Research Vessel 13: Map Concept WIP

[DanielRatherman]

I've been designing a mockup of a station based on the idea of a ship, rather than a stationary platform. The challenges of limited space and a narrow designs are pretty interesting to me. I've been doing the mockup in image editing software rather than the actual map editing software, in part because I'm a scrub who barely understands how to use it. If the concept gets fleshed out completely and isn't found to be an entirely stupid idea it might be a fun project to map.

http://i.imgur.com/QeWyHQi.jpg

I also intend for this design to force a couple of gameplay ideas I think would be interested in seeing, namely:

-Little to no redundant features. Want to remove a brain for Robotics? Better go to Medbay surgery. Want to microwave some donk pockets? There's probably a public break room, the kitchen, and not much else. Need documents photocopied for bureaucratic reasons? The only copiers are on the bridge and in the library. Redundancy and do-it-your-self-ism renders many jobs useless and makes many jobs too insulated and unaware of station situation.

-Non-fortress-departments. Notice how Sec and Science aren't entirely self-contained? Those firedoors that surround the colored tiles can be closed by the buttons inside- forming a temporary hallway to transport dangerous or critical items and personnel between the isolated parts of the department. This is another level of risk, and opportunity for stealthy or quick traitors to grab materials or attack targets.

My plan is to wrap maintenance around the outside of the ship so it doesn't look so much like a penis, and so there's still lots of places in the dark to hide and slink about. This of course means not all the maintenance areas will be connected to all the work areas- but it isn't that way on any station now as far as I know.

I'd like to hear any ideas or suggestions about the design.

[Saegrimr]

Vaguely phallic/10

[onleavedontatme]

Use shuttle walls/floors

[DanielRatherman]

Use shuttle walls/floors

It would be kind of cool to make more variants of the shuttle walls and floors for each department and maint. Maybe some animated floor tiles that flash message or change with the alert statuses and alarms to feel more like a vessel.

[ShadowDimentio]

>Xeno gets only one tiny ass cell and barely any room to move
>Toxins gets a big ass room to itself

Fucks my shit up

Either make the space bigger or start dropping some stuff.

[Steelpoint]

This would work better as a multi-leveled ship, the size is fine and compact but the space allocated to rooms is not enough.

[DanielRatherman]

This would work better as a multi-leveled ship, the size is fine and compact but the space allocated to rooms is not enough.

I should abandon symmetry of the rooms as shown here, and use the maintenance exterior to even shit out later, so I can enlarge some of the crowded areas. I think some of them are fine, like janitor closet, medbay, viro etc. But Chemistry, Xenbio, and some of the other equipment-heavy areas might need work.

As resident security skull-cracking expert I also wanted to ask you what you think the armory should have. I want it to be somewhat limited, but at the same time have useful items in it. I might substitute the armor for riot gear and have that locker full of flashbangs, tear gas, and other anti-crew weapons, meaning the warden requires cargo or RnD assistance for more potent weapons. What would you want if you were HoS with a limited armory at your disposal?

>Xeno gets only one tiny ass cell and barely any room to move
>Toxins gets a big ass room to itself

Fucks my shit up

Either make the space bigger or start dropping some stuff.

My understanding of tank transfer stuff is somewhat mediocre. I was thinking of combining toxins and the test lab's cooling/heating thingy into an area that big and maybe moving the tank storage down there so xenbio could get a second cell and more space. Would moving the tank storage down to toxins and making bomb makers go to atmos for a tank scrubber be a good way to clean it up a bit?

[ATDoop]

Xenobio is waaaay too small to do anything interesting. Even with two cells, they're basically going to be limited to at most 4 slimes. Also, gold slimes are basically out of the picture without a proper test chamber. I think keeping it 100% symmetrical is going to cause a lot of challenges. It might be better if there was no xenobio on the map, but I don't know. Good luck man.

[ShadowDimentio]

There's a reason the other stations are only vaguely symmetrical

[DanielRatherman]

Xenobio is waaaay too small to do anything interesting. Even with two cells, they're basically going to be limited to at most 4 slimes. Also, gold slimes are basically out of the picture without a proper test chamber. I think keeping it 100% symmetrical is going to cause a lot of challenges. It might be better if there was no xenobio on the map, but I don't know. Good luck man.

That is the other option. Maybe retool Xenobio into something more suited for a reasarch ship. Maybe a test lab and general prep area for away missions/planetfalls where xenos are captured?

[DanielRatherman]

http://i.imgur.com/RZVYuD1.jpg

Made the 'corner' rooms at each node one tile wider so those rooms are 3x3 now, which really helped fit most stuff in and make them less crowded. Could even pull them out to 3x6 if they really needed it, but this seemed to alleviate a lot of the crush and omissions.

Opted to remove the ol' Xenobio lab and replace it with a general purpose lab where the heater and cooler are. This stuff can easily deconstructed and converted over into a generic testing lab.

