Had a look at the NS2 site and some of the infestation artwork and saw a lot of tentacle inspired stuff. got me thinking about how infestation is a living organism and how it relates to the hive.
kind of 'feelers' for the hive, like one of its senses. A lot like the way hair serves us. Apart from keeping us warm, hair provides us with heightened sensitivity, it can give us an idea of our surroundings etc without us actually reaching out and touching something. Think of the way cat's use their whiskers to test if an opening is big enough for them.
Now I know that hair and infestation look nothing a like, but their underlying function seem similar. I don't know exactly what UWE have planned for infestations functionality, but I get the feeling that it could be used as an early warning system. like if a group of marines walk on the floor of an infested room, on the growth, the feelers, or tentacle things which appear to be the veins of infestation would relay that information back to the hive/alien commanders. not an exact location, but a vague indication that there is something foreign moving in that area of the map. This idea was sort of sketched in for NS1, a reason behind how aliens could tell if the hive was under attack etc, they were aliens. They don't have radios or wireless internet ;).
Having said all that, I like the sound of <b>Spire/Spier/Spyre/Spya</b> etc. Playing on the idea of infestation, spying on marines. It's ambiguous enough to represent both the infestation itself, and kharaa chambers, the word SPIRE makes me think of SPORE, and that building from starcraft. i.e
- "DON'T step on the SPIRE, SOLDIER."
- "Spire? why do you call it spire? It's just gunk."
The infestation actually is the kharaa bacterium. Hives and Lifeforms, which were collected by the Kharaa organism, are used as an defense against intruders.
Turf is not a good idea: 1. grass 2. lawn 3. sward 4. green 6. sod 7. Horse Race 8. racetrack 9. hippodrome
You'll see, has nothing to do with what infestation is. As I say it before, you can use Xenomass with other word, so you can use either and people will know what you mean.
Or just <b>Infestation Mass/Leak/yourfavoriteword</b>.
Just a note for folks, "Infestation", if it remains, will very likely be shortened to "Fest" in stress situations, not infest.
Which.. in a way.. kind of works. I can see Marines talking about a room being "Festive" meaning dangerous, and talking about how a place is starting to fester when the dynamic infestation starts to encroach.
Okay, I'm changing my vote from "mass" to "fest".. has the benefit that it's a made up word that ties into others.
<!--quoteo(post=1732378:date=Oct 15 2009, 11:06 PM:name=Kwil)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kwil @ Oct 15 2009, 11:06 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732378"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Marines talking about a room being "Festive" meaning dangerous<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Fail. Is English your 1st language? If not, sorry for making fun of you for failing at English.
<!--quoteo(post=1732412:date=Oct 15 2009, 11:06 PM:name=zex)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (zex @ Oct 15 2009, 11:06 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732412"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Fail. Is English your 1st language? If not, sorry for making fun of you for failing at English.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> lol zex. Not only did you miss the joke with the sarcasm, but then your follow-up calling out the mistake (that never actually happened) was kind of rude.
I like 'fest' as the short version of infestation. And the "festive" bid would make a great funny voice taunt for the marines. Something involving the words 'festive' and something about fireworks would be great.
<!--quoteo(post=1732375:date=Oct 15 2009, 05:27 PM:name=PaiSand)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PaiSand @ Oct 15 2009, 05:27 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732375"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->PhiXX your right, that is what infestation is.
Turf is not a good idea: 1. grass 2. lawn 3. sward 4. green 6. sod 7. Horse Race 8. racetrack 9. hippodrome
You'll see, has nothing to do with what infestation is. As I say it before, you can use Xenomass with other word, so you can use either and people will know what you mean.
Or just <b>Infestation Mass/Leak/yourfavoriteword</b>.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I wasn't talking about Turf in the sense of grass or lawns. I'm talking as in their territory.
turf (tûrf) n. pl. turfs also turves (tûrvz)
A geographical area; a territory.
Again, Xenomass just sounds too silly. It's like anything related to the Aliens has to have the word Xeno infront of it. I don't think it's necessary. Plus the devs want just a single syllable. Turf works out fine in that case. It's meaning also holds up to what the Dynamic Infestation is. It IS the Alien territory that spreads across the map. And Marines may intrude their territory right? It clicks. Xenomass sounds too scientific, although it does make sense but just the sound of the word is something people would get sick of saying. Turf gives you that oomph. I can imagine players really using the term lots. I'm not saying my choice is the right choice, I'm not saying yours is the wrong choice. It's really up to the devs.
