Robotic Limb Improvements

[Enakai]

Hey all. Been trying to think of some things I could suggest for robotics, with the use of prosthetic limbs by human crew being a pretty major part in my thought process. In its current state, as awful as this sounds, Robotics is quite drab and boring. There's no interesting mechanics behind choosing robotic limbs other than "move faster and break cuffs instantly" and a cool? (potentially cooler, though!) aesthetic. I'd personally like to see clearer benefits and drawbacks to having them. I'll list some things I've been thinking of that I think may potentially make the choice between flesh and metal a lot more interesting.

I'll start with potential benefits for robotic arms

- Stronger punch damage. The damage doesn't have to be drastically different, but maybe a small, noticeable change would make those players who are more inclined to engage in combat seek out upgrades.

- Faster dragging. Dragging corpses, heavy objects and all that jazz.

- Innate cold/heat resistance. But not by much. Again, like the punch damage - I'm not talking drastic, insane numbers here. Just a little bump/buff to make you notice. People operating in the cold confines of space may find this useful.

- Faster swinging with heavier objects. Lower spread with gun usage and more accurate shots.


Drawbacks for robotic arms

- Arms could take damage. Much like the cyborg system, brute damage would require a welder to repair and burn would require wiring replacement. If left unrepaired or further damage is taken, arms would malfunction occasionally with duration varying based off of how damaged the arm is. Things like sparking and dropping items with varying frequency. After a certain threshold of damage, arms would cease to function entirely and would require complete replacement, much like losing a limb.

- Electricity would be a lot more dangerous to handle. Things like shocked doors, cutting wires and other such hazards could link in with increased damage to your arms and also cause the electricity to surge through your body in a dangerous way. Things like damaged organs and burn damage. Potentially even disabling the limb entirely, based off of how much you were shocked.

- EMP charges/shots would outright short-circuit the arms, disabling them entirely for a short time or unless re calibrated by the roboticist.



I haven't thought too much about legs, but I'm sure I'll come back to it. Feel free to give your thoughts and your own ideas, too.

Basically, I'd just like to see robotics become a more influential and diverse department that feels fun to play and fun to engage with as normal crew.

[aft2001]

If we're talking improvements to Robotics in general, add constructable mechs that could be used by most departments (yes, including a honk mech). Probably not OP mechs, maybe even cardlocked.

But if we're talking improvements to how limbs work, I greatly enjoy this suggestion - would definitely make robot limbs less robust and more of a risk/reward type thing. That and requiring Roboticists to help fix your shit is also pretty nice.

[GORE]

On that matter I'd also like to opt for Item-Arms.
The robotocist could insert any item into one specific arm-piece for borgs and then attach said arm. Using a screwdriver or wrench on said arm to remove said item and put in another one. This could also be done on live borgs.

Borgs with flamethrowers could be cool - but would require HUMAN interaction - thus either buffing robotocists traitors or at least making a more interesting foes to the blob - rather than Hellmixing it to death two minutes into the round.

Also...you could create a borg which could do more specific tasks for you. Traitor Robotocist? Keep the Modules close-by and order the borg to insert once specific law into the AI. Make it deliver love-letters to the Captain - if he knows how to remove said letter.

Point is - more strange interactions.

[Frank_Stein]

I think we need more variation in robotic limbs, for borgs and humans.

Limbs special suited for specific kinds of work

For instance, delicate but precise hands for detailed work like surgery or electronics works

Rough sturdy hands for material handling and heavy tool use

That sorta stuff

[GORE]

Yeah! More variations for borgs!

[Tiggersaurus]

Yeah! More variations for borgs!

I'm all for more variations ?

[GORE]

What would be cool - to find rare borg eyes - or other heads - perhaps even strange heads which can spawn randomly in locked crates?

Those would grant the borg perhaps one special ability liker laser eyes or any other cool shenanigan? Do they have thermal-vision through any means?

[Drago156]

Uh Hi, so as a person who 24/7 runs the robot arms trait, would this be applying to *normal* robot arms only, or would this carry over to light robotic arms as well, which AFAIK are purely cosmetic.

[Carbadox]

I kinda wish robotics could combine items with robot arms to give them extra functionality EG Combining a zipper light with a robot arm lets you light ciggies with from your finger or something.

Edit : Some more ideas,
Combine multiple tools with an arm could perhaps enable player to basically have a uni-tool arm.
Chef tools with an arm for a kitchen mult-utensil hand, like Silver from Treasure Planet.
Hell, maybe combine any departmental tools should get you cool mutli use arms, medical, research whatever

[Enakai]

Uh Hi, so as a person who 24/7 runs the robot arms trait, would this be applying to *normal* robot arms only, or would this carry over to light robotic arms as well, which AFAIK are purely cosmetic.

Ideally to everything.

---

What would be cool - to find rare borg eyes - or other heads - perhaps even strange heads which can spawn randomly in locked crates?

Those would grant the borg perhaps one special ability liker laser eyes or any other cool shenanigan? Do they have thermal-vision through any means?

