Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: Shivan Hunter on May 13, 2011, 10:20:03 pm
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:banghead:
OK, I need a naming convention for my Terran ships, but I'm completely drawing a blank as to what it should be. It's for a military that has never dealt with alien species (although they're about to encounter several) and mostly serves as a peacekeeping force in outer Terran colonies.
I was considering using names of famous battles, or possibly the all-too-common Greek mythology. Any other ideas?
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Celtic and Welsh names are badass (though Welsh can provide some real tongue-twisters).
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NTD Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch ftw.
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Greek mythology isn't bad, but stuff related to atmospheric science would be cool, like the GTF Aurora. Would be awesome to have a GTF Stratos, or GTB Exos.
For Terran ships...well. They might be a bit Greek, but I've seen a few non-Greek ones. Generally myself I don't name ships in FRED with Greek ones. Stuff like GTCv Lancer or GTD Destroyer or GTA Reality. Random stuff but hey, it works.
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Could also go for Norse mythology, or even some old Russian. Japanese Yokai names tend to be fairly uncommon in SF, if you're going for originality, and most of the mythology behind those is suitably badass or terrifying for ship naming.
Failing that, just go with famous battles, and the more old-school your space navy is, the older the battles should be. If the Flagship of this military has more broadside guns than anything else, name it the Trafalgar.
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Try names that evoke glory and power: Gallant, Enterprise, Bastion, Valor, Superior, Legion, etc.
Or maybe cities: London, Paris, Berlin, Washington, Phoenix, Cairo, etc.
Political and/or scientific leaders are always popular: Nobel, Newton, Lincoln, Kennedy, Churchill, etc.
Feel free to combine these in any fashion--for instance, you might use glorious names for flagships of each class, cities for gunships, and leaders for carriers/destroyers. And of course, you can always fall back on names of other famous ships.
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I've always found it hard to believe that the cosmopolitan space future would use names mostly drawn from a narrow slice of First World cultural history.
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I've always found it hard to believe that the cosmopolitan space future would use names mostly drawn from a narrow slice of First World cultural history.
Rule of cool.
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Could also go for Norse mythology, or even some old Russian. Japanese Yokai names tend to be fairly uncommon in SF, if you're going for originality, and most of the mythology behind those is suitably badass or terrifying for ship naming.
Failing that, just go with famous battles, and the more old-school your space navy is, the older the battles should be. If the Flagship of this military has more broadside guns than anything else, name it the Trafalgar.
A GTCv Orochi would be a good name for a ship armed with eight missile/torpedo-spewing launchers. I'd avoid using kamikaze, because it won't do any good. A GTD Oni would be a fitting name for a tough, hard-hitting and imposing ship...yeah, stuff like that.
A GTC Thor would be fitting for a EMP missile spewing boat, which is utterly sadistic and never be done. And a GTD Ragnarok for a ship with a superweapon.
We live in interesting times.
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I've always found it hard to believe that the cosmopolitan space future would use names mostly drawn from a narrow slice of First World cultural history.
Rule of cool.
Yeah, but that's usually invoked to justify things which are cool. :nervous:
There are so many awesome names out there. I like PsychoLandlord's suggestions.
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If all else fails, you could nick some nicknames from HLP and use 'em.
I've always found it hard to believe that the cosmopolitan space future would use names mostly drawn from a narrow slice of First World cultural history.
Rule of cool.
Yeah, but that's usually invoked to justify things which are cool. :nervous:
There are so many awesome names out there. I like PsychoLandlord's suggestions.
You'd like to see a GTD Battuta, you would!
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Alternatively, if your Terrans try to invoke terror or just be generally intimidating with their naming scheme, theres plenty of Demonic names lying around out there, from all kinds of cultures. You could even go as far as Lovecraftian dieties, though thats likely pushing it.
Since it's been brought up, I recommend you just choose names at semi-random as well. Battuta and Destiny made an interesting point - theres no reason for your race to utilize a unified naming scheme across their entire military that only draws upon a relatively small chunk of the worlds mythology, especially if they're supposed to be a unified Humanity. Whats more, theres nothing stopping you from naming after concepts, like Destiny pointed out. Use what fits for the vessel unless you have a narrative reason to do otherwise.
EDIT: Can Haz GTD PsychoLandlord? :D
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You need ships names? or ship classes names?, for the first I would recommend what I always use myself: street names.
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GTD Brooklyn Street would be a pretty odd name, wouldn't it?
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GTD is a pretty good name that :v: came up with which a cosmopolitan space future would use.
