[CLOSED PR] Soft spy rework proof of concept

[github_bot]

PULL REQUEST DETAILS



[input] [balance]
About the PR
This is currently a **proof of concept** for a rework of spy thief, so the coding will not be very great. I want to make that obvious first because making this well-coded and ready to merge would require the addition of many features that would be difficult and time-consuming to implement, most notably it would be giving weight to various spy rewards. As such in its current state, this is to gauge interest, though it could be later turned into an actual fleshed-out PR. Even here you'll notice faulty code, such as the surplus crate items not appearing in the spy's uplink buylist despite my best efforts.

The changes involved would be the following
1.) All **generic** traitor items and surplus crate exclusive items that cost less than or equal to 5 traitor points have been removed from the spy thief reward pool, **all job-specific items are exempt from this**

2.) Spy thieves now get new bounties, rewarding anywhere from 1 to 3 traitor crystals, these take the place of some of the previous jobs.

3.) Spy thieves now spawn with an uplink, starting with ZERO credits, they can use this uplink to purchase traitor items, giving them slightly more control over some of the more inconsequential rewards.


Why's this needed?
Again this is a proof of concept more so than an actual PR in its current form.
The idea here is to make it so that spies will have more reason to go for thefts that would normally be avoided in favor of bigger higher TC payouts.
It also gives them more flexibility and helps mitigate a problem that many people have with spy theft, the feeling of being locked to RNG and getting reward after reward that is far too difficult for its payoff.
I believe that by taking out more generic, less specialized, inconsequential, and non-powerful items, and instead making a pool which spy's can pick and choose from, spies will be a bit more powerful, flexible, and have more control over their gameplay experience.

I'd love to hear the community's thoughts on the matter, as I know some love playing spy as is, playing the hand they are dealt, and others despise it. I felt as though this might be a good compromise between making them have power over their rewards, and having spy's forced to improvise with whatever they are given.

**Accompanying images! Now you don't even need to boot it up!**

Sadly the surplus items didn't make it to the uplink for whatever reason, just pretend mines, breaching charges, and other low TC surplus items are in there



PULL REQUEST DETAILS

[Theunsolved-puzzle]

Also can't stress this enough, its a PROOF OF CONCEPT, so feel free to discuss your thoughts on this idea

[Arlian]

I've always disliked the gameplay loop of spy thief and the RNG elements inherent to the antag, so I like the idea of reducing the RNG in favour of letting players choose their own items and how they want to play. I particularly like the idea of being able to get all job specific items I wouldn't usually be able to get because I don't play the role required. That alone would make me tick spy thieves back on.

I'm not sure what removing 5 TC or lower generic items from the pool will accomplish, except for forcing players to save up their tokens for the particularly murdery syndie items. I'd be happy to see spy thieves get full access to the list, unless there's a particular issue with this that I'm simply not thinking of.

Good concept that if properly refined would be a positive addition to the antagonist in my opinion.

[Kotlol]

I don't mind the RNG elements abit, but I find it ridiclous that sometimes something like a Katana is locked behind either:
-Take a picture of a monkey and deliver to the space diner
to
-Steal The Freeform module and deliver it to the HoS's office.

Infact something like the chem grenade starter set can be locked behind the last objective.
So not only are you doing one of the hardest things ever, when you get it, you still need to get chemicals and construct the damn nades before using them.

So I am A-okay with this. Streamlining the RNG is fine by me and locking certain things behind harder objectives is fine too.

[DioChasek]

Is it really streamlining though? All of a sudden, you have an additional menu you have to use as a spy, separate from your bounty list. You basically hide a ton of options behind an additional menu that if you are new you might not even realize exists. As a result the scramble for the 5+ rewards gets even more intense among certain players because if all I am getting is tc for this why do it? I would say convert it all into tc, but that then makes spies even more traitor with extra steps than they already are.