Real-time shifts

[Arkin100]

Just a thought I was having lately while playing on the server: I like how the station's timeline exists 442 years into the future, and that is correlates with the current year - allowing characters to age and whatnot. The thing that I feel is missing is sort of a day-night mechanic. What I mean is that every shift starts at 12:00 PM and advances in real time (I.E. - one minute game time = one minute irl).

In a way I feel like an opportunity was missed here. Every shift starts at the same time, and at most will last up to 3 hours before resetting. You never really get to wish people a 'good morning' or a 'good night' without coming off as slightly inconsistent. Can't we set the Aurora's clock to match standard GMT time? It doesn't matter if the 'graveyard shift' (so to speak) were to start around 5PM, but it'll be nicer to actually have that sort of feedback in game. That sort of dynamic shift in the station's time would add a subtle touch of variety, in my opinion.

I was leafing through this section of the forums to see if the idea was pitched before, but couldn't find any thread title that would confirm that. I apologize if I missed it, but if it has gone stale I would still like to rehash the idea.

What do you guys think?

[Xelnagahunter]

You know, I'm actually all for/with the idea. It'll make the game play out with a standardized time and give some real time feedback about this. My captain Currently brings a watch with him because it belonged to his grandfather, but he doesn't wear it most of the time. Something like this might give me more reason to chose it.

On the flip side, I can understand the way we do it now. The "inconsistency" that come with good morning/afternoon/evening can easily be played off as variances in planets/stations/time zones. Two players come to work on the aurora, both launch from earth, chances are it's not the same time for them both.

Either way, this Idea is nifty and adds a touch of realistic measure, but if it doesn't get added, there are many ways to shrug off the inconsistency of the greetings.

[Arkin100]

You know, I'm actually all for/with the idea. It'll make the game play out with a standardized time and give some real time feedback about this. My captain Currently brings a watch with him because it belonged to his grandfather, but he doesn't wear it most of the time. Something like this might give me more reason to chose it.

On the flip side, I can understand the way we do it now. The "inconsistency" that come with good morning/afternoon/evening can easily be played off as variances in planets/stations/time zones. Two players come to work on the aurora, both launch from earth, chances are it's not the same time for them both.

Either way, this Idea is nifty and adds a touch of realistic measure, but if it doesn't get added, there are many ways to shrug off the inconsistency of the greetings.

 

I agree it's hardly imperative to the experience as a whole, but I think it's a nice touch, if it's not too hard to implement.

[Guest]

This has been suggested before, I can't remember where.

Due to timezones some people will only get to play the nightshift, continuity between rounds as some people leave and are suddenly there again the next round, are a few of the things mentioned.

It wouldn't be too hard to code, you would just need to replace evey reference to station time to call time_stamp()

[Arkin100]

As Xelnaga said - Station time doesn't necessarily correlate with character's biological clocks. A character might get the 'night shift' on the station, but to him he considers it day time.

Alternatively, time can be randomized each round to allow for a bit of variation in the dynamics of the shift. It can even be subjected to the current number of players - can deliberately be made so that when the server isn't very populated the time automatically shifts to late at night to simulate the so-called 'graveyard shift'.

This is mostly a suggestion to add a bit more color to the game, nothing too drastic or urgent about it.

[the_furry]

I agree. I like being that guy that plays at 3am and talks about how quiet the night shift is

[Frances]

Due to timezones some people will only get to play the nightshift, continuity between rounds as some people leave and are suddenly there again the next round, are a few of the things mentioned.

One positive argument for this is that the existence of an "actual" night shift reinforces and contextualizes the population shifts among the real server. Imo it's a lot cooler for players that come on during dead hour to feel like they're part of an actual night shift rather than just a particularly quiet day shift. Plus you get the idea of time-sensitive events (a chef serving breakfast at the kitchen?), and the schedules of characters matching players' times of activity finally make sense.

Well, of course, there's no night in deep space. But Mendell time?

[Killerhurtz]

I approve of this. Would be quite atmospheric. And with some code, we could probably dim or turn off selective lights to simulate an actual night lighting.

Hell - if it's not directly coded in, I'm going to make an event suggestion for this to happen.

Also, Scopes - for what it's worth, I'm one of those players who would be in the night setting 90% of the time, and I love this idea.

