Hard Light Productions Forums

General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: MrBig101 on August 14, 2005, 09:36:14 am

Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: MrBig101 on August 14, 2005, 09:36:14 am
I don't know if this goes here, but what the hey.

On the way to the outer banks in North Carolina (I just got back), there's a place called the "Harbinger Center".  You know, the buttkicking bomb?  There is also a Harbinger street.  

Harbingers 4tw!
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: BlackDove on August 14, 2005, 09:37:14 am
Then it's settled. The next time I need to kill a Demon, I'll go to that street to rearm.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Solatar on August 14, 2005, 09:39:18 am
There's also a real life word....

har·bin·ger   (härbn-jr)
n.

    One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner.


tr.v. har·bin·gered, har·bin·ger·ing, har·bin·gers

    To signal the approach of; presage.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: MrBig101 on August 14, 2005, 09:41:01 am
Awesome, didn't know that.  Guess I should read the dictionary more...
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: karajorma on August 14, 2005, 11:05:30 am
All the names in FS2 have a meaning. In fact the meaning is often relevant in other ways. There have been numerous topics about the choice of the Hindu goddess Shiva as the name used for the enemy race in the game for instance.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Charismatic on August 14, 2005, 12:07:31 pm
Very interesting...
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Kosh on August 14, 2005, 12:14:53 pm
Almost all of the FS1 and FS2 names come from mythology. Probably the most obvious is "Orion".
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Gapie on August 14, 2005, 12:50:15 pm
How about the Hercules? "The fighter which won the great war", cant be more symbolic than that :)
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Black Wolf on August 14, 2005, 01:14:21 pm
Quote
Originally posted by karajorma
There have been numerous topics about the choice of the Hindu goddess Shiva as the name used for the enemy race in the game for instance.


Shiva's a bloke :p
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: achtung on August 14, 2005, 01:16:11 pm
Theres a place in france called Aquitaine.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: BlackDove on August 14, 2005, 01:18:55 pm
:blah:
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: karajorma on August 14, 2005, 01:57:53 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Black Wolf


Shiva's a bloke :p


Always mix him up with Kali :rolleyes: The goddess of dissolution and destruction seems as much of a natural as Shiva. Which makes the name an even more interesting choice. I don't think anyone would have batted an eyelid at fighting the five legged, beam using Kalians so it wasn't just the way the name sounds that resulted in the choice :D
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Roanoke on August 14, 2005, 02:32:29 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Swantz
Theres a place in france called Aquitaine.



A fortress, IIRC.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Solatar on August 14, 2005, 02:49:20 pm
Also is/was a province, IIRC.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Goober5000 on August 14, 2005, 06:47:45 pm
Quote
Originally posted by karajorma
I don't think anyone would have batted an eyelid at fighting the five legged, beam using Kalians
:ick: Bleah.  No, Shivans sounds better. :)
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Carl on August 14, 2005, 06:50:03 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Black Wolf


Shiva's a bloke :p


yes, but too many people have played mortal kombat to know that.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: MicroPsycho on August 14, 2005, 08:13:07 pm
The first place I saw "Shiva" was in FF7, she was a god or something of the ice element so i figured that Shivans were meant as a creature that is cold(cold as in a personality trait), and someone who is cold is often cruel and heartless so that's what I figured it meant. I did know that shiva was a real god in some religion too, but I didn't know anything about it.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: EtherShock on August 14, 2005, 09:43:22 pm
I'm really surprised some of you didn't make these connections before. What about the tsunami bomb, or the Ursa, Zeus, Lucifer? C'mon some of these are blatantly obvious...as long as you had Greek mythology for the most part. There are some Norse mythology references as well, such as Mjolnir - Thor's hammer, quite an appropriate name for the RBC. Oh, there's also the Egyptian references used for the Vasudans.

There's a whole site that explains the names of the craft and ship names.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Boomer on August 15, 2005, 10:48:45 am
Did anyone realize the significance of the Galatea?  Hmmm?

I wish I knew how the spoiler code worked...

Galatea was a nymph to the Greeks and also one of the fifty Sirens.  Also according to Ovid, Galatea was a statue of a beautiful maiden carved by Pygmalion and brought to life by Aphrodite.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Nuclear1 on August 15, 2005, 11:54:33 am
And one of the more important references is actually explained ingame: ETAK, a shortened form of Etemenanki, was a name of a massive ziggaraut built to honor Marduk (this isn't explained; what I'm about to say is), and is also popularly identified with the Tower of Babel from Judeo-Christian beliefs. The Tower was constructed to join men and the gods, and there would be the reference to Bosch wishing to join humanity with the Shivans.

