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Universe names

#1
My suggestion has already been approved by Josh, but I want to detail it here, because KS comments have a way of getting buried deep. :roll:

So here's the thing: universe seeds are numbers. As of this writing, they are limited to 2^32 (= 4294967296), but Josh said many times he would have no problem bumping that limit to 2^64 (= 1.8E19), but who would remember a number with 20 digits? I mean, maybe some of us could, but I sure couldn't! :lol:

There be number bases. You know, like hexadecimal, except more awesome.
The 36 base (hexatredecimal) uses the following digits: 0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Which gives us an extremely simple code to convert a word (or a set of letters and digits) into a universe seed. Just convert from base 36 to base 10 and off you go. Sure it's a pain to do by hand, but coding a converter is really easy (there are plenty of them online, like this one) so it will not take much time from the rest of development.

Also, because 2^64 is a pretty big number, we can use 12 characters-long seeds (in base 36) and still stay well below limit.

Here are a few examples:

By Deej:
  • LIMITTHEORY = 78670946343717360
By Johnman:
  • SERENITY = 2226328746262
By yours truly:
  • CHAOS = 20962396
  • INFINITY = 1461559270678
  • RAINBOW = 59409106160
  • BATTLE = 683315474
  • ASIMOV = 652560223
  • ELECSHEEP = 41172434538289
  • MILLENIUM = 63521979748654
  • 124C41 = 64027729
  • JOSH = 918593
  • AWESOME = 23727593894
So, if you don't mind sharing, what universe seeds would you be tempted to try out? 8-)
Last edited by Atarun on Fri Nov 23, 2012 5:23 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Universe names

#9
phil wrote:In the higher Kickstarter pledges, Josh specifically mentions universe 3827. This would come out as "2YB" - not the most inspiring name, I was hoping it would come out as "GOD" or something :)
The base 36 idea came many days after the campaign launch. If anything, it'd be frightening if 3827, which was chosen as a base 10 number, meant anything when converted in base 36. :mrgreen:
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Re: Universe names

#13
Atarun wrote:
phil wrote:In the higher Kickstarter pledges, Josh specifically mentions universe 3827. This would come out as "2YB" - not the most inspiring name, I was hoping it would come out as "GOD" or something :)
The base 36 idea came many days after the campaign launch. If anything, it'd be frightening if 3827, which was chosen as a base 10 number, meant anything when converted in base 36. :mrgreen:
Thanks Atarun, I was saying it as a joke. Yes it would have been pretty spooky.
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Re: Universe names

#15
phil wrote:In the higher Kickstarter pledges, Josh specifically mentions universe 3827. This would come out as "2YB" - not the most inspiring name, I was hoping it would come out as "GOD" or something :)
The number is an ever-so-subtle Star Wars reference ;)
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford

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