Goonhub
11-07-2024, 01:42 AM
I think this is one of those sensible ideas that make sense in reality that might not actually be what we want to do here, I'll discuss why I think that, but I also am not willing to die on the hill for this viewpoint, just putting it out there for discussion so don't feel like I'm saying this is a bad idea.
Right now, cargo gets you some things for departments, device scans, construction, and the ruckgeneering kit gets you 95% of the rest of the way for station items. What's left is the horror of losing the master tapes for the RD, niche equipment pieces and things that for secret or just plain unlikely reasons we probably don't want people to be able to order, construct or scan.
I personally suspect that the very reason the dispensers themselves aren't cargo-orderable is that chemistry can reliably and consistently provide a pathway to: Mething up your staff gremlins every round, gassing out areas every single round, exploding every single round. Providing me my personal "wow I am not going to be doing this regularly" moment of photo-infused arrows that are gloriously disgusting. You still should absolutely be able to get that going, but cargo feels like a slightly too easy pathway to that over making them work a little more for it (and it really is only a little)
Thus, there's already a method to get things remade, as long as they're scanned beforehand. I think the specifics of that are an entirely separate discussion so I won't go on too long about it but it exists so this isn't a feature we're without. So, station bombing or enterprising assistant does have an avenue to set up shop. The stations (with exception of perhaps Atlas, that is really just that tight for spare random rooms) usually have some spare kit lurking around. Thinking about it, you can do stuff like backdoor artifact science using improvised tools, you can usually nab a few spare botany trays depending on map either in very public places, or frankly asking botany (assuming you're dead set or engineering/engie borgs is too busy to scan you some up). You also have the option of bothering the HoP. All those nice little cooperative player action options already exist to get people where you want them: re-equipped from a bombing or doing a little side project. Ultimately, I kind of don't buy needing this idea from the perspective of the crew. So I turn to cargo itself.
I am very pro-new-things-added-to-cargo. We just had an awesome little change (https://github.com/goonstation/goonstation/pull/21136) that among other things, makes potentially adding new things to traders easier/rarer/etc. So if cargo's getting bored and wants more "Candy/fun" crates or something new I'm all for that.
in summary: Don't forget we've already got device scanning/rucks. I entirely personally think it's probably a bit too easy to do things the way you're suggesting and think it's not that hard for crew to get their side projects on, but am totally willing to concede how scanning works now is a separate discussion that might have merit, and I'm all for making new stuff for cargo to sell if they're getting bored.
Right now, cargo gets you some things for departments, device scans, construction, and the ruckgeneering kit gets you 95% of the rest of the way for station items. What's left is the horror of losing the master tapes for the RD, niche equipment pieces and things that for secret or just plain unlikely reasons we probably don't want people to be able to order, construct or scan.
I personally suspect that the very reason the dispensers themselves aren't cargo-orderable is that chemistry can reliably and consistently provide a pathway to: Mething up your staff gremlins every round, gassing out areas every single round, exploding every single round. Providing me my personal "wow I am not going to be doing this regularly" moment of photo-infused arrows that are gloriously disgusting. You still should absolutely be able to get that going, but cargo feels like a slightly too easy pathway to that over making them work a little more for it (and it really is only a little)
Thus, there's already a method to get things remade, as long as they're scanned beforehand. I think the specifics of that are an entirely separate discussion so I won't go on too long about it but it exists so this isn't a feature we're without. So, station bombing or enterprising assistant does have an avenue to set up shop. The stations (with exception of perhaps Atlas, that is really just that tight for spare random rooms) usually have some spare kit lurking around. Thinking about it, you can do stuff like backdoor artifact science using improvised tools, you can usually nab a few spare botany trays depending on map either in very public places, or frankly asking botany (assuming you're dead set or engineering/engie borgs is too busy to scan you some up). You also have the option of bothering the HoP. All those nice little cooperative player action options already exist to get people where you want them: re-equipped from a bombing or doing a little side project. Ultimately, I kind of don't buy needing this idea from the perspective of the crew. So I turn to cargo itself.
I am very pro-new-things-added-to-cargo. We just had an awesome little change (https://github.com/goonstation/goonstation/pull/21136) that among other things, makes potentially adding new things to traders easier/rarer/etc. So if cargo's getting bored and wants more "Candy/fun" crates or something new I'm all for that.
in summary: Don't forget we've already got device scanning/rucks. I entirely personally think it's probably a bit too easy to do things the way you're suggesting and think it's not that hard for crew to get their side projects on, but am totally willing to concede how scanning works now is a separate discussion that might have merit, and I'm all for making new stuff for cargo to sell if they're getting bored.