Post by nbielinski on Jun 24, 2014 15:21:04 GMT
Good day ladies and gentlemen, I am making this guide to (hopefully) enrich the minds of a few individuals starting in atmospherics.
**Side Note: This Guide Will Not Go Through Each Aspect Of The Air System. That Will Be In A Later Update**
First Chapter: Readying For Atmospheric War!
Alright sir/madam, you've just been spawned in the engineering break room, and that's fine. You don't need to spawn in atmospherics to get a hold of what you need to do. Firstly, lets do a run around engineering and atmospherics to grab what you need to survive. To your immediate left/right should be a big table, sitting 2x3, and on it sits three items you need: A heavy duty flashlight for when times get dark, throw that in your satchel, a GPS. Set this to your initials and toss that in your bag as well. That will help folks find your body if you are KO'd or Killed. Lastly grab some welding goggles, these help when fixing up disposal pipes and walls that have been damaged.
Next lets head into atmospherics. I will assume you know a bit about the station's layout, if not...sorry...but maybe play assistant a few more times to get the lay of the land. So inside the front desk section of atmospherics there are three locked lockers, and these contain more vital equipment. Go unlock one and grab a webbing vest, slap that on your uniform and then fill that with some engineering tape, an analyzer from the nearby toolbox, and finally a gas mask in case emergencies do arise. *Unless you have a REALLY good IC reason, be careful when wearing the gas mask, you'll always have the officer who cant catch a real criminal so he tases you for wearing the mask.*
This should be the last set of items you NEED to grab, of course any spare equipment is up to the feelings of the atmospheric tech as well as past experiences may influence what you grab. Grab the multitool from the three tables on the main hall, this will be useful if you need to grab the fire axe from the atmospheric cabinet....NO THE AXE IS NOT STANDARD EQUIPMENT. DO NOT GIVE SEC A REASON TO TASE YOU AND RUN AROUND WITH YOUR AXE AS A PERSON TROPHY OF HOW WELL THEY CAN SHOOT IN AN AIMING ASSISTED GAME......alright, then grab a pair of magboots from the EVA gear, trust me you'll need them, lastly grab the metal and throw that into your bag just in case you need to rebuild walls.
Allow me to run on a tangent here, feel free to ignore this piece as it is from my personal experience and the equipment may be a pain to order. Inflatable walls. In all my time playing SS13, I have never seen something so damn useful when it comes to atmospherics. They are walls you can order from cargo that inflate and act as a regular wall/glass pane. Head to cargo and bitch, stroke their paperwork boner, ask kindly till they allow you to have a set ordered. They come in cases that seem a bit too big but that might be adjusted in coding. None the less, take one that has a white W in hand and click it, that will make a wall, take one with a white D in hand and click it. That will make a door/airlock.
Thats it for equipment. You ready for war? Well good because you've joined the most under appreciated job. Seriously I've never had someone say, "Good job" without having to run from the office with no prior knowledge of the issue, get the to the scene, shove the wanna be hero's out of the way, fix the holes in the station, be half dead, and fall down in the medbay surrounded by blood as the sec officers try to arrest me for not letting them call the shuttle. So be ready to be the underdog of the station.
Chapter Two: Situations And How To Deal With Them!
**Well I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, you're probably saying: "Why don't you explain how all this amazing machinery in atmospherics works?" Sorry folks but I am writing this on a chrome book so I cant give visuals and such so its going to be a huge description about the entire atmospheric system. And that is something even I know will be boring.**
Most Common Issue:
Depressurization Due To A Hole Into Space!
Alright so you've been warned of a hole into space. Either by the AI or the atmospheric alert computer. You should be near the computer most times just so you don't have to hear about issues from people bitching. Lets set up this situation, alright?
Meteors have been found on course for the station and now the escape arm is full of holes. Firstly grab some EVA gear and toss it on, you never know if you'll be sucked into oblivion and need to quickly throw trash to get back to the station. You don't always have to do this for ever alert, in some cases just your uniform may work, but the problem here is space being so close to the impact sight, you can count on there being depressurization into space.
Get to the problem sight, you'll see several firelocks have shut and you need to open them. You don't rightly KNOW where the impact is because of this so keep an emergency air tank in your pocket, keep it pumping and slip those magboots on.
"I found a priest guy here screaming to be let out and trying to crowbar open a door to a depressurized area! What do I do?! Its either him or the rest of the station!"
