Increase CHARNAME length limit?

MosesHall

(Apologies, of course, if this has been covered somewhere. A couple searches did not reveal anything except the need for continued limit on 8.3 filenames.)

I believe the CHARNAME is limited to about 20 characters. I've always been mildly disgusted when games have such tight limits (BG, a certain D3 that was released not so long ago, etc...). I understand this may not be feasible, but I'd really like to be able to name my main character "Ludark Babark Fudgefountain", "Utreizh Gutek of Tranvanosh", "Shiva Chaturvedi, Molester of Goats", or "you filthy murderous bastard" (for LOVETALKs). Possible without breaking the game engine? Anyone want to back me up on this proposal?

Isn't the character name in the savegame file a 32-byte field? (That's what my limited research suggests anyway.)

Thanks, M

CaptRory

Related to this (enough I didn't want to make a new thread), it would be nice if they added more options for naming your character.

A First, Last, and Title field would be great. So instead of being Michael who happens to be a Paladin you're Sir Michael Carpenter.

ryu1

I like the idea of titles being introduced. There will ofcourse have to be some restrictions as I don't think it's appropriate to have a female char called Sir Elizabeth...although some would find it downright hilarious.

Mortianna

I'd like the option to change/modify your PC's name throughout the game. Having a pretentious title (Sir Douche/Dame Douchette) coming out of Candlekeep at age 20 is a little ridiculous, but you could add monikers and other titles afterwards as you earn a name for your PC throughout the Sword Coast.

Kirkor

Mortianna said:

I'd like the option to change/modify your PC's name throughout the game. Having a pretentious title (Sir Douche/Dame Douchette) coming out of Candlekeep at age 20 is a little ridiculous, but you could add monikers and other titles afterwards as you earn a name for your PC throughout the Sword Coast.

Exactly. You are living in a big library/monastery, cut off from an outside world. And you have no heritage, so you are noone (atleast at the beggining of the game). But later on, when you get your own castle or something (in BGII) you should be able to get and use your title.
Actualy, after beating Sarevok and saving Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate, he should give you some title.

Moomintroll

Kudos to any NPC who can be bothered to refer to me by my full name. Lord Bazzlebreast Thunderton-Rudgewick III

Avenger_teambg

It would look ludicrous, like: Lord Bazzlebreast Thunderton-Rudgewick III we must run for our lives!

HaHaCharade

Avenger_teambg said:

It would look ludicrous, like: Lord Bazzlebreast Thunderton-Rudgewick III we must run for our lives!

http://youtu.be/UGemePIRybQ

CaptRory

Well, the thing is... you can call yourself whatever you want. Having lived in Candlekeep all your life who exactly is going to disagree with you?

Moomintroll

@CaptRory well nobody, well.. unless perhaps. THE REAL Lord Bazzlebreast Thunderton-Rudgewick III!!
flee flee!

Jalily

Avenger_teambg said:

It would look ludicrous, like: Lord Bazzlebreast Thunderton-Rudgewick III we must run for our lives!

If we had First, Last, and Title fields like @CaptRory suggested, this wouldn't be a problem.

CaptRory

It'd also fix the 20 character limit issue of the original poster. Between Title, First, and Last names that's 60 characters. Even if you're only counting first and last that still doubles it. I'm thinking most of the problem was trying to fit an entire name into one field, splitting it into three fixes that.

ARKdeEREH

I agree with the OP that there shouldn't be length limits on PC names, but I think that it should also be possible to edit the names of NPCs. My PC has a first and last name. I know that Viconia has a last name because I read her bio and it gets mentioned in the game dialogues sometimes, but I want it to also show up as part of her actual named identity, just like my PC's full name does. I think it would be nice if this could be done for all characters. That way, Imoen, Sarevok, and the PC could all have the same surname (Bhaalchild for instance) and be recognizable as part of the same family).

ajwz

ARKdeEREH said:

I agree with the OP that there shouldn't be length limits on PC names, but I think that it should also be possible to edit the names of NPCs. My PC has a first and last name. I know that Viconia has a last name because I read her bio and it gets mentioned in the game dialogues sometimes, but I want it to also show up as part of her actual named identity, just like my PC's full name does. I think it would be nice if this could be done for all characters. That way, Imoen, Sarevok, and the PC could all have the same surname (Bhaalchild for instance) and be recognizable as part of the same family).

err... I guess that way they could all get in on a family ticket to disneyworld?

Avenger_teambg

Jalily said:

Avenger_teambg said:

It would look ludicrous, like: Lord Bazzlebreast Thunderton-Rudgewick III we must run for our lives!

If we had First, Last, and Title fields like @CaptRory suggested, this wouldn't be a problem.

Sans title, it might be ok. But this would also break at least the chr format.
Title is probably wrong.
It is usually not what you (or parents) give yourself, it is more likely coming from social status.

MosesHall

@Avenger_teambg: making name and title info editable in-game would be fun -- if you accidentally honk off some townspeople and they go hostile, time to change your title to "the Despised"! (Well, it's better than "the Unmanned")

Just musing about the technicalities in a manner, as they say, "unencumbered by the thought process" here. If CHARNAME were set in the savegame fixed field as a bunch of zero bytes, it could be interpreted by the game engine as an instruction to "look for the extended name fields at the END of the file." But then you'd not be able to pull in an EE savegame into a pre-EE game engine without crashing, as the file formats are no longer compatible. I don't know if this is an issue. EE games are essentially going to obsolete the earlier versions, so I don't really see it as a downside.

Senash

Not sure where I stand on this title thing... But I fully support longer names, and the separation of first names and last names!

MosesHall

Perhaps title is not a realistic target for BG 1 (for both practical and gameplay reasons), but BG 2 is another matter, and at least a year off. (It makes more sense AND could be implemented by the devs without sleepless nights and high risk of bug injection.) For the ToB side of BG2 it makes a lot of sense. CHARNAME is a household word by that point, not some unknown kid from Candlekeep. Maybe title could be an unlockable feature attained at a certain level, like the "planetar" level abilities.

Communard

Epithets that are editable or change in some way throughout the game would be fantastic. Judas Von Grimdark the vengeful, butcher of Bergerost, scion of Murder. Or Sir Galahad the Impossibly Kind, Hero of Nashkel, slaver's bane. Probably unlikley but would be cool nonetheless. This thread has inspired me to use the character biography to list my titles in that way when I play from now on.

CaptRory

You know what might be fun? Unlockable titles the way they have them in MMOs now. Titles you can wear based upon what you've doen in game. "Hero of the Nashkell Mines" "Slaughterer of Beregost" "Champion of Durlag's Tower" etc.

MosesHall

Like how you are known by the Harpers. (And Elminster BTW...)

OneAngryMushroom

I could finally call my standard pally build by his full name and title!
Reverent High Holy Paladin "Iron-Arms" Theirum Thunderbringer of the Fourth Order of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

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MosesHall

I note with profound satisfaction that I was able to name my first created character in BGII:EE "Ludark Babark Fudgefountain" so mission accomplished!