Map filename convention

[Skunk Monkey 0]

I know I renamed my maps early - if an agreement is reached i will change again personally I do think coop can be shortened to co and am also in favour of dropping the & and installing map-maker at the end of the name.

co18@ dawn raid daddl.noe.pbo

or

co18@ dawn raid dl.noe.pbo

[joltan 0]

Ok, to avoid starting the discussion again from scratch:

- let's keep the full maptype description (= 'coop', 'ctf', 'dm', 'tdm', etc.)

- lets drop the ampersand ('&') char in map type (i.e. 'ch' instead of 'c&h', etc.)

- version numbers and author information are optional and belong behind the map name

- spaces as seperators in the filename (and mission name)

- no seperator within the tag (i.e.: 'coop12 map name' instead of 'coop 12 map name')

- no uppercase - neither in the tag, the name or the island tag (i.e. 'coop@12 mission name.noe.pbo' instead of 'coop12@ mission name.Noe.pbo')

If everyone can agree to these points, then the naming convention would look like this:

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">

<span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'>Introduction</span>

The following post is the outcome of several weeks of work with contributions from both dedicated server representatives, League representatives & mapmakers. (see this thread)

The aim of the convention is to

1) Create a map naming standard for multiplayer missions to be used throughout the OFP community

2) Stop multiple downloads of the same map, caused by slightly different filenames on different servers

3) Create an organised and simple to navigate listing of maps for the map selection screen.

Each map filename has been split two parts:

1) Tag

2) Mission name

<span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'>The Tag</span>

The map name starts with a short tag describing the mission type, if addons are used and the number of players. It is seperated from the rest of the missions name with a space. The idea is to have the maps sorted for easy mission selection in the ingame missions list, and to give the admin a quick overview over a missions most important features.

First part of the tag and the beginning of the filename is the mission type.

possible mission types:

ad = Attack and Defend

ch = Capture & Hold

coop = Cooperative

ctf = Capture the flag

dd = Defend & Destroy

ee = Escape & Evasion

dm = Deathmatch

tdm = Team Deathmatch

ff = Flagfight

tff = Team Flagfight

rac = Race

rts = Real time strategy

misc = anything not covered by the above mission types

If the map uses any inofficial addons an '@' is added to the tag after the mission type. Also mission makers should always use the 'RequiredVersion' parameter in their mission's description.ext to avoid people using older versions than the author accidentaly loading a mission with higher version requirements (because of official addons or scripting commands added in later versions) and thus crashing their game.

After this the maximum number of players is added. If a map has less than 10 players a zero is put in front to keep the sorting order.

Examples:

coop09 = coop mission for 9 players using no inofficial addons

ch24 = capture&hold mission for 24 players using no inofficial addons

coop@24 = coop mission for 12 players using inofficial addons

rts@32 = RTS mission for 32 players using inofficial addons

<span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'>The Mission Name</span>

The mission's name is seperated from the tag by a space. Note that no uppercase letters are allowed in the mission name (or any other part of the filename!). Multiple words in the mission name are seperated by a space. A version number or author's tag can be added as part of the mission's name.

Adding version numbers or author tags should NEVER be done by a server admin wanting to rename his missions to comply with this naming convention. This would lead to different names for one and the same mission on different servers! Only the mission's author should add these optional information before distributing the mission or uploading it to public servers.

Examples:

'coop15 beach landing' = a coop map called "Beach Landing" for 15 players, no addons

'ch18 anhoehe87 v1.04' = a ch map called "Anhoehe87" for 18 players, no addons, version number 1.04

'coop12 entrapment (junker)' = a coop map called "Entrapment", no addons, made by Junker

'ch@18 winter capture&hold' = a capture and hold mission called "Winter Capture&Hold" for 18 players, using inofficial addons.

Note that in the last example an ampersand was used. While they are not to be used in the tag, they may be used in the mission's name to ease the renaming of existing maps - if possible do not use them for new maps.

Also one more remark about the authors tag: IF you are going to use it, make it clear where the name ends and the tag starts. While a version number is easily recognizable, the authors name might not.

Example: an imaginary winter mission made by author December: "coop@12 damn cold december" - most people would not recognize that "damn cold" is the name, while december's the author. Better use brackets (like in the example below) or a similar ways to seperate it from the mission's real name. Something like "coop@12 damn cold (by december)" is much easier to understand.

