[[TOC]]

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


== Orthography
=== English spelling
Use American English spelling. For example:

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

Check what you type. E.g. the verb to pron''ou''nce is always spelled with ''ou'', but the noun pron''u''nciation is spelled with only ''u''.


=== Calender years
The name of the game is '''0 A.D.''', which includes dots, for stylistic reasons.
However, dots are not used when writing down years. E.g. Augustus was emperor of Rome from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.

||='''Good''' =||='''Bad'''       =||
||BC           ||B.C., BCE, B.C.E. ||
||AD           ||A.D., CE, C.E.    ||


=== 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                ||


=== Greek and Latin
Greek words and proper names are Latinized everywhere, except in the specific name. 

||='''Good'''        =||='''Bad''' =||
||Aeschylus           ||Aiskhulos   ||
||Darius              ||Dareios     ||
||Seleucus I          ||Seleukos A' ||

Also, use the English form if there is one.

||='''Good'''        =||='''Bad'''                           =||
||Alexander the Great ||Alexander Magnus, Alexandros ho Megas ||
||Athens              ||Athenae, Athenai                      ||
||Homer               ||Homerus, Homēros                      ||
||Livy                ||Livius                                ||
||Mark Antony         ||Marcus Antonius                       ||
||Ovid                ||Ovidius                               ||
||Ptolemy             ||Ptolemaeus, Ptolemaios                ||
||Virgil              ||Vergilius                             ||
||Cataphract          ||Kataphraktos                          ||
||Hoplite             ||Hoplitēs                              ||
||Penteconter         ||Pentercontor, Pentēkontoros           ||
||Theatre             ||Theatrum, Theatron                    ||
||Trireme             ||Triremis, Triērēs                     ||


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


=== Cursor vs Mouse
Mind the difference between the cursor (virtual) and the mouse (physical).


=== GUI

||='''Good''' =||='''Bad'''                                 =||
||Icon         ||Image, Picture, Portrait, Sprite, Thumbnail ||


=== Resources

||='''Good''' =||='''Bad''' =||
||Food         ||            ||
||Metal        ||Gold, Iron  ||
||Stone        ||Brick, Rock ||
||Wood         ||Lumber      ||


=== Stats

||='''Good'''        =||='''Bad'''                       =||
||Crush attack damage ||Crush, Crush attack, Crush damage ||
||Health              ||Hitpoints, HP                     ||
||Melee attack range  ||Attack range, Melee range, Range  ||


=== 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 ||
||Ship                                         ||Boat, Craft, Vessel                                                  ||
||Siege Weapon                                 ||Siege Engine, Siege                                                  ||


== Typography

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

Never use full capitalization.

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


=== Punctuation and spacing
* A serial comma is used when listing three or more items. E.g. "Available to Britons, Gauls, and Iberians." or "Capture, Melee, or Ranged." and not "Britons, Gauls and Iberians." or "Capture, Melee or Ranged."
* Only use one space, not two, after a full stop to end a sentence.
* Do not use spaces ''before'' “large” characters (e.g. ?, !, :, %).
* For parenthetical remarks, parentheses (which have spaces on the outside, but not on the inside) are the default, en-dashes 
– which have spaces both inside and outside – can also be used occassionally if it looks better; the usage of em-dashes—which have spaces neither inside nor outside—is better avoided.


=== 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.

||='''Good'''         =||='''Bad'''                     =||='''Usage'''                                                =||
||… (U+2026, ellipsis) ||... (three full stops)          ||intentional omission                                         ||
||• (U+2022, bullet)   ||- (hyphen)                      ||itemization                                                  ||
||– (U+2013, en-dash)  ||- (hyphen), -- (two hyphens)    ||range of values (500–1 BC), oppositions (Greco–Persian wars) ||
||— (U+2014, em-dash)  ||- (hyphen), --- (three hyphens) ||source of a quote                                            ||
||− (U+2212, minus)    ||- (hyphen)                      ||subtraction, negative values (−20% training time)            ||
||× (U+00D7, times)    ||x (X)                           ||multiplication                                               ||
||“ (U+201C)           ||" (programmer's quote)          ||start of a quotation                                         ||
||” (U+201D)           ||" (programmer's quote)          ||end of a quotation                                           ||
||‘ (U+2018)           ||' (apostrophe)                  ||start of a quotation inside a quotation                      ||
||’ (U+2019)           ||' (apostrophe)                  ||end of a quotation inside a quotation                        ||

Use the ordinary hyphen or hyphen-minus (-) for hyphenation, compounds (Greco-Bactrian kingdom), negations (non-starter), vowel separation (de-escalate), and to distinguish between [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen#Varied_meanings varied meanings]. 

'''NB''' [[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.