Security Jetpack Rework

[Pronana]

• Halved Sec Jetpack Capacity
• Fits on Suit Slot
• Updated Description

About the PR

Security Jetpack now fits on the suit slot, but has half the capacity it did before, making it more geared towards close to station space combat.

Why / Balance

The Security Jetpack was just a regular jetpack with a red coat of paint which makes it a bit strange that it's contraband. It also is very clunky to use in the events where as a security officer you're having to deal with threats in space such as space dragons and carp as before it would take up either a hand slot or a backpack slot which made space combat very clunky and restrictive in ways that weren't fun.

By letting it fit on your suit slot, it now has a niche for combat the regular jetpack doesn't have, and it's reduced capacity of 2.5L means you're still mostly station bound while giving enough capacity to hopefully last through whatever space fight you're engaging in. It also gives it a nice place inbetween mini-jetpacks and void/captain jetpacks in terms of use and reliability.

Technical details

• Modified Empty Security Jetpack Entity to fit on suitStorage slot
• Reduced Security Jetpack capacity to 2.5 L and modified default oxygen and nitrogen mol count to 2.5 L
• Modified item description to state its capacity is 2.5 L

Media

Requirements

• I have read and am following the Pull Request and Changelog Guidelines.
• I have added media to this PR or it does not require an ingame showcase.

Breaking changes

I don't think there are any Breaking Changes, this is my first PR so hopefully I didn't break anything with 10 changed lines of code.

Changelog
🆑

• tweak: Security Jetpack now fits on your suit slot, but has half the capacity making it geared towards close to station space combat.

[keronshb]

Requiring use on back is intended, because it forces the sec officer to either hold/drag their bag which makes it an inventory risk.

[K-Dynamic]

Requiring use on back is intended, because it forces the sec officer to either hold/drag their bag which makes it an inventory risk.

Right but there's nothing stopping sec from ordering exosuit slot mini jetpacks or finding them from EVA, especially since there's only one sec jetpack(?)

Plus lizards get taildragging, so they're not as impacted

To be clear I'd rather replace sec jetpacks with mini jetpacks

[EthanQix]

Requiring use on back is intended, because it forces the sec officer to either hold/drag their bag which makes it an inventory risk.

Right but there's nothing stopping sec from ordering mini jetpacks or finding them from EVA, especially since there's only one sec jetpack(?)

Plus lizards get taildragging, so they're not as impacted

To be clear I'd rather replace sec jetpacks with mini jetpacks

if the condition for sec to get better jetpacks is interaction with another department, that's a good thing

[K-Dynamic]

if the condition for sec to get better jetpacks is interaction with another department, that's a good thing

You say this as though sec isn't already one of the most interactive departments compared to something like atmos. Sec is always talking and constantly communciating (or at least they should be).

Considering the ease antags can get jetpacks or hijack shuttles, gatekeeping basic responsiveness to threats behind interaction isn't good in my opinion (and sec would just be accused of powergaming if they did get jetpacks early from other depts).

[Pronana]

if the condition for sec to get better jetpacks is interaction with another department, that's a good thing

This would still happen though, Sec jetpacks are rare to see on a map outside of the HoS's locker so rare that I can list which maps have more than one Sec Jetpack.
(These numbers include HoS's Jetpack)

• Loop has 3
• Marathon has 3
• Meta has 2

This is a very rare item that on most maps is HoS only, so if other secoffs need to go into space they're already gonna be asking Cargo or opening up EVA. More maps have mini-jetpacks in EVA than have extra Sec Jetpacks.

Realistically this is giving HoS a useable jetpack same as Captain and CE get but worse than both, with it also being available in limited numbers to security on a handful of maps.

[UbaserB]

Right but there's nothing stopping sec from ordering exosuit slot mini jetpacks or finding them from EVA, especially since there's only one sec jetpack(?)

Plus lizards get taildragging, so they're not as impacted

To be clear I'd rather replace sec jetpacks with mini jetpacks

Mini jetpacks have absolutely trash gas storage so that's fine.

[keronshb]

Requiring use on back is intended, because it forces the sec officer to either hold/drag their bag which makes it an inventory risk.

Right but there's nothing stopping sec from ordering exosuit slot mini jetpacks or finding them from EVA, especially since there's only one sec jetpack(?)

Plus lizards get taildragging, so they're not as impacted

To be clear I'd rather replace sec jetpacks with mini jetpacks

That's the other tradeoff. If they want to go through the effort of getting enough credits and buying ones that work then so be it.

[Pronana]

That's the other tradeoff. If they want to go through the effort of getting enough credits and buying ones that work then so be it.

I would like to say that the mini-jetpack (And also void jetpack) can be equipped on the belt slot as well which is extremely strong and a unique niche, plus the mini-jetpack is far more available while the sec jetpack is typically a HoS only item.

[Pronana]

Alright so I've done some more testing in an effort to justify this change and answer any questions or concerns that may be had, mostly which revolve around how the security jetpack would now compare to the mini-jetpack.