If you're referring to the ability to see cloaked targets, the AI and cyborgs can already innately do this.

[Drago156]

Uh Hi, so as a person who 24/7 runs the robot arms trait, would this be applying to *normal* robot arms only, or would this carry over to light robotic arms as well, which AFAIK are purely cosmetic.

Ideally to everything.

00F, I think I would like to ask that it not necessarily apply to light arms, as they come standard with the robot arms trait and offer zero benefits over other arms besides making you look different. I like the robot arm trait, and I'd rather not change it out to avoid the major downsides that the suggested changes would put on it. Otherwise I think these things could make a bit of a difference with robotic transplants, though the whole organ update kind of makes Robotics more useful and interacted with than pre-organs I'd say.

[Enakai]

Uh Hi, so as a person who 24/7 runs the robot arms trait, would this be applying to *normal* robot arms only, or would this carry over to light robotic arms as well, which AFAIK are purely cosmetic.

Ideally to everything.

00F, I think I would like to ask that it not necessarily apply to light arms, as they come standard with the robot arms trait and offer zero benefits over other arms besides making you look different. I like the robot arm trait, and I'd rather not change it out to avoid the major downsides that the suggested changes would put on it. Otherwise I think these things could make a bit of a difference with robotic transplants, though the whole organ update kind of makes Robotics more useful and interacted with than pre-organs I'd say.

I mean, I'd like the pros to apply to lighter arms as well, just differing numbers in terms of strength based off of what tier limb you have.

[Sundance]

No change to the cyborg arm trait, that'd cause balance issues. Here's a suggestion I offered last time this arised:

 
Honestly, I'd like to see some balance in Cyborg Arms as a whole that aren't just "break cuffs" - this ability should be solely for the Heavy Arms as it's a fucking great ability that needs come with some caveats. (additional note: overshadows freedom implant)

Here's my suggestions with reasoning:

Light arms: 
No change. As it's a perk, any change to these may cause some balancing issues. But also it being a neutral, cost efficient replacement to organic arms is a bonus in itself.

Normal arms: 
Pros: Increased punching damage (ala big bruiser trait) and have them function as crowbars when used freehand. 

Cons: Removed cuff breaking. Electrical charge (tasing/apc arcs/door shocking/defib/etc) causes the arms to malfunction*. 

Heavy Arms:
Pros: Increased punching damage, function as crowbars when used freehand. Heavy arms however can also do damage to the environment (such as breaking windows, hurting borgs, basically things that punches can't). They can also break cuffs.

Cons: Electrical charge causes the arms to malfunction*. Minor delay between usage and/or minor increase in stamina cost (you'll effectively be a little slower in using things and/or it will be a little bit more taxing).


*Malfunction really depends on how you'd like to see it balanced. Personally I think instead of the arms being completely disabled, which tasers already pretty much do anyway, I'd much prefer the malfunction to cause the arms to attack its user temporarily - throwing in a few punches on average, in a similar manner to the Berserk disease.

[Enakai]

No change to the cyborg arm trait, that'd cause balance issues. Here's a suggestion I offered last time this arised:

 
Honestly, I'd like to see some balance in Cyborg Arms as a whole that aren't just "break cuffs" - this ability should be solely for the Heavy Arms as it's a fucking great ability that needs come with some caveats. (additional note: overshadows freedom implant)


Here's my suggestions with reasoning:

Light arms: 
No change. As it's a perk, any change to these may cause some balancing issues. But also it being a neutral, cost efficient replacement to organic arms is a bonus in itself.

Normal arms: 
Pros: Increased punching damage (ala big bruiser trait) and have them function as crowbars when used freehand. 

Cons: Removed cuff breaking. Electrical charge (tasing/apc arcs/door shocking/defib/etc) causes the arms to malfunction*. 

Heavy Arms:
Pros: Increased punching damage, function as crowbars when used freehand. Heavy arms however can also do damage to the environment (such as breaking windows, hurting borgs, basically things that punches can't). They can also break cuffs.

Cons: Electrical charge causes the arms to malfunction*. Minor delay between usage and/or minor increase in stamina cost (you'll effectively be a little slower in using things and/or it will be a little bit more taxing).


*Malfunction really depends on how you'd like to see it balanced. Personally I think instead of the arms being completely disabled, which tasers already pretty much do anyway, I'd much prefer the malfunction to cause the arms to attack its user temporarily - throwing in a few punches on average, in a similar manner to the Berserk disease.

I really like these suggestions. The "punching yourself" malfunction is also very cool, and might be better at a later "tier" of damage with randomly dropping items being one of the earlier "tiers". Regarding the light limb, I'd like to see it have a clear (albeit small) pro and con to differentiate it from an organic arm, because at the moment the only difference is aesthetic. Whereas with the green fingers trait, you get synth-arms, which you can reattach on the fly whenever you'd like. I don't believe they have any cons to them either, so they're a clear leg up over other arms.

[Frank_Stein]

Also, clamp hands