Mechanic related and similar

[Vuk Farkas]

I noticed that mechanic is easily sabotaged... i cant find the PDA cart the mechanics use anywhere on the station, the PDA cart had that device analyzer that allows wireless transmission of scans (ironically ya can scan most stuff like this, but for some ya need the classical device analyzer) and the station has only 2 device analyzers...
And guess what they cannot be scanned! so if a mechanic gets his PDA stolen or lost, (or there was no mechanic) and someone stole or raided the lockers yer fucked there is no way to get more! (and i am not sure if there is even a way to replace the blueprint machine and the fabricator)

Solution is easy, make device analyzers scanable, and the PDA cart that mechanics spawn with obtainable (maybe in that left corner of the ship-station, where mesonics and some other PDA carts are, or from a hacked vending machine)

Another issue i ran into is windoors (internal doors) they cannot be made or scanned... not only they are space saving, but also economical (rarely used glass) make them scanable or buildable!!!

The server that has a ship-station sure is not focusing on space, its too damn cramped in there, ya would expect ship interior to be thin walls and doors to maximize space... also being able to be pick pocketed or steal throu thin doors or walls should be fixed!

Mechanics lack a lot of access... ya would expect them to have access at least to EVA, but it turns out even if mechanics job is to scan everything, he has to annoy people to open doors for him constantly (i expected mechanic to be able to open at least the doors from maintenance side and have full maint acess)

Workbenches... not only mechanics get the most use of them, but ironically are not buildable! why is that so is beyond me! and no wonder makeshift stuff is unused when workbenches are locked down behind doors (cargo and mining on server i play). Workbenches should be buildable!

Custom PDA carts: i am not sure if this exists already... but i saw PDA can be customized! there could be an entirely new profession too! a contrast to mechanics, the IT guys who would use computers (which are unused and ignored) to create custom PDA carts, and modify existing ones! (also please enable deleting the readme files in PDAs...or add an option to increase memory)
or maybe this can be added to mechanics... This way when there is lack of crew players can modify their PDAs and have all (or most vital) tools installed!

Many times (usually cause no one gives a fuck) me and some other peeps had to do multiple jobs at once (example mining, eng and QM, or replacing the entire medbay as roboticist, or security (often as detective) and every head).

Even if we have acess to the room its hard to do yer job for example when doing mining and QM work when ya dont know what got sold for how much! adding a program to inform you of the sales to the PDA seems easy, and means a lot!

Also i saw that in the listening outpost (syndie vendor station) there is a furnace which generates power if its filled with any solid fuel! are those furnaces scanable/buildable? They are a perfect solution to inexperienced engineers! They could just install that kind of furnace into every wing/room of the station, thus having either a good backup, or skip the engine and solars (believe it or not some dont even know solars can be wired, and SMES can be tricky to set up), since those furnaces burn almoust anything as fuel, even without miners to dig coal, people can power their workplaces!

This could also encourage peeps who get bored on the server to go into space and make their own mini station (instead of ruining offices and public places)

Make everything buildable (by hand or fabricators) or buyable from merchants/cargo its wery anoying that some things cannot be replaced once gone (even if they might be simple to do)

Also are solars buildable? if not they should be (like on so many other servers) it would provide an alternative to the engine, especially if the one base starts with are not enough or got damaged!

[Roomba]

Haven't got time to reply to everything point by point at the moment, but looking it over this seems to be based largely on Destiny, and not all the points hold true on cog2. I'll just say for now that mechanics does not need to get all-access, and many things are unscannable largely to prevent mechanics from becoming unsassailable bases with no need to ever venture out into the station. Mechanics is already one of the most powerful roles on the station (starting access/tool wise) and does not need any more buffs.

Also, the station is designed largely to prevent crewmembers from becoming a one-man army, not to facilitate it.

[Vitatroll]

IIRC you can actually scan the mechanic's cart. You can also delete, copy, and paste files from cart to cart as well as send files from PDAx to PDAy.

