Ideas for a goonstation research system

[Nnystyxx]

Anything that won't a) have people systematically loot the station the same way every round or b) turn into genetics 2.0 where somebody sits in front of a terminal all round.


Any research system should be simple, non-essential, have elements of randomness (maybe just for top-tier stuff?), and require activity outside of a single room.

Ideally research being flexible and reproducible in a number of ways (ways to be exposed to temperature extremes, cryoxadone/space, radiation events, etc.) and requiring HUMAN INTERACTION (you need test subjects and field research) would be good. I hate TG's "loot the whole station" research system, since it's already annoying to do and annoying to deal with, and secondary even then to the mining requirements.

I would prefer it if research data was like, transmitted back to Research, and not capable of being nicked.

Outward flexibility + rewards for interaction & curiosity + maybe not destroying/stealing everything but just analyzing it like a device analyzer = goodresearch?

EDIT: HOW DO I KEEP MAKING TOP OF NEW PAGES THIS IS LIKE THE SEVENTH ONE IN THE LAST TWO DAYS

[Vitatroll]

Well, considering ss13 is a science station I've always been confused about how researching equipment on the station is supposed to help move research forward. I mean, how is researching a welder or drink machine going to advance science? Shouldn't that stuff be pretty common knowledge?

I like the idea of studying phenomena. I also like the idea of subjecting test subjects to various stimuli to gather data. I'd just be worried about repetition and balancing the gains.

I guess another concern I have is in science bloat. Gotta be careful about that.

[Nnystyxx]

I dunno, more for general-purpose scientists to do would be nice. Currently your options are:
- Toxins (Make bombs you are not allowed to use in 99% of circumstances)
- Artifacts (Death bombs, wands, traps, stupid forcefield/darkness stuff, 1% of the time is something benevolent/useful, dependent on QM/mining to keep being used)
- Telescience (Drain all of telescience's power, go somewhere and die horribly, steal gimmick items from telesci locations)
- Chemistry (Make hellchems, possibly get shit on by admins because chemistry is evil nerd magic)

Most of it being very niche, unhelpful, or unpredictable, except for chemistry which is hyper-powerful if you know the secret buttchems. The proposed R&D branch would be a good alternative, I think, being more multidisciplinary and giving the "witness the power of science!" feeling. It gives people new stuff to learn-- what to do, what to make, the most effective way of doing stuff, what people will appreciate, and so on.

It could even use that unused junk room that used to possess a particle accelerator, turn that room into an R&D lab for consolidating your research and crafting stuff, but don't give it a dearth of space to use/implement that stuff, so the scientists are forced to go out and apply their newfound knowledge & tech rather than stay secluded. The room's like, 4 by 6 tiles max if I recall. Just enough to put some nice flavor, some computers in, keep the fabricator/add ones for the R&D branch, and so on.

I think there's plenty of grounds and opportunity for it to exist. Plus, the Research Director. . well, he could use some research to direct! Research that isn't secret hellmixes that you'll get banned for leaking, secret hellchems that you'll get banned for leaking, meta #sol stuff that doesn't really matter, or, uh. . artifacts, I guess? We need something to learn and do. Most of science at this moment is just secret overpowered shit that exists only for antags, or so unpredictable and niche as to be useless in 90% of cases. Mechanics are more useful than scientists most of the time, and those guys make machines that play the sax when you step on floor tiles or shoot you into space.

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also I think a reagent attachment to the chem dispenser that pours out beff or blood or pepperoni would be hilarious

[Mordent]

Mordent is good at writing things en masse and I like them a lot.

:fap: 

That's all I have to contribute.

