Xadia Station

[Wubs4Scrubs]

I've always been a fan of design but never got into SS13 mapping mainly because working with the mapping tool is like pulling teeth. Most of my experience comes from Barotrauma actually, and I've made a few subs on there and had quite a lot of fun doing so. However, I've been playing a good amount of Goon recently thanks to the player jolt and I thought now would be a good time to try my hand at the beautifully chaotic world of SS13 mapping.

Below is a very rough outline that I made and plan on iterating on over time with weekly updates. You may see me around this mapping area asking questions in regards to how subsystems like disposals and power work as I get farther along but I don't imagine that happening anytime soon. If you have any critique, advice, or you just want to call me a shitlorde for committing some cardinal sin of SS13 design then feel free to let me know below.

I now present, a very skeletal Xadia, free of most subrooms and space catwalks. 




And a more zoomed in image of the command area (central wing of the station).

[qwertyquerty]

It's gonna be hell to get from one place to another. If you don't like current mapping tools, you should try out QDMM. There is a thread somewhere in the mapping subforum for it.

[HydroFloric]

I mean if you wanted maint could act as pseudo bridges between the arms.

[Wubs4Scrubs]

I mean if you wanted maint could act as pseudo bridges between the arms.

That was actually something I was seriously considering! I have an idea in mind that I'll post pictures up later, as it stands I'm working on the research/medical wing that I'm going to post first.

[Wubs4Scrubs]

Update 1:
Started mapping the MedSci wing of the station, not totally done yet obviously but I think I have the walls at least in place, now it's more just placing down floor tiles, machinery, and eventually items. 


Let me know what you think! I'm going to start mapping the maint tunnel connections between the station arms before going further on MedSci in case anyone has feedback so I can make adjustments as needed.

(also I've been trying to do the <spoiler></spoiler thing> to make images nicer in these posts but I couldn't figure it out)

[warcrimes]

1: having medicine at the end of an arm won't really fly, see for example Samedi - when it's that far from everything, people die.
2: the layout of medbay is kinda spindly and like a series of halways, makes triage and movement with blood shrapnel and nukies very difficult.
3: you should be using the Wingrille spawners, not the forward-facing window sprites, compile this and you'll see what im talking about.

[Wubs4Scrubs]

Time sure does fly! I've been in a Space Station 13 mood again and decided to pick up where I left off, which admittedly was very close to the beginning of the mapping process. I went the bitmap route before I mess around with getting the revamped DreamMaker mapping tools setup, and below is the result.



Xadia Station Bitmap

General Things I Like:

• Symmetry, 😋.
  
• I think the station gimmick came together well, being in the shape of an X.
  
• Clear choke-points give antags some juicy targets on the map, hopefully without being too congested as to interrupt gameplay.
  
• Arrivals/Escape are mirrored on opposite ends of the Bridge, gives the station a nice flow.
  
• The wing design that came from the X shape resulted in some fun "hub" areas that I would hope would be good for roleplay/gameplay.
  
• Detective and Janitor are across from one another in disposals. There's plenty of room to put the Detective in the Security wing, but I feel this is funnier and totally on brand for them.
  

General Things I Don't Like:

• Lots of zig-zagging to get through maint and main hallways in some areas. Necessary evil to make the X shape work.
  
• I admittedly don't have a ton of direct experience with certain jobs, such as engineering or security, so I tried to look at existing maps to see which rooms were needed. Will almost certainly require reworks.
  
• No barcode shipping system (yet...)
  
• I didn't have a grand plan for disposals, so I just used the one from Donut 2 because it's the design I have the most nostalgia for and it's nice and simple.
  
• Was going to incorporate a M.U.L.E. logistics focus for the station, which I still might do (because M.U.L.E.s rule).
  

Engineering Likes:

• I like the way the engineering, QM and security front desks all face one another in the center. I picture a group taking breaks at each station and shooting the shit over snacks and smokes.
  
• I did some research online and it seems that people prefer messing with the nuclear engine over the singularity. My original design was going to have the singularity in the dead center of the engineering wing for looks reasons, but I went with this version to (hopefully) make gameplay better.
  
• The general use arc smelter was something I always liked about Cogmap, so I made it like that.
  

Engineering Dislikes:

• I feel like the engine area doesn't have enough space. I'm not experienced enough with starting the reactor and its components to know for sure, but I get that feeling with this revision.
  
• Having the general use pod area so close to the QM pod area is a little cluttered.
  
• Again, not a ton of maintenance length but you can get to the general use arc smelter from maint so it's better than the med/sci wing. I'd say 50% coverage which is better.
  

Civilian Likes:

• Love the central owlery, with the surrounding departments. Very cozy feel.
  
• Plenty of maintenance to hide in. I also really like having the freezer connected to maint because I had a round a long time ago where I got murdered as the chef there when someone jumped me as I was opening the door.
  
• Botany/chef have a direct link through the glass which I like.
  

Civilian Dislikes:

• Don't love the bar layout. I was really struggling with spacing but I think I got a setup I'm okay with.
  
• Not enough space to have the bunks/barracks in this area. Choice was essentially to either have the chapel up here and bunks in the security wing, vice versa, or to move all the miscellaneous rooms like the boxing ring or pool out of the civilian wing into other areas. I settled on this layout because having the chapel directly across from the bar is cute and very midwest-coded.
  

Medsci Likes:

• Most direct experience with these departments so I feel like I did a good job accounting for the different workflows of jobs.
  
• Maint goes right up to genetics and the cloner...just saying antags.
  
• Pathology got removed! Which frees up some space that isn't reflected in this design. The lower rooms had a shared monkey area connecting Genetics and Virology that I can remove now.
  
• Love the little waiting area connected with the front desk. Probably my favorite feature of the Cogmap medbay and I tried to re-create it.
  
• Connected chemistry/medical equipment room. Again, I've played a loooot of Cogmap and I always liked that.
  

Medsci Dislikes:

• Maintenance areas should give enough freedom of movement for antags, but it only wraps around 30% or so of the area. The shared hangar space between Research and Medical shouldn't be too policed though so I think that area is basically a maintenance extension.
  
• Last feedback I got said that the area might be too congested for proper play. I tried to widen the upper hallways and give a nice big lobby/waiting area that I hope is sufficient.
  

Security Likes:

• Maint goes right up to the brig and armory areas, again...just saying antags.
  
• Nice balance between function and flavor in terms of maint and actual job related areas. I think it's the best designed wing in that way.
  
• I love the way the courtroom/brig came together. Prisoners can now be in gen-pop and watch their comrades' trials.
  

Security Dislikes:

• Does security really need pods? (Probably, yes. But I forgot about that and it messed up my plans).
  
• Ended up with two big general rooms for security. Not a bad thing necessarily, just have to think about how to fill those up with stuff in mapping to balance it.
  
• Big leftover rooms that I have no idea what to do with.
  

Overall, making this was a lot of fun! I see at this point that Goonstation isn't accepting new maps, but hey it was a good project. When/if I get the actual map tools setup on my new computer to actually make the design is still up in the air. But if I do, stay tuned for updates...