User:Vincentius vin/Atmos
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Research Director Robert Oppenheimer says: "Here, hold this bomb. Just be aware that I'm not directly responsible for any mass destruction that may or may not be cause by you using that." |
Ordnance is a section of the Research and Development section of the station. There was a time when being in this place was basically a dead giveaway that you were a bad guy but with the advent of Research bombs, this is no longer the case.* Instead, being a robust bomb-maker will get you praise and laudation as the crew realizes you used all the bombmix to complete difficult research experiments and get a lot of credits for the department's research budget rather than using it to turn the Station into a crater-ridden deathtrap! Hooray Science!
Tools of the trade
There are a few items that you will need to grab or at least keep track of.
Items
Rapid Pipe Dispenser
The rapid pipe dispenser can be found in the ordnance lab. You will need it to retool the pipe setup.
Analyzer
The analyzer will tell you what is going on with canisters, pipes, the environment, simply Left Click with it on your hand on things to examine them and Press Z or Click the analyzer itself to examine the air around you. Right click the analyzer icon to open the gas and reaction reference.
Tablets or 
Modular Computer
We will need them to publish papers and read up on the experiments we are about to do. Make sure you have one nearby.
Holofans
Some station start with the luxury of having the Atmos Holofan in the ordnance lab. You can use it to retool the freezer chamber if you want. Simply Click on a tile with it in-hand to generate a barrier that will let you go through but not air and heat.
Tools
Pipes are reconfigured using tools, you might want to keep a toolbox nearby or have the tools inside your backpack by Click-dragging the toolbox into your backpack. In particular you will use the 
wrench the most to unwrench and fasten pipes.
Tanks
In toxins, tanks are the objects that actually produce explosions from being overpressurized. However you cannot overpressurize a tank easily by pumping them with regular pumps, which is where ordnance comes in.
TTV
The TTV allows you to combine the contents of two tanks together. This will be the thing you need to make large bombs.
Machineries
Gas Compressor
The gas compressor is where you do the Gas shell experiments. They, unlike regular blue pumps, does not have a pressure limit and will allow you to overpressurize a tank very easily.
Anomaly Refinery
Anomaly refinery allows you to insert Tank Transfer Valves into them to compress Anomaly Cores. They are also equipped with a simulation feature for you to test out bombs without actually losing them, NT won't accept that data though for some reason...
Doppler Array
The doppler array is a directional device that allows the recording of real explosions. If those explosions happen to be caused by tanks, they can provide insight on the possible causes.
Additional Machineries
Portable scrubbers and portable pumps are often used to clean or fill a tank.
Thermomachines are also used very often to cool down or heat up a gas.
Lastly, canisters store gas and will also be used to contain exotic or very hot gas.
Papers and You
To complete experiments, as well as to acquire funding and scientific cooperation, you require the NT Frontier application. This can be downloaded on your department's civilian console, or a device like a laptop or tablet
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To do this, you need to:
- Grab your ID
and insert them into a tablet or a modular computer. - Open the NT Software Hub application and look for the program NT Frontier. It is in the Science tab if you didnt find it. Press download and wait for it to finish.
The application will helpfully list all available experiments as well as their tier requirements. Do note that for experiments which unlock research nodes upon completion, it is not required to reach the maximum tier. However you should endeavor to do so, as you will otherwise earn less funding and cooperation. Do note that you can only publish one paper per experiment and tier. So you cannot re-do the same tier later on to gain more rewards if you publish a worse result early.
Using disks
In order to publish papers, the relevant file must be on your phone's internal storage. To do this you will need to:
- Complete the appropriate experiment in the Tachyon-Doppler Array or Tank Gas Compressor.
- Grab a portable hard drive (data disk). These should by lying around near a computer or a doppler array.
- Insert the data disk into the Tachyon-Doppler Array or Tank Gas Compressor and print the experiment to the disk.
