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Community Help choose the The New World's new title

Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
1,832
"Colony Ship - a Post-Earth role-playing game" sounds cute as a reference to Fallout but as a standalone title I would prefer Pilgrims of the Void. I think it reflects the themes VD wanted to come across in the old title and has that "x of y" of Age of Decadence.
 

Saduj

Arcane
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
2,547
Don't pick a name without testing how it reads in Steam reviews. Try out your options by plugging them into this sample:

I'm as hardcore as they come. I finished my third play through of Skyrim on the hardest difficulty. But <Game Name> is just not fun to play because the game cheats instead of presenting a real challenge. Instead of presenting the challenge of allowing players to work through their mistakes, <Game Name> tells you "Game Over" every time you make a mistake such as opening an airlock. I would have expected a timer during which I could find a way back into the ship, maybe some oxygen cans that extend the timer, but NO, its just "Game Over" after one bad click. Oh and the combat. I'm all about old school RPG games, but <Game Name>'s combat is so slow it is like from a time before computers. And this is where <Game Name>'s cheating truly comes into play. 70% chance to hit? Still missed three times in a row! My "hero" couldn't even beat the one armed beggar who attacks with a sharpened screwdriver. I wouldn't be surprised if the game cheats during this fight because there is no more content after it. Don't make the mistake I made, stay away from <Game Name>. PS - <Game Name>'s graphics are horrible.

78 of 119 users found this review helpful.
 

Glaucon

Prophet
Joined
Sep 11, 2016
Messages
1,000
Arcturus.

It's the name of a star and has a nice mythic ring to it, and in fact, the greek mythology surrounding it is kind of fitting for a colony ship story:

One astronomical tradition associates it with the mythology around Arcas, who was about to shoot and kill his own mother Callisto who had been transformed into a bear. Zeus averted their imminent tragic fate by transforming the boy into the constellation Boötes, called Arctophylax "bear guardian" by the Greeks, and his mother into Ursa Major (Greek: Arctos "the bear")

ie, the annihilation of humanity is averted through space travel (actually don't know enough about the game's lore to be sure, but w/e).
 
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Ainamacar

Educated
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
33
Pilgrims of the Void
Colony Ship - a Post-Earth role-playing game
Across the Void

I'd be fine with all three of the above, with a preference for Across the Void.

Yet more possibilities:
Abide the Void
Steel Sojourn
Steel Tabernacle (as a traveling holy place, other Tabernacle names might work too)
An Ark Adrift (cementing Iron Tower as the Codex's favorite AAA developer)
 

lophiaspis

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
379
Vault Dweller Good news, The New World was a terribly dry title.

Too bad that your 3 options are even more terrible.

The obvious thing is to name the game after the ship. But 'Starfarer' is just a godawful name for a starship, especially one that's supposed to be the scene of exciting adventures. Don't they have PR people in the future? In terms of uninspired fantasy phraseology, this is close to hŵrpa dŵrp territory. You are better than this.

So what I suggest is rename the ship to something more compelling, and then name the game after the ship. The ship could be named after a great explorer, some other great figure with a slightly ominous undertone, as was mentioned, after a star. So, for example:

Starship Arcturus
Starship Vega/Chara/Betelgeuse
Starship Aldebaran (or just Aldebaran)
Starship Magellan

Even better if you can subtly allude to the quasi-postapocalyptic situation through the ship's name. Like the ship in Alpha Centauri was called Unity. Maybe something playing on your religious themes? Maybe your ship could be called Hope, Faith, Deliverance (hey, that's not so bad, if it wasn't already taken - how about 'Starship Deliverance'???)... nah, the title should probably not have 'Starship' in it, to make it more impactful. I think I'm onto something though, let's look through the thesaurus...

Salvation?
Redemption?
Savior?

Anything but 'Starfarer' please. That is such a dull and meaningless name that it actively makes me lose faith in your project, lol. Why would I trust a game author that invented such a shitty, artless name to tell an interesting story? At least make an effort.
 

Neanderthal

Arcane
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Messages
3,626
Location
Granbretan
I've been thinking on this for a while now, three days I have wrestled with what nomenclature could possibly sum up all the themes Mr Dweller wishes to evoke, without sleep or food I have taxed the limits of my transhuman intellect and finally reached a perfect moment of inspiration.

Religion, a pilgrimage through space, hope, humanity, and the reality of what must be sacrificed and maintained by the pilgrims. I have finally realised what can sum up all these elements:

Elves must die.

Thank you.
 

duanth123

Arcane
Joined
Mar 22, 2008
Messages
822
Location
This island earth
Vault Dweller

The best name would be

Outer Heaven



but you might run into some obvi copyright issues there.

The word "pilgrim" and these other milquetoast titles like "East of Eden" don't really capture the sort of degradation of the setting, the failure of the project that is the colony ship.

Beyond that, they're simply boring titles that don't really stir one's imagination, much less draw the casual eye of the average Steam goer.
 
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MrBuzzKill

Arcane
Joined
Aug 31, 2013
Messages
650
"a Post-Earth role-playing game"
That's... actually a really great tag line. Nicely plugs in with the nostalgia crowd while also explaining the plot.
Not sure about Colony Ship, or anything ending with "Ship", personally I feel like it translates too easily into "shit", which could result in lots of unfunny puns should the game prove unpopular...
 

tindrli

Arcane
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
4,465
Location
Dragodol
KINGKOMRADE SCAVENGERS
KINGCOMRADE OF VOID
EXPLORERS OF KINGCOMRADE
THE NEW KINGKOMRADE
KINGKOMRADE OF SPACE
KINGCOMRADE HORIZON
NEW KINGKOMRADE WORLD!

fuck the name doesnt matter. hurry up WE WANT TO PLAY IT!!!!!
 

Bohr

Arcane
Joined
Nov 20, 2012
Messages
1,878
"Are We There Yet" is the clear choice for a generation ship game.

Unfortunately even a mockup of the high-impact, hype-fueling, sales-generating cover wasn't enough to garner much support for that one :(

W8oPUsBB_o.png
 

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