Well I am still voting for Gunk. It is even the first word used to describe it in Six Days in Sanji. Of cause, in Sanji, it is purple. And the next word to describe it is lichen.
<!--quoteo(post=1732375:date=Oct 15 2009, 05:27 PM:name=PaiSand)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PaiSand @ Oct 15 2009, 05:27 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732375"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->PhiXX your right, that is what infestation is.
Turf is not a good idea: 1. grass 2. lawn
...
You'll see, has nothing to do with what infestation is.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Turf *green, alive, grows, generally on the ground, is can be nourishing for some animal, is it laid down. So it had at least some overlap it it's meaning with what DI. *It's work for the Marines way of naming things, something simple and quick that kind of reminds you of it.. *It's monosyllabic. *It's work for aliens in which case DI is their home Turf or home territory... or their alien Lawn where they can plant some 'festive' OC gardens. ;)
Only thing missing for Turf as a submission is the fifth pillar... Pizazz! It just doesn't sounds like it would be cool to it over vchat. Although once it's done I'll probably just get used to whatever the final choice is.
<!--quoteo(post=1732488:date=Oct 16 2009, 12:08 PM:name=NeoSniper)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NeoSniper @ Oct 16 2009, 12:08 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732488"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Turf *green, alive, grows, generally on the ground, is can be nourishing for some animal, is it laid down. So it had at least some overlap it it's meaning with what DI. *It's work for the Marines way of naming things, something simple and quick that kind of reminds you of it.. *It's monosyllabic. *It's work for aliens in which case DI is their home Turf or home territory... or their alien Lawn where they can plant some 'festive' OC gardens. ;)
Only thing missing for Turf as a submission is the fifth pillar... Pizazz! It just doesn't sounds like it would be cool to it over vchat. Although once it's done I'll probably just get used to whatever the final choice is.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
And conveniently you take out the other meanings of Turf, which is widely used in other countries for this:
7. Horse Race 8. racetrack 9. hippodrome
For me is a no for Turf. But as you mention, I also will use the word that they select for it. And as the game will be translated, you need words that can be used in other languages without sound silly, like growth, perhaps words that don't need to be translated, and that's the case of xenomass (could be other word, I'm open).
<!--quoteo(post=1732531:date=Oct 16 2009, 09:27 PM:name=PaiSand)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PaiSand @ Oct 16 2009, 09:27 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732531"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->And conveniently you take out the other meanings of Turf, which is widely used in other countries for this:
7. Horse Race 8. racetrack 9. hippodrome
For me is a no for Turf. But as you mention, I also will use the word that they select for it. And as the game will be translated, you need words that can be used in other languages without sound silly, like growth, perhaps words that don't need to be translated, and that's the case of xenomass (could be other word, I'm open).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I did have to think about it to get why it would mean those things but I guess you can call it that.
Over here though we would call those more a 'field' or 'track' than a turf, turf is what would go on the field, and the field is where the event would be held.
The point is that, despite whatever alternate definitions may or may not exist if you look up the dictionary definition, native English speakers will automatically read "turf" as either "dirt" or "territory*," neither of which make any sense in the context of invasive alien fungal infestation.
*This usage strongly implies "dirt" or "ground" as well, in the sense of "home soil."
<!--quoteo(post=1732531:date=Oct 16 2009, 04:27 PM:name=PaiSand)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PaiSand @ Oct 16 2009, 04:27 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732531"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->And conveniently you take out the other meanings of Turf, which is widely used in other countries for this:
7. Horse Race 8. racetrack 9. hippodrome<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> WTF!? Your logic is so wrong I still feel the need to defend the validity of "Turf", even though "Turf" is not my favorite choice.
*YES, I conveniently left out the meanings of Turf that don't have to do with grass or territory. It conveniently made the post shorter and more relevant... words can have multiple meanings in one country. And even more so especially when talking about multiple countries that speak the same language. Duh! about different languages.
That's like complaining about "Hive" because aside from "insect colony dwellings" it also means a "rash" (that's actually "hives").