- Stick the disk into your phone or computer and use the File Manager software to copy the file from the disk to the phone.
Now you will be able to select the experiment in NT Frontier and publish your paper!
Scientific Cooperation
Other than funding, publishing papers earns scientific cooperation with the partner you select when publishing the papers. In the partner's overview tab, you can see your relations with each partner. Good relations allow you to purchase discounts on research nodes, which will however degrade the relations.
Practical guide to Gaseous Synthesis
Toxins is about making gas, either for bombs or for gas shells. You can read up on all the gas reactions in the game here.
If you are just starting out, you are recommended to make BZ first, then Tritium, before moving on to the harder gases like Hyper-Noblium.
BZ Synthesis
BZ requires N2O and Plasma in a low pressure environment to produce. To use this you can use the freezer chamber to both cool down the reactants (drives the pressure down) and to give a larger area for the reaction to occur (also drives the pressure down).
- Wrench the
plasma canister in to the first mixer port.
- Why: As stated above, one of the ingredients for BZ is Plasma.
- Wrench the
N2O canister in to the second mixer port.
- Why: As stated above, one of the ingredients for BZ is N2O.
- Set the
first mixer to 100% Side Node.
- Why: A mixer is supposed to mix two inputs, but in this case we do not need the oxygen.
- Set the second mixer to 66.66% Main Node 33.33% Side Node.
- Why: This way the input and consumption stays the same and we will prevent buildup inside the chamber which can skew our pressure.
- Open the
valve connecting the Mix Line (yellow) with the Freezer line (purple)
- Why: This will redirect our mixed gas to the freezer chamber.
- Wrench a plasma canister into the freezer port.
- Why: The
heat exchangers on the freezer turf will need gas to start exchanging heat, Plasma is an exceptional coolant since it absorbs a lot of heat.
- Why: The
- Turn the
thermomachine on and minimize the target temperature.
- Why: The thermomachine will attempt to cool the plasma down to the selected temperature, which in turns cools the chamber.
- Open the
air alarm and look for the scrubber inside the freezer chamber (match the id). Set it to expanded mode and to scrub BZ.
- Why: This will allow us to collect the BZ as they are formed in the chamber.
- Wrench a canister or a
portable pump in the output port
- Why: The BZ collected by the chamber will be deposited to the canister or portable pump. The former is more readily available while the latter allows you to do gas shells very precisely.
- Look for the
Chamber Monitor, and in this order: Lower the injector to 1 L/S, and turn it on.
- Why: This will be the final step that allows our reactants to go inside the chamber. You might be able to optimize it even further by adjusting the input rate up and down as time passes. Aim for somewhere below 50 kPa.
Addendum
If you overpressurized the gas inside the freeze chamber, you might want to:
- Disconnect the output canister.
- Set the scrubber to siphoning in the Air Alarm.
- Turn on the bypass volume pump.
Though this may not always work, such as when the input line is already at maximum pressure. You can then change the normal gas pump to a volume pump.
Tritium Synthesis
Tritium is still relatively simple to grasp, but it is prone to failure which can render your workplace hazardous to work in. Don't lose hope if you fail, even experienced players make mistakes.
The production of tritium requires the combustion of plasma inside a heavily oxygenated environment. Tritium also combusts relatively rapidly with oxygen, which means you will need to upgrade the scrubber network to get sizable amounts of it. This guide will assume that you do not have the means to do that.
- Set the first and second mixer to 100% Main Node.
- Why: We require oxygen in the chamber, this setting will fully pump the oxygen in.
- Open the valve connecting the Mix Line (yellow) with the Burn Line (black)
- Why: This will route the oxygen into the chamber.
- Open the air alarm and look for the scrubber inside the burn chamber (match the id). Set it to expanded mode and to scrub only Tritium.
- Why: The first one will allow us to clear the yellow/black line quicker, while the second one will let less tritium burn.
- Click the chamber control panel, and open the interior airlock. Wait for it to cycle.
