The Better Names Project

This has been a long time coming. With this update (1.3 as of Nov. 25th 2018), I have implemented an overhaul of the default random name generator. This will hopefully lead to more flavorful and distinct names based on the governments of randomly-generated empires.

(NOTE: If you don't like this system, I have created a patch to remove the "Better Names" functionality from base game governments for enhanced compatibility: !Lesser Names Patch for GVP. Clicking that link will make me feel bad, wherever I am, when you do it though.)

Why do this?

Problem #1: I've added a bunch of new governments that don't fit the default name list generators.

In the first version of this mod I completely overlooked name generators. One of the first, biggest bugs, therefore, was that empires with no names kept spawning, whenever the game generated one of my added government types. I hastily chucked all my governments into copies of the random name generators that seemed to "roughly fit," but... in many cases, they just didn't. For example, I have a whole set of socialist and capitalist themed governments that run the gamut of authority types and ethical themes, and none of the default name lists really fit them.

Solution: Make my own random name lists and generators. But this was such an effort that it led to a lot of thinking about those default name generators. I learned how they work and saw why the second problem occurred...

Problem #2: Names are same-y.

The basic Stellaris random name generator is set up to give empires names that are, for lack of a better word, realistic. Unless it's for a unique and thematic government type (e.g., your Fanatic Purifiers and Service Guarantees Citizenship types), the names sound more or less like real names for sovereign nations. For example, real dictatorships are unlikely to give themselves names that tell you "this is a dictatorship." They might just call themselves the (Whatever) Nation. Some might style themselves "republics." Real names for nations often just aren't very revealing of what that government is about. (For another example, does "United States of America" tell you much of anything about what kind of government it has? Those states could be united under a monarch in theory.)

The problem with this is that if you're in a galaxy full of United Colonies and generic Empires, it all starts to feel a bit same-y. Games like Stellaris are best when your interstellar rival empires are characters in their own right, but Stellaris often comes up with "characters" with forgettable, interchangeable names and "faces."

Solution: Come up with new name lists that more often result in names for empires that reflect the values of the governments. You should ideally be able to intuit something from the name of an empire in this system. I can't guarantee that all the names will be unique and memorable, but they should have more variety and relate to the underlying authority and/or ethos types.

Compatibility

While I am calling this an "overhaul" it doesn't actually overwrite the default name system or any base game files. Rather, the new name generators I created outweigh them: where a base game name generator would be weighted at 5, mine are weighted at 25. So there's still a chance that empires will be generated using the older system, but it should be much less likely.

What else is new?

As a test of what the system can do, I added a few government types that are variant Fanatical Purifiers: Doom Horde (w/ Warrior Culture), Death Cult (w/ Exalted Priesthood or Elected Clergy), and Citizen Legion (w/ Citizen Service). I really like the names these generators come up with for twists on the purifier type that are more wild, or religious, or disciplined (though tbh, the Citizen Legion type was really easy for obvious reasons...).

What's next?

I'm happy with the system as far as I have tested it, but there's room for improvement.

• Increasing flavor and variety further.
  
• Cracking down on the tendency for some name part combinations to repeat (one advantage of the base system is that is had a lot of boring name parts to choose from so at least this was less likely).
  
• Some government types aren't covered because I haven't really thought much about what to do with their underlying civics (e.g., Barbaric Despoilers) or ethos (all gestalt empires).
  
• The system can be expanded to include more government types in more interesting name generators once I think of them (of example, Warrior Culture empires besides the Democratic one could use some love).
  
• Some combinations are a bit weird ("Absolute Suns of...") and would require restructuring a lot to "fix" but it's on the agenda.
  
• I want to see whether I can make generators that check for more than just government type. I could use this to create lists that skew probabilities based on ethos.

This thread should be used to share any suggestions you have or observations about the system as it works now.