The Big Borg Rework

[Playbahnosh]

As we have already successfully implemented some much needed fixes and changes to the Rescue variant to make it actually viable to play, I did some more testing and came up with a few ideas to revitalize and fix the rest of the borg modules. My main philosophy regarding these changes:

- Make the module selection versatile enough so borgs can be useful in all important departments of the station. Medical, Enginering, Science, Cargo, Service (Kitchen, Bar, Hydroponics). I would keep the Clerical module for RP purposes.

- Make each module functional and viable in their own roles! IMHO stationbounds, by their nature, are tools, made for a specific purpose. They are a temporary stand-in and a supplement to the crew, but not a complete replacement. They should be able to perform as a "skeleton crew" to keep the station basically functional when no live crewmembers are available (or they lack experience) in that department and help them out with various tasks when there are. A Rescue borg only needs to be good at rescuing people, but it needs to be able to do that function very effectively. The same goes for engineering or even cargo. The reason I wouldn't give borg modules tools outside their role/dept. is twofold. One, because they are already very versatile: Stationbound is a very powerful role to play, it's basically an AI on wheels, and can do basically everything an AI can (on top of their module's toolset), the only drawback is it needs line of sight and can't use the station camera network. Two, borgs are not limited to one module per round! With a Roboticist/RD on board, they can switch modules practically infinite times, which makes them insanely powerful mechanically, which the borg and the crew can and should make use of if necessary (given the borg player knows multiple roles). Playing Levi, I was often asked to switch modules to fill in for different roles, like medical or engineering, when there was no one to do it and station power was failing or someone needed urgent surgery, etc. I think that's exactly what borgs should be strongest at.

- I would like to involve Robotics a lot more in stationbound play, especially on the upgrades side, since right now "robots" have scarcely a reason to visit Robotics, if only for a bigger battery. A few optional upgrades, that are not extremely necessary, but are useful to have. Some ideas are detailed below.

Theoretical stuff aside, here are my proposed modules and the details:

Engineering

First of all, I would remove the Construction module because it's redundant. In my extensive testing with Levi, the Engineering module already has all the tools it needs to do pretty much everything in Engineering at a basic level. The only things the Construction module has over the Engi one are the RCD. the experimental welding tool, the floor painter and the drill, which are unnecessary and doesn't make it different enough to warrant it's separate module. To make up for this, I would move the floor painter over to the engiborg, and move the RCDs and the experimental welder and the advanced light replacer to be a Robotics upgrade for this module. Remove the drill, since it has no place being on this module anyway.

A problem with RCDs is, is their use is very niche and they are borderline unusable as they are. The main one create walls and floors and airlocks and whatnot, so it would be very powerful in theory, but the execution...not so much. It can only create default airlocks with all-access, which almost never what's needed. You have to take it apart again to program the access levels, etc, so it's just creating more work than building one from scratch. The same goes for windows, which are created with all sides glassed which is never what's needed, so, again, you have the extra work of taking it apart to make it right, etc, etc. I think this RCD shouldn't even be on a borg at all. The issue with the P-class RCD that it would extremely useful, but it only dispenses default pipes, which are never what's needed. Fixing destroyed station sections always needs special piping, be it supply, scrubber or disposal pipes, which the RCD cannot create, not to mention the vents, scrubbers, etc, making this RCD also pretty much obsolete. Either modify it to create the pipes the dispenser can, or just remove it. (Myazaki informed me the alt-click menu already does this, so nevemind.) What I would love to see, is an electronics RCD, which could dispense different electornics for airlocks, air alarms, etc. on the spot, since borgs have no inventory and carrying these one-by-one to fix broken doors for example is a real hassle.

Rescue

After the recent changes, the Rescueborg is in a pretty good place. Now it has all the tools and medications necessary to hopefully stabilize a person and bring them to the medbay for proper treatment, and that's great. What does need to happen is fixing the borg-hypo to work through void/hardsuits, which I already put up an issue on the Git. Another change is the ability to remove voidsuits, since it's impossible to treat wounds otherwise, so you can't stop bleeding which can very quickly kill people. (I do think brainmed needs a bit of rebalancing, but that's a different thread.) After some consideration, I do like the speedboost tool, it works as intended and it makes sense on this module, however I still don't agree with the built-in jetpack, it should be put back as an upgrade. All in all, I think this module is pretty much where it should be in terms of equipment and capabilities. Some optional upgrades from Robotics could include a larger rollerbed rack (capacity increased to 3), deployable stasis bag, advanced trauma kit (upgrade from gauze) and an internal IV line.

The internal IV line I thought up as a new rescue/medical borg tool upgrade. As long as you are standing still next to them, you can attach it to the patient to administer saline or maybe saline+ (not blood) from an internal synthesizer. With brainmed, blood loss can very quickly kill a person, which no amount of drugs or CPR can stop. This tool could be invaluable to stabilize people in remote places after major blood loss, so they could potentially survive the trip to medbay. I think it should be an upgrade, because it's situational and could be really powerful.

