Several of the entries in "Ships_init.c" are explained near the top of "Ships_init.c".
For example:
Code:
-SName is for the ship's type name (this is displayed by spyglass, and by BigPic in interfaces),
so you can have the same model but a different name. :) This is NOT directly displayed;
it is run through XI_ConvertString, so you must have an entry for this in lang\common.ini
*This is autogenerated (= *.name) on final loop if it does not already exist.
-All is for all the above properties, as a shortcut. If this exists, at final loop all above are
set equal to this. For properties != name, the appropriate property is found from that ship.
If some properties are already set, they will not be overwritten (i.e. set all to one but
define walk, all but walk will be overwritten by all's link).
So 'refShip.All" is basically a default. Any attributes which are not specified for this ship will be copied from here. In the case of your "PiratFrigateSat", anything not specified in its own entry will be copied from "Frigate1".
'refShip.SName' refers to "RESOURCE\INI\TEXTS\ENGLISH\common.ini". For "PiratFrigateSat", 'SName' is set to "Frigate3". In "common.ini" that translates to "Heavy Frigate". So if you look at the ship through a spyglass, it will show up as "Heavy Frigate".
'refShip.unique' is used for some special quest ships. Most ships will have their stats modified by their nation - the nation modifiers are also listed at the top of "Ships_init.c". Stats are also randomised a little so that no two ships are quite the same. If the ship has this 'unique' attribute then none of that happens and the stats are exactly what you see in "Ships_init.c".
'refShip.BigPicTexName' is not the texture file name. It refers to an entry in "pictures.ini", which shows both the name of the texture file and the ship's place in it.
Some more attributes:
'refShip.period': for each of the six periods, a number which shows how likely the ship is to appear in that period. 0.0 means the ship can't appear in that period, e.g. 'refShip.period.0 = 0.0' means the ship can't appear in "Early Explorers", while 'refShip.period.5 = 0' means it can't appear in "Napoleonic".
'refShip.england': a number which shows how likely the ship is to appear in an English group. Similar lines refer to other nations. Not to be confused with 'refShip.nation', which I believe is where you may be able to buy the ship in a shipyard. Except...
'refShip.CanBuy': if this is set to "true" then you can buy the ship. If it's set to "false", you can't. Quest ships such as the
Black Pearl are never for sale! (Not quite true - if a ship is not allowed to be bought from a normal shipyard then there is one very special shipyard where you can buy it...)
'refShip.CanEncounter': if this is set to "true" then you may meet this ship in random encounters. If it's set to "false" then the only way you'll see it is if a quest calls for it.
If the ship can be encountered randomly:
'refShip.Type.Trade': the ship is a merchant. It will appear under a merchant flag with relatively weak crew and a full cargo hold.
'refShip.Type.War': the ship is a warship. It will appear under a naval flag with a strong crew and only such cargo as is needed to supply itself - ammo, repair materials and perhaps a small amount of trade cargo.
If both of these are set to "true" then the ship is "versatile". It can be either a merchant or a naval ship. The Heavy East Indiaman is such a ship.
'refShip.Model': if two or more ships have the same value here then they'll show up as alternatives in the shipyard's "Appearance" tab. For example, several frigates have the line 'refShip.Model = "Rossiya"'. These are the "Kreyser" types and if you have one, you can change it to any of the others in a shipyard. This only works properly if the ships really are the same in all but colour scheme. (There used to be a bug because the various caravel types had 'refShip.Model = "Caravel"', so you could repaint any caravel into any other. But they're not the same. The Caravela Latina has a different sail layout to the Caravela Redonda. Worse, "FastCaravel" had the same line, and that's the special caravel in the "Bartolomeu" storyline with different stats, which caused trouble if you repainted it to a basic caravel.)