Project Zodiac
Project Zodiac was a proposal by chiefbozx to standardize the names of many of the lakes around the server. Given that there are 12 major bodies of water and they're spread (roughly) circularly around Central City, Project Zodiac names the lakes in accordance with the zodiac sign corresponding to each lake's degree offset from due north.
(The lakes don't perfectly match the typical degree offsets, and they are technically assigned "backwards" compared to how the Earth actually orbits. However, if you orientate yourself upside down - that is, "below" the Earth's orbital plane, and look up - it all works. Here 0° is assigned as due north and degrees increase clockwise.)
The Lakes
- Aries Ocean would be the large ocean consisting of the islands and Mushroom Island in the northeast.
- Lake Taurus would be split into two arms. North Lake Taurus would be the segment northeast of Huntington and New Bakersville City, and South Lake Taurus would be the segment southwest of Huntington. The MRT Marina, BirchView, and Bakersville would all be lakefront cities to South Lake Taurus.
- Lake Gemini would be split into three segments. West Lake Gemini is the segment west of Airchester, Lake Gemini is due east of Airchester, and North Lake Gemini is north of Farwater.
- Lake Cancer would not be split into any segments. Pearl Coast is located on a bay that is a part of Lake Cancer.
- Lake Leo would be split into three segments: West Lake Leo for the segment between Schillerton, Whiteley and Zaquar, Lake Leo for the segment between Zaquar and Elecna Bay, and East Lake Leo for the segment east of Elecna Bay.
- Lake Virgo is the large lake south of Schillerton and the southwest mesa biome. Numark and Birdhall would have direct lake access via the lagoon at Birdhall.
- Lake Libra is the smaller lake in the southwest corner of the map. As of yet there is little to no development there. It would be split into West and East Lake Libra.
- Lake Scorpio would be the lake on which cities like Daneburg, Falloway, Camino, and Espil currently sit.
- Lake Sagittarius would be the large body of water due west of Central City. Like Lake Libra, there is little to no development here yet.
- Lake Capricorn is the smaller lake by Vermilion, Whitechapel, Ilirea, Kenthurst, and Evella. It is currently known by several unofficial names, including West Lake.
- Lake Aquarius is the small lake in the north-northwest portion of the map. Aside from the island in the middle of the lake, there's not much development there as the lake only became accessible with the Epsilon expansion.
- Lake Pisces would round out the list. Quiris and Stoneedge are located on its southern shore. In addition to Lake Pisces, there's a small mini-lake to the west that is attached to Lake Pisces that would be named West Lake Pisces. Northeast of the swamp biome on the north side of the lake, and north of the nearby islands, would also be split into North Lake Pisces.
Rivers and canals
Waterways between lakes would retain the names that they currently have. The major waterways include:
- Between Lake Scorpio and Lake Capricorn: Xandar-Vekta Canal
- Between Lake Capricorn and Lake Taurus: Seneca Canal
- Between Lake Taurus and Lake Gemini: North Redloch Canal
Alternatives
After discussing the idea with a few others, it became apparent that while the idea is sound, the specific theme could be something a little more appropriate for a transit and city oriented server. Below are some alternatives. The colors refer to the color of the matching lake on the map above, though the names could conceivably be used in any order.
| Theme | Red lake | Orange lake | Yellow lake | Olive lake | Green lake | Teal lake | Cyan lake | Light blue lake | Dark blue lake | Purple lake | Magenta lake | Reddish ocean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zodiac signs | Pisces | Aquarius | Capricorn | Sagittarius | Scorpio | Libra | Virgo | Leo | Cancer | Gemini | Taurus | Aries |
| Old World cities | Barrow | Wood | Orwyn | Crystal | Talihina | Stanwood | Houghton | Pagoda | Big Lake | Atlantis | Whelburn | Mycelium |
| Old World MRT termini† | Prubourne | Gund | Kalmar | Eisitasi | Chuno | Auden | Nanthaven | Cactus | Morningside | Atlantis | Valley | Mycelium |
| Fare cards | Charlie | Compass | Octopus | Opal | Ventra | Orca | Clipper | Presto | Breeze | Opus | Metro | Oyster |
† Some extra stations are listed (such as B1 Gund Valley twice, and both B28 Nanthaven and B29 Cactusville) to fill the list. O1 MRT International Airport is not listed.