- Why: This will allow us to access the pumps connecting the pipes to the injector.
- Maximize the
pump leading in and pump leading out.
- Why: The first one will allow tritium to be produced more quickly, while the second one will let less tritium burn.
- Head back down to the Oxygen Stationary Tanks, use your analyzer on them and turn the first mixer off (Ctrl-Click) once you are satisfied with how much oxygen is in the chamber.
- Why: However much gas you leave in the tanks is completely optional. Keeping a reserve of around 2-3k (around 1-2 canisters) might be a good idea in case you decided to pursue another experiment that needs oxygen.
- Wait for the black and yellow line to empty out and turn the injector off with the Atmos Monitor. The monitor should read around 1-2k moles of oxygen.
- Why: We will need the plasma to be trickled in slowly, turning the injector off first will give us ample time to prepare the plasma.
- Wrench a plasma canister in to the first mixer side port.
- Why: This is preparing the plasma.
- Set the first mixer to Side Node 100%
- Why: Plasma is in the side, so we maximize it.
- Activate the burn button. Make sure you don't press the vent button.
- Why: This button will trigger the igniter in the chamber and allow the plasma to ignite.
- Head back to the Atmos Monitor and start trickling the plasma. Start with a small number, turn the injector on, and keep adding the rate slowly until the temperature is above 1.7k Kelvins. You are free to increase or decrease the rate afterwards.
- Why: Tritium is made when there are around 100x as much oxygen as plasma, we trickle the plasma slowly so this ratio is maintained. We also aim for the temperature to be above 1.7k Kelvins because the oxygen consumption is most efficient at that temperature. Higher rates mean more tritium made per second, but it also means a higher burden on your cooling system.
- If all goes well, tritium should be made and cooled by the freezer. You can wrench a canister or a portable pump to the output connector port when finished.
- The canister is withheld because wrenching it means a smaller volumetric share for the freezer. Rather than being (200L / Pipe volume), the gas that the freezer can cool directly becomes (200 L / (Pipe volume + Canister volume)). Read more on gas equalization here
Addendum
In most cases, you will need to add more scrubbers to the chamber. You should do this before adding anything to the chamber. To do this simply:
- Grab a firesuit and fire helmet from a
Fire Closet, wear them. - Equip and activate
internals. - Use the door control and open the interior airlock. Wait for it to cycle.
- Open the exterior airlock either by interfacing with the same console or by pressing the airlock sensor near the walls of the chamber.
- Unwrench either the scrubber pump or pipe and replace them with a
layer manifold of a suitable color. - Add four more
scrubbers to the chamber. You will most likely need to do this in another layer, feel free to choose any. - Go out by pressing the airlock sensor once again. Wait for it to cycle.
Ordnance Tests Part 1 - Gas Shells
Before playing with bombs directly, you are recommended to try out gas shells first. They are far less punishing and final than a proper bomb test.
Tank Compressor
The tank compressor in essence is an overgrown pump. It is mainly used to burst tanks with exotic contents inside, letting it spew into the collection chamber to be evaluated.
The tank will then either spring a leak or explode, both of which will be contained by the machine. In case of a leak, it's advised to wait for the tank to empty before removing it from the machine. In case of an explosion, all of the gas content will be outputted to the collection chamber.
Upon a succesful ejection or detonation, the collection chamber's gas data will be finalized and recorded into an experiment file. A printable experiment is then available to be printed into a data disk. Gas in the chamber will also be flushed into the output port.
Try and pay attention to the pressure at which tanks leaks or explodes, we might meet this concept again later.
Setup Guide
To properly use this contraption, there are two course of action you can take:
- Overpressurize a tank with the experiment gas
- Pros: Very quick to do.
- Cons: Difficult to clean the input port up, less control.
- Prefill a tank with the experiment gas, overpressurize it with another gas in the compressor.
