davidchan

+1, playing the AI can be an asspain as it is, 20 people at once yelling your rogue cause you didn't open the door to medbay for them when their request was buried in a sea of chatter is annoying. More than once I've killed comms as AI just to sort shit out.

It's been ages since I played a detective, but it's important to keeping the role focused on investigating rather than instigating. The job requires a bit of a run around, true, but it's balanced to give the suspect time to move. If an Unknown is caught hacking a door and books it before security can apprehend him, in what way is it fair if the Detective can scan the door and immediately know the perp's identity? All the best detectives I've played with make liberal use of their headset and relay information back and forth to the Warden/an Officer in the brig looking up the info they collect and confirming/validating. Someone broke into Tech Storage? Detective scans it, finds fibers and fingerprints. Relaying the information, the Warden can confirm that the finger prints match the janitor. Officer Dale reports he sees the Janitor in the bar and can apprehend him. Security is meant to work together like this, not lone wolf it. As far as SecHuds go, 99% of Security doesn't really seem to understand how they work or to best utilize them. If you've ever been arrested, cuffed and dragged to the brig only for Beepsky to beat the shit out of you, you know what I'm talking about. Shift clicking person lets you remotely view their Security status [None/Wanted/Incarcerated/Paroled/Released] as well as their records. If you witness someone committing a crime, setting their status to wanted before announcing it and quickly noting their records what they did (Breaking and Entering:Bridge. Assault:Clown, Vandalism:Bar and Kitchen, etc...) goes a long way in ensuring they wind up in a the bridge. Once a person is in cuffs and your custody, set them to incarcerated and report the arrest. If the person got away, you can always scroll up in the chatwindow and change their status back to arrest, your fellow officers, Beepsky or ED-209s will know what to do when they see the red checkbox. Should detectives get SecHuds? Yes, I think it would help them and keep them uniform with the rest of Security (Warden gets a HUD and THEY shouldn't even be leaving the brig without a damn good reason.) But it's important for the Detective to remember they shouldn't be seeking out criminals to arrest, but rather intervening when they witness a crime or assist Security officer's where they can.

Quite frankly, anything you do to inconvience Griefers isn't going to do much but slow them down. Unless you are completely changing how Atmos works (and making it much harder to optimize, which will just make legit Atmos techs want to play even less) they are just going to jump through another hoop. You want a way to better deter atmos griefers? Make it so that activating dangerous gas tanks (Plasma, CO2 or N2O) will throw up a pop up message 'You are activating a [iNSERT GAS HERE] valve. This could have consequences if the loop is not properly configured' at the same time, the Admins should receive a notification that said pump is being interacted with, much the way Beepsky or Medibots inform their respective department of things that would require their attention. The Mix Loop to Distribution system would also have a similar message. In adopting this method, Admins would get a 2-step notification and heads up of a potential griefer or just a bad player, and can intervene in a timely manner if they feel necessary. If the person is doing something legitimate (such as cooling plasma for Radiation collectors) the admins don't even need to get involved. But if say a griefer is heating plasma and dumping it into the airmix, the admins can take appropriate action to minimize the damage.

If you can beg/bribe/steal wrapping paper and a Destination Tagger (the gun used by cargo to mark wrapped packages) then you can mail anything you want that fits in a disposal chute to anywhere the gun recognizes. This is actually how Drones traverse the station by setting their tag and crawling into a disposal's vent. You can even mail yourself. Get an object, anything from an O2 tank to a piece of glass or a plate, wrap it and tag it, drop it in the chute, climb into the chute and engage it. Viola, you just mailed yourself, potentially somewhere you couldn't even get to with you current access (Like the HoS office or Bridge)

I will say +1 to Gateway Explorer job, make it the leader or a core team that can recruit more crew to the team if needed. Would also like to see a way to cycle the gateway without starting a new round (I.E. the mission has been completed/base cleared, calibrate the gateway to find a new place.) I'd also be interested in seeing the Bar/Kitchen revamped into more of a traditional restaurant, with Waiters/Waitresses added as fluff jobs (debateable if giving them Bar/Kitchen access would be a good idea or not, since they'd be able to overtake the role of their 'boss') Flipping the Bar 90 degrees would aide in this, the Bartender's office/room in the north east corner of the bar and the bar itself being 'L' shaped around it, the drink showcase in the corner of the bar and the Kitchen's pick up window just below that. Departmental Guards are an iffy idea, they can be useful to both department staff and security since they act as the bridge, but I always found department guards kinda barged in where ever they wanted to and would generally act like a head of staff without command chat.

I though Defibs needed to be emagged to use on living people. Plus, they acted more like Stun batons, shocking and knocking a person prone, not killing them. At least, borg defibs did.

