Circuit tweaks, changes, etc.

[Recurracy]

So a couple hours ago I was talking with Orange and some other folks about why they think circuits aren't exactly the best idea, or that they think circuits are gimped, and why it's gimped. On one hand, there's the naysayers that think circuits are too complex or don't offer anything useful, and that it could be abused, and on the other hand, there are people who think they aren't powerful enough given how complex they are, and how easy it is to really screw over the station with other gameplay elements.

Orange believes they're a pain in the ass to maintain, or to administer, which I believe is mostly the fault of the incredibly lacking excuse of an interface. The same interface is what causes people to veer away from circuits and not explore their potential, while the ones who are able to see through that crappy interface or use a different interface entirely (ahum http://wiress13.cf/) find that it's incredibly lacking in what it can really do.
At its current state, the thing that you'll see most is an epileptic rainbow light machine, a remote door opener/bolter, or the goddamn notorious glass thrower we all know and love.

It really came to my attention just how oddly implemented circuits currently are during this pull request, which if implemented completely, would allow us to interact with atmosia. Cool, more possibilit- nope, it got mostly cut and the only thing that got added was an atmosphere analyzer. Which means the best we can do with that now is a circuit that tells you there is poisonous plasma in the air. Uhhhh... Okay... Cool... But what about the vents and stuff? If we had the vents and gas storage, we could be able to make an automatic oxygen dispenser that provides the user with oxygen when there is plasma, and fills itself with oxygen in peaceful times... But alas, most of it got cut.

So I've been wondering - WHY did it get cut? This is something many of the circuit freaks were asking about. Is it because nobody wants a repeat of the notorious glass thrower, which could instakill syndies? That won't happen anymore because 1. throwers were nerfed, 2. you can't make assemblies grab other assemblies anymore, which was exactly what it relied on.

I feel what most of it boils down to is the terribly shit interface, as Oranges says here.


Well, that and cloning. There's one main solution that seems pretty clear - and that is to improve the user interface. The maker of wiress13.cf is currently working on integrating his nice website at the moment, we'll see how that goes.

I can personally say that I really don't want circuits gone, as I love the feature. It gives science a really neat thing to do other than just fucking around with plasma bombs, but they really need more use right now. So I made this topic to that goal, so that it can stay, and it'll evolve into something better than just glorified door remotes or WGW spambots.

[Shezza]

lol remember when goofball was all like

"this will replace science!"

[oranges]

Don't forget the whole problem with people needing persistence across rounds to "properly" enjoy circuits, that to me is a smell of something that is not really fitting in with the round mechanics of ss13.