Hi, everyone I'm writing a plot for the video game. It's set in the 1950's Chicago in a parallel reality. Except for the technologies life and "hats'n'tompsons" setting is pretty much as we know it from movies and books. Currently I'm developing names for the main characters. Please advise if they are authentic enough for these times and they "feel right" - since I'm from Ukraine my knowledge on the subject are restricted to movies, books and internet . In case you've got some other suggestions - please share them, it'll be much useful for me. Main playable character: Ethan Coldridge (private investigator) - 39 y.o. Main villain: Frank Wyatt (CEO of the large heavy industries empire) - 41 y.o. Main villain's younger brother: Andrew Wyatt (genius inventor) - 31 y.o. Main villain's right hand: Vincent Garza (ex-military, ex-con) - 42 y.o. One of the MC helpers: Abigail Farris (bar singer) - 29 y.o. One of the MC helpers: Jeremy Thorn (gunsmith, engineer) - 56 y.o. That's all for now. Thank you in advance
The only one that didn't look right on the eyes is "Vincent Garza". The name Garza didn't seem right (it may be - I'm no expert). Also, in dialogue there maybe scope for the player to get confused with Gaza. Not necessarily a problem in itself, but the player's mind may be distracted from the information being given.
The 1950s was only 60 years ago. Last names generally haven't changed much since then, and since names tend to last for generations, they don't usually change much (except for the obvious unusual times, such as vast waves of immigration from countries and inept recording, but that usually was due to the earlier wave of immigration, more toward the beginning of the century, rather than mid century). All of the first names have been around for a long time, so I don't see any problem with their use, either.
My only other thought is that the "hats'n'thompsons" thing smacks far more of the 1920s than the 1950s.
That's actually what i was afraid of: i don't want the game to have the atmosphere of 1920's - instead i want to move it more towards "Sky Captain and the world of tomorrow", "The Shadow" with Alec Baldwin and such
while bad guys had more sophisticated weaponry than the thompson [with an 'h'] submachine gun ['tommy gun'] in the 50s [such as the 'uzi'], tommy guns were still in use then by some cops and robbers and weren't dropped by the feebs [FBI] till they were declared obsolete and destroyed in the early '70s...
I have no idea if the names ring true to that specific era, but I really like those names. The first and last names go really well together I think and they are easy to pronounce.
The first names do change, but not hugely. But there are also variations in HOW the names are used. The 1950s are kind of the tail end of the era you're talking about, it sounds more 1940s. Vincent is more likely to be called Vinnie (Vincent Price notwithstanding). Ethan is plausible, but not a name that was "in style" for a gumshoe of that era. A good, solid monosyllabic name works, or a diminutive of such a name (Mike, Matt, John or Johnny, Ed, Sam, Nick, but no Chad or Percy). I could buy Abigail, but Gloria, Rita or Lola might work better. All the names work, in a sense, but some fit the period feel better than others.
Thanks for the "HOW" hint, i thought about it. But Garza is a psychopath type of guy, he'll beat the s**t out of anyone, who'll call him Vinnie to his face: all his life he's trying to get into the "royal" high society and to his mind calling him officially Vincent is a first step in that ladder. As for the short names - i will definitely use some of those, because i still need like 7-8 names for the first line characters. And thanks for the "Gloria and Rita" - these ones slipped my mind, i'll consider changing it in case Aby will not sound right enough. Lola is not the right one for sure - wrong associations: too slutty, to my mind at least By the way here's another two for the critics: Main villain's confidante: Ed (Eddy) Purcell - 58 y.o. Police chief - Sam Norwood 56 y.o. Also i'm stuck with the name for the MC's close war buddy - i want to say... Johnny-Tommy-something..? 37 y.o In case you've got some ideas to share - please do it, it would be much appreciated
