[CLOSED PR] Construction Worker rebalance

[github_bot]

PULL REQUEST DETAILS



[REWORK][BALANCE][INPUT WANTED]
About the PR

This PR is meant to be an alternative to #2523: Instead of removing construction worker completely, it tries to balance this role and makes it less overpowered.

**List of changes:**
-Removes conworker's spacesuit, magboots, jetpack and breath mask
-Removes quite a few griefy floor textures and a LOT griefy wall textures from floor and wall planner (you can see the changes here: https://i.imgur.com/lVFpmZc.png) (and uh cave walls are back but I'm too lazy to screenshot them again)
-Removes conworker's material shaper (seriously, does anyone ever use that thing?)
-Lowers the RCDD capacity to 100
-Removes one of the matter cartridges from conworker's backpack: they start with one 100 capacity cartridge now, just so they can fill their RCDD
-Gives them mechlab access (lots of conworkers that actually like working on cool projects will appreciate this)
-Gives them EVA access as a reasonable alternative to the lack or roundstart spacesuit
-Gives them an engineering PDA


Why's this needed?
This PR will hopefully tackle the issues that people currently have with conworkers: It severly nerfs their RCDD and starting gear, hopefully discouraging them from breaking into the armory every single round and removes griefy textures from the floor planner (no more meaty floor spam, yay!) And mechlab access is a good enough incentive that should encourage conworkers to actually work on some constructions.

I wanted to make floor planner emaggable, but I don't think it is necessary, since conworkers cannot play as traitors anyway. If anyone wants to make it emaggable tho, old files that contain all the wall and floor textures are still there.

Changelog

Code:

changelog
(u)TTerc:
(*)Construction worker has been rebalanced! See PR for details.

PULL REQUEST DETAILS

[GORE]

Not a fan of this. Seriously not a fan.

Construction workers breaking into the armory for no reason are ahelpable as it is; you know?
Look - the suit, jetpack and boots are necessary to build new rooms out there in space.
I have build so many shops by building new rooms and even then one might fall short on RCD resources.

Besides the added mechlab access I think this is a step in the wrong direction and kinda defeats the purpose for a role to get started building.
Hell - with no EVA access you can't even get a new jetpack unless you ask for EVA access every round or just never build in space to expand the station. It is a nice addition; but in my opinion going against what made Construction Worker so great.
Toning down the construction of rooms and changing the layout of the station for a fresh experience.

This kinda forces players to just work inside the station and not do large room expansions.
Ahelp those that abuse the RCD, but please don't ruin this job by making it harder to build something sweet because of some bad apples.

---

I also don't think that removing these textures accomplishes anything but make life harder for those wanting to creatively engage with others on station.

Hell church? Not anymore!
Meat station? Probably never again.

The deconstruction buff is also a huge deal.
Look.
Sometimes to expand the station you have to RIP some walls out, place an airlock and then a good 50-100 floor tiles - to then build more walls.
Lowering the RCD cartridge amount and removing this buff will most likely leave me to spent all of my RCD charges on not getting anything done.

And your reasoning that this will stop break-ins into the armory?
Laddie; 200 charges are still enough for that.
Hell - a clown with a toolbox is enough for that.

So not only do I think that the reasoning for this changes falls apart at the seams, but that this PR lowers the QoL features people really building stuff enjoyed for so long.

---

The material shaper is also a tool not often used - but I don't think it deserves to get Bwoinked.

Added engineers PDA, mechlab access and that are wonderful. Love that.
But most of the time I am too occupied building a room anyway - to really build complicated machines afterwards. I'd rather ask some mechanic if they want to work together.
Besides that I think Construction Workers do need EVA access.

---

Probably should also respond to the idea that this role or any other role is overpowered. Sure.
Yeah.
Every role is overpowered.
Give someone a stun baton or a chem-making-laboratory and they are set.

This feels like another power-balancing discussion going down the: Should the Captain be removed from Traitor role; lane.
In all honesty - if someone griefs with this job you know for a fact that they are either innocent, a changeling has ate them or that they are mindslaved.
There aren't many other scenarios.

