What makes a good station/ship?

[LovelyMimic]

not too much bloat (see: cogmap2)

What do you mean by bloat? The size and/or complexity of of the station and its layout?

[warcrimes]

not too much bloat (see: cogmap2)

What do you mean by bloat? The size and/or complexity of of the station and its layout?

Cog2 is bloated in every sense. 
Departments that make no compromises- every single possible configuration you could ask for is there in some form. The bar can seat 50, the kitchen is set for a full complement but only staffs 2, engineering is the size of destiny on its own, the main hallways require at the very least 4 changes of direction to go from one node to another, 8 for the whole hall ( compare to 2 shifts or less in Cog1 ), Also, many departments are larger than one full vertical screenspace, which means you've got bind spots in the same room. Every wing feels like a dungeon, every room like a wing.

[Newtonsolo]

Well many people are looking at "flow" and although im not entirely in agreement with what they are saying exactly i think the concept is a good point, but another important factor is alternative routes
First we should look at the two most exteme maps on this

Destiny has a very awkward flow, not only are there lots of turns the maintennance tunnels can make alternative routes both somewhat awkward and sometimes cut off by random doors you lack access to. additonally the route to escape is incredibly to bypass unless you have a specific job or planned before hand. this is because it has no maintennace tunnels up there and the only public pod bay is literally on the other side of the hall.

Cogmap 2 is the polar opposite, the ship is plagued with alternative routes of varying levels of difficulty. belt hell goes straight through parts of the hallway. there are maintennance tunnels nearly everywhere. one can break into almost every part of the station with little more than a toolbox and maintenance access. this can make mobility incredibly easy and avoiding antagonists incredibly easy.

Cogmap 1 is a very good compromise. it has belt hell but that has its risks and has quite a bit of risk in its usage. the maintennance tunnels are well placed, providing some god alternative routes but bypassing certain areas will require quite a bit of dificulty as opposed to simply choosing a different path. for instance bypassing the escape hallway is easy but one has to go through space to bypass the room where the shuttle docks allowing for some fun interactions with the antagonist or crew. the simplicity of its c shape makes learning easy while still allowing for some hidden depths.

[Frank_Stein]

Someone once pointed out something really interesting about vertical space vs horizontal space.

Because of the way that the screen and UI is, The former is good for creating a sense of speed when moving through it, whole the latter is better for conflict and action.

Generally, I think you need a key path that has a few major junctures that split off before rejoining that main path.

Placing those key junctures in horizontal space is great for funneling players into conflict zones

An example would be the hallway in Cog 1 outside research and medbay

[ZeWaka]

Someone once pointed out something really interesting about vertical space vs horizontal space.

Because of the way that the screen and UI is, The former is good for creating a sense of speed when moving through it, whole the latter is better for conflict and action.

hey my big rant got noticed!


also
moved to mapping and merged with the thread with the same title lol

[Cogwerks]

Excellent feedback, folks! *schemes*

[Vitatroll]

Holy shit. It lives! (Though yer probably on IRC/Discord where I never go)

[amaranthineApocalypse]

Excellent feedback, folks! *schemes*

Holy shit, it's the legend himself!

[Drago156]

Excellent feedback, folks! *schemes*

well shoot perhaps we might get a new map!
not gonna put too many hopes on it though.

[Eibel]

I kind of am a sucker for maps with a theme, like 'this station NT just bought everything from ebay'
I think i just have a thing about bitching that NT bought everything from ebay..

Note - I'm only aware of medbay in detail, I'm a glorified medbay nerd, so I'm only going to use medbay as an example

But what I mean is, comparing cog1 to donut,
 donut is the ebay station to me.  Medbay doesn't have a fabricator for new surgical tools, we still have old systens like robotics' research terminal, and robotics' crate is full of flashes for some reason.
We have limited supplies, the morgue is hidden, and genetics decided to secede and get this awesome spacious area that im wondering which corporate head really liked a geneticist.  And pathology is not a thing at all.

While cog1 has most of what we need, functions well, and does the job. We can get our jobs done with minimal breaking into areas in our own space.  It's comfortable, but also kind of seems like NTs cookie cutter station, it works dont change it kind of thought.

Looking at mushroom, medbay is a weird after thought, we have a large space but to treat someone means we open all of our supplies up to potentially be taken or blown up.  Our boss (MD) doesn't even get an office, just a locker shoved against a wall in the corner.  Genetics has a large office again, better security from the monkeys, but they get a tiny monkey pen now, and full control over the morgue.  Robotics is quite comfortable with 3 fabricators and plenty of supplies however.

I hope i explained my thoughts here, basically just, theme is important to me beyond what is already said.  For folks who main a job, having no additional challenge of having to cope with inefficient workspaces or being spoiled with over efficient spaces makes it interesting to me.

[Cogwerks]

I got my code access reset and my laptop is sooooorta vaguely working, intermittently. It shuts off at random because the power's fucked up, but using a wifi keyboard and mouse avoids most of the jostling that shuts it off. Trying to devote some more time to this again.

I got all excited about making a small station set inside a partially-mined comet. Cause hey, that's safe, right? Aiming for a smaller, quick production of something spooky and thematic that'd be good for changeling rounds and such. Much less bloat, narrower spookier halls and winding maint shafts, lots of pockets and caverns and tunnels and catwalks around it amidst the ice and denser rock. Maybe some fluid pockets too, that looks like a neat system to play with now.

[Mageziya]

cog we thought you were dead

[Cogwerks]

cog we thought you were dead

I'm friends on facebook with a buncha the staff and IRC nerds. Life's just been chaotic and complicated and depression's a real fucker sometimes. Sometimes for way too long. Sorry I worried ya

[warcrimes]

Resuscitating this thread for importante questione:
Which tileset is the best tileset?

By which i mean what is your favorite combo of Walls & Doors (& other alternatives if you like particular chutes / lights / buttons / equipment )
NuWall v. OldeWall also
Up2U