Aliases

From AGEWiki

Aliases (singular: alias) are words prefixed with a $. They are used as a mnemonic tool instead of their corresponding numerical value. For example instead of memorizing 3 as being the railroad transport level of a region, you can use (and remember) $Railroad.

Aliases can be defined by the modder himself, they are to be added (in the file of your choice) in the ACW\Aliases directory.

It is illegal to use the same alias for differing values, as the game engine would not know which one to use. You can use differents aliases for the same value or even concept. For example $Artillery and $Arty are pointing to the same element subtype.

Developer's note: the game engine, as you can expect, doesn't understand the meaning of your alias. What happens, at a very low level, is that all aliases in a file are translated into a numerical equivalent. So theorically, you could use $cavalry (value of 3) to describe the railroad transport level of a region (because $railroad = 3 in the aliases file). This would be rather disturbing, but it shows how aliases work internally.