[nefarious6th]

I'd say on this one, I just am not sure about the suit removal + jetpack and all that. I actually play fewer rounds on the Main servers now where the only thing I really notice anymore are the griefy textures (I am 100% for their removal with this PR). But in just the past few weeks alone, I had some very good rounds with a commendable CWorker named Yerkhov who would and could fix anything and everything (including my AI upload). On RP, we've had next to no problems with the CWorkers, and some people even attempt interesting projects like trying to complete the loop on Cog1 when the PTL is off. Those scenarios are ones when the suit, boots and jetpack were essential, and like GORE pointed out, without having EVA access, it's hard to really understand how a CWorker is going to get the gear to fix things without getting access to a Command-level room for a jetpack (unlikely?) and access to mechboots (more likely; same with the suit, but with only 2 suits in engineering on Cog1, taking one of those away as a CWorker would be noticable in a department with potentially 7 people who need suits). To address the concerns of what I've seen, at the very least, the problem is specifically how the RCD is being used and the textures being used. Which the rest of this PR handles nicely, I think!

You only need an RCD for named doors; everything else can be built by hand with a little more time investment, but I think that makes a lot of sense. If I want to convert a room or build a small new one, that's feasible and seems like a good job. If I want to go bigger, though, and build a new satellite or the Deluxe Extreme Space Diner, then I'd have to enlist the help of some friends, which I think bigger and more ambitious build projects should strive to do.

I do like the mechlab access on this; and I do like the texture removals. I don't think the access will cause any more problems than we already have with second cloning/chemistry/illegal medbay than we already do from mechanics and staffies. It's also nice that if mechanics are working on teleporters or mechcomp things and are around the station to build or show off their devices, someone can still help make more frames on request without having to yell at the mechanics all the time.

If the most significant issues we're having now with CWorkers is that the role itself is being used in the wrong ways, I would still be interested in a timegate; or, as someone offered on F191's PR, if the problem is bad enough and people are willing to review some sort of support documentation for a person who wants to play the role, a whitelist might be helpful. I'd be down to poke around at how to timegate the role and can try prepping that as a PR later today?

[Caro]

The problem I always had with construction worker, despite me liking this role is how off it feels compared to the rest of the jobs. It's pretty much the only role that starts with an equipped spacesuit and a jetpack, and on top of that, a special RCD that feels like an admin-only item (15k capacity is just absurd)

It's not the only role that needs a full space suit set to do their job but it's the only one that gets special treatment, which isn't really necessary imo. A space suit is easily obtainable via mining fabricator, for instance.

However, I think that EVA access would be a good compromise and I'll happily give it to conworkers if you find the lack of spacesuit as an issue.

EDIT: Actually I think this is a good idea and I'm gonna do it right now

[Arlian]

snip

Agree with this entire post. As someone who enjoys going conworker from time to time to build a new addition to the station and repair any floors and walls on the side, this feels like a major nerf for little reason. Breaking into the armory is extremely easy for any role and the proposed rebalance still won't stop a griefing conworker from breaking in with the new RCDD anyway.

I've never really cared about floor and wall textures and tended to ignore them, but if it's such a big issue I'd prefer a solution such as making the floor and wall planner use RCD charges to discourage spamming the whole station with textures and make the player think about where they really want to place said textures. As GORE said above, meat station and hell church can be really fun. It might not be your cup of tea and that's fine, but thankfully in my experience it's not a common occurrence and not in need complete removal.

The RCDD nerfs and the removal of one of the large charges just makes construction work take longer and even medium sized projects can take upwards of an hour to complete. Spending an hour to create something cool and just having the shuttle called because it's goon main and rounds don't last long already happens regularly and these nerfs go in the wrong direction.

I appreciate the mechlab access and feel like that should have always been part of the access the conworker starts with, and while the PDA addition is nice it's not completely necessary as PDA's are easy enough to obtain from the vendor.

[nefarious6th]

The problem I always had with construction worker, despite me liking this role is how off it feels compared to the rest of the jobs. It's pretty much the only role that starts with an equipped spacesuit and a jetpack, and on top of that, a special RCD that feels like an admin-only item (15k capacity is just absurd)

It's not the only role that needs a full space suit set to do their job but it's the only one that gets special treatment, which isn't really necessary imo. A space suit is easily obtainable via mining fabricator, for instance.

