Custom Ship naming convention suggestions?

I've taken up the custom of a two-letter abbreviation of the ship type, a number representing which edition it is, and a random name that sounds fierce. This is all for military ships; economy ships like constructors just get 'Constructor Mk 2'.

Example: I'm playing a game as the Terrans. My current fighter model is the 'HF (Heavy Fighter) 04 (4th design) Lancer, because it has missiles and lasers that make for a very lance-like appearance. My current capitol ships are the FR02 (2nd frigate model) Hooded Hawk (because of how the design came out, including the hooded shell type accessory over the cockpit and engine), and the DE01 (first destroyer) Yor Crusher (because it was overloaded with shield to defeat the laser-happy Yor in my game).

Before picking up this habit, I've just been doin a fancy name and a number; my first fighter designs, for example, were named the Laser Nose series, and given tags like Mk 2, Mk 3, and so on. It seems like it'd be interesting to vary this based on the race.

I tend to go with the class name followed by the roman numerials of the current version, i.e. Guardian VII is my current ship of the line (it got me though the Drengi war and is doing well in the current Drath conflict), although its being replaced by the new Wolf I

I have a theme to a class of ships.

Ie. Odyssey class: Exploration theme so names go like this
Explorer
Adventure
Interpid

Some are a lot more nerdy like the Reynolds class, named after Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly, the ships go:
Serenity
Firefly
Dortmunder
Beaumonde
Tam
Persephone etc etc

I just give mine some violent sounding name with a revision number (Mk 2, etc).

Usually I use an abbreviation for my race and the shiptype and a random name. For example LMD Imperator (Lex Magna Dreadnaught Imperator), and if updated go on with LMD Imperator II, Imperator III, IV etc.

I would really like the possibility to have predefined names in text files to randomly pick one during the game like in Space Empires IV, that would add some flavor to the computer players' ships too..

What I've started to do is have a Class name followed by a summary of the ship's capabilities, for example:

Cargo 500p 7s 5r

is a people-mover that has a 7 speed and a 5 range. I tried "5.4r" but it won't let me put punctuation in the ship name. It's kind of souless, but I was having so many slightly different rebuilds (as miniaturization improved, for example) that MK 4 or MK 23 just didn't give enough info in the name.

Well for the ones i put in jewerly in starting with hull types havent named them yet, want to finish first. Then have the stuff description in the text part like Missils M65 Armor A15 so i end up with something like these

Light Fighter 1
M10-A5-S5

So the ship remain the same but the specs change

I usually go with the naming scheme

Tiny hull: Fighter MK_
Small hull: Corvette MK_
Medium hull: Frigate MK_ if it is a fast ship with moderate weapons/armor, Destroyer MK_ if it is more biased towards weapons/armor then speed
Large hull: Light cruiser MK_ if it is again more balanced toward speed, Heavy Cruiser MK_ if it is more balanced toward guns/armor
Huge hull: Battle cruiser MK_ if it is more speed based, Battleship MK_ if it is more guns/armor balanced.

I generally just upgrade through out so most are still MKI, but sometimes I will do a MKII or even MKIII if I want some cheaper versions of ships. For instance I might have 4 Laser V and 2 defelector MKIII on a medium hull along with 2 or 3 Later model impulse or warp drives and label it Frigate MKI and later on make one with 2/3 Plasma MKIV, 2 Shield MKIII, and 2 or 3 later model warp drives and label it Frigate MKII. That way I can build a fairly cheap, slightly faster construction time Frigate that goes at a pretty fair clip if I want some cheap frontier fleet units and build a few more expensive MKIIs for core system protection and as my battle fleet.

Generally later on in the game, especially on a larger map where it is probably going to take me a long time to take it over then my forces generally look like the following later on in the game when I have conquered about 50% of the map (with lets call it 100 inhabitable planets total, me controlling at least 50 of them).

Generally I will have 30-40 Fighter MKI, 30-40 corvette MKI, 20-30 Frigate MKI, 10-20 Destroyer MKI, 10-20 Light Cruisers MKI, and 5-10 Heavy cruiser MKIs forming my frontier fleet. I generally do not garrison worlds with more then a single fighter just to stop a transport from slipping in and taking over one of my worlds and I do not count those forces at all. The frontier fleet is formed of course around my perimeter with it more heavily concentrated near hostile or formly hostile polities.

