/tg/Station 13

Viral Mech Domination is a Malfuction ability which allows a Malf AI to steal a mech, gaining the abilities of that Mech, in addition to keeping its local wireless control and access. The ability is obviously very niche, as it depends on the crew building a decent combat mech worthy of takeover. I have yet to receive any feedback on this feature from other players, nor have I had a chance to try it myself.

If you have been a Malfunctioning AI player, tell me what you think of this power. Did you ever purchase it? If not, what prevented you making the choice? If you did, what did you like/dislike about it? Do you feel the price is fair? How do you feel about the risks involved? What changes, if any, do you feel I should make to this power? (Note, "Remove" or equivalent responses are not acceptable.) Let me know what you think!

Have you had a mech stolen from you? If so, what were you piloting, and what happened to you after the AI stole your mech?

For details on the feature, please click here: https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station/pull/9792

Fun in concept, never going to be fun in reality.

Malf is a rare gametype and good AI's who recognize a mech hijacking opportunity are even rarer.

The one's that are good enough to see the opportunity will have it basically be an autowin. Comms are off, you steal the mech, you run off into space... bonus points if you can leave the z_level. Crew can barely coordinate themselves when radio is up, even if the pinpointer tracks you, getting everyone to follow the pinpointer user with radio off is another task entirely.

If you plan on using this ability you only need to stall with lockdowns, and any other ability to your liking, take over the mech and run off. Only if it becomes an ingrained in the meta, and people start reporting/tracking/killing suspicious mechs will it ever start to balance out, but it won't for the reasons mentioned initially, rare ability in a rare gametype.

You lose if you leave the z-level as malf.

Scones wrote:You lose if you leave the z-level as malf.

Just circle the station or sit on an unattached platform below tox test ( made by a Borg presumably ) and blat the 1-2 guys who go after you in space gear.

Scones wrote:You lose if you leave the z-level as malf.

Well that's encouraging at least. Still this tactic is far more likely to lead to annoying abuses (hiding in space) than it is to produce an entertaining finale (AI's last stand in a Durand).

I'd make it either so that it's only a "control" function, and that you stay in your core... returning either on command or on mech-death, or simply make it a cheaper destroy-mech ability that self-destructs the mech with a small syndie-bomb type explosion after 10 seconds. This prevents unrobust AI's from getting dunked in 2 minutes by an early RIPLEY or late-game AI's from getting pooped on by combat mechs.

Oldman Robustin wrote:

Scones wrote:You lose if you leave the z-level as malf.

Well that's encouraging at least. Still this tactic is far more likely to lead to annoying abuses (hiding in space) than it is to produce an entertaining finale (AI's last stand in a Durand).

I'd make it either so that it's only a "control" function, and that you stay in your core... returning either on command or on mech-death, or simply make it a cheaper destroy-mech ability that self-destructs the mech with a small syndie-bomb type explosion after 10 seconds. This prevents unrobust AI's from getting dunked in 2 minutes by an early RIPLEY or late-game AI's from getting pooped on by combat mechs.

I think such a control function is indeed possible. (Well duh, I coded it, then changed it back before the PR, lol) I can make it such that when the mech dies, the malf attempts to return to its core, and if such a core does not exist, it is gibbed (current behavior). I guess I could also consider lowering the penalty for dying in a mech for normal AIs, that is, moving the dead AI in the mech's wreckage.

Thoughts?

The most likely scenarios I can see this being used is when the AI core is being breached and someone brought along a mech to help.

Not a bad ability mind you, but it seems the scenarios that this would play out well would be edge cases.

Thinking about it this ability might see some success simply because people won't know it exists. Take a mech, kill the pilot (hopefully) and hide until you win while the crew wonders where the hell the AI shunted to.

I have gotten my ripley stolen from me in a malf round a few weeks back. Me and the AI were very confused at first. I was simply ejected and thought the mech was 'overridden' like a common machine - and the AI didn't know how to drill me (AI mechs use middle mouse button, right?).
The mech and I wandered off, with me plinking away at its armor with a KA until it died. Nobody else seemed to notice and kept on trying to enter the core.
I haven't played malf since this was added, but I have had a durands breaking into my malf AI core. Considering most malf powers are garbage (override, reactivate camera and now maybe RCD disabling are the only worthwhile ones), I most certainly would have had points left to grab a mech.
I'm sure nobody but the pilot would notice and I could simply walk away. The way I see it, it's shunting into an APC with legs and maybe the crew needs to be notified of the domination somehow.

An action button to swap between AI-mode and mech-mode (when in a mech) would help. Not everyone has MMB available.

Perhaps the abillity would lead to more interesting gameplay if not the AI replaced the mech pilot but a new mech pilot program loyal to the AI was picked from the ghost population.

i don't think it's bad, i think it's just niche. like a lot of traitor items, there are many preconditions to it's use

roundtime in excess of X time where X time is the time it takes to create a dangerous high level combat mech
the mech is worth stealing and in position to kill you
your core is dangerously exposed such that inhabiting something that can be destroyed is worthwhile
the AI even knows it's a new choice
the AI actually knows how to play malf (lol who are we kidding 4/5 malf AIs are like first time AIs and don't know how to use modules anyway
the AI hasn't won and actually needs to use modules

since pretty much most of this stuff has to happen for it to be a useful module, it's not something you'll see that often; doesn't mean it's not useful when most of these things come up

CPTANT wrote:Perhaps the abillity would lead to more interesting gameplay if not the AI replaced the mech pilot but a new mech pilot program loyal to the AI was picked from the ghost population.

This would be cool as an option.

If both existed, it'd also be hard to tell if it was the AI that shunted into the mech or just a ghost, which is good

A mech (mainly ripley) is pretty much a ggnore for the AI unless it can shunt (borging machine for example, prevents you from shunting).
This power lets you flip that around hilariously, and proceed to CLAMP the crew to death.

Running around outside the station until time runs out seems super cheese though.

One solution would be, since the malf is remoting taking control of the mech (as opposed to normally being carded and inserted), what it the AI core would still have the AI in it? (in terms of killing it)
So when that angry ripley starts drilling in to murder you, you can take control of it, but you still have to protect your core.

I think that would let it still be true to it's intended function, minus the cheese.