Shuffled Toxins around a bit- still working on it to see if it's practical in the space given- but the extra tile let me fit the plasma and 02 storage down there without too much fuss. Might remove it entirely and move tank storage to atmos where it really belongs- this would also best represent my goal to make departments interdependent.

Made sec offices bigger and added a nice aux storage for riot shit down by perma, Realized detective office was redundant and just merged it with the monitoring desk in the main sec office.

I should also clarify- that lawyer-y looking room by Perma is a replacement job for lawyer. "Internal Affairs Agent", which basically has the job of watchdog-ing Sec. They have a console that can monitor cameras in the brig and sec offices, and can contact Centcomm with an ID swipe to report abuses and issues. They also have all the usual lawyer-y shit in their locker and also are in charge of prisoner advocacy and corporate law.

Not sure what to do with that 3x3 room above bar- maybe move bar storage there and make the kitchen a bit more expansive?



What do you think of the layout of Escape-Arrivals? I dislike arrivals camping and crew being unable to even make it to escape from the common areas on box and other stations- so having them next to each other and right by sec, bar, medbay, and bridge seems good.

What cool stuff should bridge have in all that space?

[PKPenguin321]

Vaguely phallic/10

if your phallus is shaped like the image in the OP, consult a doctor

[ATDoop]

I'm not a big fan of that hallway between escape and arrivals. Maybe tool storage or EVA could go there. I really like how close the HoP is to arrivals, and the bar/chapel/library area looks slick. I think the Bridge might be too big in comparison to the rest of the ship, but also I could see that space easily filled with the captain's office and teleporter. I'm excited to see where this goes.

[DanielRatherman]

I'm not a big fan of that hallway between escape and arrivals. Maybe tool storage or EVA could go there. I really like how close the HoP is to arrivals, and the bar/chapel/library area looks slick. I think the Bridge might be too big in comparison to the rest of the ship, but also I could see that space easily filled with the captain's office and teleporter. I'm excited to see where this goes.

Thanks- I agree about the fuckup at arrivals hall- I made it into a bit of a lounge area for shuttle call waiting and also modeled a mockup of the arrivals shuttle. Might make the two doors there double doors and add an airlock, but just a mockup for now.

http://i.imgur.com/9ChlCyv.jpg

The next section of the ship to do after Bridge is probably Cargo- which I'm very unsure how to approach. How to incorporate mining into a ship like this is a tough call. Maybe instead of a shuttle it utilizes the away-mission gate to send miners to various mining sites. Would also be a good way to introduce fun away missions without necessarily distracting it from the main game too much. Other departments just issue supplies and equipment to the miners- who maybe have limited Gateway-IDs that let them through, so too many of the crew cant go through and derelict duty.

[Anonmare]

What sort of engine do you plan on adding? Tesla and singulo seem a little too intense and supermatter might be too testy for the average engineer to handle.

[DanielRatherman]

What sort of engine do you plan on adding? Tesla and singulo seem a little too intense and supermatter might be too testy for the average engineer to handle.

I'm not overly partial to Tesla- and SIngulo does seem simultaneously overkill and the wrong kind of drive for ship propulsion. I was thinking a slightly bulked up Gas Turbine for electricity production. I'm not sure how difficult it would be mapping or coding wise to make a similar, but larger form of fuel-based propulsion, but having some system of fuel-feeding would be neat.

Could be serious- and involve having a machine setup that turns plasma bars or uranium into fuel pellets for the engine- or something as tongue-in-cheek as a big 19th century style boiler system that the Irishmen Liggers and Australians Permabrig prisoners have to shovel chunks of fuel into.

Again, no idea how involved a new engine would be- so I'm somewhat limited in planning that far ahead. It will likely be the last thing designed since it's at the far aft of the ship- so I have some time to contemplate an answer.

[Wyzack]

Would rows on rows of PACMAN generators be viable? It would necessitate plasma mining to keep the lights on, and you could have the lizard crew shoveling plasma into the reactors. Maybe a new larger plasma-based engine?

Also is this map intended for lower pop? It seems quite a bit smaller than most maps, and would be a badass comfy alternative to ministation

[DanielRatherman]

Would rows on rows of PACMAN generators be viable? It would necessitate plasma mining to keep the lights on, and you could have the lizard crew shoveling plasma into the reactors. Maybe a new larger plasma-based engine?

Also is this map intended for lower pop? It seems quite a bit smaller than most maps, and would be a badass comfy alternative to ministation

Essentially one or two giant PACMANs would be what I had in mind. Would be interesting if the entire station was moving on a shuttle z-level so long as the engines are kept running- but if the engines are cut then it stops at a random spot on a large danger-filled asteroid field z-level. Clever antags or just general incompetence/chaos could result in the whole station being assaulted by spacecarps, pirates, etc.

