+- Goonstation Forums (https://forum.ss13.co)
+-- Forum: Discussion (https://forum.ss13.co/forumdisplay.php?fid=6)
+--- Forum: Ideas & Suggestions (https://forum.ss13.co/forumdisplay.php?fid=8)
+--- Thread: Microbrain game idea (/showthread.php?tid=4630)
Microbrain game idea - Woohoo - 04-23-2015
After watching an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I decided "I have an idea for a SS13 game mode."
The microbrain (you can call it whatever) is a small entity that is dependent on some source (light, a view of space, oxygen, something) for its power. For whatever reason it has decided the station is a hostile entity and must exact revenge by obtaining control over its escape shuttle in order to enact far more extensive damage to humans elsewhere in the solar system.
How it Works
The microbrain player starts the game with a small amount of energy, enough to affect stuff in whatever room it starts in. At first it's mostly harmless; it can flick light switches on or off and move around objects. But it soon starts gaining more energy, and this is where the strategy of the game begins.
The microbrain has to decide how to "spend" his energy, so for example:
* take over a room (giving it control over doors, lighting, etc. plus ability to "build" and electrify stuff mentioned below)
* take over particular equipment within said rooms (e.g. a computer)
* electrify random stuff, not just doors but windows, walls, etc. (perhaps combine this with the energy generator idea, so destroying a generator means destroying at least some of the electrifications the microbrain is capable of having at any given time)
* invest in itself so it has the power to move about the station (originally it can't move, it's confined to wherever it spawns), maybe even be able to transform into a human-like entity capable of running, picking up objects and beating people over the head with them, and all that good stuff
* create some sort of weak but harmful energy turrent (its blasts are perhaps a bit more harmful than a revolver shot and send you flying back when hit and can't make you bleed) that can be destroyed without much effort (whack them a few times with a toolbox = destroyed), maybe have 2 or 3 levels of such turrents that the microbrain can "invest" in
* invest in energy generators which are large and incredibly obvious to anyone who stumbles upon them but which increase how much energy the microbrain obtains per 10 seconds or whatever, the trade off being they're incredibly easy to destroy (like "hit it with a crowbar and it'll disintegrate" easy)
* create an energy soldier out of the spirits of the deceased (if a dead player has shown activity like commenting in deadchat or moving around, he's eligible to be "drafted" as an energy soldier), which is incapable of harming the microbrain but otherwise has an energy rifle (with ammo which can be recharged by microbrain in any room it has control over) with as much power as an energy turrent. Energy soldiers can do anything humans can do, but health-wise they're even weaker than energy generators: you could throw a clipboard at them and poof, the energy soldier is now a dead player once more.
The microbrain has a random weakness each time the mode starts, such as needing to be in a well-lit room, needing oxygen, or it needs to have a view of space, or not be near a certain object (could be anything, even the mundane like throwing a pen near it), whatever it is will dramatically lower its ability to gain energy once said weakness is exposed. I'd imagine the microbrain can be given some actions to at least temporarily counteract some weaknesses (like the ability to use its energy to keep the room it's in lit, perhaps with the assistance of an energy generator.)
For the crew the obvious victory is if the microbrain is destroyed (it wouldn't be strong, an accurate laser shot or small bomb next to it can destroy it.) For the microbrain the victory condition is having control over the shuttle area and then having a bit of energy left to hijack the escape shuttle once it appears. The microbrain does not have to physically hijack the shuttle itself, just having the shuttle under its control and its energy unwittingly spread to wherever it may dock next in solar system is enough for its diabolical plans.
Re: Microbrain game idea - Dr_Bee - 04-23-2015
this sounds a bit too much like wraith. though it would make for an interesting AI malfunction type gameplay.
Re: Microbrain game idea - TheOnlyRyan - 04-23-2015
Did somebody say Star Trek?!!?
I'll ready through the idea when I'm not swamped with work. I know exactly what episode you're talking about too. Would be interesting to see it implemented.