NerdyVampire

Back on the Aurora station it wasn't unheard of for the AI to launch an evacuation by a captain-level order, and AI's can still do so. But as we are now on the Horizon, an evacuation is a far more unique occurrence and is quite a bit more dire in implications. It makes more sense that command members should be able to order the AI to launch a distress beacon, through a captain-level decision, so I suggest adding an AI verb to that effect. I don't see any realistic possibility for abuse from this, from any party. It is just a reasonable addition that is subject to admin-scrutiny when used. It should come with the same warning/confirmation as the evac verb.

Hi, I played BUDDY in the round yesterday evening, and it's probably the only round I've played with your XO! I only got the side of you on comms, and cameras, so there's likely a lot about your character I missed, so take my constructive criticism with that in mind! You have a few things I think you should work on, but they are also things I think you can showcase in time for the end of your trial. I would focus on these and gather some positive feedback that you're on top of them going forward! Your responsibilities There was a very small service department and no bridge crew during most of this round, but there were still some things that seemed to fall through the cracks, that were really in your ballpark as XO. The hailing frequency is your responsibility as XO. Foreign vessels ask for docking permission from you. The responsibilities of other department heads do not cover this, but you are in charge of the bridge and docking permissions and off-ship communications are a bridge matter. It is only the captains if she takes it from you. You can/should offload most of this responsibility to bridge crewmen, but in their absence it falls to you. The same issue arose when the antags were asking for docking permissions, which should be a no-brainer, but which we look to you for as XO to approve. It shouldn't have to wait for the captain to do it personally. It was also a bit of an oddity that the captain was doing the shuttling to Konyang when an XO existed, but I expect it was an agreement for a good reason. Your communication It did not seem to me like you were present on the command channel at all, or that you kept yourself informed about what was going on. The gimmick involved crew finances and logically it would eventually involve their job positions, payment, etc. You should have been more involved, if not in-person due to your pizza-party, at least on the command comms to stay informed, and show us that you were informed and aware of your place in this. Frankly it was more logical that you would be leading the meeting. Alright, work on these and if I see your character again I'll drop a new feedback if it has improved

I wouldn't mind a longer lobby timer at all. Maybe a minute or two longer than it is now would hit the sweet spot.

Things are also a bit stale because we are disassociated from our missions. From the Horizon page, our mission is: "While detecting Phoron is considered the primary objective, there also exists secondary and even tertiary objectives in which the crew of the SCCV Horizon must attempt to accomplish - examples of which are investigating potential colony sites for the expansion of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate and the Republic of Biesel, as well as analysing deep space anomalies to uncover the mysteries of the Orion Spur, and hopefully unearthing additional information on why Phoron exists and why it has such a profound impact within the regions of which it is discovered." However, we can only really do these things in canon events. We don't have a long-range-Phoron detector that crew can operate to pin-point where mining should go, and there aren't really any deep space anomalies to analyze for science, other than that single bluespace river (which is cool in itself). My head-canon for our "practical" primary objectives are: [Security/Command] Further/protect corporate interests: We are the Horizon flagship. Despite claims that our security department is only for "internal" security, we hold a responsibility to all SCC facilities, vessels and interests in whatever sector we are in. This includes sites of interest such as crashed NT/Zavoidskoi/Idris vessels, to secure assets and to keep track of other SCC vessels and protect them however we can. That IS the main mission of the Horizon as I see it, and something command/bridge crew/security should prioritize immediately after our internal security situation. [Science] Document/gather anomalies: Science and its xeno-labs are here to investigate and profit off of anything "new" that the Horizon might encounter, this could be exotic plantlife, aliens or artifacts, or grand-scale anomalies like the bluespace river. It is the second most important thing the Horizon could do - we just need excuses to do it. [Operations] Exploit/Salvage: Phoron scarcity necessitates that we have active salvage teams and active mining teams. The department is crucial to keeping the Horizon fiscally viable and well-supplied, and if ever the Horizon does encounter Phoron, it will inevitably take a place as the most important department of all. [Engineering/Medical/Service] Support SCC personnel and vessels: Neither of these departments have any real mission outside of providing their services to the SCC crew and vessels. However it is also expected that they do provide these services on request. That means allowing other SCC vessels to dock for R&R, to provide medical and engineering aid when required as well. It might not be what was originally intended for the Horizon, but they honestly seem more realistic and true to what we actually do. If we want to make rounds a bit more interesting, I'd start by looking at those and implementing some things to strengthen our mission in practice.