As for the pop- I assume somewhere between 20-35 pop, so kind of mid-range. I was keeping ministation proportions in mind while designing it, but there seems to be more overall space when you consider maint and off-ship locales- so it can probably support a little more than that comfortably.

[DanielRatherman]

http://i.imgur.com/PP6Lcdc.jpg

Added a sort of portal room and two locker rooms for off-ship exploration. One locker is for the miner gear and their personal belongings/found artifacts. The other has special supply kits for a Security Officer, Medical Officer, and Researcher to go through the portal, as well as a borg charger.

The turrets would be programmed to open fire on any hostile mobs that come through the portal.

Would imagine the Researcher also gets a deployable tent like the escape pods on box, with oxygen and some basic stuff in it.

I would imagine they middle area will be the cargo foyer with the lathe and mailroom, then the bottom area is shuttle dock, crate storage, and anything else.

[Steelpoint]

Reminds me a bit of the Aurora class warships found in Stargate Atlantis.

[Wyzack]

Do you have someone to code your snowflake plasma engines? I would really like to see this map completed

[Cheimon]

I like this so far. I thought I might comment on some security aspects, if you don't mind.

I think some areas could use more windows, with shutters if necessary. I'm thinking HOS office/RD office/CMO office/Warden's office could all use a wider stretch of glass. If it is possible to get into space, for example (I don't know if the ship is stationary or not) the HOS will have no real ability to fight back to someone welding into his office (currently he can try and get lucky with potshots through the window). It's the same issue with the security equipment room: no window looks more secure, but to a determined space invader it's actually a blessing, because they can't hit back.

Perma is nice, although the ability to break out into the main area is going to make it very insecure. Typical setups normally have windows at the other end (with camera viewers) and the perma wing entrance cells on other maps often have a few features: a wall flasher, a back door (the white one) with a blast shutter behind it and also the ability to bolt it from inside the cell. The idea there is that you can put another prisoner in perma, without the risk of current inmates coming in, disarming you, and hoping for an RNG escape. Also no prison shower/soap/toilet, although I can see space is limited and I think it's a nice, small, cute setup.

The holding cell will work, but it'll be pretty much impossible to do concurrent timed sentences. Up to you if that's what you want. 4x4 timed cells may be a plausible alternative if you're okay with them facing outside with a shocked glass window (and maps like box do have this with a contingency blast shutter). Obviously you can tell I lean towards the 'fortress' style of prison cell, but if that's not what you want that's a valid choice. It does lead to more executions.

I imagine the rooms north and south of the bridge are going to involve a captain's quarters/meeting room/ai core/ai upload/vault/telecoms? I look forward to seeing how this develops, I love smaller maps and I think you've set yourself a great design challenge.

[Anonmare]

I assume the two walled off areas between science and mining are dorms/recreations?

[DanielRatherman]

Reminds me a bit of the Aurora class warships found in Stargate Atlantis.

Looking at a picture- yeah it does resemble it. I will probably add similar shapes and greebles to the outside once the core is done. Maint should be a fun challenge for this ship- because due to it's shape there will be quite a few places where it doesn't wrap all the way around the ship. To make up for the more visible, cramped areas in the core ship I might make a few areas of maintenance only accessible from space.

Do you have someone to code your snowflake plasma engines? I would really like to see this map completed

Not currently. I wouldn't want to waste a coders time until I had a full, solid design and was sure my mapping abilities were sufficient to handle the basic layout. I would definitely like to consult with a coder before I design the engine room so I can get a sense of what size and shape I would need. Luckily I can sprite, so I can try to make the engine itself look snazzy as hell.

I like this so far. I thought I might comment on some security aspects, if you don't mind.

I think some areas could use more windows, with shutters if necessary. I'm thinking HOS office/RD office/CMO office/Warden's office could all use a wider stretch of glass. If it is possible to get into space, for example (I don't know if the ship is stationary or not) the HOS will have no real ability to fight back to someone welding into his office (currently he can try and get lucky with potshots through the window). It's the same issue with the security equipment room: no window looks more secure, but to a determined space invader it's actually a blessing, because they can't hit back.

Perma is nice, although the ability to break out into the main area is going to make it very insecure. Typical setups normally have windows at the other end (with camera viewers) and the perma wing entrance cells on other maps often have a few features: a wall flasher, a back door (the white one) with a blast shutter behind it and also the ability to bolt it from inside the cell. The idea there is that you can put another prisoner in perma, without the risk of current inmates coming in, disarming you, and hoping for an RNG escape. Also no prison shower/soap/toilet, although I can see space is limited and I think it's a nice, small, cute setup.

The holding cell will work, but it'll be pretty much impossible to do concurrent timed sentences. Up to you if that's what you want. 4x4 timed cells may be a plausible alternative if you're okay with them facing outside with a shocked glass window (and maps like box do have this with a contingency blast shutter). Obviously you can tell I lean towards the 'fortress' style of prison cell, but if that's not what you want that's a valid choice. It does lead to more executions.

