I was unaware you had four mappers already, though quite frankly, I wouldn't mind just putting down the pipes and wiring when it's time to do so. I, and I do not speak for Gibson in this respect, simply want to contribute in whatever way I can; I'm unsure if he'd settle for that much. However, I understand and respect your decision to keep the grind-y portions of the process to those you're already quite familiar with. I wish my skills were up to snuff, aesthetically and mechanically, and I think it's a shame I didn't stumble upon Aurora at an earlier point in time to refine my abilities and prove my worth to get to work on what is, to me, an amazing take on what SS13 is.
I'll try to address these things line by line, since you were so kind as to itemize your criticism in a constructive manner. Please believe me when I say this is the first actual feedback we've had on this. Please don't misinterpret any of this for excuses - I'm merely trying to show our reasoning for our decisions, flawed as it might have been. Your criticism is helpful, even if we don't contribute whatsoever to Aurora.
-Firedoors on airlocks was something the station we were on commonly had. Their map is intended to operate with a peak population of 100-110 players; as a result, grief via fire is disgustingly common, so those are in more places than Aurora has them, from what I can tell. Our objective was to improve upon what was there without making too many sweeping changes.
-Trust me when I say that Robotics had a different flat, lighter gray turf before that blended in with all of the other flat, light gray turfs that were there. While it isn't the best, I will admit, it's a contrast, which is better than what was there before. Please keep in mind we used only the assets that were already available, as we did not want to modify the code if we could help it. Had we permission to sprite our own floor designs, we would've.
-I happen to agree on the robotics waiting room.
-The nonstandard windows were indeed a mystery of that station. They were mixed frequently all over the place; we actually managed to standardize things somewhat in our redo of things.
-There's really nothing we can say in defense of the bar, cafeteria and bathrooms.
-Cryo sleepers on paradise are magic, and don't need atmos connected to them. We're not sure why.
-Secure storage was already a box, and didn't have any canisters besides one toxins tank on Paradise. Keep in mind, this is a server that also doesn't have dormitories or actual personal storage on a departmental basis either, and originally had one bathroom, with two toilets, for 100 crewmembers.
-I am glad the only thing wrong with the embassies is the diagonal walls.
I feel that if we had more creative license to explore unusual options, we would have done better, but our inexperience shows. I don't think we would have done much better even without the restrictions we had; most of the significant issues with our work is our own fault, we accept that, and hope to work through it.
Once again, we're grateful to have someone willing to sit down and actually tell us where we can improve, instead of an unhelpful, plain "I don't like this, so no" like we received previously. I feel that many of the decisions we made were naive, like making the cafeteria huge despite the low traffic it'd have. If there is anything Gibson or I can do to contribute, now or in the future, please feel free to ask, even if it's menial pipe-laying or some other equally droll task. In addition, if there are any exercises or things you'd recommend for us to do to hone our abilities and, potentially, re-apply at a later time, that would be absolutely wonderful.
In the meantime, I think I'll work on my character background and properly introduce myself on the other section of this forum.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
-Dean