Aurora 4x
VB6 Aurora => Aurora Chat => Topic started by: Drgong on August 22, 2016, 03:28:38 PM
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What are your Colony naming conventions?
As in, what do you name your colonies? Any theme or concepts?
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Since I'm really bad at naming things, for every colony big enough I take a random name from this list of minor planet names:
http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/MPNames.html
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Usually, the first very low colony cost planet is Nova Terra. Others I like are things like Outpost, and Far Station for perimeter outposts. Others get a name in common with the system name, i.e. Wolf 359 might have Lupine or something similar.
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Wait...people name their colonies?
I've literally never named my colonies (except for my homeworld because the game does it for me). I always just keep the default names (like Delta Trianguli-A II, Hamal-A III Moon 9, et cetera).
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I started setting some names based on the function so I could remember what I'm making/mining in different systems.
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One of my favourite computer games from my younger days was Wing Commander: Privateer, which has many colonies named after appropriate Earth cities, so New Detroit is a grim industrial planet, Oxford is a research world etc. It's a system a fell in love with, and often use for human empires. Makes it easier to remember what each colony is supposed to eb as well, especially if there are multiple colonies in the same system.
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One of my favourite computer games from my younger days was Wing Commander: Privateer, which has many colonies named after appropriate Earth cities, so New Detroit is a grim industrial planet, Oxford is a research world etc. It's a system a fell in love with, and often use for human empires. Makes it easier to remember what each colony is supposed to eb as well, especially if there are multiple colonies in the same system.
Forgot to mention that, but doing exactly the same. This tends to be my core systems named after Wing Commander ;D
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Thanks for the replies, keep it coming.
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Depends on what kind of RP I'm going for the race doing the colonization, usually pulling from their history. Small, specialized colonies get a name after their function, though sometimes I'm inspired by stellar geography - like the colony in a multi-JP system is named Gateway and so on.
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I name almost everything in new star systems that I colonize. All the planets, all the moons, all the comets, literally a "name all the things"—except asteroids with no minerals; who cares?
I try to stick with a coherent theme for everything in the system, and draw upon a fairly wide variety of sources. Ancient pantheons, obscure mythology, fantasy and sci-fi, and failing that I'll just go to a random name generator and make things up with it.
And then sometimes you just get some rare gems that demand a particular name. Tropical watery earthlike planet around Delta Pavonis? Obviously Caladan. High-gravity desert planet around 40 Eridani A? Obviously Vulcan. (these actually happened in my current game, proof attached)
Let's face it, if we ever really went out to the stars and found an analog of a well-renown science fiction destination, that's what we'd name it after.
Maybe I take it a little too far. NOPE.
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I have never had a problem coming up with names, so I usually name based on the character of the planet.
Freezing cold, but habitable planet? Siberia, Hyborea, Thule, ect
Habitable but hot? Hell, Congo, ect
Gaia worlds? Caladan, Paradise, ect
Tons and tons of scifi names out there for worlds. I tend to go for the character, and then what they are good for, just so I can remember what they do.
I do reuse a set of names for hub systems, usually multi-jump point strategic systems. I have had a Junction, and Victoria Station in just about every human game i have played so far.
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Boring colonies keep their default name.
Those with anomalies get names that remind me of their research field:
Something like Bastion or Citadel for defensive systems, Radiant for energy weapons etc.
Those with ruins but no anomalies may get names like Atlantis, Thebes, Pompeii.
If something strikes my interest, I'll try to come up with a fitting name that reminds me of why I wanted to keep an eye on it.
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I keep their official name but also give them their "nickname" in brackets. After all, who want to say they are from Alpha Centari III A