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Robot Command Wishlist

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Just some common commands that I dearly miss when using robots, if development ever happens to circle back, (in descending order from most missed to least):

search, follow, board, peer, peek, glance, read, inspect, jump, sit, stand, climb, escort, protect, shadow, watch, address

Some other extremely useful commands that could be tied to upgrades maybe:

push, touch, press, open, close, lock, unlock, @trust, @trusted

Commands that don't exist but that I would kill for:

startup
By 0x1mm at Mar 15, 2023 2:05 PM
This needed command list is actually exhaustively larger than I thought originally. Robots lack the ability to interact with 90+ of the game world because they only have a small number of whitelisted commands, meaning interacting with any given object is likely impossible.

It also poses a problem where the basic command list is only really half-implemented. A robot can accept chyen but never return it through any means, nor see if it has any because it cannot 'dropmoney' 'pay' or 'count'. It can call numbers but not talk into a phone because it cannot use 'to'. It can pick up and drop objects but not 'stash' them.

It can use buttons but only if they are 'press', 'smash' or 'touch', but not 'push' or 'use'. It can 'enter' things but never 'exit' them. It can 'look' at an object but it can't 'examine' it.

The sheer number of verbs that are used just to have everyday interaction with the game world makes whitelisting them, I think, impossible. At least for advanced robots I think they should be able to use any verbs a player can by default, and then work backwards from a blacklist if there is any weirdness from there.

By 0x1mm at Sep 27, 2023 2:33 PM
There's been a situation where a certain part led me to believe it would enable escort/protection on a robot but it did in fact not do that. Would be neat and give riggers more ins on various jobs.
By batko at Sep 27, 2023 3:09 PM
It's funny you mention it! I am writing a bug report along those lines but it's hard to tell what is a bug and what is just... not there. It looks to me like one of these modes was intended to allow for the same sort of verbal commands that NPC followers can be issued, and the whitelist does seem to work, it just... doesn't actually accept commands.

It appears like at a minimum they should engage non-whitelisted targets while patrolling and accept whitelisted verbal commands in the other mode.

By 0x1mm at Sep 27, 2023 3:55 PM
While I am not against the commands available for use with robots being expanded, I do prefer them being limited. I am not a fan of a robot being able to do all or even most of the things a person can do. It's already a pretty big deal being able to send a robot of various kinds out to do your bidding while tucked away behind locked doors. I'd prefer there to still being real benefits to going out or hiring people.

I am not saying that robots are unbalanced as is - I wouldn't know. I haven't worked with the systems since they were overhauled. But I think this is one area of the game that can very quickly and easily change the entire balance of the game and how it is played. If I can use one skill to represent three other skills and robot parts to remove the need to invest in yet other stats/skills, it could become the new norm to just invest in rigging skills/stats, robots and remote play.

By Grey0 at Sep 29, 2023 4:31 AM
It's already a pretty big deal being able to send a robot of various kinds out to do your bidding while tucked away behind locked doors.

No it isn't, and you clearly don't know this. Do you know how many robots that 'exist' actually don't, or what parts that pretend to functionality have none, or functions that are listed that do nothing at all? This has nothing to do with balance (although players will argue literally everything that isn't catered completely around combat characters is unbalanced anyway). That is a ridiculous protestation to what should be basic functionality. A 530,000c robot being able to do basic tasks is not unbalanced or unreasonable, it should be the baseline of a feature release.

Robots were abandoned and left extensively unfinished and broken. My actual position is they should never have been released in this state at all, and their presence as much misleads new players and prospective riggers into thinking features are present that aren't, as much as it adds to the game in their current form.

By 0x1mm at Sep 29, 2023 10:21 AM
While I'm ranting:

Players are going to have to get over this antiquated swords-and-boards MUD pathology about how everything must happen within range of their broadsword or it's unfair. This is a cyberpunk game, meatspace is old news. The Grid or Matrix is going to happen, eventually, one way or another and will become (God and Johnny Willing) a major centerpiece of gameplay and game design, that involves substantial interactions beyond the scope of a character's fingertips.

We should want the cobwebbed balance between various flavors of solo thrown into disarray, and a new dawn of disruptive technomancers to flourish. It's beyond time.

By 0x1mm at Sep 29, 2023 10:41 AM
I was aware of what robots were capable of before the revamp and it was already dicey in my opinion. I also openly admitted that I am open to additional commands and was only urging caution. And, no I don't have to get over my vision of SIndome nor does anyone else just because your have different opinions - not that what you describe is my vision at all.

I am very much a fan of seeing rigging expanded, as I am with other archetypes like decking. I am also worried about balancing changes like this with other archetypes and I will not stop being concerned by this simply because others have a different opinion on thing. In the end it's in staff's hands anyways. All we can do is present our ideas, opinions and concerns and I will keep on doing so.

By Grey0 at Sep 29, 2023 10:52 AM
Well too bad. The advertised functionality is there, it just doesn't work. If robots can get[/b[ it is not a slippery slope for them to also be able to put. If they can accept pay it is not an unthinkable precedent for them to count. If they can already patrol it should be expected they can open a door.

They already have half a dozen verbs for interacting with objects, but lack others not out of balance but because there's a million random verbs to interact with any given object in the game world and they were rolled out quickly. Which is why I'm making the effort to bug test this stuff and report on what doesn't work. The barn door is open already, the time for protest was 3 years ago. Now it's either do they function as presented or do they not, rather than let's pretend they do somethings but actually can't.

By 0x1mm at Sep 29, 2023 11:06 AM
I agree that a lot of these commands should be added. A couple that I think should be added to the list are:

"to" (though that could possibly create issues with some NPCs, not sure)

"hide/sneak" (I feel like felibots should be able to hide pretty well, and also shadow is already on the list so it only makes sense to have both),

"examine"

I do think it makes sense for things like felibots or the robot dogs to not be able to do many of the same things as the bigger robots, such as unlocking and opening doors, pressing elevator buttons, holding multiple things, etc. Though I think it would be very nice if they could hold one thing in their mouth.

By Emily at Sep 29, 2023 12:06 PM
Another one to add to the list. A shower command for robots would be nice, since they can get dirty but there's no way to actually get them clean since they can't use showers.
By Emily at Mar 4, 2024 12:23 PM
Would be funny if they got electrocuted from that command.

There should definitely be a way to clean dirty robots though.

By svetlana at Mar 4, 2024 1:47 PM
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