Naming Etiquette

[David Brasher]

This is the type of post that gets people in trouble, but I think people should give their mods better names. I downloaded three mods, and when I went to install them all at once, I was was kind of like, "Goodness gracious! What an unholy mess!"

 

Supposing for my example that the mods were about unicorns, the names were like "The_File-_-25894.4," "Second_Fixed_Version-Option2RTHGE," and "KJHR_Final_V3-4_File 28984."

 

Now is that clear or what? I don't know about you, but I think that is confusing. These names say nothing about unicorns. And of course they have nothing to easily distinguish them from all those other unicorn mods out there. (Okay, unicorns provide a really lame example. But bear with me.)

 

Why couldn't my files have been named "Clever_Unicorns_1_4," Harcane_Grove_Expansion_1_2," and "EvilKnights-UnicornTackAndSaddles3-4?" I think it is nicer to work with like this. If gamers change the names of .esps they download, they can mess up the sound files and perhaps other things. Why don't other modders try a bit harder to make recognizable names for those people who have 100 or more mods in their mod lists?

[ptbptb]

Why don't other modders try a bit harder to make recognizable names for those people who have 100 or more mods in their mod lists?

 

I don't know - but it's another reason why it's a good idea to create/use .omod versions. You can name the omod anything you like and it won't change the .esp name(s).

 

Incidentally I think the "2898" is not the modder's fault. Old mods had the file number (as seen in the URL) automatically appended to the end of their file name.

[bben46]

It can be a pain. But remember, many of these mods are made not by professional programmers, but by amateurs with no real idea of naming conventions or even how to ask about them. So as a result, there are no real naming conventions. People just make up their own as they go. Most do use the name of their mod as the name of the file.

[SavageArtistry]

Some of those file names are descriptors.. ie "Patch 2.1.zip" or whatever. Chances are good that making the file name descriptive of the file's function in relation to the mod as a whole is what's on some modder's minds when they name their files. If there's no room to describe a particular file (particularly where one mod has tons of different options), sometimes naming like that can be helpful.

 

If I am grabbing a file and think I might be confused later, I just go ahead and change the zip/7z's name at the time of download. It's never really bothered me.

[Rabbit1251]

If I may add a clarification instead of "EvilKnights-UnicornTackAndSaddles3-4" I would go with "UnicornTackAndSaddles3-4_byEvilKnight". When I'm looking for the mod I'm looking for unicorns. I wont remember who the deuce wrote it.

 

 

Rabbit