ToME Wiki(apologies for formatting issues)
Hi everyone,
Just something I'd like to present for your comments/thoughts/critiscism... A new system for generating junkart names. It's based on 6 random integers between 1 and X, where X depends on the variable.
In order to make the adjectives fit the item material, have made the junkarts have six possible base materials - Wood, Metal, Crystal, Rock, Cloth and Paper. This is just to ensure we don't get silly names like "A Glass Bag" or "A leather dagger"
Unidentified form of item = A/An A(b) C
Identified form of item = The/A/An X Y of Z
C = The base type of item, from 1-23
b = The material the item is made from, if there is an option. 1-4 chooses this.
A = The basic unidentified descriptive term. 1-5
And when you identify to get the name...
X = Expanded descriptive term, from A. 1-20
Y = Expanded descriptive item term. 1-5
Z = Flavour word to go on the end. 1-100.
I've tested it, and it works reasonably well.
Possible Examples
A Wooden Mechanism - The Applewood Device of the Autumn
A Dull Sphere - The Brass Globe of Opposite Similarity
A Bright Cup - The Tourmaline Chalice of Vendetta
An Inconspicuous Bundle of Paper - The Tattered Map of the Future
A Clear Crystal - The Tempered Glass Shard of the Queen
Thoughts? Comments?
'''Base items. Initial name chosen by C.
Identified name chosen by Y, from the appropriate item that C chose.'''
WCMR Sphere 1 - Globe, Ball, Bubble, Orb, Sphere
WCMR Rod 2 - Staff, Bar, Rod, Wand, Baton
WCMR Circle 3 - Ring, Band, Bracelet, Circlet, Circle
WCMR Dagger 4 - Dagger, Knife, Blade, Kris, Shiv
WCMR Disc 5 - Disc, Plate, Wheel, Compass, Cymbal
WCMR Talisman 6 - Talisman, Charm, Rune, Sigil, Glyph
WCMR Amulet 7 - Amulet, Pendant, Necklace, Rosary, Beads
WCMR Bottle 8 - Bottle, Decanter, Flagon, Vial, Ewer
WCMR Statue 9 - Figurine, Figure, Statue, Statuette, Sculpture
WCMR Doll 10 - Doll, Marionette, Puppet, Manikin, Effigy
WCMR Cup 11 - Chalice, Goblet, Grail, Vessel, Flagon
WCMR Brooch 12 - Brooch, Buckle, Clasp, Trinket, Fastening
WCMR Box 13 - Box, Container, Chest, Casket, Trunk
WCMR Mechanism 14 - Mechanism, Device, Contraption, Machine, Invention
C Crystal 15 - Reflector, Prism, Cube, Shard, Gemstone
W Stick 16 - Branch, Twig, Stick, Sapling, Shaft
M Metal Shape 17 - Bell, Chime, Gong, Trumpet, Cymbal
R Stone 18 - Rock, Brick, Pebble, Fossil, Cobblestone
CLOTH Bag 19 - Bag, Pouch, Satchel, Purse, Sack
CLOTH Piece of Cloth 20 - Veil, Mask, Bandanna, Eyepatch, Girdle
PAPER Book 21 - Tome, Grimoire, Diary, Journal, Index
PAPER Bundle of Paper 22 - Leaflet, Map, Note, Booklet, Guide
PAPER Picture 23 - Painting, Drawing, Diagram, Image, Portrait
'''Descriptions of the items to use when unidentified.
b will choose the type of material the item is made from if there is a choice.
A will choose the specific one'''
Wood Base - Wooden, Timber, Woody, Dusty, Grainy
Metal Base - Polished, Burnished, Shiny, Metallic, Dull,
Crystal Base - Translucent, See-through, Clear, Bright, Brittle
Rock Base - Irregular, Petrified, Uneven, Scratched, Bumpy
Cloth Base - Folded, Crumpled, Creased, Crinkled, Wrinkled, Torn
Paper Base - Abandoned, Inconspicuous, Mysterious, Perfectly Normal, Discarded
'''Descriptions of the junkart to use when the item has been identified.
