From 12deacfe0dbcaa7cc7d0bafe1240787d27cf7f80 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Conrad <73260161+Seva-2@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 18:22:29 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 1/4] Add botany rework proposal --- .../Botany-rework-proposal.md | 370 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 370 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md diff --git a/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md b/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..d7f86461 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md @@ -0,0 +1,370 @@ +# Botany: Mutation and Progression Rework + + +| Designers | Implemented | GitHub Links | +|---|---|---| +| Seva | :x: No | TBD | + +## Overview + +Botany in SS14 has always been one of the more mechanically deep and expressive departments but its current design heavily favors speed and automation over experimentation and creativity. + +This proposal reworks core progression systems in Botany to focus on instability management and organic stat growth, aligning the department more closely with Funky Station’s longer rounds and roleplay-driven pacing. + + +The goal isn’t to make Botany slower in an unfun/punishing way, but to make progression feel more engaging and reactive. Where experimentation, observation, and risk-taking naturally lead to stronger or stranger plants over time. + +--- + +## The Current System + +Right now, Botany progression revolves around mutation through applying Mutagen and Left 4 Zed. + +This creates a feedback loop where: + +1. The botanist floods a plant with left 4 zed/mutagen until it gains every possible trait. +2. Mutated problems are dealt with. +3. The result is a close to perfect plant usually within minutes of the round starting. + +Once this stage is reached, the department effectively stops evolving, the start, mid, and endgame of botany is the same throughout. + +--- + +## Problems with the Current Model + +While functional, this system has several design issues, both mechanically and narratively: + +- Instant Power Curve: even limited by the amount of roundstart chemicals avaliable to a botanist, they can max out a plant’s stats in minutes. +- No Progression: what botany can do at shift start is roughly if not exactly the same as what they can do late game, with the minor exception of exotic seeds. +- Low Interaction: Aside from an inital interaction with chemistry, there is little to no consistent reason to interact with the rest of the station. +- Limited Roleplay Value: Current mutation deisgn doesn't help create a story, it just produces numbers. +- Fast, Flat Rounds: Funky’s rounds last on average 2 hours, but Botany runs out of meaningful gameplay after about 30 - 45 minutes. + +In short, the current design prioritizes efficiency over expression. +It encourages spamming chemicals instead of planned experimentation. + +--- + +## The Plan + +The rework aims to solve these problems without discarding the core fun of Botany. + +The redesigned system introduces: + +- Stat Growth: Core stats(mainly yield and potency) improve naturally through replanting stronger produce. +- Instability and Risk–Reward: Instability affects how strongly a plant reacts to mutagen, letting players choose between safer stable mutations and more experimental mutations. +- Subspecies Mutation: When a plant undergoes enough mutation, its produce has a chance to yield a subspecies produce. +- Dna Manipulator: A machine which would replace swabbing, allowing for more controlled trait transfer. +- Multiple new plants and traits + +## Core Features + +## Natrural stat Growth + +### Concept + +Plants now develop their stats(mainly yield and potency) naturally across generations. +Instead of the mutation based stat increasing, botanists progress by replanting the best produce from each harvest. + +Instead of plants having a hard stat (for example potentcy), Each plant will have a base stat, and every produce it produces varies slightly around that numbers. +When a botanist replants with higher stats, those values become the new baseline for the next generation leading to gradual improvement. + +### Example + +A botanist grows a batch of wheat with a minimum potency of 1. +The harvested produce ranges between 1 - 15 potency. +They seed and plant the 15 potency wheat, raising the next generation’s baseline potentcy to 15. +Each generation will have a higher and higher potenty, strengthening the line. + +### Why This Matters + +This system replaces the mutation reliant stat increases with natural progression. +It rewards attentive play and observation without making Botany overly complex. + + +## Instability System + +### Concept + +Instability represents how volatile a plant reacts to exposure of mutagenic substances. +It (propably)does not cause mutations on its own but instead determines how potent and unpredictable mutation results will be. + +Low instability makes mutations mild and predictable, while high instability amplifies both the chance and extremity of new traits. +Instability rises through exposure to substances such as left 4 zed and can be reduced naturally over time or with stabilizing chemicals. + +| Instability Level | General Behavior | +|--------------------|------------------| +| Low | Predictable, mild mutation results. | +| Moderate | Noticeable mutation variety; traits appear more frequently. | +| High | Unstable mutation reactions; conflicting or rare traits appear. | +| Extreme | Chaotic results; volatile or hazardous traits may occur. | + +### Gameplay Interaction + +Instability defines the risk–reward curve for mutation: + +- Low instability → safe, predictable mutations. +- High instability → stronger, rarer, but riskier mutations. + +This allows players to choose how much risk they want in their experiments — a natural balance between control and chaos. + + +### Design Intent + +The current mutation system is almost completely random, every mutation roll pulls from the full mutation table, (although each mutaiton is weighted)players have no control over what traits appear or how likely they are to occur. + +With the instability system, players can influence the direction of mutation by managing their plant’s instability level. +While randomness still plays a part, instability effectively tips the scales of RNG in the player’s favor. + +--- + +## Subspecies Mutation + +### Concept + +When a plant undergoes enough mutation, its produce has a chance to create a subspecies produce instead of its normal produce. + + +### Example + +1. A botanist mutates an ambrosia plant. +2. One of the yeild is