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Posts posted by Kyet
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Update 5 completed:
https://github.com/Kyep/Paradise/commit ... 90d2277de6
This is another bugfix update.
More people volunteering to test, especially as I'm doing bugfixing and balance, would be grand.
Notably, this update includes some updated graphics for most spider types.
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New update, mostly centered around balance and bugfixes:
https://github.com/Kyep/Paradise/commit ... ab29f26b6b
Here is how to download my code and try it yourself:
- On https://github.com/Kyep/Paradise/tree/spiders click 'download zip'
- Save & unzip
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Proposal for a new Guideline to be added to Geneticist Code Green Job SOP:The Geneticist is not permitted to leave the Genetics Lab with combat-worthy Genemods (such as Telekinesis or Hulk) without express permission from the Research Director
Seeing this posted makes me sad.
Just a few days ago, I had the specific thought "well, at least, despite all the whining about genetics, we don't have that shitty rule that genetics can't take their genemods outside the lab".
I play RD a lot, and genetics not at all - therefore I'm often the person who gets called on to fix issues with genetics being stupid. The other day I had to re-humanize a genetics guy who managed to monkey himself AND corrupt his "clean" SE so he couldn't fix himself easily AND leave his ID behind so he was locked out of his own lab.
So, you'd expect me to be in favor of this SOP change. Yet, I am not. Not at all.
The way I see it, genetic powers are like cars. They are incredibly useful. Incredibly powerful tools. We don't take away everyones' right to drive just because a few people cause car crashes. Most people use their cars responsibly. Most genetics staff use their powers responsibly. Yet, we're considering heavily restricting it for everyone simply because of the behavior of a minority.
I highly doubt the people that run around smashing things with hulk, etc, are going to think "oh, I was going to smash people with hulk/TK/whatnot, but I guess since it is against SOP now I guess I won't". Those people don't give a damn about SOP, and adding more rules to SOP isn't going to matter to them one bit. Most of the newbies who do this sort of thing, I'm fairly sure, have never read SOP, not even once, and probably don't even know it exists. All this change will do is annoy and limit the people who are trying to have fun responsibly. In short: the only people who will be stopped from misusing genetic powers by this are the people who are already responsible with them. It won't matter to the irresponsible people.
At least it only applies on code green, and thus doesn't apply most of the time, since most of the time, we're at blue.
Most gene mods are invisible, too. Nobody is going to force a genetics researcher into a DNA scanner to check their DNA. Unless they actually use those combat mods, nobody will know they have them. In practice, this makes it a "don't walk around with the few visible combat mods, like hulk/TK, on green, unless you can either disguise them or you're confident the RD won't care" rule. I guess that's kinda useful, in that it encourages RDs to demote genetic researchers who totally ignore the rules and are likely to cause issues. I feel like that's a band-aid fix, however. The underlying problem is that many RDs don't demand the demotion of genetics staff no matter how badly they screw up, and a better fix for that would to make sure head roles, all head roles, know they can, should, and are expected to demote staff of theirs who violate SOP in ways that creates problems for the station and/or harms other crew. Yeah, that's already part of SOP, but I feel most command staff don't follow it. I get the feeling we're using the wrong tool for the job - we're putting all this effort into updating SOP when the existing SOP is often ignored. What makes us think that the updated SOP will be followed any more closely?
Sad thing is, I'm not sure what would make heads of staff more effective at handling this sort of thing. Perhaps a more detailed "on join" message when they spawn, explaining exactly what their responsibilities are? Frequent reminders in-game are better than walls of text on the wiki.
While I'm all for IC solutions to IC problems there are many, many, many rounds where it is impossible to discipline a department head who goes against SOP because it will just make the situation worse.Very true. Punishing people for violating SOP/etc is simply not viable sometimes. Late-night, for example, I often have to choose whether I want to demote one of my two sec officers for fucking up, or not. Yeah, they screwed up, but if I do it I lose half my sec force, and if there are security issues I just can't afford to do that.
Really if a Department Head is not an antag they should not be complicit in allowing their department to cause major issues on board the station. If they do so repeatedly they should be banned from the position.
Banning might be a little too harsh. "Be good at your job" seems like too much to expect from everyone.
However, I would support the idea of "soft jobbans", which cap their preference for that job to "low".
