Does anyone even like meteors?

[Shikarego]

Every time you get that announcement, even for meaty ores, everyone groans in frustration. Sometimes they call the shuttle, and rarely will you get objections because meteors aren't fun.

Maybe the answer isn't to remove them, but to change meteor shields? Make them a roundstart thing in engi, make their boundaries and mechanics more clear. Not sure. But I fucking hate meteors and I think you do too.

[trollbreeder]

https://tgstation13.org/phpBB/viewtopic ... 33&t=26169
I'm getting a strange feeling of deja vu.

[Shikarego]

https://tgstation13.org/phpBB/viewtopic ... 33&t=26169
I'm getting a strange feeling of deja vu.

Idk if I wanna jump right to "remove meteors." I'm open to hearing what someone might enjoy about them. I also like the idea of giving engis more to do to hopefully nullify their effects completely. I personally wouldn't miss them at all, though.

[PKPenguin321]

embrace chaos my friend

[Super Aggro Crag]

too bad theres not some sort of machine that like, lays out a holographic image of how the station starts the round over damage, so engineers can rebuild it to specifications instead of just randomly plugging shit up (that is, if they even attempt damage control and dont just call shuttle)

[Ivuchnu]

Early warning is good idea. Current state of "RNG decides that round must end" sucks!

[Stickymayhem]

I genuinely think meteors would be more fun if they didnt only hit the side of the station. It's a lot more fun and frantic to patch a whole in the central primary hallway than a random spot in maint that drains all the fucking air in one whole side of the station

Maybe with an impact warning on the area so there's time to escape

[nianjiilical]

in an abstract sense, i like the idea of meteors actually being buffed but also given more "counterplay"

what if they were more devastating, but the station started with a small number of meteor shield bot things and a machine that said which direction they were coming from?

[BONERMASTER]

You may think the meteors are the problem, but have you ever considered that nobody being willing to repair the station is the issue here? Engineers are one of the most unmotivated and inefficient department groups we have, you may have all engineer slots filled, but you can bet that it's all evolved greytiders just picking the fastest way to get insulated and tools, and none will ever perform any helpful activity to their department whatsoever. By game mechanics alone, we are consistently terrible at repairing breaches of any notable severity.
It's also the game not running smoothly and choking if you have too many entities or it went on long enough. It will break in some way and you start to get lighting bugs, then everything becomes sluggish, sometimes even the atmosphere system ceases working. It's probably these factors being a drag on your game experience, that make meteors with their huge disruption and numerous breaches a fun-killer for many, but the reasons why are not rooted in the meteors themselves, but in the game's struggling performance.

[Shikarego]

You may think the meteors are the problem, but have you ever considered that nobody being willing to repair the station is the issue here? Engineers are one of the most unmotivated and inefficient department groups we have, you may have all engineer slots filled, but you can bet that it's all evolved greytiders just picking the fastest way to get insulated and tools, and none will ever perform any helpful activity to their department whatsoever. By game mechanics alone, we are consistently terrible at repairing breaches of any notable severity.
It's also the game not running smoothly and choking if you have too many entities or it went on long enough. It will break in some way and you start to get lighting bugs, then everything becomes sluggish, sometimes even the atmosphere system ceases working. It's probably these factors being a drag on your game experience, that make meteors with their huge disruption and numerous breaches a fun-killer for many, but the reasons why are not rooted in the meteors themselves, but in the game's struggling performance.

Interesting point, but I don't think it holds up.
I don't think fixing meteor breaches is fun. I don't think rebuilding atmos is particularly fun.
I think I see engineers (myself included) fixing all the breaches and shit when meteors hit, I've even seen someone rebuild ALL of tcoms. I am not convinced that the problem is the players don't wanna help, I think the problem I'm pointing at is that it does not add anything to the game. Not anything fun, anyway.

As for your performance point -- the screenshake from meteors makes me IRL nauseous and lags me to hell. But neither of those factor into my questioning what meteors add to the game / what might make them enjoyable.


Also, I don't think you mentioned anything good about meteors, you just tried to reframe my objections. I'm wondering if anyone has anything positive to say about meteors.

[nianjiilical]

meteor event rework proposal

-meteor shields changed to include large and small shield pods. large ones are the same as they are now, having to be dragged out into space and activated. small ones can be carried in hand but can only be turned on if near another large or small active pod. this makes it easier to one person to set up the shields
-large shield pods have finite battery and a chance to depower every 15~ seconds if left on for more than a minute, so they can't just be left in space unattended
-engineering or eva starts with one large pod and a few small pods, cargo can order either one large pod or several small pods per crate
-shields no longer need to be hooked up to a computer, instead engineering/eva starts with a meteor detection machine

-when a random meteor event happens, IF the station has a functional, powered meteor detection machine, the station gets an alert that meteors are coming. the meteors arrive 3-5 minutes (random) after this first alert, with a second alert coming ~10 seconds before they actually hit (second alert comes even without a meteor detection machine)
-the alert doesn't say which direction the meteors are coming from, but the meteor detection machine does, so the crew has to check the detector to find which direction theyre coming from then move the shield pods into place
-meteors get their own unique loot table, and meteors successfully shot down by the shield pods have a chance to leave behind goodies to reward the crew for manning the pods and checking the debris

-with all of the above, meteors are made much much deadlier, with even the smallest non-exploding meteor able to penetrate 10-20 tiles into the station like a rod, and exploding meteors being more common and powerful

tl;dr turn meteors into something the crew actually has to respond to, and give them more tools to do it plus rewards for doing so

and yes i know wyci

[crashmatusow]

My experience with meteors is a as a shitty round ender button hammered by admemes which could better be served by pushing the deathsquad button.