Modify Emergency Maintenance Access

[Synnono]

Command Staff can authorize emergency maintenance access to allow anyone to use the maintenance tunnels, like when those airlocks automatically unlock during a radiation storm. This is a useful feature for both the crew trying to escape a bad situation and for antags to get places they shouldn't, but I feel it's currently underused because it requires that two Heads of Staff swipe their IDs at two different authenticators at the same time.

Generally speaking, late game is a bit of a mess. Telecoms are often offline, one or more of the heads are missing or dead, and the pesky malf AI is shocking the door out of the toilet, trapping the Captain inside. It's hard for the surviving Heads to coordinate much of the time, and this feature is not always on their minds even when it would be useful. Since I don't believe emergency maintenance access is as serious as say, calling an ERT (something else the authenticators allow), I want to suggest the following changes to make the feature more impactful on a round:

1. Have Emergency Maintenance Access be an option on the command console, rather than the keycard authenticator, and require only one head of staff authorization. If abuse is a concern, make it require that Code Red already be in a effect for the button to work, so that a swipe had to have occurred once already.

2. Have Emergency Maintenance Access trigger automatically when an evacuation shuttle is called, and turn back off if the evacuation shuttle is recalled. This is to allow the survivors of an emergency a better chance to escape, along with giving anyone else the chance to use the chaos and the tunnels to get around. Since ladders are all locked behind maintenance access on the new map, I think it just makes sense to give people access to them in an emergency where the station is being abandoned.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Guest

[Conspiir]

I can get behind this. I actually had no idea it was already a thing that could be done. It would be really helpful when the only Head around is the CMO and you know bad crap is happening in the halls and perhaps someone, somewhere (like, you know, medical staff and their patients) might just be able to get to the shuttle when the elevators are down if they can make it to the ladder near the bar.

That ladder saves lives.

But you better have a friend in engineering willing to let you at it.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Maintenence is very useful when trying to navigate around hazards or escape bad situations. On one hand I can see the need for it being locked behind authenticators because it can also be used by antagonists - but on the other hand, antagonists can often just get through the doors regardless, and since it needs a Head of Staff to do it there is still the responsibility to use it responsibly.

[ben10083]

Yeah I am down with these suggestions.

[themaskedman2]

+1 For reasons said above.

[Fluffy]

Emergency maintenance access currently only requires one person to be enabled, so this suggestion is considered implemented.

Locking and archiving.