IE someone softbanned from command jobs could still get those jobs, but they could never set their preference for them to anything above "low", so if anyone else wanted them, they'd get them first. Essentially, they wouldn't be banned from having the job, they just wouldn't be NT's preferred candidates for it.
I know it's not a popular opinion but I, personally, would be all for whitelisting command positions so that only approved players can play them. If no approved players are on then the position can go to someone who isn't whitelisted. I really feel that would cut down on some of the problems we've seen with Department Heads faffing about and letting their departments go to shit.
I hate whitelisting with a passion. Yeah, it reduces the # of bad players who fill that job slot - but it also massively reduces the number of good players too. Whitelisting a job might remove perhaps 75% of all players who would otherwise play that job from playing it - and the vast majority of those will be roughly average. You're removing far more good players, than bad players.
A better idea would be to convert the "days played" time lock for jobs into an "hours played". Or even a "hours played in certain jobs". IE: if you register an account, wait 30 days, and play, you haven't unlocked every job with zero actual playtime. To unlock HoS you'd need a certain number of actual hours on the server, or ideally, a certain number of hours actually playing sec officer/detective. That would drastically reduce the number of unqualified heads whilst not creating any additional paperwork/admin hassle.
It would also have other benefits, too. If there was a method for accessing that data, you could make stats on which jobs you play, see who plays certain jobs (which would be great for gathering job-related feedback in coding matters), and look at things like progression (after job X, what is the most likely next job a player will play as?).
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Why not simply make it so that only blood, oil, and other player-generated messes count towards the "keep the station clean" text?
That way janitors could still care about dirty floors if they want to, but they're not obliged to.
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It's a well-known fact that 9 out of 10 permabrigged people log off instantly when they realize they're stuck in a cramped-ish room with nothing to do but stare at a table or play some shitty simple RNG-based arcade game for ~2 hours.
This is a simple suggestion to add any of the following to Perma so people don't get bored.
- A simple botany room
- An art room (idk i see prisoners in movies making art a ton of times)
Obviously we shouldn't make Perma the comfiest place ever but letting poor folk have fun isn't really criminal(sorry kek) is it?
I don't think this goes far enough.
IMHO, perma should be remapped completely - the existing layout is terrible for several reasons, of which boredom/SSDing is only one (although, arguably, the most important one).
Here is what I made when I spent a few minutes experimenting with remapping perma:
Bear in mind, this remap is also terrible - it was just a first attempt as I was screwing around. I mention it only because it illustrates two of the concepts I was thinking about.
The primary addition is a mini-botany area, as you suggest. IMHO this alone does not go far enough in terms of enabling fun and giving prisoners something to do other than SSD.
I'd add a second arcade machine, and a basketball court. They aren't in this image because I did not add them at the time, but if I were to map this seriously, I'd probably add both.
I also experimented with fixing the labor camp - but there were several issues that made me abandon that project. If I was going to do that seriously I think I'd need to move the labor camp to a completely new asteroid which isn't subject to the cave generation algorithm and always has internal air, a non-breakable perimeter, etc.
Frankly, I'd like to see the permabrig area's security improved, too. Separate, isolatable cells for each prisoner would be a good start. Possibly a disposals chute to put people in by yourself more easily on low-pop rounds. Currently, many sec dislike using perma because prisoners try to escape, injure each other, or jump guards that come in. Execution is far safer - which encourages taking people out of the round entirely.
I even debated adding a sort of auto-borging machine to sec, too, so that (with sec consent) prisoners could self-borg to get back into the round in some fashion.
Or, simply a device that, when you enter it, completely kills you and lets you respawn as a different, non-antag crew member.
Something that enables you to stay in the round.
More fun for the prisoner (they get to stay in the round), more fun for security (antags act like antags as they're not afraid of being caught), and more fun for the server (as antags are more active because they no longer fear one slip will effectively cut them out of the round entirely). When thinking about the balance issues, I debated switching to a series of self-borging syringes (special syringe type, cannot be made, borgs you after a 10min delay, only accessible to HoS/warden but only injectable on yourself). That would allow players that sec thinks should rejoin the round, to be able to rejoin the round, whilst still upholding space law and not allowing "insane" prisoners to become all-access borg terrors. HoS/warden would need to give the prisoner one, and let them use it, then keep them in isolation until it took effect. They still got some punishment but weren't out of the round forever. Perhaps they get a special lawset, too.
