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Policy change! You will be able to request the nuke code!


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I have been working towards this for quite some time. The aim of our policy change on who has knowledge of the nuke was to give the captain an omega directive. Unfortunately there was no way to actually activate the nuke so it ended up being a wolf without teeth. That is about to change. After a recent staff meeting i have the green light to throw this up for community discussion. Captains will soon be able to send an emergency message to central command requesting the code for the nuclear bomb. This is a topic i have put a great amount of though into. as such there is a small but very strict set of criteria when determining whether the situation calls for a nuclear explosion or not.


1 The station must have expended the majority of its resources in dealing with a code red threat and failed.


"failed" is the key word here. As i said this will end the round and is not something that can be used lightly. this is the end game of the end game. A captain will make a judgement call on the situation and determine if whatever is plaguing the station is too great a threat to nanotrasen to allow to escape. So picture a nuke team about to run off with all of nanotrasen's secrets, cultists ready to summon nar'sie or escape on an emergency shuttle, or perhaps even a vampire taking over the entire station. Whether or not he decides to share it with whatever is left of command is up to him. The actual decision on whether to give out the nuke code or not is up to an administrator or higher.


2. Once a decision to give out the code has been made a confirmation message must be sent


Pretty much an "are you sure" message. This is an attempt to echo real world barriers on nuke activations. a physical barrier of time to ensure that the situation truly calls for a nuclear explosion.


3. Once the code has been given out a command report must be announced to the whole station. This must detail explicitly what is about to happen and why.


This is half for roleplay reasons and half for balance reasons. The roleplay reason is to encourage the captain to have whatever is left of command or security on his side. If he doesnt and tries to go lone wolf he will likely have a mutiny on his hands. This will likely be difficult either way but the intention for this is to be a very rare last resort. The balance reason is so that the antags or whatever spooky abomination is terrorizing the station has a chance to stop the captain and claim ultimate victory. This is so the captain cannot just wordlessly arm the nuke and end the round.


Jackboot was kind enough to draw up a wiki entry on the captains page detailing this responsibility https://aurorastation.org/wiki/index.php?title=Captain#Code_Delta_And_Self-Destruct.


I am sure after reading this you all have a number of concerns or questions to ask. I have heard a few of them from fellow staff and have prepared answers to some of them. Even if i answer a question below please do not hesitate to bring it up on this thread. i am fully committed to taking the time to make sure this is done right.


1. How does central command know that its the captain asking for the nuke code?


As of right now we have decided on a single code phrase given to all captains. They will attach said code phrase in their transmission to validate themselves. As it states in the wiki entry this code is STRICTLY captain only. Any antag attempting to use it without an incredibly good reason will get bwoinked. a changeling who has absorbed the captain would definitely know the code for example.


2. What about acting captains? ERT?


at this time i am restricting it to captain only. Since this has such far reaching implications i want to keep it as exclusive as possible and slowly expand it if its needed. I am open to the idea of acting captains somehow being able to gain knowledge of it but at this time its not on the table. ERT are not white listed and are sent to deal with the threat while protecting the assets on station. I feel having knowledge of the nuke falls outside of their responsibility. Also like i said, i want to keep it exclusive and expand it if needed.


3. Why do we need this when an emergency shuttle is a thing?


Lots of reasons, most of them are the captains prerogative. The threat may be so catastrophic it needs to be stopped NOW. Or it may be a situation that requires a cover-up of some sort. Think about cultists or a vampire and his army escaping on an emergency shuttle.



Please do not hesitate to post your thoughts, criticisms or even your compliments!

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Awesome, glad a system is finally in place.


TL;DR: A new way to end the round of any round type once the non-antags are about to be killed off, allows for one last chance for NT to gain the upper hand, if successful, the round ends, if not, the round continues until its natural end. Nuke won't be used unless the round needs to end anyway.


Question:

What are the rules on a captain disclosing the code to a non-captain in a situation that is fit? Example: Captain is bleeding out and saving is not an option, he discloses the nuke code to a competent person and tells them to activate it for the good of humanity.

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Say my captain questions the validity of an order, like can happen with the gimmick faxes in rev. If I have a Captain's passcode of 123456, can I fax Central to authenticate xenocidal orders by sending them 123xxx, and central send back xxx456? This way I can prove it isnt a false message.

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Guest Complete Garbage
Say my captain questions the validity of an order, like can happen with the gimmick faxes in rev. If I have a Captain's passcode of 123456, can I fax Central to authenticate xenocidal orders by sending them 123xxx, and central send back xxx456? This way I can prove it isnt a false message.

 

I believe a Captain's code-book (like 10-12 of these codes) was brought up by someone at some point in the past. I still think that'd be really neat.

