Catering Rework Overview :D

[AwkwardDryad]

Before Reading:

This is still an ongoing project and subject to change as we work out the planning and mechanics that will be released in the final version of this patch or collection of patches.

- A concept marked as [WIP] is currently undergoing active development and will have semi-frequent public updates attached to it.
- A concept marked as [TBA] is still in the planning phase or in early development.

Bear in mind this is a full ground-up rebuild of the food system and a massive change to catering departments to a whole, so keep that in mind when posting questions as a lot of concepts may no longer apply. :)

Speaking of questions, we'll be posting updates and answering questions fairly regularly, but your questions and suggestions will eventually be answered as long as you're nice ❤️

Objectives:

Catering roles have been in a really strange place where food basically isn't a desirable thing and most kitchen and bar oriented roles tend to end up super isolated and remain mechanically unfinished. We plan on addressing this by:

• Creating a roundstart selection of catering-specific roles to allow people to work in the region of food service they choose.
  This is a combination of Barman, Chef, Waiter, Sous Chef, and finally, the new Head of Catering role. (Barman and Waiter will be renamed to Bartender and Server by default. Server will update to Waiter/Waitress depending on if the player selecting those roles is identifying as Male/Female). [WIP]
  

• Fully fleshing out the mechanics of each catering role. [WIP]
  We want food service to feel like food service. Basically constantly relaying information to each other, interacting with other players, and generally creating an experience that is varied and enjoyable.
  

• The cooking system will be completely overhauled to become more involved, realistic, and heavily oriented around player choice, custom foods, and mechanical interaction. Lots of kitchen equipment is planned and every food will feel unique to cook. Additionally, the framework will be rewritten to allow coders to easily add fully configurable food recipes.
  

• The gimmicky catering roles will gain some unique tools and abilities centered around their respective area, fleshing them out into proper roles. [TBA]
  

• The Head of Catering functions as a head chef and is the logistics coordinator of food growth, production, and distribution. They also have some fun toys of their own to play with as all heads should ;P [WIP]
  

• Adding flavor profiles and effects to food beyond the current system, forming them into something desirable to players beyond just the usual "How do I kill people with this?" approach. [TBA]
  

• Modifying the kitchen, cafeteria, and bar to be more user friendly to those in those departments and updating tools with more realistic and involved functionality. [WIP]
  

• Expanding the framework for what is possible when creating a new plant for botany, allowing for interesting and esoteric plant effects to spice up hydroponics with strange new flora [WIP]
  

Project Overview:

• Visual Updates For Food And Equipment [WIP]
  
• Kitchen Equipment Framework Overhaul [WIP]
  
• Reworking Food Recipes [TBA]
  
• Expanding Food Effects With Flavor [TBA]
  
• Catering Role Expansion [WIP]
  
• Full Borg Support [TBA]
  
• Botany Additions [WIP]
  
• Map Updates [TBA]
  

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Members:

• Alfredo Chicken - Code/Design
  
• Avatharian - Code/Design
  
• Awkward Dryad - Art/Code/Design
  
• Erinexx - Art/Code/Design
  
• Hokie - Art/Design
  
• UrsulaMejor - Code/Consulting/Design