Danimal So, I was thinking that at some point I will need to create tech names and filler text for the many technologies to discover in my Sci-fi game. Some will be for things like generators, engines, heat sinkers, weapons types, add ons... What approach do you take for maning these and creating some flavour text for it?
so, 3 things:
many technologies are named after their inventors/discoverers, like, the Higgs boson is named after Peter Higgs. So any random surname can be used to describe a specific technology. there was this old DOS game called Ascendancy and one of the first engines was called the "Tonklin motor".
In star trek, the inventor of warp tech was called Zefram Cochrane, so when they measure things sometimes they would use "micro Cochranes".
and some sci-fi uses names of real world scientists to name things, like a "sea of Dirac".
you also have to consider that aliens will have their own inventors/discoverers, or may name things differently, like the "ashes of creation" could be just a nuclear reactor, but the culture calls it that way.
many technologies are also descriptive, like a "neutron" is a neutral particle, or an "inertial dampener" or "transporter". they are named after what they are or what they do.
others have a history behind them, like some people call a tablet an "Ipad" even if it's not made by apple, or "bugs" in code are named after the time a bug got inside a computer and burned the circuits.
just think of a story behind it and use it. you can clarify somewhere else, making people curious is a good thing.
Danimal sci-fi is kind of easy since you don´t really have to be very cohesive and can go the "Rule of cool
you are thinking of fantasy
Danimal but when doing some rpg or worldbuilding it takes on another level since everything must be tied in some way.
it doesn't matter if you are a scientist or not, we all know some level of science from school and our daily lives.
some of the worst sci-fi writers were scientists, and some of the best was made by ignorant people. and some of the most recognized don't make sense because the author didn't know what he was talking about (3 laws of robotics) but were still successful.
as long as you don't write complete nonsense like battlefield earth, it will be fine.