diff --git a/src/design-proposals/SupermatterAntag.md b/src/design-proposals/SupermatterAntag.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..a95e988b --- /dev/null +++ b/src/design-proposals/SupermatterAntag.md @@ -0,0 +1,116 @@ +# Implementing a SuperMatter Themed Antagonist + +| Designers | Implemented | GitHub Links | +|---|---|---| +| SIU + Snippet from Joaco545 + snippet from Dicerson + Snippet from Neadsy + Scrambleking | :x: No | TBD | + +## Overview + + What I am proposing is implementing a SuperMatter Themed Antagonist that would function in two primary ways. It would display NT negligence for increased efficiency and acquiring of cash. As well as functioning as an antag built around exploiting and loopholing space law, and NT SOP around it, to be in a good position to conquer the station. + +## Background + it would function as a way to give magistrate, lawyer, and similar roles more unique job performances relating to this antagonist, as well as encouraging security to squint and try to see if this antagonist is overstepping the lines, additionally, in order to prevent it from being over centralized, this bonus "SM" can have a purposes for each department, likely being a little less hostile unless it's trying to be then the original supermatter, acting as a creature from the dimension. Points and better machines for SCI, printing money for Cargo, P O W E R for engineering, better guns, and helpful allies for SEC, dozens of paperwork lackies for command/NTR, general hands to help service, and better access to medical chems for medical. Links to relevant conversations: https://discord.com/channels/1276640157511979008/1276653734767755294/1491577740263166183 + https://discord.com/channels/1276640157511979008/1276653734767755294/1491678408298598522 + +## Features to be added + + The major feature to be added: The Chrystaline Supermatter, is a sort of bee/hive themed semi-conversion, deal tangled cult antagonist. Essentially the idea is that Nanotrasen implements this Chrystaline SuperMatter experimentally, because it’s a little cheaper to produce than normal Supermatter, and is slightly more adaptable. As well as increasing the productivity of Engineering staff that are influenced by it, as long as the deals it makes are followed. At the crux of it, this antagonist is built to rules lawyer deals made with it into giving it a LOT of wiggle room. Its main abilities would be to convert crew, and silicons, distribute commands, and generate LUDICROUS amounts of power. To the point it may cause wire burns when it decides to stop operating outside of its deals completely. The Infected crew abilities would be construction of crystalline metallic hive material, and deconstruction capabilities, as well as inbuilt capabilities for all available utility goggles, tools, and a quick and easy to access map. As well as the ability to construct traps, I.e Holofan based atmos traps, shock traps, stuff like that, Additionally combat related capabilities would be heavy incendiary and radiation damage via stingers and brawling, plus an electric stun to snag crew once it starts violating the deals it makes. These are done through natural means. There’d be a crafting station for crafting some more advanced tools, guns, and resources, I think, probably crystalline and goopy. The main goal would be empowering the Chrystaline Supermatter enough that it can hatch into a queen, not a true round end immediately, but it’s equivalent to the all hands on deck requirement of the monolith or final ritual being activated given it’s good at converting and ashing. If greater than 85% of the crew or the station’s tiles are converted, then that’s the round end, with the station becoming a hive that sells power to NT. The bow that ties this together, is the reccomendations that the CTM would give, encouraging command to appease it and strike bargains, as well as working with security, lawyers, and magistrate to establish deals treating it as crew, encouraging it to stay within the deals it makes whilst generating absurd amounts of power, treating it and any hive members as crew as long as those deals are maintained. Those deals able to state things like: if more than 30% of the crew is a part of the hive, it may not make any conversions, as well as something like: hive material must not interfere with crew operations. Things of that nature. As well as the deals relating to just keeping the Chrystaline SuperMatter appeased, but not aggressively conquering. Encouraging Magistrate, security and Lawyers to interact with, and roleplay out effective HOA agreements with that hive. + Infected would likely have glowing yellow eyes that can be hidden in the early stages, as well as taking on more blatant crystaline bee related traits in the mid-late stages of this antagonist, although if it hasn't broken