[Torcs-ng-devel] Renaming of car brands and models

[Annick et Jean-P. <jpm...@fr...>]

Hi, everyone.

As promised, here is a first proposal (based on your ideas, passed threads,
wikipedia/internet searches about company headquarters, founders, ...
and all sorts of mixes, shortings, and more or less nice ideas I had ...).

I would like each of you to take some time to think about each proposed name,
look also to the alternative list (if any), propose other names (this is only
a first proposal) if you like ...

As for this first proposal, I'm conscious about it's being sometimes poor :
the first reason for that is that I don't know anything about japonese, german
or italian languages. So, up to you, native speakers, to propose nice, relevant
and meaning names :
- Haruna, for the japanese names (I'm a bit ashamed by my proposals :-(
- Eckhard, Mart, Wolf-Dieter (Gabor?) for the German ones,
- Xavier for the french ones,
- Andrew and others for the english ones,
- someone to help up with the italian ones ?

Now, I let you dig into this proposal : sorry, it's a bit long ...

I'm waiting for your answers and proposals ... and will gather / merge them
as needed to keep things clear about how we converge ...

============================
Fictious brand name replacements for the real ones we have in Torcs-NG :

- generally speaking, we should try :
   * to keep reasonably short brand names
     (at most 10 letters or so ?) (easier to display and remember)
   * to choose names that reminds the original brand
   * to choose names that are expressed in the language
     of the original brand

- in the following list, under the real brand name,
   you'll find :
   - in the 1srt line, my prefered proposal
   - in the 2nd line, other proposals, if any

- apart from some exceptions, the below proposals are only
   for the cars we plan to release in the "core" free/open source
   package (for the 1.4.0 release or the next one) :
   I don't plan to rename the "unmaintained" cars
   (we'll release them in the "unmaintained" and non-free/open source
    package, so we don't have to bother with it)

- Alfa-Romeo
     Gamma
     Torino, Betajulia, Milano, Rofalmeo, Foralmeo, Ermeola
- Aston Martin
     Hastings
     Roarstin, Swallow, Marston, Gaydon, Warwick,
- Audi/Autounion
     Ingoldi
     Vieringe (4 rings in German), Ingolstadt, Zwickau
- Bugatti
     Butore
     Molsheim, Ettore, Molgatti,
- Chevrolet
     Geneva (Chevrolet is originated from Swiss)
     Bowtie, Detroit, Chewy,
- Citroen
     Godess (the most famous model, the "DS",
             which is pronouced as the french word "déesse",
             "godess in English)
     Lime, Lemoen, Chevron, Andrewce, Chevroen, Civron,
- Dodge
     Schemy
     Tricker, Auburn,
- Era
     Century
- Ferrari
     Rampante
     Cavallante, Cavallini, Cavalleri, Venesia, Bari, Maranzo
- Ford
     Horsemust
     Dearborn
- Honda / Acura
     Hacuda
     Murasama, Nippondosha, Minatonda, Aconda, Hocura
- Jaguar
     Lynx
     Wildcat,
- Lamborghini
     Torodoro
     Archer, Aquila, Agata
- Lotus
     Coldman
     Hethel, Norfolk, Crackman, Hurtskin (founder=Colin Chappman),
- MacLaren
     Clamer
     Scott, Ralen, Macwren, Clameron, Buckby, MacFinlay, Falcon
- Maserati
     Tridenti
     Bologna, Bolerati, Malognati, Miserata, Mistera, Eremita
- Mercedes
     Stergart
     Silvarau, Silvarrow, Virgin, Stuttgart, Mercos,
- Mitsubishi
     Minatsushi
     Minato, Tokyo,
- Nissan
     Kanagawa
     Chuosan, Chuo, Nigawa, Chuogana, Nikyosan,
- Peugeot
     Tigre (Tiger in French)
     Puma, Lion, Sochaux, Pugser, Kingot,
- Porsche
     Zupferd
     Zuffen, Zursche, Stuttgart,
- Subaru
     Kenji
     Ota, Kenjiru, Otabaru, Kitotaru, Subota
- Toyota
     Baracuda
     Aichi, Nagoya, Aichita, Atoyochi



============================
Other fictious brand names :
- Ciclon : Seems very good for me, let's keep it !
- Vulture : Seems very good for me, let's keep it !
- Petrol : Not sure it's a brand or a model name,
            but I don't like it that much
- Bewy : Idem.


============================
Fictious model names for real(-derived) cars we have in Torcs-NG :

- generally speaking, many car models are simple numbers (996),
   or letters and number mixes (GT40, XJ220, DB9, F40, ...) :
   we could try and stay close to the original model "name"
   by simply :
   - removing a letter and/or a decimal digit
     (ex: 996 => 96 ; XJ220 => x220, x22)
   - changing a letter (ex: GT4O => G4, Z4)
   - changing a decimal digit to a letter or the other way round
     (ex: DB9 => DBe, MT9 ; 996 => Z96, W96)

- we should also try to keep reasonably short car model names
   (at most 6-8 letters/digits ?)

- as for the GTR, GTx, ZRy, GTS-R ... stuff in the original model name,
   we normally could get rid of it, as the car set / category
   nearly dictates it. But it's a question of taste ...