I imagine the rooms north and south of the bridge are going to involve a captain's quarters/meeting room/ai core/ai upload/vault/telecoms? I look forward to seeing how this develops, I love smaller maps and I think you've set yourself a great design challenge.

I agree about the necessity of more windows throughout the station. My idea for maint limits how many space-facing windows will be on board- since a 1 tile wide maint hallway wrapped around the ship means every window will be double-layered, since both the internal and external walls will need a window. This however, means that breaking into perma or the armory doesn't (necessarily) require EVA. I might make the environment around perma and armory maint airless and depressurized though. That would be an interesting way to make said areas safe for EVA wearing engineers to faff around it for legitimate work- but means assistants or other crew seeking to pass through maint in those areas have to hurry up or face suffocation or pressure injuries. They would then also make creative- if somewhat risky places for traitors to try and store bodies or kill people since they are so close to Sec- and probably should have cameras linked to Sec monitoring.

The Perma cell is probably my least favorite part of sec at the moment- the common area is cool but I would have liked to have a bedroom area that is separate from the entrance airlock. I might just remove the bed and turn that area into a proper double-airlock with windoors and flashers. Maybe just put a chair at the end there so officers can buckle-cuff people to it with zipties and then leave them to break out of them on their own time.

Honestly I'm envisioning this as less of a perma, and more of a heavy holding tank for people with sentences of more than 10 minutes, or repeat shitters who haven't deserved death. You'll also note the lack of an execution area and the distance from Perma to mining. I think on this ship any crimes that would warrant serious permabrigging or execution should involve the away mission gates. Either sending people through to serve as scouts/test subjects (since hey, it's not guaranteed harm like execution), or forcing them to mine if the away mission is a known mining one.

Speaking of holding tanks when you mentioned making 4 4x4 cells in the corners I about face-desked. I had gone, "Huh there's no way I can fit multiple cells in there" when I first started and settled on the drunk-tank model out of compromise. Frankly that seems like a much better idea. My concept for handling multiple timers was that each of the screens on the sides could have a name entered as well as a time- so one might say CLWN 4:23, and another ASST: RELEASE

Thats more or less what I had in mind for bridge- though I will probably separate the upload and the AI core as per the industry standard to stop malf and traitor AIs from having a total wash of things with their borgs being able to simultaneously defend both.

I want to especially make the captain's office a bit cooler than it is on box. It's worth noting as well all the assets I use in the concept picture here are just ripped from the big map on the wiki and pasted around in mspaint. I intend to make ALOT of new and retextured assets if it's possible, especially regarding the decor and signage around the station.

I assume the two walled off areas between science and mining are dorms/recreations?

I did need a place for them and I wasn't sure what to put there- but that seems fairly apt. Especially if I make recreations emphasize stuff RnD or Engineering can improve or enhance, like an arcade, a laser-tag-arena (combat simulator since this is a ship would be cool), or gym. I also want recreations to not be such an unvisited waste of space- so I will probably integrate it heavily into recreations and make the living situation barracks style with several beds in each room. I'm even considering adding another entire main 'hub' between Sec and Civilian ones, but that might be excessive.

[Venticular]

People should be able to EVA easily - while the ship is in motion the area around it should act like normal space.

This is because of inertia - one wouldn't suddenly stop if they get flung off a ship going really fast in space.

[DanielRatherman]

People should be able to EVA easily - while the ship is in motion the area around it should act like normal space.

This is because of inertia - one wouldn't suddenly stop if they get flung off a ship going really fast in space.

Well yeah, but when I say difficulty in breaking in via EVA I mean because there would be a double-window to break every time you wanted to try it. That's twice as much noise and time to get spotted or lasered.

[DanielRatherman]

http://i.imgur.com/aFlsVSo.jpg

Working out Cargo and Mining.

Mining is basically the away mission gate with a bit more formal protocols and staging areas for formal excursions off-ship.

Cargo bay is more or less the same as on box.

The middle area will be the ore-processing area, mint, and maybe an art workshop for statues and shit. (dwarf fortress dynamic crafting and strange moods when).

Bottom of the middle will be the autolathe, storage, and mail room.

Also added more windows to Sec, Med, and Sci offices.

I also had a good idea for the shuttle calling mechanics. Since this is a fast-moving warp capable ship, the NT escape shuttles couldn't dock with it while it's moving. (Let's go with- cargo shuttles are carrying inert/safely stored matter and so can go uber fast and are smaller and shit and therefore CAN dock with a moving ship.)

This means that when the escape shuttle is called the ship must cut its engines- slowing to a halt and exposing it to the risks of space pirates, meteors, etc. This is a good way to discourage frivilous shuttle calls- by making said calls present relatively serious threats that minor station-side problems would be easier to handle than.

