Keroman

Heyyyyy it's Top Chef!

Eventually it got to a point where I felt bad about catching roundstart cultists, and so whenever I did catch one trying to cast spells in a little hidey-hole I'd warn them about the dangers of self-mutilation and ask them to see the Psychiatrist about their depression, then just let them be.

I've had a few good stories from playing Security. (BRAG)Like the several times I've discovered cultists super early on by checking for falsewalls in maint.(/BRAG) But my absolute favorite story from playing Security, the one that I share even with friends who aren't familiar with SS13, is from a round where I was playing Detective. Playing as my character, Maxwell Edison, I decided to hit the bar and try to outdrink my "sober" gene. As I downed more and more alcohol I noticed that the drunk speech effect, where it randomly capitalizes and misspells words in your speech, is coming and going with everything I say. Eventually I get called to the brig for something and on my way over I get that hazy screen overlay that happens when you're super drunk. The Captain, HoS, and Warden are all there, and they take note of my strange speech patterns. The HoS asks, "Detective Edison, are you drunk?" To which I reply, "No," and then immediately pass out drunk. For reals, it couldn't have been timed more perfectly if I had planned it.

I, too, would like to see these used in-game! Maybe @Twinmold could use them on Ragnarok Station?

There's also several Gateway maps with underwater areas.

+1 to giving Skrell more variations to set them further apart from other species. "But officer I swear I don't know how the Captain's spare ID got there!"

I don't know of any Admins that aren't okay with processing a criminal who goes SSD after being caught. The only time I won't allow Security to process an SSD player is if the player was SSD before being caught. For instance the other day Security Officers found an SSD guy hiding in a locker in maintenance. He was Wanted, sure, but he had gone SSD long before they ever found him. I just told them to take him to cryosleep.

Release the hounds Or the bees Or the hounds with bees in their mouths and whenever they bark they shoot bees at you

This time around we're going to take a look at the Atmospheric Technician job. One thing I want anyone posting in this thread to understand is that I will not allow this thread to turn into a ZAS vs. LINDA argument. The atmospheric system we use is not up for debate and changing it is not an option at this time. Any suggestion you make in this thread should be done so with the understanding that we are and will continue to be using the LINDA atmospheric system. Before we begin I want to stress that posting an idea in this thread in no way guarantees that it will be added to the game. I don't want that to discourage you, however! If you've got an idea that you think would be fun, please, please post and we'll discuss it! Atmospheric Technician Consider the following questions when posting your ideas: - What are the responsibilities of the job? - What capabilities do they already have? (i.e. access, equipment available, etc.) - Potential for Antagonists - How much does this job affect the round? (i.e. is the station crippled without it or do people barely notice when it's unmanned?) Note: In 1 week (or when the thread has died out) we'll move on to the next job. Don't be afraid to suggest what job the next thread should focus on!

Here's the list of suggestions compiled from the thread. I didn't post any suggestions myself because I've never actually played Captain. I figured people with more experience in the role would be better able to suggest improvements. - More interactions with Central Command - Add console that allows Captain to "move" station which can have differing effects (i.e. shortens/lengthens time for cargo shuttle to arrive) - Add TG's shuttle buying mechanic - Add more guides to Captain's office detailing the limits on their authority and appropriate interactions between them and other Command jobs - Rebalance swiping/Comms Console mechanics to make more sense - i.e. changing alert levels, calling for ERT, messaging CentCom - Encourage crew to include Captain in the "complaint process" rather than just having IAAs immediately fax Central Command - Give Captain a HUD that at least allows them to see a person's job at a glance - Add a status console to the bridge or Captain's office that allows them to see general info about each department at a glance - Increase requirements for playing Captain, apply job-bans for Captains who regularly break Space Law, breach SOP, or talk shit about NanoTrasen for no reason - Allow the Captain to request, once per round, something specific for any given department - Add job completion objectives for Captain, potentially along the lines of: "Ensure the station has heads of staff for each department for most of the shift. A head of staff who is dead or incapacitated does not count" or "Spend less than 50% of the shift in code red", etc. - Fix the Captain's wall safe so it can't be easily opened with a multitool - Add small escape pod for the Captain between his office and the gravity generator - Remove Captain's crown item - Make Supply Points accrue more slowly at higher alert levels - Evac shuttle is automatically called after 45 minutes in Code Red, cannot be recalled (OR requires 3 or more heads of staff to swipe to recall) - Add new "Code White" ERT which is automatically dispatched after enough time is spent in Code Red. Team is meant to deal with the threat and also has the authority to demote Captain, possibly can call for Gamma ERT if they believe it's necessary. - Add automated announcements every 10 minutes during Code Red which state how long the Code Red has been active. - Add "bad" random events that have an increased chance of happening during Code Red (i.e. light/airlock/power grid malfunctions)

