AI Holograms suggestions

[kyle2143]

Doing some data gathering here. I made the holograms up pretty quick so I think they can be improved greatly. Despite that they seemed to get a good reception on github so they were merged. I've wanted em for a while, despite not playing AI myself, and I was finally able to trick someone (flab) into spriting me some nice sprites for it. 

I've heard a bunch of talk from AI players wanting permanent AI holograms among other things. And that sounds alright, but I'm unsure on what would be best, so I come here for answers. 

Right now, an AI can make 8 holograms that last ~30 seconds iirc. The reason I originally didn't make the holograms last forever was equal parts because I didn't want to make the people have to keep track of them or use them as waypoints to teleport to instantly so they can dispel them or hop around the map.

I'm not a verteran AI player so idk what the best solution is, please leme know.

[aft2001]

I will say, as a self-described AI main, I really like the new holograms. While I'd enjoy new holograms (different warning signs like fire, electricity, radiation, biohazard, wet floor, departments like med/sec/escape, etc.), they are overall very very useful. And, I'd definitely like the ability to place permanent holograms until they're dispelled.

For your third paragraph, there could be a command as simple as just disabling all active holograms to clear them out, and whenever you place a hologram at your limit, the oldest one is deleted.

Also, how about allowing the AI to point via hologram? Whenever the AI player uses the point command, the arrow shows up as normal as a hologram.


A big thing:
I have found the placement of them to be clunky in practice. You have to navigate your eye to the desired tile, click the hologram button, and select what hologram you want.
The existing ability to jump to an item in a list by just tapping the first letter (tapping D to highlight Down-Arrow, for example) does resolve the second part very nicely.
As a possible fix, could an AI space+click or something (not shift or alt alone since they're used to bolt and open doors and would lead to a lot of misclicks, which will bring up a big menu which would get annoying) on a floor to place a hologram there? This should place a temporary hologram, since they're typically just giving directions or pointing to something and are thus more urgent, but short lived. I'd be happy with the current button making permanent holograms. Maybe shift+click the button to clear all active holograms?


In short, this is a very useful addition which helps bridge the gap between AIs and ~~stinky~~ humans in terms of precise communication and actually getting their attention (especially newer players who may not pay as much attention to the radio). I greatly enjoy having this, and I'd like to see if the issues I've listed are shared by other AI players.


ALSO AS A DREAM: Letting the AI write on the floor with holograms. I remember seeing a screenshot of a WIP rework to crayons or something that let someone write in pretty small letters, maybe about 4 to a tile in terms of how big they are. This would be ***so fucking nice*** to have, especially if they aligned to a grid. Being able to write "GET CLONE SCANNED" outside Medbay in permanent holograms would be so nice, or pointing to Escape for new players on complex maps with big letters saying "ESCAPE"

[Frank_Stein]

I think limiting how many is can be out at once is a good idea, and I like the idea of using them as waypoints as well.
Dropping hazard alert holograms and then flying back to them would be a good multitasking tool.

Do they give off light, or drain station power? I presume they are projected from the cameras?

I also sort of think it would be neat to have a hologram capable of moving (like making the AI ghost take a visible form)

[aft2001]

God yes, turning your eye visible with some pre-made sprites would be so good. This would pair best with adding flying text to intercoms, since people would actually see your speech and presence!

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Oh and, having unlimited (or a large limit) to temporary holograms would be nice, but permanent holograms (separate from writing if it's added) should 100% have a limit.

[Superlagg]

Is there a way to have the holograms come out of the nearest camera? Just so it doesnt seem like the AI is some kind of magic ghost that summons pictures. And so that the holo-pointer thing could look more like a camera's laser pointer thing.

[Frank_Stein]

Is there a way to have the holograms come out of the nearest camera? Just so it doesnt seem like the AI is some kind of magic ghost that summons pictures. And so that the holo-pointer thing could look more like a camera's laser pointer thing.

Like a sorta faint flickering beam from the spot to the nearest camera

[kyle2143]

Having both temporary and permanent holograms sounds a bit cumbersome for someone to deal with while trying to have minimal hud space for the hologram usage. But I think it could work out. I don't think the AI should have a lot though. My worry with permanent holograms is that designing a good system for the AI to manage them is tough as well as it leads to the problem of an AI spamming an area with them and the crew having no recourse other than ordering them gone (cutting camera's should destroy them probably, but I didn't make that yet). Is it better to just let the AI delete all holograms with one button simply? Or better to show em a list of em all? . I don't like the idea of the AI being able to use them as waypoints, because that's not really their intent, and it doesn't make much sense that that would be the way for an AI to jump around fast.

My first idea on how to place the holograms was for them to be placed as Aft suggested with something SPACE + CLICK, then opening up a menu like the ritual chalk sigils for the AI. But the initial feedback I got for that was that it was less clear than just having the "HOLO" button that all AI's can easily see and instantly know how to use. Maybe the Holo button should be permanent holograms, and SPACE + CLICK should be temporary.

Superlagg. The idea of the holograms is that they are projected via the station cameras. I originally did want to do as you say, but I wasn't sure if it would look good enough or the costs of making it look good would be too high. For example, if they had some sorta animated hologram light thingy stretching from them to the nearest camera, you'd have to raycast for if it goes through a wall, and then check where the camera is on the sprite. And assuming you do both every time I'm not sure how good it would actually look even if you made things line up perfectly. The other option is to only allow it on tiles directly in front of a camera in a cone, and that would severely limit the areas where it could be created, which I thought might make it too useless to warrant making. I'm really not sure what the best way for it is. Maybe just something shooting from the nearest camera's tile on creation for a second? I tried making it fade it alright and be a good alpha value, maybe just changing those would make it look better.

[Studenterhue]

There were some, ahem, hiccups, but now it is possible for the AI to place down holograms via B, point.

[Nnystyxx]

I would personally like if I could put down a limited number of permanent holograms just because, like, if a room has no oxygen I definitely want that warning to stay for more than 30 seconds