Editing Names of Generals and Politicians for a Faction

[Callicles]

Hello, I am trying to change the names of the characters in a faction. I've been exploring the local_en.pack, but I can't seem to find where the names line up with a faction. Any tips? I would think it would be in names.loc, but I can't figure out which names go with which faction (I'm trying to change Athens).
Thanks!

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

You must change the names in the "startpos.esf" for Athens/Grand Campaign.

Names.loc lines no names up for a specific faction, it contains only the names of all name groups.

[Callicles]

Thank you for the quick answer. I'll look into startpos.esf editing. To accomplish this I need to use a program other than Pack File Manager, correct?

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

You could use Assembly Kit to change the names, its more comfortable, as you would produce a new startpos, which simply overwrite the vanilla startpos.

But you can use PFM too, but its more complicated, as you can only see the id number of the name, which you can then identify with the names.loc.

[Callicles]

Thank you for all of the help.

I don't mean to be so difficult. My goal is to change the roster of names from which new character names are generated, not the names of the starting generals. Is that roster of names still found in startpos.esf or is it located in something else? Thank you.

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

In that case you only need to make a new name_group for Athens, for which you create new names then.

Then you only need to work with name_orders_tables, name_groups_tables and names_tables in the data_rome2.pack.

All you need is PFM as a tool.

[Callicles]

Thank you for all of your help. Probably another obvious question - but where do I get the ID number from? Do I just make up a new number picking up where names_tables ends?

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

I have used Assembly Kit to give me another random ID number, but you could also pick new numbers by yourself after the end of name_tables.

[Callicles]

Hello again -

After trying to do this over the summer with PFM, I gave it another shot today using Assembly Kit, and I think I'm close. I just can't get the new names to appear in the game.

Using Assembly Kit, I created a new names group in the Names Group table called Athenian Names (code number 194). Then, in Names_Orders, I created four categories for the Athenian Names group: (1) forename, (2) family name, (3) Clan Name, and (4) Other. Then, in Names, I added 200 forenames for males, 150 forenames for females, and I added 160 clan names (corresponding to Athenian Demes). So, for example, one of the forenames is "Chremonides" and one of the clan names is "of Aithalidai" with the hope that we get "Chremonides of Aithiladai" and if he gets married and has children, they keep the same Deme name as him (i.e., "of Aithiladai"). Finally, I went into Factions and switched Athens from "Hellenistic Names" to "Athenian Names." I exported them all and made a mod.pack I called "Athenian Names" and then loaded the game with it.

Nothing. I recruited all of the generals and agents for several turns in a row to see if eventually characters are spawned with the new names, but the Athenians are still using the standard Hellenistic names.

What am I doing wrong?

Thank you for any and all tips.

[Callicles]

I was able to figure it out. The new characters are being generated with the new names (i.e., Kalliades of Acharnae, Aristoboulos of Marathon, etc.).

Now I need to figure out how to change the names of the starting characters in startpos.esf to use the new names (i.e., Chremonides of Aithiladai).

[Jake Armitage]

hey
I'll need a lot of new names (for technical reasons since many scripts will have to pass through forenames)
any possibility you'll give me permission to add yours into this wip dei submod?
https://www.twcenter.net/forums/show...Rome-666-(WIP)
let me know thanks

[Athanasios55]

I was able to figure it out. The new characters are being generated with the new names (i.e., Kalliades of Acharnae, Aristoboulos of Marathon, etc.).

Now I need to figure out how to change the names of the starting characters in startpos.esf to use the new names (i.e., Chremonides of Aithiladai).

You could do this with the Assembly Kit, find the table start_pos_characters, type the name of the faction in the searchbox and start replacing the names.

You can at the same time open the names table and copy paste the ID after you have found the name there using the searchbox, otherwise you will get lost when selecting the name you want from the huge dropdown list. Example: search for name "Chremonides" in the names table, copy the ID and paste it in the name column in the characters table. This kind of work is easy with the Assembly Kit, with PFM is of course possible but a lot more unecessary struggle.

Then just export the startpos with BOB.

Also you may want to correct the name from "Aithiladai" to Aithalidai.

I like what you do with the names, I have added around 200 spartan names after days of searching personalities and sources. Let me know if you want any, Jake you too.

[Callicles]

Thanks for the support, Athanasios, (and for catching the typo!).

Jake, yes, absolutely happy to share. I'm doing this for a submod for DeI, anyway, inspired in part by your PIGS mod. We're all in this together!

A problem I'm having now is that for reasons I can't understand, the first female name selected is always "Demetrius III Eucareus." I'm guessing the reference IDs are getting mixed up somehow. Because I play DeI, I'm sure there is a compatibility problem...

[Jake Armitage]

thanks

[Callicles]

I've confirmed that the reason names like Demetrius III Eucareus are showing up where they shouldn't is that the Reference IDs generated by Assembly Kit conflict with the Reference IDs for the new names added by DeI.

How can I update the Reference IDs so they don't conflict with other mods? Thank you!

[Jake Armitage]

if a mod add names (like dei does) then you must start doing things considering dei as the vanilla source
if you built it considering r2 as the source... you'll have to manually track down dei names, I think

[Athanasios55]

I think I understand your problem, if not please correct me. So, the problem is that instead of your names, DEI names appear? If two mods have names that share the same ID the ones that appear in game will be the ones from the mod loaded first. So placing your mod above DEI in the load order perhaps would solve your problem (and a higher priority name to your pack, just in case)

Anyway, generally the ID numbers can be easily changed, you can even create a new ID number list in an Excel document and copy paste it to the ID column.

[Callicles]

Thank you Athanasios. Excel worked perfectly. I copied all of the vanilla and DEI references IDs into Excel and color coded them based on vanilla or DEI or my modded names. Then I sorted by number and was able to quickly Identify where my reference IDs were conflicting. It ended up being a pretty elegant solution. Thank you for the excellent tip.

Now, if I could just figure out how to host and post a screenshot, I'll share the results

[Camarena]

Hello partner. How did you make them appear? I have the same problem with a name that i'm trying to put in the game.

[Athanasios55]

@Camarena, what's your problem exactly? Can you describe the situation? I will help