[PR] Lizard abilities, wolf heals, and hair powers

[github_bot]

PULL REQUEST DETAILS



[FEATURE][INPUT WANTED]
About the PR

This gives lizards a set of built-in abilities to change the colors of their skin. They can either swap around their detail colors or change one of them at will, though these abilities cost points to use.

These points are replenished by eating organs. Some organs, like hearts and brains, are worth more points, while butts are worth nothing and just make you throw up, and cyberorgans deduct points due to being made of metal. This is all handled in a component, listening to a new signal COMSIG_ITEM_CONSUMED, which /obj/item/proc/Eat sends when its done eating a thing.

The component proc is also set to only give lizards ability points, since otherwise lings could freebase a bunch of yee, eat botany, and have infinite DNA points.

This also adds a human-version of the lizard swap-around-your-colors ability as a genetics power. It just lets you swap your hair color around.

This also also shifts that thing where werewolves are healed by eating organs into the component. Works under similar rules as the organ-ability-point thing, except that butts still heal a bit and cyberorgans deal 5 brute and tox. Hearts heal 10 brute and burn, and organs you can't normally eat or find (like heads and chests) are worth 15 of each.

Also adds in some mutant color flags, so cows don't have everything start looking weird if they mess with their hair... horn... things.

Also adds a second entry for customization colors in the appearance holder to hold the player's previous colors when they turn into a mutant. This is so when they go back to being human, their colors don't get messed with by the mutant races clamping their customization colors.

Why's this needed?

Lizards are dull, and I want to make them not-dull.

Changelog

Code:

(u)Superlagg:
(*)Lizards can now change up their colors if they eat enough human organs.
(+)Added a mutation that lets people swap their hair colors around.
(+)Increased the healing certain organs give when eaten by a werewolf.

PULL REQUEST DETAILS

[BlackPhoenix]

Aren't lizards kinda just meant to be a neat aesthetic thing you get with spacebux?

[Superlagg]

Aren't lizards kinda just meant to be a neat aesthetic thing you get with spacebux?

Yeah but some people take them way too seriously.

[BlackPhoenix]

I personally kinda prefer them as a neat aesthetic thing, or something for Roleplay. Making them eat organs and all...ehhh? I'm honestly a little worried it'd cause more problems than it's worth, as people do tend to need those.

[KikiMofo]

I'd say no. We don't need special race powers.

[Superlagg]

The point of this is to make lizards more "unique", something more than just a human reskin.

I should also note that the PR also (intends) to add in some special organs to lizards that modifies things like chem damage and depletion rate from chems based on body temperature. So, a burning lizard would die to hellchems much faster, cryox would be just about useless, and so on.

[Chayot]

This look great honestly, glad for Lizard players. They already have some disadvantages (namely, discrimination, being non-human to AI).
This looks like it could be really fun for a lizard. And changing color won't really have serious unfair advantages, will it?
We can already paint ourselves fully-black and be practically indiscernible in dark areas, no?

I can already see the organ-addict lizards sieging botany for Synthlimbs as the botanists prepare to cull the horde.
Also great for the werewolf, it'll be seriously helpful for them to win a rampage and not die because they had no good source of medical supplies.

[Sundance]

As Superlagg pointed out, this would be a stepping stone to further balances such as making lizards vulnerable to fire.

I think sacrificing your human status + increasing vulnerability is a decent tradeoff to a goofy ability and i'd like to see this expanded to other mutantraces.

EDIT: Although, logically, i'd feel it should be vulnerability to cold damage rather than hot, seen as they're a lizard. More damage from space tiles and cryo being ineffective rather than both hot and cold vulnerability might be a good shout here! (PS: Save the heat damage for the squid men)

[Drago156]

Oh what's this, run human torch AND lizard to be instantly incinerated practically. OR have severe vulnerability to both HOT AND COLD!?

I like the organ thing but for the sake of trait balancing and such, don't add major balance things like thermal vulnerabilities/resistances, because you not only screw over some trait sets but you also defeat the point of some genes.

[Chayot]

Most-understandably, there are likely to be exploits and unforeseen occurrences as you've pointed out Drago. I'm certain we'll find a way to work it better as time goes on. This is, as Sundance put it, a stepping stone to further expand upon the Lizards/nonhumans.

