Update Metastation

[Bmon]

So as you may know Metastation isn't so popular right now and with calls to remove Meta from the map rotation it made me wonder. Why is one of TGs most played maps so poorly favored on Paradise?

I myself am at a unique advantage having dedicated a substantial amount of play time both on TG station and Paradise so this answer came to me quite naturally to me. Our version of Metastation is heavily out of date and broken for modern day SS13, It has numerous design flaws and outright map errors all over the place. Meta maintenance is a barren landscape with little clutter and even looking at medbay makes me want to cringe.

 

What am I suggesting?

Update Metastation using the current TG version as a guide while retaining Paradise specific qualities.

It sure as hell won't be an easy task but it's something I myself am up for. I've already mapped out about 80% of the foreport side of the station which includes all of cargo, foreport maints and primary tool storage as a proof of concept to give you an idea of what I want to do with Meta. I don't want a direct port rather something based on TGs version, our current map and what I think Paradise expects from Meta.

Spoiler

My goals with this map edit are as follows

• Port TGs version of Meta to give ours a more modern feel
• Keep Paradise specific features while removing TG ones
• Improve upon TGs version of Meta and add additions that are suitable where need be
• Get Meta to state where everything you expect from Box you'd get in Meta
• Fix the numerous map errors with Meta

Again, this is quite the undertaking for me alone but I am up for it. With that in mind though, I'd like to get at least an OK from a maintainer before I proceed on further edits. This will take time but I have confidence this is the way forward with Metastation.

[Generaldonothing]

Hey, it's really cool to see someone passionately trying to fix metastation! There's a few things I kind of want to bring up about the mapping design behind it, however.

So, an important thing to note about Para vs. TG is the lower movement speed, so things like 1 tile wide maint areas and extremely large rooms stick out like a sore thumb, so you'll most certainly need to look into totally redesigning these. The meta pipenet also has many different problems (If you would like me to, I'd be happy to make a checklist of all the pipes that need connecting/redirecting during spring break) and it'll need pretty heavy changes. Now, I couldn't tell you exactly what changes would need to be made, but if I were to change anything off the bat I would probably look into making toxins test site... work.

The issues megathread is here if that helps! https://github.com/ParadiseSS13/Paradise/issues/13950

[Bmon]

TG Meta maints is far more detail dense than our meta maints, here is a map of it. Still 1x1 areas but box also has this and at least it's cluttered and broken up with cover and small rooms. However, I do have some ideas with what to do with maints.

I spotted a few broken pipes out side of the area I was working in for my proof of concept. It'll be redone once I get around to nuking each department and rebuilding them but a list certainly does help. Same goes with toxins.

[Contra]

Hey man! This looks pretty cool, would love to work together on something like this. I'm working on a similar project but with an original medbay. Let me know if you're interested on cooperating on a metastation PR or something!

(link to my metastation medbay suggestion)

[Bmon]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:44 PM, Contra said:

Hey man! This looks pretty cool, would love to work together on something like this. I'm working on a similar project but with an original medbay. Let me know if you're interested on cooperating on a metastation PR or something!

(link to my metastation medbay suggestion)

Nice to hear that someone else is interested in fixing up Meta. I am okay with working with other people so long as what they produce is high quality and fixes the many problems with Meta.

Remember, my plans are to port TGs version of Meta medbay. While almost all of it will need to be changed making probably one of the most original department designs from this project I still intend to use TGs general outline but adapt it for the flow of Paradise similar to the style of Box. Again, TGs version of Meta can be viewed here. https://affectedarc07.github.io/SS13WebMap/TG/MetaStation/

I'll be working clockwise from Cargo so you should have enough time to do your own thing.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Bmon

[Bmon]

Got maintainer permission to go ahead with this project.

As stated before I'd be working clockwise from cargo around the station, slowly updating things. So with that in mind my first department from cargo is brig which should be most changed department from TGs layout aside from medbay. Few important things to know about TG Meta brig is that it doesn't have a real processing area, its gulag dock is setup for temporary gulag prisoners and that it has no gamma armoury dock. To fix these problems I moved the gulag dock up to perma turning the area the dock once occupied into processing, I then extended the wardens secure storage a little further north to accommodate the gamma armoury dock. Something else I wanted to bring over from the Para Box was the one way exiting brig cells which I did by removing where cell 3 would go on TG and placing it atop of cell 2, this also gave me more room for processing.

I want to share with you a very rough version of what I have done so far, as you can see it is still very WIP(pipes, wires, perma/maints not done) but should give you a good idea of what brig will look like. Feedback is always welcome.

Spoiler

 

[Bmon]

I'll be gone for a week so I thought I'd post a bit of an update before I leave.

Cargo is done. I am not too happy about the loot spawners in the warehouse and I might move them later but the department itself is done.

Both brig and perma are done. Although it has taken on a different layout from TG's version to fit Paradise's needs the shape and detailing are mostly the same.

Fore maints is reworked. Added a little small maints bar/club room, makes sense since it's beside dorms.

Cryo was moved and I fixed a few piping and zoning errors around dorms.

Starting to work on fore starboard maints and engi. Engineering itself is going to be a big time sink(repiping all of atmos, remapping the lobby) but I'll get it done sooner than later.

Spoiler

Something I really don't understand about Meta is the stations name. Cerebron, what the hell does that even mean? Both the Cyberiad(Box) and Kerberos(Delta) are either sci-fi or scientific references but I genuinely cannot find any reference to the word Cerebron anywhere. If someone can shed some light on its name it'd be appreciated. Regardless, I made a nameplate for it.

[Bmon]

This has been PR'd

https://github.com/ParadiseSS13/Paradise/pull/17724