Naming conventions

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BioWare's resources follow a naming convention which allows for easy management and easy location of resources needed. When creating new resources it is a good idea to follow the existing naming convention (or your own scheme if you have a preferred one), to differentiate your work from that of others and to help you keep your resources organized.

For the most part the names you give your resources will matter only to you, there are very few situations where the toolset pays attention to the specific form that a resource name takes. So provided you're working on your own any naming convention that suits your particular style will suffice.

Usually resources are separated by underscores into categories and have prefixes sorting them based on a certain main class, or suffixes giving them certain variations.

Resource Naming Convention

Resources in the Resource Palette. The convention used in the main Single Player campaign of Dragon Age is as follows:

cir200cr_bloodmage
  • Three-letter prefix indicating which large-scale area of the game the resource begins to (particular origin story, prelude, etc)
  • three-digit number unique to a particular area, generally starting with 100 and incrementing in hundreds for major areas. Accessory areas are given numbers within the block of one hundred that their 'parent' area belongs to. "global" resources are often given the number 000.
  • two-letter code indicating what general type of resource it is (for example "ar" for area, "pl" for placeable). A major exception here is event scripts, which have exactly the same name as the resource they're the script for. Dialogue files are also generally named exactly the same as their owner resource.
  • An underscore.
  • The remainder of the name is free-form and human-readable, a descriptive term to remind you at a glance what the resource is.

Model File Naming Convention

Items

[MainClass]_[MODELTYPE]_[MODELSUBTYPE][MODELVARIATION]_[LOD].MMH / PHY 
  • Where [MainClass] is of General type of a Model. The Toolset will build the MainClass based on Race/Gender/Itemtype etc, so this must be correct.
  • [MODELTYPE] as defined with 2DAs. Typically a short name describing the Model ie. Wolf. See: ItemVariations.xls
  • [MODELSUBTYPE] is optional as defined with 2DAs. Typically a short name describing different Variations of a Model. See: ItemVariations.xls
  • [MODELVARIATION] is optional as defined with 2DAs. Typically one letter a, b, c describing further Variations. See: ItemVariations.xls
  • [LOD] is optional for LOD Versions of Models, where its 0, 2 or 3 from highest to lowest LOD. Seems to be a fixed requirement for some.

Creatures

[MainClass]+[ModelName]_[LOD].MMH / PHY
  • [MainClass] is the general type of the model. When no override is set in APR base.xls, the toolset will generate it based on race and gender.
  • [ModelName] is the Modelname described in APR base.xls. When no Modelname is given, and Modeltype is P, the toolset will generate it based on NakedVariations.xls (unsure)
  • [LOD] is optional for LOD Versions of Models, where its 0, 2 or 3 from highest to lowest LOD. Seems to be a fixed requirement for some.

This accounts for the game being able to locate a MMH via 2DA definitions. MSH / MAO / DDS Files are referenced by the MMH and each other but follow similar schemes.

Model Main Class Naming Convention

  • base
  • blk - black boxes of various sizes and proportions, used to obscure the portions of models that lie "outside" an interior level where the player shouldn't be able to see.
  • c - creature
  • cai - Cave Int.
  • cav - Caves
  • cdr - Cave Deep Road
  • che - Chantry Exterior
  • chi - Chantry Interior
  • cn - Commmon Body Meshes
  • cs
  • df - dwarf female accessories and components
  • dm - dwarf male accessories and components
  • dne - dwarf noble exterior level pieces
  • dni - dwarf noble interior level pieces
  • dse - Dwarf Slum Exterior
  • dsi - Dwarf Slum Interior
  • dwe - Dwarven Exterior (Orzammar City)
  • dwi - Dwarven Interior
  • ef - elf female accessories and components
  • el
  • em - elf male accessories and components
  • fca - Fereldan Castle
  • fce - Fereldan Castle/City Exterior
  • fci - Fereldan Castle Interior
  • fde
  • fdi - Fereldan Dungeon Interior
  • fhe - Fereldan Human Exterior
  • fhec
  • fhi - Ferelden Human Interior
  • fne - Ferelden noble exterior level pieces
  • frt
  • fti - Fereldan Town Interior
  • ftr
  • fve - Fereldan Village Exterior
  • fx - Effects
  • fxa
  • fxc
  • fxe
  • fxg
  • fxm
  • fxp
  • hf - human female accessories and components
  • hm - human male accessories and components
  • hro - Hero Sets
  • kn
  • lightrig
  • material
  • nm
  • pf - Female specific Gear
  • plc - placeables
  • pm - Male or Genderless specific Gear
  • pn -
  • prp - props
  • prv
  • qm
  • sb - Skybox
  • sca
  • sr
  • tce - Tevinter Castle Exterior
  • tci - Tevinter Castle Interior
  • tfi - Tevinter Fade Interior
  • tools - models used by the toolset
  • trn
  • tti - Tevinter Tower Interior
  • tve - Tevinter Exterior
  • tvi - Tevinter Interior
  • tvm
  • ue
  • uem - Face Bits
  • uh - Face Bits
  • uhm - Face Bits
  • ul
  • ulm - eyelashes
  • v
  • vfx - Visual Effects
  • vis - Vista Objects
  • vst - Vista Objects
  • w - weapon models
  • water - waterfall pieces
  • zz - models used in debugging

Voice Over File Naming Convention

[LineID]_m.WAV
  • with [LineID] replaced by the ID number for the conversation line's string table entry.

This accounts for being able to locate thousands of VO lines, when assigning them to their conversation line.

See voice over for more information on how to manage voice over recording.

Animation File Naming Convention

See Also