Anyway, yes to the mini-botany area, yes to the basketball court, yes to the art room if it fits, and I additionally suggest adding better security and/or a self-borging option that can be used with the consent of both the HoS/Warden and the prisoner (and is coded such that it is impossible to use on anyone against their will).
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Given:
I despise playing botanist, these daysI'd like to change:
Botanist: Fox McCloud
To:
Scientist: Fox McCloud
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There's still an open atmos tech slot and that's one of my most played roles... Something tells me I need to probably play more, or I do such a good job with atmos that no one notices me because they never need me.
In general, it is easier to notice someone doing a bad job, than it is to notice someone doing a good job.
People doing a good job results in things "just working".
People doing a bad job results in... things.
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"You never told me" isn't really an argument since I'm fairly sure it's SOP not to be a cunt with Genetics
I never said it was a good argument.
I am simply trying to be as fair as possible, and when trying to do that, forewarning people helps.
It also helps when security ask why I am dragging the genetics guy in cuffs to the HoP line for demotion. "I told him specifically not to give out powers to anyone except sec/command. He decided to start giving random civilians hulk, regardless." works a lot better than "he should have known not to give out hulk".
It's become more and more common that, because people are abusing things, the things themselves are adjusted-- why not 'adjust' the people abusing?
As much as I'm sure certain people would love to nerf Genetics into obscurity and irrelevance via whatever means possible, there's other ways to deal with problems.
Agreed.
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9. None of the above.
If I feel like someone deserves a karma point for their actions, I will give it to them on the spot, mid-round.
If the situation is hectic enough that I can't, I will simply note their name and give it ASAP.
If I get the "you have not given karma" prompt, it means I did not see any exceptional behavior that round that would justify awarding a karma point.
That's normal - it is not every round I witness behavior I'd say is exceptional enough I want to give karma for it.
In general, I will only give karma for rational actions, heroic actions, impressively good job performance, and substantial efforts to reduce poor behavior.
Heroic example: The magistrate yesterday (Damon Bones, I think) who, upon realizing that most of command was dead, and there were dead nuke-ops on the bridge, but the disk was missing, got a pinpointer and made it his personal mission to find and secure the disk. He was successful, too. The nuke ops were in a bad state at that point, but his heroism could have saved the station, and for that reason, is karma-worthy.
Good job performance example: A HoS like Amir who continually checks in on their officers, trying to identify and track down any that go missing. Yeah, heads are meant to do this regularly, but most don't, so continually keeping track of your team and looking out for their welfare is exceptional, and thus karma-worthy.
Rational example: A member of command who does something extremely unconventional in order to successfully mitigate a crisis. For example, a captain who decides that the best response to a hostile wizard is to arm the whole crew and issue kill-on-sight orders. Huge departure from convention, but rational and effective, thus karma-worthy.
Reducing poor behavior example: A CMO who detects their chemists screwing around, doing nothing but making meth, and ultimately has both of them demoted for failing to do their jobs and/or ignoring orders. A security officer who ignores someone hopping the bar counter to get a drink when there is no bartender, but throws the book at the civilian who is breaking into everything just because they can.
When I karma someone, I will generally LOOC ", you earned my karma for ", so they know exactly what they did right and are encouraged to do more of it in future. Praise is much more meaningful if it is specific.
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Geneticist isn't a vital role, yet it can absolutely break a round. A rogue/greytide/self-antagging geneticist can really fuck up a round and cause a superb headache for the CMO, Security, and the station in general.
The same is true of several other jobs, including Toxins Researcher, Botanist, most Medbay Chemists, most Engineers, etc.
It doesn't make sense to karma-lock one of them, but not the others.
Even if it did, I'd say Toxins would be a better candidate for karma-locking than Genetics.
Toxins-based self-antagging is far more destructive, and the effects far harder to reverse.
People don't generally think "it can break a round" is a good reason to karma-lock a job, especially not a default job.
If Genetics is being a shit:1) Make a large beaker of Mutadone;
2) Grab Syringe Gun and 4-5 Syringes;
3) Go to town
Just a few rounds ago, with there being no CMO, Genetics was happy giving Hulk to everyone. Seeing as no one needed surgery, I stocked up on Mutadone, hunted down everyone with Hulk and gave them a shot with the Syringe gun.
Call Security, and have the shitlers demoted. If they protest, apply Mutadone syringe and have Security use their now very useful batons.