I think it would be hard to code a defib that is anchored to a specific spot. How ever, making a new machine/booth seems like a much easier, if bit nonsensical, way of ensuring Medical HAS a defib machine. I.E. Take dead body and shove it into a defib pod, pod would give read out of person's health and if defib was even possible (Checking for severe tissue damage, head and major organs still intact, and that heart has not degraded) Alternatively, making defibrillators a built in function to UPGRADED Sleepers or cryo tubes would be an option, having pico manipulators installed allowing one of these magic medical machines to give heart massages. Just another reason Medical could scream, beg, harass or bribe science to upgrade their shit. I fully support additional ghetto tools (Though, Ghetto splint should be buildable with Wooden plants OR Metal rods, along with Gauze OR Cable Coils, giving 4 new combinations that result in the same thing.) One use Defibs could be added to Emergency O2 closets and emergency storage supplies, basically any where the station has a first aid kit would also be a defibrillator. Though, I feel lots of players would screw this up and not inject the corpse with Epinephrine or other healing chemicals prior to defibbing and the person would just die right away.

Well, I mean they fill up the spam e-mail. Making them resistant to infections would be pretty nifty, specially since I've seen a couple of times where a person drifted into crit as their infections spread and accumlative toxin damage from them eventually killed them one way or another.

Correct me if I'm wrong but even Fax Machines require an ID with access to the area the fax machine is to work (I.E. only Heads of Staff, NT Rep, Magistrate and IAA) I could be entirely wrong on this but I've never see anyone not in these positions send a Fax, regardless of how useful it might be for various departments to have their own Fax machines that could send paperwork directly to other offices. Thus, allowing the clown to send Security 20 sheets of paper that all read 'Butt' or 'Honk'

Atmos job is setting remotely setting Toxin's thermostat to 0 or 100 degrees to prevent toxins from making work for them.

I have to disagree with you on that one Fox. IPCs are incredibly fragile, and I might be mistaken on this, but they take such extreme damage as a two fold balance because they can't toxin/suffocation damage AND because they were capable of healing themselves, to a point. The low threshold for limb destruction on them as well kept welders from being abused since 2-3 hits with a full sized oxygen tank was all but garunteed to remove the limb. I'd be quite happy to see IPCs loose their pressure immunity, having them require IPC suits/external cooling units or take constant burn damage all over their body. These external cooling units (ECUs) could be battery operated OR consume water, requiring the IPC to refill them at sinks and water tanks regularly or overheat on space walks. Could even add a few tech levels to the item (matter bin upgrades or entirely new units) that allow longer walks. As far as regular crew not having access to medicine, that's not entirely true. Medical supplies are scattered across the station in public areas, and eating food promotes healing of minor injuries, if I ever find myself exposed to a breach, the firs thing I do is eat a box of noraisins or cup of soup (with water) and my health slowly climbs back up to 100. These wounds are comparable to the threshold of damage an IPC limb can take before it falls off/becomes completely nonfunctional, basically below the breaking point. Structure damage requiring surgery/new limbs could be added, as well as the need for new circuits/repairs of internals by replacing them with cyborg repair equipment (actuators, cameras, power cell, ect...) Being so fragile and having no means to mitigate the damage just seems unfair, especially when you consider EVERY crew member starts out with an auto injector of epinephrine to stabilize them should they go into crit.

I was referring to the plasma tanks you insert to Radiation collectors, the handheld ones you can use for internals. Being able to throw a bunch of O2 tanks onto the cart and run them to the site of an emergency instead of dragging a locker would make a bit more sense and add utility to an otherwise overlooked item. Granted, there isn't ever much people use the cart for anyways, a stack of 50 metal can create 10 walls, and with a duffel bag you can carry more metal than supply ever bothers giving engineering.

I can't remember if Disposals checks wrapping paper bar codes at every junction or only at the delivery/incinerator chute. Giving the Chef a cargo delivery marker, some wrapping paper and cardboard for boxes could make things rather interesting, though it would make antag chef's job super easy if say his goal was to kill a person who spawns in a specific room, just buy a bomb right away and mail it out while the person is still getting dressed/prepared.

What exactly can the Engineering cart hold? Far as I can tell just Metal, Glass and Metal Rods. I was severely disappointed things like Oxygen or Plasma tanks couldn't be set on the cart.