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Question:

What are the rules on a captain disclosing the code to a non-captain in a situation that is fit? Example: Captain is bleeding out and saving is not an option, he discloses the nuke code to a competent person and tells them to activate it for the good of humanity.

 

Almost certainly this is a judgement call the captain can make. There is definitely a place i would draw the line at but it would be pretty difficult. If the captain is physically unable to send the message then i suppose he can do what hes gotta do.

 

Can we make it so the code is applied to the captains round-start/round-join notes?

 

I have had a few devs ask me about this as well. I am considering it. Will have to see what the pros and cons are.

 

Say my captain questions the validity of an order, like can happen with the gimmick faxes in rev. If I have a Captain's passcode of 123456, can I fax Central to authenticate xenocidal orders by sending them 123xxx, and central send back xxx456? This way I can prove it isnt a false message.

 

NO! that is 100% not the intended use of this mechanic. The code is only to be used when you are requesting the nuke code. There are other ways around central commands orders even if you are loyalty implanted. You just better be able to justify why doing so is truly in the best interest of nanotrasen. you should also ahelp in these types of situations just to be safe.

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Requesting the nuclear codes from central command is dumb imo. If you're in contact with them then you should theoretically be able to request large scale ERTs, destroyer support, artillery strikes, etc.


Central command giving out the nuclear code over a fax is completely nonsensical


If the captain is going to be able to destroy the station (and they should), that should be something they inherently have, and are trusted to use in isolation. A captain should be able to do that without any contact with central. Because if the station is in a situation where self destruct is an option on the table,it likely cannot make contact with HQ


Self destruct really only makes sense in a few scenarios, like a rampant AI taking control, or narsie being summoned, or multiple senior officers being replaced with changelings. Situations that pose a risk to the galaxy at large and need to be contained at all costs. In any such situation its likely that either communication is impossible, or communication is untrustworthy; likely being monitored, intercepted, responded to by hostile parties, etc.


Its still entirely possible to require admin authorisation while hooking it into normal systems. But i'd question why thats even needed, since afaik no such restriction exists for AI/mercs doing it.

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Requesting the nuclear codes from central command is dumb imo. If you're in contact with them then you should theoretically be able to request large scale ERTs, destroyer support, artillery strikes, etc.


Central command giving out the nuclear code over a fax is completely nonsensical


If the captain is going to be able to destroy the station (and they should), that should be something they inherently have, and are trusted to use in isolation. A captain should be able to do that without any contact with central. Because if the station is in a situation where self destruct is an option on the table,it likely cannot make contact with HQ


Self destruct really only makes sense in a few scenarios, like a rampant AI taking control, or narsie being summoned, or multiple senior officers being replaced with changelings. Situations that pose a risk to the galaxy at large and need to be contained at all costs. In any such situation its likely that either communication is impossible, or communication is untrustworthy; likely being monitored, intercepted, responded to by hostile parties, etc.


Its still entirely possible to require admin authorisation while hooking it into normal systems. But i'd question why thats even needed, since afaik no such restriction exists for AI/mercs doing it.

 

I disagree with this because if the station is going full shit show, somehow the captain has access to the bridge or a fax machine somewhere you can contact Central if you try really really hard. If a vampire went and thralled all the crew and ERT for example and you have your disk and sneak into the CE office for example and send a message to central to request with a report you made of the run. If you tell that the hostile turned ERT and thralled them all I don't think central would send more people to help your ass. If captains can not request to blow the station, the nuke disk and terminal in the vault would be useless and just sit there in the map for no reason.

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Say my captain questions the validity of an order, like can happen with the gimmick faxes in rev. If I have a Captain's passcode of 123456, can I fax Central to authenticate xenocidal orders by sending them 123xxx, and central send back xxx456? This way I can prove it isnt a false message.

 

NO! that is 100% not the intended use of this mechanic. The code is only to be used when you are requesting the nuke code. There are other ways around central commands orders even if you are loyalty implanted. You just better be able to justify why doing so is truly in the best interest of nanotrasen. you should also ahelp in these types of situations just to be safe.

 

I don't think you understand the question. First, the intended use of the mechanic? Its a security passphrase. It can be used however two intelligent people use it, one the Captain, and one the CCIA. What I am referring to is situations where Central sends a fax that seems absolutely batshit crazy. Can the Captain then use his passphrase to talk to the CCIA and verify that yes, this is an authorized CCIA agent and yes, these are authentic orders. "Getting around" central command orders has nothing to do with what I'm asking here.

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Say my captain questions the validity of an order, like can happen with the gimmick faxes in rev. If I have a Captain's passcode of 123456, can I fax Central to authenticate xenocidal orders by sending them 123xxx, and central send back xxx456? This way I can prove it isnt a false message.