Or that we can't use the name "Marine" because aside from the armed forces "marine" also means from water or the sea.
<!--quoteo(post=1732531:date=Oct 16 2009, 04:27 PM:name=PaiSand)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PaiSand @ Oct 16 2009, 04:27 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732531"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->For me is a no for Turf. But as you mention, I also will use the word that they select for it. And as the game will be translated, you need words that can be used in other languages without sound silly, like growth, perhaps words that don't need to be translated, and that's the case of xenomass (could be other word, I'm open).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->We should limit the discussion to English name for it, for simplicity's sake. When it's translated other names can be figured out completely independently (i.e. movie titles).
My vote is to leave it as DI until after alpha and then we can come up with names from gameplay.
<!--quoteo(post=1732609:date=Oct 17 2009, 07:51 PM:name=IluvBread)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (IluvBread @ Oct 17 2009, 07:51 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732609"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'll just say "Refinery has been infected." rhymes better but makes no sense imo.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Why? It sounds great IMO! You can see the ship or station as some kind of organism, since it's all high-tech and contains a nano grid. Now, the Kharaa in some way "infect" the ship/station or at leat parts of it. It makes sense to call the ship infected then.
I say we call it "The Green Slime" because the idea of something that is growing and spreading, as opposed to the stationary ###### on the walls in NS1, is just to much of a rip on this fine movie: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Slime" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Slime</a>
<!--quoteo(post=1732058:date=Oct 13 2009, 02:32 PM:name=Tull)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tull @ Oct 13 2009, 02:32 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732058"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->How about just imagine that you are a marine trooper setting your foot in an infested space vessel for the first time. As you enter a room full of infested crap, what would be your first reaction?
-"WTF, this room is full of Dynamic Infestation" -"Oh######, this room got cancer" -"WTF, this room got some alien crap all over it" -"Commander, theres a room here filled with some kind of alien weed/infestation" -"Looks like some kind of alien root system has taken over these parts"
Id go with any of the last three (though 'crap' probably wouldn't make it to become a standard word within the higher ranks of the TSA).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'd vote for something where there could be two levels of explanation - let's say that the third option Tull listed (alien crap - which is what I'd think of maybe) would be what the marines would think, that wouldn't be the official name for it, but if AC (or something derived from it) were used as an abbreviation then the TSA may think of a cunning 'proper' name fitting the same thing. Although I can't think of any fitting AC.
Weed (space weed?) would work as far as I'm concerned.
Erk... please no *clever* acronyms - makes the whole thing so silly.
The reason Infestation was going to be changed was that it was a Starcraft thing... the same goes for "Creep" and "Blight" (Warcraft 3). I'd agree that "Infestation" sounds good but that's just because we're *used* to calling it "Dynamic Infestation" (after the video) and because of Starcraft and other games that came before. Actually there's nothing *Dynamic* about the Infestation in itself - the "Dynamic" describes the *process* for procedurally generating Infestation on walls: the engine technology, nothing to do with the actual setting and story of the game. Using "Dynamic" in game would just sound silly:
- "What do you think of this Infestation Private?" - "I find it distinctly Dynamic sir." - "What's that you're saying?" - "It has a certain Dynamism to it - a Dynamic quality as it were." - "What do you mean by this?" - "A certain "Oomph" a little bit of "Je-ne-sais-quoi": a real drive, forcefulness, charisma about it! This is the kind of infestation that says: "Take me - I'm yours!"" - "Oh... I see..." - "Don't ask don't tell sir."
It's also a bit of a misnomer to call it "Infestation" if it's a sort of growth rather than an *infestation* proper. I'd say "Hive" only the Hive is already a building. Since "Cancer" is a common cause of death in humans I hardly think it'd be used to describe a totally different common cause of death in humans:
I mean, when you hear "Cancer" what's the first thing that pops into your head? "Infestation" works because you get an image of a swarm of insects, which fits the Aliens perfectly. "Cancer" not so. Something more technical - less common - like "Neoplasm" (Neo = New, Plasm = Growth) might work better.