However, I think that EVA access would be a good compromise and I'll happily give it to conworkers if you find the lack of spacesuit as an issue.

EDIT: Actually I think this is a good idea and I'm gonna do it right now

I don't mind this as a solution.

I think the greater issue that we're all trying to poke around with CWorker is that it's kind of shoved into the Main servers when it wasn't intended for that; now we're at a juncture where it's developed into an actually appreciable role to have, but still doesn't fit in the grander scheme of things because it's originally from a different gamemode.

FWIW, I'd also be happier with EVA access that trying to fish around for a suit in mining (no access) or engineering (may not be any suits depending on map type/how many others are using them); if trying to secure a full suit takes me 10 minutes between departments and materials wait times and all, that's 10 minutes I'm not building something. I don't think the EVA suits get over-used too often EXCEPT as "overflow-engineering-space-suit-storage" anyways, so I don't imagine this being too much of a strain on the limited suits there. EVA access also means that I can go and grab the suit when I need it, and can optionally not pick it up since there's no rush to get it before materials are out/it's gone. At the very least, you'll get a little better tracking on if a CWorker did use EVA then go off to do something griefy because now they leave prints and all that.

I know I've been vocal on CWorker PRs; I love the role. I recognize the same problems that a lot of other people have pointed out. Thank you for taking the time to scale it better to keep it fun and creative, but ultimately, fair and fitting.

[mbc]

let them re-add the griefy textures with an emag 

[GORE]

let them re-add the griefy textures with an emag 

Would only make sense if the construction worker would finally be able to spawn as an antag.
As of now construction workers function similarly to the HoS and security. Although it is not a late-join job like the mime. Ô_o

[Varali]

Honestly, Construction Workers are weird because they come fully kitted out. Removing their EVA things is a good start, but why do they have a special RCD to begin with? Why not just.. merge the RCDD and the RCD features? Let the RCD do the fancy doors (because honestly the RCD airlock feature sucks ass and it's horrific for Cyborgs) and bam.

[GORE]

You all might think the amount of units in the RCDD is a lot but if you are building a room out in space you can honestly expect to plant the floortiles yourself for a good ten minutes already.

Hell; even in this current state construction workers have to get sheet metal, reinforced sheet metal, bulbs of various colors and sizes, air canisters and all that kinda stuff additionally to their get-go gear.
Most of the time I am not done with a built until the 20-30 minute mark.
That is with the RCDD matter to spent, the jetpack and no EVA access, thus costing me five minutes to talk to the HoP unless I wanna greytide the door open.

Any regulations on the get-go gear will only really affect those folks desiring to create aspiring builds.
Those who wish to grief can and will always grief; these tools are powerful, yeah. But using them responsibly is the key and I doubt you could find a way to not act like a prick with the RCD if you wish to act like one.
Just plaster down 10 walls and you can already fuck over most people for a good 10 minutes.
You don't need all that matter for that. In fact building reinforced sheet metal walls is even worse; but that can not be done with the RCD.

[Monochromatism]

Re: the above, I should note that construction workers don't have to get bulbs in different colors and sizes anymore. My (relatively) recent PR gave them a human version of the lamp maker/replacer that engineering cyborgs have. It uses metal sheets for fuel. Also, if I can say? I feel like even with these changes, the construction worker would still spawn with plenty of "abusable" gear. I mean, even with this nerf, they spawn with a full toolbelt, a breathmask and an o2 tank in their box, a better RCD and ammo for it, the floor/wall planner, and the lamp manufacturer.

If you wanted to try and police construction workers out of doing questionable shit by removing/nerfing their starting gear, you haven't done it. Because you can't. You can't really stop someone with engineering access from getting most of the stuff construction worker already spawns with- much less just the stuff they spawn with with your nerf in place. A functional nerf to construction workers would have to remove their engineering access, or nerf the entire engineering department.

I do approve of altering the starting gear anyway, to give construction workers a more focused impression of their job and make them interact with the station at large just a bit more. But coming at this from a balance point of view, I don't think it'd really do much.

[Wisecrack34]

Let the RCD do the fancy doors (because honestly the RCD airlock feature sucks ass and it's horrific for Cyborgs) and bam.