[BBEG]

I dunno, more for general-purpose scientists to do would be nice. Currently your options are:
- Toxins (Make bombs you are not allowed to use in 99% of circumstances)
- Artifacts (Death bombs, wands, traps, stupid forcefield/darkness stuff, 1% of the time is something benevolent/useful, dependent on QM/mining to keep being used)
- Telescience (Drain all of telescience's power, go somewhere and die horribly, steal gimmick items from telesci locations)
- Chemistry (Make hellchems, possibly get shit on by admins because chemistry is evil nerd magic)

Most of it being very niche, unhelpful, or unpredictable, except for chemistry which is hyper-powerful if you know the secret buttchems. The proposed R&D branch would be a good alternative, I think, being more multidisciplinary and giving the "witness the power of science!" feeling. It gives people new stuff to learn-- what to do, what to make, the most effective way of doing stuff, what people will appreciate, and so on.

It could even use that unused junk room that used to possess a particle accelerator, turn that room into an R&D lab for consolidating your research and crafting stuff, but don't give it a dearth of space to use/implement that stuff, so the scientists are forced to go out and apply their newfound knowledge & tech rather than stay secluded. The room's like, 4 by 6 tiles max if I recall. Just enough to put some nice flavor, some computers in, keep the fabricator/add ones for the R&D branch, and so on.

I think there's plenty of grounds and opportunity for it to exist. Plus, the Research Director. . well, he could use some research to direct! Research that isn't secret hellmixes that you'll get banned for leaking, secret hellchems that you'll get banned for leaking, meta #sol stuff that doesn't really matter, or, uh. . artifacts, I guess? We need something to learn and do. Most of science at this moment is just secret overpowered shit that exists only for antags, or so unpredictable and niche as to be useless in 90% of cases. Mechanics are more useful than scientists most of the time, and those guys make machines that play the sax when you step on floor tiles or shoot you into space.

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also I think a reagent attachment to the chem dispenser that pours out beff or blood or pepperoni would be hilarious

one idea i had is that RnD would work a bit like a crafting system in that you use a machine with the blue prints to most if not all the stations equipment and you have to figure out how to combine them to make more advanced equipment and for more high tier equipment would have to go out and scan things in the derbies field. and i thought with artifacts we could break them down and turn the into different high tier equipment

[Nnystyxx]

For your consideration, the room in Research mostly cleaned up, seconds before being blown to smithereens by Syndicate operatives. Cleaned off the tables, SOME of the grime, removed the cigs, retiled it. . the monkey dispenser could stay for cheap uncooperative test subjects, the fabricator, presumably that computer would be for research-- I couldn't remove the reclaimer but whatever maybe it'd be useful, and so on

See, it's already shaping up to be a brand new R&D department
An R&D department about an order of magnitude or two smaller than the "make bombs and fuck up the station" department


EDIT:

And a before pic for comparison, though I wish I could add some nice bright white tiles in there for a futuristic feel

[ferriswheel1]

I just had the idea of being able to research proton packs and ghost traps to stop those nasty wraiths, which would be a whole lot cooler than the current method of attempting to make the station saltier than both the Dead Sea and dead chat.

I'd love to see pods being put to more use or getting some cool stuff from research. Maybe some kinda advanced scanner module to analyse phenomena in deep space?

Although many might not want to mess with pathology, there was a concept a whole back about randomised "species codes" that would determine what species a pathogen could infect. Examples of different species would include things like bees, monkeys, borgs/robots and some antagonist types such as vampires and changelings.

The species code for an organism for that round could be discovered by having infected organisms near your target, and hoping that the pathogen would mutate and jump the species barrier. So you could make a pathogen that makes all the bees sneeze and bumble Shakespeare, or experiment on a captured vampire to give all vampires a chronic cough and leprosy.

[Nnystyxx]

I just had the idea of being able to research proton packs and ghost traps to stop those nasty wraiths, which would be a whole lot cooler than the current method of attempting to make the station saltier than both the Dead Sea and dead chat.