There are two Heads of Staff who are supposed to handle Genetics. Problems arise either when the CMO doesn't give a shit about them and/or the RD has no idea how to control them. Seriously, Mutadone fixes all problems.
This is correct, though I would add it is also possible for the CMO to not know how to control them and/or the RD to not give a damn. Frequently, RDs have a lot to keep tabs on and thus tend not to give a damn about most things until they become a problem.
When I play RD, and I trust sec, I will often give the HoS a Rapid Syringe Gun loaded with mutadone (and possibly the bar drink neurotoxin). A single shot of this strips their powers (and, if containing NT, also immobilizes them so they can be arrested).
This gift is accompanied by a "by the way, you have standing permission from me to use this on anyone you see abusing genetic powers. If they're a geneticist, please let me know as well because I will probably want them demoted". I realize that isn't strictly necessary, but sometimes it helps. As RD, it really helps to walk into genetics early on, give them a medibot (for the toxins) and make it clear that power distribution is only authorized for sec/command. That way they have no grounds for "you never told me" complaints later if unauthorized power distribution results in a syringe to the face and a one-way-trip to the HoP line.
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Captain: Jack Edwardson & Theodore Gregory
HoS: Amir Stahl & Cecilia Fleming
RD: Jack Price
CMO: Halogen
Security Officer: Maxwell Edison
Brig Physician: Valthorne Haliber
Geneticist: Jacob Ryals
Medical Doctor: Von Bon
Nurse: Yuki Frost
Blueshield: Luigi Belducci
Eng Cyborg: K.I.T.S.A.
Sec Cyborg: HK-47
Botanist: Fox McCloud
Shaft Miner: Kista Luoupan Katsis
AI: G.R.A.N.D.M.A. & Head of Command
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451. Toy facehuggers being toys is not an excuse to place them everywhere, including your superior officer's underwear drawer.
452. "Jaunt tunnels" are not a valid excuse to be in your superior officer's bathroom, either.
453. Or the Captain's bathroom.
454. Or ANY bathroom.
455. This goes double with bathrooms on syndicate bases.
456. When the RD asks "how would you deal with xenos on the bridge?", the answer I give must not reference bags of holding.
457. When the CMO asks "what is the OD threshold for omnizine?" I must not make up a number because I don't know what an "OD threshold" is.
458. Nor may I answer "Over 9000".
459. When the HoS asks "is this complaint with space law?", the answer I give must not include the phrase "space law is only a guideline".
460. Not may I tell him to ask the clown.
461. Or the mime.
462. Or anyone else except the Captain or magistrate.
463. Xenomorphs, vampires, changelings, syndicate agents and horrific blob monsters are still not people, but are still included in "anyone else".
464. When the HoP asks "is it OK to give the clown all access if he has a really good reason?" I am NOT to tell him to "use your best judgement".
465. Nor am I allowed to tell him to "Ask Ian".
466. I am also not allowed to tell the HoP that Ian can man his desk for him.
467. Nor am I allowed to tell him that Ian can do his entire job for him.
468. Even if this is true.
469. ESPECIALLY if this is true.
470. When the captain asks "why are my heads so incompetent?" I am not to laugh maniacially.
471. When the NT rep faxes in a complaint about an incompetent command staff, I am to treat this as an actual complaint, not an excuse to activate all the monitors and grab popcorn.
472. I am not allowed a singularity as a pet.
473. Even if it is contained.
474. Even if it is only stage 1 "right now".
475. Even if I have a bag of holding on standby.
476. ESPECIALLY if I have a bag of holding on standby.
477. I am not allowed to have any bags of holding.
478. I am not allowed to use other peoples' bags of holding to breed singularities to give to other people as pets.
479. Even if they think it is a good idea.
480. Especially if they think it is a good idea.
481. If the singularity in engineering dies, I am not allowed to send the Cyberiad a replacement on the transfer shuttle.
482. I am no longer allowed to send singularities, replacement or otherwise, anywhere.
483. I am not allowed to intentionally give the CE incorrect information about the color of the station's power wire "because it would be hilarious".
484. Nor because he still owes me a pizza.
485. Or indeed, for any reason at all.
486. When the CMO complains that they have run out of blood, I am to check that the medbay floor is not covered in red writing before sending more.
487. When the CMO complains that they have run out of blood, and that they have "even exhausted the monkeys", I am not to send them any more blood packs.