While the idea makes sense it would definitely be a significantly easier method of essentially turning off the camera without having the necessary tools and finding the right wire to cut. Maybe we could have the tape fall off after a minute because the camera is made of "non-stick" materials? Then the tape falls to the ground, the camera can see again, and a detective could scan the tape for evidence of who used it. Covering a camera with tape should at least be considered "Vandalism" under Space Law, or potentially, "Creating a Workplace Hazard" if someone is injured or killed in the area where the camera's view was blocked out.

The only suggestion I got for which job to improve on after Engineering was Captain (thanks alexpkeaton). Before we begin I want to stress that posting an idea in this thread in no way guarantees that it will be added to the game. I don't want that to discourage you, however! If you've got an idea that you think would be fun, please, please post and we'll discuss it! Captain Consider the following questions when posting your ideas: - What are the responsibilities of the job? - What capabilities do they already have? (i.e. access, equipment available, etc.) - Potential for Antagonists (remember, Captain can't be a roundstart antagonist!) - How much does this job affect the round? (i.e. is the station crippled without it or do people barely notice when it's unmanned?) Note: In 1 week (or when the thread has died out) we'll move on to the next job. Don't be afraid to suggest what job the next thread should focus on!

Here's the list of suggestions that have been gathered for Engineer/Chief Engineer/Mechanic. I'll post the next thread shortly. - Small chance at round start that there is no Particle Accelerator (one can still be ordered from cargo) - Add necessary maintenance to engine/power network, plus some alarm that warns Engineers when maintenance is needed. - Plasma tanks should deplete more quickly in radiation collectors, requiring changing at least once per round. - Tesla should output less energy than stage 3 singularity at round start, but gradually grow in power output throughout the round. - Rework power network to add department-based SMESs and appropriate wiring. - Add spaceworthy suit and full-size oxy tank to Mechanic workshop AND/OR give Mechanic EVA access by default. - Re-add supermatter room and have round-start supermatter crate in secure storage. (Possibly 10x10 or 12x12 with air and power but no piping or vents.) - Remove energy ball generator (tesla engine) from round-start engine selection, but still allow it to be ordered from cargo. - Random breaches in maint on round start. - Randomize how much the engine is set up on round start. Some rounds have it nearly completely set up (as it is now) and other rounds require engineering to set up field generators, emitters, cabling and all manually. - Chance to replace engine containment with a turbine or supermatter setup at round start. - Overloading the power grid can cause wires to burn out and/or start fires. - Add nuclear engine with cooling rods to affect stability/power output. - Add decals for decorating spacepods. - Knotted cables cause sparks/fires, randomize cabling in maint to sometimes have knotted cables at round start. - Rebalance Tesla (and all engines really) to have pros and cons rather than having one hassle-free engine. - Add more abandoned/partially constructed areas to the station. - Add minor meteor shower event (even more minor than the current weakest meteor event.) - Rebalance power usage vs. output, either by adding more equipment to draw power from the SMESs or events that require power usage to prevent/mitigate = Add shield generators around the station and regular meteor strikes that damage the shield and drain power. = Add thrusters that can "move" the station along it's orbit between the gas giant and the asteroid belt. Station can move to avoidor mitigate meteor showers/radiation belts/etc., change cargo shuttle arrival/departure time, access new mining asteroids at the cost of lots of power. Potential traitor objective to force station to fall from orbit and crash into the planet or to accelerate out into the asteroid belt to get shredded. - Add more machines throughout the station to ramp up power usage (i.e. security lathe to produce sec gear, VR network, orbital mining laser, power transmission beam.) - Add portable bluespace shelters that can rapidly expand when placed on catwalk to create new structures around the station. - Change departmental power networks to be separate but possibly overlapping in some areas? - Make space carp hostile to solar panels. - Add potential "breakdown" to machines across the station (air alarms, APCs, vendors, etc.) so that engineers must maintain them. - Add mice chewing wires. - Add hull fractures that must be fixed or else risk a full-on breach. - Add engineering-related events like power fluctuation, gravity shifts, pieces of the station shifting position, etc. - Nerf power output so engines cannot power their own emitters/field generators AND the whole station at the same time. - Make PA require resources to set up/run/repair, like uranium or diamond. - Add small chance for power cells to randomly burn out, including on stunprods, in APCs, etc. - Add more plasteel for engineers at roundstart, as well as some plasma glass.

