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The flow of information from SS13 can be pretty hard to manage. The purpose of this proposal is to provide users a tool to manage the information. With this proposal, the current chatOutput window remains, no matter what, and accepts 90% of the to_chat messages. (by souce code reference, not by frequency of use.) So all your in-game messages to the user ("You feel a tiny prick!", "Joe Diphtheria coughs!", <object description text>, "The glass table breaks!", "You feel like having some nicotine right about now!") -- These all stay as they have been, along with any channels you haven't messed with. However, the current headset TGUI gets expanded. Right now it looks like this... With this proposed change, Instead of just a column of checkboxes, there's now a new grid of radio buttons. Now for each channel, you can can choose (in columns) among: "A / B / C / Main / Mute" "Mute" is the same as the current "Unchecked" behavior. Put it in mute and you don't hear it. "Main" is the same as the current "Checked" behavior -- the chatter from that channel is mixed in with all other chatOutput messages. The new behavior -- If you have any channels sorted into the "A/B/C" categories, then your chat window splits into (up to) four panes. How many panes it splits to depends on how many different categories you have configured using the radio buttons). Here's an example comms setup: (you'll have to imagine the tgui for this part, I haven't prototyped it yet.) A - Antagonist (this is the roll-up of traitor comms, changeling hivemind, spider talk, whatever kind of baddie you are) A - Command (This also sets the routing for CentCom / ERT / Deathsquad / Admin messages too) A - Security B - Engineering B - Science B - Medical Main - Supply Mute - Service B - Procedure C - Common So that's me as a player expressing comms preferences of: Most important -- Antag / Command / Security (So if you're an antag, antag comms matter. If you're a captain or head, then Cmd/Sec matter. If you somehow are actually hearing radio chatter from all three of these channels simultaneously, then you're you're definitely living your best life.) Moderate Importance - Engi / Sci / Medical / Procedure (Three of these departments kinda matter, and I guess I'd better at least keep that IAA asshole engaged, so he doesn't go faxing CC over nothing... (Again!) ) Low Importance - Common (The gretytde wasteland needs its own (ignorable) window.) Main output - Supply, plus All the other in-game messages. (That QM doens't know how to shut up, I'll stick him with the rest of the stuff, like getting shot) Muted output - Service (I can't possibly be bothered with whatever the bartender is yammering on about.) Not everybody's headset will have all comms, but you can still configure the routing for irrelevant channels. So you can set up, "yeah if I roll antag some other round, then I want that in my "most important comms" channel. Maybe types of comms that your current headset doesn't support are greyed out, to make it clearer. All this gets stored in a user pref so it's persisted from round to round. With that config you get a client that looks like this: Note that each of the four chat panes is lightly background-colored -- green / blue / grey / white -- to help tie it to the tgui columns so the channels make sens connect up from a visual presentation. Next steps: Also provide a mechanism to pop green/blue/grey panes out into a full window, allowing them to be tiled onto a second monitor. Make it per-user, with prefs saving so it lasts across rounds, not just a proof of concept. ... profit?

I'll be frank. I don't like thermite at all, hahah. Nothing has changed my mind regarding thermite in any way. Personally, I don't enjoy the idea of a flammable chemical that's incredibly easy to produce. With said chemical being used to quickly break into the already rough designed AI core. Or generally anywhere... But, sprinkling some bias here, it's incredibly annoying how easy it is to grab some thermite and break into the AI core. With me favoring the AI role more than any, it's quite unfun to watch someone break through three layers of reinforced walls in a matter of seconds and proceed to quickly either kill or snatch me up due to how easy it is to disable or break the turrets without taking any damage. Thermite is the reason why I wish the turrets, or at least the core, were... Er... Better. It's a shame too, because the other turrets are rarely used as it's 100% easier and quicker to just quickly grab a bottle of thermite and break in from the back. Anyone and their mother can do it. It's especially awful if it's done by that one lone engineer or scientist who believe you're malf and decided to take matters into their own hands like a nerd. Then scream "AI MALF" when they get shot by the automated turrets.... This personal gripe aside, I'd still like to hear other's opinions on the one thing I 100% despise; What do YOU think of thermite? Thank you for coming to my ted talk

There is fair amount of chess players on server who would love that idea: Making Virtual Gameboard playable for two instead of vs.AI Why it is a good change? > We gather on server to interact with each other.(those who wanna play alone will still have Orion etc.) > Playing agianst AI engine in chess is painful. > Making your own chessboard is also painful. It is easy to make board but very hard to find substitute for pieces. Difficulty in code: Hard to tell, but it is a change in something already existing in the game. Alternate. While writing this post i came up with another Idea: Cardboard chess pieces! + even easier to add. - shitters may steal your pieces during ongoing game.

I really like the idea of this so far and as long as the "default" is still a single chat window for people who do not want to take advantage of this then I personally would love to see it happen. Also, I think if these settings are going to persist between rounds then the UI for configuration should be in the Game Preferences rather than something you configure mid-round on your headset itself. It isn't very intuitive to me that channels that I mute would be persisted between rounds.

The Nerdy Amira