I really dislike the shutters, to be honest. They can be a complete bitch in malf rounds and the only reliable way to deal with them is EMPs before crowbarring them. And this all just circles back around to why the Syndicate Cyborg has Captain level access to begin with. None of the Operatives do, and it makes little sense for a non-NanoTrasen synthetic to get full access to a NanoTrasen high secure facility. Borgs have Emags, and giving them a screwdriver and multitool would allow them to unbolt things. Just give them a full toolset and remove the Full Access and the Cyborg would be much more balanced and still a valuable asset to a team. It'd be like a militarized version of R2-D2. As for alpha strike, Syndicate speed rushes almost always rely on the borg to open the doors to the teleporter, either the AI Sat or Telecoms. Very rarely, if ever, do you see them build their own teleporter.

Having the light replacer wouldn't be the end of the world. Engineering is called upon a lot to deal with broken lights. To be entirely honest, I'm kinda surprised the Janitor isn't moved to engineering department in general since good Janitors act as Maintenance/Utility workers anyways. As for infringing on the Janitor... I've never heard a Janitor complain he hasn't got enough work to do, the station is always getting dirty just from people walking around. Bout the only thing that pisses off a Janitor is when people touch the Janitor cart.

+1 For great storing. Just remember to label the beakers before putting them in. TheDemonics sprite looks good, just need to enlarge it and make it match the current beakers. Recommend making at least separate sprites for Large Beakers, the ability to put things like Buckets or Flasks/Glasses on would be interesting but probably disabled (make sure there is a 'This item shouldn't be here' instead of splashing the contents of the bucket or flask)

Fire damage is the primary way to kill lings, via the Incinerator, Crematorium, or a hail of laser rifle fire. This would leave only decapitation to permanently kill one.

Still begs the question of why a Vendomat is in Primary Tool storage but not one in the Engineering equipment room.

All access really is the problem of the Syndiborg. There should be a difference between a Syndicate made military borg and a NT made borg that has been hacked or subverted. Syndiborgs have Emags last I checked. Stripping them down to civilian access and giving them hacking tools (Screwdriver, wirecutters, multitool, crowbar) would allow them to go just about anywhere given enough time, and not just sprint right into the core or high secure areas. Giving them a welder and wrench to boot would allow them to tear down walls oh-so-silently, giving Syndicates new routes and methods to assault the station. Alternatively, Syndicate borgs could wirelessly hack the network to gain access to the Station, but in doing this the AI and Borgs would get some kind of warning and thus time to react.

I don't think drones get extinguishers, but they can build objects. Build a grill, girder or even just a table/rack (use your gripper on the parts) and you can push off of that.

Antag tests being a bit harder would be fine, but removing them is not. Making Changeling test require the blood to be heated, instead of mixed with fuel, sounds like a good idea. Lighters could be used, though require at least a minute to complete, Chemistry heaters would be the optimal route. If the blood is human, it would thin or give a generic heating up message. If the blood was a changelings it would boil or even explode and make a mess all over the floor. Thing is, nobody really checks for Vampires or Changelings until there is some evidence of one (Husked/Drained bodies, random stings or sloppy takedowns) These roles require the antag to be stealthy and evade detection, picking their targets carefully or framing someone else for it. If you remove the changeling test, you damn well HAVE to remove Changlings able to eat morphed monkeys (something I think should go anyways, since it is just another form of powergaming) We're getting LINDA? Sweet jesus the lag.

-1 RNJesus on mechanics that routinely blow up both Medical and Science Chem Lab anyways. It's needlessly time consuming, and lots of Pharmacist/Med Chemists have a hard enough time creating what they need anyways, can you imagine if they had to waste 5+ minutes just to find what temperature Oil turns to ash at? Or attempting to make Haloperidol, but accidentally making CF3 because the ignition point was lower than room temperature? It makes no sense, and what may be an attempt to cease griefing/blowing random holes in the station is going to cause MORE holes in the station.

From what I've been able to gather, conversion/enthralling only takes a few seconds, and the spell has no cooldown. It just can only be cast on one person at a time (basically akin to forcing a straight jacket onto someone, if they are already immobile or unable to flee, you succeed.) So, while not as quick as LOLFlash, it also doesn't have the same restrictions as Rev flashing (Eye Protection and Implants don't protect you, so a single gazed Security officer can stun baton/taser and arrest other officers and grow the thralls quite quickly) As for Cultist summoning Nar'Sie, it's a hell of a lot harder than just grabbing 8 other guys. You need the correct the words, and you need every single cultist in the same area around a specific tile. This takes entire shifts for some people, the fastest I've ever seen Nar'Sie summoned still took over 45 minutes. Because Cultists must prepare areas to convert a new cultist, it takes time to scribble down the rune and if you get it wrong or are interrupted, all the work is lost and you've probably been exposed. Shadowlings don't have any these limits, and can ascend the second they have the required number of thralls, they don't need to experiment with thralls or find the correct way to do the ritual before hand, they instantly know how to do all their spells from the moment they take the form.