an ambrosia deus. +3. The botanist can now seed and plant this subspecies. + +### Design Intent + +In the current system, hitting a subspecies mutation roll causes the entire plant to immediately transform into that subspecies. This makes acquiring rare species almost instantaneous. + +The proposed system slows this down and makes it more organic and thematic. +Subspecies now emerge through the plants produce rather than instant full-plant transformation. +This approach with the idea of gradual evolution and also helps with pacing and balance, ensuring powerful or exotic plants feel earned through continued mutation instead of instant success. + +## Seed Splicer + +### Concept + +The Seed Splicer is a machine used to create advanced plant species that cannot be obtained through normal mutation, by combining two different seeds with a specific gene disk the machine produces a new specialized plant seed. + +### Core Behaviour + +To create a new seed, the botanist must: +- Insert the two required seeds into the machine +- Insert the required gene disk +- Activate the machine +- After a processing period the machine produces the new seed + +### Example + +In this example the botanist wants to produce spacemans trumpet, after looking up the required parts in the guidebook, they would set out to gather them. In the case of spacemans trumpet these would be lily seeds, ambrosia seeds, and a gene disk containing the Ligneous mutation, after about a minute or so of processing the machine spits out an unmodified spacemans trumpet seed ready to plant. + +### Design Intent +In the current system, powerful plants can often be obtained quickly through repeated mutation rolls. While the suggested subspecies mutation system would slow this somewhat, rare plants could still appear early in a round. The Seed Splicer would add an adition step to aquiring the late game plants locking them behind plant and gene requirments. + +This system isnt perfect, it relies on gene disks and mutation rng, while mutation rng is being changed in the instaiblity system it is still possible that a botanist gets lucky, making a lategame plant early into the round, However, this is acceptable, as occasional lucky outcomes helps create variety between rounds and keeps the game unpredictable. + + +--- + +## Reagent extractor + +### Concept + +The reagent extractor is a round start machine for Botany that rapidly converts harvested plants into their reagents. Botany often causes server lag due to entity spam from mass producing plants: high yield, auto harvesting setups combined with botanists waiting for an industrial grinder can lead to hundreds of plants piling up on the floor. This machine provides a way to process these plants efficently. + +### Core Behavior + +The reagent extractor will: + +- Only accept produce from plants. + +- Allow botanists to dump a plant bag’s contents directly into it. + +- Process items over time at a similar rate to the standard grinder. + + +- Have an uncapped internal reagent capacity to prevent overflow or reagent spillage(we dont need more deparment wide puddles). + +- Be unable separate reagents, so a ChemMaster is still required for sorting. + + +### Design Intent +The reagent extractor is designed to reduce lag by encouraging botanists to process their produce rather than letting it accumulate. While it may seem like just another QoL machine, its primarily designed to prevent entity bloat. Although it serves a similar function to the industrial grinder, its availability from round start helps enhance the roleplay experience by freeing up botanists’ time that would otherwise be spent manually processing plants either through the standard grinder or dragging onto a chem master(technically an exploit)(While Processing plants into chems should normally fall under the chemists role, most of the time the plants will sit on their counter for most of the round) + +--- +## DNA manipulator and Gene disks + +### Concept + +The DNA Manipulator and gene disks are concepts taken from 13's systems with some modifications. +Instead of relying on the opaque RNG-driven interactions of swabbing, the DNA Manipulator provides a clear and visible way for botanists to add, remove and edit traits on a plant. + +All plant genetics are represented through a visible genome slot system: four trait slots (A, B, C, D) and one core-stat slot (X). +Gene Disks act as the medium for transferring traits between plants, storing genetic information extracted from seed packets + + +### Core Behavior + + +#### Genome Slot System + +Every plant’s genome is divided into: + +Trait Slots: A, B, C, D +– Used for mutations, chemical contents, special behaviours + +Core Stat Slot: X +– Used for yield, potency, growth type, and other fundemental stats + +Each slot contains a limited number of capacity points. +Mutated traits will take up slots on the plant’s genome, using at least one slot, with more powerful or complex traits occupying multiple slots across A, B, C, and D. +If adding a new gene to the plant causes a slot to exceed its capacity, it will be imposed with unviable, effectivly killing the plant. + +X slot genes function differently to trait genes, the room X slot genes take up is dictated by the numerical value in which they hold, for example a yeild gene of 4 will only take up one space, while a high yeild of 10 will take up 2 - 3 slots on the X slot(the numbers are purely for example). These gene slot costs are only imposed when changing core stats through the dna manipulator, this is to leave natural growth as the main system for safley bettering the core stats of a plant. + +This system exists as a middle ground between balance and RNG: traits are balanced by how many slots they consume, while the randomness of which specific slots they occupy introduces natural variance. This allows for occasional high-roll plants where efficient slot placement leaves room for additional traits. + +#### Gene disks + +Gene disks are physical storage devices that hold extracted traits. +Botanists will start with a small number of empty disks roundstart, additional disks can be printed at science for a moderate cost, disks can be wiped at DNA manipulator. + +Gene disks will be able to store most traits that the current swabbing system allows the transfer of, disks are reusable(Limiting the use of a stored trait would ultamtly just incentivise keeping copies of the seeds the traits were extracted from). + +#### Extraction + +To extract a gene, the botanist will: +- Insert a seed and empty gene disk into the Dna manipulator +- select the gene(s) they want to extract(possible option to extract multiple