it's deals, even if they get blatant features like that, they would still not be valid. Communication for the supermatter can only be done on an antag radio, until communications servers get subverted, at which point it can talk on the infected servers. It can see through it's tiles, infected crew, as well as eventually cameras if the camera routers get assimilated. In general, the supermatter can infect machines to use them in the same way the AI can. Able to upgrade those machines to perform better using some of it's power to use in bargaining as well. Additionally, the Chrystaline Supermatter can develop subnodes to diversify from it's initial boons made to bargain with the station. To give points, power, tools, weapons, money, all sorts of bargaining chips, but at a touch of a price. + +## Optional Features + + When cameras are subverted, the AI and supermatter can see eachother's cursors when looking around. Gingerbreads in the mid-late stage look like they're made of suppermatter. Moths Go full bee mode at the early stage, Arachnids go wasp mode. Security can assign a status unique to those infected by something. + +## Game Design Rationale + + The idea is to encourage more command/security and crew tension, as well as general roleplay shenanigans you can get up to with an antagonist that is weak at first and has to comply with the deals it makes with command, but builds up to a good spot to escalate past the limits of the deals it makes. If the Antag wants to actually comply with the deals, they probably can if they really wanted to, and do their antagonism by the book. As a conversion antagonist, there is technically a win/lose state unfortunately, but I aimed for it to be more roleplay oriented as it’s a conversion antagonist that isn’t valid at roundstart due to snowballing a little, and trying to get stronger within it's deals till it can burst free. Plus the silliness of just: Nanotrasen and a hivemind rules lawyering each other is a bonus. + +## Roundflow & Player interaction + + Chrystaline matter arrives in a shipment to the bridge, with a few infected personnel being brought to bridge to bargain with the other departments, to give major boons This includes security, and means security can be corrupted soon after round start. As the Chrystaline matter can only do one thing at a time at the start of the round, this encourages competative bidding to get whatever the chrystaline matter has to offer each department which in turn means sewing a little tension between departments, and overall more competitive bids. + + A department then gets the Chrystaline Matter depending on the results of the bidding, and revels in the boons from it, getting corrupted inside out, with the command member's SOP job being to contain, but IC? They're likely going to get bribed into compliance. The chrystaline matter would then slooowly branch out from it's host department, staying within the deals made best it can with the magistrate and IAA inspecting it's borders to make sure it stays within deals, whilst the chrystaline matter attempts to toe the line, whilst acquiring even more power for itself, before reaching the midstage some 15-20% of the tiles and crew infected. Able to make subnodes to provide lesser boons to other departments or even more boons to it's main one. At this point physical changes will out it as existing to the general public, whilst empowering the infected BUT it is not neccesarily valid just yet, but depending on the airtightness of deals, it may be approaching it, the conversions would be a little more obvious, and the general crew would be encouraged to start raising a ruckus about not wanting to become literal drones in the bee sense, for the corporation, it'd start infecting a decent chunk of machines on the station at this point, and may even start talking on comms and using the cameras if comms and cameras were not corrupted till then. +Eventually depending on it's position, potentially corrupting the silicons into buzzy borgs. In the late stage, roughly 50% crew/station conversion the chrystaline matter will hatch, into a big ole elegant chrystaline bee queen, any deals made to allow it to actually hatch are only able to be granted by centcomm itself and it generally won't do that. At which point it's an outright war to stop the queen from outright infecting the whole station and making it a chrystaline hive asset rather then a NT asset. +NOTE: HATCHING =/= ROUND END, HATCHING = ALL HANDS ON DECK SCENARIO I.E NUKE BEING ARMED. +Effectively it's an antagonist NT wants that turns a chosen department into antags by association, as well as generally rules lawyering deals. + +## Passive Variant + + The passive variant compared to the hostile variant, is a roundstart ghostrole that appears nearby to the supermatter, it sometimes appears and in