Anex Realistic System Names

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Anexgohan
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:16 pm

Anex Realistic System Names

Post by Anexgohan »

Around 5000+ System names that are IAU-approved Star Names and painstakingly put together from various sources and real names,
removed most of the incomprehensible, Greek, Arabic, and Scientific naming and replaced them with common names for those stars.

Also, I hate the Alpha <starname>, Beta <starname>, Omega <starname>, etc type designations so I removed all alpha, beta type references, so a star like "Alpha Centauri" becomes just "Centauri" in this list, most of the star names are just single word. This helps a ton with Readability and Pronouncing as well as makes it easier to remember.

Just extract the zip and replace your "SystemNames.txt" under "..\Distant Worlds 2\data" directory and overwrite the file.
New Names are only applied to a new game.

Steam Link:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2941773051

I hope you enjoy it,
Use and Reuse as you like no credit needed, open for anybody to do anything with it.

Update:
version: 1.3.0
- added 3500+ more names, making a total of 5300 unique names.
- names now also included from popular Shows, Movies, Science fiction and games.
Attachments
AnexRealisticSystemNames.zip
Update:
version: 1.3.0
- added 3500+ more names, making a total of 5300 unique names.
- names now also included from popular Shows, Movies, Science fiction and games.
(765.13 KiB) Downloaded 15 times
Last edited by Anexgohan on Tue May 13, 2025 6:13 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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frankycl
Posts: 401
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Re: Anex 1300 System Names IAU-approved Star Names & more

Post by frankycl »

Hey, this is great - thank you very much for sharing it. :mrgreen:

But did you know, there already existed a similar list with real names from >Stuie< ? - This is great, too: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 3af310b591 :D

... and best thing of these 2: together you can now expand each of them to 2000 star-names ! :mrgreen:
Anexgohan
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:16 pm

Re: Anex 1300 System Names IAU-approved Star Names & more

Post by Anexgohan »

frankycl wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 9:39 am Hey, this is great - thank you very much for sharing it. :mrgreen:

But did you know, there already existed a similar list with real names from >Stuie< ? - This is great, too: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 3af310b591 :D

... and best thing of these 2: together you can now expand each of them to 2000 star-names ! :mrgreen:
I absolutely hate the Aplha <starname>, Beta <starname>, Omega <starname>, Phi <starname>, type stuff that is in that realistic names mod, so I don't have it in my list, if you like that sort of stuff, sure merge the two.
Anyways I have updated the mod and added 450 more names to it. This makes a total of 1700 ish UNIQUE names which should be more than enough for largest of galaxies without duplicates.
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frankycl
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Re: Anex 1300 System Names IAU-approved Star Names & more

Post by frankycl »

Anexgohan wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 11:10 am I absolutely hate the Aplha <starname>, Beta <starname>, Omega <starname>, Phi <starname>, type stuff that is in that realistic names mod, so I don't have it in my list, if you like that sort of stuff, sure merge the two.
Anyways I have updated the mod and added 450 more names to it. This makes a total of 1700 ish UNIQUE names which should be more than enough for largest of galaxies without duplicates.
That's even more great - thanks again. :D (and yes, I do like both of those lists ;) )
Anexgohan
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:16 pm

Re: Anex 1700 System Names IAU-approved Star Names & more

Post by Anexgohan »

Released on Steam:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2941773051

Cleaned up some names
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rxnnxs
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Re: Anex Realistic System Names

Post by rxnnxs »

Thank you, good work!
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Kahnite
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Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 1:55 am

Re: Anex Realistic System Names

Post by Kahnite »

Hi Anex,
I started a game with your mod in place (Steam), but the names didn't come through. I see the mod in the mod folder, and it shows up in the game's mod list. (Still working on my list in the background using IAU, Bayer designations, and some fictional names (just to fill in). Sorry I'm old school, and an astronomer, so I like the Bayer designations.)
Sincerely,
Kahnite
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frankycl
Posts: 401
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Re: Anex Realistic System Names

Post by frankycl »

Kahnite wrote: Mon Apr 03, 2023 10:22 pm Hi Anex,
I started a game with your mod in place (Steam), but the names didn't come through. I see the mod in the mod folder, and it shows up in the game's mod list. (Still working on my list in the background using IAU, Bayer designations, and some fictional names (just to fill in). Sorry I'm old school, and an astronomer, so I like the Bayer designations.)
Steam stores and uses mods differently - that's why you can't use them like you do outside of Steam (although) they are listed in the mod-manager. :?
But for this simple mod you could also simply exchange the 1 file you need (SystemNames.txt) manually in the data-folder - then even Steam will use them without needing to activate anything in-game. ;)
AKicebear
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Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:11 pm

Re: Anex Realistic System Names

Post by AKicebear »

If you have multiple mods of the same file you may have to ensure the file suffix is different so they are merged correctly. Eg Races_1.xml, races_2.xml, etc. I think this is how it works...
Anexgohan
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:16 pm

Re: Anex Realistic System Names

Post by Anexgohan »

Update:
version: 1.3.0
- added 3500+ more names, making a total of 5300 unique names.
- names now also included from popular Shows, Movies, Science fiction and games.
Ataraxzy
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2022 2:43 am

Re: Anex Realistic System Names

Post by Ataraxzy »

The Greek letter designation comes from cataloging stars visible to the unaided eye in constellations, cataloged by Bayer in 1603: the rough brightness of each star in its particular constellation as seen from a planet determining its order: Alpha Centauri is the brightest star in Centarus, the Centaur.

This isn't always followed for technical reasons when the constellation tends to be near the horizon, as well as allowances for not having advanced optics 420+ years ago. For example, the second brightest star in Orion the Hunter, Betelgeuse, is Alpha Orionis, while the brightest, Rigel, is Beta Orionis. Their Proper Names are Betelgeuse and Rigel. Their Bayer Designations are Alpha and Beta Orionis. Many stars visible to the unaided eye do not have Proper Names, only Bayer designations (and other catalog designations, usually important only to astronomers like me, see Side Note, below)

You have confused the Bayer designation, which is cultural, and the actual and only proper name of many of these stars, and absolutely should be included, with the astronomical naming convention for co-orbiting bodies.

Co-orbital bodies are labeled A-Z for stars and b-z (skipping 'a') for planets and are placed at the END of the stellar system's name. As an example, Tau Bootes Ab is the first discovered planet, 'b', orbiting the primary star 'A' of the Tau Bootes system. Tau Bootes is 19th star listed in the Bootes system, Tau being the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet. It is preceeded by Sigma Bootes and followed by Upsilon Bootes. Tau is actually a binary pair. The primary, A, is an F-type and the secondary, B, an M-type, much cooler and smaller. They are formally known as Tau Bootes A and Tau Bootes B. If there were some planets orbiting around Tau Bootes B (unlikely, given its orbit), they would be designated Tau Bootes Bb, Bc, Bd and so on, in order of discovery, not distance from the star.

You should probably re-add the names, because, again, there are many stars where their constellation name, or Bayer designation, is their ONLY name. Orionis isn't a name, it's a genitive for the constellation Orion. Alpha Orionis, however, IS a name. It's the Bayer designation name for the primary star in the constellation Orion, Betelgeuse. The Tau Bootes system, however, has no other name, and your schema denudes it of one.

Side Note: Stellar names like "51 Pegasi" are another catalog of names, by Flamsteed. We use the Flamsteed catalog names when there is no Bayer catalog name, or when there could be confusion. And again, often this is the ONLY name for the star, so removing it denudes the star of its name.

Hopefully this clears up the misunderstanding. If you actually want "realism", then re-adding these is really the only "realistic" option.
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