Dakkanor wrote:agreed with ssilk, good idea that. in general an intelligent way to generate names is easier to use than a manual one. i'd still like the ability to rename stations for things with specific purposes
but what about being able to designate and name areas on the map? right click on a spot and then select the chunks which are part of it, this could possibly be done in several layers each with their own overlay colour, which could be helpful for planning things out ect, my main way to tell things apart on the map is to either memorize my factory layout or to build things in specific patterns that i could recognize easily on the map.
the designation idea could overlap with ssilks idea, mark one area as your primary base, mark an area inside that as your foundry. build a pickup/delivery train system in the foundry and the station would be called something like "Primary Base - Foundry" add a '2' or a 'b' at the end if there's an existing station in that area.
I would prefer it if the "signs" or beacons as I'd think of them have variable ranges. Each unit is 50 tiles in radius, and you can set it to 1 unit, or 10 units, or anywhere in between. This way you can place it in the middle of a production facility, and have it cover the whole facility, and not extra beyond that. On the map you can color it slightly, or have an overlay that can be turned on showing the borders, with a dot where the beacon is stating that it's this place.
It's cool that people who donate enough can get memorialized in the game. However don't force players to adhere to player names. If you must, let us name it, then underneath put "Dedicated to X". E.g. in my iron smelting base, it could read "Iron Smelting Facility -- Dedicated to Ssilk" but when programming trains or stations, it's just Iron Production Facility.
Edit: Better idea, "Ssilk's Iron Smelting Facility" on the visible tab, but just the user specified term for programming.