/tg/Station 13

I have an idea for a new map. It would be a ship, with multiple decks. Bridge at the top, engineering somewhere at the bottom, etc... Each deck would be a separate Z-level. Elevators would be used to go between decks. Step in, close door, move to different deck.

From a code perspective, there would need to be some way of making the ship Z-levels special, compared to the space Z-levels, so that explosions could span multiple decks and so that falling through floors would work correctly. The elevators could work like teleporters, moving you between Z-levels. When an explosion of a certain size is created, smaller explosions on the Z-levels "above" and "below" are created to simulate the effect of a large explosion. When someone steps on a hole between Z-levels, they fall through and appear on the deck below.

Thoughts, questions and insults focusing on my poor writing skills are all welcome. I'm sure there's something I've forgotten, so if you see anything I've missed, please tell me.

Well, get to mapping.

idea been had for years
never really worked out great

Bombs basically screw up this netire idea, and if there's space -- leaving the station would have 3 different 'space' levels outside the station, which is bad

It only works on Bay, sadly. Because DAMN the Luna was sexy.

Judging by your responses, a multi Z-level map would be a coding nightmare.

How would you feel about a single Z-level ship, that can be piloted just like the syndicate shuttle?

It would be interesting if you can make it work.

A station that is a ship and which could be piloted to Z-levels is a really neat idea. Don't think anyone's done more than talk about it before.

Its not that it would be a hard concept to pull off, its just that it would be a very time consuming one to do. On average it can take up to 20 hours to design and create a map, and we're talking about a very unorthodox map (a ship).

Steelpoint wrote:It would be interesting if you can make it work.

I'd need an explanation of the nukeop shuttle code first. In fact, I'd need an explanation of SS13 coding and it's quirks in general.

Let's remake the Von Braun

Shuttle code was rewritten recently and odds are it might be rewritten again, but fortunately for you the changes means that shuttles are easier to work with.

The long and short of it is that shuttles work by creating a large box over the area you want to be moveable, this is good though it will mean anyone caught outside the ship when it moves will be flung off into space (as it should be).

Once a shuttle has been ordered to move, it will immediently move from its current location to a "transit" zone. Once in this zone it will count down until it reaches its destination, this is essentially moving it to a new Z-Level that shows the background stars moving in the direction the ship is going. By default its five second but this value can be changed to any number you want, you would need to create a entirely new z-level dedicated to this as the ship would take up most of the z-level. Once the time is finished it will arrive at the target destination.

E: Your best bet is just to get a ship design working BEFORE you worry about making it moveable, imo a good start would be sketching (in paint for example) a basic outline of how you want your final map to look like.

Two things need to be added to make a moving station interesting:
>destructable/ constructable engines that have an effect on the time it takes for a ship to get somewhere
>engine powersources
>

Shuttle code currently only shifts shuttle turfs.