New Xenobiology Remap Concerns/Suggestions (PR #17731)

[Mneme]

I don't know if this is where I should put this since I rarely use the forums but I'm gonna throw it in here since it seems to be like the place for suggestions and I didn't know if I was allowed to post a lil feedback thread as a non-developer in the projects section but anywho. I have some suggestions and overall concerns with the new xenobiology remap, mostly as they relate to quality of life. I think overall the aesthetic is good, but as someone who consistently plays as an RD and both interacts with xenobiology and watches others interact with xenobiology, I've noticed a few glaring issues with the remap. My law school brain demands I number things and make pretty lists so I've done so here to explain my concerns.

 

Concerns

1. The first thing I noticed is the emergency blast doors no longer cover the front doors. These blast doors were essential in preventing a nasty outbreak that can easily spread through into the halls, and generally served as a way to ensure that Xenobiology would have that extra added safety that is necessary given some of the catastrophic things that could happen, I think those should be added back primarily because the lack of added security there has made outbreaks way more likely, and one outbreak alone can spell ruin for the department for that shift once Security and Command (the latter me) start cracking down asking why slimes and creatures from another dimension are in the halls.

2. The airlocks are a nightmare. They look good but they are a death trap. Slimes will forever run at their food and it is extremely hard to push them back. The double windoor allowed a researcher to trap them and spray them within a confined area, or to bodyblock them so they couldn't get out. With the airlocks, the slimes just stand in the airlock keeping it open forever and continuously pour out like a flood. Anyone who isn't a Dionae, Skrell, or IPC is quite likely to perish quickly and brutally for the sole fact that they can't do anything to close the doors.

3. The disposals drastically increase the time required to interact with the slimes and unnecessarily complicate returning slimes to their cells. If I have a slime outbreak I can no longer zoom around the lab opening the doors and click and pull the slimes into it to get them back into their cell, I either have to open the door and let them pour out again, or I have to put them in the disposal bin and quickly flush it so they don't pop out when they move, which is very hard to do. Then once I flush it I have to way for the disposals to re-pressurize which takes so much time. Not having the disposal inlets reduces any feasible way to re-contain slimes without killing them and destroying hours of work. They are good in theory but in practice the inlets were xenobiology's saving grace and without them it has almost made xenobiology a chore.

4. Having the slime core machine in the center of the room is good, but not having a long table there has made storing things a cluttery mess. I think if you moved the slime core thing directly next to the wall and allowed those tables to connect it'd be far more enjoyable aesthetically and allow for researchers to actually have a long table they can use rather than one that is completely taken up by a bag, or anything relatively large. 

5. The crematorium is overall fine, but I'm not a fan of the brightly colored floors and feel like it causes more eye strain. All of the floors are generally the same color, and consistency, and xenobiology is one of the few positions on ship where you're stuck in a room staring at the same thing all shift, relatively. That nice little black chunk of tile in the Crematorium allowed you to take a break from the bright white and purple and provided a nice spot to sort of, not have to look at it. Without it it's like I'm surrounded by a bright spotlight and the only way to escape is to run into a hallway. I also think it looks cluttered with the bright purple and white, and black tile allowed for some breathability. 

6. There are no emergency/fire shutters on any of the cells anymore. One phoron orange slime core spells death for the cell and for the area inside the lab, likewise anything that drastically alters the atmosphere spills out into the main lab. Slimes also break windows rather frequently and having the ability to drop an emergency shutter to block that window instead of having to lock down your entire lab made xenobiology so much nicer, now the second a window breaks that cell is gone and can't be used until Engineering fixes it, and in a place like Xenobiology where maximizing space is essential, that could be crippling to a researcher's work. 

7. There are no beakers anymore, nor are there any cleaning devices or cleaning spray. Beakers allowed you to fill them up with water and keep as a backup in the event a slime got out as splashing them with a beaker full of water kills them. Now the second you grind up your phoron you have lost your only beaker of the shift, and you can't go print more since as a Xenobiologist you don't have access to R&D, so you're essentially forced into only using a xenoblaster which is a pain to store and a pain to carry, and if you don't want to carry it and put it on your table, that blocks one of two small tables in the lab thus making it look cluttered and preventing you from organizing your workspace. Additionally, there are no cleaning supplies anywhere within Xenobiology. Monkey blood squirts out of the walls, on the walls, into the main lab, every which way, and having the ability to clean that so it doesn't look like you're working in a butcher shop was nice. 

Suggestions

1. Re-add the blast doors over the entrances, they're really useful and I don't know any reason why they would be removed outside of balancing reasons for antags, but no one stores antags in Xenobiology anyway they always store them in Xenoarchaeology.

2. Replace the airlocks with the double windoor setup. This is rather essential as currently the single airlock makes breach likely 9/10 times and makes it nearly impossible to get into a cell with a hungry slime. Double windoors are also nice for trapping and splashing slimes, and overall are just better for xenobiology.

3. Re-add the disposal inlets. This is a major quality of life thing and necessary in order to contain a slime outbreak without destroying your entire shift's work. Without it it is almost impossible to return slimes into their cells when they're aggro on something, as from my observation of others, they simply pop out of the bin and start running again. 

4. Move the slime core machine to the wall and allow the tables to connect, so as to give more space to the xenobiologist and to prevent clutter.

5. Replace the bright tiles in the Crematorium with the dark tiles. Without those dark tiles it causes such an eye strain that playing xenobiology for two hours almost gave me a headache as there is no escape from the bright white and purple.

6. Add emergency shutters over all of the cells doors and windows. Without them one broken window ruins a cell and one orange phoron core or one dark blue water core will fuck the atmos of the entire lab.

7. Add the beaker box back and give some way to clean the lab so it doesn't look like Jigsaw wanted to play a game the second you feed a monkey to a slime.

Closing Thoughts

I'm glad someone is finally touching the forgotten parts of Science, and I don't want this thread to come off as I'm attacking someone for modifying xenobiology, cause firstly it's spessman and I don't care that much to attack someone over it, and secondly because I think the new aesthetic looks good but I don't think we should sacrifice quality of life mechanics for aesthetic alone. I think right now Xenobiology is already infrequently played, and these changes just complicate the job, make it harder, and increase the likelihood of catastrophic error to no fault of the xenobiologist. As we know the SCCV Horizon's crew is often super critical of any xenobotanist or xenobiologist who makes even one mistake, so having a lab that increases the chance of a mistake by the tenfolds is just going to make people not want to play xenobiologist anymore. 

[Gem]

taking a look at this.
however, i'd like to point out that xenobiology never had beakers (outside of the blender one) nor cleaning supplies. going to add these though.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Gem