However you categorize it, the first sub-orbital flight of Siboot is a milestone.
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I’m curious about Chris’s choice of names for the characters and auras. They certainly lend an otherworldly feel to the conversation. I hope that people find it charming rather than befuddling.
I have wondered much about the names as well. There actually is a structure to many names; it is often possible to figure out the language used for a particular name. The Germanic languages are really easy to detect because their names always have one or more of a group of standard elements: -alf/-olf; -bert; -manne; -ric; -mer; and so on. Tolkien was very, very good with this kind of thing. There’s a LOT of expertise in linguistics hidden inside his naming system.
However, that’s not at all how I came up with my names. They are mostly anagrams of the names of various beloved dogs and cats. I *do* bring some expertise to the prosody but that’s about all. Even so, I must confess that some of the names don’t quite roll off the tongue. Here’s the current basic list:
Soomeseroog: Sue MESS ee roog
Caronycoorck: Ka ROEN ee coork
Gaustusu: GAU stoo soo
Zubi: ZOO bee
Camiggdo: ka MIG doe
Skordokott: SKOR doe kot
Koopie: KOO pee
The auras, shial, katsin, and tanaga, are from the original Siboot.
An aside: I am appalled at the naming schemes used in so many games. They are almost always based on Germanic traditions. There are tons of really interesting linguistic traditions out there. The Turkic/Mongol phonetic structure is especially striking.
What about generating a bunch of names with a Markov chain and picking the ones you like? They worked pretty well for Guns & Butter, and nowadays you don’t even have to write any code for it; the tools are already there.
I’m sure I’ll get used to the new names but I will always miss that old gang of mine. What ever happened to Vetvel, Kendra, Gardbore, Wiki, and Locksher?
Vetvel was Velvet the cat; Kendra was Draken the Duck; Gardbore was Beauregard the Burro; Wiki was Kiwi Khatter; and Locksher was Sherlock Sheep. Having been adequately commemorated in the first edition, I have now replaced most of them with more recent pets. However, Skordokott (Scaredy Cat) and Zubi remain because I like the sound of the names.
Nice. I always wondered about those names. I’d noticed the pattern some years ago and correctly guessed that Locksher and Vetvel were syllable reversals of Sherlock and Velvet, and even guessed the Kendra -> Draken connection (if only because she looked like she could be some kind of dragon, which “draken” sounds like).