<span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'>Important Notes</span>

upper/lower case

Everything must be written in lower case, even the islands name (by default it starts with one or more capital letters). Uppercase letters lead to problems with Linux servers where the maps have to be renamed (leading to unnescessary downloads if the same mission is named using uppercase on Win32 servers).

So instead of 'coop@22 winter night.KEGnoecain_snow.pbo' a mission must be named 'coop@22 winter night.kegnoecain_snow.pbo'!

League Tag & Map names

It was recognised that some maps needed to be tagged for use on official leagues and tournaments and be recognised as such. It was decided the best place for this tag, would be the map-name sub group.

Maps of these types, used for official tournament games should not be renamed by admins on servers, unless the league itself has adopted this naming convention.

The actual tag should preceed the name itself and be connected to it by a space.<span id='postcolor'>

I agree that 'coop' can be shortened to 'co', but all other tags should not be touched - there is a difference between 'tdm' and 'dm', and 'ctf' is the general abbreviation for capture the flag, making the 3-letter code the best type description for this kind of missions.

Comments please, and let's get this finally done!

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

I can agree with that.

Remove the ampersand and shorten coop to co works great for me.

I'll be willing to budge on the coop tag being coop or co, but I prefer the co simply to preserve space.

co@10 kill stuff.noe

That's nice, descriptive, and compact.

Wwerd.

[joltan 0]

That's four votes (you, Skunk Monkey, oo7vet and me) at least for 'co' - it would be nice if some more people (Terox, too) could comment!

[shrike 0]

Terox has been pretty busy lately. I will try to contact him asap.

Shrike

[terox 316]

<span style='color:red'>Compared to the second screen shot, this appears cluttered and more difficult on the eye</span>

<span style='color:red'>This i believe is far easier to read and distinguish</span>

One of the basic reasons for doing this was to make it easily readable and presentable in the map selection screen

Being able to split the various subgroups of the filename up helps this,

joining these subgroups together again doesnt

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

co v coop

co or coop doesnt really make that much difference.

"coop" is more easily understood

"co" uses 2 less spaces (which if you read on isnt that much of a problem)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

c&h

I thought the use of the ampersand was the clearest way to name the various "c and h", "a and d", "d and d" maps etc

Although not against removing the &, i dont understand why you would want too

Bearing in mind that future map types will be created, i want to future proof the system we are creating

Using 2 letter abreviations i think, will reduce this future proofing and also could create confusion

Take for instance Capture and Hold

The common abbreviations are

cnh

c&h

and some of you want to reduce this too

ch

Firstly, i dont think that this will be readily understood

Secondly, i dont think folks will automatically use it

I think ideally we should be looking at a 3 letter abbreviation for the

c&h, a&d, e&e, d&d type of maps

Until Karillion comes back with an argument against the use of the ampersand, which is definitely the easiest symbol to understand, we should possibly be considering a replacement

cnh

c_h

c+h

Use of spaces argument

If you look at the two screen shots above, the second screenshot is by far the easiest to read

The first one causes a severe amount of clutter

The length of the filename doesnt really cause any concerns

Hovering the mouse opver a filename reveals the filename in full, in a small dialog box that opens.

The chances of having two filenames very similar (Once the maps have been renamed by the convention) is going to be rare and even when this does occur, the mouse hover will reveal the differences

Even if you added more spaces or a lengthier map type abbreviation, most of the map name if not all of it is readable and certainly will cause little if any problems in navigating through

Using spaces between all the subgroups has in my opinion far more benefits than ommiting them

It unclutters the filenames

Makes them appear much tidier

On the positive side, we are defintely getting closer to the end product now

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

The screenshots didn't come through for me, so I can't see what you're description is.

I have been using CH, DD, AD for over a year or so now, ever since I converted my server to a homogenous file naming procedure. I've also noticed a lot of other servers already use CH rather than C&H.

I'm not sure how having an ampersand will "future proof" the naming procedure. Personally I think it's easier to have fewer characters in the map name, especially for those who have hundreds to rename. I also think that the ampersand looks cluttered and out of place.

Like I said, the difference between co and coop is that coop is definitely a lot more clear. ch and c&h just doesn't seem to resolve the ambiguity (if any exists) regarding the left-out "and".