- Pros: Easier to clean the input port up, more control over the number of moles.
- Cons: Takes a bit more time, requires a portable pump in most cases.
Ordnance Tests Part 2 - Research Bombs
If you're following the generally used way to make the bomb, you should have two Portable Pumps and a shielded canister. One pump filled with about 43.15 Kelvin Oxygen, one with about 43.15 Kelvin Tritium and a shielded canister with hot (~8000+ Kelvin) Plasma. Lets put this bad boy together.
Head to the Tank Storage Unit, grab a Plasma Tank and an Oxygen Tank, and load them into one of the white Portable Scrubbers and empty your tanks completely of Plasma and Oxygen, respectively. Put the empty blue tank in the Tritium Pump, set the target pressure to 850 kPa, set direction to In and turn on the pump. Ideally, tritium should make up about a third of your cold mix, adding tritium beyond this point actually decreases the power of your bomb. A cold mix composed fully out of tritium is barely stronger than a cold mix of only oxygen. Wait for the tank to fill, then turn off the pump. Take the tank you just filled to the Oxygen pump and fill it up until it's full by setting the direction to In and turning the pump on at 2533 kPa pressure. Take the other empty orange tank and fill it in its entirety with Plasma from the canister inside the airlock.
Your gas tanks are now ready. Now you just need to put them together along with a signaler. Attach both tanks to a Tank Transfer Valve (they look like manual values). Pick up a signaler and change the signal code to whatever you want. Use a screwdriver on the signaler to change it to attachment mode and attach it to the Tank Transfer Valve. Head over to the launch site and place the TTV on the mass driver in the room to the right, shoot it to the bomb site and when it's there send the same signal code using your PDA or another signaler.
If you did everything right, the entire station should violently rock and a machine should inform you about your success. If you want, you can turn the Intercom next to the machine on before detonating your bomb to broadcast the test results on the common radio. That will (sometimes) stop the crew from asking what the hell just happened.
Now you'll want to publish the result as a high-yield bomb using the NT Frontier app.
Watch this somewhat outdated video for a concise but out of date guide to toxins. The video isn't up to date with the latest /tg/ features such as the changes to Thermomachines and smart pipes.
Principles
or, "How it Actually Works", or, "Read if You're a Nerd".
A TTV does not explode on its own: it only connects two tanks, and produces an explosion based on the same formula tanks themselves use for overpressure.
The explosion of a TTV depends entirely on how quickly the pressure rises in the tanks. By this principle, the most effective way to make a TTV is to have as much gas as possible in one tank, and as much energy as possible in the other. This is why we make oxygen/plasma bombs: in one tank, you get the enormous heat capacity of plasma combined with enormous heat - in the other, you try to fit as much oxygen as possible in the tank, and this is most effectively done via cooling. Since the gas needs to change in pressure very fast and very much, we use a gas with a low heat capacity (oxygen's is 10 times lower than plasma's). As a bonus, hot plasma and oxygen burn, which raises the pressure that extra bit.
Even though the max capacity for explosions can be safely hit with these bombs, the Tachyon-Doppler Array reads the blast size that the bomb would have, were there no maxcap at all. This is called the "theoretical" radius. For this reason, even if they don't explode any more violently, tritium based research bombs get a way higher score on the array.
The tritium is placed in the oxygen tank, as it has a heat capacity even smaller than oxygen's (half of it to be precise). It is kept at roughly a ratio of 66% oxygen to 33% tritium, which is the optimal ratio for it and hydrogen. Once the plasma feeds the energy into the cold tank, the violent tritium burn raises the pressure considerably, producing a much larger theoretical boom.
You might be asking: how far can we go with this? Well, if for some ungodly reason you're playing on a server with the maxcap disabled in the config (or, much more likely, if you disabled it yourself on a local build), you can make some pretty large bombs. The largest one has hot hyper-noblium in the hot tank (10 times larger heat capacity than plasma, the highest of all) and a very densely packed oxygenated tritium payload in the cold tank. Unfortunately, hyper-noblium stops all reactions such as combustion, but on very high temperatures the mole count should be negligible.