[Killerhurtz]

Lore-wise, we could use the explanation that the Odin needs a semi-regular checkup and backup of all crew in case something goes wrong. The fact that we lose all progress between shifts, as well, would be explained by this (since by end of shift, there's usually a ~10-20 minute pause between the departure of the shuttle and the round afterwards)(most of this, if not all, would be done with extra-sharp timing and automated station drones - I made the math, and with a worst case scenario of the cargo shuttle being docked at station and with the movement speed of station drones, I'm 90% certain that a sufficient amount of players could do it in 9 minutes):

-For safety reasons the singularity must be powered down - similar to how a supermatter core can laminate and be extra-destructive, there's a limited time (let's say, for RP reasons, 6-8 hours) before an artificial singularity enters some state (names I'd suggest to sound neat: superlative time distortion, phase gamma, black nova, phase shift) that causes them to rapidly degenerate and emit massive amounts of gamma radiation. And so, the station drones would reconstruct what was lost in the engine startup and clean up the emitters to be ready to be initiated between shifts.

-All research data transferred to Odin archives (because they are taking the approach of iterative research - RnD, and everything that's not entirely new, is logged into the archives and processed by a/multiple AI(s) to try and find patterns, or differences in patterns, or other forms of data correlation that leads to ACTUAL discoveries (which is ALSO why the Protolathe and circuit printer automatically get blueprints unlocked at certain levels - the tech already exists, NT just wants the data to be repeated over and over to see something new emerge)

-All departments are restocked, Toxins is purged, Telescience is reset (and any extra teleport crystal (>implying it happens) are taken and shipped to NT for further study), medical is cleansed, and everything put back in it's place (even the tools lying about the engine at round start because it's a NT plan to save on time by having a toolset visibly accessible outside should something go wrong - thought up by a CE that noticed most of his crew tended to ignore toolboxes until shit actually DID go wrong).

-All possible damage, from meteor or otherwise, is fixed.

-All the people who are left SSD across the station and in the dorms are moved to cryogenic storage. For plot purposes and the characters who come in via the Arrivals shuttle, the cryogenic storage is shipped out two times near shift end - once at the same time as the shuttle containing the crew, then another five minutes before the following shift after all of the stragglers were put there.

-All materials that were ordered from Cargo and not used (alien gloves, components, etc) are retrieved and shipped back to Central. Central's cargo crew feasts on the remaining pizza (a perk of having such an important title). Other unused resources are cleaned, sterilized then repackaged for redistribution, or recycled for the resources that are neither edible nor salvageable.

-All weapons are recharged. (IC, the Captain's Pistol doesn't move because isn't it pretty much only taken out because of antag action?)

-All medication made is safely disposed of, for two reasons: different medical teams may like different mixes, and uncertainty as to if/how contaminated the samples really are.

-The solars are de-wired and the SMES' depowered (most power being drained to backup SMESes that are not accessible to the crew - under Engineering or the AI core maybe? Or just somewhere), APCs temporarily turned off (after end of shift) for electrical work on the station

Anything I'm missing?

[Arkin100]

Lore-wise, we could use the explanation that the Odin needs a semi-regular checkup and backup of all crew in case something goes wrong. The fact that we lose all progress between shifts, as well, would be explained by this (since by end of shift, there's usually a ~10-20 minute pause between the departure of the shuttle and the round afterwards)(most of this, if not all, would be done with extra-sharp timing and automated station drones - I made the math, and with a worst case scenario of the cargo shuttle being docked at station and with the movement speed of station drones, I'm 90% certain that a sufficient amount of players could do it in 9 minutes):

I like those numbers, can put it down to the AI resetting non-essential configurations between shifts.

 

-For safety reasons the singularity must be powered down - similar to how a supermatter core can laminate and be extra-destructive, there's a limited time (let's say, for RP reasons, 6-8 hours) before an artificial singularity enters some state (names I'd suggest to sound neat: superlative time distortion, phase gamma, black nova, phase shift) that causes them to rapidly degenerate and emit massive amounts of gamma radiation. And so, the station drones would reconstruct what was lost in the engine startup and clean up the emitters to be ready to be initiated between shifts.

I like the idea, in fact we might not have to go to such lengths to explain it: Maybe the Singularity itself isn't the problem, but the massive amounts of radiation it emits slowly weather the shield generators, emitters, and collector array, so every few hours it has to be shut down to allow those components to be either repaired or replaced?

 

-All research data transferred to Odin archives (because they are taking the approach of iterative research - RnD, and everything that's not entirely new, is logged into the archives and processed by a/multiple AI(s) to try and find patterns, or differences in patterns, or other forms of data correlation that leads to ACTUAL discoveries (which is ALSO why the Protolathe and circuit printer automatically get blueprints unlocked at certain levels - the tech already exists, NT just wants the data to be repeated over and over to see something new emerge)

 

I like your idea! - the Aurora is mainly supposed to be a research station, so why not make it something akin to a giant scientific experiment? Between shifts everything is reverted in order to set the 'experiments' back to their default states, so that new data can be gathered under consistent conditions.

