Modular drones

[captain sawrge]

Remove drone shell dispenser
Allow robotics or medbay to make drone frames
Different classes of frames that have different innate abilities
Ex. Engineering drones are space proof maybe or have rcd or something along these lines
Service drones have a booze dispenser
Medical drones can extend into a stretcher to carry bodies
Drones get a limited amount of loadout slots, maybe something can affect this (bigger shells=more slots but slower speed? Or something)
Loadout slots can be fitted with normal items or manipulators (hand equivalents, maybe restricted from using certain items like gun's)
I.e. engineering drone with welder, wrench, crowbar? Or service drone with glass dispenser and maybe a manipulator and tray for serving
Or medbay drone with epehdrine injector, defib (maybe used multiple slots?)
Space exploration drone with a jetpack and a dufflebag?

Maybe make them RC controllable if ghosts aren't available
Not sure if all should have camera or if it should be a loadout item
Disarming them turns them on/off?
Roboticists can set custom laws for them:
"Help chef prepare a feast!"
"Build a store in the bar"

I dunno might make drones and roboticists job each a little more fun and interesting

[BeeSting12]

Medical drones are human interaction unless you want them to do away with that rule.

[captain sawrge]

Yeah

[captain sawrge]

They should probably have small batteries or something I don't know

[bman]

camera drone for sec so we siege now boys

[Hatfish]

Why not just make a borg if you want a silicon made to fulfill a certain purpose? This would just cause drones to be produced even less often than they already are.

[captain sawrge]

Thought it would be cool

[Tokiko2]

Remote controlled drones sound amazing for engineering stuff.

[Steelpoint]

Remote controlled Drones for engineers would be a interesting tool. It would need some restrictions, such as being only able to carry/use the tools it starts loaded with, and the drone would need to be very susceptible to gunfire, but it can make a interesting tool to help repair hull breaches or repair things in area's out of reach or are unsafe.

[Dr_bee]

I think drones need to be vulnerable to gunfire anyway.

just let them hide and turn into items if they need to dodge fire, and if they are being crap let clicking on them in hand shut them off for awhile or something.

[DemonFiren]

Remote controlled drones: don't work when comms are down, need to stay on the same z-level, only get one hand or can only carry a box's worth of items or some shit like that.
Lack the actuator strength for melee attacks and wielding guns effectively.
Eh, sounds okay.

[Anonmare]

And targettable by turrets. Don't want engies to be able to RC drone their way into the AI Upload and onehuman the AI before anyone knows what is up.

[captain sawrge]

These are just ideas I also kinda doubt this will get coded anyway

Giving drones built in RCDs might be too strong, maybe just like a floor tile placer. I'd like them to be able to help out with small builds and stuff though so it'd be nice if they had a way to craft with metal

[Qbopper]

the idea itself is cool but I'd rather drones don't get more attention than they already have

the shit you describe about them having "objectives" sounds neat, but I dunno how it would work in practice - do we make it so if a drone player doesn't follow the objective that's against the rules or what?

[Anonmare]

I'd like it if drones could start with a box for their tools to start in. First thing I do is look for one, or a belt, and it's a pain in the ass

[captain sawrge]

the idea itself is cool but I'd rather drones don't get more attention than they already have

the shit you describe about them having "objectives" sounds neat, but I dunno how it would work in practice - do we make it so if a drone player doesn't follow the objective that's against the rules or what?

I feel like making them less aimless annoying pest robots and more things roboticists can work on to address specific tasks might give them a bit more meaning and make them more interesting over what they are now

Or not, who knows.

[Steelpoint]

Ultimately I think if remote controlled Drones were balanced right, they would be fine.

Restrictions such as having a limited battery, being only able to go a certain distance from the operating, input lag that gets worse the further away you get from the operator, restricting the Drone to only carry and pick up a pre-set list of items given to it prior (so no grabbing or dragging guns) and making them vulnerable to projectiles.

Upgrades from RnD can increase a Drones operation range, battery life, reduce input lag and expand their inventory to hold more metal and engineering materials.

[captain sawrge]

I'd like them still to be primarily a ghost role with this, RC is just a possible upgrade you could give maybe

[Qbopper]

the idea itself is cool but I'd rather drones don't get more attention than they already have

the shit you describe about them having "objectives" sounds neat, but I dunno how it would work in practice - do we make it so if a drone player doesn't follow the objective that's against the rules or what?

I feel like making them less aimless annoying pest robots and more things roboticists can work on to address specific tasks might give them a bit more meaning and make them more interesting over what they are now

Or not, who knows.

yeah if it means killing drones as is I don't think it's a terribad idea

[tacolizard]

I really want to implement the RC drone idea, especially for engi. I might not be the best coder in the world, but it seems to me that making an RC bot would be pretty complex though.

[Anonmare]

Couldn't you just build upon the AI shell code?

[bman]

Couldn't you just build upon the AI shell code?

sounds somewhat hacky considering that the ai controller is probably something

var/mob/living/silicon/AI/controller = null and it sents on roundstart or something

[tacolizard]

Couldn't you just build upon the AI shell code?

I didn't think of that, but yeah it sounds pretty hacky. Especially considering it's kevcode so it's already hacky in the first place.

[Gun Hog]

Couldn't you just build upon the AI shell code?

I didn't think of that, but yeah it sounds pretty hacky. Especially considering it's kevcode so it's already hacky in the first place.

AI shells are not Kevcode...They are ShadowHog* code...
I do not think the shell code has anything in common with drones, and it might not be much help to you, except the usage of Soul Link code, which is made by RemieRichards.


*Shadowlight + Gun Hog