Right, so this annoyed me as well, its an issue that arises when people don't want to get educated on an issue and run to panic when it happens. Depressurization can suck the air out of the room you and he are in if he manages to get the firelock open. Quickly pull him away from it and warn him. If he opens the door. HE will die. Not you. HE. Make sure he knows this as that is all he wants right now is to survive himself. Then guide him in the opposite direction of the problem sight and tell him to stay still and hunker down till escape is fixed up. If need be, throw him someplace he cant get out of. Deal with the red tape later. You have people to save.
"I'm right outside the escape arm! The airlocks are closed and the AI says that the area is depressurized! How do I enter it without causing a ruckus!"
Good! You've made it this far without being killed! And you still want to help the station. Thats good! Now place a few inflatable walls to block off a part of the area you are in, like this:
I = Inflatable Wall
A = Airlock/Firelock
D = Door
This will help with keeping some of the air in the area. Next, quickly identify the situation. Usually the windows in escape are blown to hell so you'll have to repair those. Head over and throw up a few of the Inflatable walls to keep space from venting all the air. You will be replacing these in a moment so place them outside the station, like a bubble shooting out, the inflatable wall should be just adjacent to where the wall will go. Next, set up a few wall girders, and build up walls where the holes to space have come up.
Lastly, is the air alarm, you should go over and take a look, all the information is there. The pressure, the amount of air in the atmosphere, the toxins, temperature. All that jazz is important because if the pressure is below 91 KPa, you're in trouble. So slide your ID and go to environmental settings, and select fill. This is like taking a Brita filter and ripping out all the filter-y parts to just fill it with plain water. The area will start to re-pressurize and soon you will be good.
You might as well slip outside and grab your inflatable walls for safe keeping. Be careful not to vent the atmosphere though.That should be it! The walls are up, the area is getting better, and world peace has been declared! So give yourself a pat on the back and be ready to move on out. Make sure to grab all your equipment from the area and any canisters you may have used to quickly fill the area (A costly way to fill the area as canisters might come in handy for larger jobs.) And relock any air alarms you unlocked. Job well done!
Second Most Common Issue:
FFIIRREE!
ALRIGHT! So some idiot set off a fire, usually this is a plasma canister that has been opened and light ablaze so be ready to combat fires!
Firstly, find out where the problem is. Lets say that it is in toxins storage, an easy start but a good one none the less. Now, if you have an AI, ask it to lock down the area. No piss-ant sec officer or doctor should go running in trying to be the hero the station doesn't need, and ending up lighting us all on fire. Once the area is locked down proceed to request that remote access to the air alarm be granted.
Now this all is with the help of the AI. If there IS no AI. Do as I said last time and prepare a wall of inflatable walls and breach the affected area with firesuits, oxygen tanks, fire extinguishers, and water containers.
None the less, once remote access is gained start to panic siphon the area. How can fire survive without air? It cant so start sucking all the air out and turn that little room into a tiny section of space. Finally, check the engineering cameras and you should be able to see the area, and if the fire is gone, feel free to set the environmental settings to fill and allow the area of start filling with air again. That should be it. Head in to clear the alarms yourself and let whatever hero's go in and claim victory as they pull the charred corpse of the scientists out of the hellfire.
Don't worry though.
I still know you did well.
Congrads Hero.
Third Most Common Issue:
Stupid Miners Messed Up Their DOCK!
First off...calm down...the miners have EVA equipment for a reason, the mining dock should be last priority above the main station. Yet more than once I have personally had to trek through the asteroid base to the mining dock to fix their shit. And you know theadmins, space gods, assholes that control the universe will try and make your trip through the asteroid a living hell. So lets get a plan ready.
Quickly grab some EVA gear from your stash in atmospherics, be ready to use this stuff as the mining dock has a very high chance of being opened to space if an atmospheric alert is about. So suit up and get your pee bag ready because its going to be a long trip if experience has taught me anything.
There are two types of breaches in both the station and on the mining dock: A breach to space/oblivion/the black. And then there's a breach into another compartment/an open mine shaft. Both can cause extreme problems. But as I will tell, the way you fix them is nearly identical.
