in the singleplayer because you have too much time on your hands.

 

Well look at Rome Total War.  You can play quick battles online if you want but the single player campain is where its at.  All the good mods etc, focus on making the game more fun in single player, and trust me there is a huge fan base for the mods alone.  Plus a game with a "galactic mode" screams single player experience.  Of course the ability to play it online might be why they "dumbed" down the galactic mode in the first place.  

 

As for renaming ships in game, you might be right about the mechanics not allowing as it stacks your ISDS etc on the galactic map.  However, I'm sure they could have let us cycle through the stack if things like unit exp and names were included.  While it is not a game breaker, I think the missing features hurt the lasting appeal of the game.  While I have a feeling I will enjoy EAW *not canceling my preorder  ;D*  I think it will go down as one of those "this game is good, but it would have been so much better had the devs included ...*  

 

I still play games like rebellion, Hearts of Iron, Civilization, Medieval Total War, etc because of the immersion and unique experience you feel on every play through.  However C&C and the clones that followed end up in my recycle bin once the novelty wears off.  Of course this means nothing in the business world nor does it make me feel I'm not going to get my "moneys" worth from EAW.  However, it does say a lot about a company and its direction, which for Petro appears to be state of the art RTS geared towards multiplayer.  Next time a petro title is announced, I just know not to set my aspirations to *high*

[Teradyn_pff]

Well, I do not purchase games that do not have a multiplayer component, not on purpose anyway.  I don't feel that the game is worth my time if the only opponent I can have is the AI.  AI is good for basic training, but multiplayer is where it is at.

 

And about Rome-Total War, and any of the other Total War all the way to the original "Shogun-Total War", they are alright, but they have the same issue that Rise of Nations had.  A great single player world map that could be conquered territory by territory, but not in multiplayer, the best you could do is the skirmish portion.  That was lazy and poor IMO.

 

SW:EAW changes all of this.  And if I have to give up some of the "cooler" portions of some of those other games to get multiplayer galactic/world/continent mode, I will.

 

This doesn't mean that I wouldn't want that stuff, but since it doesn't have it, I see it as a worth-while trade off.  EAW will not replace every RTS out there, but it will definately have its own place for a while.

[Nevets]

A game also needs content and depth to keep you coming back for more, that gives you a slightly different play experience each time you load it up. I'm not sure this has it, it seems what you see is what you get. Sure it will be fun to play the first time through, probably entertaining the second, third...getting a little bored....you get the picture. Even playing it online may get stale, I don't think human AI can add that much too it.

 

I don't know tho, strategies games never did it for me for online play, I liked FPS much more. Strategies games I alsways like to sit down for a couple hours at a time and just conquer, take a break maybe think some strategies through, maybe pick it up later that day or the next day. Just not as fun when you have to wait for the other person to play.

 

Again, got to love the mods!