This guide provides some ground rules to write user-facing texts for 0 A.D.

== Capitalization

Use [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_case#Title_case title case] for:
- Button captions
- Entity names (including generic names of phases, structures or units)
- Key names
- Proper names

Never use full capitalization.

For example:

||=Good                        =||=Bad                         =||
||Click the Citizen Soldier icon||Click the CITIZEN SOLDIER icon||
||Hold Shift and click          ||Hold shift and click          ||


== Cursor vs Mouse

Mind the difference between the cursor (virtual) and the mouse (physical).


== English Orthography

Use US English spelling.

For example:

||=US    =||=UK     =||
||analyze ||analyse  ||
||armor   ||armour   ||
||artifact||artefact ||
||defense ||defence  ||
||finalize||finalise ||
||gray    ||grey     ||
||plow    ||plough   ||
||traveler||traveller||

== Dynastic factions

||='''singular:'''     =||='''plural:'''       =||='''adjective:'''      =||
||''founder of dynasty''||''members of dynasty''||''belonging to dynasty''||
||Achaemenes            ||Achaemenids           ||Achaemenid              ||
||Maurya                ||Mauryas               ||Mauryan                 ||
||Ptolemy               ||Ptolemies             ||Ptolemaic               ||
||Seleucus              ||Seleucids             ||Seleucid                ||

== Terminology

In texts that the user needs to understand, such as menu entries, help
tooltips, and similar, you must be consistent with the vocabulary that you use.

An object should always be referred to using the same word everywhere in the
game, and an action should always be referred to using the same verb.
For example, if there is a unit type called ‘female citizen’, always refer to it
as such, do not also use alternative forms such as ‘females’, ‘women’, and so
on. Even in the same paragraph or sentence, you should use the same term.

Always be precise. E.g., if a technology multiplies the melee attack damage of cavalry by 1.2, the tooltip should be "cavalry +20% melee attack damage", not "melee cavalry +20% attack damage".

Furthermore, there should be a bijection between descriptions and classes. E.g. if a technology affects the `Citizen` class, write "Citizens"; if it affects the `Soldier` class, write "Soldiers"; if it affects only units that have both the `Citizen` and the `Soldier` class, write "Citizen Soldiers"; however, if it affects the `CitizenSoldier` class instead, then write "Citizen-Soldiers". (However, this should typically not occur: `Citizen` and `Soldier` are visible classes, `CitizenSoldier` is a non-visible class.)

For specific words that you should use or avoid in 0 A.D. gameplay texts, see the tables below.

=== Actions

||=Good                          =||=Bad                             =||
||Build (structures)              ||                                  ||
||Collect (treasures)             ||                                  ||
||Construct (ships, siege weapons)||Build, produce, train             ||
||Gather (resources)              ||Collect, get                      ||
||Research (technologies)         ||                                  ||
||Train (human units)             ||Build, construct, recruit, produce||

=== GUI

||=Good=||=Bad   =||
||Icon  ||Portrait||

=== Stats

||=Good=||=Bad        =||
||Health||Hitpoints, HP||

=== Structures

||=Good      =||=Bad                                      =||
||Structure   ||Building                                   ||
||Blacksmith  ||Armoury                                    ||
||Civic Center||Civic Centre, Civil Center, Civil Centre   ||
||Dock        ||Harbour, Pier, Port, Quay, Shipyard, Wharf ||
||Farmstead   ||Farmhouse, Granary, Mill                   ||
||Fortress    ||Castle, Citadel, Fort, Stronghold          ||
||House       ||Dwelling, Home, Shack                      ||
||Storehouse  ||Drop Site, Mining Camp, Storage Pit        ||

=== Units

||=Good                                       =||=Bad                                                                =||
||Cavalry                                      ||Cavalry Soldier, Horse, Horseman                                     ||
||Champion                                     ||                                                                     ||
||Champion Cavalry                             ||Cavalry Champion                                                     ||
||Champion Cavalry Spearman                    ||Cavalry Spearman Champion, Champion Spear Cavalry                    ||
||Champion Infantry                            ||Infantry Champion                                                    ||
||Champion Infantry Archer                     ||Infantry Archer Champion, Champion Archer Infantry                   ||
||Champion Spearman (both cavalry and infantry)||Spearman Champion                                                    ||
||Citizen (cavalry or infantry, female or male)||Worker, Villager, Subject, Slave, Servant, Serf, Peasant, Labourer, Gatherer, Builder ||
||Citizen Cavalry                              ||Cavalry Citizen-Soldier, Citizen-Cavalry, Citizen-Cavalry Unit       ||
||Citizen Infantry                             ||Infantry Citizen, Infantry Citizen Soldier, Infantry Citizen-Soldier ||
||Citizen Soldier (cavalry or infantry)        ||Citizen-Soldier, Soldier Citizen                                     ||
||Female Citizen                               ||Female, Female Worker, Woman                                         ||
||Infantry                                     ||Infantry Soldier, Footman                                            ||
||Melee Cavalry                                ||Cavalry Melee Soldier, Heavy Cavalry                                 ||
||Melee Infantry                               ||Heavy Infantry                                                       ||
||Ranged Cavalry                               ||Cavalry Ranged Soldier, Cavalry Skirmisher, Skirmisher Cavalry       ||
||Ranged Infantry                              ||Light Infantry, Infantry Skirmisher, Skirmisher Infantry, Skirmisher ||
||Siege Weapon                                 ||Siege Engine, Siege                                                  ||

== Unicode

We have a somewhat complete Unicode support, do not limit yourself to ASCII and learn how to use [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode_input Unicode input] in your system.

For example:

||=Good=||=Bad=||
||…     ||...  ||

However, [[Atlas_Manual|Atlas]] [https://trac.wildfiregames.com/ticket/4936 does not support Unicode], so English strings of map files (e.g. anything under `binaries/data/mods/public/maps/`) should not contain Unicode characters for the time being. But you should avoid using combinations of ASCII characters to try and reproduce Unicode characters as well. Be creative, try to rephrase the content in question so that Unicode characters are not necessary.