The name of the game.

[Madscientist16180]

Hello to the community!

For my first post, i'd like to discuss how you decide the name of your craft and does it have an importance to you?

At first, i was personally giving fonctional ID tag to my craft, "orbiter mk-1", "Mun Lab Mk-1", and such. Now that i grasp more of the game, i do not really need to do this in order to remember à craft purpose, so i got to give them cool, themed names. For the exemple, my new garder is "Madscientist Evil Space Consortium, and i give my craft " conspirationist" inspired name. Like my sub-orbiter are the "ChemTrail" serie. My Mun station is called the "Munchurian Laboratory", my first serie of reckon satellite was the " Big brother" serie, the second one was the "Bigger Brother" and so on.

I do not know why, but it makes me like them more than my original "fonctional name" ever did.

 

D'you have your own particularities when it comes to making your stuff, or is the majority using the "fonctinality+number" way of doing it?

[Dravin]

Names usually derive from the function or purpose so I have craft like Munshot, Skyclimber, ScanSat, ComSat, and the like with roman numerals to mark major redesigns and updates and letters to mark small changes (like added science equipment). So you'll see things like Munshot II, ScanSat IIIb, or Skyclimber VI. In the case of satellites I'll usually rename them after launch to include the celestial body they are orbiting (so Mun ScanSat IIIb) or the orbit (LKO ComSat I) to differentiate them in the tracking station list. If I've got multiples (like a network) then they get numbers to differentiate them (LKO ComSat Ic 2).

Edit: I might at some point switch to a mythology based naming scheme. An Agni series of lifters or a Sisyphus class orbital tug has appeal to me.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Dravin

[Basto]

I am personally partial to Iain Banks style ship names. 

I designate a class for a specific design and save all my craft files with just the class name, for example

(Hercules Class) - Heavy Lifter

(Icarus Class) - Spaceplane (all mine suck and usually blow up)

(Oracle Class) - Science Probe

(Hermes Class) - Heavy Tug

(Charon Class) - Crew Transport

Then when I launch a craft I give it a proper name  

Here are a few I have used  

You weren't using it anyway (Oracle Class)

Let me get that for you (Hermes Class)

The Dude abides (Charon Class)

 

[justidutch]

As my newest career is just progressing to the point of interplanetary launches, I think this time around I shall attempt to avoid confusion in the tracking centre by using destination and launch windows as naming conventions.  For instance: Duna-2-312 (ship leaves for Duna on year 2 day 312).  Once If it successfully arrives I might rename it at that point.

I used to give ships destined to explode and fail names to commemorate ex-girlfriends, but have since outgrown that...

[stosyfir]

It depends on my mood really when building heh. Ive got an orbital science lab MK I (actually a few different launches of various modules Ive slapped together in orbit I named yhe various modules Habitat A, Fuel Depot 1,etc), Kapollo 11 (FASA Saturn), Deep Space Probe 1.0 (OCTO core on top of a saturn - this puppy made some epic rounds before i crashed her into the sun), Kerbal Rescue I (FASA white gemini on a 1B  for rescue contracts), so it really depends some I give straight names to, others not so much. My next project is manned flight to Duna that'll probably be something like The Intrepid Moron in true Kerbal fashion.

[BebopRebop]

My recent naming convention for spacecraft is that expendable rockets get a "boring" vegetable and a series number for each time I modify and save it. So like "Broccoli 3" or something.

Spaceplanes get poisonous plant names plus a number for how many Kerbals that design has killed in the process of making it... so like "Atropa 7."

Satellites, rovers, landers, ect. and anything I'm probably not going to look at or use more than once get boring generic names.

[JoeNapalm]

-Jn-

[Cornholio]

This is my "Ninetails Station" named after the Pokémon.  There is no reason why it is particularly Ninetails instead of Snorlax or even Pidgeotto.  I like to relive my Poké-nostalgia through random names for my vehicles.

 

Since I run a long career save with many crafts hurtling off into different parts of oblivion, I do tend to add a small descriptive word to each so that I can differentiate.  For example, I have a fleet of pieces for a similar space station making its way to Duna.  Each pieces is named "Ninetails Life Support" or "Ninetails HabCommand".

[Sir_Robert]

I used to be super uncreative with names, calling my Mun lander 'Mun lander' and stuff.

But I recently started inspiring my names from real world planets and stuf. So my Mun missions are called Luna, and my Duna mission is Mars.

I'm still working on names for Minmus...

[Armisael]

I use Greek mythological figures that correspond to the name of the real world analog. Moho -> Hermes, Eve -> Aphrodite, Mun -> Artemis, Duna -> Ares, Dres -> Demeter, Jool -> Zeus, Eeloo -> Hades.

Bodies without real-world analogs are harder, but I've settled a few. Gilly is Eros. Minmus is Endymion (a mortal who was Selene's lover and eventually was made immortal). Laythe is Oceanus (since it has so much water and is similar to Titan in some respects). Missions to space without any particular target or to asteroids are Aurai (the daughters of the wind gods).

I've been giving infrastructure missions utilitarian names (eg, LKO station, Minmus Mining Base, Gas Tanker), but I'm considering changing that.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Armisael

[Qwarkk]

I use so many Greek God names that my tracking station may as well be written into Greek Mythology.

