Privateer: Ascii Sector

Just a thought, but given that one of the major planets in Ascii Sector is New Beijing, wouldn't it make more sense for the Chinese, rather than the Japanese, to be one of the major ethnic groups? Otherwise, if you're keeping the Japanese as a major ethnic group, it might make more sense and be more consistant to have a "New Tokyo" or "New Kyoto" instead of a New Beijing.

Some more names:

Crossroads (mining base)
Lodi (agriculture)
Rockefeller (refinery)
Edison (refinery)
Carnegie (refinery)
Allentown (refinery)

Now, what we really need are some Italian, German, and French wingnuts to give you some names to use.
 
Just a thought, but given that one of the major planets in Ascii Sector is New Beijing, wouldn't it make more sense for the Chinese, rather than the Japanese, to be one of the major ethnic groups? Otherwise, if you're keeping the Japanese as a major ethnic group, it might make more sense and be more consistant to have a "New Tokyo" or "New Kyoto" instead of a New Beijing.

I meant to say Chinese and not Japanese. When I started working on gathering the names associated with the different ethnic groups, I originally planned on using Japanese as one, but then changed it to Chinese. That's why I accidentally typed Japanese when I should have typed Chinese...

Anyway, thanks for the extra name suggestions!
 
I've finished work on turrets (I wanted to finish them up before diving into the AI):

1.gif


The ship I'm flying is a Pegasus -- one of the 'capital' ships available to the player for a steep price. I'm running away from a Kamekh while firing the rear turret at it (equipped with two mass drivers and a particle cannon). As you can see, the lower left MFD displays the rear turret's status (all guns are green and thus not damaged), just as it would show the front guns and missile launchers when in the cockpit. The colored '+' around each ship shows which way the ship is pointing. As I'm currently using the turret, the forward pointing '+' is dark grey, while the '+' that indicates where the turret is pointing is the usual green. You switch between the cockpit and turrets with the F1-F4 keys. F1 is the cockpit, F2 the rear turret, F3 starboard turret, and F4 port turret.

Another thing I don't think I've mentioned yet, is the colors of the ships, both on the main screen and on the scanner. These colors depend on the kind of scanner you've got installed. Just as in Privateer there are three series of scanners: B&S, Hunter AW and Iris. Each series differes in how ships are displayed. The B&S scanners display all ships in a light grey color (both on the main screen and the scanner), Hunter AW shows friendly ships as blue and hostiles as red, and Iris uses colors to indicate which faction the ship belongs to: Kilrathi are yellow, merchants grey, pirates red, and so on... As you can see, I've currently got an Iris scanner installed on my Pegasus. :)

Now I think I'll finally take the plunge and start working on the AI. I suspect this will take quite a while...
 
I continue to be impressed by what I'm seeing from this project.

Thanks again for working on it, and please continue to keep us up to date!
 
I continue to be impressed by what I'm seeing from this project.

Thanks again for working on it, and please continue to keep us up to date!

Thanks for all the kind words and all the feedback I've received from you and everybody else! Even though this game is very much a labor of love for me, and I'm really enjoying developing it, all the feedback is quite the motivator. I only hope that you'll all enjoy the finished game even half as much as I'm enjoying working on it. :)
 
let's try to concoct more Russian names for planets and systems (based on city names, by WC custom).

cold: (Novy) Norilsk
war zone: (Novy) Kursk, (Novy) Stalingrad
mining: Kuzbass
prison; cold: (Novy) Magadan
weapon-making: (Novaya) Tula
a system to the northeast: Sibir
farthest east: (Novy) Vladivostok
other system names based on cities, like well-known Rostov and Novaya Kiev*: (Novy) Novgorod, (Novy) Sevastopol, (Novy) Murmansk, (Novy) Arhangelsk, (Novaya) Astrahan

"Novy"/"Novaya" prefix, meaning "new", is optional; applicable where stated and not too appropriate where not.

and more persons:
naval: Nahimov (a famous admiral)
Chkalov (a great pilot)
Gagarin (the first man in space)
pirate: Razin (a notorious outlaw, folk hero not unlike Robin Hood)

*should have been Novy Kiev, if there only was someone Russian-speaking in Origin at the time :)
 
let's try to concoct more Russian names for planets and systems (based on city names, by WC custom).

Those are all great suggestions! I like that you've given me pointers as to what kind of bases/systems/characters the names would be right for, as I have no idea what most of those names refer to. Keep 'em coming! :)
 
Gagarin (the first man in space)
pirate: Razin (a notorious outlaw, folk hero not unlike Robin Hood)

Wing Commander actually uses both of these. There's a Gagarin Quadrant (Hawking Sector) on the Wing Commander Prophecy map... and Razin is the colony where Jason Bondarevsky, the main character from some of the novels, grew up.

(That's interesting, though, I didn't know what the name meant -- I'd like to know more about this outlaw.)
 
Wing Commander actually uses both of these. There's a Gagarin Quadrant (Hawking Sector) on the Wing Commander Prophecy map

I suppose this fan project should preferably try to avoid using names that are already used elsewhere in the WC universe.

