Bridge (Helm) Re-map

[LordPwner]

Heya everyone! I'm looking for some feedback on this re-small remapping I did. I submitted this PR looking to not really fix any major issues, but to add a bit more flavor.

 

1.) Spreading out BC seating to make it harder to solo fly. Often BC's with multiple people (2-3) will find themselves piloting and working sensors leaving not much for other BC to do. This will help push for a greater division of labor.

2.) A more appropriate seating layout for our current set up of 'operations' (not the department) BC --> XO --> Captain | While still giving Captains their place of honor and another extra meat shield to survive 406 shells 

3.) Adding more table space for putting down objects and organizing/fluff. And increasing communication abilities through the use of intercoms at each workstation minus XO's and Captains'

4.) Putting more 'logistical' sense to the bridge proper as weapons are in another universe compared to the helm being in the far back corner. It just allows for a better use of time running between work stations if solo bridging or needing to work differing task.

5.) Remove some of the awkwardness of having the random plastic chairs by the helm door and give more of an office style feel in the back near the Captain's office.

5.)

 

Any feedback or thoughts is greatly appreciated!

[Hunt]

A few concerns I have:

• When I first designed this Bridge, a major concern and issue those had with my earlier versions and something I see here now is the attempt to separate the helm, engines. and sensors. Bridge Crewman presently have no issue delegating who has what task, one person handles sensors and the other handles the helm. However, distancing themselves from each other will now negatively impact lower population rounds or solo-crewman rounds as in an emergency they will be unable to access sensors to find hazards in front of me, disable the engines/monitor the power supply and if we are losing thrust, and keep the helm in control to get to an away-site so mining/xenoarch can do their jobs. Keeping the helm, engines, and sensors together is vital in my opinion. If a Bridge Crewman is solo for a round, they should be able to do their jobs still. Even when we have a bridge full of crewmen now, each delegate and handles their own tasks, I have yet to see a Bridge Officer doing all three jobs.
• I do appreciate having the weapons system swapper with the camera/engineering consoles in the front right second of the bridge. That is a solid improvement.
• The amount of tables is a bit overkill, in my opinion, I rarely see a time when we are without table space and in-fact most of the items in the Bridge (toolbox, paper, folders, paper scanner, flashlights, etc.) rarely get moved during a shift.
• The paper shredder/desk setup is a bit wonky and tightens the walk space heavily, the bridge is a traffic-heavy area for command.

 

As a mapper, I know how it 'feels' with the feedback I gave, especially since I disagree with the changing of the helm/sensors/engine locations. There is plenty of changes IMO that you have done that are positive, such as the weapons system being moved, but id like to see a return to the normal helm setup and some finishing touches before I say more. But alas, I am only one voice.

 

Id recommend something more similar to this since it'll provide the addition to table space, give the Captain their sitting area and the XO a desk, etc. Of course, it is just my take on so feel free to take anything from it or nothing at all. I am looking forward to seeing what magic you make with the bridge.

Spoiler

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Hunt

[LordPwner]

I took some of these to heart, and removed some of the tables, and moved the shedder to try and make the space more appealing. When it comes to the separation of the consoles- sometimes players just find it easier to do it themselves. Instead of going 'Hey can you do X' more so when it's right beside them. My time playing BC and XO, I've observed this more often than not one person just doing it while another BC is standing on the bridge. Because it is in fact easier. It is to push for you to RP more.

If you're alone, yes you'll have to move between stations, if you like having the sensor numbers to change while flying (for burst mainly though honestly since adding the printout, less burst have been needed). Though as the human model, it'll take you 8 seconds to trip there and back (if you set your walk speed to 2tile/sec which is 80% speed) if you start from the chair, up and around to the closet chair at the thruster/sensor console. Depending on speed/engineer, you'll be moving into the next grid in 200-120-50ish seconds Ofc. approx.