In my experience the most common criticism about the Engineer job is that once the main engine is set up there's literally nothing else to do until something needs fixing. The problem is that it's going to be tricky to find something for Engineers to do to fill their downtime while also giving them the ability to drop it at a moments notice to go work on higher priority stuff. I definitely would like to see changes to the engine. There should be some maintenance necessary, but there should also be some sort of alarm to warn the Engineering team about the maintenance. The plasma tanks in the radiation collectors should deplete more quickly, requiring changing at least once per shift when the singulo is in use. The tesla should output much less energy at round start so that the solars/turbine/TEG/PACMAN are necessary to keep everything running until the tesla manages to "spool up" enough. Necaladun had a solid idea about having department-based SMESs rather than having nearly all the power storage located in a single place. The main power lines would be beefier and more resilient against sabotage, or more likely to fry a person to ashes if they tamper with them without the proper gear, and then from the SMES tucked away inside a department the regular cables could provide power to the area APCs. The Mechanic can be decently fun to play if you just want to get away from the station and faff about in space, but I still maintain that there should be a spaceworthy suit and a full-size oxy tank in the Mechanic's office at round start (or alternatively they should have EVA access without begging the HoP for it.) If we want to pretend that the Mechanic has some sort of responsibility within the Engineering department then we could assume they should be monitoring the exterior of the station for damage and fixing it or reinforcing as necessary, which means they need the appropriate gear. I've also seen Mechanics act as space-based search and rescue which, again, necessitates spaceworthy gear.

The only suggestion I got for which job to improve on after Science was Engineering so that's what we'll go with. I'll also accept suggestions for the Chief Engineer and Mechanic jobs, however I think we should give Atmos Techs their own thread as.. well let's just say I think that thread will probably bigger than pretty much any other thread about job improvements. Before we begin I want to stress that posting an idea in this thread in no way guarantees that it will be added to the game. I don't want that to discourage you, however! If you've got an idea that you think would be fun, please, please post and we'll discuss it! Station Engineer Mechanic Chief Engineer Consider the following questions when posting your ideas: - What are the responsibilities of the job? - What capabilities do they already have? (i.e. access, equipment available, etc.) - Potential for Antagonists - How much does this job affect the round? (i.e. is the station crippled without it or do people barely notice when it's unmanned?) Note: In 1 week (or when the thread has died out) we'll move on to the next job. Don't be afraid to suggest what job the next thread should focus on!