I agree on this point, make RCD better please ;-;

[Studenterhue]

PR's been reopened, so the opportunity to decide on whether this PR should be in the game has opened up again.

Normally I wouldn't do this, but I would like to officially ask for people's thoughts on some the ideas proposed in this PR--there's been a lot of talk regarding the Construction Worker job, but it doesn't quite feel like there's a consensus on what should change and how:

• Should Construction Worker get EVA access? How about Mechanics access?
  
• Should some textures in the Floor/Wall planner be removed? Which ones if so? If they are to be removed, should there be a way to get more? If so, how?
  
• Should Material Shaper (aka Window Planner) be removed from Construction Worker toolkit?
  
• Should RCD-D capacity be lowered?
  
• Should RCD-D deconstruction costs be raised to regular RCD levels?
  
• Should Construction Worker have one or two 50 unit cartridges?
  
• Which of these should Construction Worker with: space/diving suit, jetpack, and/or magboots?
  

[Frank_Stein]

I think we should rebrand the job as "Contractor" and break their tools up across loads and orderable items.

Have sheets of carpet and wallpaper they can order from, that are just applied to surfaces to retexture them. Price them based on how exotic they are. Make them removable, maybe with specialty tools like carpentry hammers or saws.

If a person takes the job they get a bunch of materials and tools for free, or they can visit QM and buy crates of materials.

I think it would be fun to have "specialties" where one contracter is focused on doing the floors, another the walls, a third on building new parts of the station, etc

[GORE]

Should Construction Worker get EVA access? How about Mechanics access?
-
Both. EVA and Mechanics can be pretty important for any build of function.

Should some textures in the Floor/Wall planner be removed? Which ones if so? If they are to be removed, should there be a way to get more? If so, how?
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I do not find any texture necessarily wrong in and of itself. If a Construction Worker spams the station with ugly tiles it is up to security to deal with it; in my opinion.

Should Material Shaper be removed from Construction Worker toolkit?
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Was that the thing to build glass and metal stuff with in a different way?
Kinda strange but I do not care that much about this.

Should RCD-D capacity be lowered?
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Hell no. Construction Workers cannot spawn as antags and are given a more creative tool for large projects. Keep it in; but job-ban folks who abuse this power.

Should RCD-D deconstruction costs be raised to regular RCD levels?
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Nope. I got plenty of cool building spots on Cogmap 1. South of the AI chamber a large basketball court or even south-west of it with a room extending to the south. It is not unusual for me to remove up to 10 reinforced walls until I can even begin the main floor of my build.
Removing all those walls by hand would push the building time I am used to from 20-30 minutes up to 40-50 at least.
More cost also implies more problems when doing the floor, the doors, the walls.

Should Construction Worker have one or two 50 unit cartridges?
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Two.

Which of these should Construction Worker with: space/diving suit, jetpack, and/or magboots?
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Space/ diving suit and jetpack.
Magboots are not that important for building outside - - - in space - - - in my opinion.

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I think we should rebrand the job as "Contractor" and break their tools up across loads and orderable items.

Have sheets of carpet and wallpaper they can order from, that are just applied to surfaces to retexture them. Price them based on how exotic they are. Make them removable, maybe with specialty tools like carpentry hammers or saws.

If a person takes the job they get a bunch of materials  and tools for free, or they can visit QM and buy crates of materials.

I think it would be fun to have "specialties" where one contracter is focused on doing the floors, another the walls, a third on building new parts of the station, etc

I like your idea. I think a job like contractor should be something else. Way more decorate-focused and less building a lot of rooms and getting many large project-like-things done.

Applicable wallpaper sounds fun, add some extra decoration to those crates or their starting items - like different lava-lamps. Some figurines or throphies. Flavor items to decorate stuff with.

I would rather see this as a different type of gimmick job that might spawn on the station as one of them random jobs.
This would be a great addition for anyone working with the construction worker or interacting with players on a smaller scale like decorating the Captains room or the bar.

Carpenter sounds like they should get access to some special wallpaper designs and floor carpets and the like - those of which are not available on the floor and wall material exchange tool of the Construction worker. Keep the content of these jobs seperate and you got yourself a nice little flavor job to join the station.