comparison to the hostile variant, only hass access to the passive abilities of each department and it's core passive abilities, and can only get it's departmental NOT core early-mid abilities when fed with certain gases, Tritium for engineering, Healium for medical, Nitrox for Cargo, and Proto-Nitrate for science. + The hostile variant appears roundstart nearby to the supermatter, but is not a ghostrole, but by nature that shouldn't change things too much. + +## Chrystaline Matter Power Growth. + + + +**Core CM Abilities:** +- EEPY/passive - Able to convert machines for personal use, VERY limited range of spread, can overcharge power cells to 2 times capacity. Immunity to Burn, Poison, Shock, and Radiation. Resistance to piercing and slashing. Able to insta-ash infected griefers. Able to infect but **ONLY** with the help of an engineering tool, and thus used as an alternate execution method. can infect borgs, but a limited number. Can Multiclass from it's initial pick Through: Healium<->Med, Engineering<->Tritium, Cargo<->Nitrium, R&D<->Proto-Nitrate +- Early-Mid- Infecting wires. Able to anchor and unanchor itself. Eye in the Sky Gameplay. infecting floor tiles. Subverting machines in order to make use of them for it's own needs, using them in the same way the AI can use those machines, such as camera routers & Comms Servers. buffing machines it infects to be faster and more resource efficient. Antag Chat. **CAN ONLY SPEAK IN COMMS** can convert crew & Borgs 3 starting infected. Gets strengthened and healed by hot gases. Gets weaker in the cold. Can signal and coordinate on a navmap the infected have access to. Can also signal tiles for infected. Has a research tree like structure that can be used to get various departmental abilities, alongside the abilities it passively gains. Can Overcharge any power cell to 2 times capacity. Immunity to Burn, Poison, Shock, and Radiation. Resistance to piercing and slashing. Able to insta-ash infected griefers. +- Mid-Late- Constructing Subnodes to perform functions for other departments then the chosen one, Infecting walls. Converting mindshielded crew. Causing wire burns along wires it infects if chosen. generating flammable gases. heals infected crew. Increases the ambient temperature if allowed. able to teleport to any other infected tiles. HATCHING(instantly transitions to endgame). Can Overcharge any power cell to 4 times capacity. **Space Turns a yellowish green** +- ENDGAME- **Is a big ole Bee Queen instead of a rock**. Can use both a player, and eye in the sky pov, albeit the latter makes it form a protective shield but stand still. Can speak in standard chat, rather then only various comms. Causes heavy Radiation, and Burn damage with basic attacks. Can grab crew and break them over the knee to make them dead crew. Converts dead crew into more infected with a numpad action. Can revive dead infected with a fairly long do-after. Emits a high amount of radiation, and heat into the atmosphere. Can Overcharge any power cell to 8 times capacity. Can fly in space, Immune to pressure. Has two handslots, and a natural inventory. **Space turns GOLD** + +**CM Infected Abilities:** +- EEPY/Passive - Inbuilt toolset, gets weaker in the cold, vulnerable to cold, has to obey Hive orders, Immune to Radiation and Fire. Generates resin as well, but far slower. **has glowing yellow eyes and antennae, buzzes when talking** If exposed to enough radiation, the Mid-late physical effects of **gaining bee like wings, abdomen, and fuzz**, as well as the ability to make resin atmos/circuits. is granted, to add further plausible deniability to the chrystaline matter. +- Early-Mid- Inbuilt tool set, includes effectively everything in an engineer's tool belt. Gets strengthened and healed by hot gases. Gets weaker in the cold. Can make Hive Resin Tiles, windows, doors, and walls by generating the resin passively at a rate roughly matching the experimental RCD in terms the ratio to material:what's constructed. Immunity to Burn, Shock, & Radiation damage. Vulnerable to cold damage. **Has glowing yellow eyes, and antennae, buzz when talking.