I just think that most players by now have a very good idea of what ch would mean, plus we're saving a bit of room on the tag. Depending upon the resolution that someone plays add, it could make it a bit easier to see everything, plus itwill sort quite well.

BTW I must ask again, are we considering a space between the @ and the ## of players?

ch@ 12 shoot stuff.noe

OR

ch@12 shoot stuff.eden

[terox 316]

I think adding the @ to the maptype group is ok, but every other subgroup should be seperated by a space

Shame u cant see the screenshots, they show what it really looks like more clearly

The screenshots are linked to www.stone-keep which is having technical problems at the moment, things should be displayed when it comes back online

[joltan 0]

I'm against using any space in the tag - the tag should be one unit - it doesn't look less cluttered by using spaces, but it lengthens the tag unescesary.

Also it is easier to understand for people if the tag is one unit and not seperate entities (subgroups). It may be composed of several bits of information, but in the end it is one unit used to sort the maps and provide some basic help in selecting the right mission.

check this image:

This doesn't look cluttered or anything. One compact and easy understandable tag and then the mission's name. No chance for anyone to place the space at the wrong place (now before or after the addons tag or both? There will be equivocations!.

And as much as you repeat it, we all know that you can show the mission's full name by hovering on top of it. Still as you can see from other users messages, the demand for keeping the tag short is great. Hovering costs more time than just scanning the list visually. And while you may play at 1600x1200, most people aren't...

cnh - this looks silly and no one will understand it (this is definitely no common abreviation). CH is easy to understand, and already used by many servers. So if there are people who do not want the ampersand (for reasons stated earlier), then it should be considered.

Same goes for the shortening of 'coop' to 'co' - it saves two chars and is no way less understandable. If there's a mojority for it, it should be done.

This is a group effort, so please do not discard wishes asked for by other people who have presented good reasons, just because YOU have a different opinion.

In short:

- definitely no spaces within the tag

- maybe shorten coop (as majority wishes)

- maybe drop ampersand (as majority wishes)

[HellToupee 0]

if ofp had a system where u just put the map name in type in seprate boxes it would calcualte player spots it self etc, then u would have a standardised map name style.

[Skunk Monkey 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (HellToupee @ Dec. 20 2002,06:14)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">if ofp had a system where u just put the map name in type in seprate boxes it would calcualte player spots it self etc, then u would have a standardised map name style.<span id='postcolor'>

but we dont ... hence this thread.

I dont mind shortenign coop to co

I dont mind dropping the &

I want the first space to be between number pf players and the map name.

I think cnh looks silly

[terox 316]

Joltan your screen shot looks neat and tidy and legible because they are all coops, when u have a mix of map types it then looks cluttered

The spaces cause no problem with the readability of a filename

Hovering the mouse over the map creates a small pop up box which reveals the name in full

how many times are we going to have the following scenario

The 2 screen shots i put at the top of this page clearly show the compoarison, nobody could possibly argue tha the first one is more easily readable

ctf 24 myverylongmapname

ctf 24 myverylongmapname v1

ctf 24 myverylongmapname v2

almost similar map names listed next to each other

and even if we do, the mouse hover will reveal the difference

The first 2 spaces adds negligible length to the filename anyway

as the main differences betweeb similar map filenames will be at the latter end, then you will only be able to read it with a mouse hover anyway

The whole point of spaces is to create a tidy easily readable system

placing subgroups next to each other does not create a tidy readable system

eg

placingsubgroupsnexttoeachotherdoesnotcreateatidyreadable system

I personally do not want to drop the &, especially as Karillions reasons for it are not technical

after all

Capture AND Hold

Attack AND Defend

do use and which = &

i think this is the clearest most descriptive letter to use, but if folks want to drop it, then we should be using the other most uses abbreviation "cnh"

although some servers use ch, it is not a widely used abbreviation

Coop to co no problems

[joltan 0]

First stop talking about the hovering option - as stated several times we all know that already and therefore I'm going to ignore that argument from now on. Hovering costs time, and making it a nescessity (or making it nescessary more often) does not help in making the naming convention 'user friendly'. There is a good reason why other people want the tag as short as possible, even though there's a workaround. Try to understand that.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> Joltan your screen shot looks neat and tidy and legible because they are all coops, when u have a mix of map types it then looks cluttered<span id='postcolor'>Well you will have more than 1-2 maps of every filetype - I got 20-30 coops at least on most islands (and some other mission types, too). I really would have loved to show a screenshot with more than 2 tags, knowing how you would try to argue - my problem: I couldn't. And that will be the same on most servers who have more than 10-20 maps. The mission list shows only 9 maps at once, so if you have at least 5 of every type on a island you will never see more than 2-3 different tags at once.