The major concerns I have are as follows: 1) Thralls can be anyone. There is no test, no way to de-convert, and no way to prevent conversion. Even Nar'sie can't override Loyalty implants! Yes but a Shadowling can do it anywhere, to anyone, at anytime. can you imagine an MD shadowling? Throw someone into cryo for a second, eject them, convert while they are unconscious. It's a cheap, easy stun. How many dozens of people pass through medbay? Is there even an notification to local players that a person is being converted? Anyone can make cable cuffs and a stun prod, this is only slightly better than LOLFLASH since there is no protection against it. Even worse, since Hatched forms get their glare which allows them to 1v1 anyone, instantly stunning and muting for 30+ seconds at a distance. And you think people bitch about Changling stings. Balance Proposal: Make Loyalty implants able to prevent conversion. Give Holy water/Null rod chance to deconvert. If Shadowling is intent on converting an Implanted crew member (Such as a Security officer or Head of Staff) we could add a 'break mind' spell that would consume 1/2 the the Shadowling's total health, and cause the target to suffer from Mindbreaker-esque effects for 20-30 seconds (hallucinations, screaming a whole lot, ect...) After the effect is done, their implant would overload/fry and make them eligible for conversion. 2) Hatching has no requirement, Ascending is ludicrously low. Thralls are pooled, up to 3 Shadowlings can be present at a time. As stated above, it really only takes on Doctor to be a Shadowling and their ascension is unstoppable. Turn on a cryo tube, grab and toss everyone in it to stun them, thrall them, and have them bring everyone who steps in for treatement to you. Within 10-20 minutes I guarantee Lings will be ready to ascend. Can you imagine if Cult could convert 9 people, learn the words and summon Nar'Sie in 20 minutes? If 3 hatched Shadowlings are working in unison, it's pretty damn easy for them to take 3 people at once. It's not difficult to lure sec into the tunnels and once you get them your thralls can easily make 'arrests' bringing you more thralls or leaving them cuffed in a firefighting closet for you while they seek out new targets. Balance Proposal: Hatching should require at /least/ 5 thralls, and up the Ascension headcount by a fair number. 30 seems like a fair number, given how their resources are pooled and it should only become easier to convert people as you get more thralls. 3) Ascended form is just LMAO-OP levels. It's like a adminbus incarnate. Antagonists should feel powerful, but not unstoppable. Ascended Lings can happily wade through ERT, CC Commandos or Deathsquads without even flinching. They have about 100k hp, with their laser weakness it still takes 1000-5000 laser shots to kill one. With such a low barrier to become an ascended (even if we upped the requirement to 1/2 current crew) and there is up to 3 of them at any given time, little to no way to detect them or their thralls, their ludicrous powers are just op. Balance Propsal: Lower Ascended HP to 1000 + 100 for every thrall.This will encourage them to keep enthralling crew rather than outright murdering everyone on sight. It will also make it possible for Security/ERTs to drive one back if necessary or properly equiped. With their healing back on, they wouldn't be easy prey, but they wouldn't be unstoppable juggernauts who can stroll onto the bridge and kill everyone. POST EDIT: I forgot to mention Thralls. What effect do thralls have on gamplay? Are they arbitrary counters? Do they have anything that sets them apart from the rest of the crew aside from a hivemind? The last thing I want is another Revolution roundtype, even if the Shadowlings sound fun to play as, they don't sound very fun to play with or against. Someone mentioned the idea of giving Thralls their own minor Shadow dependency, taking burn damage when in full light and healing when in shadow. Earning their own powers would be nice, maybe something where as the number of thralls grows, the abilities they have at their disposal also grows. What powers they could get is open to debate and brainstorming, but I'd happily see the Shadowling getting nerfed a bit to add a bit of variety to their followers, it would help differentiate the round type from Revolution in that being converted means more than not being slaughtered by the growing greytide swarm. One idea, would be for Enthrall powers to work on a HP burn system. Casting a spell would consume life points, distributed amongst the thralls as a whole (which, working with their regen would mean large thrall groups could use spells quite frequently, where smaller groups would have to do so sparingly.) The darkness spell seems like one good option, giving a weaker version to thralls that isn't permanent. A weaker gaze or chill touch that could stun or disorient someone seems like another good option. The ability to drain power from specific objects sounds like it'd be nifty too, taking damage directly proportional to how much power the object uses/had (draining a door would be a moderate burn, draining an APC or Mechsuit could be lethal to small groups of thralls) The ability for Shadowlings to turn a thrall into a Psuedo-Shadowling sounds interesting too. Not a full Shadowling, but something akin to their hatched form but with fewer/weaker powers, being converted into this form would remove the player from the thrall count but give the Shadowlings a powerful warrior/agent to work with.