Lets take the first situation into context, in this situation we will state that mining has been hit by a big hunk of rock and metal and all the windows that once had grilles and kept atmosphere in, are now blown to hell and there's a large problem as the mining dock has gone from a secure facility for work to a big metal cubby hole in the side of a asteroid...moving on, take a look around once you arrive either by walking through the mine or by the mining shuttle. Look around for the source of depressurization, usually you can see items have been dragged closer to the hole in the window, so look for the trail of equipment or trash leading to what could be an open window. Next, hop outside and slip up an inflatable wall, this will help keep what atmosphere is inside the room, stable. If you have many breaches, slip up more walls. If you have a breach in the floor, use your metal to make floor plates and make sure you have a ground to stand on. Next you should set up some wall girders and add plating to the breach spots. Lord knows those inflatable walls won't stand up if more flying rocks impact the dock. So its important to keep walls secure. Finally head over to the air alarm and set it to fill, hopefully you should have gotten all the breaches and soon the dock will fill. Job well done.
A small note on the other issue, if the dock has been exposed to an open mine shaft, do the same thing as in repairing the walls and other fixtures that separate the mine from the dock. Set up the inflatable walls, fix up the floor, place down some regular walls, set the air to fill, and pick up the pieces of your equipment. Head back and pat yourself on the back. Good job!
The miners can now return to active duty and stop boozing it up at the bar moping about how their dock isn't as sexy as it used to be. You've done your job for now. Damn fine job.
A SIDE NOTE:
To all sec officers/engineers/assistants/captains...everybody that has ever used an airlock. Lets do a quick and simple look into how airlocks work. Just so we're clear. This will help people ease alot of pain....allow me to make a quick graphic that will help show what I mean to say.
Now this is obviously incomplete, as I am writing on a chrome book and I cannot finish as much as I wish, and if there is positive feedback and a good reception. I hope to enhance the quick guide to encompass all parts of atmospherics such as rebuilding a hallway or filling a custom room with air to even fixing the mining dock. Though there is a final thought I need to leave with all you folks.
Atmospherics is broken. Yes, you'll find this once you get deep enough, that even the smallest glitch can ruin the experience for you. Personally I have seen that alarms will not go off, alarm lights that do not turn off, and air alarms that go on panic siphon mode on random. So be ready to roll with the punches. I see it as a test of will, how far are you willing to go to keep everyone from suffocating. A possible fix to this, I have heard, is that you can simply screwdriver off the plate of the air alarm and screw it shut and the image glitch will be undone as well as the "Atmos alarm in area" glitch. But this is up to speculation. You just do your best.
Again, this is a work in progress, I hope you folks like it.
Best of luck!-Nibbles
**Side Note: This Guide Will Not Go Through Each Aspect Of The Air System. That Will Be In A Later Update**
First Chapter: Readying For Atmospheric War!
Alright sir/madam, you've just been spawned in the engineering break room, and that's fine. You don't need to spawn in atmospherics to get a hold of what you need to do. Firstly, lets do a run around engineering and atmospherics to grab what you need to survive. To your immediate left/right should be a big table, sitting 2x3, and on it sits three items you need: A heavy duty flashlight for when times get dark, throw that in your satchel, a GPS. Set this to your initials and toss that in your bag as well. That will help folks find your body if you are KO'd or Killed. Lastly grab some welding goggles, these help when fixing up disposal pipes and walls that have been damaged.
Next lets head into atmospherics. I will assume you know a bit about the station's layout, if not...sorry...but maybe play assistant a few more times to get the lay of the land. So inside the front desk section of atmospherics there are three locked lockers, and these contain more vital equipment. Go unlock one and grab a webbing vest, slap that on your uniform and then fill that with some engineering tape, an analyzer from the nearby toolbox, and finally a gas mask in case emergencies do arise. *Unless you have a REALLY good IC reason, be careful when wearing the gas mask, you'll always have the officer who cant catch a real criminal so he tases you for wearing the mask.*
This should be the last set of items you NEED to grab, of course any spare equipment is up to the feelings of the atmospheric tech as well as past experiences may influence what you grab. Grab the multitool from the three tables on the main hall, this will be useful if you need to grab the fire axe from the atmospheric cabinet....NO THE AXE IS NOT STANDARD EQUIPMENT. DO NOT GIVE SEC A REASON TO TASE YOU AND RUN AROUND WITH YOUR AXE AS A PERSON TROPHY OF HOW WELL THEY CAN SHOOT IN AN AIMING ASSISTED GAME......alright, then grab a pair of magboots from the EVA gear, trust me you'll need them, lastly grab the metal and throw that into your bag just in case you need to rebuild walls.
