Goonhub
02-25-2026, 06:59 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-25-2026, 07:04 AM by Skotcher. Edited 1 time in total.)
I really enjoy Cargo, but I agree that it does fall into the Roboticist pitfall of having 15 minutes of necessary work and then nothing for most shifts. In no particular order, here are some ideas I've thought of for cargo. I'll try to explain my reasoning for each one as I go along.
1. Improved Requisition Rewards
What: Any requisition that requires the cooperation of an external department should provide much higher payouts. Item rewards from these requisitions should feel impactful and should be desired by the department putting in the effort to fulfill the requisition, but said items should not be necessary to the main gameplay loop. Some items should be uniquely obtainable through these requisitions.
Why: Requiring the cooperation of an external department is an opportunity cost for that department. Providing meaningful rewards incentivizes the department in question to fulfill the requisition, as it benefits both parties. Eager cooperation from both sides is preferable to apathetic cooperation. Unique items also provide opportunities for Antags to cooperate with cargo (or work in cargo) and get their hands on goodies that can't be obtained anywhere else.
Here are some examples of unique items I think would be beneficial:
2. Requisition Purchases
What: Untangle requisitions from market updates. Requisitions must be purchased using available cargo funds before they can be fulfilled. Refreshing the requisition page can be done via a purchase using cargo's budget. Some requisitions will remain free in order to prevent budget death spirals.
Why: Requisitions should feel like a purposeful investment. The current system of saving requisitions relies on luck and ease of fulfillment. With the current system, if no good requisitions come around, you don't pin any and you let them refresh. If good requisitions do come around, you can likely fulfill them within the allotted time period. Requisitions that take more than a single cycle to complete are not often worth saving, and the ones that are typically have unique rewards/goodies (ex: requisitions that can give energy guns/tasers).
If, instead, requisitions are something you must purchase/bid on in order to fulfill, it both provides something for Cargo to spend their cash on, and it incentivizes QMs to actively work on the Requisitions they've purchased. Untangling requisitions from the market update by allowing a requisition refresh (via purchase) will also let QMs set their level of engagement with requisitions; slow rounds can let QMs knock out requisition after requisition, while active rounds will probably pull the focus towards helping the crew.
External departments will vary in how willing, or how able, they are to assist with requisitions. If botany/kitchen is offering to help fulfill requisitions, but the only ones on the page are medical requisitions (and medbay is busy/unwilling to fulfill these), then the current system just means you pray that the market refresh will give you requisitions for botany. You are at the whims of lady luck. Being able to update the requisitions page will give Cargo options if one or more departments can/can't assist with fulfilling requisitions.
3. Supply Requests
What: Allow for traveling merchants and specific Traders to be "ordered" by cargo. A single traveling merchant ship can be persuaded to visit the station by offering credits via the budget. A list of all possible merchants that could visit could be displayed alongside % chance of appearing. More money can be invested to increase the odds of these % chances, possibly up to 100%. Some key traveling merchants are hidden and can be unlocked by the use of an Emag (Ex: The Totally Legitimate Trader). Every market update, one Trader can be requested for a sum of credits dependent upon a variety of factors (i.e. How late into the round, how many times it's appeared before, how many times it's been requested, etc), guaranteeing that Trader appears for the next market cycle.
Why: Traveling merchants offer unique and fun items (and unique and fun possibilities) for all players. Being able to influence which merchants show up, and possibly when, could be beneficial for setting up gimmicks in and outside of cargo. This may also provide reasons for why certain crew members may want to contribute their own personal funds to the cargo budget via the console in order to bring these merchants to station. Some plans on station for crew may involve utilizing specific items from traders. Being able to request those traders can provide interaction with cargo that goes beyond a "wait-and-see" approach.
4. Request Pin-pointer
What: When a crew member orders/requests a crate, a pin-pointer that's available from the QM locker can be used on the crate to pinpoint the location of that crew member.
Why: Crew members placing requests can be a hassle to track down, and sending the crate to a cargo pad that is at or near that crew members workplace takes a "wipe your hands clean of the matter" approach. Providing a more direct, personal way for crates to be delivered gives opportunities for QMs (and by extension, Mail Couriers) to be more personal with crew on station. If Cargo contains multiple QMs, some can act as a parcel delivery service. It also provides ways for antag QMs to track down crew who may be more isolated, or for antags who are not part of cargo to lure out a QM to an isolated location.
5. Supply Runs/Salvage Missions/Repair Jobs
What: Azones. A variety of missions/jobs that can be selected based on either: prerequisites being met (purchasing the job, mining finding an asteroid on the magnet tied to a job, crew finding key items from debris field/pre-fabs, etc) or by randomly appearing alongside requisitions to be purchased (see idea #2). Travel could be facilitated by shuttles, similar to traveling merchants, the mining shuttle, or Johns Bus.
Why: Azones need not be relegated to Research, and the idea of departments bringing in required items to set up an azone adventure fits quite nicely with being supplied for said azone adventure by cargo itself. It's very opt-in content that I think provides more opportunities for adventure involving all sorts of different crew without using Telesci.
This idea is probably the most investment heavy option and is really listed here for the purpose of idea generation, rather than itself being the fleshed out idea. I think many people are on board with idea of "more azones" but the actual implementation of it requires far more than some shmuck (me) saying "yeah, more zones would be cool".
These are all just ideas. Nothing is concrete, all of it is mutable, and I've listed them because I'm curious to see if any of them resonate with others. I'd love to know if the ideas inspire further ideas or iterations, or if they seem like valuable changes/additions to the department.
