Low-Pop Map/NBT Testing Grounds

[BurgerBB]

I'm considering implementing a low-pop map for rounds that are lacking in players. The map in question will be taking place on a planet colony.

There will be 4 station z-levels and 1 misc z-level.

Surface: Ground cannot be dug. Oxygen levels are normal and similar to earth.

Main Level: Main level. This is where everything is.

Mining level 1: Nothing but rock.

Mining level 2: Nothing but rock.

Central Command: A facility several miles away from the main station. Instead of a shuttle, it's a tram that takes crewmembers back and forth.

 

The map itself will be focused on exploration and resource gathering. Most jobs will be automated and have reduced slots, as shown in this document:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FxfNle0bs6O9BlQbLGaIP7L7miZZ4-CtGhzcb8Rs2vE/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

[Sytic]

Wow, that's. Pretty damn cool.

Also a massive endeavour.

Good luck, I'd love to play this.

[Itanimulli]

Bad.....dragon.....what? Nevermind. Sounds decently cool. What's the pop cap on this one? Like, how low will the server have to be to spawn newmap?

[ben10083]

Not sure about this, I can see this leading to people not readying up so they can see the "new map". I overall think we should not try to fix low pop issues with an entire map. I feel there are better ways to deal with the problem.

[Doc]

I love the idea conceptually. Two issues come to mind.

One, the crew manifest is still relatively sizable despite being oriented explicitly for a low-pop scenario. The only department that actually seems to be shrunk by a large degree is security, and command by one head, as well as a few jobs being removed that are rarely if ever taken even at high-pop (atmos tech, anomalist, virologist).

Two, how will the server actually determine when it is and isn't appropriate to load this map, considering map-loading begins before ready-ups can be taken into account?

[Arrow768]

49 minutes ago, Doc said:

Two, how will the server actually determine when it is and isn't appropriate to load this map, considering map-loading begins before ready-ups can be taken into account?

Indeed a good question.
Since the population cycles are relatively predictable, basing it on time/day and the population count (max and players at the end) of the previous round would be possible.

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Arrow768 said:

Indeed a good question.
Since the population cycles are relatively predictable, basing it on time/day and the population count (max and players at the end) of the previous round would be possible.

That was an idea that came to me as well at first, but the issue with that is while the cycles are somewhat predictable, they are far from reliably so. Having a low pop on our 'high-pop map' is less of an issue considering we already deal with that for all of low-pop times as is, but what may be more of an issue is the 'low-pop map' remaining active when there are more players than there are roles. I don't know how frequently that may happen, or if it would even really happen enough to throw out a time-locked rotation altogether, but it something to consider.

[BurgerBB]

11 hours ago, ben10083 said:

Not sure about this, I can see this leading to people not readying up so they can see the "new map". I overall think we should not try to fix low pop issues with an entire map. I feel there are better ways to deal with the problem.

As arrow mentioned, the maps have to be loaded before hand. There are two systems I'm thinking of:

 

1. Voting system when the round ends.

2. Preemptive time of day rotations, as arrow suggested.

[Chada1]

I'm very much onboard with this, but I'd appreciate it if we had some Lore integration and all of that before it goes live. 

[BurgerBB]

A subidea that I had for this is that the crew transfer shuttle crashed on an unknown facility (bluespace driver error) that's broken down but can be turned operable with about 30 minutes of effort. The amount of effort required will be based on the amount of engineers and miners that spawn.

 

[Zundy]

Could have an NT office based in Mendell city as one map maybe?

[VTCobaltblood]

If I play on lower pop, it does not mean I want my playstyle to shift to "explorative" or whatever, nor does it mean that I want to test NBT. I usually play lower pop to either RP or to familiarize myself with mechanics and map specification with the intention to do the same things on higher pop. Yeah, you wanted to crawl in maintenance, knowing nobody cares about a scientist on a manifest consisting of 5 people including you, to snipe out the perfect place for your upcoming antag gimmick? Screw that, new map for lowpop. And when I RP on lowpop, I want things to stay canon, which is impossible considering my character is suddenly not working on Aurora anymore, but instead on some random colony, and much more so if the crew transfer shuttle crashes into the same completely random facility a stupidly high number of times. And... manifest changes? Seriously? So, for example, I cannot play my RD if I'm on lowpop? Absolutely not. As someone who actually plays on lowpop, I am extremely opposed to this. Can't -1 this more. At the very least make it a vote.

Edited December 4, 2018 by VTCobaltblood

[ben10083]

I am worried about the implications about changing a map at certain times of the day, what if more people get on than expected? I do not like the possibility of an overstaffed station more than an understaffed one. If it could be clarified for a system to prevent overpopulation and to provide an easy way to change these maps that would be appreciated. 

[Zundy]

Make it an office on the Odin. Canon, Lore friendly and fun for the whole family.

[VTCobaltblood]

14 minutes ago, Zundy said:

Make it an office on the Odin. Canon, Lore friendly and fun for the whole family.

Doesn't make much sense to play most of the research jobs we have on the Odin. Xenoarcheologist is a prime example, mostly, but Odin is generally not a research facility.

[ben10083]

44 minutes ago, Zundy said:

Make it an office on the Odin. Canon, Lore friendly and fun for the whole family.

The Odin is basically the command hub for all NanoTrasen assets in the system, I see no reason for Odin to have a minor research office in it's complex alongside the bureaucratic, residential, and commercial districts it has.

[Zundy]

It's a major population center so it easily could. However it's largely about if people want an alt map like that on low and it looks like many don't.

[Enzayne]

I am very against this for a few reasons.

Firstly, I live in Europe. This alone positions me awkwardly to high-pop server times, and then when I need to account for work and classes, my play window shrinks to what is generally dead-hour and the start of 'regular' server pop. 

With this in mind, I honestly feel as though I am being punished if this suggestion goes through, simply because I don't live in America.

Furthermore, any system that first regulates the roles I can play when I am online, and disables my ability to actually practice the 'real' map, will inevitably feel like Aurora Lite. I can't experiment, I can't dawdle around and RP whatever low-pop canon discussion I elect to have. On the Aurora. Not the Odin, or Mendell City, or wherever you want to put it. I didn't make Mendell Office workers, I made engineers and AI and Heads of Personnel. People with ties to the station.

If it was put in as a legitimate gamemode or something, like for the roundstart vote, then maybe. That means a majority decision could bring up the map. That is at least, only as bad as having the round voted into something I didn't like, and prepares me so I can go do something else. Instead of firing up SS13 and realizing I won't be getting to play what others are playing, and I don't get a say.

 

-1

Edited December 5, 2018 by Enzayne

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

The most crippling thing about lowpop is the lack of power. It may be beneficial to have this map simply be a voted option. To help lowpop having power be automated until an engineer arrives would he enough for them.

[Scheveningen]

I would prefer if maps were also a voted option in addition to game mode votes