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...

[Wubs4Scrubs]

So, I did get the new (at least new to me) StrongDMM setup and holyyy. To say this is a quantum leap in mapping software compared to the old Dreamweaver setup is an understatement. Anyways, I got the skeleton of the station built in the software and below is a more fleshed out version of the Medbay.



Medical Likes:

• Playing a lot of Colonial Marines taught me a lot about triage in medical and I tried to reflect that in the flow of the design of medical. The three colors on the floor right at the entrance are there for categorizing people based on their health status. If red, they're in critical condition and can quickly be whisked away into the trauma room to the left, while other patients are moved more to the right and out of the way. Less urgent functions like Genetics and Robotics are pushed further back to also give the flow of medbay more breathing room.
  
• Connection between Medical and Chemistry is something I really like about Cogmap 1 (I think I mentioned that before). Back when chemistry was more of a mystery, it was super nice to be able to get some super meds from your resident chemistry guru to save lives quickly if needed.
  
• I think the Lobby and Waiting Area came out to a nice size. They aren't overkill like I think some maps are, but are still (hopefully) large enough to prevent congestion.
  

Medical Dislikes:

• I certainly had to noodle a bit to get everything to fit. I'm not a huge fan of having to cut through the Break Room to reach the shared shuttle/cargoish area with Research but it made more sense than any other room and I wanted to cut down on the long hallway in my original layout.
  
• Not a lot of room for flavor rooms like a larger break room or other miscellaneous fun rooms. I find that a lot of rooms in most rounds like this go unused, so it isn't a huge deal. But I would've liked to have a small room here and there to liven things up a bit.
  

Science Likes:

• Extra size tele-lab teleporter room. Go get em, expeditionary folk.
  
• Artlab has a bit of distance between the ejection area. I like this even if it isn't totally realistic, as it gives Scientists an "oh shit" moment when they activate a bomb (as I feel they should).
  
• Sizable, but tasteful RD Office. I saw the office on Donut 3 and wondered who the RD had to teleport into the singularity to claim all that space.
  
• I haven't added it in yet, but I'm going to put the bomb launcher in the middle of the glass window area in Toxins. I love that spot, because the room almost looks like a big mass driver and that's kind of cute to have it shoot out that way.
  

Science Dislikes:

• No Quantum Telescope in telescience, at least not yet. Some maps I looked at had this, others didn't. Not sure if this is just a modernization thing or what but there's space for it if need be.
  
• No hangout spot yet, just deciding on a good spot. I think the hallway space between Toxins and the RD Office would be a good location.
  
• No eyewashing station. I love how in Oshan Lab there is a connected shower to Chemistry. I've spent a lot of time in labs in my life and love that bit of detail. I don't know if I have space for it if I want to keep the scary chem testing room, but I could replace it with that if I wanted.
  

Disposals breakdown is next! 

[Wubs4Scrubs]

Quick followup since disposals is a pretty small area.



Likes:

• I think making this literal garbage area the home of the Clown, Janitor and Detective is very fitting.
  
• I had so much insight into the Clown's twisted mind using this thread, and I hope I've constructed a worthy Clown Hole. The clown's only window is to the crusher, a literal garbage chute crushing up the station's trash. An implicit threat of where the Clown will end up if they aren't careful, and a middle finger from the crew to make the Clown's entire outside world literally trash. To leave its hole, the Clown has to literally crawl up the trash chute to enter the station. Additionally, I think that the nice Arcade floor and bed featured in many stations is far too good for our resident goof, so instead I gave the clown bare floors and a Roller Bed. Why the Roller Bed? The crew would never give the clown a bed voluntarily, so the implication is the Clown had to steal one from somewhere else when someone wasn't looking. I hope this setup makes you proud EristheSlackWyrm.
  
• The Detective's office is nothing crazy, just a nice a snug hole in the wall with a spot for someone to come in and speak with them. I'm not going to put down all the table objects and most equipment yet until things are more finalized, but not much to say. I just like the location.
  
• Janitors office is similar. Not enough room or inspiration to make anything too interesting.
  