1. Improved Requisition Rewards
What: Any requisition that requires the cooperation of an external department should provide much higher payouts. Item rewards from these requisitions should feel impactful and should be desired by the department putting in the effort to fulfill the requisition, but said items should not be necessary to the main gameplay loop. Some items should be uniquely obtainable through these requisitions.
Why: Requiring the cooperation of an external department is an opportunity cost for that department. Providing meaningful rewards incentivizes the department in question to fulfill the requisition, as it benefits both parties. Eager cooperation from both sides is preferable to apathetic cooperation. Unique items also provide opportunities for Antags to cooperate with cargo (or work in cargo) and get their hands on goodies that can't be obtained anywhere else.
Here are some examples of unique items I think would be beneficial:
- Increased capacity Hypospray (60u) for Medical.
- Increased capacity beaker box (150u or 200u beakers) or a single ultra capacity beaker (500u) for Science.
- Portable Mining Charge Fabricator for Mining (feed materials, gradually spits out mining charges by using it in hand).
2. Requisition Purchases
What: Untangle requisitions from market updates. Requisitions must be purchased using available cargo funds before they can be fulfilled. Refreshing the requisition page can be done via a purchase using cargo's budget. Some requisitions will remain free in order to prevent budget death spirals.
Why: Requisitions should feel like a purposeful investment. The current system of saving requisitions relies on luck and ease of fulfillment. With the current system, if no good requisitions come around, you don't pin any and you let them refresh. If good requisitions do come around, you can likely fulfill them within the allotted time period. Requisitions that take more than a single cycle to complete are not often worth saving, and the ones that are typically have unique rewards/goodies (ex: requisitions that can give energy guns/tasers).
If, instead, requisitions are something you must purchase/bid on in order to fulfill, it both provides something for Cargo to spend their cash on, and it incentivizes QMs to actively work on the Requisitions they've purchased. Untangling requisitions from the market update by allowing a requisition refresh (via purchase) will also let QMs set their level of engagement with requisitions; slow rounds can let QMs knock out requisition after requisition, while active rounds will probably pull the focus towards helping the crew.
External departments will vary in how willing, or how able, they are to assist with requisitions. If botany/kitchen is offering to help fulfill requisitions, but the only ones on the page are medical requisitions (and medbay is busy/unwilling to fulfill these), then the current system just means you pray that the market refresh will give you requisitions for botany. You are at the whims of lady luck. Being able to update the requisitions page will give Cargo options if one or more departments can/can't assist with fulfilling requisitions.
3. Supply Requests
What: Allow for traveling merchants and specific Traders to be "ordered" by cargo. A single traveling merchant ship can be persuaded to visit the station by offering credits via the budget. A list of all possible merchants that could visit could be displayed alongside % chance of appearing. More money can be invested to increase the odds of these % chances, possibly up to 100%. Some key traveling merchants are hidden and can be unlocked by the use of an Emag (Ex: The Totally Legitimate Trader). Every market update, one Trader can be requested for a sum of credits dependent upon a variety of factors (i.e. How late into the round, how many times it's appeared before, how many times it's been requested, etc), guaranteeing that Trader appears for the next market cycle.
Why: Traveling merchants offer unique and fun items (and unique and fun possibilities) for all players. Being able to influence which merchants show up, and possibly when, could be beneficial for setting up gimmicks in and outside of cargo. This may also provide reasons for why certain crew members may want to contribute their own personal funds to the cargo budget via the console in order to bring these merchants to station. Some plans on station for crew may involve utilizing specific items from traders. Being able to request those traders can provide interaction with cargo that goes beyond a "wait-and-see" approach.
4. Request Pin-pointer
What: When a crew member orders/requests a crate, a pin-pointer that's available from the QM locker can be used on the crate to pinpoint the location of that crew member.
Why: Crew members placing requests can be a hassle to track down, and sending the crate to a cargo pad that is at or near that crew members workplace takes a "wipe your hands clean of the matter" approach. Providing a more direct, personal way for crates to be delivered gives opportunities for QMs (and by extension, Mail Couriers) to be more personal with crew on station. If Cargo contains multiple QMs, some can act as a parcel delivery service. It also provides ways for antag QMs to track down crew who may be more isolated, or for antags who are not part of cargo to lure out a QM to an isolated location.
5. Supply Runs/Salvage Missions/Repair Jobs
What: Azones. A variety of missions/jobs that can be selected based on either: prerequisites being met (purchasing the job, mining finding an asteroid on the magnet tied to a job, crew finding key items from debris field/pre-fabs, etc) or by randomly appearing alongside requisitions to be purchased (see idea #2). Travel could be facilitated by shuttles, similar to traveling merchants, the mining shuttle, or Johns Bus.
Why: Azones need not be relegated to Research, and the idea of departments bringing in required items to set up an azone adventure fits quite nicely with being supplied for said azone adventure by cargo itself. It's very opt-in content that I think provides more opportunities for adventure involving all sorts of different crew without using Telesci.
This idea is probably the most investment heavy option and is really listed here for the purpose of idea generation, rather than itself being the fleshed out idea. I think many people are on board with idea of "more azones" but the actual implementation of it requires far more than some shmuck (me) saying "yeah, more zones would be cool".
These are all just ideas. Nothing is concrete, all of it is mutable, and I've listed them because I'm curious to see if any of them resonate with others. I'd love to know if the ideas inspire further ideas or iterations, or if they seem like valuable changes/additions to the department.