By the way: Overgrowth is the name of another indie AAA developed by Wolfire Games (5 people). The NS2 blog actually refers to one of their posts - I'd avoid calling it Overgrowth ;-)
Anyway, I have nothing against "Infestation" but here are some other ideas anyway:
I'm glad to see this here, as I agree that document was a mess. After reading 80% of the suggestions, I felt it was worthless to contribute into that document.
I think ideally the name should sound well themed with the rest of alien terminology. "Khar" can't but used, so I thought Khrust, but that sounds unfavorable coming from the marine. From that I thought Khrud, a little better, but still not great...
I like most "plasm" derived terms for it. That pretty well covers the nature of if. Xenoplasm sounded good.
I like all the Rakshasa (Ramayana) mythology too, and the Kharra make me think of them. I'd even think that's where their name comes from. "Lanka", the lair of Ravana, would be quite appropriate in this regard, as we're talking about the Kharra's ominous territory.
I never assumed Dynamic Infestation to be the intended name, just the mechanic itself, but "infestation" still officially works nicely. The community will shorten it to "fest". I can see people that are not great with English mispronouncing it "feast' which will make less sense, but that happens... The main problem with leaving it at "infestation" is that the Kharra themselves can be classified as an infestation.
Comments
got me thinking about how infestation is a living organism and how it relates to the hive.
kind of 'feelers' for the hive, like one of its senses. A lot like the way hair serves us. Apart from keeping us warm, hair provides us with heightened sensitivity, it can give us an idea of our surroundings etc without us actually reaching out and touching something. Think of the way cat's use their whiskers to test if an opening is big enough for them.
Now I know that hair and infestation look nothing a like, but their underlying function seem similar. I don't know exactly what UWE have planned for infestations functionality, but I get the feeling that it could be used as an early warning system. like if a group of marines walk on the floor of an infested room, on the growth, the feelers, or tentacle things which appear to be the veins of infestation would relay that information back to the hive/alien commanders. not an exact location, but a vague indication that there is something foreign moving in that area of the map.
This idea was sort of sketched in for NS1, a reason behind how aliens could tell if the hive was under attack etc, they were aliens. They don't have radios or wireless internet ;).
Having said all that, I like the sound of <b>Spire/Spier/Spyre/Spya</b> etc. Playing on the idea of infestation, spying on marines.
It's ambiguous enough to represent both the infestation itself, and kharaa chambers, the word SPIRE makes me think of SPORE, and that building from starcraft.
i.e
- "DON'T step on the SPIRE, SOLDIER."
- "Spire? why do you call it spire? It's just gunk."
- "Because it spies on us. It knows."
Yes? No? Am I insane?
just thinking out loud
I think I got it right ^^
Turf is not a good idea:
1. grass
2. lawn
3. sward
4. green
6. sod
7. Horse Race
8. racetrack
9. hippodrome
You'll see, has nothing to do with what infestation is.
As I say it before, you can use Xenomass with other word, so you can use either and people will know what you mean.
Or just <b>Infestation Mass/Leak/yourfavoriteword</b>.
Which.. in a way.. kind of works. I can see Marines talking about a room being "Festive" meaning dangerous, and talking about how a place is starting to fester when the dynamic infestation starts to encroach.
Okay, I'm changing my vote from "mass" to "fest".. has the benefit that it's a made up word that ties into others.
Fail. Is English your 1st language? If not, sorry for making fun of you for failing at English.
lol zex. Not only did you miss the joke with the sarcasm, but then your follow-up calling out the mistake (that never actually happened) was kind of rude.
I like 'fest' as the short version of infestation. And the "festive" bid would make a great funny voice taunt for the marines. Something involving the words 'festive' and something about fireworks would be great.
Turf is not a good idea:
1. grass
2. lawn
3. sward
4. green
6. sod
7. Horse Race
8. racetrack
9. hippodrome
You'll see, has nothing to do with what infestation is.
As I say it before, you can use Xenomass with other word, so you can use either and people will know what you mean.
Or just <b>Infestation Mass/Leak/yourfavoriteword</b>.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I wasn't talking about Turf in the sense of grass or lawns. I'm talking as in their territory.
turf (tûrf)
n. pl. turfs also turves (tûrvz)
A geographical area; a territory.
