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Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 00:11
by Caydr
Absolute Annihilation as a mod died 3 years ago. I'm reviving the concept but I don't think what I'm making now is really the same mod, the same game anymore. This is something else entirely, and when the next version comes out BA's going to have a lot of catching up to do.

AA was based on the ideal that there should be no attack too strong to defend against and no defense too strong to attack. There should never be a stalemate, and the player who manages intelligence gathering, attack, defense, and economy the best should win. There should not be any cases where a player is defeated because someone exploited a game weakness or imbalance.

What AA has now become is something greater than this though. I'm cleaning up things that have been part of the mod since its inception, but which were never fixed before. New strategic options, no filler units, a sensible method of attaining side balance, better organization, and improvements at every level of gameplay are all going to be primary goals.

Absolute Annihilation was a good name for a TA mod, what I need now is a good name for a game that, at its worst, surpasses TA at its best.

I'm usually pretty good at coming up with this kind of thing, but I would like to also give the community of players that will be enjoying this new game an opportunity for input.

I would like the new name to not involve any stereotypical adjectives like "total" "absolute" "complete", etc. I don't want anything like "war" "annihilation" "destruction", etc. I want a name that is more suitable for a mature game for a mature audience. It doesn't have to be an instant attention-grabber, just something that captures what the mod is all about: fun for everyone involved, strategic gameplay, and fair balance. It doesn't have to be testosterone-pulsing, death-metal-soundtrack, explosions-everywhere, it can be a little more laid-back. I would strongly prefer the name be reasonably short and two words in length at most.

Right at the moment I'm thinking of using RTS 2.1, or "RTS21" for short. In case you don't know, Supreme Commander was known during development as "RTS 2.0" because it was designed to reinvent the real-time strategy genre. So this is my cheeky (spoony?) way of saying "yes, yes, very nice, but I'm going to do it slightly better".

So that AA's name recognition is carried to the new project, the first few alpha/beta versions prior to the project's official relaunch will be known as "Absolute Annihilation: RTS 2.1 Beta" or something similar. Hopefully people in the lobby will take notice of the new name and the "brand name" will transfer. Slowly I will remove references to the old name.

RTS 9001 is also a possibility ^^

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 00:58
by TheFatController
Adjective Annihilation The last word in annihilation

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 01:03
by Argh
Actual Annihilation no longer vaporware!

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 01:24
by Neddie
Raoul

Or perhaps...

Emerson

No, seriously...

Mechanum, In Memorandum, Technological Abuse, Sil Icon

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 01:25
by Gota
Those 2 first ones(Mechanum, In Memorandum) sound like one of those grade b games nobody ever buys ^^.

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 01:30
by Neddie
That is because I took them from a list of bargain bin names I made for a joke several months ago.

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 01:32
by Beherith
Yall are fools. :twisted: its gotta be DA. Its the only natural succession.

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 01:36
by Master-Athmos
To give a serious answer: As long as your game is based on TA, uses lots of TA content and yet again is pretty much a TA mod despite whatever you changed on the gameplay you really should give it an "Annihilation" in its name or any sort of TA reference. It's simply to make people see it's a TA style game...

Otherwise you'll be exposed to the general TA-mod laughter you have here these days plus the fury of some feeling fooled into yet another TA mod by a fancy name...

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 01:37
by Peet
Call it Asterisk Annihilation.

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 02:03
by knorke
Beherith wrote:Yall are fools. :twisted: its gotta be DA. Its the only natural succession.
Downright Annihilation.
Right at the moment I'm thinking of using RTS 2.1, or "RTS21" for short.
yeah, sure sounds like "fun for everyone"
In case you don't know, Supreme Commander was known during development as "RTS 2.0" because it was designed to reinvent the real-time strategy genre.
nobody will get this.

Honestly, as stupid as it may sound, go with DA to signal that it will be +1 to the other *a mods.

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 02:07
by Beherith
Caydr wrote:In case you don't know, Supreme Commander was known during development as "RTS 2.0" because it was designed to reinvent the real-time strategy genre.
And what a steaming heap of shit that turned out to be. Already unsupported, with less online players than spring.

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 05:47
by SinbadEV
Maybe you could be a rebel and use Total, like Total Extermination or whatever.

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 05:51
by lurker
Beherith wrote:Already unsupported, with less online players than spring.
Seriously?

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 07:36
by manolo_
k, so there is already AA, BA and CA, so the next consistent step would mean DA. and i think domination annihilation sounds awesome :D

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 08:15
by SinbadEV
or you could keep it absolute annihilation but start referring to it as A┬▓

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 12:44
by Gota
Supcom FA has about 6x the size of spring's community.
Not much for a huge commercial project but surely much more than what we have.

How about "keep it real annihilation"?

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 13:19
by momfreeek
AA, BA, CA... its gonna be a long time before the original is surpassed (TA), the only real step forward is surely: UA. ultimate annihilation

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 16:26
by smokingwreckage
Total Domination.

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 16:55
by JohannesH
Annihilated Absolution

Re: Considering changing the name

Posted: 06 Aug 2009, 17:00
by momfreeek
Annihilistic Totalitarianism