[Studenterhue]

Changing scale colors is harmless and niche enough that I don't really see any issue in lizards having it. (Though I can't quite see the use in swapping colors around rather than directly changing them. Not that I think it shouldn't be in.) Maybe you could use it to blend into darkness or surroundings better, but former's already pretty easy with pitch-black darkness and you'd also have to contend with clothing choices. Maybe you could change appearance to escape chasers too, but then you'd still have to deal with hiding your name, and Sec can still use stuff like SecMate statuses, tracking implants, and such to see through the disguise.

I don't see needing organs to get points of abilities as being too much of an issue, because you don't really need ability points, since said abilities are largely about aesthetics. If you have a hankering for organs, you still have monkeys and usually Medbay's small stash of organs, plus you can ask Roboticist to give you new ones so you can eat your own ones. If it turns out to be an issue (maybe people keep stealing organs, maybe people really into lizard aesthetics find points too scarce), perhaps we can do something like having raw meat give points.

There most likely are going to be unforeseen consequences, both to the color abilities and the temperature vulnerabilities. I'm rather failing to see Drago's point though. To me, the hot and cold vulnerabilities associated with race sound more like extra considerations to take into account for picking traits, and I'm not too sure what the point about defeating the point of certain genes is. (Also seems to me Sundance was just giving an example rather than seriously advocating for lizard vulnerability to fire.)

Overall, I like the PR, particularly werewolf getting a more sensible framework for eating organs to heal. Only suggestion I would add is to also make organ-based dishes, like haggis and heartburger heal too.

[kyle2143]

Lizards were supposed to be a joke aesthetic choice. But like lagg said, people do kinda take them too seriously, playing as a lizard. And now we have so many mutantraces that people can play on round start via spacebux. But our mutantraces for regular crew are kinda lackluster.

Lizards and some others were started as jokes, but it has strangely evolved in the terms of how the community plays as them. Since the races are taken seriously by players but in practice are like 80% aesthetics, 19% gimmick, 1% mechanical differences , there has always felt like a big disconnect there. It feels like they aren't joke races like they initially were and now are just badly implemented alien/mutant races. And I think doing things to them to make them feel more unique, more alien, more wacky, is what will make them more fun.

[BlackPhoenix]

Just kinda feels like making omnighosting actually do something, if that's the idea. The players latched onto an idea and ran with it, so now we make it a thing. I dunno, I especially don't feel like something that is a spacebux purchase should have that strong an effect on the gameplay, as best I can tell they're all just kinda neat things that look funny or have some moderate aesthetic effect for a round, and I'm not sure I dig the idea of them being more mechanically significant. Then again, I may be overlooking some spacebux purchase that already is.

I also really worry that if you start going the route of making the different races have mechanical effects, it kills something about them. It's hard for me to describe, them being an aesthetic change just feels more fitting? I'd honestly rather see them be considered human to the AI than them get weird powers or resistances/weaknesses and make them some alternate gameplay style.

[KikiMofo]

I'd rather just keep them as joke stuff. I feel this is moving too much towards the other servers with dedicated furry races stuff. That never sat right with me when I saw stuff about other servers.

The whole werewolf part of this PR I like though with eating organs to heal.

[Drago156]

I feel it should be noted that skeletons have a MAJOR advantage and disadvantage in that they heal from consuming milk, but can not be cloned without the necroscan module.

Cows have a far smaller but still unique ability in that they bleed milk.

Squid people can breathe in water.

Roaches get I think light resistance to rads.


I think it would be best for the lizards to have the color changing ability from eating organs, especially since they're the only mutantrace that I can think of that actually uses colors for aesthetics, but I disagree with them getting any sort of heat or cold resist/vulnerability unless it's something incredibly minor. Maybe their bodies heat up slower?

I think would be prevalent to point out that most of those servers, if not all, that have the different races are ERP servers, whereas Goon is not. The administration between those servers are also incredibly different, as well as the communities. If you are worried about the additional mutantrace thing because of those servers, please don't be. I'm certain that most of us don't want goon to be ERP or anything like that, we just want additional things to add a bit more variety to rounds and the game in general. Some of them even add some extra challenge to the game.