 

NO! that is 100% not the intended use of this mechanic. The code is only to be used when you are requesting the nuke code. There are other ways around central commands orders even if you are loyalty implanted. You just better be able to justify why doing so is truly in the best interest of nanotrasen. you should also ahelp in these types of situations just to be safe.

 

I don't think you understand the question. First, the intended use of the mechanic? Its a security passphrase. It can be used however two intelligent people use it, one the Captain, and one the CCIA. What I am referring to is situations where Central sends a fax that seems absolutely batshit crazy. Can the Captain then use his passphrase to talk to the CCIA and verify that yes, this is an authorized CCIA agent and yes, these are authentic orders. "Getting around" central command orders has nothing to do with what I'm asking here.

 

No, the phrase is only for the nuke, nothing else. CCIA will ignore all attempts of captains trying to use the passphrase for something else.

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If captains can not request to blow the station, the nuke disk and terminal in the vault would be useless and just sit there in the map for no reason.

 

i think you completely misunderstood what I said.


The nuke disk is supposed to have the codes, thats why faxin ceentral for them is silly. Logically taking the nuke disk to the vault and doing some stuff there should be enough to trigger code delta. But garnascus seems to want to limit it to captains only, and have admin intervention involved.


What im saying is that that is not mutually inclusive with faxing. We can still have the same admin oversight just by allowing a captain to use the nuke disk on the vault terminal, give admins some popup window.


But as mentioned, i think requiring admin approval at all is unnecessary, Because captains, and any other command officer, already have the ability to trigger an emergency evac. Self destruct is not far off the same function, it will end the round either way. The only difference with self destruct is that the crew has justification to immediately mutiny, form a baying mob and go lynch the captain in order to get the destruct cancelled. Which is a bit more dramatic

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The nuke disk shares more similarities with the two-man key rule as depicted in War Games. It is one part of the multistep process of the nuclear authentication sequence and detonation of nuclear payload.

 

keyturn-660x438.jpg

 

As featured in the film War Games, both missile silo operators (the commanding officer and the executive officer) receive a code confirmation from HQ demanding nuclear action. After confirming the code from HQ is valid, they proceed to their stations to turn their keys in order to authenticate a nuclear launch.


This is a similar process with how it's alleged to work here. The captain sends a fax request for nuclear authentication with their randomly generated code confirming to Central Command that it is indeed the captain sending the request for the nuclear codes. After evaluating the situation, they either approve the request and send the code and leave it to the captain to carry it out themselves, or they deny it. The disk itself does not hold the codes. It is an overglorified keycard giving someone access to actually proceed with dialing in the codes for the nuclear device to detonate its highly destructive payload.


There's a significant difference between nuking the station and calling a shuttle. Claiming there's no differences between these two scenarios in ending the round is nonsense. On one hand you choose to evacuate everyone and anyone who was a bad guy could choose to hop onto the shuttle or could also choose to hop onto a pod to make their escape.


Alternatively, in situations that require the overwhelming enemy force to not be given that chance to escape and to be destroyed along with the compromised station, it would be more appropriate to cut all losses and blow the station to kingdom come and prevent the risk of that great threat from escaping aboard CC.


Yes, this should be limited to the captain only and with admin approval. It would not be ideal to run the streak of nuking the station as part of the endgame every single opportunity command whitelistees get, and thus this system serves as a possible contingency to be executed in the worst possible circumstances that could befall the station. It's meant to be rare in application but the option should still be there for the worst case scenario.

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I like the idea, I really do. But don't really see how this could ever apply realistically.


If the station is at a point where the captain would be willing to sacrifice himself and every innocent crewmember in a suicide detonation, the captain is almost definitely not going to be in a position where he has safe access to a fax machine (or even a command console for the emergency message) and the luxury of time to wait for CC response. Not to mention, the announcement requirement to alert the antags, who, if they do indeed have control of the station, will likely stop him easily. Any antags who have gathered enough power to overthrow the station will almost certainly have control of the bridge, and probably the vault.


In the future, I'd really like to see this policy taken a step further. I want to see the captain have a more expedient method of detonating the nuke. For example, removing the announcement requirement, and perhaps having a different way of obtaining the code should contact with CC be impossible (And if the situation is so bad that this suicide option is being considered, faxing CC will no doubt be impossible) Of course, this would require some thought into just how that would be implemented, and a lot of trust in our captain players, but thats why we have the whitelist.


Just a suggestion for the future.

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NO! that is 100% not the intended use of this mechanic. The code is only to be used when you are requesting the nuke code. There are other ways around central commands orders even if you are loyalty implanted. You just better be able to justify why doing so is truly in the best interest of nanotrasen. you should also ahelp in these types of situations just to be safe.

