"Robot" "Threshold"

[TheFlame52]

With the addition of the plutonium reactor CBMs and way too much Atomic Robo, I’ve been thinking. Why can’t we have a brain-in-a-jar “threshold” that gets passed when you have a certain number of CBMs and power? Like maybe 100 and 10000, respectively?

The reason for this is because it opens up “post-threshold” CBMs. Like ones that let you convert power into food, let you sleep very little, heal yourself with welding, become immune to radiation/pain, etc. Of course, there’s probably going to be weirdness with traits and other thresholds/mutations, but this is just an idea.

Thoughts?

[Coolthulhu]

Not until we get significant limits/disadvantages to putting tens of kilograms of metal stuff into own biologically human body.

[Malkeus]

InB4 requiring Hydraulic Muscles to be on constantly just to be able to walk.

[TheFlame52]

Yeah, alright, and the coding will probably be hell, but I’m just putting the idea out there.

And there’s another idea for a post-threshold bionic, some kind of advanced strength thing. Maybe the other stats, too. Nuclear Strength CBM?

[Sean_Mirrsen]

Not until we get significant limits/disadvantages to putting tens of kilograms of metal stuff into own biologically human body.

I thought the whole point of the “threshold” was removing the biological body.

Basically the threshold is you having so much cybernetics that your body is running entirely on cyber-juice and your brain interfaces with technology so much its structure alters to become more machine-like.

At that point you upload yourself into a positronic brain (found in lab, obviously) and ditch your old biological body in favor of a completely new robotic one. You can then find and install other upgrades. For instance, you no longer automatically heal when resting, unless you have a “nanite autorepair” upgrade. Any damage you receive can also be “healed” with applied mechanics, rendering first aid useless. You might install retractable rollerblades into your feet, allowing you increased mobility on hard surfaces without the penalty on soft ground. Etc, etc.

[kevin.granade]

In one of the “limit numbrt of CBMs you can install” threads*, someone came up with the idea of severely limiting the number of modules you can install by default, and requiring a series of progressively more invasive procedures to make room for more, culminating in total body replacement.
I think its a pretty badass idea.

*Which I’m not against, I juat haven’t worked on it.

[Noctifer]

[quote=“Kevin Granade, post:6, topic:11357”]In one of the “limit numbrt of CBMs you can install” threads*, someone came up with the idea of severely limiting the number of modules you can install by default, and requiring a series of progressively more invasive procedures to make room for more, culminating in total body replacement.
I think its a pretty badass idea.

*Which I’m not against, I juat haven’t worked on it.[/quote]
Maybe the cyborg threshold could be a way to balance mutations and bionics.

For example, if you reach a threshold for a certain mutation, then you can’t install a certain bionic because you lack “human biology” for what the cbm was designed and would reject it. Like installing a mononuclear blade to a dog. And if you reach the bionic threshold, you can’t reach another mutation path threshold. Cmbs for specific thresholds could also exist.

[TheFlame52]

Hmm… How difficult would it be to get mutations and bionics to run on the same code? We’re already getting there with activatible mutations…

[pisskop]

Id love to see bionics resticted. Either by incompatibility with mutations (similar to likes, say Acranum’s magic/steampunk scale)

Or else just more nerfing of this powerhouse. God, I love some of them though.

[kevin.granade]

Im not sure what you mean by “on the same code”, there’s a list of mutariond you have, a list of bionics you have, and code scattered all over the place to change how things work if you have them.
If you mean, “make having lots of one limit the other”, it wouldn’t be too hard.

[Sean_Mirrsen]

I’ve been mulling about the concept of “player flags”. So that you never actually check for “CBM this”, “Mutation that”, or “Equipped item so-and-so”. Instead, all checks are made against the player’s “properties”, for lack of a better word. And all items, CBMs, mutations, professions, backgrounds, etc, etc, would do, is modify those properties. Unified code. For instance, right now the Close Quarters CBM (whatever it’s actually called) is checked against explicitly for the purpose of adjusting combat experience, and it might not necessarily have to be the only thing that does it, so why not just check for a player flag a-la “ASSISTED_MELEE”, and have the CQB CBM set that to true if installed? Items could set flags either when carried (binoculars), worn (sunglasses), or wielded (shovel). The whole thing would be a whole lot more flexible in regards to adding new functionality.

[Moddan]

I always thought there should be some Shadowrun-like forced choice between in our case CBMs, mutations and the arcane. So for example having a mutated body would limit the amount or even function of bionics because they are designed for humans.
Close-to-be robots would lose their link to essence and mutations could cause pain, injury and the loss of a cbm.

Maybe a slot system using body parts could be done for this. So there could be a limited amount of “hand”-slots that can be filled with hand mutations like claws or bionics like fingerhack.

[kevin.granade]

I don’t follow how effectively putting bionics and mutations on a unified list makes things any more flexible, and there are a number of reasons for keeping them separate. Most bionics have a common set of properties such as power consumption, and as we continue to extend them they’ll probably have more, mutations have their own common properties not shared by bionics.
It makes sense to unify the system that manages installability and ability to gain mutations, but that’s about it.

[Noctifer]

What I mean is a to make a threshold where your more robot than human and no post threshold mutation can happen. Bionics and mutations will still be separated. In the same way a medical and chaos thresholds prevent each other’s threshold mutations being more robot than human should prevent threshold mutations as well.

[TheFlame52]

[quote=“Kevin Granade, post:13, topic:11357”]I don’t follow how effectively putting bionics and mutations on a unified list makes things any more flexible, and there are a number of reasons for keeping them separate. Most bionics have a common set of properties such as power consumption, and as we continue to extend them they’ll probably have more, mutations have their own common properties not shared by bionics.
It makes sense to unify the system that manages installability and ability to gain mutations, but that’s about it.[/quote]
I suppose I was thinking it would make things easier by allowing mutations and bionics to interfere, sort of like mutations do. Like you can’t have claws and bionic claws, just like how you can’t have claws and tentacles.

What I mean is a to make a threshold where your more robot than human and no post threshold mutation can happen. Bionics and mutations will still be separated. In the same way a medical and chaos thresholds prevent each other’s threshold mutations being more robot than human should prevent threshold mutations as well.

Yeah, that’s what I was saying.

[Coolthulhu]

Like you can’t have claws and bionic claws, just like how you can’t have claws and tentacles.

Fun fact: you can.
I assume it means that the tentacles end in “tentacle-fingers”.
And claws+bionic claws are fine - bionic claws are probably something like ones on Wolverine from X-men or similar. They aren’t finger-claws, because those would either not be retractable or would deal much less damage.

[TheFlame52]

Okay, okay, but you get the idea.

[pisskop]

Mutations be all, like, warping your bionics, and stuff, yo.