Allow me to run on a tangent here, feel free to ignore this piece as it is from my personal experience and the equipment may be a pain to order. Inflatable walls. In all my time playing SS13, I have never seen something so damn useful when it comes to atmospherics. They are walls you can order from cargo that inflate and act as a regular wall/glass pane. Head to cargo and bitch, stroke their paperwork boner, ask kindly till they allow you to have a set ordered. They come in cases that seem a bit too big but that might be adjusted in coding. None the less, take one that has a white W in hand and click it, that will make a wall, take one with a white D in hand and click it. That will make a door/airlock.
Thats it for equipment. You ready for war? Well good because you've joined the most under appreciated job. Seriously I've never had someone say, "Good job" without having to run from the office with no prior knowledge of the issue, get the to the scene, shove the wanna be hero's out of the way, fix the holes in the station, be half dead, and fall down in the medbay surrounded by blood as the sec officers try to arrest me for not letting them call the shuttle. So be ready to be the underdog of the station.
Chapter Two: Situations And How To Deal With Them!
**Well I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, you're probably saying: "Why don't you explain how all this amazing machinery in atmospherics works?" Sorry folks but I am writing this on a chrome book so I cant give visuals and such so its going to be a huge description about the entire atmospheric system. And that is something even I know will be boring.**
Most Common Issue:
Depressurization Due To A Hole Into Space!
Alright so you've been warned of a hole into space. Either by the AI or the atmospheric alert computer. You should be near the computer most times just so you don't have to hear about issues from people bitching. Lets set up this situation, alright?
Meteors have been found on course for the station and now the escape arm is full of holes. Firstly grab some EVA gear and toss it on, you never know if you'll be sucked into oblivion and need to quickly throw trash to get back to the station. You don't always have to do this for ever alert, in some cases just your uniform may work, but the problem here is space being so close to the impact sight, you can count on there being depressurization into space.
Get to the problem sight, you'll see several firelocks have shut and you need to open them. You don't rightly KNOW where the impact is because of this so keep an emergency air tank in your pocket, keep it pumping and slip those magboots on.
"I found a priest guy here screaming to be let out and trying to crowbar open a door to a depressurized area! What do I do?! Its either him or the rest of the station!"
Right, so this annoyed me as well, its an issue that arises when people don't want to get educated on an issue and run to panic when it happens. Depressurization can suck the air out of the room you and he are in if he manages to get the firelock open. Quickly pull him away from it and warn him. If he opens the door. HE will die. Not you. HE. Make sure he knows this as that is all he wants right now is to survive himself. Then guide him in the opposite direction of the problem sight and tell him to stay still and hunker down till escape is fixed up. If need be, throw him someplace he cant get out of. Deal with the red tape later. You have people to save.
"I'm right outside the escape arm! The airlocks are closed and the AI says that the area is depressurized! How do I enter it without causing a ruckus!"
Good! You've made it this far without being killed! And you still want to help the station. Thats good! Now place a few inflatable walls to block off a part of the area you are in, like this:
I-A-D
I-A-D
I-A-D
I-A-D
I-A-D
I = Inflatable Wall
A = Airlock/Firelock
D = Door
This will help with keeping some of the air in the area. Next, quickly identify the situation. Usually the windows in escape are blown to hell so you'll have to repair those. Head over and throw up a few of the Inflatable walls to keep space from venting all the air. You will be replacing these in a moment so place them outside the station, like a bubble shooting out, the inflatable wall should be just adjacent to where the wall will go. Next, set up a few wall girders, and build up walls where the holes to space have come up.
Lastly, is the air alarm, you should go over and take a look, all the information is there. The pressure, the amount of air in the atmosphere, the toxins, temperature. All that jazz is important because if the pressure is below 91 KPa, you're in trouble. So slide your ID and go to environmental settings, and select fill. This is like taking a Brita filter and ripping out all the filter-y parts to just fill it with plain water. The area will start to re-pressurize and soon you will be good.
You might as well slip outside and grab your inflatable walls for safe keeping. Be careful not to vent the atmosphere though.That should be it! The walls are up, the area is getting better, and world peace has been declared! So give yourself a pat on the back and be ready to move on out. Make sure to grab all your equipment from the area and any canisters you may have used to quickly fill the area (A costly way to fill the area as canisters might come in handy for larger jobs.) And relock any air alarms you unlocked. Job well done!
Second Most Common Issue:
FFIIRREE!
ALRIGHT! So some idiot set off a fire, usually this is a plasma canister that has been opened and light ablaze so be ready to combat fires!