For my battle fleet I will generally construct 20-30 Fighter MKII, 20-30 Corvette MKII, 20-30 Frigate MKII, 15-20 Destroyer MKII, 10-15 Light Cruiser MKII, 8-12 Heavy Cruiser MKII, 4-6 Battle cruiser MKI, and 2-3 Battleship MKI. This is my core fleet that I keep on payroll even during peace. Generally if I haven't screwed up my frontier fleet is about on par techwise with most foreign powers and my battle fleet is at least a generation ahead of them. The frontier fleet is basically designed to keep my outer systems from getting rolled over in the event of war and my battle fleet is more or less a reaction force in that event. It is also my rapid deployment force for offensive actions if I see a major opportunity to take over a weak power.

In the case of war I usually just build up a huge fleet, especially if it is not a walk over in the first few weeks. I generally go for frigate and larger forces to construct at the opening of any war as I find the fighters and corvettes are primarily used for garrison work and as quick strike forces against lightly held worlds and undefended space stations...at least by that point in time in the game.

I will also tend to keep a transport on every frontier world and 6-10 in my core worlds as well as a reserve of 6-8 constructors. This way if someone declares war on me or I decide I don't like their face I can quick send in a Task force, setup a support military base, blast their forces out of any planets in the sorrounding systems, and land the marines and quickly size a sector or two from the enemy in only 2-3 weeks time.

Anyway, so I guess that was really beyond what you asked. I was bored, it happens.
-Matt

I name my ships depending on my situation. The "TNS Devistator" was one of my designs when i was annialating some annoying Iconians. "Orbital Assulter" was one of my favorites during invasions. The "Last stand" came out right before i was attacked by a huge fleet. it won. "TNS Eturnium" had a ton of defences. "Apocalipse" was one of my greatest fleets ever built. it destroyed everything in it's path. some ships i used to lure the enemy to my base were "Carrot ona Stick". My trade ships were called "Daylight robbery". I callsem as i seesem. "The Doomer" was a 2 edged sword. The glass cannon series wasn't all that great either. Don't even ask about the "TNS Sitting duck". The "bullets" were fast, and the "Gold Diggers" were some of the best colony ships i ever built. Didn't find many bonus's with them, but boy, were they fast. medium ship, 1 or 2 colony moduals, and the rest was all hyperwarp Mk III. The "Avenging Angel" Series came after a particularly nasty enemy attack, they sent the enemy home in ejector pods though. Anyway, it's fun to name them this way. keeps things from being boring.

for non-combat ships:
[role]-s[speed]
e.g.: constructor-s2

for combat ships:
[hp or hull size]-b[beam]-g[gun]-m[missile]
e.g.: hp6-b3-m3 or medium-b3-m3

or if upgraded, i'd leave the the name and tack-on the weapon stats:
e.g. destroyer-b2-m3

with speed upgrades, i would add -s[speed]
e.g. destroyer-b2-m3-s4

i rarely (actually don't) add defence stats to the name but i can use gc2's system:
-b[beam]v[defence] (v for versus)
e.g. destroyer-b2v1-gv1-m3v1

not very creative. but a lot easier to determine what i need from a list at a glance.

I will often name my ships after current or historical military vehicles with similar characteristics, so I can tell at a glance that a Falcon is a Tiny inexpensive fighter while an Eagle is a Small hulled heavy fighter. Sometimes I'll stay with the aircraft theme, other times I'll use a naval motif or even car models for inspiration.

In my last game I was playing a diplomatic game and could pick and choose my enemies. I named my ships based on the foe they were designed to fight. I had the "Yormageddon" and the "Arceanator" and the "Korxscrew" (my favorite, since they were my allies when I invaded them...)

Due to the alphabetical nature of the user ship lists, I make my ships called this-

A999 _________

where the blank is the type of ship, laser attack, fast construct, missile. Stuff like that. As I make newer ships I call them A998, A997, and so on and so forth. So that when I make a new ship, I dont have to scroll down to find it.