488. I am not to open any bluespace portals from CC to the Cyberiad.
489. Doubly so at the request of wizards.
490. I am to tell R&D how I open some bluespace portals.
491. I am NOT to tell R&D how I open any more bluespace portals.
492. All heads of staff gathering in the Cyberiad briefing room is not cause to send "By your powers combine!" as a classified message.
493. Or any other kind of message.
494. Nor is any other situation grounds for sending that phrase.
495. I am a commms officer, not a narrator.
496. In particular, I am not the narrator from any kind of parable.
497. Even if a crew member's name is Stanley.
498. Even if Engineering is creating lines of golden floor tiles.
499. Even if R&D has released unstable bluespace anomalies that warp time and/or space.
500. Even if I *am* an unstable bluespace anomaly.
501. Even if the crew desires freedom, but it is impossible.
502. No matter what.
503. And even when I am not the narrator, it is incorrect to tell crew venturing into disposals that "you'll always come back to life".
504. Science is not a competition to create the deadlist substance, creature, or anomaly, and it is wrong to pretend that it is.
505. Or to offer incentives for doing so, especialy to the research director and plasma researchers.
506. Doing the same for syndicate agents is also impermissible.
507. Even as a delaying tactic while an ERT is summoned.
508. Tajarans are not an endangered species, the toxins does not house baby ones in cardboard boxes, and it is wrong to pretend that it does.
509. Especially to AIs.
510. Even more especially to AIs with laws about feline supremacy and/or animal testing.
511. Vulpkanins are not capable of "puppy eyes" and "they used puppy eyes on me" is a racist statement, not an excuse for my arming traitorous civilians.
512. Talking in 'beep' and 'boop' sounds does not make me comprensible to IPCs.
513. Talking in 'yips', 'yaps', and 'rawrs' does not make me comprehensible to Vulpkanins.
514. I am not to attempt to speak any language I do not know.
515. I only know English.
516. And I am not an expert at it.
517. "But _____ has one" is not a valid excuse for me to have anything.
518. This goes double if _____ is a superior officer.
519. And triple if ____ works in science, engineering, or medical.
520. And quadruple if they are frantically running away from it at the time of my statement.
521. Borgs are valued synthetic crew, not "toasters".
522. Even if they are service borgs.
522. Even if they are service borgs that make toast.
523. I am not to keep repeating the word "toaster" around service borgs to see if they react.
524. Nor am I to keep repeating "toast" in the bar until everyone is passed out drunk.
525. If I do this in the kitchen, any resulting food is coming out of my paycheck.
526. After the incident in engineering, that is coming out of my paycheck FOREVER.
527. ERTs are not "Toast Dispensation Units".
528. I am to stop using the word "toast", before my superior officer deems my ass, it.
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I started scribbling some spiders as well.
Thanks!
I am a little unsure that a 64x64 spider should be done since sprites bigger than 32x32 have weird clipping issues and playing as something that big tends to cause that player to end up hitting themselves more often than not.The clicking and clipping issues are why I made the queen normal sized. I saw those same issues during playtesting, and I agree they were very annoying.
They are also part of the reason I updated queens/empresses with projectile spit attacks. They don't need to be accurate - they just have to click in the target's direction, and so long as the spit passes through their tile, it hits them.
Queens/empresses should always have a brood of other spiders to defend them, so they shouldn't be reliant on accurate clicking in combat. If they're having to fight personally, their hive is probably already wrecked or at least in serious trouble.
The empress I only made 2x2 (the size of an alien queen, not the silly size of an alien empress) because:
- She's an adminspawn-only, primarily RP character, so she is probably the least reliant on combat effectiveness of all spiders. She can spawn queens that make entire nests to defend her. She doesn't care about combat effectiveness, and even when she does, she has projectile spit attack, regeneration, and a huge health pool.
- I felt like the primary purpose of the empress is just like the purpose of an alien empress - to be an interesting RP character and sow terror amongst the crew. Being big really helps her inspire fear amongst some players.
Do you think the big alien sprites work?
If so, similar-sized sprites should work for the terror spider empress.
If not, I'll certainly consider changing her sprite size.
Thank you for making these. They're neat. Better than anything I could make.
I assume 1st is purple, 3rd is red. I am guessing 4 is white or gray, and 5 is white or black? Not sure which one 2 is aimed at.
What I like about them:
- I very much like the fact they all have 4 legs on each side. It always bothered me to see 'spiders' with the wrong number of legs.
