feat: The Ptarmigan Outpost Surface Station

[KoboldCatgirl]

Courtesy of our fine friends at Electra Dynamics, welcome to the Ptarmigan Outpost, a small snowy terrestrial station on the opposite side of the planet from Glacier!

The original Ptarmigan was a small camp established some time ago by Electra Dynamics to try and terraform Yss's only moon into something more habitable. Although the terraforming didn't pan out, it did cause the generation of an unusual floral anomaly dubbed the Gloamflower. (Some would argue the Gloamflower is why the terraforming fell apart.)

Electra decided to construct a research outpost to experiment on the Gloamflower further. Now, some time later, Electra Dynamics has generously decided to gift the Ptarmigan to Syndicate Communications! Mine plasma to fuel the generators, tinker with the Gloamflower to generate a steady stream of arcane data, drop the laundry in the properly-marked chute, and watch out for exomorphs.

Or at least try to get a warning out to Glacier before dying horribly to them.

Command

• Command consists of three characters: The Captain, the Quartermaster, and the Administrative Assistant. The Warden is there, too, technically.
• The Quartermaster is given a more public-facing role, with a desk facing the general public and a specialized Cargo Vault with some useful combat gear (although she is still expected to coordinate with Security, of course). She is also given control over the expedition console board.
• The Administrative Assistant has a very minimal office presence, being basically crammed into the corner of the Bridge. Her role on a station this small is to make sure the odd jobs are getting done--the anomaly is being managed, the PACMANs are staying fueled, the rooms are being kept warm.
• With most Command absent Captain has exclusive access to the PTech and will be wearing a fair few hats, although the Ptarmigan is small enough to keep the workload a little lighter than normal.

Engineering

• The Ptarmigan is powered by three RTGs and 2-3 P.A.C.M.A.N. units. Engineering will need to coordinate with Logistics to keep the station powered, be it by maintaining a plasma supply or, if they're ambitious, possibly setting up a demon core. Without a CE, they answer to Command in general.
• Atmospherics: The Ptarmigan's air is provided from the planet's atmosphere, but must be heated up; it's quite cold!
• Atmospherics and the Engine area are both technically publicly accessible on the Ptarmigan, but trespass without a reason is still a crime!
• There are a few little projects about for Engineering; most notably the repair of the Expedition Shuttle.

Logistics

• Logistics is one of the bigger departments on the Ptarmigan.
• Cargo's and the Mailroom's role is to handle trips to and from the terrestrial Trade Outpost and make sure the station stays funded. They are given a lot of important items and gear, like mass scanners, the primary cell recharger, the cutter machine, and the station's only silo.
• Salvagers' role is to help out Security with external threats, clear out the evac landing area, and most importantly, keep Engineering supplied with plasma!
• The Expedition Shuttle is a ruined shuttle that can be potentially fixed up and used to go on expeditions. Potentially. If the QM allows it.

Medical

• Medical is staffed by a Chemist, a Psychologist, a Paramedic, and Doctors/Interns--no CMO. A Band-Aid is provided for the sake of the station's small size.
• The Psychologist does not have their own office, and will have to either cobble one together or arrange something in a more public space like the library.
• The Paramedic is placed closest to the exit.
• The Chemist is pretty normal. Not a lot going on here.
• Cryonics's air comes from outside, but you do still need the freezer.

Science

• Instead of an automatic data generator like Reach's, Science's primary point source comes from the Gloamflower anomaly, aka the floral anomaly in maints. The Gloamflower will never go supercrit, but its briars can still crate some trouble for Science if you're not careful!
• Xenoarchaeology's atmos setup starts out unfinished and must be repaired by an Engineer (or an enterprising Scientist with some steel on hand).
• Science is given a CHIMP at roundstart to handle any off-grid anomalies that make trouble.
• The Roboticist is placed directly next to an exit, for easy access by mechs and injured silicon crewmates alike. Well, relatively easy. She's in Maints.

Security

• Security is headed up by a Warden and up to two Detectives, as well as 1-2 Security Cadets. There is also a Prisoner slot.
• Why two Detectives and no SecOffs?? Regular Security personnel are expected to assume a more investigative role on the Ptarmigan. A problem-solving Detective fits the tropes Ptarmigan is going for better than a mall cop.
  • SyndComm also seems curiously paranoid about impostors infiltrating the Ptarmigan.
• The Warden has a largely ceremonial role here, as there is no proper Armory. As pseudo-Command, their job is mostly to keep Security organized and take care of the Prisoners.

Service

• Social areas are primarily split between the indoor dining area, the bar, and the outdoor courtyard, with the Kitchen at the center of it all.
• The Librarian doesn't have any exclusive areas, but there is a library for them to maintain.
• Laundry and Recycling are handled in a shed outside the station!

General/Misc

• Light switches can be used to darken the station department-by-department--most are found next to substations.
• Not all exits have directional fans--don't loiter in doorways!
• Beware the liquid plasma rivers--if not covered by catwalk or ice crust, they can burn you a lot closer than you think!
• Pets: Please don't let them get outside or into the Courtyard! Cold-hardy pets are italicized.
  • Paperwork
  • Smile (she's helping out the Chemist today!)
  • Siobhan (she's frolicking)
  • Pun Pun
  • Renault
  • SupplyBot (hanging out in Salvage!)
  • Unnamed Courtyard Penguin
  • Unnamed Arctic Fox
  • Bingus
  • Henrietta
  • Runtime (the exomorph-slayer is staying with the Quartermaster)
• Shack Burrower Traps (very telegraphed, but be careful!)