Here's the list of suggestions gathered from this thread. I'll post this list in the Admin section so we can discuss them and try to figure out which ones, if any, would work best. - R&D makes "prototype" equipment which has a data stat that increases with use of the equipment, then can be DA'd for a higher tech level. - Add bot (not borg!) control terminal to robotics - Make bots require power/have internal batteries and need to recharge in borg chargers or small wall-mounted chargers throughout the station. - More variety of bots: trash-bot, botany-bot, etc. - Night vision module for borgs - Add scripting/QoL stuff for RD, i.e. upgrades for AI, voice recognition ability that can trigger actions, etc. - Experimentor GTFO - R&D can experiment on objects ordered from cargo - If keeping Experimentor change how it works so that it alters properties of items. (See list of potential effects here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9429#p77481 ) - Further reinforce chemlab test range. - Better integrate xenobio with the rest of the station, lower rate of (or eliminate) xenomorph spawns from gold slime cores. - Add xenobio potions that grants speech to animals. - Allow xenobio to provide further stuff for other depts. like ingredients for food. - Remove "Do you want to be a spider?" notification for the rest of the round after clicking "no" the first time. <-- Clearly a mistake/oversight and PLEASE FIX ASAP AAAA THE SPIDERS AAAAAAAAA - Adjust damage/cost of certain weapons made in the protolathe to be more consistent. - Remove/reduce/move tier 1 parts from R&D (possibly move them to tech storage?) - Fix security bots (ED209s and Beepskies) cuffing roboticists with tasers/stun batons while constructing more sec bots. - Fix Phazon because it cannot into phase! - Display material efficiency rating in mech fabricators/autolathe/protolathe - GIB ROBOTICS BUCKETS PLZ - Fix Lamarr's display case (and by extension probably the Captain's display case too) - Give RD basic medbay access - Move encryption key paper out of RD's office and into Server Room (or, alternatively, place several in various places: RD office, Captain's office, Vault, etc.) - Ensure items printed from the protolathe can't be deconstructed for higher tech levels than were needed to print them. - Give tech levels for experiments within the Research department (for instance, the Tachyon Detector giving level in Weapons tech if it detects an explosion of a large enough size) - Gold slime core reactions changed so that any time creatures are spawned they have a chance to be hostile. - Add antag item that allows them to monitor PDA message traffic. - Split Science up into several subdepartments without access to each others' labs. See this thread for more info: viewtopic.php?f=48&t=7661 ) - Move toxins testing off-station to the mining asteroid or it's own small station. - Add uncertainty to Destructive Analyzer based on the tier of parts. Give it a chance to generate anomalies on the station if it fails to analyze something properly. - Give Roboticists access to the R&D console again. - Encourage R&D to work with other departments to acquire the highest tier tech items. - Require RD to approve of any "dangerous" experiments (SOP change?) Genetics (which we'll revisit once we move on to Medbay jobs) - Give Genetics a better way to handle bodies of the creatures they experiment on. Possibly dedicate Coroner job to handle dead bodies? - Have doctors handle cloning, make Genetics fully part of Research. - Ease up on some of the recent nerfs to Genetics. - Add smartfridge for genetics syringes - Remove or change "chameleon" power so it's more useful. - Make it impossible for someone with the Hulk gene to hide the fact they have it. Thanks for all the input, folks!

No need to apologize, man, you didn't do anything wrong! Diona have their own pros and cons as a species. Their biggest downside is their slow speed, which basically means they can't run away from any fight ever. They literally walk slower than someone wearing a hardsuit. Their upside is that they can regenerate almost any damage as long as there is a source of light nearby. You can basically consider that to be their reason for being spaceworthy without any real protection. They could be made to take brute or burn damage from space but they would regenerate it because of the starlight anyways so in the end there would be no real difference to how they function. I've proposed some changes to Diona (i.e. make their regeneration dependent on the level of "nutriment" which they can build up by eating food with the "plantmatter" reagent) but that's really a discussion for the other thread, and it's not really a high priority as Diona are already significantly different from most other species.

There's nothing wrong with playing an IPC! Hell, I've got an IPC character (that I haven't played in.. almost a year). Lots of people like IPCs despite their weaknesses. If anything it's a good way to show that you don't play a species just for the mechanical aspects but for their lore or because you like their design. IPCs do have a few bonuses - they don't need to breathe, they don't need eye protection when welding, they can't take toxin damage or oxy damage at all, they're generally pretty easy to bring back to life if they're killed even with an EMP. In order to be space-worthy they just need a space-worthy suit. In an emergency they can mitigate the damage they take in space by bringing a welder with them and patching up the damage as they go. I wouldn't mind seeing IPCs get rebalanced a bit, though. I do think the extra brute weakness is a little bit TOO much sometimes. It's worth talking about in the rebalancing species thread.