As far as naming individual ships go, I name the planetary defense ships specific to the planet they defend, so that I never do anything stupid with them. And then with all the ships roaming, I dont name them at all, unless they kill a bunch and have some EXP.

My naming conventions for ship classes has kind of evolved into an actual system of recognition that just allows me to say, "Oh! That does that! Wonderful", without having to look at the specs of the ship. For me, I usually name the class, then use the description to mark when the first 'prototype' was first started and on what planet and its armaments and characteristics (Warp Drive IIIs with Harpoons, etc). Here's how my system works.

Tiny - I don't usually use tiny ships, but when I do use them, they're usually given the names of insects or small birds like Sparrow, Mantis, Firefly, etc.

Small - I've worked out a system here that's done me some good. This may be translated over the Tiny hulls as I think I've finally started liking Tiny ships. All 'fighter' type ships (imagine F-15 Eagles and F-18 Super Hornets) are given names of Bird of Prey, Eagle, Hawk, Falcon, etc and are outfitted with Mass Driver type weaponry. All 'bomber' type ships are given scavenger names: Vulture, Crow, Raven, and yes, even Pigeon (in an ironic sense).

Medium - I tend to try and get out of this hull size as quickly as possible for some reason. But, they all follow the same naming convention. The first class is always the Joe Haldeman class and the first ship the Roger Mandella (god damn have I read that book too many times). The rest of the ships are other characters from that book, Starship Troopers, Old Man's War, and similar types of novels.

Large and Huge - If it sounds Apocalyptic, it's done.

I'll often choose names based on a "theme" I'm trying to follow. Not always with success, but I try.

For example, I thought it would be nice to be the Klingons, so I had Bird of Prey, Vor'cha, and Negh'Var as names.

Recently, though, I've found that a military-style naming system works best.

I give them 1-2 letter abbreviations based off hull size and/or purpose. After that I give a number for each design. Minor variants of the same design may have a small lowercase letter suffixed instead of a new number.

For example:

An F1b would be the second minor variant of the first design created for the small (I call it "fighter") hull.

I never followed the game's names that much, "Fighter" and "Frigate" both start with F, so I use my own system.

After the military-style prefix, I usually follow it by a name. I don't have a good system for the names yet, but I'll try to find something.

I have recently stumbled across a page which includes the official naming guidelines for military aircraft, which I plan on modifying for use in the game.

OH, time I said hi! I actually got this game quite recently (yesterday), and I like it a lot! After trying it out on somebody else's computer, I went ahead and bought it for myself.

Now I'm spending more time designing ships and naming them than I am taking turns . The flexibility is great!

I have one problem, though: Sometimes I want to go back and change the name or description of my ships. Is there any easy way to do it?

I have one problem, though: Sometimes I want to go back and change the name or description of my ships. Is there any easy way to do it?

Main Menu->Options->Interface->uncheck "Remove Functional Components When Upgrading A Ship Design"

Then you can Upgrade a ship type in the Shipyard by selecting it with Upgrade, then without changing anything else, select Save. It gives you a chance to change the name. You can Delete or Obsolete the old ship after that.

Thanks.

I have an idea for the devs - How about some sort of custom ship manager so we can manage our custom ships even when we're not playing?

Or maybe I'm just getting too zealous over this whole ship customization thing . . .

But I do love the ability to create and customize my own ships .

My Noncombat ships have a 3-character name, with combat vessels having an extra 2 characters indicating loadout category.

Hull | Role | Agility | [Offense | Defense] | - Generation

Hull Class (ABCDFG):
Auxiliary (cargo)
Battleship (huge)
Cruiser (large)
Destroyer (medium)
Frigate (small)
Gunboat (tiny)

Role (ABCEFST):
Attack
Builder (constructor)
Colonizer
Explorer (range/sensors prioritized)
Freighter (trade)
Science (survey/range/sensors prioritized)
Transporter


Agility (Range/Speed) (0-9):
1 - short range, low speed (orbital defenders)
2 - short range, average speed (border patrol)
3 - short range, high speed (interceptors)
4 - medium range, low speed (sentries)
5 - medium range, average speed (flagships)
6 - medium range, high speed (escorts)
7 - long range, low speed (spies)
8 - long range, average speed (invaders)
9 - long range, high speed (harassers, probes)

