diff --git a/src/SUMMARY.md b/src/SUMMARY.md index 8c3cbd2356..9da7d966d6 100644 --- a/src/SUMMARY.md +++ b/src/SUMMARY.md @@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ Space Station 14 - [PR Guidelines]() - [Proposals]() + - [Telesalvage Proposal](en/space-station-14/departments/cargo/proposals/telesalvage-proposal.md) - [Salvage Proposal](en/space-station-14/departments/cargo/proposals/salvage-proposal.md) - [Mail Deliveries](en/space-station-14/departments/cargo/proposals/mail-delivery.md) diff --git a/src/en/space-station-14/departments/cargo/proposals/telesalvage-proposal.md b/src/en/space-station-14/departments/cargo/proposals/telesalvage-proposal.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..065069b60d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/en/space-station-14/departments/cargo/proposals/telesalvage-proposal.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +# Telesalvage + +# Salvage + +| Designers | Implemented | GitHub Links | +|----------------|---|---| +| SolventMercury | :x: No | TBD | + +## Overview + +This is a proposal to fundamentally restructure the salvager role into something completely new. It would involve removing all currently present methods of obtaining salvage and replacing them with entirely new ones, but the core pillars of the salvager - scavenging, exploration, and PvE combat - would be maintained. + +The focus of telesalvage is in removing space travel from salvage's job. Salvage would no longer be expected to go EVA or take a shuttle to points of interest out in space - instead, salvage would reach points of interest with loot by being teleported to them with collaboration from the Science department. This would involve opening a portal on the station to the dungeon being explored and moving back and forth through it. + +## Background + +Prior to this document's introduction, salvage has had a number of places in which to find salvage - random derelicts and asteroids, the VGRoid, the salvage magnet, and expeditions. All of these salvage sources are flawed for largely the same reasons: +- All of these place the salvager at great distance from the station, making them largely unreachable and uninteractive with everyone else in the game. +- The salvager is often expected to either construct their own space shuttle, which is difficult and not very fun, or to leech off of the Cargo shuttle, which creates problems for cargo players. +- Salvagers are incentivized to spend as little time on-station as possible, especially because of how long it takes to set up a shuttle and start playing the role. This leads to them often failing to distribute resources; conversely, cargo often buys resources like steel even if salvage has already procured large amounts of it. + +## Details + +As stated previously, this proposal would involve removing all currently available sources of salvage. Salvagers will no longer be expected to fly out into space at any point. Instead, to reach salvage sources, salvagers will need to rely on Science players to calibrate and maintain a portal. Once opened, the portal acts as a link between the station and a static dungeon of limited size. The portal remains open persistently, continually permitting objects, players, and mobs to walk back and forth through it freely. + +Unlike salvage magnets and expeditions, there is no timer on exploring this dungeon, and new areas to explore do not become available with the passing of time. Instead, the salvager must retrieve a Coordinate Disk or complete some other objective before science has what they need to open a portal to a new location. When this happens, science will need time to complete a research process, ideally at least 5-10 minutes, creating downtime for salvage to thoroughly loot the dungeon, request upgrades from science, and hang out at the station. + +## Dungeon Structure and Contents + +The dungeons in this proposal would be drastically different from current salvage sources in a number of ways. Firstly, no more ore mining as it currently exists - ore is a bad mechanic, it's boring and repetitive and basically just a mindless chore. Secondly, dungeons would be much smaller spatially - the intent is for salvagers to keep going back and forth cracking the dungeon open, and the current dungeons are too wide and thin to facilitate that. Loot would be a lot more densely packed, but more time-consuming to get at than it is currently. Firstly, navigating the dungeon would require salvagers to navigate thick environmental obstacles, cutting through kudzu, blowing away rockslides, and tearing apart gelatinous resin. This means that the salvagers will have to spend a lot of time to traverse the dungeon, but anyone who wants to come through the portal and find them will have a much faster trip moving through the areas they've already cleared. Secondly, some resources will be gated behind expenditures of time or resources - using a breaching charge to blow open a safe, or keeping a mineral drill fueled while it digs up ore. + +Dungeons should be full of both enemies and environmental hazards, and these hazards should develop in strength as salvagers make progress through the dungeon. For example, activating a drill might cause toxic gas to start leaking from joints in the rock or disturb a hive of monsters. As a long-term goal, I'd like to introduce a small number of player-controlled enemies who can manipulate the environment to push back the salvagers, instead of the combat relying solely on kiting or manipulating aggro/sightlines. This would also make it more realistic for salvage mobs to make their way back up into the station through the portal and potentially introduce chaos into an ongoing round, though they would be at a great disadvantage given security's much higher firepower. + +Lastly, it should be feasible and purposeful for non-salvagers to visit the dungeon - for example, a scientist might want to take a scan of an alien carving, or the chef might take Alexander down as a truffle-hunting pig or something. Exploring areas the salvage team has already secured should never be risk-free, but it shouldn't be a death wish either. I won't partake in an extended discussion of what loot should be present, but it should be a wide variety of quirky and unique items, contraband items, and raw materials, but should generally not be very dense in high-speso items or in processed items. Many items should be useful to departments unrelated to salvage, or useless outside of RP/fun value, like rare wines, undiscovered alien plant seeds, wearable jewelery, or particularly cushy furniture. These items work as an implicit encouragement for salvage to either return to the station and show off their loot, or invite the crew down to admire the haul. + +## Field Equipment + +Currently, the salvager's loadout is geared towards small teams doing in-and-out looting operations. However, because we are deliberately limiting the number of dungeons salvagers can expect to access and encouraging them to prolong their stays, as part of this proposal, I would like to introduce equipment for setting up field camps in the dungeon - this would include coordinates transponders, so salvager suit coordinates get relayed back to the station, radio repeaters to keep them connected to comms, portable power generation, recharge stations, borg charging stations, and RP-oriented stuff like field cooking equipment or little tents to allow the crew to just Hang Out in the salvage dungeon. The dungeon should not be safe, but it should not be the Round Removal Zone either. This equipment should ABSOLUTELY be tied into science! Most importantly, salvagers should always be building a drop-off box where they can toss stuff to quickly relay it to the other side of the portal and get it immediately into the hands of the station. Salvagers shouldn't be going into that many dungeons in a round, but field equipment should be able to pack back up into a flatpack if it needs to be moved and redeployed elsewhere. \ No newline at end of file