The captain calling the shuttle because of power-outages and equipment failure makes no sense- as the same threats would be brought about by calling the shuttle as not calling it- so might as well fix it. Likewise calling the shuttle over a few deaths is somewhat risky as other threats could well kill far more of the crew than any internal ones.

Cool idea?

[Anonmare]

Any ideas how you'd implement that? It sounds like a decent idea but I'm not sure how you'd manage it.

Also do you plan on the AI being on the ship or in a satellite facsimile? If you plan on having it on ship, you should probably at least give it a 1 tile-wide space trench so it's not a joke to break into.

[DanielRatherman]

Any ideas how you'd implement that? It sounds like a decent idea but I'm not sure how you'd manage it.

Also do you plan on the AI being on the ship or in a satellite facsimile? If you plan on having it on ship, you should probably at least give it a 1 tile-wide space trench so it's not a joke to break into.

If the ship moving between Z-Levels can me made into a 'state' that can be used to trigger other things, then I'd imagine you would just require that state to be true for the shuttle console to successfully call a shuttle- In the same way on some gamemodes the shuttle can be delayed or forbidden.

As for the AI- I will do some workshopping as to exactly where I want it. My first inclination is to say in the middle 'hub' of one of the modules in engineering- which would make the space trench pretty easy to fit. Just imagine the way the sec cell is arranged with the drunk tank as the AI and space around that with a single airlock of blast doors to get in.

[CPTANT]

Actually I think having the ship be on a transit plane that throws you of the z level when you get off the ship would make the map feel more unique.

It really reinforces that nice cramped feeling the ship has.

[Wyzack]

Yeah, what if the ship throws you off like a shuttle but is surrounded by maintenence walkways

[DanielRatherman]

Actually I think having the ship be on a transit plane that throws you of the z level when you get off the ship would make the map feel more unique.
It really reinforces that nice cramped feeling the ship has.

Yeah, what if the ship throws you off like a shuttle but is surrounded by maintenence walkways

Yeah- that was my intent. I do wish that turf could move on a z-level so that working shuttles, moving catwalks, detachable high-risk areas, etc. were possible.

I imagine a 'warp-bubble' surrounding the ship, so space walks were possible but had to be done on very tight catwalks of girders to avoid being sucked off. I figure anyone ejected would either die instantly or be chucked onto a random space z-level that the main ship has a chance to stop on if it does so.

[DanielRatherman]

http://i.imgur.com/PCG3HTj.jpg

Finished the bridge more or less; Captain's quarters, Head meeting area, AI Upload, and Teleporter room.

Also moved around some stuff in Toxins and added a test area. Have to think about how to handle the bomb test site. Either not have one- and hope the takyon detector can be set up to detect shit on other z-levels or give up on being able to safely test bombs on-station and rely on away-mission tests.

[Cheimon]

http://i.imgur.com/PCG3HTj.jpg

Finished the bridge more or less; Captain's quarters, Head meeting area, AI Upload, and Teleporter room.

Also moved around some stuff in Toxins and added a test area. Have to think about how to handle the bomb test site. Either not have one- and hope the takyon detector can be set up to detect shit on other z-levels or give up on being able to safely test bombs on-station and rely on away-mission tests.

You don't have to have toxins. Traitors already get access to bombs, and it is a small enough station to justify the idea that bombs are just too deadly (just like a singularity might be). Removing toxins would allow for a xenobiology department to exist: you could fit two 3x3 slime cells in along with a 2/3x4 cell along the bottom and a 2x2 chilled kill-cell next to it. . That wouldn't have been feasible back in the day with hand management, but with a single xenobiology console it'd probably be surprisingly practical. Of course, console range would also have to be a consideration: I don't know how easy it is to artificially limit it, or whether a rogue scientist could teleport live slimes all over the department, which could be bad.

[DanielRatherman]

http://i.imgur.com/PCG3HTj.jpg

Finished the bridge more or less; Captain's quarters, Head meeting area, AI Upload, and Teleporter room.

Also moved around some stuff in Toxins and added a test area. Have to think about how to handle the bomb test site. Either not have one- and hope the takyon detector can be set up to detect shit on other z-levels or give up on being able to safely test bombs on-station and rely on away-mission tests.

You don't have to have toxins. Traitors already get access to bombs, and it is a small enough station to justify the idea that bombs are just too deadly (just like a singularity might be). Removing toxins would allow for a xenobiology department to exist: you could fit two 3x3 slime cells in along with a 2/3x4 cell along the bottom and a 2x2 chilled kill-cell next to it. . That wouldn't have been feasible back in the day with hand management, but with a single xenobiology console it'd probably be surprisingly practical. Of course, console range would also have to be a consideration: I don't know how easy it is to artificially limit it, or whether a rogue scientist could teleport live slimes all over the department, which could be bad.

Current map: http://i.imgur.com/VFXGOfF.jpg

Added Xenobio in the old toxins, and added the dorms.