- I like the fangs, too. They look much more substantial.
What I think could be improved:
- Colors. 2 does not look fearsome due to that yellow/blue. 4 uses both white and green, which is risky as I don't want people to confuse the white and green types. 5 uses both black and white, but doesn't look clearly like a black type, a white type, or a gray type. I was thinking of reserving blue for the queen/empress. Since the empress is just a more aged and powerful queen, it makes sense for them to share a color (though the empress' design would look fiercer). I'm not against having a yellow spider - it would always be good to have a sprite on hand in case I introduce a new type, and yellow is one of the few so-far-unused colors I think would work well. I don't think I'll be able to use a yellow/blue combination spider, though.
- Spiky bits on their backs. The spikes on the red one's back look good, and make sense (it is a heavily armored melee type, so they might help discourage melee attacks). White/black are hit-and-run types, though, so they'd benefit more from long fangs, mobility, etc than spikes on their backs. Every type has its own AI and own style, so ideally sprites would reflect how they actually operate. E.g. white type might have muscular legs for pouncing, grey type might be lower to the ground to more easily fit in vents, red would look armored, queen would have a visible egg sac, black would have the black widow hourglass symbol on it, etc.
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Disarm is already OP.
You can win a lot of fights by shoving someone, taking their weapon, and shooting/whacking them with it.
It doesn't matter if they're a sec officer with a supposedly good energy gun, a wizard of unfathomable power, etc.
You can still run up to them, and probably get that weapon out of their hands with a disarm if you really try.
Heck, melee in general is OP. In real life, shoot someone once and they are down, not for a few seconds, but for hours.
Any kind of proper weapon in SS13 is ridiculously weak by comparison - which makes melee moves like disarm ridiculously powerful compared to what you'd expect.
Sure, design for fun, but at what point does it just become silly?
IMHO, different flavor text for disarming different areas is fine, but anything that makes disarm more powerful is just pushing us further towards sillyville.
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I might just take a crack at spriting those, as long as you don't need the sprites this week
Thanks! I don't need em this week. I realize it will take some time to make all of these sprites.
Notes you might find useful:
- The current sprites I am using are in: https://github.com/Kyep/Paradise/blob/1 ... animal.dmi
- I've put placeholder sprites for the empress in https://github.com/Kyep/Paradise/blob/1 ... rlarge.dmi - they're essentially stick figures, but the size of the icons might be useful to know.
Here are some reference images that might help:
Red:
This, but more red:
Even better if it had fangs like this:
Gray:
This scary gray one:
Maybe a little lower to the ground, so it looks stealthy, like this:
Green:
Like this, but green:
Purple
Black
White
Just wish the fangs were a different color, say red, so they stood out more.
Queen
I like the basic model of the don't starve queen:
I just wish it was scarier:
Mother
One big spider with many little ones on its back:
Empress
Spiders + Lovecraft:
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Still really need help from a spriter.
You might want to put a sprite request in the Graphics subforum
Created: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7169
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I'm developing some really awesome new spiders: Terror Spiders.
Changelog, etc: http://nanotrasen.se/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 9b01b6e71e
Problem is, although I have had a lot of success writing their AI, making them playable, etc, I'm terrible at spriting.
Anyone interested in making sprites for them?
Here are the types:
- red - a slow-moving armored juggernaut of a spider, red tarantula look would be great
- gray - a stealthy, hard-to see spider, like the alien hunter. Often hides in vents. Could be made visually smaller than the others.
And the objects:
- spider carapace body armor
- spider fang weapon
Here are some of the sprites I am using now:
(they are, from left to right: red, black, green, white, purple, gray, queen. Empress is not shown because I'm currently using stick-figure art for her)
Yes, they're terrible palette swaps of the default spiders.
I'd like sprites that make each class look more unique - not just palette swaps.
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New update, with detailed changelog:
https://github.com/Kyep/Paradise/commit ... 3613b99c03
This adds a ton of things, including empresses, wolf mother spiders, door opening, proper camera disabling, a large AI code refactor, major bug fixes, etc.
To see all code changes from base:
https://github.com/Kyep/Paradise/compar ... ep:spiders
Still really need help from a spriter.
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Yes. Definitely add camera assemblies to the engivend if not giving eng an autolathe.
They're so useful, they give eng something to do on slow rounds, and it just seems nuts that eng has no supply of them itself.
