Randomise city naming?

[The Rusty Gamer]

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find the standard city names for a civ can be a bit monotonous.

It would be good to have some sort of randomiser to reorder when the standard names are given, and even randomise the names across all the civs.

Also, what about with every new city name that you enter yourself it remembers for future games and adds it into the random mix?

[Inverse Icarus]

no.

the set city order makes it easier to gauge the enemy's size.

example:

if you see the Roman city Bagacum, you know not the mess with the Romans for a while.

[Sabre2th]

that's exactly why they should be randomized. you shouldn't be able to gauge a civilization's size and power just by seeing one city.

[Inverse Icarus]

different minds don't think alike,
in the end, you know i'm right.

[Marquis de Sodaq]

I'd reluctantly accept randomizing a civ's city names after the capitol, but not between civs. It's be ridiculous to have random names from six civs pop up as you settle. No thanks.

[Inverse Icarus]

the American cities of Washington, Ulundi, Valencia, and Nanking.

[Inverse Icarus]

and about the "memorizing" of the cities you add to the list, i see nothing but trouble.

if you really care that much, change your city.txt

[SerapisIV]

I agree with Sabre, I'd think exploration or diplomacy should be needed to discover the size of a civ, not knowing the city name order (something which is easy to figure out after you 96th game, damn that a lot of time gone )

[manofthehour]

You shouldn't have to use diplomacy, you can tell how big a city is from the outside.

[The Rusty Gamer]

How about that it be an option at the start of the game then, whether or not to randomize cities or even whether or not to use customised city names and then specify a file where the list of customised names are in.

[tniem]

Originally posted by manofthehour
You shouldn't have to use diplomacy, you can tell how big a city is from the outside.

There not talking about the size of the city; they are discussing the size of the civ simply by knowing the names.

I concur. Maybe have the first 3 cities be in order and then randomize the rest, that way the most famous cities are always in.

[Pilfur]

Been a while since I played CivII (been doing the CTP2 thing with mods lately) but can't you rename your cities? I often do. Name a city after its geography or after whatever else suits my fancy. I once had a whole civ named after my pets and friend's pets.

[Gramphos]

Originally posted by manofthehour
You shouldn't have to use diplomacy, you can tell how big a city is from the outside.

Yes the size of a city can be determined from its outside, but the size of an empire shall not be determinable by seeing a city name.

I go for randomizing within the same civ list, and not the first city.

[Sean]

I agree with Marquis de Sodaq. I could live with randomisation within a civs cities name list. It probably matters more to you guys, which ever way it goes, than it does to us. But it is a minor element of the game...isn't it? If its just 'boring' change the city names yourself. And the issue of empire size being revealed by the stumbling apon one city is an interesting one, but is still far from an exact science.

I agree with leaving the Cities name to the country that they are located in. (As a joke more than anything London was started by the Romans, plus a lot of other cities as you guys have said.)

[The Rusty Gamer]

Originally posted by UberKruX
the American cities of Washington, Ulundi, Valencia, and Nanking.

It'd confuse the heck out of the enemy though, wouldn't it!

[Grumbold]

Originally posted by joseph1944
I agree with leaving the Cities name to the country that they are located in. (As a joke more than anything London was started by the Romans, plus a lot of other cities as you guys have said.)

There were established tribal settlements on the site of London in pre-Roman times. Artifacts have been found that show evidence of habitation and hunting since Paleolithic times and a consistent pattern of inhabitation for a least the last 15,000 years. Julius Caesar makes mention of the dense population of natives in the area in his writings in 55 BC. That the Romans were the first to lay proper roads and foundations for their buildings is almost certain. This probably holds true for everywhere that the Romans - and earlier the Greeks, of course - conquered and established cities. Anywhere with plentiful water and other advantages would already have been settled..... Much too much factual nonsense for rebutting your little witticism

The suggestion that the most famous few names be static then the rest (at least for the AI) randomised is an excellent one.

[Shadowstrike]

If anyone of you noticed, SMAC had a randomization of city names function, and I'd expect that to return, unless Firaxis has caught a bout of Ulundi fever.

[Vrank Prins]

Though I can't see how it should be done, I like the idea of randomization. Let the realization be the work of Firaxis.

Then again, if this can be realized, for my own CIV I still would like to have the possibility of being able to change the names of the cities.
Usually I name cities in a "coordinated"way. Cities in the north of my civ are given northern european names, in the south southern etc.. Whenever I get a messages "sus or so is happening hither or thither" I will instantly know where things are happening. Okay it needs some topograhpical knowledge but it certainly is handy with the orientation on the map.

[Ecthy]

Originally posted by Shadowstrike
If anyone of you noticed, SMAC had a randomization of city names function, and I'd expect that to return, unless Firaxis has caught a bout of Ulundi fever.

huh? Ulundi fever?