Mech Equipment - Precision Interaction Arm

[ForgottenTraveller]

Effectively an arm with what would be a rubbery finger on the end for pushing buttons. To allow mechs to once again use the mine and station airlocks as it used to auto sense and do it.

Basically it acts like a hand allowing for interaction but cannot grab or pick anything up so mech pilots and positronics in mechs can operate simple buttons and devices like airlocks, shuttle autopilots and the like. Because at current despite having a pressurised internal system that is supposed to allow for non spacesuit use in EVA everyone has to get out and work the airlocks by hand thus defeating the purpose of it.

[canon35]

I actually do want to see a mechanical hand you can use while inside your mech. The idea stemmed from Bioshock:Infinate, after seeing the Handy Man I thought "Godamn, we need those in SS13!".

[ZipZero]

So, wait. A brain inside a Ripley is completely unable to use the exterior airlocks at the mining outpost? That should be changed. Also, yes, it is rather annoying having to eject from the suit to interact with anything, forcing you to wear an otherwise redundant hardsuit and internals.

[BadLemonsXI]

I'm at a loss with this because on one hand it makes sense and is practical and on the other it just give's you another reason not to get out of the mech (A small one but still.). But as for what zipzero said about the brain inside a Ripley being completely unable to use the exterior airlocks at the mining outpost. Yep if that's true it dose need to be changed.

[ForgottenTraveller]

Yeah I got the idea from a Posi put in a Ripley that I effectivly had to escort up and down from the station and through the cycling airlocks. Having what effectively was a big stomping puppy with the innocence of child was fun RP and looking after him was fun and all. But the airlock issue was a pain beyond belief.

[swat43]

The Posibrain mechs are just broken, no.. its not even finished concept by the makers of SS13.

Its like they are beta testing and still trying to figure it out what do to with brained Mechs.

But to the matter at hand, i can see the reason why it should be implemented, but you have to realise one thing. How big actually is the mech that you have to put such equipment on. Mech is fairly meant for heavy lifting/carrying/extermination(depends what mech..like durand for example). I know it is really annoying for mechs not be able to interface with small panels like the airlock cyclers, but that is the point! It is a bloody huge stomping mech, that is only made for single purpose, not making it pick noses for other crew members.

As for the Brained Mechs.. Don't do it. You are limiting the player more then making him any better. Sure a self controlled mech sounds amazing, but a cyborg can do a lot more then the mech itself, and the mech is just useless at those fields.

If the (brained) mech has the chance to atleast interface with the electronics around like the cyborg does, and has the ability to access doors (Yes, sometimes some brained mechs cannot even enter mechbay for recharge) then i may accept it. Oh.. I can only imagine an Emaged traitor mech... Hehehehe... *snort*

[ForgottenTraveller]

I wouldn't quite call it broken Just 80-90% implemented.

And a lot of industrial machinery that has arms these days has some very high precision parts. Say we keep it out of the combat mechs and keep it in the industrial ones [APLU, Ody] stompy as they are. The have to stop. Grounding themselves effectively Equip the new tool which takes up a slot. Hell toss out the finger all together and make it really short range wifi. The thing is. Mechs used to be able to operate the airlocks by walking into them.

[LordFowl]

Positronic mechs are far from broken. As an avid connoisseur of the art, I would say that they are merely lacking a few features. The amount of escorting you have to do for one is a big issue. Swat, a posimech /can/ enter areas, but they have to be swiped with the access. And I'm pretty sure they can have only one swipe at a time. (So really for the mech to be fully efficient, minus cycling airlocks, you'd have to interdepartmentally co-operate with the HoP to get a special access card for it. Not necessarily a bad thing, except most players want the most streamlined process.)

The fact that a mech cannot cycle airlocks is a big issue however, because nothing other than an escort currently solves it. There is, however, another solution. Mechs can go through plastic flaps. If cycling airlocks as a mech destroys balance oh so much, then just add a conveyor belt like the ones in the Research Outpost to the Mining Outpost (A mech with Research Access has full access to the outpost, because there are airtight flaps that lead directly into it.)