[misto]

i wish portable reclaimers were scannable. losing one of those puppies can really put a damper on a department

[Vuk Farkas]

IIRC you can actually scan the mechanic's cart. You can also delete, copy, and paste files from cart to cart as well as send files from PDAx to PDAy.

i know the mechanics PDA cart can be scanned, but copyin file and sending them is what bugs me (also what if we lack a mechanic?) and like i said the PDA cant scan everything! for some things ya gotta use the classical device analyzer

also i didnt say full access... just slightly more access at least to mining and engineering so mechanics can do other work too!

[Vitatroll]

What can't the PDA device analyzer scan? That sounds more like a bug to me.

If you didn't know how to send files PDA2PDA (I couldn't tell what you meant) it requires you to go to the program, select copy, then go to messenger, and there should be a 'send file' or 'paste' beside someone's name. I forget. They just need to have free space on their PDA (stuff will most likely need to be deleted first) and they need to check their messages, then accept the file.

I'm actually okay with there being few device analyzers given how powerful they are. Being able to poop out endless lasers has always made me twicth a bit. Also gives me a bad mental image.

Oh hey googling butt laser reveals that of course that's a thing.

[Vuk Farkas]

Gonna add one more thing... we have camera helmets/eyes and such no one uses! many things like that get completely unused! We should be able to make a remote control droid form those (kinda like the AIs bots and RC borg) for space exploration and such! they could be even equipped with tools/weapons! They would basically use the AIs mechanic but they can be ID locked! basically they would be about as tough as standard bots (which are easily destroyed even by a toolbox) but would allow the user to see whats going on and to an extent interact with enviroment (using limited tools/weapons, dragging things and such)

would be wery useful for scouting, dangerous items handling (artifacts, rigged crates, and radioactive crew/material are an example) in other words somethin between bots and borgs, but can be manually controled by a human (or maybe even AI and borgs)
As weaponized platforms they would be poor performace cause of weak armor, but as scouts and tools would be valuable (cant make a pod or obtain one? and all ya wanna do is visit that one vendor, but ya also lack space gear? properly equip a drone and navigate it! got a fire but ya dont wanna risk being BBQ-ed? use the drone! got a toxin leak or radiation but cant find suits? drone! got a hullbreach but no breathing gear? use the drone to plug the hole! drones could have a 10 slot inventory and use normal items... or use borg modules (i prefer using normal items, as that would allow more customization, and would allow non-roboticists to make them, like mechanics and engineers) they would use cells, and need to be recharged

To control them we could use modified VR goggles, and they could also be equpped with bombs (which can be anythin from fire extinguisher ones to explosive ones...) imagine syndies barging into base and running into one fragile drone... with a deadly package! or it could just freeze them all with cryo... or lube whe whole area... or actually be used to clean up the station...

[Nnystyxx]

These are some kinda cool ideas. PDAs feel like they have room for expansion & improvement, though I'm not sure what. Could be due for an interface revamp some day, considering the interface is mostly lines and buttons with some text justifying.

[Frank_Stein]

Gonna add one more thing... we have camera helmets/eyes and such no one uses! many things like that get completely unused! We should be able to make a remote control droid form those (kinda like the AIs bots and RC borg) for space exploration and such! they could be even equipped with tools/weapons! They would basically use the AIs mechanic but they can be ID locked! basically they would be about as tough as standard bots (which are easily destroyed even by a toolbox) but would allow the user to see whats going on and to an extent interact with enviroment (using limited tools/weapons, dragging things and such)

would be wery useful for scouting, dangerous items handling (artifacts, rigged crates, and radioactive crew/material are an example) in other words somethin between bots and borgs, but can be manually controled by a human (or maybe even AI and borgs)
As weaponized platforms they would be poor performace cause of weak armor, but as scouts and tools would be valuable (cant make a pod or obtain one? and all ya wanna do is visit that one vendor, but ya also lack space gear? properly equip a drone and navigate it! got a fire but ya dont wanna risk being BBQ-ed? use the drone! got a toxin leak or radiation but cant find suits? drone! got a hullbreach but no breathing gear? use the drone to plug the hole! drones could have a 10 slot inventory and use normal items... or use borg modules (i prefer using normal items, as that would allow more customization, and would allow non-roboticists to make them, like mechanics and engineers) they would use cells, and need to be recharged

To control them we could use modified VR goggles, and they could also be equpped with bombs (which can be anythin from fire extinguisher ones to explosive ones...) imagine syndies barging into base and running into one fragile drone... with a deadly package! or it could just freeze them all with cryo... or lube whe whole area... or actually be used to clean up the station...

