[PR] New Boss: S.W.O.R.D.

[nefarious6th]

Snipped

I can cut down the chances to 0.1%, or, say, 0.05% if needed.
Note that there's an alternate way of activating it:
You can get a signaller, put some more wires in it, multitool it, apply a metal sheet and wrench it to make a Makeshift Syndicate Signaller. Then you gotta fill it with 8 nodes of metadata - you can use Syndicate Circuit Boards on it to add 1 node per board (frying said board in the process), or go out off-station to kill drones. Any non-aquatic drones that die while the MSS is on the same Z-level as them will add 1 node to it as well.
Thoughts?

I didn't want to be too mean with my initial thoughts, just wanted to flesh out everything I was thinking of; I genuinely enjoy mining on Goon, but also would look forward to this as an additional event so long as I could prepare for it better (whether that's through having it activated only in a kind of intentional way, like a Sol run, or having it activated expressly on the Main servers, where I have to conscientiously be okay with joining and the round potentially being higher-stress, like a nuclear round).

I love the Signaller a lot! That way it's more intentional that someone is trying to spawn it. I mean, I do think something like this spawning on a nuclear round would be funny as all heck, I just wouldn't want it to be too frequent, so I think a 0.05% chance on the QT asteroids would be good to allow for some interesting stories, but not ones that are overplayed either. It's maybe out of the purview of this initial PR for it, but it might also be worthwhile to turn off the spawning from the magnet on the RP servers and only make it initiated by the Signaller.

I like the Signaller a lot though. I think it makes sense in context too; you have either a traitor inside of the station trying to contact the device for some bigger nefarious plans, or you have a well-meaning NT crewmember who has to spoof a Signaller to bring the device to the station.

Again, I like mob variety, and I think a new boss can really help flesh out the game better. I also like having more options on whether to engage those bosses or not, and I think the Signaller provides that opportunity to choose whether you want to partake in that adventure.

[Nebulacrity]

Snipped

I can cut down the chances to 0.1%, or, say, 0.05% if needed.
Note that there's an alternate way of activating it:
You can get a signaller, put some more wires in it, multitool it, apply a metal sheet and wrench it to make a Makeshift Syndicate Signaller. Then you gotta fill it with 8 nodes of metadata - you can use Syndicate Circuit Boards on it to add 1 node per board (frying said board in the process), or go out off-station to kill drones. Any non-aquatic drones that die while the MSS is on the same Z-level as them will add 1 node to it as well.
Thoughts?

I didn't want to be too mean with my initial thoughts, just wanted to flesh out everything I was thinking of; I genuinely enjoy mining on Goon, but also would look forward to this as an additional event so long as I could prepare for it better (whether that's through having it activated only in a kind of intentional way, like a Sol run, or having it activated expressly on the Main servers, where I have to conscientiously be okay with joining and the round potentially being higher-stress, like a nuclear round).

I love the Signaller a lot! That way it's more intentional that someone is trying to spawn it. I mean, I do think something like this spawning on a nuclear round would be funny as all heck, I just wouldn't want it to be too frequent, so I think a 0.05% chance on the QT asteroids would be good to allow for some interesting stories, but not ones that are overplayed either. It's maybe out of the purview of this initial PR for it, but it might also be worthwhile to turn off the spawning from the magnet on the RP servers and only make it initiated by the Signaller.

I like the Signaller a lot though. I think it makes sense in context too; you have either a traitor inside of the station trying to contact the device for some bigger nefarious plans, or you have a well-meaning NT crewmember who has to spoof a Signaller to bring the device to the station.

Again, I like mob variety, and I think a new boss can really help flesh out the game better. I also like having more options on whether to engage those bosses or not, and I think the Signaller provides that opportunity to choose whether you want to partake in that adventure.

By chances I meant the percentage increase that's granted for killing drones. As for the telescope, I'd say a 0.2% percentage increase per rare asteroid would be fine.

Also a pretty fun thing some might notice is that Syndicate Circuit Boards aren't consumed (aka deleted) when used on the MSS, but turned into Fried Syndicate Circuit Boards instead. Obviously, the latter have a distinct sprite and are useless, so most will just throw them on the ground, allowing other crewmembers to find them and maybe even warn the crew early about the looming threat.

[Frank_Stein]

I think the idea of making this related to a Sol like thing, but for mining.

What if, instead of being X number of drones, it's specific drones you go after, and their circuit boards are more like a guide to solving a puzzle

[Nebulacrity]

I think the idea of making this related to a Sol like thing, but for mining.

What if, instead of being X number of drones, it's specific drones you go after, and their circuit boards are more like a guide to solving a puzzle

I'd rather have this be separate from Sol. If someone wants to somehow tie it into Sol later, they can do so I suppose.

[Frank_Stein]

I think the idea of making this related to a Sol like thing, but for mining.

What if, instead of being X number of drones, it's specific drones you go after, and their circuit boards are more like a guide to solving a puzzle

I'd rather have this be separate from Sol. If someone wants to somehow tie it into Sol later, they can do so I suppose.

Not Sol itself, but something Sol adjacent? It's own, separate smaller quest?

Like, If Sol was research's thing, SWORD would be Engineering's?
A sort of mystery it would require multiple rounds to figure out

[Nebulacrity]

I think the idea of making this related to a Sol like thing, but for mining.

