diff --git a/src/SUMMARY.md b/src/SUMMARY.md index 5adfd93..b591d9d 100644 --- a/src/SUMMARY.md +++ b/src/SUMMARY.md @@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ - [Jobs](design/jobs.md) - [Bartender](design/jobs/bartender.md) - [Coroner](design/jobs/coroner.md) + - [Quartermaster](design/jobs/quartermaster.md) - [Scientist](design/jobs/scientist.md) - - [Supply](design/jobs/supply.md) - [Masks](design/masks.md) - [Modifiers](design/masks/modifiers.md) - [Amnesiac](design/masks/modifiers/amnesiac.md) diff --git a/src/design/jobs/quartermaster.md b/src/design/jobs/quartermaster.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f01148f --- /dev/null +++ b/src/design/jobs/quartermaster.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +# Quartermaster + +{{#template ../../templates/partially-implemented.md}} + +The Quartermaster is a job on station tasked with managing the supply of materials and tools on the station. +They are not aligned with any particular departments and function independently of any traditional departments. +While they do not have a strong reactive task, their role is reinforced by their control over supplies that other members of the crew want to use. + +## Manufacturing {.es-partially-implemented } + +The primary source of manufacturing and new items on the station is the **Autolathe,** a large immovable machine located inside the Quartermaster's area. + +The Autolathe takes in raw materials and creates various simple items, tools, and supplies, providing a way for common goods to be easily replenished. +This is mostly balanced out by the lathe's speed and prominence on the map. +Since it's located front and center inside Cargo, players wanting to take advantage of it either need to cooperate with the Quartermaster or noisily break in, drawing attention to themselves. +Anything they make can also be plainly seen by other people in the area, potentially drawing further attention to themselves. + +## Crates {.es-unimplemented } + +Alongside their Autolathe, the Quartermaster also receives a large supply of various crates. +All the crates are relatively sturdy, requiring any ne'er-do-wells (including the Quartermaster themselves) to either acquire the correct access or a sufficiently dangerous breaching tool. +These crates come in two basic types: + +The first type of crate is unlocked and contains only basic supplies. +These are generally accessible to anyone and can be a consistent source of items that may become difficult to find throughout the round. + +The second type of crate is job-related and reinforced physically with high resistances and an access lock. +These crates contain much more useful supplies, typically having items that are restricted to job lockers. +However, since those lockers are assigned per-player and cannot be easily opened, these crates serve as a more accessible way of getting those additional specific supplies. + +Since the Quartermaster's crates are generally out of the way and harder to acquire compared to general maintenance loot, they serve as higher-effort supplies that players can more reliably seek out and acquire with basic cooperation. +The Quartermaster themselves can either facilitate these interactions or play greedily, hoarding the supplies for themselves while conspiring to grab the goods for their own benefit. diff --git a/src/design/jobs/supply.md b/src/design/jobs/supply.md deleted file mode 100644 index 103a50b..0000000 --- a/src/design/jobs/supply.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,69 +0,0 @@ -# Supply - -{{#template ../../templates/partially-implemented.md}} - -```admonish warning -todo move some of this stuff into separate cargo/jani docs it shouldnt have been a dept doc anyway -``` - -**Supply** is a department focused on the processing of materials as well as the creation of tools and refined resources for the crew. -While they do not play a direct hand in the acquisition of rare resources, they are the center of manufacturing on the station and a necessary location for supplying the crew with whatever strange things they may need. - -## Warehouse - -Rather than the traditional dock and economic system, the core of supply in Ephemeral Space is the Warehouse. -The warehouse itself is a system of interconnected consoles that interfaces with custom pallets inside the department, creating a streamlined system that mimics the more typical ordering interface. -However, this system is not based on the exchange of money or the allocation of funds to different departments. -Instead, the cargo technicians themselves are given control over who gets the resources of the station. - -Once a player has decided to fulfill the order, they will have to deliver it to the correct area on-station (aided by tools like MULES or forklifts). - -Warehouse gameplay is intended to be high-interaction and movement-focused for players. -By providing others value through the delivery of items, cargo technicians are given an opportunity to respond to the needs of the station and supply them with whatever they need. - -## Recycling {.es-unimplemented} - -A departure from the typical makeup of Supply departments, the recycling process incorporates the Janitor into the supply department, giving them a limited amount of autonomy over sourcing common materials. - -Recycling is done through the large recycler machine (located inside disposals, adjacent to the Supply department). -Items, when fed through the recycler, are converted into basic materials which can then be collected and reprocessed into equipment. -This stream of basic materials allows the Supply team to continue getting items back out to the crew, even in situations where Telescience has stalled or randomly resulted in a deficit of typical resources. -It additionally gives a benefit to the collection and proper disposal of trash, as the materials can be extracted to return value to the crew. - -```admonish note "Balance" -Perhaps counter to initial intuition, recycling should offer an almost 100% return on any item that goes through it. -The reason for this is that the actual process of taking items, feeding them through the recycler, bringing them into the main manufacturing area, and creating new equipement out of them is an effortful process that should be rewarded through high yield. -Even still, for people outside the department themselves, they are required to go to Supply in order to replenish whatever they've used up, adding additional friction. -``` - -Beyond traditional recycling, the janitor is also tasked with "cleaning up" any alien left onboard the station. -By collecting various components teleported onto the station, they are able to bring these materials to the recycler, giving the department what the rarer resources they need. -Just picture a janitor dragging a giant alien corpse into cargo to cut up into hide plates. -It's awesome. - -## Manufacturing {.es-unimplemented} - -Manufacturing is the middle-step of cargo that links the sourcing gameplay of recycling to the delivery gameplay of the warehouse. -While the general mechanics of materials and construction are not unique to Supply, their position as a center for the movement of goods and resources both in and out of the department makes them an obvious choice to take control of manufacturing. - -The main tools of manufacturing are something I'll cautiously refer to as "crafters" for now. -While lathes are the most obvious example of crafters in the game, the general concept extends to any dedicated structure which receives materials and produces some item that cannot be made by hand. -Note that while a crafter may be able to make a certain item quicker or cheaper than it would be by hand, this is by no means their dedicated purpose and is more adjacent to a small quality of life feature. - -In general, the process of making items should be balanced on the scale of individual items, not mass production. -This means that resource costs, production time, and side effects, should be noticed even when just a single item is printed. -This holds true even for items that are typically needed in mass, as it provides a disincentive compared to seeking out stored containers of them around the station (printing lights vs. a light replacer). - -### Materials - -Materials serve as a useful gating mechanic, restricting the amount of goods that can be created and enforcing scarcity on the crew. -However, there are important elements to consider in the design of individual materials. - -**Materials should have specific purposes.** -Outside of true "basic" materials like steel, glass, and plastic, each material should have an associated area of the game and typical use. -Players whose roles may have domain over these different areas of the game should be able to intuitively understand what materials they care about. -For example, a botanist should understand how biomass provides them with biological supplies while a medical doctor understands how cloth allows them to create gauze, bandages, etc. - -**Materials should feel unique.** -While the majority of "rare" materials are collected from Telescience, every material should feel like it has some unique element to its acquisition. -This also ties into idea of rarity: if each material is gated by unique elements in the game world, they should also have different rarities corresponding to the frequency of whatever their source is.