[ASSISTANCE NEEDED] Renaming of vanilla ships to have an actual theme

[nikoli grimm]

X4's ship naming has never made any sense to me, and though it keeps somewhat to a theme, it often goes off on strange tangents and is hard to follow sometimes when you just have a ships name to know if their an enemy, neutral, pirate ect...

What I'd like to attempt is to rename the races ships to have a constant theme with names that are easier to follow - so I would know at a glance whether it's a Teladi or a Free Family or whatever when all I have to go off of is the ships name.

I'd like some assistance in finding the area(s) to modify so when I'm in-game all the ships names have changed to the new names - I also plan on doing this for the add-on mods that add ships to the game. Scripting isn't my strong suit, but I'm willing to give it a try because I like the game but the ship naming currently annoys me to the point of not playing it much.

If you know what I need to do to accomplish this, please inform me.

I know some of the factions use multiple races ships, but I'd like to try to make it simpler to follow...

My current renaming ideas:
ALI --- ALLIANCE OF THE WORD ---------------------- Greek Gods / Reptiles - Snakes / Space Phenomenon
ANT --- ANTIGONE REPUBLIC -------------------------- Space Phenomenon Theme
ARG --- ARGON REPUBLIC ------------------------------ Space Phenomenon Theme
BUC/TEM --- DUKE'S BUCCANEERS ------------------- Greek Gods Theme
CUB/CAB --- COURT OF CURBS ----------------------- Mythological Creatures Theme
FAF --- FALLEN FAMILIES ------------------------------- Mythological Creatures Theme
FRF --- FREE FAMILIES ---------------------------------- Mythological Creatures Theme
PAR --- GODREALM OF THE PARINID ------------------ Greek Gods Theme
HAT --- HATIKVAH FREE LEAGUE ---------------------- Space Phenomenon Theme
HOP --- HOLY ORDER OF THE PONTIFIX -------------- Greek Gods Theme
KHK --- KHA'AK ------------------------------------------ Ant Theme
MIN --- MINISTRY OF FINANCE ------------------------- Reptiles - Snakes Theme
TRI --- REALM OF THE TRINITY ----------------------- Greek Gods Theme
RIP --- RIPTIDE RAKERS -------------------------------- Salvage Theme
SCA --- SCALE PLATE PACT ---------------------------- 1800's Pirate Theme or Sea Monsters
PIO --- SEGARIS PIONEERS ---------------------------- Japanese Cities Theme
TEL --- TELADI COMPANY ------------------------------ Reptiles - Snakes Theme
TER --- TERRAN PROTECTORATE --------------------- Japanese Cities Theme
VIG --- VIGOUR SYNDICATE --------------------------- Gambling Theme
XEN --- XENON ----------------------------------------- Machine Theme
YAK --- YAKI -------------------------------------------- 1800's Pirate Theme
ZYA --- ZYARATH PATRIARCHY ----------------------- Mythological Creatures Theme

Example of Argon renaming:
ARG --- ARGON REPUBLIC --- Space Phenomenon Theme
Behemoth Vanguard ---------------------- L --- Blitzar Vanguard
Callisto Vanguard ------------------------- S --- Aurora Vanguard
Cerberus Vanguard ----------------------- M --- Collapsar Vanguard
Colossus Vanguard ------------------------ XL -- Parallax Vanguard
Courier (Mineral) ------------------------- S --- Comet (Mineral)
Courier Vanguard ------------------------- S --- Comet Vanguard
Discoverer Vanguard --------------------- S --- Neutrino Vanguard
Drill (Mineral) Vanguard ---------------- M --- Blaze (Mineral) Vanguard
Eclipse Vanguard ------------------------- S --- Eclipse Vanguard
Elite Vanguard ---------------------------- S --- Flare Vanguard
Ides Vanguard ---------------------------- M --- Equinox Vanguard
Incarcatura Vanguard ------------------- L --- Ion Vanguard
Magnetar (Gas) Vanguard -------------- L --- Magnetar (Gas) Vanguard
Magnetar (Mineral) Vanguard --------- L --- Magnetar (Mineral) Vanguard
Mammoth Vanguard -------------------- XL -- Constellation Vanguard
Mercury Vanguard ---------------------- M --- Meteor Vanguard
Minotaur Vanguard --------------------- M --- Meridian Vanguard
Mokosi Vanguard ------------------------ L --- Izar Vanguard
Nomad Vanguard ----------------------- XL -- Nebula Vanguard
Nova Vanguard -------------------------- S --- Nova Vanguard
Quasar Vanguard ----------------------- S --- Quazar Vanguard
Shuyaku Vanguard --------------------- L --- Starburst Vanguard
Sonra Vanguard ------------------------ L --- Solstice Vanguard
Sunder (Gas) Vanguard --------------- M --- Trapezium (Gas) Vanguard
Veles Vanguard ------------------------- L --- Zenith Vanguard

[Dj_FRedy]

The names of ships and their classes are found in the language xml files, specifically in '09.dat'. Unpack the file, modify the names, create an extension and activate it. You may also want to check out the tools, tutorials and resources thread.