As for research, it's not too far-fetched to imagine that scientists would be running the same experiments from shift to shift. That's just the way science work, you test theories multiple times to further consolidate them.

 

-All departments are restocked, Toxins is purged, Telescience is reset (and any extra teleport crystal (>implying it happens) are taken and shipped to NT for further study), medical is cleansed, and everything put back in it's place (even the tools lying about the engine at round start because it's a NT plan to save on time by having a toolset visibly accessible outside should something go wrong - thought up by a CE that noticed most of his crew tended to ignore toolboxes until shit actually DID go wrong).

Could just be for bureaucratic reasons: NT demands an equipment count from shift to shift in order to keep track of the station's stock and discourage petty theft. I can imagine a department head getting chewed out for being 1 hardsuit short at the end of a shift. So, putting everything back in place makes sense, since that's how you usually keep track of logistics. If a certain item is missing, depending on the item, the department head (or all the department that manned last shift) get a pay dock (not necessarily needs to be implemented, that's just how I fancy it)

 

-All the people who are left SSD across the station and in the dorms are moved to cryogenic storage. For plot purposes and the characters who come in via the Arrivals shuttle, the cryogenic storage is shipped out two times near shift end - once at the same time as the shuttle containing the crew, then another five minutes before the following shift after all of the stragglers were put there.

Usually, if I end a shift in cryo I spawn back at cryo the next round, and vice versa. I like what you're saying though - the Aurora isn't meant to be lived on for long periods of time - that's what ODIN is for. There are dorms to allow for short rest during shifts, but otherwise the crew spend most of their off-the-clock time either on ODIN or planetside (on vacations and such).

 

-The solars are de-wired and the SMES' depowered (most power being drained to backup SMESes that are not accessible to the crew - under Engineering or the AI core maybe? Or just somewhere), APCs temporarily turned off (after end of shift) for electrical work on the station

We can say solars are de-wired to prolong their lives (being online for long periods of time degregates the solar array, for argument's sake). Excess power can easily go to towards charging and powering the drones and machines that refit the station between shifts, or it can simply be vented off as heat into space.

We can also say Atmos is reset for similar reasons - most atmos optimizations opt to pump more air into the station, so this status is reverted to save some of the precious gasses used in the process.

All in all I like your ideas alot. They give a very neat explanation to most of the inconsistencies that occur between rounds. Context accounts for much when creating immersion.

[Killerhurtz]

Lore-wise, we could use the explanation that the Odin needs a semi-regular checkup and backup of all crew in case something goes wrong. The fact that we lose all progress between shifts, as well, would be explained by this (since by end of shift, there's usually a ~10-20 minute pause between the departure of the shuttle and the round afterwards)(most of this, if not all, would be done with extra-sharp timing and automated station drones - I made the math, and with a worst case scenario of the cargo shuttle being docked at station and with the movement speed of station drones, I'm 90% certain that a sufficient amount of players could do it in 9 minutes):

I like those numbers, can put it down to the AI resetting non-essential configurations between shifts.

Pretty much the goal.

 

-For safety reasons the singularity must be powered down - similar to how a supermatter core can laminate and be extra-destructive, there's a limited time (let's say, for RP reasons, 6-8 hours) before an artificial singularity enters some state (names I'd suggest to sound neat: superlative time distortion, phase gamma, black nova, phase shift) that causes them to rapidly degenerate and emit massive amounts of gamma radiation. And so, the station drones would reconstruct what was lost in the engine startup and clean up the emitters to be ready to be initiated between shifts.

I like the idea, in fact we might not have to go to such lengths to explain it: Maybe the Singularity itself isn't the problem, but the massive amounts of radiation it emits slowly weather the shield generators, emitters, and collector array, so every few hours it has to be shut down to allow those components to be either repaired or replaced?

That's... actually an even better idea, and much more in-line with known physics. I love this.

 

-All research data transferred to Odin archives (because they are taking the approach of iterative research - RnD, and everything that's not entirely new, is logged into the archives and processed by a/multiple AI(s) to try and find patterns, or differences in patterns, or other forms of data correlation that leads to ACTUAL discoveries (which is ALSO why the Protolathe and circuit printer automatically get blueprints unlocked at certain levels - the tech already exists, NT just wants the data to be repeated over and over to see something new emerge)

 

I like your idea! - the Aurora is mainly supposed to be a research station, so why not make it something akin to a giant scientific experiment? Between shifts everything is reverted in order to set the 'experiments' back to their default states, so that new data can be gathered under consistent conditions.