If you try this out, you will begin to understand why the maxcap exists. This is the true legacy of Cuban Pete.
Implosion Compressor and Anomaly Refining
That funny-looking box in the toxins launch room does more than just sit around. It's the main way of getting anomaly cores.
What's an anomaly core?
Anomaly cores are essentially an item with the special property of being able to exist only in a very small number (currently eight) per type. They're used to give functionality to several high-end research items, and can be obtained in one of two ways:
- Defusing Anomalies with an analyzer and signaller, or with an Anomaly Neutralizer
- Buying raw cores from Cargo or using the random ones toxins spawns with, and activating them in the Implosion Compressor.
The machine will always require bombs with a blast radius of at least 4, which is tiny compared to the 50,000 point research bomb, and only requires a bomb just short of the one described in the next paragraph. However, with diminishing returns being a thing, this means that after processing multiple cores of the same type, the required blast radius will go up. You may need to slightly adjust your mix to be more powerful after each use of the Compressor.
The compressor will first take the raw core, then accept a TTV with two tanks attached. If the mixture of the two tanks would have provoked a blast that fulfills its requirements, the Implosion Compressor will rock the station with an equivalent effect of the actual blast, and the raw core will be spit out as a proper, activated core. You'll also get your TTV back, likely with one of the tanks gone. It's that easy!
Guide to Maximum Capacity Bombing
So fate has decided to make you a bad guy and you've decided to use your newfound knowledge in the art of bombing to tear the station a new one. Great! If you've followed the above instructions at least once, however, you'll probably have realized that you only have enough gas mix to make a single bomb. There are, however, six Tank Transfer Valves in your table (and you can even get more from Cargo). Surely this is no coincidence? Indeed it isn't. A simple regular old Plasma-Oxygen bomb is very easy to set up and mass produce and, while awful and a waste of time in terms of gaining department budget credits, will be devastating if detonated strategically on the station! This part of the guide will assume you have some familiarity with working in Toxins and just highlight the bomb mix, as well as some general tips when bombing.
Your bomb mix: Put cold Oxygen in a portable pump, and hot Plasma in a canister. Make sure to clean your piping in-between to avoid contamination. Set the Freezer you start with to 141.3 Kelvin and cool Oxygen to that temperature. Upgrade your Heater with Tier 4 Lasers and set it to 1413 Kelvin and heat Plasma to that temperature. Grab two tanks from the Tank Dispenser, scrub them clean, fill one to 2533kPa with Oxygen and the other to 3039kPa with hot Plasma. All done, you got yourself a maxcap! Pick a trigger, put it somewhere and detonate it. Below, you'll find the available triggers:
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Important Note about Remote Signaling Devices
Some jokers like to randomly signal the default frequencies of these devices so before you attach one to a bomb you'll want to open its control panel by using it in your hand and change the frequency and/or code so that you don't get a nasty surprise.
Final Warning
Seriously, don't go and randomly set these off on the station if you aren't a syndicate or otherwise an antagonistic character, you WILL get job-banned or even permabanned.
If you manage to accidentally blow up toxins and maybe even the surrounding Research department once or twice as a beginner, don't panic and just explain what happened to the admins who will likely contact you. They're usually an understanding bunch and know that mistakes happen. Just make sure to learn from them!
On the other hand, if you DO know what you're doing, the potential damage you can cause to the station can be extreme and sometimes irreversible, very likely changing the course of the round. There are VERY few instances where you can use these bombs as a weapon while being a normal non-antagonist crew member, and even when faced with a situation where it could be used to save the station, use it only as a last resort.
Don't Be This Guy
We call this one a Toxins Moment.
Hey, at least you'll keep the Atmospheric Technicians busy for a bit.