genes onto one disk) +- hit the extract button, destroying the seed packet + +#### Application + +To apply a gene to a plant, the botanist will: +- Insert a seed packet and filled gene disk +- hit the apply button, applying all genes on the disk to the seed + +#### Genetic Scarring + +Manipulating a plant’s genome through the DNA Manipulator can cause genetic scarring, representing damage to the plant’s genetic code caused by invasive modification. + +Both adding and removing traits may introduce genetic scars. Each scar temporarily reduces the available genome capacity of the plant, limiting how many traits it can sustain at once. This prevents repeated genetic manipulation from allowing players to perfectly reconstruct plant genomes without consequence. + +Genetic scarring is not permanent. As the plant line continues through successive generations, the genome gradually stabilizes and these scars begin to repair themselves. By replanting seeds and continuing the growth cycle, botanists can slowly restore the lost genome capacity. + +This system ensures that while the DNA Manipulator allows powerful control over plant genetics, repeated editing carries a short-term cost that encourages players to stabilize their plant lines through continued cultivation and breeding. + + + +### Design intent + +This system is designed to make trait transfer easy to understand for new players, removing the opaque expert level understanding that swabbing relied on. The intent is to also preserve botany's depth and skill curve through genome managment and optimisation. Newer botanists can participate immediately, while experienced players will have a curse to climb. + +### Considerations +This system will clash with the proposed systems present in the proposed botany changes by recon, taking up the role of the plant sequencer. + +--- + +## New Plants and Mutations + +With the introduction of systems like the Seed Splicer and Instability, new plants and mutations will need to be added to take full advantage of these mechanics, for example only a handful of plants qualify for being locked behind the seed splicer. In a similar fashion there is currently a small pool of mutations, splitting them across the instability system would make each tier feel sparse. + +These lists will also serve as examples of how plants and mutations will be designed as development continues. +The majority of plants added throught this rework will mostly be subspecies of existing plants, this is to utilise the seed splicer's role. + +### New Plants + +#### Weeping Onion +A subspecies of onion, it contians tear gas and nutriment. + +Obtained through mutation. + +#### Coconut(Port from IMPstation) +Simply coconuts, can be thrown at people dealing minor stamina damage. + +A base plant availible in the seed vend + +#### Coco-not +Coco-not is a mutation of the coconut plant that plays on the expectation of what a coconut normally contains. + +Despite appearing nearly identical to a normal coconut, Coco-nots do not contain coconut flesh. Instead, when opened they produce a random fruit or vegetable from a limited pool. + +This plant would be acquired through mutation + +#### Corpse Lily +A flower which produces misamsa while the plant is alive. when harvested it produces corpse lily flowers, these flowers contain gastro toxin, and a small amount of nutriment. + +These would be a base plant, likely locked behind a cargo purchase like exotic seeds. + +#### Corpse Bloom +A subspecies of the Corpse lily, this plant doesnt produce normal fruit, instead it will produce the rotting corpse of a random species. + +This plant would be acquired via the seed splicer, the required parts: +- Corpse lily +- Blood Tomato +- gene disk: Hypertrophic Growth + +#### High cap Potato +A subspeices of the potato plant, normal potatoes can be made into a very small capacity power cell. The High cap potato itself is the powercell. Its powercapacity would be less of an actual high cap but more than a medium cap. + +This plant would be acquired from the seed splicer, the required parts: +- Potato +- Lemon +- Gene disk: Electrogenic Tissue + +#### Blue Space Tomatoes + +A highly unstable subspecies of the tomato plant that has developed strange bluespace properties. The tomatoes appear slightly distorted and may occasionally flicker in and out of focus, as if partially out of phase with reality. + +When thrown, a Bluespace Tomato will teleport the target a short distance in a random direction instead of simply impacting them. They can also be eaten for teh same effect but on yourself. + +This plant would be aquired via the seed splicer, the required parts: +- Extradimensional Oranges +- Blue tomatoes +- Gene disk: Spatially Unstable + +#### Carbean +A subspecies of the syndicate grown gatfruit. The Carbean plant produces vaugly rifle shaped bean pods capable of firing rifle-caliber beans. + +The Carbean would be acquired throught the seed splicer, the required parts: +- gat fruit +- pea vine +- Gene disk: Ligneous + +#### Fly Danceanita +A subspecies of fly amanita that appears to move rhythmically on its own, contains nutriment and happiness(the chem), when destroyed it emits a cloud containing happiness. + +This plant would be acquired through mutating fly amanita. + +### New Mutations +when designing new traits under this new system they should eb sorted into an instability tier, the genreal rule of thumb is +T1 - Minor Traits, usually small stat changes, resistances etc. +T2 - Medium Traits, Noticable changes to the plant, usually affecting behaviour of the plant. +T3 - Major Traits, powerful mutations that affect the plant and produce, these traits may proide strong benefits or introduce hazards. +T4 - Experimental mutations, the traits in this tier introduce unusual or unconventional behaviour that can drastically change how the plant or its produce function. + +#### Pressure Immunity T1 +The plant is able to grow without an atmosphere + +#### Light Indifference +The plant grows normally at any light level. + +#### Sap secretion T2 +The produce are covered in sap, causing them to stick to peoples hands + +#### Hypertrophic Growth T2 +The plant consumes double the nutrients but the produce has increased Potentcy + +#### Electrogenic Tissue T3 +Plants with this trait will shock the person that harvest it + +#### Rapid Bloom T3 +The plant prioritizes rapid fruit production at the expense of a capped potency. + +#### Spatially Unstable T4 +When the plant is Harvested the produce will teleport a medium distance away + +#### Bestial Germination T4 +Upon harvesting, the plant would instead take the form of an animal, leaving the