- in the following list, under the real brand name
   and each real model name, you'll find :
   - in the 1srt line, my prefered proposal
   - in the 2nd line, other proposals, if any

- apart from some exceptions, nothing about "unmaintained" cars
   (we'll release them in the "unmaintained" and non-free/open source
    package, so we don't have to bother with it for the moment)

- Alpha Romeo
   * 155
     A55 (replace the leading 1 by an "a", the first letter
          in the alphabet)
   * Tipo P3
     P3
   * 12c/36 May be we can keep it as is ?

- Aston Martin
   * DBR9
     R9 (R for "release", got rid of the man's name first letters DB)

- Audi/Autounion
   * Type C
     C (if we have the release year, may be it would be good
        to add it : C34, as an example)
     C-type (unless the german order is actually Type C)

- Bugatti
   * T59 May be we can keep it as is ?

- Chevrolet
   * Corvette C6 ZR1
     R6 (R for "release")

- Era
   * R11B May be we can keep it as is ?

- Dodge
   * Viper
     Rattler
     Snake, Adder

- Ford
   * GT40 (V8, 40 inches high)
     Turbot-40
     V40, G4, 8-40, Manta, Skate, XRay (flat fishes)
   * Focus (WRC)
     Spot
     Point, Target

- Ferrari
   * F360
     36

- Honda / Acura
   * NSX
     F16 (this jet fighter inside cockpit visiblility
          inspired the NSX body design)

- Jaguar
   * XJ 220
     X22
     X220

- MacLaren
   * F1
     ????

- Maserati
   * V8RI May be we can keep it as is ?
   * 6C/34 May be we can keep it as is ?

- Mercedes
   * CLK
     ????
   * W25B May be we can keep it as is ?

- Mitsubishi
   * Lancer EVO V WRC
     Gunner
     Crossbow, Cutter

- Peugeot
   * 206 (WRC)
     B6 (B for 2)
   * 306 (Maxi)
     C6 (C for 3)

- Porsche
   * 9xy
     xy (just remove the leading 9)
     Zxy
   * ???GT3RS
     ??? (what is the real model under the hood ? Isn't it a 9xy ?)

- Subaru
   * Impreza (WRC)
     Potenza

- Toyota
   * Corolla (WRC)
     ???

============================
Special case of TRB1 cars (brand and model name) :

- car1 to be renamed just as a real Ferrari F360
- car2 to be renamed just as a real Porsche (but what model ?)
- car3 to be renamed just as a real Lotus GT1
- car4 to be renamed just as a real Dodge Viper GTR-S
- car5 to be renamed just as a real Mercedes CLK
- car6 to be renamed just as the Petrol? fictious brand/model
- car7 to be renamed just as the Bewy? fictious brand/model

Note: Renaming them may cause some complications for the TRB1
       competitors (Torcs won't rename the TRB1 cars ...)

============================
Special case of the Formula One and Indy cars :
when we'll work again on such a full car sets,
we'll have to find fictious brand and model names.

The game is open for the Indy ones (16 of them !),
but we don't need it for the release.


============================
Category (= car set) names :

* TRB1, SuperCars, 36GP : No change

* (American) Le Mans Series => Long day Series
   - (A)LMS => LS (1, 2, 3) as already proposed by Andrew
     But: What about LDS (the D from "day", consistent with LMS) ?
   - LMP => LSP (1, 2) as already proposed by Andrew
     But: What about LDP (the D from "day", consistent with LMP),
          or LP (consistent with LS above) ?

* F1
    WOW1 (for World Open Wheel 1)
    OW1, Hormiga 1 (means "ant" in spanish),
      Hornula 1 (like a small "oven" in spanish)
      Furia 1, Mirage 1 (Mirage is the name of a french fighter aicraft,
                         and one of its releases is named "F1")


* Indy
    Blindy
    NAOW (for North American Open Wheel),

* Nascar
   National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, mainly North America)
   Race cars that were originaly modified "normal" cars
   Takes root during the prohibition years, where bootleggers
     used modified cars to escape the police ...
   Several categories : Street Stock, Super Stock, Late Model, ...
   Several series : Sprint Cup series, Nationwide series, ...
   Very complicated history ...

   May be we'll have to talk about that in more details, when we'll have
   plans for such cars ...

   May be NABLxxx (North American Bootlegger xxx ;-)

* I propose to stay as is with the other "unmaintained"
   car sets / categories :
     free, Historic, Nascar, Off-road 4WD, Off-road RWD,
     Track-4WD-GrB/, Track-FWD-GrA, Track-FWD-GrB,
     Track-RWD-GrA, Track-RWD-GrB, Track-RWD-GrC

that way, it's straightforward to integrate these old cars in the game
   if people want to play with them (of course for the ones
   we release in the "unmaintained" packages, but also for all other
   more or less published packages).

   And we may in the future pick up some of those, rework them
   and create brand new sets/categories from them
   (ex: some rally car set(s) from Off-road 4WD ?
        some 60's GT car set from Historic ?
        ... )

Cheers,

Jean-Philippe.