Hello,
I read on some TODO list that the team wishes to change the current name list into several nation-themed lists.
Could you explain what is the idea behind, and how to proceed?
As for me, on one hand, what seduced me in UFO:AI _is_ this diversity, this quasi-randomness in the "firstname-surname-face model" mix. I read this as the proof that the world has changed for real by the 2080s.
On the other hand, it's obviously too much sci-fi for 2084 (given it's only one generation from now, and the inertia of large populations). Perhaps for the 2180s?
So, please, inside of the new scheduled national-themed lists, keep a little of this diversity.
For instance, keep the firstname-surname randomness (e.g. mix a nepali firstname with a mandchu surname for an Asian Republic national).
I understand that this "firstname-surname-face model" mix determination would not be as simple as currently (i.e. generate three random numbers and read three entries), but some games have managed somewhat to implement some randomness through scripts.
See for instance the Warlords & Warlords Battlecry series (I can post a file as soon as I'm back to home).
The idea would be firstly to arbitrarily choose the percentile of "cross-nationals" in each nation.
Those percentiles would take into consideration the current situation, plus whatever population movement the war would have induced by the 2080s. They could also translate any xenophobic or isolationist national mindset, and the forseen social evolutions as well.
Example:
Nation1's actor name:
10% Nation1 Nation2
30% Nation1 Nation3
...
100% Nation1 Nation1
Nation1:
current list of firstnames (filtered to match "current" Nation1)
current list of surnames (filtered to match "current" Nation1)
etc.
This script would be read by the program as:
There's a 10% chance that human gets a firstname from Nation1 and a surname from Nation2, or the reverse.
Of the remainding 90%, there's 30% chance that human gets a firstname from Nation1 and a surname from Nation3, or the reverse.
Of the remaining 70%, there's 100% that human gets a firstname and a surname from Nation1.
If Nation1 is the Asian Republic,
Nation2 could be the Alliance, Nation3 could be the Commonwealth, and we could even get marginal Nation4 Russia and Nation5 North America, because of economic emigration.
The actors' faces could be assigned the same way
I think it would be a little work only. The name lists, if not already existing, would be written given current knowledge of the countries belonging to the future supernations.
The most difficult work would be to produce those percentiles so that the output looks both internally logical, and doesn't angry any player (well, if they depict a probable, even if sci-fi situation, they should be accepted; after all New Dehli was bombed and nobody said it was unlikely to happen).