tray and roaming around, it will occasional create a produce of the orignal plant + + + From 973c026da7073463badd2ca1246acf808477fb12 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Conrad <73260161+Seva-2@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 18:35:08 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 2/4] Botany Rework proposal fixed --- .../Botany-rework-proposal.md | 82 ++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 42 insertions(+), 40 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md b/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md index d7f86461..6712f928 100644 --- a/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md +++ b/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md @@ -34,10 +34,10 @@ Once this stage is reached, the department effectively stops evolving, the start While functional, this system has several design issues, both mechanically and narratively: -- Instant Power Curve: even limited by the amount of roundstart chemicals avaliable to a botanist, they can max out a plant’s stats in minutes. +- Instant Power Curve: even limited by the amount of roundstart chemicals available to a botanist, they can max out a plant’s stats in minutes. - No Progression: what botany can do at shift start is roughly if not exactly the same as what they can do late game, with the minor exception of exotic seeds. -- Low Interaction: Aside from an inital interaction with chemistry, there is little to no consistent reason to interact with the rest of the station. -- Limited Roleplay Value: Current mutation deisgn doesn't help create a story, it just produces numbers. +- Low Interaction: Aside from an initial interaction with chemistry, there is little to no consistent reason to interact with the rest of the station. +- Limited Roleplay Value: Current mutation design doesn't help create a story, it just produces numbers. - Fast, Flat Rounds: Funky’s rounds last on average 2 hours, but Botany runs out of meaningful gameplay after about 30 - 45 minutes. In short, the current design prioritizes efficiency over expression. @@ -54,27 +54,27 @@ The redesigned system introduces: - Stat Growth: Core stats(mainly yield and potency) improve naturally through replanting stronger produce. - Instability and Risk–Reward: Instability affects how strongly a plant reacts to mutagen, letting players choose between safer stable mutations and more experimental mutations. - Subspecies Mutation: When a plant undergoes enough mutation, its produce has a chance to yield a subspecies produce. -- Dna Manipulator: A machine which would replace swabbing, allowing for more controlled trait transfer. +- DNA Manipulator: A machine which would replace swabbing, allowing for more controlled trait transfer. - Multiple new plants and traits ## Core Features -## Natrural stat Growth +## Natural Stat Growth ### Concept Plants now develop their stats(mainly yield and potency) naturally across generations. Instead of the mutation based stat increasing, botanists progress by replanting the best produce from each harvest. -Instead of plants having a hard stat (for example potentcy), Each plant will have a base stat, and every produce it produces varies slightly around that numbers. +Instead of plants having a hard stat (for example potency), Each plant will have a base stat, and every produce it produces varies slightly around that numbers. When a botanist replants with higher stats, those values become the new baseline for the next generation leading to gradual improvement. ### Example A botanist grows a batch of wheat with a minimum potency of 1. The harvested produce ranges between 1 - 15 potency. -They seed and plant the 15 potency wheat, raising the next generation’s baseline potentcy to 15. -Each generation will have a higher and higher potenty, strengthening the line. +They seed and plant the 15 potency wheat, raising the next generation’s baseline potency to 15. +Each generation will have a higher and higher potency, strengthening the line. ### Why This Matters @@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ It rewards attentive play and observation without making Botany overly complex. ### Concept Instability represents how volatile a plant reacts to exposure of mutagenic substances. -It (propably)does not cause mutations on its own but instead determines how potent and unpredictable mutation results will be. +It does not cause mutations on its own but instead determines how potent and unpredictable mutation results will be. Low instability makes mutations mild and predictable, while high instability amplifies both the chance and extremity of new traits. Instability rises through exposure to substances such as left 4 zed and can be reduced naturally over time or with stabilizing chemicals. @@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ This allows players to choose how much risk they want in their experiments — a ### Design Intent -The current mutation system is almost completely random, every mutation roll pulls from the full mutation table, (although each mutaiton is weighted)players have no control over what traits appear or how likely they are to occur. +The current mutation system is almost completely random, every mutation roll pulls from the full mutation table, (although each mutation is weighted)players have no control over what traits appear or how likely they are to occur. With the instability system, players can influence the direction of mutation by managing their plant’s instability level. While randomness still plays a part, instability effectively tips the scales of RNG in the player’s favor. @@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ When a plant undergoes enough mutation, its produce has a chance to create a sub ### Example 1. A botanist mutates an ambrosia plant. -2. One of the yeild is an ambrosia deus. +2. One of the yield is an ambrosia deus. 3. The botanist can now seed and plant this subspecies. ### Design Intent @@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ In the current system, hitting a subspecies mutation roll causes the entire plan The proposed system slows this down and makes it more organic and thematic. Subspecies now emerge through the plants produce rather than instant full-plant transformation. -This approach with the idea of gradual evolution and also helps with pacing and balance, ensuring powerful or exotic plants feel earned through continued mutation instead of instant success. +This approach has the idea of gradual evolution and also helps with pacing and balance, ensuring powerful or exotic plants feel earned through continued mutation instead of