X chooses this from the appropriate list'''
Wood Adjectives - Yew, Oak, Birch, Aspen, Ebony
Willow, Beech, Alder, Ash, Applewood
Balsa, Blackwood, Cedar, Elm, Hickory
Mahogany, Maple, Pine, Rosewood, Sycamore
Metal Adjectives - Steel, Chrome, Molybdenum, Bronze, Gold
Nickel, Iron, Silver, Mitrhil, Tungsten
Alloyed, Tin, Lead, Niobium, Zinc
Titanium, Copper, Platinum, Vanadium, Brass
Crystal Adjectives - Crystalline, Glass, Faceted, Diamond, Emerald
Ruby, Sapphire, Topaz, Amethyst, Quartz
Tourmaline, Amber, Tempered glass, Ice, Crystal
Reflecting, Transparent, Garnet, Green glass, Blue glass,
Rock Adjectives - Stone, Obsidian, Feldspar, Granite, Alabaster
Rocky, Coal, Clay, Diorite, Flint
Limestone, Chalk, Pumice, Sandstone, Slate
Half-melted, Rhinestone, Dull gray, Dull brown, Dun
Paper Adjectives - Tattered, Ripped, Torn, Grubby, Smudged
Black and white, Full colour, Dog-eared, Neat, Ancient
Parchment, Papyrus, Wax-paper, Faded, Confusing
Blurry, Incomplete, Unfinished, Irrelevant, Detailed
Cloth Adjectives - Cotton, Leather, Silk, Threadbare, Tanned leather
Woven, Knitted, Spidersilk, Shimmersilk, Velvet
Satin, Gauze, Crepe, Taffeta, Linen
Sharkskin, Wolfskin, Deerskin, Human skin, Dual-weave cloth
'''Flavourwords to go on the end, chosen by Z'''
0 - Ire, Wrath, Vengeance, Revenge, Vendetta
5 - Laziness, Fatigue, Ennui, Boredom, Sloth
10 - Desire, Want, Need, Coveting, Demand
15 - Greed, Ambition, Ardor, Zeal, Enthusiasm
20 - Hunger, Thirst, Starvation, Satisfaction, Satiation
25 - Envy, Jealousy, Grudges, Ill Will, Prejudice
30 - Vanity, Pride, Dignity, Honor, Glory
35 - Time, the future, the past, the present, Yesterday
40 - Space, Distance, Travel, Movement, Pace
45 - Speed, Quickness, Agility, Dexterity, Haste
50 - the Winter, the Summer, the Autumn, the Spring, the seasons
55 - Eru, Manwe, Tulkas, Yavanna, Melkor
60 - Curunir, Mithrandir, Radagast, Alatar, Pallando
65 - the Elves, the Dwarves, the Halflings, the Orcs, the Wizards
70 - Flame, Glaciers, Acid, Thunder, Venom
75 - Precision, Exactness, Care, Fidelity, Rigor
80 - Instability, Wavering, Mistrust, Contradiction, Doubt
85 - Opposite Similarity, Cursed Blessings, Elder Youth, Weakened Strength, Sane Insanity
90 - Nature, Life, Earth, the fields, The harvest
95 - Unity, the Council, the King, the Queen, the LordNerdanelVampire: Wow, that's a fine and obviously thought-through idea. However I think my module won't be adopting it, since I have already gone to the trouble of making a de-D&D-ized set and I'm fond of the more successful of my names.
TheFalcon: Seriously cool! 
I'd be more than happy to adopt this kind of system for Annals of Ea if you'd let me. (If I could work out how to implement it...)
RogerBarnett: I'd be very happy to have it in a module... as long as I get credited for it 
As for implementing it... shouldn't be too hard, just set up a separate subroutine when a junkart is generated, get it to pick six random numbers in the right range - it outputs the name and ID-ed name, and feed that back into the junkart.
TheFalcon: Well yes... that's the difficulty, I'm still completely unfamiliar with how the 3.0 lua stuff works. I don't know if it's possible to feed in the un-id'd and id'd names through lua to a junkart. AFAIK, the junkart names are still done through the C-engine in the rart_f.txt and rart_s.txt (IIRC) files in the "file" directory. But I really don't know how junkarts (or objects for that matter) work, so I guess I'll have to do some more code diving...
RogerBarnett: Surely you could divert it then? i.e. at the point where it's going to pick names from rart_f and rart_s, tell it to run the script instead and use them?
TheFalcon: I don't think I can divert it from the C code using lua. However, I hope that I'll be able to overwrite the C-generated names immediately after the things are created.
NerdanelVampire: It could be nice to do something like pick a name from the set list 50% of the time (you just can't auto-generate names like "The Sanitized Necronomicon for Children") and use your system the other 50%. I would tweak the strings first, though, to up the weirdness, darkness, and thematicness levels. But first I have basic things like monsters and maps to do.
Another thing you might consider is to add a generic prefix class and randomly choose either a general or specific prefix or even both. Some general prefixes might be aetheric, glowing, vibrating, demonic, legended, Martian, trans-dimensional, necromantic, blasphemous... (All right, I'm getting all Zothiqbandy again.)
RogerBarnett: Yeah, I was considering that. I thought the suffixes were dark enough already, but there's always room for more :P The prefixes could be expanded, yes - the only trouble is finding a large array of synonyms. e.g. there's 26 "metal" names and 26 "wood" names. Can you find 26 "vibrating" names, or 26 "demonic" names?
NerdanelVampire: I didn't really mean it that way. I meant you might have "The Legended Applewood Orb of the Dwarves", or just "The Legended Orb of the Dwarves". I think that kind of thing could add to the atmosphere more than information on the specific wood type. There are a lot of potential prefixes that aren't related to a material.
RogerBarnett: Quite true 
You'd have to make it random though, whether it got one or not