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I've been waiting on this... I can't wait to see these in action!
You're welcome to download a copy of my branch and test it locally. It compiles. Sprites are codersprites though
The last update added two significant rewards for killing terror spiders: their fangs, and their silk.
Their fangs are a robust melee weapon. Even more so if you get fangs from a red terror.
Their silk is basically cable coil, which you can use for wiring, or make cable restraints from.
I have several other ideas I'm considering in terms of potential drops from these spiders:
- Spider skins (from slain spiders, or simply from spiders who molt and shed their skin as they age). These can be worn on the torso as armor, and may make spiders not target you.
- Spider feet. Can be worn as shoes, rendering you immune to spider webs. Might also be noslip. (Hey, spiders can't wallclimb, so at least they're noslip)
Main issue is sprites, again. I'm trying to make these spiders fearsome, but have good rewards if you do kill them.
I want naive crew to be tempted to their doom, but capable monster hunters to have useful trophies for their feats.
I may end up binding rewards to types, such that you have to kill multiple types to collect all the rewards.
The other major features on my list are potential new spider classes:
- T1 Spitter Class: weak spider that spits hallucinogenic toxins from range
- T2 Hairy Monster Class: a tarantula with urticating hair attack that has nasty effects.
and multiply all the spiders up to giant-spider size.... T1 Stalker Class: sees you, hides, stalks you via vents, and pops up later to attack you when you least expect it. Fear the night! T1-2 Webmaster Class: creates lots of webs, then hides in them. Reappears with murder on its mind once you're foolish enough to get stuck in its webs.Of these, I'm most likely to make the Wolf spider - probably re-using the queen sprites. It would be neat if not all queens were the same.
Lastly, I'm considering making an away mission based on somewhere the spiders have infested. Either the lab they were created in, or perhaps an NT outpost that fell to their wrath. If I do make this, it is not going to be the sort of easily farmed away mission that one scientist solos with autolathe gear. This is going to be like Stargate SG-1 in that your away teams will get themselves into serious trouble. Placement will be randomized, traps will be laid, you will need to keep your wits and supplies about you to survive. If you aggro their nest, the spiders might decide to invade the Cyberiad in return...
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Compare the stats for Araneus:
https://github.com/ParadiseSS13/Paradis ... ate/pet.dm
With the stats for a standard guard spider:
https://github.com/ParadiseSS13/Paradis ... _spider.dm
Stuff I notice:
- Araneus has 250 maxhealth to the guard spider's 200, but they both have 200 'health' on spawn.
- Araneus has the same (15-20) melee damage as a regular guard spider
If I'm reading this right, Araneus is a slightly slower but tougher version of the guard spider?
How could we change him?
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Make him obey commands like sit, stay, follow, attack, etc. Sure, this is possible with code, but I feel like when HoSes often can't handle Araneus even being around without beating him (and then getting robusted by him), having a complex command system is just going to invite further fuckups by HoSes. On the other hand, if anyone is going to have the equivalent of a trained german shepherd, it would be the HoS. Do we think that the HoS having a combat-capable pet would be awesome, or an awesome trainwreck? Or both? I am not sure.
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Make him attack wanted people. Personally, I'd favor this over an 'attack my target' type thing. Attack my target, especially if it requires some special cue, like voice, is harder to code, harder to use, and more prone to misuse. For targeting, I'd give him a rule that he attacks only people who are wanted AND not cuffed AND not wearing security gear, AND his attack isn't lethal.
Give him something unique on his sprite. Personally, I'd say give him a sec hud visible on his sprite. Or red bands on his legs. Either would communicate he's a security pet.
Make him defend the HoS if the HoS is attacked. There are two issues with this: 1) I'm not sure how it is codable, and 2) it would encourage the HoS to take Araneus everywhere with him, which would lead to an entirely new set of issues (e.g: random people attack araneus, and....)
Changing his poison. He has no poison, he's a modified guard spider. They don't do poison damage. Test it (on a private instance) if you don't believe us.
Make his poison do stamina damage. Weird, for a poison. Also, doesn't fit his base type. Also, doesn't protect him that well. Could easily end up in an endless loop of biting someone every time they get up. Webbing them down would be safer and fairer. Maybe stamina damage until they have no stamina, then "web"?
Laser pointer that makes him hostile to whatever it is used on. This is actually doable (I could script this, actually)... but I dunno if it would work well. Bluntly, I don't think it would.