Yeah that's probably true. I'll put the tanks in Atmos and if people want to make bombs they can Protolathe out some valves and use the test lab pipes to mix shit for basic low-cap stuff to kill singulos or mine.

Also a little poll: I have a 6x11 space in the dorms for a recreational item, what should I do with it?

-can conceivable do a small holo-deck.
-Could do a gym/community center
-Arcade and electronic funhaus

Maybe try to do all of the above and it randomly picks one at roundstart or can be toggled ala holodeck with nanomachines son.

[ShadowDimentio]

RAGE CAGE

[Wyzack]

Gym sounds fun, as does Arcade. A small holodeck would require remapping every holodeck setting but would allow for custom cool stuff.

[ATDoop]

The small holodeck with unique programs would be pretty cool. Maybe you could put the arcade, gym, etc inside the holodeck.

[Wyzack]

That is a good point. Maybe we could also have a pool, a stage, and any other cool shit we might need. It would be a good way to integrate nonvital stuff that a larger station would have

[CPTANT]

Would be nice if there were some hallways near the outer hull of the ship with windows.

Also what general final shape are you trying to aim for?

[Venticular]

He's planning to put maint around the edge like a shell, with maybe some windows.

[Zilenan91]

Add cool stuff and rooms to maint, make it interesting if you can.

[Pascal123]

I could probably talk a lot about this... One of the things i notice the most has to be the fact that the nuke disk is one wall away from being jettisoned into space. That, and, the captain would not even be able to secure the disk easily, as it is being blocked by both his personal hardsuit locker, and the display case.

Not to be 'picky', but the design could probably use more shape and work... I'm also not entirely sure smaller is better, in some cases, while it is an interesting concept.
The custodial closet and virology seem large in contrast to other more frequented places on-board a station. The jail cells seem bigger than the actual brig itself.

The lawyers office is right next to the permabrig cells? That means either lawyers have access to the cells or the permabrig cells only require basic brig access to get into. Both possibilities seem terrible.

The bridge seems far too easy to get into, by simply venting it to space or removing a single reinforced wall or breaking a window. You could take a step back and leave the bridge at the center as if it's 'raised' and possibly make it more reinforced/centered. But, this would basically just be like the other stations.

The shuttles could at-least have some more space around it, rather than just 'grinding' into the ship. Like the Nuclear Operative pod does.

From a logical standpoint, why is the library above the bar? That would be like putting the most quiet place on the station right next to the loudest one. The library could at-least have an actual airlock and tinted windows if that was the case.

Why doesn't the bar and medical bay have front doors? I can somewhat understand it for medical but the bar should probably have some airlocks.

The cremator is out in the open. Anybody could easily access it and cremate corpses.

The cargo shuttle is rather small, this is nice, but in practicality it'd be difficult to fit many crates in it at once without the possibility of being stuck and irritated.

The 'back' or, 'engine area' of the shuttle should probably compromise engineering and atmospherics.

There's more thrusters on the arrivals shuttle than the escape shuttle, despite the escape shuttle having a significantly larger mass. Also, if you moved the two top most chairs in the bridge part of the escape shuttle closer to the door, you could replace them with other necessary consoles, and then move the chairs to face them.

Why does it look like there's a gateway in cargo? And why are the turrets so oddly placed that they could wind up firing at and destroying the computer located there? Also, it appears as if the mining gear is to the left of it. Wouldn't this cause problems to miners trying to get their gear?

Robotics appears to have it's 'mech bay shutters' but no actual mech bay recharging stations.

This does seem like a great idea, though. One that people have been wanting for quite some time. Good luck with your project.

[ATDoop]

In regards to the crematorium being out in the open, maybe you could turn the stage into the chaplain's office, remove the door to the library closest to the stage, and put the stage in the center of the bar (that might look shitty). I don't know what I would do about the theater backroom, maybe you could just remove it and have the costume vendor put into the bar. Just spitballing.

[DanielRatherman]

I could probably talk a lot about this... One of the things i notice the most has to be the fact that the nuke disk is one wall away from being jettisoned into space. That, and, the captain would not even be able to secure the disk easily, as it is being blocked by both his personal hardsuit locker, and the display case.

It was my understanding you could grab items from between two stationary items- just couldn't move there. If he couldn't reach that spot I would move the case back to that and just plop the disk on his desk. Perhaps more appropriately- I should shove it into his locker even?


Not to be 'picky', but the design could probably use more shape and work... I'm also not entirely sure smaller is better, in some cases, while it is an interesting concept.
The custodial closet and virology seem large in contrast to other more frequented places on-board a station. The jail cells seem bigger than the actual brig itself.

That's mostly a factor of required space to operate and competition for space in more frequented areas. The custodial closet has a lot of shit in it, despite being less frequented, admittedly, but I couldn't put it much anywhere else. The brig drunk tank is pending redesign for that exact reason, it's a little excessive and limits what other stuff I can put in that center room for the officers.