This might be a derailment, but why not make this fully dynamic and make the captains' able to choose whether they are contracted with the SCC at all. Consider that the captain has a list of "presets" to choose from in an interface, and launching shoots an announcement to the Horizon or a fax to the bridge with a "heads up" about the type of vessel it is. This could then be tailored to each type, whether they are SCC, SCC-contracted, fully independent, potentially hostile, or downright wanted for crimes. Then the procedures for dealing with them falls to the Horizon bridge crew / command, from "make contact asap" to "provide supervision", "avoid if possible" and "engage to disable/arrest".

Thanks for the clarifications 👍 it helped!

I honestly didn't realize that there was something concrete for bio/bot to get off-ship. Is it different from what they can obtain from strange plants in cargo or gold slime extracts? This isn't an attempt at a counter argument, I'm just curious since I haven't seen that side of their jobs (for the same reasons you mention)

Actually, why give the freelancer any office at all? Seems an overinvestment for the SCC to accommodate a freelancer. Make them set-up shop in the vacant office or stay roaming with their little PDA and PAi, and continuously apologize to their interviewees for not being able to provide a private space.

Mostly I have experienced Devorask from the point of BUDDY (or as an Antag listening in on command/security), a few times as a command member. I really like having her in the rounds, as she is a force that gives the command team as a whole some bite. She is someone you can poke and have your finger bitten off. Plus whenever I play BUDDY I enjoy nothing more than command staff getting into it with each other, and that sometimes happen with Devorask. Entirely agree that her growling is a stable.

I can only say I agree that seeing 6 mercs and 4 operatives ready and getting a single antag feels like an unnecessary let-down on high pop, no matter what antag that is.

For high-pop extended/secret-extended rounds, this event is silent at first, but opens up three antagonist ghost-roles on a "parking" map. This crew are given a small vessel capable of some ship-to-ship combat, a few fuel canisters and some random crates of loot. They get a button to launch into "open space", where they will be placed at the edge of the sector. Round-types: Extended/secret-extended, maybe some of the single-antagonist rounds? Time delay: Cannot fire before the first hour has elapsed Crew requirements: Requires at least 2 crew capable of piloting the Horizon, and a mix of other of the major departments. Ghost roles: This event opens up 3 ghost-roles. Mapping: Requires the re-use of another pirate-vessel or the mapping of a new one Coding: Requires the preparation of three ghost-roles, and the mechanics to bring the pirate ship to the overmap. Lore: Requires some writing for the vague background of the pirate vessel, and corporate encouragement for the Horizon to engage with it. The Horizon receives an announcement worded approximately: Stolen corporate asset detected in your sector: The (insert sensor thingy) has detected the signature of a stolen Orion (or other corp) vessel. The Horizon is hereby permitted to utilize its capabilities to recapture our corporate asset and arrest the pirates that crew it. If successful the SCCV Horizon will receive a sizeable bounty, and command will be encouraged to distribute a reasonable bonus to all involved parties based on the success. Encourages: Ship-to-ship combat: If the bridge crew finds the pirates, then they will likely be focused on intimidating or disabling the vessel Boarding action: To arrest the pirate crew, security will need to bridge the gap via the Canary or Intrepid to board it (if the pirates don't surrender) Repair work: Engineering will be called upon to re-fit the vessel after combat and repair damages from ship-combat on the Horizon Prisoner-roleplay: If pirates are properly arrested, there is work for investigators to document them, the warden for keeping them and consulars/command for figuring out what to do with them. Medical play: It is very unlikely that no-one will get injured in this.