However, I should point out that, here in the U.S., there's a Washington D.C. and a Washington STATE. Furthermore, there are numerous Washington counties in states throughout the nation.

It's not totally unimaginable that someone as important as Gagarin could have two places within the Confederation named after him.

and Razin is the colony where Jason Bondarevsky, the main character from some of the novels, grew up.

Memory a little fuzzy... Is Razin a planet in the Alpha Centauri system? Because I really thought Bondarevsky was from a Russian colony in Alpha Centauri.
 
It's doubtful, however, that anyone would consider Gagarin as important as you suggest, to name multiple places after him. There's a world of difference between Washington, hero of the war of independence and first president of the US, and a guy who simply happened to be the first survivor of the Soviet space programme.

(though you never know, I suppose - after all, it's not the government that names places, it's usually the people there. So, it is possible there'd be some people out there who'd want to name their new home after Gagarin for some strange reason)

In regards to the other names - Rostov is already used (in Wing Commander 1) for a system in the Vega Sector. And Stalingrad... I can imagine a Waterloo-class ship named Stalingrad, to commemorate the battle, but I really can't see a planet named that. In the case of a planet or a city, that name would suggest you're actually commemorating Stalin, not the battle of Stalingrad... and I would hope that would meet with some protest.
 
I suppose this fan project should preferably try to avoid using names that are already used elsewhere in the WC universe.

That's my feeling as well. As far as it's possible, I'd like to avoid using names that already have a place in the Wing Commander universe. Except for names of characters, as I'm pretty sure I'll include (or at least refer to) some of the characters from the original Privateer.

I'll remove those names that are already in use from the list of suggestions I have on my computer. :)
 
And Stalingrad... I can imagine a Waterloo-class ship named Stalingrad, to commemorate the battle, but I really can't see a planet named that. In the case of a planet or a city, that name would suggest you're actually commemorating Stalin, not the battle of Stalingrad... and I would hope that would meet with some protest.

There might be a small base with a population of people that for some reason wouldn't mind commemorating Stalin...

I don't think I'll use it, though. :D
 
We remember Columbus as the "first" to reach America five hundred years afterward, so why wouldn't people in the 27th century remember Gagarin as the "first" human in space, unless records of the 1960s are lost? Then again, after seven hundred years, the popular imagination might get the whole 1960s space program confused and think that Apollo 11 was the first human space mission ever. Anybody remember Futurama, where in the 31st century they confused Ralph Kramden with Wehrner von Braun?
 
well, the place itself is called Volgograd now, and usually when the name Stalingrad is used it's connected only to the battle. anyway, probably the name wasn't a good idea. Gagarin's name means a lot for Russians (much more people here can remember who he was than who Washington was, with all due respect). so if there are Russians in space, they very well might name several objects Gagarin... but it would be inelegant in the WC universe, all right :) agreed - scratch this name, too.

as for Rostov and N. Kiev, yes of course these names have been used, that's why I referred to them as existing examples of Russian (and Ukrainian) city names in WC :)

LOAF, thanks a lot for the info! here's the requested mini-lesson about Razin :)

Stepan Timofeevich Razin (known as Stenka Razin) was the leader of a Cossack/peasant rebellion in 1670—1671 and have since become the hero of a multitude of folk songs and legends. by the way, the very first Russian feature film was about him.
Razin and his men conquered several cities, but in the end the rebellion was crushed, and Razin himself quartered on the Red Square in Moscow.
 
We remember Columbus as the "first" to reach America five hundred years afterward, so why wouldn't people in the 27th century remember Gagarin as the "first" human in space, unless records of the 1960s are lost?

I don't think anyone is suggesting that space enthusiasts and historians will actually lose this information. It's just that Gagarin is not that big of a hero in society today. He'll be even less well known in a hundred years, let alone seven. The comparison between the two figures is fairly loose. It'd be different if Gagarin was responsible for convincing Russia to fund a trip to outer space while the rest of the modern world didn't even believe space existed. Does Russia have a Gagarin Day?

Then again, after seven hundred years, the popular imagination might get the whole 1960s space program confused and think that Apollo 11 was the first human space mission ever.

I don't see that being a really probably scenario. In seven hundred years, if there's anyone who actually knows what Apollo 11 is, they'll know there were other missions and programs prior.
 
I don't think anyone is suggesting that space enthusiasts and historians will actually lose this information. It's just that Gagarin is not that big of a hero in society today. He'll be even less well known in a hundred years, let alone seven. The comparison between the two figures is fairly loose. It'd be different if Gagarin was responsible for convincing Russia to fund a trip to outer space while the rest of the modern world didn't even believe space existed. Does Russia have a Gagarin Day?

Yes, it's called Cosmonautics Day (celebrated April 12th, the day of Gagarin's flight).
 
Russia is funny that way, yup :) anyway, we're steering the only thread on Priv: Ascii Sector completely off topic, since it's already been decided that there will be nothing named Gagarin there :)
 
I'm sure if I've posted in this thread before, but this project is awesome! :D

Btw, there are a lot of Norwegian system names in Sol, is there a story behind that?
 
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