 

As for knowing if something is wrong with the thrusters, you only need the thrust console to tell what the issue is. If power is disabled/turned off you know because Acceleration will drop to 0 and the buttons will grey out

1 hour ago, Hunt said:

camera/engineering consoles

It's a supply console 💀 Which isn't a jap at you, just I don't know what's it for when it comes to the bridge lol

 

[kermit]

I was writing a suggestion thread earlier about the second command workstation after that round together where my captain proposed the idea and trialled it w/ the help of engineering. Glad to see you beat me to it and are actually up for mapping it, lol.

I think having a clear XO command station closest to the BCs and a captain command station further back will help with cement the XOs authority on the Bridge more than it currently is, as too often I see XOs pushed out of the way and captains sapping away the XOs most interesting duty. For that reason alone I'd like to see this.

I can't speak much on the design overall, but I do think it's important one person should still be able to pilot the ship on the lonesome, just keeping lowpop but also the occasional antag hijacker in mind, even if hijacking gimmicks can be a little jank. That said, even spaced out, the pilot can just pilot at a slower speed to make up for time spent running between consoles :shrug:

Edited March 19, 2023 by kermit

[LordPwner]

Per all feedback from Github and here, moved all consoles back. Added an actual engineer console and messaging console to the back left. See changelog on github for all changes. If there are any more tweaks or suggestions, just let me know.

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by LordPwner
change of photo was minor after ref. var. fix

[Dreamix]

Bringing the guns console closer to the front is nice.

I don't like the split/addition of Captain and XOs consoles. Losing walkability, to gain another seat for the Captain to sit behind me (when I am playing XO). Bridge larp is nice, but I'd rather go out and do things, experience some action, and roleplay with people. I already hate it when Captains tell XOs to "man the helm", or yell at BCs when they step off the bridge. I do not imagine the Captain seat to see much use. There is very little to do on the bridge already, and we not need both XO and Captain to sit at the helm and do nothing.

Dunno. I think this is kinda, less aesthetically nice, is no longer symmetrical-ish, and makes the bridge look busier and more cramped, with less free walkable space.

[LordPwner]

Made it more symmetrical. (Removed random intercomm off screen)

There's now more chances for that. As for being told to "man the helm" a great Captain will tell you do it anyway, because you are the XO. The BC report to the XO. Whenever you're done moving 5-40minutes, you don't need to sit up there. That's what it means at all. It just means direct the BC get where you need to go and you're all good. I have never seen a Captain/XO yell at BC for getting off the bridge unless there was an active issue that required them, normally antag related.

As for aesthetics, I enjoy it personally not being so symmetrical, and having more useful consoles that the BC, CE, Captain, and XO can play with. Or if all of Command hunkers down in the bridge, there is a console for every role (Minus OM no supply console r i p)

 

Edit: finally change, done

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by LordPwner
finished, promised

[LordPwner]

Map keeps breaking, getting merge conflicts. I can't fix it no matter what I do. I have no idea what the problem is, so I closed the PR. Thread needs to be moved to suggestion instead. It's 'mapped' but someone with a bigger brain will need to PR it.

[KingOfThePing]

You just have to keep pulling upstream and merge master onto your PR and then checking if any tiles were fucked.

[Fluffy]

https://github.com/Aurorastation/Aurora.3/pull/16092 fixed it for you, needs a copy paste of the area as explained in the PR, but it should be an easy fix, after which you should be able to re-PR it without any issue

[LordPwner]

6 hours ago, KingOfThePing said:

You just have to keep pulling upstream and merge master onto your PR and then checking if any tiles were fucked.

This explains honestly nothing to me lmfao, this is my first mapping and first time using github. Might as well have sent it in french.

 

5 hours ago, Fluffy said:

https://github.com/Aurorastation/Aurora.3/pull/16092 fixed it for you, needs a copy paste of the area as explained in the PR, but it should be an easy fix, after which you should be able to re-PR it without any issue

As for this.. Thanks, I appreciate it. I believe I did it correctly and reopened the PR. If it merge conflicts again, I may ask you to explain it more stupid people terms

[Fluffy]

No worries, I'd hate to see some hard work going down the toilet, especially if it can be fixed

[LordPwner]

@Gem

Project completed and merged. Thank you