Thanks for the heads-up on the update!
I'm almost done with the images portion of it since it's basically adding a "country" and associated "ships" -- which are all fake.
I'm using the NL_A1 lifeboat as a base for the "dat" and "sim" values, etc. Then the "PC" category for the "Type" of ship. This gives the least complicated of the "warships" that won't get "stripped" over to the merchant section.
I then use the "_sil.dds" texture to actually write out the information for the Navy's hull classification. You then just flip to the "country" for the classification and you eliminate the whole "Class:" area completely. The name can then be as long as you need so long as you don't go over into the three buttons at the top right. The "class" is represented by the 2-3-4 letter code used by the USN for ship's class ID and is now part of the name itself.
By rewriting the name, you can get more info in there with less space.
The "main" page is the regular sillouette, while the other "page" is the second sillouette that you get when you click on the button at the top right of the page.
The pages will basically be this:
AK: Cargo / Freighter
AKA: Attack Cargo / Freighter
AP: Transport
APA: Attack / Armed Transport
APD: Fast Transport
BB: Battleship (all types)
CB: Large Cruiser
CA: Heavy Cruiser
CL: Light Cruiser
CV: Aircraft Carrier
CVE: Escort Carrier
CVL: Light Carrier
CM: Mine Layer
DD: Destroyer
DE: Destroyer Escort
etc, etc ...
... all listed from the WW2 list I found on wikipedia for the ships in the "Names" file.
I'm thinking of just adding all of them since it's not that bad to get the list into the sim. I just need to add another "ship" when I need another two pages (sillouette image, top and bottom).
If you come accross a letter code that doesn't ring a bell, just go to the "country" page for the classifications and look at either of the four pages (two regular sillouettes and two "bottom portions" of the sillouette) to see what the two or three or four letter code means.
Not the best system, but it works.
Like you said, the "Names" file is another animal. We'll see if I can get it out prior to your update, because something tells me your system is far simpler and BETTER when it comes out!
Regards,
ElCid97