The lawyers office is right next to the permabrig cells? That means either lawyers have access to the cells or the permabrig cells only require basic brig access to get into. Both possibilities seem terrible.

I didn't plan to give lawyer cell access or change perma access. He is there to have oversight over perma and ensure prisoners aren't being executed extra-judiciously there. He would presumably be responsible for getting them food and entertainment from the outside world via their transfer fridge. He would technically not be a member of security, but a low-ranking command staff member who happens to also have access to a centcomm bluespace messaging console so he can tattle on shitlers to centcomm. (an interesting way to get shitty captains, HoS's, and Wardens demoted over their heads if an admin thinks it would benefit the round.)

The bridge seems far too easy to get into, by simply venting it to space or removing a single reinforced wall or breaking a window. You could take a step back and leave the bridge at the center as if it's 'raised' and possibly make it more reinforced/centered. But, this would basically just be like the other stations.

As has been said, I plan to put maintenence around it, so it's actually 2 walls. The window isn't much of an issue, even current bridge can be exposed to space fairly easily on box via those little corner rooms or the space around the upload. Will reinforce the walls I think for sure though.

The shuttles could at-least have some more space around it, rather than just 'grinding' into the ship. Like the Nuclear Operative pod does.

I always imagine shuttles actually approach the station on a different z-level (as in height or depth) from the docks and then rise into place via gravity manipulators or claws or something. That's why you can have them surrounded entirely by station and still arrive/depart. As for the grinding I imagine the 'tile' system of mapping is abstract and there's atleast some clearence or NT is really that cheap and every time the escape shuttle arrives its with a hail of sparks and loud noise.

From a logical standpoint, why is the library above the bar? That would be like putting the most quiet place on the station right next to the loudest one. The library could at-least have an actual airlock and tinted windows if that was the case.

This is valid, i should make it more private and add tinted windows, perfect for ERP.

Why doesn't the bar and medical bay have front doors? I can somewhat understand it for medical but the bar should probably have some airlocks.

For air and plasma safety purposes that whole hallway can be fire-walled off, as can most others. I conceived of that hub between med and bar as the big open 'commons' of the station aside from dorms, and doors looked screwey when I put them there. If In playtesting it was a nightmare I would add some.

The cremator is out in the open. Anybody could easily access it and cremate corpses.

While fun, that is a little silly admittedly. I might agree with the other mentioned idea to remove the stage (maybe move it to the holodeck) and make that chappie office.

The cargo shuttle is rather small, this is nice, but in practicality it'd be difficult to fit many crates in it at once without the possibility of being stuck and irritated.

I kind of did some thought on that while playing the game and realized I rarely have 11+ crates total (the amount it can fit). I figure it just means you have to offload before you can onload it.

The 'back' or, 'engine area' of the shuttle should probably compromise engineering and atmospherics.

There's more thrusters on the arrivals shuttle than the escape shuttle, despite the escape shuttle having a significantly larger mass. Also, if you moved the two top most chairs in the bridge part of the escape shuttle closer to the door, you could replace them with other necessary consoles, and then move the chairs to face them.
I did this at first- but kinda wanted room to walk around in there for the heads. Shuttle bridge is ALWAYS a clusterfuck of attempted entrances and murder- so I imagined 2 seats for favored friends or if all the heads survive (lol no) was more useful than consoles.

Why does it look like there's a gateway in cargo? And why are the turrets so oddly placed that they could wind up firing at and destroying the computer located there? Also, it appears as if the mining gear is to the left of it. Wouldn't this cause problems to miners trying to get their gear?

I was imagining mining uses that to get to it's mining site on this map- since its supposed to be a moving ship rather than an orbiting asteroid station. Is also a nice way to make away missions more a part of the regular shift than a big distraction by making non-'peaceful' mining away missions the minority, and something that requires some team effort from the crew to utilize.

Robotics appears to have it's 'mech bay shutters' but no actual mech bay recharging stations.

I did forget to put that in- Those are the generators and pads in the traditional Robo lobby aren't they? I'll admit I've never been in a mech in SS13 for more than 2 seconds, so I didn't even realize how they charged. I guess I assumed they also utilized the borg ones or required cell changes or fuel. Will look into adding a charging station- maybe I'll move the shower up a space along with the wall and put it outside in the hall so it doesn't clutter shit up.

This does seem like a great idea, though. One that people have been wanting for quite some time. Good luck with your project.

Thank you, I really appreciate all the detailed feedback. I will definitely try to incorporate it.

That is a good point. Maybe we could also have a pool, a stage, and any other cool shit we might need. It would be a good way to integrate nonvital stuff that a larger station would have

Yeah I think I will do that. I'll make a few mockups and put them in the next update maybs.

Would be nice if there were some hallways near the outer hull of the ship with windows. Also what general final shape are you trying to aim for?

