ben10083 Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 Rogue AIs can hack IPC, robots, APCs, machines, even other AIs, yet it cannot hack DRONES. Now you may be saying that drones can't do much when they turn rogue, and to that I have a quick story to tell. (skip the paragraph below if you don't need explaining why drones are a good tool) I was emagged as a drone and overall ended up disabling T-coms for most of round, yet once I got back to my master he got attacked by the HoS and a officer, I attacked them both but they ended up killing him, under the basis of "revenge" I killed the HoS, and then I got the officer, who they tried to clone 3 times but each time I killed him. Then I went around attacking people who tried to kill me and tried to hold people hostage to clone my master, overall I killed 2-3 people after that and then died due to low power. That was just ONE drone, and it caused the station to panic and lose communications, and I could have done much more if told to. Now that my ego is satisfied the question of if drones are a good tool or not is out of the way, back to suggestion. A traitor can use drones to kill VIPs, sabotage vital parts of station, and generally cause chaos, and they cannot be shut down or re-synced via console. I recommend having the AI be able to hack a drone for very little processing power (they are simple machines) and have it be given a special set of laws that forces it to do anything the AI wants it to do, as well as the plasma cutter that E-magged drones get. Unlike the E-mag, the hack drones can be shut down or re-synced back into their original laws via the drone console, so the AI has to use them wisely. Drones are also very fragile and can be disabled with a simple ID swipe by a roboticist. Overall it makes no sense that the AI would not employ drones in it's goals, and it allows ghosts to help spice up the round when they die. The crew can easily stop the drones by using a drone console and shutting down the fabricators.
alexpkeaton Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 The notion that hacked drones are mostly harmless is a non-starter with me. They are basically full-fledged engi-borgs that can escape through vents and hide under tables. I haven't seen hacked drones on Aurora, but I've seen a few on Paradise. They are a menace. You don't even notice they are hacked (despite there being a sprite-swap involved on Paradise) until you are in crit on the floor and they have skittered into the nearest vent. You've grown so accustomed to them being harmless and out of your way. IMO from Paradise, hacked drones can be a little OP. Also, during a malf round, dead players may meta and hop into a drone upon dying so they can be hacked. More than one or two of these devils roaming around could easily take over key parts of the station, bolt/electrify/weld doors, disassemble critical infrastructure or depressurize areas... and all that is just if they don't decide to go on a no-holds-barred murder spree. I'd like to see what kind of hacked laws a drone might get, but assuming it is the standard emagged borg concept, it's a -1 from me.
Butterrobber202 Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 Traitors can already emag drones, don't see why this would be a problem.
Pratepresidenten Posted December 28, 2017 Posted December 28, 2017 Ive had some experience dealing with tator drones, and they are a fucking nightmare. They crawl under tables, under objects, making them ridiculously hard to catch/attack. And their swipe to kill failsafe only applies to the Captain/engineering. They cannot be killed from the drone control console and they have stationwide access+tools+ventilation system. Im strongly against this idea, beacuse drones would just be annoying/destructive to deal with, and wouldnt provide any meaningful rp on their own.
ben10083 Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 [mention]Pratepresidenten[/mention] minus the hard to hit, the AI and borgs can do the same thing. I said in the suggestion that unlike emagged drones hacked drones can be re-synced back into their laws or be killed via console.
Kaed Posted December 28, 2017 Posted December 28, 2017 I've seen an emagged drone provide excellent roleplay on account of being able to communicate with the crew, actually. Making demands and threatening people. Everyone there had a load of fun. It's also not like they are invulnerable, they are one of the most soft robots in the game, easily killed with a few shots, a card swipe, or an emp. I also support the AI getting more minions, they are one of the most frequently validhunted to death antags in the game, mostly because they are all but helpless without aid against a prepared force. However, I feel like there should also be an implementation of a way to cease drone production on-station, from the drone control console or something, to prevent further people from spawning in as drones. This would be used once they discover drones are going haywire, and it cuts off people repeat respawning to cause havoc constantly every ten minutes.
DronzTheWolf Posted December 29, 2017 Posted December 29, 2017 However, I feel like there should also be an implementation of a way to cease drone production on-station, from the drone control console or something, to prevent further people from spawning in as drones. This would be used once they discover drones are going haywire, and it cuts off people repeat respawning to cause havoc constantly every ten minutes. You can do this by disassembling/breaking the drone machine by blowing it up and/or deconstructing it traditionally (Maybe? Needs confirmation). I don't think it's indestructible, so maybe that. A better way would be good, but that also means Antag McChucklefuck could disable it ezpz if they don't want drones to fix their bomb fun.
Kaed Posted December 29, 2017 Posted December 29, 2017 You can do this by disassembling/breaking the drone machine by blowing it up and/or deconstructing it traditionally (Maybe? Needs confirmation). I don't think it's indestructible, so maybe that. A better way would be good, but that also means Antag McChucklefuck could disable it ezpz if they don't want drones to fix their bomb fun. I don't... And ... ? Having to physically destroy or tear down machinery to make it stop working is terrible design-wise. It doesn't matter if an antag can turn off drone production, because drones normally don't play an integral role in the round. And, counterpoint, if there's an off switch then you can turn it back on easily too.
ben10083 Posted December 29, 2017 Author Posted December 29, 2017 You can disable the fabricators with a drone control console then destroy the console, then drones can't spawn
drakuba Posted May 2, 2018 Posted May 2, 2018 +1 This would give AI better fighting chance since it is stationary and one engi with emmiter can blast it to dust. Or CE. Or pretty much any officer with weapon and suit. Borgs can be pacified relatively easily, so does drone fabrication can be easily disabled
Scheveningen Posted May 2, 2018 Posted May 2, 2018 Hacked drones are incredibly powerful. They're small, ergo they have a very tiny hitbox, making it very difficult to hit them in melee. They utilize the vent system and their ability to hide under tables to evade combat. They have a full set of engineering tools and the capability to immediately recharge their resources. They're small, quick, and very difficult to corner. They are very destructive in the right or wrong hands when they get emagged.
Arrow768 Posted May 2, 2018 Posted May 2, 2018 The biggest difference between emaging drones as a traitor and hacking them as a AI is that the emag has a certain number of charges. There would need to be a few changes to make that not a complete nightmare: A specific fabricator needs to be hacked by the AI (i.e. not individual drones) To join as a hacked drone, you need to be dead for the normal respawn time. The drone fabricators will have a limited number of resources. (Obviously they cant be refilled by the drones or the borgs) The removal of the plasmacutter from the hacked drones. (They already have enough options to cause chaos, they dont need a ranged weapon aswell; Not even the hacked engieborgs have that) These changes will result in a limited number of hacked drones being available and also prevent a issue where you have to deal with a single drone that comes back every 5 minutes.
drakuba Posted May 2, 2018 Posted May 2, 2018 A specific fabricator needs to be hacked by the AI (i.e. not individual drones) To join as a hacked drone, you need to be dead for the normal respawn time. The drone fabricators will have a limited number of resources. (Obviously they cant be refilled by the drones or the borgs) The removal of the plasmacutter from the hacked drones. (They already have enough options to cause chaos, they dont need a ranged weapon aswell; Not even the hacked engieborgs have that) Agree, maybe limited number of hacked drones at the same time depending of the number of players in round? Like 2 or 3 drones on 30 players. Other players will go to waiting line
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