The burn damage most species take from being out in space unprotected is actually from how cold it is rather than from heat. Are you certain it was burn damage, though? I thought IPCs didn't take damage from heat or cold but from pressure differences, which results in brute damage (imagine dents that develop in their chassis.) This has been one of the long-time criticisms of IPCs, as they're jokingly referred to as being made out of tissue paper rather than metal.

I definitely had that thread in mind when I posted this. I'm going to include that in the list of ideas when I post a staff thread for us to discuss what's posted here. I'm definitely a big proponent of a lot of your ideas there. Davidchan: I really like your idea of having players utilize prototypes in order to increase their tech levels. That would make any department that benefits from R&D way more involved in the process. Bot control consoles in Robotics would be neat, especially if it gave them the same kind of control over bots that the AI has. Having a larger variety of bots as well as necessitating the need for them to charge also adds a little more for Robotics to do. The ideas for the RD are intriguing but I feel like that might also give a lot more power to antag-RDs which are already pretty damn powerful. tzo: Fuck the EXPERIMENTOR for sure. Scichem lab should definitely be better reinforced. Xenobio does need a bit of a rework but I think you're forgetting about other things it can produce, like bluespace tiles and self-charging power cells. Remove the hostile-mob gold slime core reaction and make it so ANY mob spawned with a gold slime core has a chance to be hostile so people can still get their pets but with some risk involved. I would move the low-tier parts from R&D to Tech Storage. Yes, fix Security-bots and the Phazon. Buckets? Why not, or at least make them easier to get (see previous thread about putting autolathe in a publicly accessible area). More bot types = yes. I thought Lamarr's display case was based off the Captain's display case, and that one doesn't work particularly well either so we should definitely look into getting them both fixed. I'm iffy on the idea of RDs having medbay access. It's not difficult to get into Medbay in the first place, and all the things that need upgrading are within line of sight from the main medbay loop. Messenger console password should spawn in several different places = RD's office, Server Room, Captain's Office, Vault. There should be a way for antags to access the PDA message console functionality without having to go into the Server Room - possibly a module they could plug into a laptop to get that functionality. Geneticist will get its own thread as for now it is still kind of in a weird state of being between Medbay and RD. Neth: Your first point is a very good one. There shouldn't be any item that can be made at the protolathe that can be analyzed for the same or higher tech level than was required to make it. That's one of the main reasons people are able to complete R&D so quickly. Your second point is intriguing but seems like it could be difficult to implement. I do like the idea of having R&D use items produced by the other Science subdepartments to improve tech levels. Slime cores of various colors could improve biotech (with a rainbow core being the highest level), grenades from the chemlab could improve things like combat tech or biotech depending on what's in them, hell deconstruct a maxcap toxin bomb for some levels. Miners should be able to bring things like hivelord cores, goliath plates, or even some of cult/wiz/traitor items that are regularly found on the asteroid.

The only suggestion I got for which job to improve on after Cargo Tech was Scientist so that's what we'll go with. Since there's only three jobs in the whole department (I guess 2 technically, since RD is basically both jobs combined) we'll do both at once. Before we begin I want to stress that posting an idea in this thread in no way guarantees that it will be added to the game. I don't want that to discourage you, however! If you've got an idea that you think would be fun, please, please post and we'll discuss it! Scientist Roboticist Research Director Consider the following questions when posting your ideas: - What are the responsibilities of the job? - What capabilities do they already have? (i.e. access, equipment available, etc.) - Potential for Antagonists - How much does this job affect the round? (i.e. is the station crippled without it or do people barely notice when it's unmanned?) Note: In 1 week (or when the thread has died out) we'll move on to the next job. Don't be afraid to suggest what job the next thread should focus on!

