New Mopping method [Item use action change]

[Frank_Stein]

I was mopping today and started thinking about how mopping in real life feels compared to the game, thought maybe there was some room for change there to reflect the changes in fluids

1. Instead of clicking/item hotkeying to use the mop, have it change a toggle
   
2. Toggle is for lowering mop to floor, or raising it up
   
3. Mop carries a certain amount of saturation, ranging from dry, damp, moist, wet, soaked. These represent how many fluid units are stored in the mop.
   
4. Lowering mop to floor, mop absorbs fluids units on the floor, increasing in saturation until it reaches soaked
   
5. When the mop is at or above saturation level moist, it will also drop a few fluid units onto the floor
   
6. Clicking a tile or object with the mop in hand would dab the mop, allowing you to spot treat small messes without completely lowering the mop
   

Additionally, a slight change to the mop bucket would be needed

1. Click mop bucket on harm intent to dip mop into bucket contents, maxing it's saturation
   
2. Click mop bucket on help intent to wring mop dry, removing all saturation to it's minimum 
   

Mopping now becomes a game of raising and lowering the mop, moving in the direction want to mop in. Dip the mop to spread cleaner around. Wring the mop out to dry it, then sweep over excess fluid to dry the floor. Click tiles to clean small messes or strategically wet floors.

I feel like this will make mopping all together quicker while also giving it that kind of dancing like feel you get in real life. This also makes the mop a much more useful tool in cleaning up liquid spills, since with a few wringing outs you can remove liquid as fast as you can walk

[warcrimes]

if the mop is left alone too long on any saturation other than Dry, it should accumulate ants / stench. Pathogen

[Nnystyxx]

That seems like a considerable improvement and actually kinda fun

[Frank_Stein]

That seems like a considerable improvement and actually kinda fun

I figure it'll take a bit of getting used to with intents and toggling, but overall I think it'll turn out faster and feel more interesting.

It also feels a bit needed when you compare the current mop to something like the scrubber or cleaning grenades

[elan_oots]

mop absorbs fluids units on the floor

Mopchem confirmed

[Frank_Stein]

mop absorbs fluids units on the floor

Mopchem confirmed

That's a possibility I was thinking about, since mopping up multiple chems could mean getting reactions on the mop or in the bucket

I was going to make another thread about how to handle that, but I might as well mention it here

I was thinking the Janitor could have access to a chem neutralizer of some kind, that makes other chems inert

It could be a new effect of space cleaner, or a new chem of it's own

[Frank_Stein]

I'd like to get more feed back on this. If having the mop hold chems is a problem, it could just default everything into water

[Ed Venture]

This is a great idea.

[Wisecrack34]

Would make mopping up potassium lethal, not necessarily a bad thing though if there's a delay

[babayetu83]

i think itd be a lot more convenient to just automatically start mopping up any dirty tiles you step on

[Frank_Stein]

i think itd be a lot more convenient to just automatically start mopping up any dirty tiles you step on

But I do think being able to dry would be nice, and that would mean you couldn't mop tiles that didn't have filth on em

Hrmmm... what if the toggle was just a dry mode and a wet mode? When drying, instead of dealing with the possibility of mixing chems, it just outright poofs them away, but keeps track of how many times that happens and stops it when you've reached a certain amount. Clicking on the bucket resets that in that mode, while doing it in the wet mode just drops down whatever you put into the mop from the bucket.

I guess that's more simple and akin to how it currently works while keeping the whole "mop by just walking in a direction" that is the core of the idea

[babayetu83]

i believe simplicity is the best way to go about these things

not to disparage you or the thing you posted but i don't get why things have to be a lengthy 5-step process

[Frank_Stein]

Nah I was just thinking too much about a Space game while working. I think what needs improving is the speed and versatility of the mop, since much has changed that makes it an obselete tool. I agree that the simpler the mechanics the better,

[Wisecrack34]

So the gist of the new mop would be this?:

- Mop swaps modes when clicked on either tool, bucket or intent

- Mop automatically dries/cleans hallways whilst moving

- Chems put in bucket are spread across the floor (Making for some better traitor/miscreant janitor work like potassium, lube or napalm)

- Janitor is now more fun for people with OCD

[Frank_Stein]

Correct. Fast, movement based mopping and drying with, with periodic trips to the bucket to wring out a wet mop or to get a dry mop wet.

This brings the mop closer in line with other tools like the floor cleaner or cleaning grenades, and a more powerful tool against large scale fluid leaks