Remote control bots us something I've really wanted to see for awhile, both with manual and auto controls. I'd really love bites with programmable commands so Robotics could automate certain jobs on the station, like building a robot that continuously makes drinks at the bar or carries produce from botany to medical 

I honestly thought the camera platforms in science would be remote control for telescience research. Sec could do with a bomb disposal bot as well.

[amaranthineApocalypse]

-snip-

Remote control bots us something I've really wanted to see for awhile, both with manual and auto controls. I'd really love bites with programmable commands so Robotics could automate certain jobs on the station, like building a robot that continuously makes drinks at the bar or carries produce from botany to medical 

I honestly thought the camera platforms in science would be remote control for telescience research. Sec could do with a bomb disposal bot as well.

There was a thread to that effect not that long ago
http://forum.ss13.co/showthread.php?tid=6908

[Vuk Farkas]

i just remembered we need to be able to make bags,satchels and all forms of wearable containers, at least via fabricators! Some servers have some net which is worn on torso ower the jumpsuit that allows for extra space (it would be awesome if we could handcraft some bags or sacks) holsters and makeshift belts are a thing too, allowing quick access to yer tools/weapons (altho they are visible to everyone).

Basically wearable containers that have multiple slots act like a bag/belt but specialized ones that contain only one (usually one type of item) slot can be used via just one click no need to open the container (example tactical knife in its sheats is attached to footwear, clicking on the unsheat icon or the sprite will take out the knife, which can be put back in by cliking on the sprite, same goes for gun holsters and such)

Another neat idea would be ability to make makeshift space suits if we cant already...
or at least to combine the 2 most used items into one, welding mask + hard hat (iRL ya can wear both at same time, and there are actually hardhats with welder masks!)
stat wise it might combine the stats from both of the items... or make an average from both. Reason for this is not only it would be a decent makeshift helmet (i found that the hardhat helps with blunt hits and the welder mask deflects/blocks laser fire with ease) but also would make work for the engineering department a lot easyer! the PDA light is weak unless upgraded and there are only 2 in the vending machine (without the mechanic to make backups those are gone easily) and carrying more lights in yer pocket when ya need all the space ya can spare is not an option (and ironically lights themselves arent always awailable). This way eye and head protection is complimented with a light, and maybe it could also decrease freezing in space (i noticed a firesuit can allow ower a minute of spacewalk, maybe this could compliment it)

[Roomba]

We should also have trees that can be punched to gather wood until basic wooden pickaxes can be made.

Also, we should have free-roaming zombies that materials can be scavenged off.

and while we're at it 'Space Station 13' is such a played out name, we should probably call ourselves 'Survive or Die' or 'Craft World' or 'Crafting Survival Block World of Crafting - with crafting mechanics'.

[Noah Buttes]

Not everything needs to be craftable, Jeez.

[Mordent]

Massive no to craftable spacesuits. Maintenance is already littered with firesuits that give you some space robustness, and many other suits provide some amount of protection. I'm all for making "safe" EVA fairly inaccessible.

I could get behind backpacks/satchels being added to the uniform fabricator, which is unused enough to the point where I don't think people would even notice for a while if it were added. Not so keen on belts, as part of the point of them is that they are a luxury commodity and it also reduces the number of people running around with full toolbelts - you can already just carry a toolbox if you really need to lug them around.

I'm against the idea of a hardhat/welding mask combination solely because of balance reasons. You make a choice between wearing one or the other at any given time. There's nothing to stop you carrying a welding mask in your pack, however - I'm pretty sure they even fit in boxes.

[Noah Buttes]

I'm against the idea of a hardhat/welding mask combination solely because of balance reasons. You make a choice between wearing one or the other at any given time. There's nothing to stop you carrying a welding mask in your pack, however - I'm pretty sure they even fit in boxes.

These already mostly exist.

Engineering space helmets have a light and protect your eyes from damage due to welders. They don't protect you from flashes, though.