[Splitsie]

I feel the same as the OP, there's a connection you get to a ship that has a particular name that means something (often only to you) that's just a little bit special.

I've used various mythologies and the occasional commemoration for lost kerbals to name my ships in the past

[AlextheBodacious]

It's rarely anything besides a straight forward approach, excluding the Titan Launcher.

And planes. For the most part it's Mun Lander or Duna Rover. Nothing difficult to imagine. The modules themselves are always "Mun Base 1A, 1B, etc."

Edited February 24, 2016 by AlextheBodacious

[Mastikator]

The names are very important, I usually name them after mythological creatures/characters and based on theme, obviously sun divers are named Icarus.

[Mischief]

My first manned launches are always named 'Tin Coffin Mk I' all the way through whatever launch gets me into tier 2 technology. I feel better about that given how often I kill my Kerbonauts.

 

I tend to pick themes. Most recently I sent the Johnny Appleseed probeship to distribute scanning and sampling probes to all bodies in the Jool system. It distributed Appleseed I through Appleseed XVI. The manned excursion I did to Duna a bit ago had the Tom Sawyer with a 3 man crew and 2 in the carry can taking a suite of USI settlement modules to Duna; they were preceded by The Duke and The King, a pair of 3-part probe/scanning ships, each breaking into 3 individual scansats (Scansat mod) and going into polar orbits around Duna and Ike, 3 on each for mapping and resource scanning purposes. The Huck Finn followed 10 days behind with a reusable ferry lander and dragging the core of an orbital resource management station and EPL construction station. They were followed by the Clementine drone mining mothership with 6 White Horse mining drones to get raw materials. The Huck Finn had a built-in smelter so it would land at a White Horse (I-VI), pick up Ore, smelt it and take it to the Riverboat Station (orbital refinery) to turn into parts to build more components. A little over 30 days later the Carpet Bagger showed up with a crew of 6 and a pair of small station keeping/module management/runnabouts dubbed 'Higgledy' and 'Piggledy'.

 

I have a lot of fun with it, I admit.

[Tfin]

Letters to indicate purpose, followed by a number increment for a new design, a letter for a revision to that design, and a name that I generally can't give any explanation for. I've no idea why RT04B is named Cuthbert.

[federicoaa]

I start naming using greek/roman names, starting with a, then b, etc. Iterations are marked by roman numbers.

Some specific flights are names on purpose, like DunaSat, ComLink A, etc.

[Overland]

Its a question I once thought I knew the answer too..

My trains are numbered first by thier class prefix type then thier build number such as 4427 and 4429 are 44 class locomotives and 27 or 29th of that class

A railway inspired convention thats given way to numeric names,

statements too all of kerbin that THIS locomotive and her crew will subdue kerbin.. Battle terrains extremes and ward off the kraken.. Her running number then becoming history proudly

Sadly it also represents losses.. As in modern times its rare to have 2 of the same class running.. And everything since 4404 has been built to replace a lost sistertrain

This on the surface sounds simple.. It seems so on paper.. Yet in practise not so easy

When a locomotive achieves a milestone.. Emotions..memories get attached to her class number.. As the locomotive gains experience and the kilometres click over.. The train builds a personality naturally like any machine akin to a ship

Its then something like 4408,

becomes a name not a number in a class.. Something to be remembered and honoured both in visiting former wreck sites...and... Even making a replica or "naming" what should be 4431 as 4408 mk 3 as she starts where her high achieving sistertrain left off..carrying the torch of the elcano challenge

So.. Are numbers numbers..are names numbers.. Im not sure anymore..

Its formed its own thing

 

 

[loch.ness]

I feel I've come full circle in my naming habits from when I started playing back in ~0.20 (don't remember when but must have been shortly after Science mode was introduced because that's what I played most of the time).

 

To start with I gave them names largely based around famous people with an emphasis on authors.  The Asimov, Hawthorne, Twain, Madam Curie, Wells, Verne...

A little later I gave them silly names based around their job:  Highjump want the suborbital rocket, Loopy was the orbiter, Munatic was the Mun rocket.

Next I started to get serious about the game and started given them functional acronyms.  ATR - Altitude Test Rocket.  ORM Orbit Return Module.  MAV - Munar Adventure Vehical.

Now I combine all of the above.  I've currently got the Mercutio CSM (Project Mercury replica) using the Too Hot launcher (Redstone) or Descartes (Atlas).  Next I'm working on the Pleiades program (Gemini).  I also have Veterok (Vostok) and Kometka (Soyuz) though I differentiate the CSM, LES, and launcher (though not always the different stages).

Stations and bases get unique names since I don't usualy have multiple per celestial body (yet).

TLDR? I usually have a silly name which may be a tribute to a real thingfollowed by either the flight number or the iteration of the craft or both.  The subassemblies have a functional acronym/name in the VAB but don't always get seperate names in mission.  (i.e. Munatic 7 CSM, Desert Tortoise DRV 1, Veterok 7, Lighthouse Station, Lake Town Colony).

[Nightshift83]

Unfortunatly they are all listed alphabetically, in your design window as well as tracking station so one should go for putting numbers or letters IN FRONT of their respective names.. but I usually forget about it.