Dislikes:

• Two airlocks on either side of disposals could be redundant? I think the symmetry outweighs that though.
  
• Disposals is often a battleground against antags like Changelings, as the crew desperately tries to cram them down the Crusher. There might not be enough space for those kinds of fights is my only concern. The lower left area has a good amount of space, but only a two tile wide hallway on the upper area of the garbage chute might not be enough.
  
• Detective and Janitor offices are admittedly boring, outside of their thematic locations. I feel as though those two jobs are very utilitarian in their vibe though, so not a huge dislike. I love how on Oshan the Detective has a view of the Ranch, as it speaks to the loner Detective preferring animals to people. Perhaps I could add a rat that runs around outside his window to keep him company?
  

Next up, the Security Wing. 

[Wubs4Scrubs]

Security Wing!



Likes:

• I mentioned it in the bitmap post, but I love the link between the general pop brig and the courtroom. Antags can watch and contribute to the trial of their comrades if they wish.
  
• There's so many combined gimmick or job of the day roles so having just a nice, unoccupied office near Security and Crew Quarters should get some use. Could be used by the Lawyer, the VIP, Union Rep, etc.
  
• I also like how the Courtroom itself turned out. I used Pews that are traditionally from the Chapel as that's the closest analog to the type of seating you usually see in Court. I gave a spot for spectators, a table for the prosecution and defense, and of course the judge up at the front.
  

Dislikes:

• Security is by far my least played area so I'm sure I've missed something. I ran out of room so I just made combined Security area for locker storage and stripping suspects. I really wanted a dedicated medical treatment area for healing injured prisoners, but just couldn't find the space. I could remove some of the lower right maint to try and fit something in though, and I might in a future revision.
  
• Lack of ideas for Crew Quarters. I don't play Staff Assistant much so I'm still thinking of how to get the most out of the space. I was considering making the current Uniform Storage area into a D&D room, but I see on other maps those are traditionally placed closer to the bar. For now, I'm going to stick with my original plan and put most of the rec style rooms and jobs up in the Civilian Wing and keep this one more for Civilian Storage and Security. Serious. Business.
  

Civilian Wing next.

[Wubs4Scrubs]

Another day, another Wing. This time, the Civilian Wing.



Likes:

• I think the central Owlery is very cozy and nice. I put some tables in there so you could grab some food in the bar and go eat in there and watch the different departments go about their business.
  
• Med outpost feels like a good spot, close to the bar and other high traffic areas. They also have a nice seat to watch any wrestling or boxing matches playing out which should reduce fighter mortality.
  
• Mentioned it in the main post, but having a direct link between Botany/Kitchen/Bar is something I like a lot and I'm happy it came together well.
  
• Bar across from Chapel is the kinda vibe Space Station 13 is all about.
  

Dislikes:

• No pool I tried a bunch of different layouts, trying to find a good spot and just couldn't. I could throw one in some other random location on the station, but it wouldn't fit the theme of this being the hangout/Civilian wing. Perhaps outside of medical? Would make at least some sense because pools are used for physical rehab but this is just a thought. Right now, I'm leaning towards no pool.
  
• Maintenance coverage isn't ideal. The outside maint coverage gets you about 40-50% around the outside of the Wing. As I develop the station more, I realize this is definitely a lower pop map haha.
  
• Another concern I have is just the location of the Civilian Wing. I wanted to have the Command area/Bridge be at the center of the station because it just makes intuitive sense. Center of power, center of departments, center of station. I may try a version of the map with the Civilian sector in the center of the map just because gameplay flow wise it makes more sense, but I wanted the Command Area and HoP desk to be closest to arrivals to help new players and get IDs changed quickly. Very torn on this, and other thoughts would be appreciated!
  

Next up, Engineering (I'm scared)!

[Chasu]

I do like the vibe of this station as a whole, very neat. Just a small nitpick, maybe botany could get a door to catering storage, too, like on Cog2?

[Wubs4Scrubs]

I do like the vibe of this station as a whole, very neat. Just a small nitpick, maybe botany could get a door to catering storage, too, like on Cog2?

Sure thing. I'll add it to my notes on things to change when I do my second pass through.