Medical

Just like the Rescue module, the Medical borg is already pretty decent in what it needs to do. It's able to perform most medical duties, including surgery and even autopsy. However, I think some changes would be good. The borg-hypo issue stands with this module as well. Same with removing voidsuits and with this module also being able to set the suit sensors on people would be nice, for turning them off when bringing people to the morgue. Also, the gripper should be able to grab stuff from boxes, like body bags, implants, glasses, etc.

While this module is already very capable of performing most parts of medical, it would benefit a lot from optional upgrades. That would include upgraded scalpel (to laser scalper or even IMS), the aforementioned internal IV line, and possibly an advanced version of the medical scanner which would work like the bodyscanner in terms of data it could provide (fracture locations, organ condition, etc).

Sidenote: the Medical HUD tool should be removed, since it's redundant. It's been a point of contention, but AFAIK the Sensor Augmentation option set to Medical does the exact same thing (I've been using that instead of the tool), and it makes the HUD tool obsolete since it provides the same visual info as the HUD, it's a toggle and it doesn't take up a tool slot. 

Research

I did some testing with this as well, and found to be quite adept at handling Science tasks. While I mostly moved around R&D and Robotics, I didn't do much of the sublevel stuff. Although a bit ambiguous in terms of purpose, the Research module was quite good at researching with the destructive analyzer. Also a decent stand-in for a Roboticist, I was able to construct bots, assemble new cyborg chasses and even exos. However there were some issues in this area. The main problem was with the Access Code Transmission Device, which AFAIK was meant to be a pseudo Roboticist ID used to lock/unlock bots, cyborgs, mechs, etc. However, it doesn't work. It could be a bug, but I wasn't able to use it to open myself, other borg chassis, or even toggle the behavioral controls of bots. (Myazaki fixed this, the ACTD works like an ID now) The tool also needs some further tweaking. Due to the new mech mechanics, you actually have to get inside exos to toggle maintenance mode or the hardpoint lock. Borgs obviously can't enter mechs, so one solution would be to give the ACTD the ability to toggle these from the outside, so borgs can repair mechs and add/remove mech tools, fix drill bits, etc. I would also drop the standalone wrench and screwdriver for an impact wrench, since it can already do both and it would save an inventory slot.

Being already able to work in Robotics, I wouldn't really give special upgrades to this module, since it already has everything it needs. It could get the general upgrades detailed below.

Mining

Based on my testing, the mining module is already quite efficient in what it needs to do. Already having all the basic tools of the trade, there is not much I can add. Since mining has already been dumbed down to dropping a couple of drills and calling it a day, there is not much use for mining borgs anymore, unless the department is completely empty. The module is still very viable, but I can think of a few improvements if someone still wants to play it. First, I would move the jetpack and the KA back to being an upgrade, and I would give the mining module a deployable hoist kit and a deployable ladder, which can be used in tandem with the optional upgrades from robotics.

Upgrades for this module could include a drill upgrade (either faster or the 3-wide drill like the exo). A lantern upgrade, that would project light in all direction as opposed to the floodlight. And possibly a thermal drill, with the appropriate power drain of course.

Custodial

There is little love for the glorified roomba. The custodial module is by far the simplest, with the least amount of tools. It's viable as it is, but it could be made a lot more efficient and fun in my opinion. First, the janiborg doesn't automatically clean the floor it passes over anymore, and that's fine, but adding a few more tools could be great. What's sorely missing, is a wet floor sign dispenser (with a capacity of 4 like the janicart). As a janiborg I've been complained at many times for not having a warning about wet floors, this should solve that. I would also add a microfiber cloth, so it would be possible to clean items, windows and such without bashing them with the soap. An internal space cleaner synthetizer would be good for cleaning hard to reach stuff and even people. I would also change the bucket sprite to the janicart bucket and increase it's capacity slightly.

Upgrades could include an advanced mop (auto-wet and won't make floors slippery anymore). A foam jet, but this would dispense cleaning foam around the borg in a large area like the cleaner grenade (also with an internal synthesizer, one full charge enough for two deployments).

Service

I haven't really seen many servitors being played, and I admit I haven't done much testing with this module yet, but from what I can gather, it's a pretty viable module already. However, it might be spread too thin, having the tools to perform three roles in one: kitchen, bar and hyroponics. All of which are pretty mechanic-heavy roles with a lot of complex actions to perform. Separating it into two (kitchen/bar and gardener) modules should make them each a lot more focused. I'm still not sure about this one, though. As for upgrades, I really can't think of any right now, I'm not sure it even needs any. Maybe a bee net or internal synthesizers for stuff like fertilizer or pesticide.

Clerical

This is the bastard child of the old system. I haven't seen anyone play this module yet. Maybe I just missed it, but it's safe to say it's not a very popular one. The only real use for this module I could see is as a C3PO-like protocol droid, assisting CCIA, consular officers or other officials by being a translator or paperwork/bureaucracy stuff. I would add a voice recorder and an auto-translator to round out it's toolkit. No upgrades I can think of for this one, maybe someone else has some ideas.