instant success. ## Seed Splicer @@ -155,12 +155,12 @@ To create a new seed, the botanist must: ### Example -In this example the botanist wants to produce spacemans trumpet, after looking up the required parts in the guidebook, they would set out to gather them. In the case of spacemans trumpet these would be lily seeds, ambrosia seeds, and a gene disk containing the Ligneous mutation, after about a minute or so of processing the machine spits out an unmodified spacemans trumpet seed ready to plant. +In this example the botanist wants to produce spaceman's trumpet, after looking up the required parts in the guidebook, they would set out to gather them. In the case of spacemans trumpet these would be lily seeds, ambrosia seeds, and a gene disk containing the Ligneous mutation, after about a minute or so of processing the machine spits out an unmodified spaceman's trumpet seed ready to plant. ### Design Intent -In the current system, powerful plants can often be obtained quickly through repeated mutation rolls. While the suggested subspecies mutation system would slow this somewhat, rare plants could still appear early in a round. The Seed Splicer would add an adition step to aquiring the late game plants locking them behind plant and gene requirments. +In the current system, powerful plants can often be obtained quickly through repeated mutation rolls. While the suggested subspecies mutation system would slow this somewhat, rare plants could still appear early in a round. The Seed Splicer would add an additional step to acquiring the late game plants locking them behind plant and gene requirements. -This system isnt perfect, it relies on gene disks and mutation rng, while mutation rng is being changed in the instaiblity system it is still possible that a botanist gets lucky, making a lategame plant early into the round, However, this is acceptable, as occasional lucky outcomes helps create variety between rounds and keeps the game unpredictable. +This system isn't perfect, it relies on gene disks and mutation rng, while mutation rng is being changed in the instability system it is still possible that a botanist gets lucky, making a lategame plant early into the round, However, this is acceptable, as occasional lucky outcomes helps create variety between rounds and keeps the game unpredictable. --- @@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ This system isnt perfect, it relies on gene disks and mutation rng, while mutati ### Concept -The reagent extractor is a round start machine for Botany that rapidly converts harvested plants into their reagents. Botany often causes server lag due to entity spam from mass producing plants: high yield, auto harvesting setups combined with botanists waiting for an industrial grinder can lead to hundreds of plants piling up on the floor. This machine provides a way to process these plants efficently. +The reagent extractor is a round start machine for Botany that rapidly converts harvested plants into their reagents. Botany often causes server lag due to entity spam from mass producing plants: high yield, auto harvesting setups combined with botanists waiting for an industrial grinder can lead to hundreds of plants piling up on the floor. This machine provides a way to process these plants efficiently. ### Core Behavior @@ -182,13 +182,13 @@ The reagent extractor will: - Process items over time at a similar rate to the standard grinder. -- Have an uncapped internal reagent capacity to prevent overflow or reagent spillage(we dont need more deparment wide puddles). +- Have an uncapped internal reagent capacity to prevent overflow or reagent spillage(we don't need more department wide puddles). -- Be unable separate reagents, so a ChemMaster is still required for sorting. +- Be unable to separate reagents, so a ChemMaster is still required for sorting. ### Design Intent -The reagent extractor is designed to reduce lag by encouraging botanists to process their produce rather than letting it accumulate. While it may seem like just another QoL machine, its primarily designed to prevent entity bloat. Although it serves a similar function to the industrial grinder, its availability from round start helps enhance the roleplay experience by freeing up botanists’ time that would otherwise be spent manually processing plants either through the standard grinder or dragging onto a chem master(technically an exploit)(While Processing plants into chems should normally fall under the chemists role, most of the time the plants will sit on their counter for most of the round) +The reagent extractor is designed to reduce lag by encouraging botanists to process their produce rather than letting it accumulate. While it may seem like just another QoL machine, it's primarily designed to prevent entity bloat. Although it serves a similar function to the industrial grinder, its availability from round start helps enhance the roleplay experience by freeing up botanists’ time that would otherwise be spent manually processing plants either through the standard grinder or dragging onto a chem master(technically an exploit)(While Processing plants into chems should normally fall under the chemists role, most of the time the plants will sit on their counter for most of the round) --- ## DNA manipulator and Gene disks @@ -213,13 +213,13 @@ Trait Slots: A, B, C, D – Used for mutations, chemical contents, special behaviours Core Stat Slot: X -– Used for yield, potency, growth type, and other fundemental stats +– Used for yield, potency, growth type, and other fundamental stats Each slot contains a limited number of capacity points. Mutated traits will take up slots on the plant’s genome, using at least one slot, with more powerful or complex traits occupying multiple slots across A, B, C, and D. -If adding a new gene to the plant causes a slot to exceed its capacity, it will be imposed with unviable, effectivly killing the plant. +If adding a new gene to the plant causes a slot to exceed its capacity, it will be imposed with unviable, effectively killing the plant. -X slot genes function differently to trait genes, the room X slot genes take up is dictated by the numerical value in which they hold, for example a yeild gene of 4 will only take up one space, while a high yeild of 10 will take up 2 - 3 slots on the X slot(the numbers are purely for example). These gene slot costs are only imposed when changing core stats through the dna manipulator, this is to leave natural growth as the main system for safley bettering the core stats of a plant. +X slot genes function differently to trait genes, the room X slot genes take up is dictated by the