Base Naming

[Lord Nword]

Has anyone else noticed that the base names for land bases are chosen randomly, and that the base names for sea bases are chosen chronologically?

Any way to change this?

This is something I've stumbled upon while using my faction files that have a hundred or so new base names to be used. (They're mentioned somewhere in the Aldebaran 2 thread, hehe)

[RedFred]

I didn't notice until I started playing Pirates.

Of course the land bases aren't completely random. As well as a fixed first base you also get a fixed name base after you lose a mindworm in battle then capture a base from that faction.

My least favourite faction to ICS with is the 'Borg, not just because of the growth penalty, but because the 'after all the regular names are used up' names look so much like the regular Cyborg base names.

[Petek]

I could be remembering wrong, but I think that land base names were always generated in the same order in the original release of SMAC. The order was later randomized. This change was made to prevent an opponent from learning how many bases you had.

[Lord Nword]

Thanks... that certainly makes sense

I do doubt that it's changeable, of course.

[Commy]

Well, if the original SMAC didn't randomize base names, the "base-naming program" could be copied from the original SMAC and used to replace the one in the newer versions. This, of course, is all speculation. And personally, I think it is a good idea to randomize base names. Otherwise, the bottom half would never get used, and you could tell how many bases the AI had...

[Lefty Scaevola]

Custom name your bases.

I am fond of things like:
Morgan Brothels
Scatological Research
Lady Dedrie's Bower
Yang's Wang
UN Dept of Failure

[Lord Nword]

Originally posted by Commy
Well, if the original SMAC didn't randomize base names, the "base-naming program" could be copied from the original SMAC and used to replace the one in the newer versions. This, of course, is all speculation. And personally, I think it is a good idea to randomize base names. Otherwise, the bottom half would never get used, and you could tell how many bases the AI had...

There isn't a separate program. The base names are all listed in the faction text files...

[Commy]

I am aware of that. But there has to be a program that uses the text in those files to name bases. Changing the text files doesn't actually change the game. What I'm saying is that there is a program that uses the text to give faction advantages, name bases...

[Chaos Theory]

There's a function that uses the base names. It's within one of the programs Alpha Centauri uses. You can't just copy files and change the behavior of one small aspect of a program, in general. What you could do is hex edit the executable to restore the old base naming function, but that would require knowing exactly where to go and roughly how the function works.

[livid imp]

Funny you mention this, I just noticed this over the weekend.

Originally posted by Lefty Scaevola
Custom name your bases.

I am fond of things like:
Morgan Brothels
Scatological Research
Lady Dedrie's Bower
Yang's Wang
UN Dept of Failure