** CQC attacks & Punches deal light Radiation, Burn, and Physical damage. Note: due to interactions with changelings, changelings will get ashed by this antag if converted, and are encourages to pull whatever stops to run away it can. +- Mid-Late- Can build hive resin traps(Pits, Permanent Holofans, Hotpipes, Radzones, Blowdarts), circuits, wires, and atmos pipes. Gains pressure immunity. Can perform a leap, which can be an attack if harm is the mode selected. **Gains bee like wings, an abdomen, and the fuzz one would associated with a bee as physical signatures**. Can perform rituals to create a workstation that can make hive based hardsuits, voidsuits, jetpacks, and lances that can be used in harm dashes, These lances can be charged to deal Radiation, Burn, and Physical damage. Can perform conversion rituals on their own on any hive tile. +- ENDGAME- **Goes full bee in terms of apperance**. CQC attacks & Punches deal moderate Radiation, Burn, and Physical damage. Gains a stinger that can begin a viral infection that converts a crew member after a minute if they aren't shoved in the oubliette. Passively heats up the atmosphere around them, and emits radiation. Can perform rituals to convert crew, including mind shielded crew at higher speeds on any hive tile. Can construct hive based shuttle components. Gain resistance to slashing and pierce damage. + +**Infected Borg Abilities:** +- EEPY/Passive - 0th law to protect all station cores at all cost, and **L.E.D has a yellow glow.** +- Early-mid- Reimplements a little bit of flat damage resistance, and includes a light amount of regeneration. Immunity to radiation, and Flames. 0th law to protect all station cores at all costs, I.e AI core, Chrystaline Matter, Supermatter, tesla, Singulo, etc. **L.E.D has a yellow glow.** +- Mid-Late- Can tank damage from nearby infected crew. Can ignore Do-after Interruptions. **Start buzzing when talking.** +- Endgame- Provide an active shield to nearby infected crew when living, thus needing to be taken down first. **Morphs into a mechanical bee automaton** + +**Engineering Centric Abilities:** +- EEPY/Passive - Generates a little power. +- Early-Mid- Can generate lots of power. Able to make atmos from the start. Able to produce various gases. +- Mid-Late- Facilitates easier creation of metallic hydrogen. Can enhance metallic hydrogen gear to strong knightly levels. +- ENDGAME- Gains a knightly dash with a lance it can make, gains the resistances that the metallic hydrogen armor gives. + +**R&D Centric Abilities:** +- EEPY/Passive - Generates some points, and charges batteries faster. +- Early-Mid- Generates points at a fair rate, increases general speed, health, resistance, and damage of infected borgs by a fair margin. Can change batteries to make them run twice as efficiently. +- Mid-Late- Generates even more points, as well as acting as a protolathe that can create any item that science has researched, accessible or not through the regular protolathe. +- ENDGAME- It and crew can cause detonations at themselves at will. Gain immunity to explosive damage. Can cause EMPs, localized teleportation of non infected crew, heat spikes, chemical anomalies, you name it, and cause the criticality effects to occur at will. + +**Medical Centric Abilities:** +- EEPY/Passive - Heals crew slowly. +- Early-Mid- Generates lowgrade medical chemicals. Gains the ability to heal faster. +- Mid-Late- Generates mid-high grade medical chemicals. Gains the ability to revive crew alongside the infected. Additionally, revived and healed crew are resistant to radiation, and gain a virus that converts them over the course of a few minutes. Infected can heavily heal others. +- ENDGAME- Very viral, spreads like zombies, infection takes course over a minute. infected crew has immunity to poison damage + +**Cargo Centric Abilities:** +- Early-Mid- Generates basic materials and something that could be sold. +- Mid-Late- Generates advanced materials. Can enhance Proto-Kinetic equipment, as well as further enchance hardsuits. In addition, Pressure immunity is gained by infected crew. Can create more deadly guns +- ENDGAME- Gains the ability to perform a radioactive fireball attack. Can damage large portions of non Hive infrastructure. Can create powerful high strength armaments it or it's crew can use. It and it's crew gain resistance to blunt damage. + +## Chrystaline Matter Counters + + Cold atmospheres can weaken the Chrystaline Matter and Infected crew, it doesn't result in death, but it does apply some breathing room if needed. Hot atmospheres consequently strengthen them. Atmos & Cosmic Cult as such can do some decent damage to their capabilities. The bread and butter of the chrystaline matter is radiation and heat damage, meaning engineering is equipped to counter it as long as they can bypass the heat, and actively destroying the Chrystaline Matter crystal can work. + + In order to give the chrystaline matter a healthbar/ and damage it. It needs to be below -5 degrees Celsius. Otherwise attacks would just rebound off! + + In addition to that. The chrystaline matter is also susceptible to lawyers, the magistrate, and IAA, as it has to work with deals at the start, depending on how airtight those deals are, it reduces how strong it's able to get before it's forced to go loud. Not to mention security can assigned infected crew to be suspects. In addition, before the physical changes start, science can make an oubliette to cure the influence. However once they start having major physical changes, surgery, is the only lasting cure. + +## Chrystaline Meta-shield +- Public knowledge - A handful of crew will be lightly influenced by the Chrystaline Matter, this is intentional as it becomes even more stable when deals are struck with these people, and provide more specialized benefits to the crew. People under a light influence behave more efficiently as crew. Treat these crew, and the chrystaline matter, as neutral entities for the purposes of negotiation. In addition, the Chrystaline Matter provides these benefits: -List of beneficial effects of the Chrystaline Matter- +- CTM - A list of the side effects, with a big warning to only start trying to cool and damage the CM, **IF** it's overstepping it's bounds and limitations due to ratvars influence somehow getting intense enough to wake up the insect inside. +- Alert one - Light Topaz Alert - 12 crew or 15% tile conversion - Increase in local radiation levels detected and increased status of mental distress, Please check on supermatter related entities and apply cooling if neccesary. +- Alert two - Topaz Alert - 18 crew or 15-20% tile conversion as tiles would start being trapped guarenteed crew would start showing signs of being infected, and this is when more air tight deals are meant to fall through.- Large spike in local radiation levels, and composition scans report a shift in station composition, please investigate in order to shield the affected areas and prepare radiation and fire suits for general use, in addition: If deals are being violated, please rectify it as per the level of vandalism caused. +- Alert three - Deep Topaz Alert - 24 crew, 30-40% tile conversion(either being met causes hatching) - Chrystaline HyperStructure is indicated to be failing, please cool it down immediately- +- Alert four - Deep Topaz Alert - HATCHING - Chrystaline HyperStructure failed. Contain the Chrystaline Delamination with whatever means are available, cooling is highly effective, HEV, and Radiation, suits are reccomended. +- Alert five - Final Topaz Alert - 95% tile conversion/Total Living Crew Conversion - Total station Delamination detected. Consider all crew lost. +## Administrative & Server Rule Impact + +- Does this feature introduce any new rule enforcement challenges or additional workload for admins? It involves CTM and metashield weirdness, so yes, it would require some admin oversight to make sure people don’t rush the supermatter whilst it’s behaving. +- Could this feature increase the likelihood of griefing, rule-breaking, or player disputes? It provides the form of griefing of just sprinting at the hive, or people griefing the hive by acting out of it's deals. Or as I have been informed, the HoS going out of their way to destroy it ahead of time if the CTM informed them of all of the potential negative effects, even if actively intended to be punished by the magistrate for doing so. +- How are the rules enforced mechanically by way the feature will be implemented? This is semi-reinforced mechanically by rushing a supermatter adjacent object on your own that’s defended being a bad idea, no matter how early in the round it is... Unless you happen to be the HoS, it is treated as a neutral entity but is defended by at least 3 crew members. And griefing whilst on the Chrystaline matter's team gets ya ashed by it. + +## Lore Considerations + +So turns out the Supermatter seems like it's just stellar phenomena. A dead eldritch being like Ratvar is likely a source of chaos, so could likely explain this as a creature type that formed ON supermatter that formed around, or under the influence of this dead god. This section is highly susceptible to change however. Additionally 99.9% of the time in lore, this is totally stable, hence why the negative effects aren't mentioned, it's just that ss13/14 rounds are always hellshifts. + +# Technical Considerations + +- Are there any anticipated performance impacts? Possibly lighting based if it’s using supermatter lighting, if lighting impacts the frames. +- Does the feature require new systems, UI elements, or refactors of existing ones? it would likely require a fork of certain cult of both varieties, AI, and supermatter code. +- For required UI elements, give a short description or a mockup of how they should look like (for example a radial menu, actions & alerts, navmaps, or other window types): as an antagonist, needs custom UI elements to distinguish what the hive wants the crew under its control to do. As well as a custom navmap managed by the supermatter, likely a radial menu to place Little crystaline markers on the map to show where it wants people to go, as well as a separate menu to manage the various little traps, crafting stations, as well as natural tools. The crafting station would just use the protolathe UI for crafting. Possibly something similar to the research tree for it's abilities.