Airlocks opening on powerloss

[FabianK3]

After another dead-pop round* without power I once again noticed that airlocks open when they loose power.
Thinking about it, it seems kind of odd to me: Does it imply that airlocks are actively held close? Seems counter intuitive to me.

Would it be better if it were the other way around? Things I considered:
- Open areas allow any kind of hostile creature to roam around uncontrolled.
- Venting will result in pressure loss as shutters are not always instant to close.
- Depowered areas are immediately free to enter for anyone without regard.

Considering a spaceship requires area segmentation for multiple reasons, I think the other way around would be more reasonable.

Are there gameplay reason opposing a closed-by-default behavior?
- Crowsbars and emergency axes are around, so depending on the circumstance, crew can free other crew if the default would be closed without power.

What do you think? Would it be worth it or possible to change this behavior?

*Most commonly seen on dead-pop rounds, but also a concern in any other setting.

[Jasorn]

Yeah it's a bit strange, I know WHY it's a thing that was changed so that people don't become trapped in a room if they don't carry a crowbar or something at all times. (could be seen as powergaming for most roles tbh)

Maybe a compromise such as adding "emergency handles" or whatever fluff thing you want to come up with. where you can grab onto and tug the airlock open if it is unpowered, but the action takes something like 10 seconds, maybe more? Just spitting ideas.

[FabianK3]

51 minutes ago, Jasorn said:

Maybe a compromise such as adding "emergency handles" or whatever fluff thing you want to come up with. where you can grab onto and tug the airlock open if it is unpowered, but the action takes something like 10 seconds, maybe more? Just spitting ideas.

"Emergency hydraulic release. Pull lever five times to release hydraulic pressure to override locking mechanism. Mechanism only functional during loss of power."
Sounds great.

[FabianK3]

Currently airlocks that are considered secure don't open on power loss, reactor doors or external airlocks for example.
If the behavior is switched around, all doors could get that manual override on power loss feature, except those who are currently considered secure. Those would keep closed and won't be able to be opened without power to keep them secure.

Unless concerns about that idea are voiced, I can look into that.

[wowzewow]

6 hours ago, Jasorn said:

Yeah it's a bit strange, I know WHY it's a thing that was changed so that people don't become trapped in a room if they don't carry a crowbar or something at all times. (could be seen as powergaming for most roles tbh)

Maybe a compromise such as adding "emergency handles" or whatever fluff thing you want to come up with. where you can grab onto and tug the airlock open if it is unpowered, but the action takes something like 10 seconds, maybe more? Just spitting ideas.

This is already a thing in other servers where the Emergency Box comes with a pocket crowbar. This should probably be added. No need to fanagle with airlocks.

[Acetrea]

7 hours ago, wowzewow said:

This is already a thing in other servers where the Emergency Box comes with a pocket crowbar. This should probably be added. No need to fanagle with airlocks.

Regular crowbars are considered large objects and take up a lot of space in the bag. If you just decide to add... a mini crowbar to the emergency toolbox, the regular crowbar will become obsolete to just about everyone, besides maybe some niche uses it has that I don't know about. 

I like Jasorn's idea. It's a cool and interesting thing to add.

[wowzewow]

12 hours ago, Acetrea said:

Regular crowbars are considered large objects and take up a lot of space in the bag. If you just decide to add... a mini crowbar to the emergency toolbox, the regular crowbar will become obsolete to just about everyone, besides maybe some niche uses it has that I don't know about. 

I like Jasorn's idea. It's a cool and interesting thing to add.

I was a bit light on details, but to elaborate :

- They aren't going to spawn in emergency toolboxes. The red emergency box you spawn with that comes with a small air tank and air mask.

- Pocket crowbars deal less damage and are shittier than normal crowbars. Think impact wrenches and screwdrivers.

[zha everything broken]

Hey FYI regular crowbars Already Fit in the emergency box

[FabianK3]

Personally am not a fan of extending emergency kits, as @Jasorn suggested, this can lead to involuntary/accidental powergaming - Why would a doctor, gardener, librarian have a crowbar at all? Doesn't seem right RP wise either. I think the emergency kits should be replaced with more publicly available equipment like medkits, O2 lockers and so on- But this is a whole other topic.

I believe safety mechanisms that don't require additional tools sounds very reasonable for a ships design and operation. You would expect a ship / area to have the basic functionality to assist in emergencies, in this particular case door overrides on power failures. Generally, personal safety equipment is something to me for specific roles, jobs or tasks.

Edited Friday at 16:42 by FabianK3
Grammer, personal safety equipment sentence addition.