Again, Xenomass just sounds too silly. It's like anything related to the Aliens has to have the word Xeno infront of it. I don't think it's necessary. Plus the devs want just a single syllable. Turf works out fine in that case. It's meaning also holds up to what the Dynamic Infestation is. It IS the Alien territory that spreads across the map. And Marines may intrude their territory right? It clicks. Xenomass sounds too scientific, although it does make sense but just the sound of the word is something people would get sick of saying. Turf gives you that oomph. I can imagine players really using the term lots. I'm not saying my choice is the right choice, I'm not saying yours is the wrong choice. It's really up to the devs.
Gunk!
Turf is not a good idea:
1. grass
2. lawn
...
You'll see, has nothing to do with what infestation is.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Turf
*green, alive, grows, generally on the ground, is can be nourishing for some animal, is it laid down. So it had at least some overlap it it's meaning with what DI.
*It's work for the Marines way of naming things, something simple and quick that kind of reminds you of it..
*It's monosyllabic.
*It's work for aliens in which case DI is their home Turf or home territory... or their alien Lawn where they can plant some 'festive' OC gardens. ;)
Only thing missing for Turf as a submission is the fifth pillar... Pizazz! It just doesn't sounds like it would be cool to it over vchat. Although once it's done I'll probably just get used to whatever the final choice is.
*green, alive, grows, generally on the ground, is can be nourishing for some animal, is it laid down. So it had at least some overlap it it's meaning with what DI.
*It's work for the Marines way of naming things, something simple and quick that kind of reminds you of it..
*It's monosyllabic.
*It's work for aliens in which case DI is their home Turf or home territory... or their alien Lawn where they can plant some 'festive' OC gardens. ;)
Only thing missing for Turf as a submission is the fifth pillar... Pizazz! It just doesn't sounds like it would be cool to it over vchat. Although once it's done I'll probably just get used to whatever the final choice is.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thank you for supporting my idea! :)
7. Horse Race
8. racetrack
9. hippodrome
For me is a no for Turf. But as you mention, I also will use the word that they select for it. And as the game will be translated, you need words that can be used in other languages without sound silly, like growth, perhaps words that don't need to be translated, and that's the case of xenomass (could be other word, I'm open).
7. Horse Race
8. racetrack
9. hippodrome
For me is a no for Turf. But as you mention, I also will use the word that they select for it. And as the game will be translated, you need words that can be used in other languages without sound silly, like growth, perhaps words that don't need to be translated, and that's the case of xenomass (could be other word, I'm open).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I did have to think about it to get why it would mean those things but I guess you can call it that.
Over here though we would call those more a 'field' or 'track' than a turf, turf is what would go on the field, and the field is where the event would be held.
<a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/turf" target="_blank">http://www.thefreedictionary.com/turf</a>
<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turf" target="_blank">http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turf</a>
*This usage strongly implies "dirt" or "ground" as well, in the sense of "home soil."
That'll be what I call it, regardless of name it's given.
That'll be what I call it, regardless of name it's given.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yus
7. Horse Race
8. racetrack
9. hippodrome<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
WTF!? Your logic is so wrong I still feel the need to defend the validity of "Turf", even though "Turf" is not my favorite choice.
*YES, I conveniently left out the meanings of Turf that don't have to do with grass or territory. It conveniently made the post shorter and more relevant... words can have multiple meanings in one country. And even more so especially when talking about multiple countries that speak the same language. Duh! about different languages.
That's like complaining about "Hive" because aside from "insect colony dwellings" it also means a "rash" (that's actually "hives").
Or that we can't use the name "Marine" because aside from the armed forces "marine" also means from water or the sea.
<!--quoteo(post=1732531:date=Oct 16 2009, 04:27 PM:name=PaiSand)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PaiSand @ Oct 16 2009, 04:27 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1732531"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->For me is a no for Turf. But as you mention, I also will use the word that they select for it. And as the game will be translated, you need words that can be used in other languages without sound silly, like growth, perhaps words that don't need to be translated, and that's the case of xenomass (could be other word, I'm open).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->We should limit the discussion to English name for it, for simplicity's sake. When it's translated other names can be figured out completely independently (i.e. movie titles).
My vote is to leave it as DI until after alpha and then we can come up with names from gameplay.
Ex:
How's that for a simple name?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes, but since we also play from the point of view of aliens we can't call it crap.