So your fear for a cluttered display is not realistic.

Also a comment to your example á la 'placingsubgroupsnexttoeachotherdoesnotcreateatidyreadable system' - even using 'coop' as tag (the longest we have defined so far) and the maximum number of players possible in OFP (well below a hundred = 2 chars) you have a maximum length of 7 chars (that is already including the addons marker) + 1 space. That leaves about 12 chars for the mission name to be visible. Still enough, but  a) any additional char visible would make reading easier, and b) any further shortening of the mission name would make it a lot less legible.

Think of mission names that belong to a series of missions - like the 'Band of Comrades' series by Blake. There you will have the name of the series before the mission's name. Even if a abbreviation is used the visible part of the name shrinks drastically... every char would count! Same goes for Ladder maps that have the additional league tag...

Using mostly 2 letter tags (co, ch, dd,...) and leaving out the space(s) you are proposing you gain 2-3 additional chars that you can see from the filename.

Conclusions:

- So far several people have voiced to favour 'co' to 'coop'. You can agree too, so let's consider this settled.

- The space in the tag is not needed at all - just having 2, 3 and 4-letter mission type descriptors will cause the amount of clutter you describe anyways. The tag is recognizable as 1 unit if there is no seperator, you avoid problems with admins renaming them and placing the space in the wrong place with addons maps, and you have a shorter tag. Also most people here voted against it, so they obviously see no problem with its clarity and do not fear that the users won't understand it easily.

- Dropping the ampersand: 'cnh' is no alternative - I never have seen this on any server, while I've seen 'ch' very often. So either keep the ampersand or go for 'ch', 'dd', etc. This is also what everyone else has voiced so far. I don't care if we keep the ampersand or not. While I see the advantage of removing it (one char less in the tag = one char more for the filename) I also see 'c&h' or 'a&d' to be possibly easier to understand for most people. Still, this can only be decided by the majority, not by you or me or Karillion alone. As I wrote before: it's a team effort that has to fit the interests of the majority of servers.

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

Well I certainly wish we'd get some more input from other server admins, etc. and mission makers so we could maybe get a decent vote on this puppy and put it to rest.

I have no technical reasons for getting rid of the ampersand except that it saves 1 space, it's easier not to have to rename a ton of maps by sticking in an ampersand as opposed to simply deleting one, if it already exists.

To sum up, it's about aesthetics.

Hopefully we can get some more comments on this and end it. I just would hope it might be widely adopted, rather than this extensive conversation be in vain.

[terox 316]

if you want to create a filename that can be seen completely in the screen views, then you will have to put a limit on its length.

As this is not practical, forget about keeping it down to a minimum, forget about the length that 2 spaces will create, because its a negligible addition as far as the length is concerned

It does however split the sub groups up in a clearly defined and legible way and makers reading the list so much easier

Any argument about saving spaces doesnt really carry any weight on a practical level without restricting the filename length

and as for the time it takes to select a map from a specific series, especially if you are using the map filename band_of_brothers_******  you arent going to see the latter part (***) of the filename anyway

and even if you could, would it really mean anything more than a fraction of a second

You will still be waiting for folks to connect to the server etc

I'm sorry but i find the time saving argument and spaces argument illogical

and i also think c&h, a&d,  is a damn sight clearer than ch, ad, dd, ee etc

As for the workload involved

I have 3 servers that i will have to rename the filenames,

Stoners

Zeus

& Zeus addons

thats a lot of maps

But i will only have to rename them once, and there is nothing to stop me doing it over a few days

The workload i am not concerned with. Once we have a fully agreed system, then i will start that side of things

[maddogx 13]

I have just taken the time to read this entire thread and I have come to the following conclusion:

- no spaces between [type] and [@] or [max players]

ie.: c&h24 or c&h@24 instead of c&h 24 or c&h @ 24

- leave the &

My whole idea would be to devide the mission name into three groups: tag, name and map.pbo all separated by a space. Adding extra space in the tag would just be confusing.