What if, instead of being X number of drones, it's specific drones you go after, and their circuit boards are more like a guide to solving a puzzle

I'd rather have this be separate from Sol. If someone wants to somehow tie it into Sol later, they can do so I suppose.

Not Sol itself, but something Sol adjacent? It's own, separate smaller quest?

Like, If Sol was research's thing, SWORD would be Engineering's?
A sort of mystery it would require multiple rounds to figure out

Perhaps it can be the start of said quest. Then again, I don't plan on adding that - if someone wants to expand from the Syndicate Retribution event into a story, I'm fine with it.

[Nebulacrity]

So far I have coded in the following features:
Makeshift Signaller Frame.
Makeshift Syndicate Signaller. (except for the part where it summons the Syndicate Retribution event, as I haven't made it yet)
Syndicate Rewind System.
SWORD Core. (I have decided against shocking people just for holding it; note that the SWORD Engine will still shock you if you decide to take the SWORD Core out of it without proper protection)

Stuff still left to add:
Syndicate Purge System.
Syndicate Destruction System.
SWORD Engine.
The SWORD.
The Syndicate Retribution event.

So far, all's going well.

[Nebulacrity]

Finally coded in the Syndicate Purge System. That one was quite annoying to make due to overlays apparently not being rendered at all if the iconstate they're using is set to not repeat.

[Nebulacrity]

Coded in the Syndicate Destruction System.
The SWORD Engine's next.

[Nebulacrity]

Coded in the SWORD Engine, albeit poorly. Better to move on.
Time to take on the SWORD itself.

Update 12/7/2020: Slowly working on it, was busy with other things as well.

Update 12/12/2020: Currently implemented abilities: Configuration Swap, Stifling Vacuum, Linear Purge. The rest seem to be relatively simple code-wise, except for maybe Destructive Flight.

Update 12/22/2020: Currently implemented abilities: Configuration Swap, Stifling Vacuum, Linear Purge, Gyrating Edge, Destructive Leap. 3 abilities remain uncoded.

Update 1/1/2021: Currently implemented abilities: Configuration Swap, Stifling Vacuum, Linear Purge, Gyrating Edge, Destructive Leap, Heat Reallocation, Energy Absorption. 1 ability remains uncoded.

Update 1/21/2021: Currently implemented abilities: Configuration Swap, Stifling Vacuum, Linear Purge, Gyrating Edge, Destructive Leap, Heat Reallocation, Energy Absorption, Destructive Flight. All abilities coded. Remaining things to add: an ability selection proc, the Syndicate Retribution event variable, the summoning of the Syndicate Retribution event via Makeshift Syndicate Signaller and the spawning of the SWORD.

Update 1/24/2021: Remaining things to add: the Syndicate Retribution event variable & the summoning of the Syndicate Retribution event via Makeshift Syndicate Signaller.

Update 2/9/2021: Everything is coded, currently tweaking & debugging.

[Nebulacrity]

PR has been created: https://github.com/goonstation/goonstation/pull/3666
Feel free to discuss.

[Katzen]

Concerns are,

• 15 minutes is probably too early.
  
• Unlike the Y drone this thing will do a whole bunch of station damage and require crew attention on top of any other antagonists. This is unique for something that isn't a conventional event. Maybe it could be changed into arriving during a major event slot after the signaller is used instead? I know that raises a bunch of questions about when it would actually turn up and shuttle calls but this seems like a big deal to turn up during regular play.
  
• The crafting requirements seem too easy compared to something like the Y Drone. I think these will need to be a lot harder.
  
• The loot is going to give the crew a bit of a headache over who gets to keep it.
  

[Nebulacrity]

Concerns are,

• 15 minutes is probably too early.
  
• Unlike the Y drone this thing will do a whole bunch of station damage and require crew attention on top of any other antagonists. This is unique for something that isn't a conventional event. Maybe it could be changed into arriving during a major event slot after the signaller is used instead? I know that raises a bunch of questions about when it would actually turn up and shuttle calls but this seems like a big deal to turn up during regular play.
  
• The crafting requirements seem too easy compared to something like the Y Drone. I think these will need to be a lot harder.
  
• The loot is going to give the crew a bit of a headache over who gets to keep it.
  

1) Perhaps. I can bump it up to, say, 20? 30 even? Dunno.
2) I'd rather not use up event slots. If something else happens during the fight, well, what can I say except "I call this a difficulty tweak!"
3) Yeah, I know. Other people have been saying this as well. For one, I'm replacing the Metal Sheet part of the recipe with a Circuit Board. That would make more sense imo. If I bump the timegate up to 20 or 30 minutes, should I even bother making the recipe harder?
4) Kinda true, but the reward of not dying is pretty lucrative in such a murder-prone environment, so I'm sure most would get by with just surviving. And if the rewards won't cut it, maybe someone'll code something else in as a bonus, who knows?

EDIT: I have bumped the timegate to 30 minutes, and added a crafting step requiring a Secure Data Circuit Board. The latter should make the remote harder to craft, theoretically.

[Nebulacrity]

Anyways, I've disabled the ability to craft the Makeshift Signaller Frame, so hopefully the PR can get merged for testing without causing the admins to worry about normal players summoning the SWORD on their own.

[Nebulacrity]

I have made the SWORD spawn as a random event instead.
The event is called Syndicate Retribution, and it can start after 40 minutes onwards.
It cannot trigger more than once per shift.
It is disabled on RP servers.