Alright, as a final review here are the ideas that have been suggested (some have been summarized). I'll bring this list to the attention of the rest of the staff and we'll see what ideas stand out the most. As stated in the original post I can't guarantee that any of these ideas will be implemented in the game at any time, but at least this is a step in the right direction towards improving the game! - Cargo as a stopping point for passing ships delivering items to other locations. CT/QM verifies contents of crates being delivered, chance of dangerous equipment/mislabeled crates. Add supply points for ensuring these crates are packaged correctly, deduct supply points for improperly marked/tampered crates. - Require mailroom to be staffed more often or open up a mailroom separate from cargo which can be staffed by CTs/QM. Require gathering of empty crates from around station. Require delivery of crates by hand. - Give CT/QM basic access to all departments. - Allow locked crates to be opened in the same way abandoned crates are. Tampered crates will show evidence of tampering/sound alarm/take photo of area around crate. Failure to unlock crate locks it down completely except to Captain-level ID. - Cargo shuttle occasionally needs maintenance. - Add Stock Market/Trading Console - Convert credits to supply points and/or vice versa - Shipping manifests in crates include "stock tip" (if Stock Market feature is added) - Add telepads throughout station for use by cargo. Allow players to beam themselves to any telepad by using RCS from inside locker. Allow RCS to be made in autolathe. - More items in autolathe, both hacked/unhacked. Possibly add autolathe "upgrades" which can be ordered. - Station-wide scavenger hunt - some items listed as giving supply point bonus if shipped back on cargo shuttle. - Allow CT/QM to use console to search for other Cargo Shuttle destinations for different price lists/ordering options/return rewards: SolGov, Syndicate (for emagged cargo console), black market - Youtool vending restock crates - Add custom vending machines - players build vending machine, add items, set prices. - Suppy points restocked by purchases from vending machines rather than slowly gained over time. - More options for emagged consoles/console boards. - More options for shipping mistakes - Syndicate contraband sent instead of metal crate. Mistaken orders can be sent back or broken into. - Webbing for CT/QM. - Switch to station-economy system (not really in the scope of this post but worth talking about anyways!) - Add conveyor belt/mass driver delivery system - Remove most equipment from station at round-start to require crew to order equipment based on current need. - Add supply point reward to raw materials so Assistants have incentive to hunt for it in maint an return it to Cargo for reward. - More hostile mobs around derelict, add abandoned section to station, potentially with hostile mobs. - Add more gear that can only be ordered from Cargo, especially high-tier/late-game items, like things that can be deconstructed in R&D for illegal tech. - Add personal crates/lockers (like the ones in locker room) for order from Cargo so players can lock their items up for safety/contraband version that locks out even the Captain. - Add teleporter crate that can be ordered so Cargo can set up more telepads and/or direct teleport between two locations. - Add "risk factor" to Cargo shuttle. None = same as now, low risk = minor danger but minor reward, high = high risk high reward. - Add random-item spawns to warehouse so Cargo has random stock of items at round start that they can sell/trade/dole out. - Move ORM to the inside of Cargo. - Add ore request form? - Require signature/fingerprint for delivery. Add console to monitor things like package arrival time, delivery time, who delivered, who signed for. - Remove autolathe from R&D so the one in Cargo must be used. - Remove all high-tech machines from round-start so Cargo and R&D must gradually build up tech level of station. - Small mailroom in each dept. where package are received/signed for - Give QM Command radio access and Station Announcement access. - CentCom request list: items that should be sent back on the Cargo Shuttle in order for Cargo to get a "Job Complete" at end-round screen. - Add function for people to write destination on packages and drop them into disposals so mailroom can direct them to the right place. --- I'll get the next job improvement thread up shortly.

Hello and welcome! Definitely seen you around in-game and on the forums here. You seem like a pretty reasonable player, recognizing your limits but not afraid to push out of your comfort zone to learn new things. Don't stress about people getting mad at you for attempting to learn things on-the-job, that's just part of the game! When you do decide to try out Security again try partnering up with another officer and just stick close to them. Two Sec Officers together can take out pretty much any of the "secret" antags (i.e. cultist, traitor, vamp, changeling, shadowling).

Welcome welcome! We talked a bit in deadchat just a short time ago but I'm glad to see you've decided to sign up on the forums. I think you'll fit in just fine around here.

Nice work, man, I'd like to see these added in for sure!