The main test I performed was a comparison in flight duration in what I would call a "realistic scenario"

A big benefit of the mini jetpack over the reworked security jetpack is that it can fit on your belt slot, meaning you can use a larger tank on your suit slot to get the full flight duration, which you cannot do with the sec jetpack that only fits on your back.

The test consisted of the following:

Fly in a straight line away from the station and time how long it took for both jetpacks to run out when using:

Mini Jetpack on belt without a Tank and default air (Lasted about 2 minutes 10 seconds)
Mini Jetpack on belt with a Tank on the suit slot (Lasted about 4 minutes and 1 second)
Sec Jetpack on suit slot without a Tank and default air (Lasted about 3 minutes and 36 seconds)
Sec Jetpack on suit slow without a Tank and half pressure pure O2 (Lasted about 4 minutes and 45 seconds)

I did this to compare how it would perform in a scenario where a security officer would grab it over just grabbing a mini jetpack and an O2 tank from Cargo or EVA.

As a result, the reworked sec-jetpack usage time is pretty similar to a mini jetpack with the upside that your belt slot is free.

Of course, this changes if you have an extended emergency tank, or double extended tank in your pocket where we would expect the sec-jetpack to have a usage of around 6 and a half minutes, clearly beating the Mini Jetpack but this has two downsides:

One, you need to find an emergency tank that will last you a comfortably long time in space. (Extended tanks are typically not available to secoffs and double extended tanks are only in EVA unless you get it as maints loot)

Secondly, the mini-jetpack also benefits from you using an emergency tank, as it opens up your suit slot to hold an extra gun which is a pretty big advantage on its own in combat.

Lastly, I'd like to say that the sec-jetpack is RARE and hard to get, it's usually only available from HoS's suit locker, and on the three maps where it's in the armory there's only two extra (Meta got updated to have two in the armory instead of just one).

This makes it less comparable in terms of availability to the EVA jetpacks which cargo can buy and more to the Captain's Jetpack and Void Jetpack both of which are objectively better than the reworked Sec-Jetpack in multiple ways.

• Both have double the capacity of the sec-jetpack
  -Captain's Jetpack fits in a 2x2 slot
  -Void Jetpack fits on your belt making it the best combat jetpack arguably

I think it's fair to have the sec-jetpack be balanced at a level where it is comparable to the mini-jetpack in terms of usable with its own strengths and weaknesses while being a hard to get item. It's not an objective upgrade over mini-jetpacks, and it most certainly isn't going to be replacing either the captain's jetpack or the void jetpack. Plus it having half capacity means that there's also reasons to use the regular jetpack over it giving it a comfortable niche.

If there's any other questions or concerns about balance, or why I decided to make this PR I'd be happy to address them, I also recorded a video of my testing but the file size is bigger than Github's maximum and I don't really want to spend an hour rendering it and compressing it unless someone really wants to watch it.

[Errant-4]

I'm not sure why we need to invent a new solution here, when it seems every reason for this to exist would be filled by a mini jetpack, and it would keep things more consistent.
I don't think sec jetpacks need to be better in any way to warrant them being Contraband, they are contraband because they are reserved for security

[Pronana]

I'm not sure why we need to invent a new solution here, when it seems every reason for this to exist would be filled by a mini jetpack, and it would keep things more consistent. I don't think sec jetpacks need to be better in any way to warrant them being Contraband, they are contraband because they are reserved for security

It makes getting a useable jetpack more convenient for security (although usually just the HoS). It's a lot nicer to be able to have a jetpack that you can grab in a location you can access easily while arming rather than having to go out of your way to get a mini, that someone else may have already taken or have to get it beforehand in case things get bad as a "just in case."

The point of this PR isn't to add an exciting new item that really rocks the boat, it's to turn something not convenient and rarely used into something convenient and usable for the department it's given to. If anything, given how often I see sec players drop security (at least on lizard) I feel like some quality of life chances are necessary for the job.

[Errant-4]

It makes getting a useable jetpack more convenient for security (although usually just the HoS). It's a lot nicer to be able to have a jetpack that you can grab in a location you can access easily while arming rather than having to go out of your way to get a mini, that someone else may have already taken or have to get it beforehand in case things get bad as a "just in case."

No no, sorry, I mean, why don't we just make the sec jetpacks functionally mini jetpacks?

[Pronana]

No no, sorry, I mean, why don't we just make the sec jetpacks functionally mini jetpacks?

Personally, it's a sprite thing. The sec jetpack is closer to the captain's jetpack than it is the mini-jetpack so I gave it the suit slot since cap's jetpack doesn't fit on the belt slot. I wouldn't be opposed to having the sec jetpack also fit on the belt as well it does add more usability and it's literally one line of code to change that.

If we made the sec jetpack just a red mini jetpack I'd probably want to make a new sprite for it to match that.

[Pumkin69]

I play a lot of security and feel like this PR is completely fine as is. When i play hos and i have to go into space to catch someone or fight i typically just hold the jetpack in my hand and hold my wt550 in my other hand. This PR makes it so i don't have to hold the jetpack in my hand which makes logical sense especially with the jetpack being a rare item (hos only as far as i know). The captains jetpack works like this and is completely fine imo. My problem comes with jetpacks as a whole in the way they are designed but thats not for this PR.