Here are a few examples:

c&h@24 king of the hill v1.eden.pbo

c&h @ 24 king of the hill v1.eden.pbo

in my opinion the first "block" should be the tag. So no spaces in the tag!

[terox 316]

It would appear we are very close to a finished system

Arguments still in discussion are

Remove & from c&h, a&d etc

Arguments against are down to cosmetic, space usage and workload when renaming the files

Some want c&h to simply be ch

others want c&h

So whats it to be??

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spaces between subgroups

Initially each subgroup was to be given a space between them to help in legibility and to differentiate them easily

We have now removed the space between

Map type and addon marker

Some want to remove the space between

This initial subgroup and the player limit

Choices are

ctf@32 (mapname)

ctf@ 32 (mapname)

You cant visualise how this looks on the ofp screens, so screenshots have been posted on this forum

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thats basically all that is holding things up

My vote is

ctf@  30  league_map_name  version

c&h@  40  league_map_name  version

league tag  used for official league maps

(once league agrees to convention)

version only to be used if the mapmaker has used it

new maps to be recommended to use the version system as previously described on the thread

Come on guys lets put this to bed once and for all

Spaces (all 3 of them) add negligible length to a filename that isnt completely visible anyway

But they do make for easier reading, and still the majority of the filename is visible even without a mouse hover

Somewhere at the start of the thread i gave a goal date for completion.

That date is tomorrow Xmas day

Go with the spaces and the &

then i can have a merry xmas

By the way Merry Xmas to all who have put lots of effort and time into this convention

[Skunk Monkey 0]

underscore sneaked back into league_map_name ??

Or was that a Typo ?

I go for

co@12 map name here.noe.pbo

style name, with the first space after the max number of players, coop shorttened to co and spaces in the map name, if you want to include version after map name this makes no differance.

Merry Xmas

[terox 316]

underscores within a subgroup was no typo, this was agreed to be used to join things like league tags to the mapname ETC

this helps to keep items within a subgroup together, you are the first to query this

[terox 316]

Come on guys lets nail the lid on this

The & looks like its gonna be used

We are arguing now over spaces

Spaces, the three that i want to use, will cause hardly any extra length to the filename

Only 2 of these spaces are going to be normally visible

Please just agree on this then i can complile the Convention

[benu 1]

Sad to say it but i don't really like the & in mapnames and i like having ONE separator. Spaces OR Underscores. Not both. But i don't care whether spaces or underscrores will be used. But not both.

[peanuckle_00 0]

What about single player naming conventions. They may sometimes require addons. They may be tank, jet, helicopter, or foot soldier missions. Things like that.

[terox 316]

Single player maps aren't really the issue here, this is about having the same maps on different servers  having the same name, so that folks dont download the same map just because the filename is different

Ref Spaces

The spaces are there to differentioate between the subgroups. Among other things this makes it easier on the eye.

It also clearly defines the subgroups visually

As for any text within a subgroup, so that it isnt confused as seperate subgroups, the name ie efl_everon, has an underscore to join them together

This will normally only be seen in either the map name subgroup because it will have an offcial league tag with it

or the name subgroup because it is made up of more than one name

I really dont understand why you want to Clutter the subgroups together.

I have asked several people to look at the various screen shots available, and without exception they prefer the easiest on the eye, which is the one with spaces between subgroups. The additional length that this creates is negligible and has no effect on map name readability as most if not all is fully visible in the map selection screen view.

Try looking at both screen shots again for more than a split second and scanning up and down them. You may then understand why i am pushing for the more neater system

&

& = and

c&h

a&d

what else would you use. These are standard map type names, recognised by everyone

you put

ad

ch

dd

and this isnt so widely recognised

lets be just as silly and call c&h

xyz makes as much sense

(Yes i'm being silly now but thats what i think about removing &

[joltan 0]

Sorry, for the late answer.

I don't really care about the &, it might make some names more legible, but if anyone's having problems with it then just scrap it (it's shorter without).

About the underscore - I think just using spaces is more legible - and if (as I strongly propose) the tag is one block without seperators, then there will be no confusion caused by this.

As for the tag - keep it without internal seperators.

So I'd say go for either:

'ch@24 this is a stupid map name.noe.pbo'

or

'c&h@24 this is a stupid map name.noe.pbo'

[morteni55 0]

new maptype:

cti = capture the island