numerical value in which they hold, for example a yield gene of 4 will only take up one space, while a high yield of 10 will take up 2 - 3 slots on the X slot(the numbers are purely for example). These gene slot costs are only imposed when changing core stats through the dna manipulator, this is to leave natural growth as the main system for safely bettering the core stats of a plant. This system exists as a middle ground between balance and RNG: traits are balanced by how many slots they consume, while the randomness of which specific slots they occupy introduces natural variance. This allows for occasional high-roll plants where efficient slot placement leaves room for additional traits. @@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ This system exists as a middle ground between balance and RNG: traits are balanc Gene disks are physical storage devices that hold extracted traits. Botanists will start with a small number of empty disks roundstart, additional disks can be printed at science for a moderate cost, disks can be wiped at DNA manipulator. -Gene disks will be able to store most traits that the current swabbing system allows the transfer of, disks are reusable(Limiting the use of a stored trait would ultamtly just incentivise keeping copies of the seeds the traits were extracted from). +Gene disks will be able to store most traits that the current swabbing system allows the transfer of, disks are reusable(Limiting the use of a stored trait would ultimately just incentivise keeping copies of the seeds the traits were extracted from). #### Extraction @@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ This system ensures that while the DNA Manipulator allows powerful control over ### Design intent -This system is designed to make trait transfer easy to understand for new players, removing the opaque expert level understanding that swabbing relied on. The intent is to also preserve botany's depth and skill curve through genome managment and optimisation. Newer botanists can participate immediately, while experienced players will have a curse to climb. +This system is designed to make trait transfer easy to understand for new players, removing the opaque expert level understanding that swabbing relied on. The intent is to also preserve botany's depth and skill curve through genome management and optimisation. Newer botanists can participate immediately, while experienced players will have a curse to climb. ### Considerations This system will clash with the proposed systems present in the proposed botany changes by recon, taking up the role of the plant sequencer. @@ -269,19 +269,19 @@ This system will clash with the proposed systems present in the proposed botany With the introduction of systems like the Seed Splicer and Instability, new plants and mutations will need to be added to take full advantage of these mechanics, for example only a handful of plants qualify for being locked behind the seed splicer. In a similar fashion there is currently a small pool of mutations, splitting them across the instability system would make each tier feel sparse. These lists will also serve as examples of how plants and mutations will be designed as development continues. -The majority of plants added throught this rework will mostly be subspecies of existing plants, this is to utilise the seed splicer's role. +The majority of plants added through this rework will mostly be subspecies of existing plants, this is to utilise the seed splicer's role. ### New Plants #### Weeping Onion -A subspecies of onion, it contians tear gas and nutriment. +A subspecies of onion, it contains tear gas and nutriment. Obtained through mutation. #### Coconut(Port from IMPstation) -Simply coconuts, can be thrown at people dealing minor stamina damage. +Simply, coconuts can be thrown at people dealing minor stamina damage. -A base plant availible in the seed vend +A base plant available in the seed vend #### Coco-not Coco-not is a mutation of the coconut plant that plays on the expectation of what a coconut normally contains. @@ -291,12 +291,12 @@ Despite appearing nearly identical to a normal coconut, Coco-nots do not contain This plant would be acquired through mutation #### Corpse Lily -A flower which produces misamsa while the plant is alive. when harvested it produces corpse lily flowers, these flowers contain gastro toxin, and a small amount of nutriment. +A flower which produces miasma while the plant is alive. When harvested it produces corpse lily flowers, these flowers contain gastro toxin, and a small amount of nutriment. These would be a base plant, likely locked behind a cargo purchase like exotic seeds. #### Corpse Bloom -A subspecies of the Corpse lily, this plant doesnt produce normal fruit, instead it will produce the rotting corpse of a random species. +A subspecies of the Corpse lily, this plant does not produce normal fruit, instead it will produce the rotting corpse of a random species. This plant would be acquired via the seed splicer, the required parts: - Corpse lily @@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ This plant would be acquired via the seed splicer, the required parts: - gene disk: Hypertrophic Growth #### High cap Potato -A subspeices of the potato plant, normal potatoes can be made into a very small capacity power cell. The High cap potato itself is the powercell. Its powercapacity would be less of an actual high cap but more than a medium cap. +A subspecies of the potato plant, normal potatoes can be made into a very small capacity power cell. The High cap potato itself is the powercell. Its powercapacity would be less of an actual high cap but more than a medium cap. This plant would be acquired from the seed splicer, the required parts: - Potato @@ -315,17 +315,17 @@ This plant would be acquired from the seed splicer, the required parts: A highly unstable subspecies of the tomato plant that has developed strange bluespace properties. The tomatoes appear slightly distorted and may occasionally flicker in and out of focus, as if partially out of phase with reality. -When thrown, a Bluespace Tomato will teleport the target a short distance in a random direction instead of simply impacting them. They can also be eaten for teh same effect but on yourself. +When thrown, a Bluespace Tomato will teleport the target a short distance in a random direction instead of simply impacting them. They can also be eaten for the same effect but on yourself. -This plant would be aquired via the seed splicer, the required parts: +This plant would be acquired via the seed splicer, the required parts: - Extradimensional Oranges - Blue tomatoes - Gene disk: Spatially Unstable #### Carbean -A subspecies of the syndicate grown gatfruit. The Carbean plant produces vaugly rifle shaped bean pods capable of firing rifle-caliber beans. +A subspecies of the syndicate grown gatfruit. The Carbean plant produces vaguely rifle shaped bean pods capable of firing rifle-caliber beans. -The Carbean would be acquired throught the seed splicer, the required parts: +The Carbean would be acquired through the seed splicer, the required parts: - gat fruit - pea vine - Gene disk: Ligneous @@ -336,10 +336,10 @@ A subspecies of fly amanita that appears to move rhythmically on its own, contai This plant would be acquired through mutating fly amanita. ### New Mutations -when designing new traits under this new system they should eb sorted into an instability tier, the genreal rule of thumb is +when designing new traits under this new system they should be sorted into an instability tier, the general rule of thumb is T1 - Minor Traits, usually small stat changes, resistances etc. -T2 - Medium Traits, Noticable changes to the plant, usually affecting behaviour of the plant. -T3 - Major Traits, powerful mutations that affect the plant and produce, these traits may proide strong benefits or introduce hazards. +T2 - Medium Traits, Noticeable changes to the plant, usually affecting behaviour of the plant. +T3 - Major Traits, powerful mutations that affect the plant and produce, these traits may provide strong benefits or introduce hazards. T4 - Experimental mutations, the traits in this tier introduce unusual or unconventional behaviour that can drastically change how the plant or its produce function. #### Pressure Immunity T1 @@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ The plant grows normally at any light level. The produce are covered in sap, causing them to stick to peoples hands #### Hypertrophic Growth T2 -The plant consumes double the nutrients but the produce has increased Potentcy +The plant consumes double the nutrients but the produce has increased Potency #### Electrogenic Tissue T3 Plants with this trait will shock the person that harvest it @@ -364,7 +364,9 @@ The plant prioritizes rapid fruit production at the expense of a capped potency. When the plant is Harvested the produce will teleport a medium distance away #### Bestial Germination T4 -Upon harvesting, the plant would instead take the form of an animal, leaving the tray and roaming around, it will occasional create a produce of the orignal plant +Upon harvesting, the plant would instead take the form of an animal, leaving the tray and roaming around, it will occasional create a produce of the original plant + + From eb8c1883481039c2071d12d493870fa5112c2889 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Conrad <73260161+Seva-2@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:07:29 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 3/4] Add missing sections --- .../Botany-rework-proposal.md | 98 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 98 insertions(+) diff --git a/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md b/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md index 6712f928..f49cc9e0 100644 --- a/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md +++ b/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md @@ -368,5 +368,103 @@ Upon harvesting, the plant would instead take the form of an animal, leaving the +## Game Design Rationale + +### Take things slow + +One of the goals of this rework is to address botany’s current progression speed. In the existing system, plants can often reach near-optimal states very early in a round, causing the department’s gameplay loop to plateau quickly. This system does not align well with Funky Station’s longer round length. + +Funky Station is designed around rounds lasting roughly two to two and a half hours. The current botany system typically reaches its peak within the first 30–45 minutes, after which meaningful progression largely stops. + +The introduction of generational stat growth, instability-based mutations, and more deliberate genetic manipulation systems encourages botanists to gradually improve their plants rather than rapidly perfect them. These systems reward observation and experimentation while maintaining the unpredictability that makes botany interesting. + + +### Seriously Silly + +Botany is one of the departments most capable of producing chaotic situations. Plants that explode when eaten, overproduction leading to department-wide puddles of medicine, and hostile plants already make it a place where these situations can occur. + +The instability system and new plants/mutations are designed to expand on this aspect of botany. By allowing plants to develop more unusal traits, botanists can produce outcomes which help contribute to this environment further. + +### There is no Winning or Losing + +The new systems still provide opportunities for optimization, but this does not necessarily translate into winning or losing. Botanists are given more control over how they develop their plants than in the current system, where outcomes are largely determined by rng. + +This greater level of control is intended to help remove the win or lose mindset from botany, optimisation would still be part of botany, but it would be more normalised and transparent, compared to the current system where most of the mechanics are opaque. + +The design of new plants and mutations supports the no win or loss mindset. Many of the new mutations are intentionally more experimental in nature, rather than strictly positive or negative. These traits often introduce unusual behaviors or situational outcomes instead of simply making a plant stronger. + + +### Maintaining Authenticity + +While this rework changes many aspects of botany, it keeps interactions familiar and understandable. Plants are still grown, harvested and mutated, with the new systems building on these existing mechanics rather than replacing them. + +The DNA Manipulator and instability systems present plant genetics in a clearer and more visible way, allowing players to understand how their plants develop without relying on opaque mechanics. These systems are designed to feel like a natural extension of hydroponics experimentation rather than an abstract or overly complex mechanic. + +### Maximizing Roleplay Potential + +Many of the new systems are designed to encourage interaction between players and departments. Botanists may need to collaborate with, with science to access additional gene disks, chemistry will have its usual give and take relationship. + +The slower progression and more gene disk