There's another idea nobody has thought of... make him player-controllable, just like the other head pets are. Sure, he'd be the only combat-capable pet, but he'd still be dependent on his owner for everything, due to no door access, etc.
I've actually been writing a fair bit of new ai for my own terror spiders lately, so if people are really interested in making Araneus a nonlethal spider that stuns/disarms and webs criminals, I could code it.
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I'm neutral on this.
Yes, it seems silly that the Eng department doesn't get an autolathe. You'd think they'd need one most.
On the other hand, Cargo already tends to be low traffic, and adding another place to get the stuff you usually ask them for further reduces their reason to exist.
That's not necessarily a bad thing (quite a few QMs seem to delight in wasting your time with paperwork even for the most trivial and harmless of requests). Still, a worthy consideration.
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Keep in mind we have basically unlimited antag slots, so we SHOULD be able to add another set of antag flags. __DEFINES, in role_preferences.dm, should be where you can add roles (and thus, ban slots) correspondingly. That should streamline the process of antag bans a whole bunch.
For the moment I've made them check for syndicate and alien jobbans. IE: anyone jobbanned from either of those won't be able to play as these.
EDIT: Your black widow venom appears to account that brain damage stacks with other forms of damage - I don't believe that's actually the case.Fixed.
The brain damage thing was part of an RP effort of mine to make their effects more similar to real life black widow venom.
After playtesting it, I did not like the results, so I ended up changing it today to remove the brain damage completely. (and update the out-of-date comments)
I may change it further.
New update (changelog included, though it doesn't mention the BW venom changes):
https://github.com/Kyep/Paradise/commit ... 55d43a2b89
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Suggestion! how about, like aliens Resin floors spiders can make "webs" that increase their speed while moving, slow foreign mobs etc. maybe even give them a bit of stealth.
Just a suggestion. I play too much brood mother in dota2
Both greens and queens will automatically create sticky webs on the floor.
These have a decent chance of slowing people down, too.
They won't increase the spider's movement speed, though, or give stealth.
Grays will use stealth - they will hide in vents and ambush anyone who approaches the vent.
They're invisible until they're about to attack. They won't make noise or give away their presence until they're almost on top of their prey.
The issue with the stealth/invisibility is that it requires lots of playtesting/balance, especially if I want to let players control this spider class.
So, I'm trying to avoid giving all the terror spiders this ambush/stealth ability.
That said, all of them can ventcrawl.
Yes, when player controlled, this lets them sneak up on people, pick targets, etc.
A good player who is controlling a poison-based attack spider (aka: it doesn't stick around, it bites you, injects poison, and leaves) will be truly terrifying as it hops in and out of vents, attacking targets of opportunity.
Sprite Request: Terror Spiders
in Graphics Section
Posted
Development continues on the Terror Spiders.
In the latest update, I started using FoS' sprites instead of my codersprites.
Currently, from FoS' list of sprites:
- #1 purple is being used for purple terror, the bodyguard.
- #2 gold is being used for queen/empress, the most dangerous.
#3 black/red is being used for red, the juggernaut. #4 white/green is being used for white, the infector. #5 gray is being used for gray, the stealth vent ambusher.Here's my current situation with regards to sprites:
- Currently, I am using FoS' initial sprites above. That leaves the black spider (should look like a black widow), green spider (should look like an egg-layer), mother spider (a spider with other spiders on its back), and empress spider (an older, more scary queen) still using my codersprites.
- I'm still on the lookout for a complete set of spider sprites I can use (red, gray, green, white, black, purple, queen, mother, empress). Especially one that has each spider's graphic reflect what it does - that would be awesome.
I have no object sprites (spider fang, spider carapace armor) yet. Those are sought, too, but with lower priority.Here is the most current overview of what I'm looking for in terms of sprites for each type:
- red - a juggernaut-like brute of a spider, like a red tarantula, with vicious fangs
- gray - a stealthy spider, looking slightly smaller than average, perhaps with an alpha like the alien hunter has
green - a green spider with an egg sac white - a fluffy-looking white spider with long fangs black - a giant black widow, with red hourglass symbol on its abdomen purple - like the red spider, except meaner-looking and purple queen - a spider with a big egg sac and/or one that looks like it is in charge mother - a spider with many small spiders on its back empress - like the queen, but older / battle-scarredAnd the objects: