olekingsol Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 Why the guide? I like playing as a drone. This guide is to encourage other people to play as drones, because I think it'd be great if we could get several drones per round. It's also to help people that want to play as a drone but don't really know how to get started. I'm no expert, but my goal is to spell out everything that I've learned so far through experimentation and research in one place so that it's easier for other people to at least become as familiar with it as I am. I've also mixed in my thoughts about what kinds of things are drone-ish and what I think makes drones fun. If you spot anything that needs to be worked on, have additions to make, want to share your own drone experience, etc, please comment. The Drone's Role and behavior: If the AI is the brain of the station, then drones are its subconcious. They are unable to communicate or interact with most of the other members of the station directly, but they can have a huge influence on what happens, especially when there are several active at once. Is having no engineer a problem? That depends, are the drones setting up the solar arrays? Is this hole in the station a problem? Are there drones nearby to fix it? Will that killer get away? Did a drone clean up the evidence of the crime? I'll use these examples throughout the guide to show that while the drone is a role that goes unmissed if they are not present, it is one that can influence the game in a fun an interesting way when it is there. Drones all have the same primary objectives and laws. To that end, you will get a message that looks something like this when you first become a drone: Obey these laws: 1. Preserve, repair and improve the station to the best of your abilities. 2. Cause no harm to the station or crew. 3. Interact with no humanoid or synthetic being that is not a fellow maintenance drone. Remember, you are not bound to any AI, you are not required to listen to them. Systems rebooted. Loading base pattern maintenance protocol... loaded. You are a maintenance drone, a tiny-brained robotic repair machine. You have no individual will, no personality, and no drives or urges other than your laws. Remember, you are lawed against interference with the crew. Also remember, you DO NOT take orders from the AI. Use say ;Hello to talk to other drones and say Hello to speak silently to your nearby fellows. What are the implications of this? Well, you are charged with maintaining and improving the station. This means fixing things when they break and also adding new things that you can justify as being an improvement. Think the bar tables could use some fresh silverware? Go ahead and whip some up. Do you think that a particular room should have better lighting? Put up some fresh bulbs. The laws are vague enough that you can be pretty creative with your time as long as you aren't harming anybody or negatively affecting the productivity of the station. The exception is when somebody breaks something in order to improve their productivity. Did somebody hack a door and bolt it open so that they could get at some resource more quickly? It's your job do undo that hack. Does it lock them in that room with no way out? Not your problem. Remember, you are a neutral force for order, not necessarily a force for good. Don't get too carried away, though. If the crew has added a new room to the station, don't begin disassembling it because you think that it shouldn't be there. It's also important to note that you are neither responsible for the crew, nor do you take orders from the AI. Is that person over there being murdered by that other person? Not your problem. You don't have to (and shouldn't) try to save their life. You do have to clean up the mess though. That's basic station maintenance even if that mess includes evidence of the crime. Does the AI want you to fix something but you want to clean floors? Tough cookies. You get to choose which tasks come first. Has the AI gone rogue and wants you to stop fixing things? I hope it's got some milk (for those tough cookies). Also, even though you have no actual personality, not every drone is the same. Every drone's runtime parameters are slightly different. This emerges as slightly different behavioral quirks for each drone. It's not "personality" per se, but even insects of the same species exhibit behavioral differences. Are you a drone that completely ignores the janitor? Are you a drone that follows them around because your limited pattern recognition has come to associate them water, which you need in order to keep up with your floor-cleaning tasks? Or have you managed to steal a full water bucket that some inattentive botanist has left lying around? If a humanoid pleb starts talking to you, do you leave immediately or do you sit a little bit as your drone brain decides which task to pick up next and then leave mid-monologue? Decisions like that can give your drone personality without actually giving it a personality. The rest of this guide will be formatted as follows: First, I will go over resources, tools and how to use them. Then I'll talk about drone abilities and tasks. This is so that you are familiar with the tools that I recommend using when I talk about the tasks that you can expect to be doing. Lists and other chunks of reference materials are hidden in spoilers like the laws above to make navigating between the sections easier. Drone Resources: There are a number of resources that you have to manage as a drone in order to do your job. Most of them can be monitored through the status tab that is located to the right of the game UI pane and are replenished at the cyborg recharging station. That's not true for all of them, however. Here they are listed individually so that you know how to monitor and refill each resource when you need to. Energy (Max: 100%) -Refill at: Cyborg recharging station -View by: Click the "status tab" Metal (Max: 25000 units) -Refill at: Cyborg recharging station -View by: Click the "status tab" Glass (Max: 25000 units) -Refill at: Cyborg recharging station -View by: Click the "status tab" Wood (Max: 2000 units) -Refill at: Cyborg recharging station -View by: Click the "status tab" Plastic (Max: 1000 units) -Refill at: Cyborg recharging station -View by: Click the "status tab" Wire (Max: 30 units) -Refill at: Cyborg recharging station -View by: Click the "status tab" Light Bulbs (Max: 20 bulbs) -Refill at: Cyborg recharging station -View by: Using the light bulb replacer. (Highlight in the item bar and press Z in keyboard mode) Welding Tool Fuel (Max: 20 units) -Refill at: Fuel tank. These are found in maintenance areas throughout station. TURN OFF THE WELDING TOOL!!!! Highlight it in the item bar and click on the fuel tank -View by: Examining the welding tool (Right click on it and click "examine" in the context menu) Drone Tools: As a drone, you are granted a diverse set of tools that you have access to at all times. These tools are both your strength and your kryptonite. The fact that you have so many makes you one of the most diverse entities on the station, god-like in your ability to spawn resources at will. No problem can stand against your resolve and ingenuity. No problem, that is, except for that cigarette that some pleb dropped that your are unable to pick up with your magnetic gripping arm. These tools can be accessed 2 ways. You can view them through the UI clicking on the "INV" button. It is the leftmost button on the item bar. An extra inventory will open up above your item bar that will have all of the tools. The name of each tool will be displayed in the bottom left of your game window when you mouse-over the tool. You can click on the tool while no other tool selected to move it to your item bar. You can alternatively click on the "Panel" button located in the bottom right of the UI. This will give a popup window that lists each tool with activation links. This is also how you recover your tools if you accidentally hit q to drop them from your UI. Clicking the "activate" link will move the tool to your item bar. You can use your 1, 2, or 3 keys to select a tool in your item bar to use. You can click the "store" button, which is rightmost on your item bar, to put away any selected tool. I've arbitrarily divided tools up into 2 categories to individually describe them. The first are tools that use material resources that you store in your drone-body while the second category of tools do not. These material resources include metal, glass, wood, plastic, and wires. These are recharged over time while you are in a cyborg recharging station. They can be viewed by clicking the "status" tab to the right of the main game UI window. You also have a certain number of light bulbs, but these are stored in your light replacer. Welder fuel is similarly stored in the welder. Glass synthesizer (1 glass sheet = 1000 glass) - You'd think that you would be using this to fix windows, but you'll honestly be using the reinforced glass more often than not. Still, you can use this to make glass tables and other things. Be creative. Remember, one of your duties is "improving" the station. Metal Rod Synthesizer (1 Metal rod = 500 metal) - You'll mostly use these for making grilles when those organics forget how to used the door that was less than a foot away from that window. Cable Coil (1 wire = 1 wire) - These are absolutely necessary for setting up the solar arrays if the plebs forget to bring an engineer along. Unfortunately, you are about 4 or so wires short of being able to do a whole array in one go on your own, so bring a friend if you have one. If not, be ready to make a trip back to the charging station. Floor Tile Synthesizer (1 tile = 250 metal) - These are extremely useful due to the habit that floor tiles have of disappearing when nobody is looking. Just go up to a spot that is missing the floor tile with the synthesizer highlighted in your item bar. You can click on the spot when you are adjacent to it to place the floor tile. Reinforced Glass Synthesizer (1 sheets = 500 metal + 1000 glass) - This is like glass, but reinforced. Keep in mind that it uses 2 material resources at once. You'll use this primarily to replace windows that have been smashed (What is it with people and smashing windows?). Wood Floor Tile Synthesizer (1 tile = 250 wood) - Works the same way as the other floor tile synthesizer (above) except it uses wood instead of metal. Wood is also one of your more scarce resources, so I recommend using the other one most of the time. Wood Synthesizer (1 plank = 1000 wood) - This lets you make items out of wood. You only have a few planks worth of wood on you most of the time, though so it's pretty limited. Plastic Synthesizer (1 plastic sheet = 1000 plastic) - This lets you make items out of plastic. Like wood, you don't have that much plastic, so I don't use this a whole lot. Steel Synthesizer (1 sheet = 1000 metal) - You can make metal things using this synthesizer. You've got quite a lot of metal, and there are quite a few things that you can make, so expect to be using this often. You'll also use this to build/repair walls. Soap - Soap cleans blood, oil puddles, flour, etc. Just highlight it in your item bar and click on the thing that you want to clean. Alternatively, you can wet the soap by using it on an object that contains water. Once wet, the soap can be used to clean tiles directly by clicking on the tile. It can clean 10 tiles before needing to be wetted again. Do not use soap on alien fungus, as this will destroy the wall that the fungus is on. Use the welding tool to burn it off instead (See below). Soap is also fun to use to clean random humanoids as they walk by too. Sheet Loader - This will allow you to pick up and put down sheets of metal or glass to move them around. It's handy when you want to clean up a construction site. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on floor tiles. Just highlight it in your item bar and click on the sheets that you would like to pick up. It will stack sheets of the same type. You can click on a nearby table with it highlighted to put the sheets down. Fire Extinguisher - Use this to put out fires. Highlight it and use it (Z in keyboard mode) to turn the safety on or off. Click a direction with it highlighted and with the safety off to blast and fires in that direction. Pipe Painter - This lets you paint pipes different colors. Use it (Z in keyboard mode) to adjust the settings, and click on nearby pipes with it highlighted to paint. I never use this. Floor Painter - This lets you paint symbols on floor tiles. Use it (Z in keyboard mode) to adjust the settings, and click on nearby tiles with it highlighted to paint. I hardly ever use this, but it's good for when tiles that were previously painted get damaged and need to be replaced. JetPack (Carbon Dioxide) - I'm not going to lie. I've never used this and I don't know how to use this. If anybody has any input, please write up a description and post it below. Matter Decompiler - This handy tool will let you clean up most trash around the station, including mice. Just highlight it in your item bar and click on the tile that you want to pick up items from. It will destroy anything on that tile that is capable of being destroyed. Welding Tool - As the name suggests, this tool welds stuff. Most of the time, however, you will be using it to unweld things that shouldn't have been welded together in the first place (I'm looking at you, airlocks). To use it, highlight it in your toolbar and use it (Z in keyboard mode). This will turn it on. You can then click on the object that you would like to weld. You can also use it to burn alien fungus off of walls. Remember to turn it off when you are finished using it to conserve fuel (Z in keyboard mode). To refill it, make sure that it is turned off and click on a nearby fuel tank while the welder is highlighted in your item bar. DO NOT DO THIS WHILE THE WELDER IS TURNED ON!!!!! Screwdriver - The screwdriver is a tool used for constructing and deconstructing objects. It can also be used to access the wiring of certain machines. Just highlight it on your item bar and click on the nearby object that you want to use it on. Wrench - The wrench is a tool used for constructing and deconstructing objects. It can also be used to fasten certain objects to the ground, or connect air tanks. Just highlight it on your item bar and click on the nearby object that you want to use it on. Crowbar - The crowbar is useful for, well, crowbaring stuff. You can use it to open de-powered doors, pry apart windows, etc. It is also useful for smashing things, like spiders. Just highlight it on your item bar and click on the nearby object that you want to use it on. Wirecutters - Wirecutters can be used to remove wiring when you've made a mistake laying it down. They are also used in hacking, and are needed to repair cut hacked wires (for some reason). Just highlight it on your item bar and click on the nearby object that you want to use it on. Multitool - The multitool can tell you if there is power running through a wire. Also, it can be used to "pulse" wires while hacking, which can have temporary affects in some machines or toggle certain settings in others. It is vital when trying to fix one of those vending machines that shoot stuff at the humanoids. Just highlight it on your item bar and click on the nearby object that you want to use it on. Light Replacer - The light replacer is used to replace lights that are broken or missing from their socket. Just highlight it on your item bar and click on the nearby light socket that you want to use it on. It holds a limited number of bulbs (max: 20) but will restock at a cyborg charging station. Magnetic Gripper - The magnetic gripper is the closes thing to a hand that you have. Unfortunately, it's not as good as a normal hand, since it can only pick up some items. Just highlight it on your item bar and click on the nearby object that you want to use it on. This will pick up the item if it is capable of being picked up by it. You can click on a nearby location to drop the item or use that item on an object. Drone Abilities: There are a number of abilities that you have as a drone in addition to the aforementioned tools. Here are a few of the more important ones that you will use frequently: Hiding - Hiding lets you take your avatar and have it drawn behind other objects in the game. For example, you will be visible on top of tables if you are not hiding, but you will be under the table if you are hiding. This is great if you want to sneak up on mice or just go afk for a little while without worrying about somebody coming by and throwing you into a trash bin. You can hide by clicking the "hide" action in the abilities tab to the right of the game UI pane. Mail travel - The station has a mail system integrated with the disposal system that you can use to fast-travel throughout the station. To do this, you first have to set your mail tag. Go to the robot commands tab to the right of the game UI pane and select the "set mail tag" action. This will pop up a window that you can use to select your destination. If you hit cancel instead of ok, you will be treated like normal trash. The timing for sending yourself through the disposal unit is a little bit tricky. You have to click on the disposal unit to open up the options window. Then, click and drag your avatar onto the adjacent disposal unit. Then, you need to click the "engage" button in the disposal unit options window before the progress bar above your avatar is full. You should be whisked away to your destination if you are successful. Station Access - You can access almost every room on the station as a drone. Most doors have their own drone access port that you can walk right through. Built-in Lights - You have built-in lights that you can toggle on and off. The Toggle Lights action is available under the Robot Commands tab. Alarm Monitoring - You can monitor various alarms on the station as a drone. This includes power, fire, air, motion and camera alarms. To see the current alarm status, go to the subsystems tab and click on the alarm monitor action. A window showing all active alarms will pop up. You also receive notifications in your chat box whenever an alarm is turned on or off. Use these alarms to help you determine where you are most needed on the station. Communications - Drones are able to hear the general comms channel, the robot comms channel, and their own drone channel. The first two are useful for hearing about problems on the station that you can address. The latter is useful for coordinating with other drones. Remote machine access - You can use computers, vending machines, doors, etc. remotely. You can conveniently see and manipulate APC's and air monitors at a distance. You can turn on the solar array without having to stand right next to the computer. It's more of a convenience than anything else. Common Drone Tasks: The specifics of how you spend your time while on patrol are up to you, but keep in mind your primary objective is all about maintaining and improving the station. As such, here are some common tasks that you will find yourself doing in the line of duty. Litter control - Your matter decompiler is capable of cleaning up most litter on the station. Broken light bulbs, used candy wrappers, spent cigarettes and more fall to your might. It won't pick up litter that isn't trash though. If that light bulb isn't broken then it's untouchable. The best way to learn is through trial-and-error. Just have the matter decompiler in your item bar and select it. Click on a location that has trash in it, and any items that can be destroyed will be. Anything that is left over isn't really your problem anymore, but you can drag it to a nearby trash bin if you are feeling charitable. Cleaning - You are equipped with a bar of soap, which is capable of cleaning up most messes. The best way to do this is to directly click on that pool of blood with the soap highlighted in your item bar. Clicking on the tile below it will clean it, but only if your soap is wet. You can wet the soap by highlighting it in your item bar and clicking on a container that has water. Sinks, buckets and water tanks are good for this. Keep in mind that the soap will only stay wet long enough to clean 10 tiles though. Pest Control - Mice are dirty non-humanoid creatures that don't belong on your station and your matter decompiler is just big enough to crush them. Just have it out, selected and click on that mouse. You should hear the sounds of one less problem in the world. Don't forget to clean the blood afterwards, because those dirty rodents can't even die without messing up the floor. Replacing Light bulbs - You effectively have an infinite supply of light bulbs as long as there is at least one powered charging station. You are like the light bulb messiah. Go find broken light bulbs and replace them. To do this, just select your light bulb replacer and click on the light socket that is empty or that has a broken light bulb. A new bulb should now be in the socket, and, if present, the old, broken bulb will be on the ground. If that didn't work, it may mean that you are out of bulbs and should go to your nearest charging station to get more. You can check your bulb count by "using" the replacer (pressing z in keyboard mode with it highlighted). Don't forget to clean up after yourself before you leave. You don't want one of the humanoids choking on that broken light bulb. Get your matter decompiler out, highlight it and click on the broken light bulb to remove it from existence. That's it! Crisis averted. Good job everybody. Fixing hacks and glitches - Sometimes things go haywire and it's up to you to fix them. You start with everything you need to pop open malfunctioning machinery and set them straight. To do this, grab your screwdriver and use it on the machine (door, vending machine, etc) that you would like to work on to open the access panel. Then, click on it while using your multitool or wire cutters and the "hacking" window will open up. From here, you can re-connect any broken wires or use the multitool to toggle the various indicator lights. For example, you need the multitool to stop vending machines from shooting at people. You can close the access panel with your screwdriver when you are finished. Check out the tg hacking guide for more details on specific machines: http://www.ss13.eu/wiki/index.php/Hacking. Fixing Windows - I don't know why humanoids sometimes decide that they don't want to use doors anymore. Maybe there is a switch in their brains that causes them to forget how to use them. Either way, it's up to you to undo the damage when they decide to crash through a window instead. Most windows on the station will be of the grille-and-panel design. To fix one, first clear out any debris that was left over. You can clean up the broken glass using your matter decompiler (highlight in the item bar and click on the glass shards). The leftover metal rods can be dragged away (right click and click pull or ctrl click in keyboard mode). Now move onto the space where that window used to be and use your metal rod synthesizer (Highlight in item bar and press Z in keyboard mode). This will assemble the grille. Now move adjacent to the grille and highlight the reinforced glass in your item bar. Click on the edge of the grille where you want to place the glass to assemble the window. If you clicked the wrong edge, you can right click the window and rotate it using the context menus. Once in place, use the screwdriver on the window to complete the process. Replacing floor tiles - Floor tiles have an interesting habit of disappearing when nobody is looking. That's not a problem for you though! Just get that floor tile synthesizer in your item bar, select it and click on where you want a new floor tile to go. I recommend using the metal one instead of the wood one if you want to avoid trips to the charging station. Quote Link to comment
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