1.06 Weird Install prompt when buying single barrels

[256]

There were a stack of two unidentified armour coating barrels in Eridani Station. I opted to buy 1 and got the message "This can not be installed" and there was a greyed out "Buy & Install" option. When buying single barrels this doesn't seem to happen.

The only mod I have installed is Captain's Log.

[256]

Also, I've noticed that a bunch of things, like stations names, are incorrectly capitalized. Possibly this is because of Captain's Log? I'll try again later with the mod removed and see what happens.

[sdw195]

station names have been capitalized as geroge sees fit, it is not a bug, see http://www.neurohack.com/transcendence/ ... 715#p28715

You forgot to capitalize the "o" on the outlaw camps, George.

I'm torn on this, but I'm trying to follow a consistent style:

If an organization has a proper name, then we use title capitalization:

Ranx Empire
Corporate Hierarchy
Sisters of Domina

All of the above are proper names.

But if we're describing a collection of individuals without a proper name, then we just use a noun phrase:

outlaws
illegal miners

When naming stations, the same thing applies. If the station has a proper name, then we should capitalize it:

Starton Eridani
Arcology of New Victoria

But if we're describing a generic station, then we use a noun phrase:

abandoned container
residential station

The confusing part happens when a proper name (name of an organization) acts as an adjective in a noun phrase. Then part of the noun phrase is capitalized, while the rest is not:

Charon Pirates stronghold
Ferian colony
Ranx outpost

This last is consistent with common usage. E.g., newspapers talk about "Somali warlords" (not "Somali Warlords") because "Somali" is a proper name serving as an adjective in the phrase.

But if some grammar expert here has a different view, I'd love to hear it.

[256]

Ah... well consistency of style is important, but I think the way it's implemented is a little misguided here. I'm not sure about the title "grammar expert," but I do sometimes work as a copy editor. In most cases where noun phrases are used in isolation as labels, it is customary to use title case (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_cas ... ion_titles).

Thus:

"We need you to go destroy an outlaw base."

"Outlaw Base"

[george moromisato]

A copy editor is more useful in this case than a "grammar expert."

Thanks--I totally see your point. Title capitalization seems much more appropriate in this case. Now I just have to write up an algorithm for title capitalization. Any pointers?

My initial inclination is to capitalize all words except for those in a fixed list that includes articles, conjunctions and prepositions. But is there a list of all prepositions?

[256]

I'm skeptical of the claims of completeness this list makes but at the very least I haven't yet spotted anything obvious missing from it: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/p ... s/list.htm

As for a general algorithm, I can't think of one better than the one you propose, with one caveat. The first word of a title cased phrase is always capitalized. So, if a map had two locations on it, one named "House across the River" and the other named simply "Across the River," the capitalization of "across" would vary from one to the other. This seems unlikely to come up very often in Transcendence, but you never know.

[256]

Further, there are some words (like "down" and "round") that can be both minor and major parts of speech. If you want to build a complete algorithm I don't think there's really anything you can do to deal with these perfectly aside from incorporate some sort of escaping syntax to let you specify which form you're using. Fortunately these situations aren't going to come up very often (unless you decide to start adding "Corporate Down Pillow Factories" to the game).

[sdw195]

Space Pillows made with real artificial synthetic goose down

[jimj316]

I thought that generic names, such as "outlaw camp" should still start with a capital letter on the first word, i.e. "Outlaw camp", since it's the start of a phrase, or sentence. Looking for the closest example at the moment, the "Submit" button below has a capital letter, despite the fact that it is neither a proper noun nor a full sentence.

[Star Weaver]

Should this be closed? Not sure.