I am a sad that ST:R removed its appearance and replaced it.
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And if all that fails, put together syllables that sound cool, but really just make words that are complete gibberish (ie Gryozette).
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You mean the name of the ships (like Galatea) or the class (Orion)? I'd use names of famous places, famous persons from the post-Dark Ages, battles, or words in different languages for the former. For classes, I'd go with historical figures that made an impact on religion, philosophy, and myths, fictitious characters, religious artifacts and sites, and anything that just sounds cool. This is for the FreeSpace universe. You could broaden yours to include lots more if you want.
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Go for babylonian gods (Ea, Anu, Ianna, ...) They sound good and i didn't see them used in any mod yet :)
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ive been naming ships after metal bands and members there of. anybody who steals my convention will fall victim to random beatings.
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use mountain/volcano names also! those can be sometimes inspiring...
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use mountain/volcano names also! those can be sometimes inspiring...
If a campaign had voice acting, no one will try to pronounce "Incoming jump signature! It's...the GTD Eyjafjallajökull!".
GTD Fuji sounds more nice though.
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If a campaign had voice acting, no one will try to pronounce "Incoming jump signature! It's...the GTD Eyjafjallajökull!".
With the 15th Island Mountain Glaciers flight wing
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If a campaign had voice acting, no one will try to pronounce "Incoming jump signature! It's...the GTD Eyjafjallajökull!".
With the 15th Island Mountain Glaciers flight wing
And the squadron leader is Magma "Eruption" Burns.
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Or simply rape lord of the rings...GTD Gandalf ftw^^
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example: GTD everest, GTD kilimandjaro or GTD etna...
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Go for babylonian gods (Ea, Anu, Ianna, ...) They sound good and i didn't see them used in any mod yet :)
Cheers mate :) That's what I ended up using when I started running out of lovecraftian names.
Or simply rape lord of the rings...GTD Gandalf ftw^^
I also use elvish names from time to time.
Otherwise, I try to stick in a video game or real life reference or two, like the GTC Blair or the SCv Grelier.
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You can try latin words as well. Everything sounds cooler in latin
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GTC Tony Blair?
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GTD Iron Lady with Admiral Thatcher in charge
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GTC Tony Blair?
More likely the GTC Christopher Blair, although I'd name a carrier or something similar after that guy.
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If christopher, then totally GTVA Christopher Tolkien, for giving us silmarilion :P
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GTC Tony Blair?
More likely the GTC Christopher Blair, although I'd name a carrier or something similar after that guy.
GTC Christopher Blair, the alpha 1 of warships, and god help Alpha 1 if its an Aeolus
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There's stuff like GTCv Parapet, from the Colossus convoy mission. Maybe you'd have a GTD High-rise-building or GTC Bungalow, or GTFr Estate and GTC Tent.
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There's stuff like GTCv Parapet, from the Colossus convoy mission. Maybe you'd have a GTD High-rise-building or GTC Bungalow, or GTFr Estate and GTC Tent.
in the next JAD perhaps
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GTCv Pork
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SD Xenu :nervous:
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I got dibs on UTF Google and GTF Out.
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GTC Tony Blair?
More likely the GTC Christopher Blair, although I'd name a carrier or something similar after that guy.
You're right, but I needed to name a cruiser at the time. Maybe I'll change it sometime.
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you could also name ships after gwar characters.
gtd balsac
sj techno destructo
gvcv jizmak
gtf cuttlefish of cthulhu
etc
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Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to go with astronomical terms for this line of ships and Norse mythology for the next. I'll keep this thread bookmarked if I need more ideas. :)
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Greek mythology isn't bad, but stuff related to atmospheric science would be cool, like the GTF Aurora. Would be awesome to have a GTF Stratos, or GTB Exos.
I don't think whoever created the GTF Aurora wanted a pure reference to phenomena occurring in the atmosphere: Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn, inspired by the Greek Eos (there's a support ship with that name in INFR1 already).
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And there's a torpedo with that name in BP too, more relevant since the Aurora is used in BP.
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There's also an Exos already.
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As you well know, Norse names have already been used in canon FS, though I've not seen too many implemented for use in user-made vessels.
Star names are a great source of titles for vessels. For instance, a ship on my design to-do list for Stellar Assault is the Rigel-class starliner, a pretty name for a pretty ship. By coincidence, many Greek/Latin names are already bestowed upon constellations or individual stars (hence GTD Orion), but there's often times more than one name for a star. Thus, looking out for Arabic names or Chinese names can't hurt, just so long as you can pronounce them.
;)
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One of the more awesome ships in my mod, Singularity, is the GTD Obsidian.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what led me to name the ship after a rock. But it sounds cool. Don't be afraid to search in obscure places for ship names.
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Obsidian is a very cool name.
Reminds me of some old Orion nameplates Dark made, they included cool names like GTD Obsidian, GTD Endeavor and GTD Odyssey.
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Unfortunately, I have no idea what led me to name the ship after a rock. But it sounds cool. Don't be afraid to search in obscure places for ship names.
Well, obsidian makes very sharp blades, so it's an okay name for a warship.
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Hmm... kind of in the same line of thinking: how about GTD Flintlock?
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Whatever you want.
I always find limiting your narming convention to just one thing to be...limiting. And sensless. Is there really any sensible reason why?
This works for both ship classes and specific ship names.
Just look at us aircraft (F-4 Phantom, B-1b Lancer, F-14 Tomcat, F-18 Hornet, F-15 Eagle, F-6 Prowler, etc..) do they have anything in common? Nope. Should they? Nope.
Nah..let the imagination run wild.
Animals, mythical, real, immiginary, bird, insect, fish, mammal - everything goes.
Names of people, of places, of items - heck names of abstract concepts. Who the frak cares!
It doesn't even have to be a single word.
"Rain of Justice", "Pillar of Autumn", "Radiant Frost", "Song of Tranqulity".....EVERYTHING GOES... EVERYTHING.
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...random, in short. (Also it's EA-6 Prowler, because the Prowler was made as electronic attack from it's conception and not variation of an inexistent jet)
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Hmm... kind of in the same line of thinking: how about GTD Flintlock?
I use firearms for Tiigran-Merisst missiles in Teeth of the Tiger. Swords/polearms for primaries.
Other than that- expect some Australian tribe/mythology related, some African tribes/mythology, and then maybe more used for ship names...
P.S. Dibs on the Directed Energy, Recoilless Projectile Gun (aka DERP Gun).
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Dibs on Tachiyon Resonating Lithium Laser (aka TROLL)
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i name pirate warships after serial killers. pcv bundy and the pc manson, etc. i name the classes of those ships after elements of prohibition era criminal enterprise (rumrunner class). of course ive never really put this into practice because of my inherent inability to design missions. ive got the rumrunner class but thats about it. thats about where my modding creativity hit a brick wall.
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So you have a PCB Jack the Ripper?
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I've gone with multi-word ship names, since the GTVA will conceivably begin running out of decent names for ships. The GTD Obsidian is an exception.
Even if they just go down the dictionary, they'll still reach a point where they run out of names. They'll name ships after peoples' pets. I'm sure that the GTD Prissy will not be a popular ship to be stationed on.
But yes, just use your imagination.
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My favorite method for epic names: "List of cool words I've heard or saw somewhere". The coolest names I'm using in Shadow Genesis like Nexus, Equilibrium, Severian, Vermilion, Lateralus, Endymion etc. are accidently found somewhere in the internet. I have a list where I'm scoring up the best names and later, I'm using them somewhere - in novels, poems or in Freespace :), but only for most important ships. Standard, walk-on ships are named from mythological figures, cities or standard words like Tranquility, Perseverance, Justice, Equity etc.
If you like this method, good luck with searching.
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My favorite method for epic names: "List of cool words I've heard or saw somewhere". The coolest names I'm using in Shadow Genesis like Nexus, Equilibrium, Severian, Vermilion, Lateralus, Endymion etc. are accidently found somewhere in the internet. I have a list where I'm scoring up the best names and later, I'm using them somewhere - in novels, poems or in Freespace :), but only for most important ships. Standard, walk-on ships are named from mythological figures, cities or standard words like Tranquility, Perseverance, Justice, Equity etc.
If you like this method, good luck with searching.
This is sometimes a good name but some of your names are a little silly. It's not bad, but if you can restrict your epic name search based on a theme it works better.
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So you have a PCB Jack the Ripper?
not yet, i was thinking more along the lines of 20th century serial killers. but i like jack the whole hooker slaughtering thing. of course i really cant say nukemod is being worked on at all right now. sometimes i will get in a graphics mood and get some small task done, like implement some new feature or fix new bugs, but little if any new modeling is getting done and nothing is normal mapped. so chances that i will come up with a ship of that name will be limited. but they will be ship names and not class names and i really dont think its 100% necessary that every mod use unique names for their stuff.