Departmental Fabricators and networked Autolathes

[Anonmare]

Hear me out on this one.

A lot of complaints regarding R&D is that all its gains are confined within its walls and the scientists get all the toys. My suggestion is the following:

• Create a category tagging system that can have any of the following tags: Security, Medical, Engineering and Science. Untagged designs are considered "General" and can be downloaded by anyone, including the autolathes. Some designs may have more than one tag, which makes them an "either/or" access design.
• Give every department a protolathe and circuit imprinter and a special Research console. These consoles are tagged locked and can only download designs with their allowed tag (Engineering can only download engineering designs, security can only download security designs etc). R&D's console will remain as it is and be considered a "Master" console.
• Assign appropiate tags to lal R&D designs.
• And finally, connect autolathes to the research network and able to download any design that is both "General" access and only requires metal and/or glass to make. Disks can still be used to upload restricted access designs.

The server controller console in the server room will be able to edit the tags on a design, so you could make e-guns available to everyone or to no one but yourselves.


I understand that materials will be strained further but at this time I don't think it's too much of a concern. And the ORM ought to have a greater degree of access to reflect this change of affairs, or be made general access (not that it matters cause you can just screwdriver/crowbar it to get all the minerals out).

[Anonmare]

My idea for autolathes is for them to be able to mass produce stuff that isn't considered restricted. I don't know what Kevinz's tech web overhaul will add or takeaway but I definitely intend for the lathes to be able to produce the higher tier of stockparts (all the way to T3), perhaps I might revisit my idea for improvised weapons beyond the shotty (and even then with this you ought to be able to get access to some of the tech shells more easily).

Perhaps hacked autolathes can access the restricted designs but these rogue autolathes will send a network alert to the research network if someone checks what machines are hooked up to it via the server controller. I also want research machinery to tell the network where they are and what they are, so Traitor McRevolver's hacked autolathe can be located and shutdown by "Troubleshooters".

I did want to have every console start off locked upon creation (requiring an appropiate access ID or the new cmag to gain access) but I was concerned that might put off the shitposting assistant crowd.

If the concern about R&D's console being too much is still, itself, too much then they can be downgraded to a science tag only console and in order to gain every design you'd either have to fuck with the server controller or build consoles of every tag and sync them with your machinery and use each one as needed.

[KAP]

If I'm not mistaken, it was always the purpose of autolathes to print designs from the protolathe, where science would do the prototyping with the protolathe, they would load the designs on design disks. (not the ones that store R&D levels, but the unused ones that store individual designs)

You would then take them from R&D and to the autolathe, upload it, and everyone and their mother-in-law would be able to use them.

I think you still may be able to do this, in fact I think it's how you get some of the stuff from the golem autolathe onto the station lathes.

[kevinz000]

i read down to the third post and i'm already put off.

[Yakumo_Chen]

Changing tags and shit should be something that only the RD can do, and/or an appropriate head for a certain tag (HoS can add security tags to designs, for instance). Most of this stuff I am reading shouldn't be what ordinary scientists can do.

Most of the dangerous stuff (guns) are already locked behind pins, which only the RD and security have, and mechs are mainly for robotics only.

This all doesn't really matter anyway because in 90% of long rounds the crew will eventually break into RnD anyway and print whatever they want.

Making the ORM general access is hellish and awful and it's going to lead to crew stealing all of science's materials every round, making it so research never completes in the first place.

I agree with Kevin, everything in the third post is going way too far. Science should be allowed to print anything they research. That's the reward for spending 20-40 minutes to do the work.

[Gun Hog]

Autolathes can print several Science designs if someone puts it on a design disk and uploads it to the autolathe; The restriction is that the autolathe can only accept designs that require only metal or glass. The autolathe does not take any other minerals, and thus cannot take anything that requires other minerals.

About the Department Fabs myself - I have also had this idea, although modified so that there is a centralized ore storage somewhere in the station from which all other fabs/lathes are fed. If you had it in Server Room, the RD could manage those resources, or if you keep it a cargo thing, the QM would have control (to maybe make that job a bit less horribly boring). There should still be the step of 'get minerals from ORM, bring it to someplace else for use', however.

You cannot just have take-all mechanics like the ORM now in a game where virtually everyone on the station is inherently selfish. Even when you have MLG PRO top-level powergamer miners online who load the ORM up so full that attempting to release all the minerals generates more than one pile, the department to reach the ORM first will attempt to take everything. You need a logistics system where someone has control. Cargo seems perfect for managing this, with the second option being Science. Hey, you can try all-access ORM with dept lathes if you want, and it will generate conflicts, but that will quickly get old when either Science continues to hog everything, making the other lathes useless, or another dept gets there first, locking Sci out of high level research, so no other dept can print anything high end. Maybe instead of it being a 'bluespace' ore storage machine, it could use the existing disposals pipes!

Final thoughts on the department tags. Those are a fine idea, with exception of R&D console also being restricted. Remember how I said that everyone is inherently selfish? That includes research. A Scientist will not waste effort on a tech tree that rewards him nothing. This regards high end research that requires sacrifice of useful or antag items. Would you DA your esword if it did not let you make anything cool in return? This will be made worse by Techwebs. When that super-nerf hits, R&D will become a slow, timer styled system. Few scientists will focus on nodes with rewards he or Robotics cannot access. Unlike current R&D where one can work on all fields with no penalty (except what I mentioned earlier), Techwebs will penalize this approach.

Leave the R&D console as the "master" one with access to everything as it is now.

[Limski]

Scientists being selfish assholes is a player problem rather than a code issue, fracturing materials over several departments (some of which don't have access to the ORM to begin with) sounds like a terrible idea.

What differentiates a good scientist from a bad scientist is that they go the extra mile to provide cool upgrades and contribute to the station, giving every department their own mini department-related R&D essentially nullifies the scientists true job and makes things very boring for a scientist that wants to improve the station rather then focus on min-maxing themselves with gear.

Yes, it sucks that almost all scientists are selfish pricks but coding a solution for every player problem will lead to a boring game where no one can excel.

[XDTM]

Alternate idea: the protolathe can be set to send items to special qpads that are placed in every department. They can't be used for other purposes, they just receive protolathe items/circuits boards. That way there's no need for mineral splitting, RnD can still choose to be stingy bastards, but it won't be a crowd of people cramming inside the lab waiting for their item/trying to jump the queue and making it themselves.

[AnonymousNow]

tl;dr - each department starts out with a department-themed technolathe (auto/proto) that wirelessly recieves designs when science syncs relevant to their job and can print stuff. More designs can be unlocked through science consoles and E-mags.

Suddenly every department has access to cool toys, coordinates with science better and understands more the necessity and plight of mining. On the surface, it seems like a solid addition across the board.