Cargo

Now, this is a new module I came up with. Cargo is pretty much the only department, that doesn't have a module dedicated to. Many might say they don't even need any, but I do see a space for a borg in cargo. A tentative toolset could include: Pen, cardboard synthesizer (for making boxes), wrapper synthesizer, destination tagger, labeler, export scanner, ETFPOS terminal, sheet gripper (with the added ability to grab ingots and other materials from mining) and paperwork gripper that can also grab IDs for payment stuff (all merged into a Cargo Gripper to save on inventory space), tape roll, and the rest of the default borgs tuff (extinguisher, crowbar, etc). I think it would be a pretty cool module to play.

Upgrades could include an extendable pallet jack. A tool that would make it possible to pick up a single crate, much like the clamp on an exo, but with a capacity of 1. 

 

Robotics Upgrades

As I mentioned before, and obvious from the list, I would involve Robotics a lot more in stationbound life. I would move many things to become optional upgrades for different modules, which would give Robotics a lot more things to do and be involved with borgs a lot more in rounds. This would also create different upgrades for different modules, which could make things more complicated, but also more fun and versatile. Other than the module-specific upgrades I mentioned above, I thought up a few upgrades that would fit all modules. 

- Jetpack - I do understand @Chada1's reasoning for giving a jetpack tool to certain modules by default, but I still want to move the jetpack back to being an upgrade. For one, no module needs the jetpack to be basically viable, all of them can perform their duties without it. Some of them could benefit greatly for having one, and that's why it being an upgrade should be possible. But just giving them one by default I think is a bit overkill.

- VTEC - I would keep the speed upgrade as it is. All modules benefit from having extra speed, but they are still viable without it. I do like the speed tool on the Rescue module for it's purpose, but for the rest of the borgs, the VTEC should stay.

- Advanced Actuators - Give borgs the ability to climb ladders! Several modules would greatly benefit from this, especially the Rescue, Engineering and Mining (now with the deployable ladders). It would allow them a lot more mobility and to access areas they couldn't otherwise. This upgrade could also give them the ability to climb on things, like tables. This would be very valuable for engiborgs, to reach places to repair walls/windows without having to tear down the furniture first.

- Emergency Radio Uplink - As it says on the tin, gives borgs access to the emergency radio when comms are out.

- Advanced Tool Dispenser - Increase the available tool slots to 4. This would be a pretty expensive upgrade, but a huge help to modules such as the Engineer or especially Medical, where they need to use a lot of different tools in quick succession and under harsh time constraints. Having one more active tool slot could alleviate a lot of stress and allow for less fumbling with tools and more playing.

- Universal Charging Cable - Give borgs the ability to recharge from any APC (much like the new PDA system). Not having to hunt for a borg charger would be pretty a great upgrade to have.

 

That's it for now. Again, these are just my own personal ideas, some of them could be easier to realize than others, but it's always fun to think about what could be. It's totally possible I missed some thing or know stuff wrong, so please share your thoughts and add your own ideas if you have some!

Edited November 8, 2020 by Playbahnosh

[Butterrobber202]

The RCD has to be transfered to the Engiborg, as it stands it's the only way a Malf AI can fabricate one of their end-game items.

[Carver]

Drill has an incredibly niche place wherein it allows a construction unit to mine out asteroid for space to build, if it's the same drill I'm thinking of. If it's a surgical drill, then, uh.. yeah I see the point in removing it.

Again with the hypo, so long as it's on a strong-delay so it's unviable in combat, sure. IV would be cool.

Proposed Research changes make sense.

Mining changes seem sensible.

Custodial changes echo my two above lines.

Service I'd say is fine as is, overspecialization in that regard may render to a level akin to Clerical units.

A small improvement to Clerical's toolkit sounds nice. It's a very niche, do-little position for learning the basics of playing a stationbound and doing a lot of roleplay from said position.

I'm not really for a Cargo module that seems to step on the toes of both Clerical and Mining modules. This is one area that I don't think exactly needs it's own kit either, as most cargo things besides packaging can instead be done via manual methods (dragging, crates, etc.) on another module or asking crew to assist.

 

[Playbahnosh]

6 hours ago, Carver said:

I'm not really for a Cargo module that seems to step on the toes of both Clerical and Mining modules. This is one area that I don't think exactly needs it's own kit either, as most cargo things besides packaging can instead be done via manual methods (dragging, crates, etc.) on another module or asking crew to assist.

Neither the Clerical nor the Mining modules can do Cargo viably on their own. Also, Cargo is pretty mechanic heavy, with the sort of low-level gruntwork that a borg should be doing, dragging crates around, hanging flyers, filing bounties, printing invoices, sorting through the trash, mailing packages, etc. It's exactly the sort of dumb busywork that one guy with a horde of drones can do. As a stationbound, it could be a sort of easy but rewarding learning role where you can't really screw up too badly and still gives a feeling of accomplishing a lot. From an RP standpoint, think of it as automation encroaching on yet another workspace "they're takin' our jerbs" kinda thing. I think it would be a fun role to play. Also, it doesn't axactly hurt anyone, having the option to play a cargo borg is up there with clerical. It's not like we have a hard limit on how many modules there can be.

[Itanimulli]

I see abaolutely zero reason for cargoborg. Just give the ideas you wanted to give to that, to clerical. Bam, clercial is viable.