[PR] Secbots are louder and have a delay before they attack

[github_bot]

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About the PR

Secbots no longer instantly attack the moment they get in range of whatever they want to kill. Instead, they stop, spend a couple seconds to charge their baton, then try to stun their target. If that person is still right next to them when their thing is charged, they'll stun them, but if not, they'll chase after their target, and if they reach them within a second, they instantly zap them.

The secbot siren thing has been moved to its own proc, and is called in several places when in pursuit. Now there's no doubt about whether Beepsky's running someone down!

Also, non-beepsky secbots take 8 seconds to cuff someone, up from 6.

Why's this needed?

Secbots were awful to fight, and I think that their role should be to force badguys to keep moving, as opposed to outright catching them. Also, I like obnoxious noises.

Changelog

Code:

(u)Superlagg:
(*)Secbots no longer instantly zap you the moment they get in range. Instead, they take a moment to charge their baton, then zap you!
(+)Every secbot, except for Officer Beepsky, forgot to attend mandatory handcuff training, and thus now take 8 seconds to cuff someone.

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[Sundance]

Not sure if I can support this. 

I mean it does tackle the issue of this thread where stacked securitrons can be pretty crazy, but it does so by throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

This would be nerfing securitrons into the ground whereby they'll stay still before attacking and when they do, you could literally dance around them while hitting them and they'll just take the abuse because they'll need to charge their baton.

Secbots were awful to fight, and I think that their role should be to force badguys to keep moving, as opposed to outright catching them.

That's your perspective.. If you've been caught by a securiton (again, not counting stacks or swarms of em' here) then it's fair game imo. It takes two swings of a secutirons baton to actually down you.

I like the siren addition though, that can stay.

If you want to nerf it securitrons, firstly, I think what the main issue was the fact that they can be mass produced too easily. My suggestion would be to remove them from the robotics manufacturer and instead:

A) Put security helmets in the security dispenser (3-4 thereabouts) as they're not exactly in high supply. This would create a barrier where you'd need sec access and then actually make the bots instead of just printing them EZ-PZ.
B) Remove the securitron from the QM Robotics crate. Instead, put one in a security locked crate at the same/higher price.

Secondly (and this might be controversial) I wouldn't be against nerfing their pathing system. I feel securitrons should be a bit lazy in terms of chasing criminals; they'll instantly chase them if in sight, but will give up and continue to patrol after a certain period of chasing (but will chase them instantly again once in sight).

[Superlagg]

Not sure if I can support this. 

I mean it does tackle the issue of this thread where stacked securitrons can be pretty crazy, but it does so by throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

This would be nerfing securitrons into the ground whereby they'll stay still before attacking and when they do, you could literally dance around them while hitting them and they'll just take the abuse because they'll need to charge their baton.

Not quite! While they do stop for a moment before they attack, if it completes and their target isnt in range, they'll immediately chase after them, and if they manage to catch up within a second, they instantly stun them. Basically the delay makes them charge up their baton, and it remains charged for a few moments after that.

Dancing around them isnt that easy. You'd need to move far enough away that it wont insta-zap you. If you manage to get zapped once, unless you're lucky, you're likely going to get zapped again and then arrested, especially in Beepsky's case.

My intent for secbots is for them to be more of an active deterrence, something thats easy to avoid, but must be avoided.

If you want to nerf it securitrons, firstly, I think what the main issue was the fact that they can be mass produced too easily. My suggestion would be to remove them from the robotics manufacturer and instead:

A) Put security helmets in the security dispenser (3-4 thereabouts) as they're not exactly in high supply. This would create a barrier where you'd need sec access and then actually make the bots instead of just printing them EZ-PZ.
B) Remove the securitron from the QM Robotics crate. Instead, put one in a security locked crate at the same/higher price.

What made the swarms of secbots so dangerous is that they could all instantly attack when they got in range. One wrong turn and you're done. They weren't like this before, there wasnt much effective difference between two or a dozen secbots.

With this swarms are still very dangerous, but also much more avoidable, as you can just rush through a bunch of un-charged secbots to escape (though, you'll need to keep running, or they *will* murder you).

They arent supposed to be as deadly as they are now, I'd rather fix them than make them hard to make.

Secondly (and this might be controversial) I wouldn't be against nerfing their pathing system. I feel securitrons should be a bit lazy in terms of chasing criminals; they'll instantly chase them if in sight, but will give up and continue to patrol after a certain period of chasing (but will chase them instantly again once in sight).

I would like to make them less diligent in chasing people. Like, they'll have a chance to give up much sooner, but store their target in a list that's checked more often. While I do want badguys to run, I don't want that to be all they end up doing because some motorized hat decided to astar them across the entire station.

[Chayot]

As a balance, this makes sense. Beepskies feel good already both as Antag and as SEC.
Though yes, as of now you have to sprint across the map or they'll keep chasing you.

Having the opportunity to avoid stun and cuffs as an Antag would be appreciated I'm sure.

[Technature]

All you need to do to lose beepsky is to go into a room and hide in a locker, then wait for it to leave.

It's basically a simple horror game if the horror monster was THE LAW.

[vampirate]

As long as the sectrons don't lose their charge after they have stopped and charged up... fine.... leave actual Beepsky as is.

I think sectrons are fine as is and the new tendency to nerf anything that any individual gets annoyed by in game is a bad one. That's just me tho

[Studenterhue]

Freshly merged/implemented, so moving to Good ideas! subforum. It's about same as the changelog entry explains it: secbots take a brief moment to charge up for an attack now, and during that time, that's when they can instantly stun you. But they'll lose charge after a few seconds, so if they want to attack you once more, they have to charge you again. Secbots also take longer to cuff people. Beepsky is extra robust in that he takes less time to cuff people and his charge lasts for longer, meaning there's a longer (or larger?) time window when he can instantly stun you.

Also, secbots wee-woo more now.

You know the drill, if you have feedback, like maybe the period of instant stun should be longer or shorter, please, make a thread!