Additionally, Iceni happened to be a Celtic tribe in Britain that revolted against the Romans. For this reason, the missions involving the Battle of Deneb have names such as "The Place of Chariots" and "The Romans Blunder".
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Goober5000 on August 15, 2005, 02:47:55 pm
Quote
Originally posted by nuclear1
And one of the more important references is actually explained ingame: ETAK, a shortened form of Etemenanki, was a name of a massive ziggaraut built to honor Marduk (this isn't explained; what I'm about to say is), and is also popularly identified with the Tower of Babel from Judeo-Christian beliefs. The Tower was constructed to join men and the gods, and there would be the reference to Bosch wishing to join humanity with the Shivans.
And don't forget the language connection, particularly in "Return to Babel". :)
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Kosh on August 15, 2005, 03:37:42 pm
Quote
Originally posted by MicroPsycho
The first place I saw "Shiva" was in FF7, she was a god or something of the ice element so i figured that Shivans were meant as a creature that is cold(cold as in a personality trait), and someone who is cold is often cruel and heartless so that's what I figured it meant. I did know that shiva was a real god in some religion too, but I didn't know anything about it.



Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Roanoke on August 15, 2005, 04:44:27 pm
Quote
Originally posted by nuclear1
Additionally, Iceni happened to be a Celtic tribe in Britain that revolted against the Romans. For this reason, the missions involving the Battle of Deneb have names such as "The Place of Chariots" and "The Romans Blunder".



Weren't The Iceni a bunch of proper nutters who used to fight naked so their big 'ol wangs flickin' about all over would scare the little roman soldiers ?
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Nuclear1 on August 15, 2005, 05:03:05 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Roanoke
Weren't The Iceni a bunch of proper nutters who used to fight naked so their big 'ol wangs flickin' about all over would scare the little roman soldiers ?


Well, and Bosch probably had the NTF fighting like that too. Hence, NTF pilots suck at flying because they often got the two joysticks in the cockpit confused.

I just said three penis jokes in the same sentence. :nervous:
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: TrashMan on August 15, 2005, 06:25:41 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Boomer
Did anyone realize the significance of the Galatea?  Hmmm?

I wish I knew how the spoiler code worked...

Galatea was a nymph to the Greeks and also one of the fifty Sirens.  Also according to Ovid, Galatea was a statue of a beautiful maiden carved by Pygmalion and brought to life by Aphrodite.


Who the hell is Pygmallion? (I think I saw some crappy anime called that with a small dude carrying a homungus sword)
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: aldo_14 on August 15, 2005, 06:49:46 pm
A sculptor ; http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/pygmalion.html

[q]Pygmalion was a very talented sculptor in ancient Greece who loved his work, and would spend hours carving beautiful ivory statues, immersing himself in his art. One day, he chose a large, beautiful piece of ivory, and worked diligently at it, chiseling and hammering until he finished. It was a statue of a beautiful lady. Pygmalion thought it was so beautiful, he clothed the figure, gave it jewels, and named it Galatea (sleeping love). Pygmalion went to the temple of Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of love and beauty to pray for a wife just like the statue in his home.

When Aphrodite heard him, she went to the home of he sculptor to see what all the fuss was about. She was delighted when she saw Galatea. She thought it looked a lot like herself, so she brought it to life. When the sculptor returned home, he found Galatea alive, and threw himself at her feet. Galatea smiled down at him. They soon got married, and Pygmalion didn't forget to thank Aphrodite for his good fortune. He and Galatea brought gifts to her altar as long as they lived. Aphrodite blessed them with happiness and love in return.
[/q]
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: EtherShock on August 15, 2005, 09:11:03 pm
Ah, I remember that story. I didn't know her name was Galatea though.

Encyclopedia Mythica is your friend.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: BlackDove on August 15, 2005, 09:34:36 pm
Wasn't the Galatea's original name "Repulse" though? Hehe.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Mongoose on August 16, 2005, 01:19:32 am
"Pygmalion" is also the name of a play by George Bernard Shaw that was made into the musical "My Fair Lady."  The general idea of the play, that of falling in love with one's own creation, was taken from the original Greek myth.  I've never exactly figured out why the Volition peeps chose this name for the ship you serve on, other than the fact that it just sounds cool. :)
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: FireCrack on August 16, 2005, 07:32:57 am
Also note, the base that the iceni spawns from, the bordecia, is the name of the queen that lead the iceni tribe...
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Boomer on August 16, 2005, 02:03:05 pm
Quote
it just sounds cool.


Enough said.

;)
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Nuclear1 on August 16, 2005, 02:14:52 pm
Quote
Originally posted by BlackDove
Wasn't the Galatea's original name "Repulse" though?


According to the Freespace Bible, yes.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: aldo_14 on August 16, 2005, 02:24:18 pm
Wow.  I can't believe i missed that bit of info in the FSRB........ means Orions have a bar in them, too.
Title: FS1 and Real Life Tidbit
Post by: Goober5000 on August 17, 2005, 12:40:49 am
Quote
Originally posted by Mongoose
I've never exactly figured out why the Volition peeps chose this name for the ship you serve on, other than the fact that it just sounds cool. :)
IIRC Stacie Hirsch (the voice actress for Admiral Shima) liked it, so they went with it.