system also creates more opportunities for conversation and cooperation within hydroponics itself. Slower progression and less punishing gameplay give the botanist more downtime as they wait for plants to grow, while the gene disk creates more cooperation between botanists as they fill out a gene collection. + +New mutation and plant designs should adhere to this rule. Mutations and plants added throughout this rework should act as vehicles to drive interaction and roleplay. An example of this is the Spatially Unstable mutation. When a plant with this mutation is harvested, the produce teleports a short distance away. This mutation does not benefit the botanist’s normal workflow, but it creates opportunities for roleplay. Produce may scatter around nearby hallways, forcing the botanist to quickly retrieve it before an unsuspecting crew member finds and eats a heavily experimental plant. + +## Roundflow and Player Interaction + +The systems introduced in this rework are intended to influence botany throughout the entire round rather than being confined to short interactions. + +Early in the round, botanists will primarily focus on base plants. This includes growing produce for the chef, supplying chemistry, and beginning natural growth on a few plant lines. During this stage, botanists start establishing stronger generations of plants while also fulfilling the department’s normal responsibilities to the rest of the station. + +By mid-round, botanists will likely have already begun experimenting with mutations and collected a small set of gene disks. At this stage, they can begin producing longer-term plant lines, refining them through the DNA Manipulator. + +Late in the round is when botanists will have a larger collection of genes available. This is when they will be able to take full advantage of the Seed Splicer. While they may have used it earlier to achieve heavily desired plants, the late game is where experimentation shines. + +These systems rework the core of botany, and as such they will appear in every round in which botany is played. The slower progression curve is intended to spread meaningful botany gameplay across the entire round. + +The pacing of the roundflow described above is mechanically enforced through systems such as instability, genome capacity limits, and genetic scarring, which limit how quickly plants can be perfected and encourage longer term experimentation. + +## Administrative & Server Rule Impact + +This proposal does introduce new mechanics that could enable more disruptive or dangerous plants. + +However, the current botany system already presents similar challenges. Plants capable of causing harm already exist, such as poisonous produce or hostile plants(killer tomatoes). Due to the largely random nature of the current mutation system, it may be difficult to determine whether a harmful plant outcome was intentional or simply the result of normal play,. + +The proposed instability and mutation systems make genetic outcomes significantly more deliberate. Because mutations and trait transfers are more controlled and visible, it may become easier to determine whether a plant was intentionally engineered to cause harm or whether it was produced through experimentation. + +Overall, while the rework expands the potential capabilities of botany, it does not introduce entirely new categories of administrative challenges beyond what already exists in the current system. + +## Technical Considerations + +This rework introduces several new systems, while some of them build on top of existing botany mechanics, most of them will require either refactoring parts of the code or new code entirely. + +### Performance +The main anticipated performance concern remains the same as current botany: large amounts of produce piling up. This proposal partially addresses that through the Reagent Extractor, which is intended to reduce entity buildup through player incentive. + +Some of the more experimental mutations and plants may present minor performance implications if produced in large quantities. + +Overall, the rework should not have major performance impact outside of the normal risks already associated with botan, in some cases may reduce them. + +### New systems + +This proposal would require several new or expanded systems: +- Instability system, including mutation tier weighting and methods of increasing or reducing instability +- Natural stat growth, allowing plants to gradually improve core stats across generations +- DNA manipulator and gene disks, including visible genome slots, gene extraction, application, and genetic scarring +- Seed Splicer, for producing advanced plant species from specific seed and gene disk combinations +- Reagent Extractor, for converting plant produce into reagents more efficiently + +While some of these build up existing mechanics, systems like the DNA manipulator, gene disks and genome space system would mostly be new code, requiring more work. + +### UI Elements + +This rework will require new UI elements for both the DNA Manipulator and the Seed Splicer. + +Additionally, the Plant Analyzer UI will require changes to accommodate the new mechanics introduced. + +A ui mockup of the DNA Manipulator will be attached to the PR of this proposal. + + + + + From 0f78b71b4657bc702712c5f19ac6781caa64b01e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Conrad <73260161+Seva-2@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:13:36 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 4/4] minor rewordings --- src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md b/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md index f49cc9e0..1a199615 100644 --- a/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md +++ b/src/design-proposals/Botany-rework-proposal.md @@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ Both adding and removing traits may introduce genetic scars. Each scar temporari Genetic scarring is not permanent. As the plant line continues through successive generations, the genome gradually stabilizes and these scars begin to repair themselves. By replanting seeds and continuing the growth cycle, botanists can slowly restore the lost genome capacity. -This system ensures that while the DNA Manipulator allows powerful control over plant genetics, repeated editing carries a short-term cost that encourages players to stabilize their plant lines through continued cultivation and breeding. +This system ensures that while the DNA Manipulator allows powerful control over plant genetics, repeated editing carries a short-term cost that encourages players to stabilize their plant lines.