It's not like the aliens will go "dropping crap here."
x)
Acutally, infestation sounds great, but it feels like I'll just say "Refinery has been infected." rhymes better but makes no sense imo.
Why? It sounds great IMO! You can see the ship or station as some kind of organism, since it's all high-tech and contains a nano grid. Now, the Kharaa in some way "infect" the ship/station or at leat parts of it. It makes sense to call the ship infected then.
-"WTF, this room is full of Dynamic Infestation"
-"Oh######, this room got cancer"
-"WTF, this room got some alien crap all over it"
-"Commander, theres a room here filled with some kind of alien weed/infestation"
-"Looks like some kind of alien root system has taken over these parts"
Id go with any of the last three (though 'crap' probably wouldn't make it to become a standard word within the higher ranks of the TSA).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'd vote for something where there could be two levels of explanation - let's say that the third option Tull listed (alien crap - which is what I'd think of maybe) would be what the marines would think, that wouldn't be the official name for it, but if AC (or something derived from it) were used as an abbreviation then the TSA may think of a cunning 'proper' name fitting the same thing. Although I can't think of any fitting AC.
Weed (space weed?) would work as far as I'm concerned.
The reason Infestation was going to be changed was that it was a Starcraft thing... the same goes for "Creep" and "Blight" (Warcraft 3). I'd agree that "Infestation" sounds good but that's just because we're *used* to calling it "Dynamic Infestation" (after the video) and because of Starcraft and other games that came before. Actually there's nothing *Dynamic* about the Infestation in itself - the "Dynamic" describes the *process* for procedurally generating Infestation on walls: the engine technology, nothing to do with the actual setting and story of the game. Using "Dynamic" in game would just sound silly:
- "What do you think of this Infestation Private?"
- "I find it distinctly Dynamic sir."
- "What's that you're saying?"
- "It has a certain Dynamism to it - a Dynamic quality as it were."
- "What do you mean by this?"
- "A certain "Oomph" a little bit of "Je-ne-sais-quoi": a real drive, forcefulness, charisma about it! This is the kind of infestation that says: "Take me - I'm yours!""
- "Oh... I see..."
- "Don't ask don't tell sir."
It's also a bit of a misnomer to call it "Infestation" if it's a sort of growth rather than an *infestation* proper. I'd say "Hive" only the Hive is already a building. Since "Cancer" is a common cause of death in humans I hardly think it'd be used to describe a totally different common cause of death in humans:
- "She's dead... Cancer."
- "Leukaemia?"
- "No, Aliens..."
I mean, when you hear "Cancer" what's the first thing that pops into your head? "Infestation" works because you get an image of a swarm of insects, which fits the Aliens perfectly. "Cancer" not so. Something more technical - less common - like "Neoplasm" (Neo = New, Plasm = Growth) might work better.
By the way: Overgrowth is the name of another indie AAA developed by Wolfire Games (5 people). The NS2 blog actually refers to one of their posts - I'd avoid calling it Overgrowth ;-)
Anyway, I have nothing against "Infestation" but here are some other ideas anyway:
- Biomass
- Growth
- Reef
- Neoplasm (New Grown)
- Xenoplasm (Foreign/Alien Growth)
I especially like the last one :-D
Oh and if not Di would be great too =)
I like the sound of "Contaminant detected"...
I think ideally the name should sound well themed with the rest of alien terminology. "Khar" can't but used, so I thought Khrust, but that sounds unfavorable coming from the marine. From that I thought Khrud, a little better, but still not great...
I like most "plasm" derived terms for it. That pretty well covers the nature of if. Xenoplasm sounded good.
I like all the Rakshasa (Ramayana) mythology too, and the Kharra make me think of them. I'd even think that's where their name comes from. "Lanka", the lair of Ravana, would be quite appropriate in this regard, as we're talking about the Kharra's ominous territory.
I never assumed Dynamic Infestation to be the intended name, just the mechanic itself, but "infestation" still officially works nicely. The community will shorten it to "fest". I can see people that are not great with English mispronouncing it "feast' which will make less sense, but that happens... The main problem with leaving it at "infestation" is that the Kharra themselves can be classified as an infestation.
So I'll give my votes to:
Khrud
Xenoplasm
Lanka