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Victoria Hand is an (accountant) wrote in rp_tutorials,
@ 2012-12-06 12:06:00

Game names.

So I'm working on a new game and I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with a name for it, which is fairly important. So question, how do you come up with names for your games?

I was thinking of taking a word or phrase and translating it into Latin or something but I'm not all that trusting of the online translators

Edit: So I decided against Latin but I'll take name suggestions! I've only just started to put the mod journal together but the very basic aka completely unedited premise is here

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	(Anonymous) 2012-12-06 02:17 am UTC (link)
	I often use the List of Latin phrases (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases). (Reply to this) (Thread)

	accountant 2012-12-06 02:42 am UTC (link)
	Thank you, I'll take a look. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	theoddfanaticat 2012-12-06 04:12 am UTC (link)
	I often use other online generators to spark ideas. http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-sett.php (Reply to this) (Thread)

	accountant 2012-12-06 04:44 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! (Reply to this) (Parent)

callirhoe
2012-12-06 05:01 am UTC (link)

I personally would only use a Latin phrase if it had some seriously important meaning to the game or setting, just because it makes me think of that period of time when every single Harry Potter game was named something Latin, so it seems kind of overdone now. IMO, unless it's part of an instantly recognizable phrase (veni vidi vici?) or one that's at least memorable once you know something about the game, people probably aren't going to remember the name of your game the first time they read it, and to me that's a bad first impression. I'm drawn to games where I can tell immediately from the name what it's going to be about, what the 'tone' of the game is, or just if it's unique enough to make me find out more.

If you want suggestions, I'm sure people here would help out if you told a little about what sort of game it is. I know I for one enjoy naming things. :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	accountant 2012-12-06 05:10 am UTC (link)
	Yeah that's true. I mean I just want it to stand out but have to do with the game. Thanks, I might try that - I'll edit and add it into the post. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

callirhoe
2012-12-07 05:41 pm UTC (link)

I like your premise! :) I have an original(ish) spaceships-and-aliens game I've been slooooowly working on for like two years, and I appreciate a good space setting.

The first thing that comes to mind for a name, ODDLY ENOUGH, is the phrase ad astra, whiiiich is Latin. Ha? But it's also a really common saying meaning "to the stars". The full phrase is per aspera ad astra, which means "through hardships to the stars".

Is the game going to be more about the journey, like Star Trek? Think about making a classical reference -- the Odyssey is a good place to start, or the Tennyson poem "Ulysses": "Come, my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world." Or think about the opening narration from Star Trek: "Space: the final frontier..." You could pull out a phrase from there, possibly (downside: you might get mistaken for a Star Trek-fandom game).

Is it going to be more about the interactions and intrigue onboard the ship, like Firefly? Does the spaceship your characters are on have a name yet? Call the game after the ship. Easy-peasy.

Is it going to be more about the destination, finding and colonizing a new planet? Terra nova (new land), terra incognita (unknown land), terra nullius (land belonging to no one). Or whatever your planet is going to be named. Earth-2? ;)

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

accountant
2012-12-08 09:28 am UTC (link)

Thank you! That would be awesome to see - I love anything like that truthfully.

Ooh the full saying could actually work really well and it's not too long which is something I've been worried about.

I'm kind of tempted to set it about the journey and the political hardships or as they first find the new planet. I hate making decisions >.>.

Those are good ideas though so thanks heaps :D

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	nympholepsy 2012-12-06 07:48 am UTC (link)
	given your premise, i would do a little googling around (i do a lot of wiki hopping at this point, but also dictionary.com and thesaurus.com) about - displacement, immigration, diaspora - colonization - robotics, cloning - space and see if you can find a word or a phrase that speaks to you (Reply to this) (Thread)

	accountant 2012-12-06 08:06 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! I'll see what I can come up with. I've got For the Future as a back up it just doesn't ring with me. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lcwinston 2012-12-27 05:34 pm UTC (link)
	Maybe something like The Last Pilgrimage? Or perhaps The Last Ark. Or a New Destiny (or Destination). Search for a Home. Left Disaster. I agree with the idea of naming the game after the ship that was mentioned above, though! That's always a good idea. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	adastra 2013-01-03 09:31 am UTC (link)
	Sorry just saw this comment as I looked in to see the suggestions to finally work on it again. Thanks for the suggestions though! (Reply to this) (Parent)