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I think it can be widely agreed that artifacts are too tedious to test and use, especially because of artifact lab.
This is mostly a general thread, but here is my take on it.
1: Artifacts take too long to test.
2: Artifact tests are too unclear.
Toward that end I have a few suggestions, but honestly I don't have strong feelings on these specific ones. Mostly I just feel change should occur here.
1: Make 'weak activations' visible on artifacts. Have the artifact visibly do something when an effect that could activate it, but isn't strong enough, occurs.
Make activation response slightly indicate category of effect.
2: Grant hand-held testing for initial inspection. A cattle-prod (terrible shocker), wielding torch (allow it to act as a heat source), hammer, and irradiator (weak radiation gun).
That said, I am interested in other people's ideas more than my own here.
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Yes please. I barely ever touch art lab because I hate the computer interface and getting anything going is long and annoying.
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I can look at the variables on artifact objects themselves and I still have no fucking clue how any of it works
isaidno broke down enough of the new botany system to let people have a sense of what they were striving for without giving away everything, but artifacts remains 100% obscure
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This is really a problem.
I just spent nearly 2 full rounds with 6 artifacts in total, trying to figure out what ONE of them did.
I got a bunch of glowing artifacts and no results at all - with over an hour of trying. I could have learned a secret chem recipe in that time and recreated it in less than a minute in later rounds.
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BYOND Username: KikiMofo
I barely bother with artifacts. All I do is hit them with a welder then hit them with a stun baton and if nothing happens I just go off to do something else.
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Artifacts need two things.
1. The ArtLab readings need to actually mean something.
2. All Artifacts should be able to be activated within ArtLab itself, you shouldn't have to go to Chemistry (which I suspect is just a myth anyway) or beg Security Officers for their guns.
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RoboTek Wrote:1: Make 'weak activations' visible on artifacts. Have the artifact visibly do something when an effect that could activate it, but isn't strong enough, occurs.
Make activation response slightly indicate category of effect.
2: Grant hand-held testing for initial inspection. A cattle-prod (terrible shocker), wielding torch (allow it to act as a heat source), hammer, and irradiator (weak radiation gun).
Funnily enough I implemented suggestion 1 just the other day! You'll see "(artifact) makes a faint noise" if you're on the right track.
2 is a pretty great idea and i'll deffo put some handheld tools in artlab.
As for a breakdown of artifacts in general, it's possible, but ehh... I hate admitting this, but I kind of went on a massive code binge nearly two years ago now to recode the whole artifact system from the ground up, then took a long break from coding before I put it ingame. When I came back I had barely any fucking idea what any of the shit i'd coded did. Kind of some weird fey mood bullshit. I'm still basically working around my own lack of knowledge on something I myself coded to try and improve the artifact system.
I'll try and do a writeup but I can't guarantee it'll be that clear!
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Honestly, the most important breakdown for artifacts is a way to activate them from a distance, and a way to determine how they are activated.
Right now there are no clues at all for activation method (there are for 'power up' method). That should be easy enough to find in your code and implement.
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use a flamethrower for 2/4 things.
Heat source: Flamethrower
Radiation source: Flamethrower filled with unstable mutagen. Wear the research white things for protection.
Electricity source: Taser (sadly flamethrower filled with electrical goop is not possible)
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Getting that taser/stun baton sucks.
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Take out the current artlab entirely, and replace it with this:
http://forum.ss13.co/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2198
Just change it a little so that it lets you do everything you need to activate artifacts, and provides all the information you need to do so, as well as provide readings indicating what the artifact's function is.
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BYOND Username: BlackPhoenix0928
QP Evergrande Wrote:Take out the current artlab entirely, and replace it with this:
http://forum.ss13.co/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2198
Just change it a little so that it lets you do everything you need to activate artifacts, and provides all the information you need to do so, as well as provide readings indicating what the artifact's function is.
Or we could not and keep Artifact Lab and just make it fun again. What is with people and completely removing things that just need to be reworked?
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I found an artifact that did nothing but set me on fire when picked up.
Artlab is improving.
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Yeah, I could swear that the X-ray didn't have multiple answers for whether an artifact responds to radiation before. That "WEAK RESPONSE" came as a surprise.
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Spy_Guy Wrote:I found an artifact that did nothing but set me on fire when picked up.
Artlab is improving.
Got an artifact that un-attached everything from the ground and shifted it around while it was in the area.
It is indeed improving
Goonhub
