Rename Discussion

[ssilk]

Inspired by this thread viewtopic.php?f=5&t=40995 I suddenly thought about renaming things, cause there are A LOT of suggestions around that subject and it is quite subjective.

Perfect match for a discussion in General.

Just a few examples:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=32714 Rename Modules
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=39172 Rename "Beacon" (because it isn't) and add real nav beacons
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21654 Rename the diesel locomotive to burner locomotive.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21413 Concept: Rework of the Logistic Chests (Unified Logistic Chests)
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24167 Active provider chest => Trash chest
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21109 Rename Batteries
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16967&start=20&hilit=rename The Electric network infoscreen is counter-intuitive
(see also viewtopic.php?f=80&t=25233 Electric Network Info (Power Bars...))
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5290 Rename FlameThrower Ammo to Fuel
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3352 Rename Splitter to Mixer
... and I estimate there are about so much more, which are not so easy to find.


So this is about
- IF or IF NOT and
- (if yes) WHAT to rename.

Things to think about are:
- What is the advantage of a "better" entitiy-name?
- Is it really worth the afford? Think to translations!
- A things name can disturb the flow of game!?
- Isn't it more afford to change names of entities in this state of the game instead to leave it as it is?
- ...



Have fun.

[Xeanoa]

Big question first: Is it actually that much effort to change the displayed name of something that it's something that needs to be taken into account?

[ssilk]

Well, it could be translated, change of entries in the translation-files. Looks relatively simple.

The problem is then, that this doesn't change the code. And in the code there are the "old" names. Including the Lua-API. Many reasons to avoid that.

So a renaming means in consequence, that the code needs to be changed, which is in 90% of the cases simple, but sometimes it takes days. This is also about what I thought is interesting to discuss: Is this worth the afford?

[Deadly-Bagel]

Some of these are more changes to the game than renaming something, it would make more sense to me if this topic was reserved for changing labels ONLY.

The logistic rework and flamethrower ammo suggestions don't fall into this category as they are they're named just fine. I would also say the power network interface deserves its own discussion because the whole thing needs a rework (wasn't that mentioned they were working on it somewhere?) and changing a few lables won't fix it.

Some like the Diesel Locomotive are fairly well known but I hadn't thought of the likes of splitters.

I think renaming the diesel locomotive is the most important change, purely for the image of the game. It's completely contradictory and indicates a sort of slapstick approach to the game, that things are just named whatever and might not do what you expect them to. This should have been done a long time ago.

Secondly, the most functional but probably most difficult rename, Modules. The... speed, efficiency, etc, not the armour modules. Not only is it an inaccurate description but it conflicts with another category of items.

The rest, eh. They would be nice but I can't think of any way they would cause confusion for a substantial number of players, not enough to warrant a tedious rename anyway. I mean I wouldn't argue, I originally assumed a Beacon was something that generated alerts. If the module renaming goes ahead I would call it an "Augment Tower" or whatever Modules get renamed to.

Splitters are an interesting one. Yeah I guess it's not a 100% accurate description but everyone quickly comes to terms with what they are and how they work with little confusion, and you could argue (weakly) that you "split" a single output between two inputs. I can't think of a better term to describe it.

[urza99814]

Yeah, it'd be nice to get some of these renamed, although I don't think any are really huge issues, and some I would argue definitely should not change.

So, having speed/efficiency/productivity "modules" is fine. The name describes exactly what they do, and the complaint against it is essentially that some person prefers to use a definition of "module" that does not match what I'm actually finding in a dictionary. A module is just an interchangeable component, and that's exactly what those modules are.

Active provider chests I'd put in the same category. I dunno about anyone else, but I don't generally use them as trashcans. A common place I use them is right on an assembler output, so all the output moves to storage and can't jam. It's not trash, it's actively pushing those items into the logistics network. Active provider is a perfect name already.

And the same for batteries. Batteries can certainly be recharged. The difference between a battery and a capacitor is that capacitors store smaller amounts of energy over much shorter time period and can release it in large bursts. The batteries in Factorio don't behave like capacitors, they behave like rechargeable batteries. You're not gonna drain one in a single second (in theory maybe you could, but I don't think anything could draw that much power), they don't lose charge over time, and they store a relatively large amount of power.