Intended Play

Ptarmigan is meant to serve as a cozy little lowpop station--similar to Reach, but with more to explore, and more space for events like exomorph attacks and hypothetical changeling infiltrations.

Bugs

Minor Bugs

Weird Ore Generation: At present, the StationBiome system does not support ore veins like dungeons and mining planets do. I did a temporary fix (a custom biome and random ore spawner), but it'll look a little goofy!
Long-Term Fix: We could probably copy over code from the StationPlanet system to fix this.

Cluttered Shuttle Landings: At present, the StationBiome system does not support cleared-out areas for shuttle landings like mining planets do, meaning the evac shuttle might be full of snowdrift, trees, and even plasma. Importantly, this plasma is not dangerous while you're on the shuttle even if it seems to be shining through, but it still looks scary!
Long-Term Fix: We could probably copy over code from the StationPlanet system to fix this.

Off-Grid Kudzu: I only saw it happen once across about 5-6 tests, but kudzu spawns may have a small chance of spawning "between" grids. This allows them to spread through walls and pass across gridlines (normally impossible). Kudzu can also get pretty out of control outside the station just in general, but it's not unmanageable.
Temporary Fix: Just stay on top of it as admins and hope it was a total fluke. It seems quite rare.
Long-Term Fix: It could be smart to designate specific valid entities for kudzu to spawn on, similar to the vent critter events. Vents, hydroponics trays, soil, etc. This would allow us to eliminate unwanted "outdoor kudzu" spawns entirely.

Major Bugs

Room Temperature Arctic: Ptarmigan's map defaults to 293 degrees and has some pressure issues on top of that. This is because the EnsurePlanet function automatically sets the map atmosphere to a basic 293K 82-20 N2-O mix, meaning the main outdoor grid rapidly warms up.
Temporary Fix: At the start of each round, a GM can run setmapatmos [mapID] false 220 82 21 . This will eventually fix the problem.
Long-Term Fix: It seems likely that we can modify the EnsurePlanet or StationBiome code to prevent this, or even make the component fully customizable, but the infrastructure isn't really in place, so it might be a project. Alternatively, if we can make weather events change map temperature, that would also address this.

Tile Placement: Because the station grid spawns on top of an existing grid, it is impossible to place tiles on the main grid. This includes if you pry up a floor tile and try to replace it.
Temporary Fix: None, really. An admin can coordinate with players to place what they want placed, but that's the best they can likely do.
Long-Term Fix: I don't know if there is one. Grids are weird. It's a bummer.

Wall Clocks Don't Work: Terrestrial planets apparently break countdown clocks. This mean crew will be offered no warning when the shuttle is about to arrive or leave, but also no warning for when the round is about to end.
Temporary Fix: None that I could see. Keep track of time.
Long-Term Fix: I only just confirmed this bug, so I am not certain of what is causing it, let alone if it is fixable.
This should hopefully be fixed now!

Questions for Reviewers / Things to Watch For:

• Security's makeup: I explain the rationale of the Warden/Detective/SecOff layout above. I would like to give this a shot, but if it's just simply a bad idea, it's easy to change.
• Xenoarch Setup: Is having to build the atmos stuff yourself too obnoxious, especially considering the tile issues?
• The Gloamflower: Is this a good alternative to an automatic data system?
• Do the bugs (listed above) make this map unsuitable for the automatic rotation?
• Does the Atmos experience work? Is it too annoying to keep the station heated?
• Are the RTGs good, or should I swap them out with basic generators?
• Light Switches: Is this too gimmicky? Do they all work okay?
• Cargo Vault: Is this a good idea? What should it include or remove?
• Expedition Shuttle: Does this work? Are there any big issues?
• Is Logistics Fun?: With the QM as the Captain's right-hand-woman, the importance of plasma, and the walks to the ATO, Logistics is meant to be a very important department on this map, which means it needs to be fun to play. Is it?

Media

Mapper-Side Changelog

• add: Added a handout and custom tape to introduce the Ptarmigan Outpost.
• add: Added new Emergency Shuttle, Expedition Shuttle, and snowy trade outpost grids.
• tweak: Added a Ptarmigan Snow biome and a new snowdrift ore spawner to populate it.
• tweak: Added new TerrestrialStationTrading station prototypes for a snowy planet with a trade outpost.
• add: Added a new liquid plasma entity that's visually set into ice instead of snow.
• tweak: Ice crust now protects from walking on liquid plasma like catwalk.

Changelog
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• add: Added the Ptarmigan Outpost Surface Station!

[github-actions]

RSI Diff Bot; head commit ad3e6ab merging into ee59ff5
This PR makes changes to 1 or more RSIs. Here is a summary of all changes:

Resources/Textures/_starcup/Tiles/Planet/ice_liquid_plasma.rsi

State	Old	New	Status
full			Added
plasma			Added
plasma0			Added
plasma1			Added
plasma2			Added
plasma3			Added
plasma4			Added
plasma5			Added
plasma6			Added
plasma7			Added

Edit: diff updated after ad3e6ab