More realistic welding

[Dagdammit]

Not saying any of these changes SHOULD be made, I actually think welding tools & related game mechanics are completely fine as is. But I'm doing some welding cert tests at the train+shipyard where I work, and it's got me thinking. For those who want to know, IRL-style welding would have the following logistical details:

-Welders do not use combustible liquid fuel to generate heat, they use a fuckton of electricity. Like, enough that your tool would need to be linked up to generator/power grid.
-Welding things does small amounts of burn damage in a 1-tile AoE around target. (Especially when deconstructing.)
-Welding non-conductive (non-metal) things would deal exactly 0 burn damage, you would just be prodding them with a bit of wire.
-Welding releases tons of CO2 gas, enough that doing so in confined space like maint would create littke pockets of air that's not fit to breathe. It also gives off mildly toxic fumes (mild by ss13 standards, mostly "constant coughing and cancer" stuff, gas masks would filter them just fine).
-Flash mechanics are about right as-is, or so I assume.
-Space station 13's welding hood tech is about on par with its PDA tech. IRL you can get auto-tint lenses for a couple hundred bucks that only darken while blinding light is present and toggle back immediately to "strong sunglasses" level immediately after.

Just sharing in case any of it's useful food for thought.

[kevinz000]

They would be great ideas but just not feasible in SS13.

[Dagdammit]

I don't even know if they'd be that good for SS13. I mean, tools you have to wire directly into grid, that's a neatish drawback in theory. Instead of (say) only being able to hold something in two hands, you have to be standing on a tile with exposed wires, need a second (plus insulated gloves) to hook your arc projector weapon into the grid, and will drop it if you move before unhooking it.

[Wyzack]

Our welding tool is more like an acetylene torch

[bandit]

-Welding releases tons of CO2 gas

the fuck is that

[Dagdammit]

-Welding releases tons of CO2 gas

the fuck is that

We may never know.
(It's actually carbon monoxide but that doesn't exist in SS13)

[kevinz000]

Better code it.
But yeah, if all you need to make a wall is 4 sheets of metal and like 15 seconds (less then that) you shouldn't need to lay down wire to a spot just to weld.