Splitters could use a change though. I remember the first time I built one spending several minutes wondering which input I should use -- i was thinking a splitter would have only one input that it would split into two. Maybe calling them "splitter/merger" (that has the advantage that any code entities can still be called "splitter" without too much confusion) or "mixer" would be more descriptive. But once you hook one up and see what happens it makes sense. Each item does get split across the two output belts so it's descriptive, just not the way you might expect.

Diesel locomotive to burner is obvious though. There's no diesel fuel, it can't burn liquid fuel of any kind, it's not diesel. It seems far closer to an old coal locomotive than a modern diesel one. Although if your want to insist it's like a diesel in that it burns fuel to get electric that it uses to turn the wheels you could call it a hybrid locomotive I guess?

Beacons took some time to figure out too, those could be improved. I dunno what else you'd call it though. "Module broadcaster" is the best suggestion I've got. I think that one is less important though -- I never built a single beacon until I started trying for 1RPM setups. So by the time a player is building the things they're probably comfortable enough with the game that the name won't matter as much.

And for the electric grid, if that changes I'd ideally like to see volts and amps as separate values that affect various structures differently (or the ability to mod those in), but that's a huge change that I don't think is coming otherwise I think the existing labels make sense, although it wouldn't hurt to add additional info which might require changing those.

[Avezo]

Locomotive could be named just that - a locomotive, because it's just shorter and there are no different kinds of locomotives in game anyway.

[Deadly-Bagel]

So, having speed/efficiency/productivity "modules" is fine. The name describes exactly what they do, and the complaint against it is essentially that some person prefers to use a definition of "module" that does not match what I'm actually finding in a dictionary. A module is just an interchangeable component, and that's exactly what those modules are.

That definition of Module would be like defining Network as "using communications". Technically yes it is but it's an extremely dumbed down, basic and incomplete definition.

[Ghoulish]

Big question first: Is it actually that much effort to change the displayed name of something that it's something that needs to be taken into account?

Well Factorio has 21 supported languages, so perhaps even a seemingly simple change like altering diesel locomotive to locomotive or steam locomotive isn't such a simple step.

[Deadly-Bagel]

Changing the internal name of the entity could be a pretty big job, changing the regional names for it should just be a case of getting the name and putting it against the entity. That's assuming it's called a Diesel Locomotive in all the different languages?

[Syrchalis]

Honestly I think Factorio's naming is pretty spot on and most of these need no name change.

Diesel Locomotive should just be Locomotive or Burner Locomotive if you want to have it be in sync with the other burner equipment. However a car is also just a car and not a burner car.

Modules are clear and not confusing. I would hate if they had very different names suddenly.

Beacon is also fine. Yes it's not what it says it is, but it does exactly what the Beacon in Minecraft does and Minecraft is one of THE most played games ever. This has to do with game literacy I guess, so one can argue, but I wouldn't rename it if one doesn't find a superior name for it.

Splitters I agree sound a bit confusing, however it's not that easy to describe all this thing does in one word. I would say "Shuffler", "Shifter" or "Blender" (heh) are appropriate - the reason is, the name is mainly important for new players so they know what this thing does generally and not how it works exactly. And for that even Splitter is not that bad to be honest.

Batteries should not be renamed. Naming them anything else would be confusing, even if their name is not accurate. By the way - a "rechargeable battery" is also a battery, so their name is actually not that inaccurate. Also it helps avoid confusing it with the accumulator.

Logistic chests may be reworked and renamed, but in their current state I again see no reason to.

Electric Network Info should definitely be renamed. Right now it just isn't easy to work with just due to the labels the bars got. One bar would be enough doing both of the bars jobs or alternatively just renaming both would help a ton.

The only thing I personally would rename are trash slots because these items don't get trashed/deleted, they just get stored. Yes, trash slot is still somewhat fitting, but maybe people are worried what happens with those items and I don't see a reason that they can't get a better name like "storage slots" or something.