Firstly, find out where the problem is. Lets say that it is in toxins storage, an easy start but a good one none the less. Now, if you have an AI, ask it to lock down the area. No piss-ant sec officer or doctor should go running in trying to be the hero the station doesn't need, and ending up lighting us all on fire. Once the area is locked down proceed to request that remote access to the air alarm be granted.
Now this all is with the help of the AI. If there IS no AI. Do as I said last time and prepare a wall of inflatable walls and breach the affected area with firesuits, oxygen tanks, fire extinguishers, and water containers.
None the less, once remote access is gained start to panic siphon the area. How can fire survive without air? It cant so start sucking all the air out and turn that little room into a tiny section of space. Finally, check the engineering cameras and you should be able to see the area, and if the fire is gone, feel free to set the environmental settings to fill and allow the area of start filling with air again. That should be it. Head in to clear the alarms yourself and let whatever hero's go in and claim victory as they pull the charred corpse of the scientists out of the hellfire.
Don't worry though.
I still know you did well.
Congrads Hero.
Third Most Common Issue:
Stupid Miners Messed Up Their DOCK!
First off...calm down...the miners have EVA equipment for a reason, the mining dock should be last priority above the main station. Yet more than once I have personally had to trek through the asteroid base to the mining dock to fix their shit. And you know the
Quickly grab some EVA gear from your stash in atmospherics, be ready to use this stuff as the mining dock has a very high chance of being opened to space if an atmospheric alert is about. So suit up and get your pee bag ready because its going to be a long trip if experience has taught me anything.
There are two types of breaches in both the station and on the mining dock: A breach to space/oblivion/the black. And then there's a breach into another compartment/an open mine shaft. Both can cause extreme problems. But as I will tell, the way you fix them is nearly identical.
Lets take the first situation into context, in this situation we will state that mining has been hit by a big hunk of rock and metal and all the windows that once had grilles and kept atmosphere in, are now blown to hell and there's a large problem as the mining dock has gone from a secure facility for work to a big metal cubby hole in the side of a asteroid...moving on, take a look around once you arrive either by walking through the mine or by the mining shuttle. Look around for the source of depressurization, usually you can see items have been dragged closer to the hole in the window, so look for the trail of equipment or trash leading to what could be an open window. Next, hop outside and slip up an inflatable wall, this will help keep what atmosphere is inside the room, stable. If you have many breaches, slip up more walls. If you have a breach in the floor, use your metal to make floor plates and make sure you have a ground to stand on. Next you should set up some wall girders and add plating to the breach spots. Lord knows those inflatable walls won't stand up if more flying rocks impact the dock. So its important to keep walls secure. Finally head over to the air alarm and set it to fill, hopefully you should have gotten all the breaches and soon the dock will fill. Job well done.
A small note on the other issue, if the dock has been exposed to an open mine shaft, do the same thing as in repairing the walls and other fixtures that separate the mine from the dock. Set up the inflatable walls, fix up the floor, place down some regular walls, set the air to fill, and pick up the pieces of your equipment. Head back and pat yourself on the back. Good job!
The miners can now return to active duty and stop boozing it up at the bar moping about how their dock isn't as sexy as it used to be. You've done your job for now. Damn fine job.
A SIDE NOTE:
To all sec officers/engineers/assistants/captains...everybody that has ever used an airlock. Lets do a quick and simple look into how airlocks work. Just so we're clear. This will help people ease alot of pain....allow me to make a quick graphic that will help show what I mean to say.
{Click Here For The Graphic}
Closing Thoughts!Now this is obviously incomplete, as I am writing on a chrome book and I cannot finish as much as I wish, and if there is positive feedback and a good reception. I hope to enhance the quick guide to encompass all parts of atmospherics such as rebuilding a hallway or filling a custom room with air to even fixing the mining dock. Though there is a final thought I need to leave with all you folks.
Atmospherics is broken. Yes, you'll find this once you get deep enough, that even the smallest glitch can ruin the experience for you. Personally I have seen that alarms will not go off, alarm lights that do not turn off, and air alarms that go on panic siphon mode on random. So be ready to roll with the punches. I see it as a test of will, how far are you willing to go to keep everyone from suffocating. A possible fix to this, I have heard, is that you can simply screwdriver off the plate of the air alarm and screw it shut and the image glitch will be undone as well as the "Atmos alarm in area" glitch. But this is up to speculation. You just do your best.
Again, this is a work in progress, I hope you folks like it.
Best of luck!-Nibbles