Idea: This is just a list of items I feel could be cool to provide in the uplinks as buildables, to spice up an antagonists lair - and also to give some more unique items to be used in Storyteller. I have two jobs in mind here; mad doctor/scientist, or corporate/military spy. Here are a few items I could see benefitting stories: Brain-scanner: This fearsome device consists of a metallic chair fashioned with a plasteel helmet, with an array of diodes. When allowed to scan an sitting individuals brain for X amount of minutes, it produces a data-chip, presumably containing the secrets of the scanned brain. Free brain damage included in the process. Mini turret: This old-school turret is a light-weight but adequate defense of your lair. It targets only non-antagonists, but may hit anyone stupid enough to stand in its firing line. Easy to dismantle if you get close to it. Regenerative pod: A sloshing pod of unknown substance capable of regenerating a pawn inside it with time. It is not mobile at all. Mutagenic pod: A sloshing pod of even weirder unknown substance, capable of mutating a pawn inside it to grow more dangerous and viable limbs. Improves legs to give extra movespeed, no slip, arms to produce extra damage, and improves the "max hp" of all organs. Jacked fax-machine: It works as a regular fax machine, but looks like it has a cryptographic sequencer installed in it. Can send faxes without needing a verifying ID. Feel free to add suggestions of your own. Just keep in mind that these should be more or less stationary items, that an antagonists would want to use to build a lair in maintenance, or off-ship.

Reasonable, we can delete/archive this then

I'd be all in for this. Also makes it a bit easier to implement new antags, as they will just be another option for either of these in most cases. Frankly I think we could add cultist as a possibility for imposter, the player will start off lonely, but if they have faith in themselves they can get a ball rolling. There are modes where groups of antags should be rolled with the same role, so I think mercs should stay separate and cultists as an optional gamemode as well.

For some reason, I have gotten stuck in a no-gravity place two times this week (away site and no-power Horizon), and throwing everything I got doesn't give me any momentum. It used to be that momentum could be somewhat controlled. Did something change? Can we change it back? Someone in OOC suggested you had to hold the movement key in the direction you want while you throw it. Why the complexity? Escaping a no-play situation is serious enough, please just bring back the "throw stuff one way, float the other" mechanic.

Patience is a large tree on the upper deck, and it seems reasonable that one could hide within its branches after climbing up. Porting some of the code from a trash pile should be all that is needed for this. There should be a way to get people out of it too. + Bonus points for giving it a 5-10% chance to make the climb "fail" and inflict fall damage and knock someone prone (just for fun) + Bonus points for making it into a hiding spot for more than one person (because it is "large" enough for it)

A simple but elegant QOL addition. I don't see why not, the arguments are sound.

I don't personally see the appeal in making IPCs have those options. I like that there is a clear distinction that says "if they look like humanoids, they are to be treated as crew" and "if not, they are to be treated as equipment". To blur the lines as you suggest is something I'd rather prevent than encourage honestly, even though I can see how it might bring some variety to the game, which I am usually in favor of.

Also nice if they can provide flash protection for vaurca antags

I like the idea of making body parts vulnerable to damage for a set amount of time after injury/surgery. It provides a very cut and clear reason for characters to consider taking a rest and RP. I think the right balance can be struck as discussed, and think it is worth experimenting with. Disclaimer; I have 0 medical characters or training.

My experience with Quark is very positive, though I think it should have a NanoMed akin to the Intrepid one for emergencies - unless I missed it.

Played a round with them as captain with some very tough situations and a lot of things to handle. I only communicated a bit with them personnally, but overheard their communications with others and I felt they had a good handle on balancing authority and being involved. Hope I get better opportunities to get to know them.

I enjoyed playing traitor bridge crewman with her. The response was measured and she didn't jump the gun on antag activity. Even throughout she managed to favor roleplay over punishment, and engaged my gimmick in good faith. I did not have much opportunity to test her command presence in regards to other departments or command members.

Well not quite the scale I was thinking of.. in my head this would be akin to getting hit with a ship weapon projectile. Maybe what the Horizon is dodging is just the shard of a comet?

Bumping this and adding that the comet should despawn if it leaves the sector borders, rather than teleport around. I still think this is a worthwhile event to consider and a realistic addition to the NBT suite of events.