Not sure what final shape I want. I was imagining a generally v-shaped ship, with maint expanding as you went further back on the ship until it ended in a quite-wide bank of thrusters and some spacious areas for gas-tanks, liquid-tanks, and supply areas in the engineering/atmos areas.

Add cool stuff and rooms to maint, make it interesting if you can.

This is a big thing- I want to avoid redundancy of stuff on the station but I also want there to be opportunities for ghetto surgery, cookery, botany, and base-building for antags and assistants alike. I would like to put out a general invitation to suggest existing or submit new stashes, rooms, and scenes for an interesting maint. Anything to give some character to otherwise fairly boring areas. I might actually suggest reskinning maint assets to more resemble the greeble-filled hallways from Alien Isolation.
http://ec0c5a7f741a6f3bff65-dd07187202f ... Z96KYq.jpg

[Zilenan91]

How about a room with a bunch of gibs and organs and a xeno suit on a dead body that's on a meatrack

Or how about a boarded up room near permabrig that has empty lethal injection syringes, chairs, and electropacks like a rundown execution room

Ghetto Surgery with a trash bag would also be pretty cool.

[DanielRatherman]

Made some of the suggested changes:

http://i.imgur.com/lNfbZaR.jpg

-added some nice potted plants.
-unfucked captains office wow lol I made two of the desks inaccessable wow.
-made a mockup fightclub, casino (the gold vendor is a fancy item vendor that the coins you win can buy awesome shit in). gonna do a gym next with ripped out shit form goon, and then maybe a strip club or something.
-fixed up the chaplain area.
-made library less fucked.
-unfucked perma, did the 4 cells. Seem good?

[TrustyGun]

gonna do a gym next with ripped out shit from goon

Goof actually put up a PR for a gym ruin in lavaland, you can just take the gym machines from there

[Cheimon]

Basketball is always a fun holodeck concept. Needs uniforms (or bibs at least) to go with it otherwise teams are tricky.

Perma looks good, though I'd probably want to wall over the accessible bits of that window (very easy to break them). Is the locker anchored? Making it a normal locker would make escape through space more plausible, assuming there wouldn't be a layer of maintenance there. The cells look good too, though there is a big gap in the middle. Maybe you could add a statue or a table with some junk on it (space law, flash, pen and paper) or something?

I've noticed there aren't any camera consoles. If you do have an AI, all rooms will need cameras, and the humans might as well be able to view them in the bridge and security areas at least.

I think you could probably get away with more liberal use of carpet. The heads of staff meeting table could look more comfortable with it underneath, for example. The bridge in general seems like a strange design in that it all faces away from the station, but that's your call. I can't help but feel the L-corridors above and below it feel like wasted space compared to the compactness of the rest of things.

[DanielRatherman]

Basketball is always a fun holodeck concept. Needs uniforms (or bibs at least) to go with it otherwise teams are tricky.

Yeah was definitely gonna do that. Probably a gym with a pool, maybe a small breaching combat arena for boarding training.

Perma looks good, though I'd probably want to wall over the accessible bits of that window (very easy to break them). Is the locker anchored? Making it a normal locker would make escape through space more plausible, assuming there wouldn't be a layer of maintenance there. The cells look good too, though there is a big gap in the middle. Maybe you could add a statue or a table with some junk on it (space law, flash, pen and paper) or something?

The locker doesn't have to be anchored- there should be some prospect for escape using it I think. Also a place to ambush officers/avoid nuke ops/survive tesla etc. As for the windows they are shocked and monitored often- so probably not too bad but I will see what I can do. Might put atleast some kind of floor decor there- but I am unsure about clogging up that central area. Maybe just a statue for a dorf fortress reference. "A Gabbro statue of a security officer. The security officer is laughing. All craftsspessmanship is of the highest quality. You feel a happy thought looking at it."

I've noticed there aren't any camera consoles. If you do have an AI, all rooms will need cameras, and the humans might as well be able to view them in the bridge and security areas at least.

Oh I just havent fucked around with that yet. Same with APCS, Air stuff, etc. That will be it's own nightmare to test and re-test over and over once the shell is actually made in Byond. So far I've only done buttons and stuff.

I think you could probably get away with more liberal use of carpet. The heads of staff meeting table could look more comfortable with it underneath, for example. The bridge in general seems like a strange design in that it all faces away from the station, but that's your call. I can't help but feel the L-corridors above and below it feel like wasted space compared to the compactness of the rest of things.

Same with this- It's a pain to edit in carpets underneath furniture at it stands. Decoration in general is only sketched out here. I admire Goon's maps for how lived-in and detailed they are with fucktons of carpet, poster, plant, etc. varieties and would want to emulate this somewhat. I have to sprite all that shit first, and that seems more like a stage 2 or 3 for the project.

As for the corridors- they are a bit empty. Might put some chairs, plants, maybe a vendor or 2 in them.