I'd love to see pods being put to more use or getting some cool stuff from research. Maybe some kinda advanced scanner module to analyse stuff in deep space?

fuck yes proton packs sign me the FUCK UP
imagine a team of assistants with ghostbusting equipment dragging a camera along getting beat up by a poltergeist (wraith)

[Frank_Stein]

I just had the idea of being able to research proton packs and ghost traps to stop those nasty wraiths, which would be a whole lot cooler than the current method of attempting to make the station saltier than both the Dead Sea and dead chat.

I'd love to see pods being put to more use or getting some cool stuff from research. Maybe some kinda advanced scanner module to analyse stuff in deep space?

fuck yes proton packs sign me the FUCK UP
imagine a team of assistants with ghostbusting equipment dragging a camera along getting beat up by a poltergeist (wraith)

There are a lot of things I'd love added regarding wraiths and ghosts and this is one of em. It'd be nice if they literally just pulled the wraith towards the source of the beam and they had to be guided over the trap.

[ferriswheel1]

Yeah, the idea I had was for several items. The proton pack (the backpack), the proton beam caster (held in the hand and charged by the pack), the ghost trap, and the ecto scanner.

The scanner works as a pinpointer to the location of the nearest wraith, with the pointer going crazy if there's one nearby. When used in-hand reveals nearby incorporeal wraiths for 40 seconds.

A hit by the proton stream immobilises the wraith, and if there's a nearby activated ghost trap, begins to draw it in the location of the trap. The proton stream forces it to become visible, and can hit though glass similar to the x drone beam.

Traps hold enough charge to be activated for around 30 seconds. It can be activated in hand and thrown out.

The speed that the wraith is moved towards the trap depends on its number of wraith points and the number of proton streams on it, you'll probably need several proton packs to deal with a high-level wraith.

Finally, when a wraith is on the same tile as an activated trap, it's drawn down into it and captured, no second respawn. If the trap is destroyed or opened for any reason, the wraith is released again.

If someone really likes this idea, it doesn't have to be a research item. A bunch of ghost busting stuff could be in a crate in armoury, or floating around deep space and replicable by mechanics.

[Lady Birb]

If someone really likes this idea, it doesn't have to be a research item. A bunch of ghost busting stuff could be in a crate in armoury, or floating around deep space and replicable by mechanics.

The armory already has some crates full of niche stuff for fighting specific antagonists, like the pod weapons crate for intercepting nukeops, and the anti-biological crate full of flamethrowers for torching blobs and lings. An anti-wraith crate wouldn't hurt.

[medsal15]

An anti-wraith crate wouldn't hurt.

Salt, salt shaker, bible, more salt, more salt shakers, even more salt shakers, you can't have enough.

[BBEG]

Getting back to the topic at hand any ideas for items this RnD system could produce

[misto]

people wanted to be able to break apart useless artifacts and use the bits to try to make artifacts with actually desirable effects for a while now, so replicating desired artifact effects could be a good thing to start with. artlab will remain relevant for figuring out what a new artifact you found does and whether you want to break it for parts or make more of it.

it can also of course be home to making whatever oddball ass cartoon super science inventions people come up with like the magnet suits that helped spark this thread

if youre worried about having enough room to work in im pretty sure we can arrange to have the walls moved out a bit, we're in space, we can make more room

[BBEG]

people wanted to be able to break apart useless artifacts and use the bits to try to make artifacts with actually desirable effects for a while now, so replicating desired artifact effects could be a good thing to start with. artlab will remain relevant for figuring out what a new artifact you found does and whether you want to break it for parts or make more of it.

it can also of course be home to making whatever oddball ass cartoon super science inventions people come up with like the magnet suits that helped spark this thread

if youre worried about having enough room to work in im pretty sure we can arrange to have the walls moved out a bit, we're in space, we can make more room

i do enjoy the thought of scientists making goofy physics defying super items/weapons out of artifacts though to keep it from being over powered we should make it so that if you fuck up the process it would do something horrible like for example eldritch artifacts would summon Cthulhu or martian artifact trigger an alien invasion and so on.