Ultimately, the debate of mech vs cyborg is an interesting one, and I think the conclusion of airtight flaps would assist the mechs quite a bit in their specific field, while the inclusion of cycling airlocks will merely make them equal. Bear in mind this only concerns Ripleys; since Oddyseusses and Gygaxes will rarely be going EVA conventionally, they don't really need to be able to cycle airlocks.

[swat43]

The thing about mechs being brained is, you are unable to do anything to them anymore to remove the said MMI/posibrain from it.

To that content it is still not finished. And for the ID swipes, i am not entirely sure about how the system works on when the mech is brained and what access it will have. But i had situations where people with lower access levels will have trouble and bust act like Big daddies, having crew being by it side so it doesn't trip on airlock it cannot open. If Robotics could make that they can access their maintnance panel and switch/choose on where this mech may or may not go, i will back away from this issue. Of course it does sound risky if given to wrong people, but Robotics is responsible of what they are doing, and if they break the rules, they get punished by it, simple.

Cycling airlocks..ugh.. I really understand the fact that people want to be allowed to do such thing with the mech, but i am sure who ever has used mechs, especially to miners, that Ripley has three equipment slots. So the thing about making it itself press small buttons on the panel is near thy dumb and impossible. It's like trying to tap at the glass with a bobcat with out shattering it.

So simpler conclusion is.. Why not make a huge lever for Ripley to use it's Hydrolic clamp so it can cycle the interior. As for flaps. No mech can go through flaps from what i have tested them. Even if you leave outside of the mech while it stands on top of the conveyor belt, mech will still stand on that tile. A mech can only be passed through, if it is unfinished/destroyed. Correct me if i am wrong with proof that it works, other then that, i know it is inpossible to do so.

Mech vs Cyborg is a really interesting debate, yes. But here is what makes Cyborgs more better then mechs. They are more agile, do not require much maintenance, and if they are more then two, they are able to repair each other. Mechs on the other hand have the health and armour to deflect said harmful things, but they are just nothing if they are not equiped with out anything (Except durand,gygax,marauder,sentinel,phazer). Also the fact that they are unable to repair themselves, and their equipment CAN be destroyed, and last but maybe not least, Cyborgs can be immidiately shutdown/destroyed, where mech will only feel some damage, but its not a mild one to keep on waltzing forward.

[Jamini]

I will point out that MMI mechs make no sense in your lore anyway.

Posimechs do, but even then they are clunky and unfinished.

-And yes, piloted mechs pushed against an airlock should cycle it. Why did that get removed in the first place?

[Guest]

And yes, piloted mechs pushed against an airlock should cycle it. Why did that get removed in the first place?

Was never added to our code

[swat43]

I will point out that MMI mechs make no sense in your lore anyway.

Posimechs do, but even then they are clunky and unfinished.

 

Then what is the point of having MMI'd cyborgs?

You see.. The MMI mech reminds me of Wolfenstein The new order game when you (SPOILERS DAMNIT) had to fight with one of your crew who got brained inside a mech.But this is getting beside the point of why i am quoting this..

Think of MMIying mechas as an experiment the Robotics can do. This is after all a science space station where there is huge (same thing every day) amount of knowledge! Maybe it is a new breakthrough for mankind to preserve the human knowledge into something bigger, or a part of a small test of synthesis. Maybe this may not be mentioned in the lore (Since i do not like reading lore a lot unless it really interests me or it is a must to know what the hell is going on, on our universe) But this little thing can be fixed no doubt about that.

[Jamini]

Then what is the point of having MMI'd cyborgs?

 

A holdover from other servers/lorebases where personality and memory weren't lost on borging, and when posibrains didn't exist. MMI's are honestly pointless with Aurora lore. Hell, even on baystation (where posibrains originate from) MMIs are quickly being phased out almost completely and borgs are much in the minority compared to androids.

This is a good thing. MMIs are needlessly grimdark, especially here. I've actually had a friend of mine state he doesn't want to play borgs here at all due to how your lore on MMIs/cyborgs are. (I know your reasoning behind your lore. I'm just stating I know someone who doesn't want to play a borg here because of it. Nothing more. I personally don't robot ever.)