Teleporter Program

[johnsonblack]

I wanted to program something for ss13, and I was tired of having to use paper and pencil for the teleporter lab, so I wrote a small javascript program.

It can tell you what X and Y to use if you want to get to specific coordinates based upon two tests. It works reliably and I've used it a couple of rounds. Although sometimes the in-game variables change mid-round...

I've been thinking about releasing this, although I don't know if that's a good or BAD idea... I know that there are already lists that contain the coords of specific items, and this program would make it very easy for people to steal items.

I also adapted a copy of the station map that was available and over-laid the program onto the map. With a little bit of code and tweaking I made it possible to get the coordinates of any square on the map. I'm thinking of doing the same to mining after I splice together some pictures I took of the layout.

I don't think I will release the station map one, as it's open to massive abuse. For example, it's fairly easy to pluck chemists out of their chairs and send them to the monkey pin. I'm saving it for a round where I get traitor scientist so I can teleport bombs into windows all over the station

Thoughts? I'd be willing to release the no-map version if it's not objected to.

No-map version


Map version

[crasscrab]

nerd shit detected

[Coolguye]

I'm pretty sure anyone who's messed with telescience for more than a few rounds has something like this. I just use an Excel spreadsheet, I considered making a crappy Windows Forms program but there's no need for something like that to solve y=mx+b for you.

[mozi]

I use excel as well but being able to click on any spot on the map and pull up coordinates is pretty amazing for an AI to use.

[Karakoran]

I am a complete scrub at math and would love this.

[FrontlineAcrobat4]

Wow that's impressive, I dont even have the near amount of patience to even try something like that.

[atomic1fire]

While this would be a fun thing to have, I'm not so sure it would be a good idea to just give out.

There are chemistry lists online of all the stuff you can make with common recipes, and many of them still work, but I wouldn't share the location of them just because that makes them too easy to abuse.

Something like this is far better off as one of those things that if someone wants to save time, they'll build it themselves, and that will be much better then just releasing something like this wholescale.

That said, if it was released, I'd totally play with it just because telescience is a hard thing to learn.

But the main issue is how would telescience retain it's current challenge for most people (except the smart kids who build things like this) if people just use cheat programs they found on the internet to do it.

Wiki is already cheating enough and that requires some level of math skills to do.

I prefer it remains challenging for the sake of being challenging because that makes the smart kids feel good that they figured out how to abuse it and it keeps the dumb kids from making it a horrible idea (e.g Pathology, or chemistry on a bad day)

[Infinite Monkeys]

You can solve the teleporter with a pen and paper in like 30 seconds, but the map thing is p rad

[Azungar]

Give out the map thing, but make it only so that you need to input the multiplier and the variant and then you can just automaticly solved coordinates. No need to give out the formula with a couple of clicks.

[Phrozenflame500]

Weeeeeelllll...

It only takes 15-20 minutes for anybody who passed high-school math to whip up an excel sheet to do the math for them. Really it's just:
a. Script Kiddies using it to telescience without actually knowing how it works
b. People who do know how to use telescience no longer need to go find their own coords/look up the map on the wiki
c. Knowing where all the item's spawn locations are, and telestealing them at the start of the round.

I say release the coord map but not the equation solver if possible. The coord map has uses beyond telescience (AIs) and it would still maintain the understanding needed to operate telescience.

[h3half]

I agree with Azungar. Maybe make a version that doesn't find m or b for you, and instead force the user to put those in. The output would of course reflect what the user has put in.

And maybe a map but less awesome somehow? Maybe with no co-ordinates showing? Make the user guess or count on their screen or something. Because if you just released this as-is we would have Telescientists stealing everything every round.


But seriously that map is really cool

[johnsonblack]

Here's the interactive map with the teleporter stuff removed.

http://www.mediafire.com/?n251s3gpig74wg3

[Azungar]

Here's the interactive map with the teleporter stuff removed.

http://www.mediafire.com/?n251s3gpig74wg3

Well done! Now everyone is happy as they have the teleporter map and people still have to solve the "secret" of the teleporter.

[Sundance]

Here's the interactive map with the teleporter stuff removed.

http://www.mediafire.com/?n251s3gpig74wg3

This is awesome.