As for research, it's not too far-fetched to imagine that scientists would be running the same experiments from shift to shift. That's just the way science work, you test theories multiple times to further consolidate them.

That too - repetition is a major component of science, for two reasons: first, variable results (like how the LHC collides particles over and over to try and get different results, and second (and that's especially true with the nature of bluespace as I understand it), to make sure things actually still work like they used to]/i]

-All departments are restocked, Toxins is purged, Telescience is reset (and any extra teleport crystal (>implying it happens) are taken and shipped to NT for further study), medical is cleansed, and everything put back in it's place (even the tools lying about the engine at round start because it's a NT plan to save on time by having a toolset visibly accessible outside should something go wrong - thought up by a CE that noticed most of his crew tended to ignore toolboxes until shit actually DID go wrong).

Could just be for bureaucratic reasons: NT demands an equipment count from shift to shift in order to keep track of the station's stock and discourage petty theft. I can imagine a department head getting chewed out for being 1 hardsuit short at the end of a shift. So, putting everything back in place makes sense, since that's how you usually keep track of logistics. If a certain item is missing, depending on the item, the department head (or all the department that manned last shift) get a pay dock (not necessarily needs to be implemented, that's just how I fancy it)

That's actually a very valid reason as well. I mean - we ARE expected to turn in a lot of our gear when arriving at the Odin, makes sense that they'd make sure that nothing was slipped by.

 

-All the people who are left SSD across the station and in the dorms are moved to cryogenic storage. For plot purposes and the characters who come in via the Arrivals shuttle, the cryogenic storage is shipped out two times near shift end - once at the same time as the shuttle containing the crew, then another five minutes before the following shift after all of the stragglers were put there.

Usually, if I end a shift in cryo I spawn back at cryo the next round, and vice versa. I like what you're saying though - the Aurora isn't meant to be lived on for long periods of time - that's what ODIN is for. There are dorms to allow for short rest during shifts, but otherwise the crew spend most of their off-the-clock time either on ODIN or planetside (on vacations and such).

That's exactly my intention here. Otherwise, without this, it makes no sense for everyone to move to the Odin every round.

 

-The solars are de-wired and the SMES' depowered (most power being drained to backup SMESes that are not accessible to the crew - under Engineering or the AI core maybe? Or just somewhere), APCs temporarily turned off (after end of shift) for electrical work on the station

We can say solars are de-wired to prolong their lives (being online for long periods of time degregates the solar array, for argument's sake). Excess power can easily go to towards charging and powering the drones and machines that refit the station between shifts, or it can simply be vented off as heat into space.

We can also say Atmos is reset for similar reasons - most atmos optimizations opt to pump more air into the station, so this status is reverted to save some of the precious gasses used in the process.

Solars make sense - hence why they also revert to a default position (which is deemed the most likely position to shield them from stellar rays that damage them). As for the power being used - it was somewhat implicit that some of it would be used for the drones, but there's two major issues with venting it in space: one, it would take a LOT more time than 15 minutes with the amount of energy, and two I said transfer it back to account for why the APCs and outpost SMESes are full when the crew arrives on station. Atmos I did forget - and your reason is completely valid. Reset the system to save on gas, and make it inactive so that the partially filled tanks can be replaced (with the tanks in place being sent back to Odin for recycling - they'd make three tanks out of every four to six used tanks with the amount of gas left in them.

 

All in all I like your ideas alot. They give a very neat explanation to most of the inconsistencies that occur between rounds. Context accounts for much when creating immersion.

 

Completely agreed - that's why when I suggest, or support, a suggestion of this importance I always try to come up with some lore reasons to build from.

[Xelnagahunter]

whelp... I want this to be cannon now.

[Arkin100]

Yeah, likewise. I love how we got this far by discussing simple time synchronization.

[Arkin100]

By the way, there are sooo many other things that can be explained as easily by applying Killerhurtz's reasoning:

- PA is dismantled between shifts as part of the maintenance process: It needs to be taken apart to be scanned for any damages that might have been caused by long exposure to the Singularity.

- AI sometimes changes (or is even uninstalled in some shifts) because NT also uses to Aurora as a place to field-test new AIs (which is also why they can malfunction sometimes).

- Door wires are scrambled between shifts for security reasons: You don't want some syndicate agent to be able to infiltrate one shift and then figure out how to permanently hack the doors whenever he comes back on board.