Planet names and numbers

[VikingBoyBilly]

I want to get something clarified here... First of all, we have a planet named VorticonVI, which implies that the vorticons have (or had) five other existing homeworlds that pre-date it in chronology. Then there's Gnosticus IV, which has the same implications. But KorathIII is officially described as "The third planet in the Korath system."

This tells us that there aren't two other homeworlds for the korath race, but rather, it is the third planet from the sun in Korath's solar system (all named Korath I, II, III... respectively), and the first two worlds may or may not have ever been inhabited at all.

Could this also mean that VorticonVI is the sixth planet in the vorticon solar system, and GnosticusIV is the 4th? But Fribbulus Xax does not have a number next to it's name, so it could either be the first planet in its system or their solar system doesn't follow the same planet naming conventions as those other systems (like Earth and Mars in our system).

Any theories/conclusions as to what these numbers mean?

[tulip]

I'd rather go with the fourth and sixth planet in the system thing. Why should the Vorticons have 5 predating homeworlds? I've never heard of something like that.
If you compare the "planets with number" of Commander Keen with other places like Star Wars or Star Trek you will find that there are also numbers according to the position of the planet in the system.

On the other hand I find it hard to believe that someone should call his own homeworld something like "Sol 3", no, we call our planet Earth.
So I suspect that Vorticon VI isn't what the Vorticons called their Planet originally, but what outsiders like Keen and Mort called it.

Third Fribbulus Xax consists of two words. So there are different possibilities for their meaning:
1.Xax could also be an number in Bloog
2.Their sun could either be called Fribbulus or Xax and the Planet may be defined by the other word.
3.Same as our Sol system, the Planets here all have different names.

[Commander Spleen]

Indeed, the only explanation that's ever made sense to me is that the numbers indicate their position in the planetary system (not Solar System, as that's a local name for our system).

I wonder what outsiders would call our system, given some basic information about us (let alone languages, but in the scope of the Keen games, that doesn't apply). Perhaps they'd call our world Human III or Sapiens III? Though I guess Korath and Gnosticus don't derive their name from the dominant species. Well, Gnosticus sort of does, as it refers to the wise oracle and its council... anyway, I'm ranting.

As for Fribbulus Xax, that name always bewildered me. The first time I really paid attention to it, I though it said Frivolous. When I figured out what it really said, it made even less sense. Is the entire planet referred to as that, or is it just that particular section of the planet, like the Shadowlands? I don't recall any specifics in that regard.

[KeenRush]

@Spleen: Fribbulus Xax is the name of the planet, and we see most of the planet (like with Mars in Keen 1) -- it's also the name of level map. So, not like with Keen 4.

[Malvineous]

Well the two countries Nihon-koku and Deutschland are called Japan and Germany by outsiders, whereas Australia is still called Australia, so I imagine it depends on whether any outsiders communicate with the natives before naming it.

If outsiders communicated with us they might name our planet Earth once they found out what we call it, whereas if they saw our system through a telescope with no idea we were living here they'd no doubt come up with their own name.

[MortimerInBlack]

Mal makes excellent points. The fact is that we use the roman numeral suffix in astronomy already--it is already conventional to do that. That's where star wars, star trek and commander keen got the idea in the first place. Just go to wikipedia and look up the list of Saturns moons--you will see the roman numeral designations for many of them.

The convention is that first comes the name of the central body, and I (roman numeral 1) starts with the closest orbiting thing. So Earth would be called Sol 3. However, this gets problematic because sometimes you discover more bodies that upset the order of everything else. What if another planet before Korath III was discovered? Then it would become Korath IV.

On the other hand I find it hard to believe that someone should call his own homeworld something like "Sol 3", no, we call our planet Earth.
So I suspect that Vorticon VI isn't what the Vorticons called their Planet originally, but what outsiders like Keen and Mort called it.

I agree, which is why I think Vorticon VI, Korath III, and the others are just what EARTH has named them. Personally, in my stories I have decided that the Vorticons call their planet "Vort," but that it is still the sixth planet in their solar system.

[LJH]

Well the two countries Nihon-koku and Deutschland are called Japan and Germany by outsiders, whereas Australia is still called Australia, so I imagine it depends on whether any outsiders communicate with the natives before naming it.

If outsiders communicated with us they might name our planet Earth once they found out what we call it, whereas if they saw our system through a telescope with no idea we were living here they'd no doubt come up with their own name.

Bit off topic but I've never once heard Japan referred to as Nihon-koku, whether by native speakers or foreigners. Usually "Nihon", occasionally "Nippon".

[Malvineous]

Well I couldn't remember if it was Nihon or Nihongo, so I checked Wikipedia. Turns out Nihon-koku is the full official name, but everyone just shortens it to Nihon. No wonder I'd never heard of it either

Also, just idle wondering, the Vorticons could have called their planet Vorticon, but outsiders took this and used it as the name of the whole system. Therefore they had to use Vorticon VI for the specific planet, even though the natives have always just called it Vorticon.

Of course I imagine someone like Tom Hall really just added it to make it sound cooler

[tulip]

Although Malvineous really has a point, the example with Germany and Australia isn't good.
The name of a country differs in each language, but that is because of its history, not only: Germany is called Allemagne in French, and totally different names in Polish or Italian. That's because it wasn't a single country. Until the 19th century there was no Deutschland, and no German national spirit, it's been many different small states. The names for it come from the different ethnical groups that lived in that geographical area.

And Australia? That's what the English called it, when they came there and colonized it, but do you really know what the aborigines call their country? I bet it differs.

[StupidBunny]

I agree with what Tulip says. Every country has its name for every other country. The fact that there is a "VI" on the planet's name, but that the species explicitly refer to themselves as Vorticons (the Big V) means that, most likely, the name Vorticon is applied to their star system and not just their planet, either by outsiders or by themselves. And if it's the latter then Vorticon is probably also the name for their planet.

[Marty Chang]

Usually planets are called by the name of their star and their place in the sequence of planets that orbit said star, e.g. Earth would be called Sol III. Vorticon VI is probably the 6th planet in the Vorticon star system, and Gnosticus IV is the 4th planet in the Gnosticus system.

[jonnyspeight]

maybe the word 'Xax' is a real number simply in a different alien language, so Fribbulus Xax

[Galaxieretter]

Maybe there is only one planet IN the solar system and it doesn't matter what it's called. It would be redundant to call it something like "Fribbulus Xax 1." Besides, I heard somewhere (and perhaps I could be wrong) that most stars only have one planet anyway. Maybe it's just, simply called "Fribbulus Xax" like how "Sol 3" is called "Earth." Perhaps the star's name is Fribbulus and the planet Xax?

I have a question though. How do you denote an asteroid field? Like the one between Mars and Jupiter?

[MortimerInBlack]

I don't think there is a standard way to name them. Our main asteroid field is just called the asteroid field. There are some other asteroid fields in our system though, like the trojan and the apollo fields.

Not every field is the same kind of thing. For instance, the trojans orbit the same orbit that Jupiter does, but they keep far away from it. In fact, I just learned on wikipedia that 'trojan' refers to any kind of satellite that shares an orbit with a planet. The apollos are called that because the first asteroid discovered in it was called 1862 Apollo.

[jonnyspeight]

there are other asteroid field? i thought there was just the one