[CLOSED PR] New antagonist : Brain slugs

[TheMaskedMan2]

@themaskedman2; I'm not sure about allowing the slug to reproduce as one single slug can already likely cause a considerable amount of damage to the station. While it might be fine on classic, i fear it might spiral out of control on RP.
The harvests are very obvious yes, but if you want to not get spotted you can simply put on a mask, remove your id and make searches considerably more difficult. If you do get caught, you can always try to swap to a new body.
There is currently no way to isolate the sulfonal, it's a simple ability that only the broodlings have to inject a tiny amount into someone.
A chem to induce vomiting/twitching could be very fun to frame people and shake them off your tail however, i like that.

@Glamurio; The slug can talk through it's host when inside something, but not to it's host. When outside a body, the slug can talk normally.


Additionally, i have been made aware by the development team that until wraith has been polished and bugfixed some more, the chances of this antag being added to the game are effectively zero. As such, i will work on improving wraith and will subsequently come back to this project!

Wraith is neat, not the thread for it but definitely a few improvements generally around could be for that- but definitely do not abandon this idea or let it fall into limbo because I do genuinelly like it a lot.

[Bartimeus]

I'm not tossing away the idea! I already coded it to a completely functional state and all it needs is some sprites and sounds. Once wraith is in a good spot, i'll get back to working hard on this!

[Asparaguy]

This is like my brain bug idea but better and actually has some sprinting and weight to it , nicely done

[Bartimeus]

Since i was waiting for information on what wraith needed the most, i went ahead and finished the PR.
Sprites and sounds are now in and that should be what was needed to take the PR off draft status.
I am not expecting a review soon, considering that wraith probably still has some glaring issues, but at least it's ready for review!
Thanks everyone for the valuable input!

[George_Manning]

Was worried about crew members sparing the slug for its ugly cute look, but hopefully after being devoured they will decide that sparing it is not the best course of action.

[Bartimeus]

I'm sure that after a few rounds people would learn that the "cute pink slug" is on the same level of danger as something like a headspider and people will likely start to agressively hunt it when they see it.

[The]

i feel like the body you are controling should degrade over time, something like the body rots over time

[DioChasek]

i feel like the body you are controling should degrade over time, something like the body rots over time

While thematic brain slugs are kinda underpowered at the moment. Giving them more downsides is not a great idea.

But thoughts after the test rounds this morning. 
They are going to need some way to get past the ai's detection other than hosts if they expect to be any kind of threat on classic.
They will thrive in a mixed antag environment as there was a marked difference in performance in the round with other antags and the one without.
For once the rp viability of antag is not in question it fits rp like a glove.
Finally the one suggestion that is probably not the greatest, is give the brain slug a way to detect other antags. As it stands they struggle on their own and if they are lucky they can find an easy kill/dead body. The down side is someone will likely use this to ruin all the other antags rounds.

[TheMaskedMan2]

i feel like the body you are controling should degrade over time, something like the body rots over time

While thematic brain slugs are kinda underpowered at the moment. Giving them more downsides is not a great idea.

But thoughts after the test rounds this morning. 
They are going to need some way to get past the ai's detection other than hosts if they expect to be any kind of threat on classic.
They will thrive in a mixed antag environment as there was a marked difference in performance in the round with other antags and the one without.
For once the rp viability of antag is not in question it fits rp like a glove.
Finally the one suggestion that is probably not the greatest, is give the brain slug a way to detect other antags. As it stands they struggle on their own and if they are lucky they can find an easy kill/dead body. The down side is someone will likely use this to ruin all the other antags rounds.

Making them a legitimate parasite to other antags is kinda funny.

[BatElite]

"It would appear that this antagonist has not managed to meet the expectations I and others had set for it, and as such i shall be closing this PR."

So what didn't work out about it? I wasn't around to see it in action, but it seems like something that'd be useful to know for future endeavors.

[George_Manning]

Admins said in discord thread they had no interest in adding it to the game. Poor slug boi.

[Bartimeus]

"It would appear that this antagonist has not managed to meet the expectations I and others had set for it, and as such i shall be closing this PR."

So what didn't work out about it? I wasn't around to see it in action, but it seems like something that'd be useful to know for future endeavors.

I have not yet been communicated the exact reasons as to why it will not make it into the game, but i'm sure it'll happen at some point soon. I believe the biggest reason is that no singular dev has grown enough of a strong liking to this project that they are willing to spend the time and energy required to make such a project go through.

When the public test happened, i got to see several people attempt to use the antagonist i had designed to the fullest, only to be brought down easily time and time again. The antagonist does have flaws which i implemented on purpose (E.g hit and run style of combat, degrading body, no inherent ways to hide your identity) which ended up making it too weak and likely a bit frustrating to play. I could go over and try to change those but it'd be a long process and it essentially makes this antagonist into a quite different one.
I'm going to be honest and say that yes, i do think it's a bit of a shame that all my work ended up not being approved but i at least prefer being told that it's definitely not going to make it early on, rather than spending several more hours of my life on this project to ultimately be told later that it wont happen.

[TheMaskedMan2]

This is sad. Incredibly sad. I loved the slugs and the concept of them. I hope maybe eventually you can revive/rework them from the ground up and still get perhaps the idea in more or less? Get a dev to help you? I don't know, I liked them, and I liked the direction they were going.