 

I don't think you understand the question. First, the intended use of the mechanic? Its a security passphrase. It can be used however two intelligent people use it, one the Captain, and one the CCIA. What I am referring to is situations where Central sends a fax that seems absolutely batshit crazy. Can the Captain then use his passphrase to talk to the CCIA and verify that yes, this is an authorized CCIA agent and yes, these are authentic orders. "Getting around" central command orders has nothing to do with what I'm asking here.

 

No, the phrase is only for the nuke, nothing else. CCIA will ignore all attempts of captains trying to use the passphrase for something else.

 

That's dumb and arbitrary but whatever. Next time I'm Malf AI I'm making a false Central report ordering all loyalty implanted staff to stick their heads up their asses, and I'll be sure to F1 them if they attempt any sort of recourse. As usual.

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That's dumb and arbitrary but whatever. Next time I'm Malf AI I'm making a false Central report ordering all loyalty implanted staff to stick their heads up their asses, and I'll be sure to F1 them if they attempt any sort of recourse. As usual.

 

See how well that works for you.

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I like the idea, I really do. But don't really see how this could ever apply realistically.


If the station is at a point where the captain would be willing to sacrifice himself and every innocent crewmember in a suicide detonation, the captain is almost definitely not going to be in a position where he has safe access to a fax machine (or even a command console for the emergency message) and the luxury of time to wait for CC response. Not to mention, the announcement requirement to alert the antags, who, if they do indeed have control of the station, will likely stop him easily. Any antags who have gathered enough power to overthrow the station will almost certainly have control of the bridge, and probably the vault.


In the future, I'd really like to see this policy taken a step further. I want to see the captain have a more expedient method of detonating the nuke. For example, removing the announcement requirement, and perhaps having a different way of obtaining the code should contact with CC be impossible (And if the situation is so bad that this suicide option is being considered, faxing CC will no doubt be impossible) Of course, this would require some thought into just how that would be implemented, and a lot of trust in our captain players, but thats why we have the whitelist.


Just a suggestion for the future.

 

Well it ended up happening, in a sense. Xeno round happened and nearly killed the entire crew. Captain + the HoP finally got the nuke code through requesting it in the funny authentication procedure sitting in front of fiery death. Captain got killed. HoP was mindslaved by the xenos. Two HAPT operatives had to be deployed to try to nuke the station. They died. A slave to the xenos defused the nuke. And then sol marines had to be deployed with a dark gygax and many pulse rifles to enact a suicide mission against a very robust alien queen. Station got nuked. Very excellent round.

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I like the idea, I really do. But don't really see how this could ever apply realistically.


If the station is at a point where the captain would be willing to sacrifice himself and every innocent crewmember in a suicide detonation, the captain is almost definitely not going to be in a position where he has safe access to a fax machine (or even a command console for the emergency message) and the luxury of time to wait for CC response. Not to mention, the announcement requirement to alert the antags, who, if they do indeed have control of the station, will likely stop him easily. Any antags who have gathered enough power to overthrow the station will almost certainly have control of the bridge, and probably the vault.


In the future, I'd really like to see this policy taken a step further. I want to see the captain have a more expedient method of detonating the nuke. For example, removing the announcement requirement, and perhaps having a different way of obtaining the code should contact with CC be impossible (And if the situation is so bad that this suicide option is being considered, faxing CC will no doubt be impossible) Of course, this would require some thought into just how that would be implemented, and a lot of trust in our captain players, but thats why we have the whitelist.


Just a suggestion for the future.

 

Well it ended up happening, in a sense. Xeno round happened and nearly killed the entire crew. Captain + the HoP finally got the nuke code through requesting it in the funny authentication procedure sitting in front of fiery death. Captain got killed. HoP was mindslaved by the xenos. Two HAPT operatives had to be deployed to try to nuke the station. They died. A slave to the xenos defused the nuke. And then sol marines had to be deployed with a dark gygax and many pulse rifles to enact a suicide mission against a very robust alien queen. Station got nuked. Very excellent round.

That round was exciting and fun to play in, but it was also an example of the system not working. If it weren't for the full squad of suicidal deathmuhreens and dark gygax from the Icarus, the station wouldn't have blown up. Successful self-destruct shouldn't be a guaranteed outcome, of course, but TequilaJoe raises a good point. The situations in which this course of action is acceptable are also the least likely to be ones where the Captain has the luxury of standing around and following the procedure as outlined. Staff actually had to help him out in this case by broadcasting the code via global announcement, which Central (I'm assuming) would normally not do. He also died, as Captains are wont to do, and it took a bunch of APT doods and a meme-level exosuit to set off the bomb.


I like that the system has built-in admin checks on such a drastic action, but if every instance needs to rely on as much adminbus as this one did, it will be pretty dysfunctional. Looking forward to seeing more situations in which it's attempted so that it has a chance to prove itself.

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