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+--- Thread: <RANT> Thoughts on the the new Realistic Chemistry System (/showthread.php?tid=1369)
<RANT> Thoughts on the the new Realistic Chemistry System - SL the Pyro - 07-21-2013
<RANT WARNING>
Okay, so SS13's Chemistry has been reworked to start using real life chemicals with similar properties to whatever they replaced. Personally, I like this change: it's beginning to feel more like Chemistry work and less like mashing reagents together to brew up whatever obscure and fictional compounds the developers threw in for the hell of it. Good on you for the switch.
...Unfortunately, due to the obvious issues of games trying (and failing) to mimic reality, I have a gripe or two with it that I'd like to get off my chest - without spouting it off into the in-game chat or IRC where it'll just annoy everyone, hence why I put it here. Make of the following what you will.
The big problem with real-life chemicals being introduced into the game is that there should be a whole plethora of ways to create them. The Chemistry Lab is fitted with pretty much every single thing you need to make any chemical in the game, as is its purpose, but it gets a little irritating when the process you read up on that should work with 100% certainty... just doesn't work. My example here is Sulfuric (Sulphuric) Acid: the Wikipedia entry on it alone lists at least ten or so different ways that Sulfuric Acid can form, a large number of which can realistically be done in SS13 with what is available... and it ends up that the way to make it in-game is simply to dumb plain chemicals into a beaker.
Sure, this is a superior method since it's arguably the fastest, but anyone not aware of how the game mechanics handle it and are instead trying to use a conventional method is going to end up well and truly confused. Not all chemicals in real life or in SS13 use the "just put together its molecular components" system, nor do they all use the same method, and in the end the process turns into a tedious endeavor to discover the two or possibly one working methods out of however many there are in reality of creating the desired reagent. It honestly comes across as an intentional attempt to confuse people, and anyone with an actual real life degree in chemistry (I'm sure someone like this plays this game) won't be amused.
None of this is helped by and I'm sorry to point this out since it's probably been maligned by many people since the game was made, myself included, but I still feel it's relevant this unspoken vow of complete and absolute secrecy that everyone seems to have about chemistry recipes. Now, for the hoards of frothing newbies and metagaming griefers that routinely plague SS13, this is totally understandable and acceptable. But say the person trying to make the reagent in question is a regular, cool player who is merely confused as to why his/her potential hours upon hours of trial and error still haven't yielded the desired result. In this case it's not so much "blargharghargh how do I make flaming death pill bombs durrrp" and instead a case of knowing how a certain reagent can and should be made, but simply doesn't work due to how it's coded into the game; in this case, the inevitable request for help only garnering a resounding reply of "Nope." is really needlessly frustrating and disheartening. It was already an issue when Goonstation had all those fantastical recipes, but this is going to become even more prevalent with real chemicals in the game.
I'll say it again, just in case it was forgetten in the rant: I like the new Chemistry system, I think the inclusion of real chemicals is a big step in the right direction for SS13, and the measures taken to prevent blatant overuse and griefing are all okay. But the simple fact is that a lot of new players tend to underthink or overthink things about the game mechanics, especially when it involves Chemistry, and I believe there needs to be an easier way for them to figure out new things without wasting hours or perhaps even days trying out methods that just aren't going to work.
Re: <RANT> Thoughts on the the new Realistic Chemistry Syste - GorillaMyDreams - 07-21-2013
Ok if you want me to make a revised version just post it with a request and I'll stick it to the OP.
Re: <RANT> Thoughts on the the new Realistic Chemistry Syste - Cogwerks - 07-21-2013
There are a few recipes that currently have multiple routes to produce them. A lot of that stuff is still being worked on, there will be more multiple-path things coming.
Re: <RANT> Thoughts on the the new Realistic Chemistry Syste - SL the Pyro - 07-21-2013
Cogwerks Wrote:There are a few recipes that currently have multiple routes to produce them. A lot of that stuff is still being worked on, there will be more multiple-path things coming.Okay, that's good to know. I do understand that the sheer number of reagents and methods to make those reagents is a colossal pain in the ass to discover/code/implement, but after it's all said and done I think it would make Chemistry in SS13 infinitely more fun. Take your time, maybe inquire with one of the aforementioned people with a chemistry degree who play the game, etc. If it turns out I'm wrong and there really isn't anyone with any sort of real-life chemistry degree who plays SS13, then egg on my face.
I would like to suggest ways to ease people into Chemistry and make it not so much of a trial and error chore, if you're not tired of my bantering yet. I'll make a thread in Ideas & Suggestions, if you're willing to hear me out.