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Naming Planets and Star Systems


BliitzTheFox

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Alright we are going to endlessly generated planets and star systems to be discovered, and we are going to need to name them, Now its not like we can just let anyone who meanders around into a system/planet get to name it.

Here are a few possibilities.

  • Who ever finds it, names it. : : This is a terrible Idea because we will likely end up with a lot of terrible named systems/planets that are simply trying to be named inappropriate things and done stupidly without thought.
  • The first to place a territorial claim unit gets to name it. : : This is a better solution allowing organizations to have the right to name planets and systems. Keeps most of the riffraff out.
  • Some kind of public auction where people are notified and players place their bids, winner gets to name it. : : Its possible, but I'm unsure how viable.
  • Procedural generated names. : : While this leave no possibility of stupid names, it will cost more development time and borderline goes against emergent gameplay.

Other thoughts suggestions?

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What about randomly generated names like HS4-RD or that sort of thing? Easy to implement and takes the pressure off people to figure out names for planets. Otherwise, I like the idea of having the first person to put a TCU on it gets to name it. Perhaps there could be moderator approval before the name is finalized?

 

Or what if whoever controlled the most TCUs on the planet got to set the name? So if you took over the planet you could change the name.

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It's a tricky problem. 

 

I'll start by mentioning that JC recently said in an interview that if an organization claims 70% of the tiles on a planet, the planet and the space around it, will be considered "owned" by that organization. If it gets back down to 60% they lose it. The 10% buffer insures the planet isn't constantly changing hands.

 

I suggest a combination of territorial claim and procedural generation method. By default, the names of planets are procedurally generated (perhaps the the nearest 100 planets near Alioth the devs will selectively name). However, if an organization has reached the 70% bar, they get to name it whatever they like. This way reduces the the likely hood of low-quality names while preserving the emergent aspect.

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Only letting orgs name it isnt a fair system in my idea.

 

Though I will admit that allowing the 1st to find it to name it will also bring about problems. I can foresee all sorts of inappropriate names.

 

In the end I only have 1 request.

I want to see the planets Rubi-Ka, Arakis and Bob.

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What about randomly generated names like HS4-RD or that sort of thing? Easy to implement and takes the pressure off people to figure out names for planets.

I agree, and people can then nickname it however they want if they want to like with you're example it could be "H-Sard' -> Sard

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We should defnitly have random generation like HS4-RD for a system name and planets being HS4-RDb or something like that.

However, once someone renames a planet by place a claim unit first, it should be able to be changed somehow.

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There could be a system in multiple steps :

 

1) Random generation like HS4-RD

2) First pioneer to put a TU on the planet can rename it once.

3) When an organization get 70% of the planet's TU they can rename it again.

 

All name of a planet should be saved somewhere so the "history" of a planet should be accessible for lore purposes.

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Perhaps the easiest way is simply naming the systems located by scanning based on the person who discovered, then allowing subsequent changes:

 

I explore and find a new system, the first system that I have found first.  The system is therefore called "ZC1-XXX" where the XXX is replaced with the current number of known systems.  If I continue to fly and do not place a TU on a planet in the system, the planets are simply named "ZC1-XXXa; ZC1-XXXb; etc." until the planets are all named.

 

Someone(Anyone) comes to the system and decides to place a TU on "ZC1-XXXc" and then has the opportunity to rename it as the first settler of the planet.  They do not have to rename the planet.

 

After 70% of the tiles are controlled, even if by the same organization that originally claimed it, the planet has the opportunity to be renamed a final time.  

 

This allows for permanence of names, so if an organization agrees to meet at "Jerume" there is no confusion because "Jerume" was just renamed to "Brunnen".

 

Once a planet is named, the name is up for vote for the following 7 days.  If the name is deemed inappropriate by the community then the name does not stay and the naming organization is allowed to pick again.  After three unsuccessful names, the community can suggest names, top three get voted on and the name is set.

 

That is a rough framework.

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Naming of systems and planets should be considered "Nicknames". They should retain their identied name (ie "HS4-RD" as mentioned above)

 

The Nickname of the planet should only be unique to the player and be used as an organization method. A group/tribe or whatever could consider a planet one name and a different group could have a completely different name for it.

 

The planet ID would remain the same across the game but the "Nickname" would be personalized to the player.

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Regardless, pretty sure Territories will be nameable (perhaps as a function of the TU). In which case people would likely refer to a planet by the name of its largest named territory.

 

I feel like having the community name stuff tends to backfire (Looking at you Boaty McBoatface).

boaty-mcboatface-feature-resized.jpg?146

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Regardless who owns the planet, it should be named once and not renamed afterwards. But I see the problem of names, they can't just be random or weird. What if a member of NQ keeps validating the names regarding its relevance (it has to have a link with its appearance or what happened when it was discovered, or how...), then I know there will be loads of them planets, but while the NQ team validate or not the name, the planet just goes by some letters and numbers chosen by the colon (if available) and that's it (of course the colon could just name it 'NQ-4785' and there won't be a point validating it as its a name that only serves as PIN (all planets should have one once discovered AND claimed). A player should have the right to come into a planet and not claim its installation...

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Regardless who owns the planet, it should be named once and not renamed afterwards. But I see the problem of names, they can't just be random or weird. What if a member of NQ keeps validating the names regarding its relevance (it has to have a link with its appearance or what happened when it was discovered, or how...), then I know there will be loads of them planets, but while the NQ team validate or not the name, the planet just goes by some letters and numbers chosen by the colon (if available) and that's it (of course the colon could just name it 'NQ-4785' and there won't be a point validating it as its a name that only serves as PIN (all planets should have one once discovered AND claimed). A player should have the right to come into a planet and not claim its installation...

 

It would take the fun out of it though and while a "PIN" name should be used to name discovered planets, settlers and later main organizations should be able to re-name it or at least nickname it because they have ground to do so :

 

Imagine yourself as a settler in a new world called "HS4-RD", wouldn't it be natural for you to give a warm nickname to your new home instead of that cold computer generated name?

 

Same thing, imagine yourself as part of an empire that conquered most of a planet, wouldn't it make sense to assume the planet is under your control and thus you would nickname it for strategy in your worlds' domination?

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It would.

But does that mean that every time a planet gets renamed the map needs to be updated?

 

Though I'm sure at some point people wont refer to planets. I have the feeling that people will eventually refer to strategic locations. Such as markets etc.

 

Its going to be interesting to see how stuff like this will work out in a dynamic universe.

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But does that mean that every time a planet gets renamed the map needs to be updated?

What do you mean by that?

There will not be a re-render of the planet, only the planet information would be updated, maybe the name of the planet would float above it when you get close to it or something.

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