Short range vessels don't have any support modules. Long range ones prioritize space for exploration or reach capabilities. The Medium ones are where you just have filler that you can stick support into. A similar scheme applies to speed; Low means no engine upgrades, high means they're prioritized over other components. If you're intentionally giving up defensive or offensive capabilities for a fast strike vessel, then it would get a high speed category. A ship that is balanced but also fast (either relative to the rest of your fleet or the enemy) would still simply be "average" speed in this scheme. I've put in parentheses the typical specialization ships that fall within certain range/speed categories are suited for.

Offense/Defense(combat ships only) (##):
1 - Beams, Shields
2 - Missiles, Point Defense
4 - Guns, Armor

An armored (4) ship equipped with lasers (1) and missiles (2) will have (1+2)&(4) -- 34. A ship with all three weapons and all three defenses would be 77. Some of the techies among you may be familiar with this kind of numbering scheme.

Generation:

User preference. 4 digits for decade/year/month (0107 for July 2225) will let you know at a glance the relative technology level of your ship design. Or you can just slap an A, B, C, etc. to the end as you upgrade to a new tech level.

---

So, your brand new medium-size strike vessel of September in 2231, designed for invading across a bit of a gap, armed with beams, armored with point defense and armor, only slight engine upgrades to keep the trip from taking too long would have the class designation DA816-0709. The two-month old troop transporters they're escorting would be AT9-0707.

Waiting at the edge of your range are the future orbital defenders, GA112-0511; fairly old gunboats, lasers and point defense, simply there to keep opportunistic transport ships out. They were upgraded scouts (GE4-0211).

If you arm ships that are not meant for combat, the XR#-#### scheme would just expand out to XR###-####, instead of reclassifying it as an "XA" combat ship.

My suggestions:
Assassin
TX Doomer
Eternal Flame

I sometimes use a variation of naval designations (BB for battleship, DD for Destroyer, CV for cruiser, etc), and sometimes use the names of actual vessels for the class designations or 'named' ships of the fleet that have gotten above level 5.
I used a similar method back when designing ships in Master of Orion. So if I have what I call a destroyer using chiefly beam weapons and a speed of 9, I might name the class DDB9_Vancouver

Found a site today that's a nice reference source with photos of naval vessels, it's called Haze Gray & Underway, and might give you a few ideas.

Haze Gray & Underway Link

Hull size, type attack, type def.

example
H M Atk G Def

...I have found it less confusing if I build ships with a size designator(S,M,L,H)with the name of their primary weapon system followed by their speed attack, defense values. An example: M Photon 7 1206(one of the vessels in my current game)
...I find this particularly useful when updating vessels as new technology becomes available; simply referring to the vessel's name gives me a handy reference for its stats.

Eternal Flame

Is this a ship of the "Bangles" class?


I like my capitol ship classes to have non-agressive names, but with dubious undertones like "Peacekeeper" or "Liberator"

I like to confuse the enemy shipcommanders:
"Sir, a Terran Alliance Peacekeeper Battleship has entered orbit.."
"What? a what? we're not at war.. why is it equipped with 6 Black Hole Generator batteries?"

The Liberator class destroyers are obviously for "liberating" stuff.

"Yormageddon" and the "Arceanator" and the "Korxscrew"

Exellent names! I might adopt this naming convention as well if you don't mind.
"Sir, the Terran Alliance Battleship 'Arceanator' has entered orbit.."
"Ha, that's a coincidence, we're Arceans and.. and, why is he powering up his weapons array??"

Ps. I know there aren't real people in the game.

EXAMPLE:

MOF(Mega Obliteration Fighter) M(Mauraudation)5(edition)

"Korxscrew"... brilliant.

I name my ships like "SCB-1B Scarab" and then the next generation would be "SCB-1C Scarab". Or the "MLR-3K Mauler" and then "MLR-4K Mauler"... etc.

Or sometimes I'll just be lazy and end up with the "lawlzscoutcube ftw!" which is just a square with some engines...

I have a colony ship called the MCS A1. Thats how I name mine.