OmegaZip2

Exactly what I'm talking about! I say i'm "messing" with them just as informal speak, I enjoy automation and the overall quality they bring to the game (and also all the various subterfuge that can be done with it, hint hint, giving someone a "wire"). The lock mechanic covers the sign mechanic you talk about! Circuit designs could be handled as proper patented blueprints.

This is mostly a player quality deal, players themselves should promote inventive and creativity. What is a scientist that doesn't experiment? This could be also handled mechanically, but i'm no dev, so I can't really speak on it, but I spoke about the lock mechanic for this reason!

As of late i've been tinkering with the Aurora circuits, and I must say they are very fun. The one issue that I find with them is that they are designed in a manner that allows them to pretty much only be one-offs or otherwise only serve their creator. This is due to the fact that circuits take a long time to set up and wire. This can be fixed by introducing Bay's Circuit analyzer (or a similair machine) which saves circuits as a long string of text which can be inputted to print out the circuit. This makes it so the player still has to build and get the circuit working while still letting them interact with the other players, and not be relegated to the lab for the entire round as they build the device for the 3rd time, taking so long that it won't even be used in any meaningful matter. This also allows for much more complex circuitry, letting people tinker on round to round, letting them build machinery that would otherwise be impossible to make as it would simply require too much time. But some machinery is obviously intended just to push the game a bit for fun, and is never to be touched again (blood drain bots, super bomb drones, other weaponized circuits), and are usually made just to test out the concept. As such, to avoid them falling into malicious hands, a lock mechanic could be introduced, where the design cannot be copied without the approval of the owner. This mechanic allows scientists to show their designs without fear of being blamed for something they have no control over. Those who wish to grief don't require circuits as there are much less complex ways, and those who wish to grief effortlessly with circuits can just set up a macro to build the deathmachines for them. For antagonists, they could be put under the "Rule Of Cool", making an army of robots that shoots the entire crew dead is efficient, but is extremely unfun for the crew who can only sit and watch as an infinite amount of enemies tear everything down, and as such shouldn't be done.