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requirements.md

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Mapping Requirements

In order for mapping changes to comply with our existing codebase, conventions, and in-game systems, there are several guidelines that must be followed.

Technical Standards

Atmospherics and Cables

  1. Unless absolutely necessary, do not run atmospherics pipes or disposals pipes under wall turfs. NEVER run cables under wall turfs.

  2. Every room should contain at least one air vent and scrubber. Use the following "on" subtype of vents and scrubbers as opposed to varediting: /obj/machinery/atmospherics/unary/vent_scrubber/on and /obj/machinery/atmospherics/unary/vent_pump/on.

  3. Run air pipes together where possible. The first example below is to be avoided, the second is optimal:

    Pipe layouts should be logical and predictable, easy to understand at a glance. Always avoid complex layouts like in this example:

  4. External areas, or areas where depressurisation is expected and normal, should use airless turf variants to prevent additional atmospherics load.

  5. Tiny fans (/obj/structure/fans/tiny) can be used to block airflow into problematic areas, but are not a substitute for proper door and firelock combinations. They are useful under blast doors that lead to space when opened.

Wall Mounts

  1. Every station area (/area/station subtypes) should contain only one APC and air alarm.

  2. Critical infrastructure rooms (such as the engine, arrivals, and medbay areas) should be given an APC with a larger power cell. Use the /obj/machinery/power/apc/important and /obj/machinery/power/apc/critical mapping helpers for this purpose.

  3. Every room should contain at least one fire alarm. Fire alarms should not be placed next to expected heat sources.

  4. Every room should contain at least one station intercom. Intercoms should be set to frequency 145.9, and be speaker ON Microphone OFF. This is so radio signals can reach people even without headsets on. Larger rooms will require more than one at a time.

  5. Every room should have at least one security camera with the caveats listed in the Design Guide. Larger rooms may require more than one security camera. All security cameras should have a descriptive name that makes it easy to find on a camera console. A good example would be the template [Department name] - [Area], so Brig - Cell 1, or Medbay - Treatment Center. Consistency is key to good camera naming.

  6. Every room should have at least one light switch. When possible, light switches should be placed in such a position that a player can activate them while standing on the same tile as the room's airlock. Players should not have to wander through a dark room to find the light switch.

  7. Head of Staff offices should contain a requests console, using the /obj/machinery/requests_console/directional helpers. Console department names and types should not be varedited.

  8. Use lights sparingly. They draw a significant amount of power.

Windows, Walls, and Floors

  1. Electrochromic windows (/obj/structure/window/reinforced/polarized) and doors/windoors (using the /obj/effect/mapping_helpers/airlock/polarized helper) are preferred over shutters as the method of restricting view to a room through windows. Shutters are sill appropriate in industrial/hazardous areas of the station (engine rooms, HoP line, science test chamber, etc.). Electrochromic window/windoor/door sets require a unique ID var, and a window tint button (/obj/machinery/button/windowtint) with a matching ID var. The default range of the button is 7 tiles but can be amended with a varedit.

  2. Windows to secure areas or external areas should be reinforced. Windows in engine areas should be reinforced plasma glass. Windows in high security areas, such as the brig, bridge, and head of staff offices, should be electrified by placing a wire node under the window.

  3. Engine areas, or areas with a high probability of receiving explosions, should use reinforced flooring if appropriate.

Airlocks, Windoors, and Firelocks

  1. Firelocks should be used at area boundaries over doors and windoors, but not windows. Firelocks can also be used to break up hallways at reasonable intervals. Double firelocks are not permitted. Maintenance access doors should never have firelocks placed over them.

  2. Door and windoor access must be correctly set by the /obj/effect/mapping_helpers/airlock/access and /obj/effect/mapping_helpers/airlock/windoor/access helpers, respectively. Pay attention to the any and all subtypes; the any subtype allows someone with any of the accesses on the airlock to use it, and the all subtypes requires the user to have all of the access on the airlock to use it.

    For example, on the Cerebron (Metastation), miners must walk through the Cargo Bay to access the Mining Dock. They do not have Cargo Bay access, rather the Cargo Bay airlocks have two access helpers on them:

    • /obj/effect/mapping_helpers/airlock/access/any/supply/cargo_bay
    • /obj/effect/mapping_helpers/airlock/access/any/supply/mining

    This allows both cargo technicians and miners to use those airlocks.

    Old doors that use var edited access should be updated to use the correct access helper, and the var edit on the door should be cleaned.

Other

  1. Edits in mapping tools should almost always be possible to replicate in-game. For this reason, avoid stacking multiple structures on the same tile (e.g. placing a light and an APC on the same wall).

  2. When adding new shuttles, or remapping departures areas, contributors must ensure that all existing and new shuttles continue to fit and dock to the correct airlocks as expected. Any time docking ports are edited, the author needs to confirm the width, height, and dwidth variables between the two permanent ports and mobile port are compatible.

Varedits

Varediting, or variable editing, is the term for modifying a variable of an object on the map, instead of in code. There are many legitimate reasons to do so. For example, since nearly all floor tiles on the station are the same object, their icon_state and dir variables need to be edited to modify their appearance.

However, there are also cases when varediting is not appropriate. In general, when modifying the behavior of an object, creating a subtype in code is almost always the better option. For example, let's say you have an /obj/helmet with a variable, strength, which defines how much damage it can take. The default is 10. You want to create a stronger helmet, so you add one into a map, and varedit its strength to be 20. This may work for now, but what if the strength of a helmet no longer is based off that variable? Your helmet will no longer work as expected. If you instead made an /obj/helmet/strong, and made the variable change there, then if the implementation for /obj/helmet changes, your object will benefit from those changes.

Another example of inappropriate varediting is doing it to an object with many instances on a map, or multiple instances across maps. If you need to change the variable, you will then have to find every instance of it across all of the maps, and change them all.

Areas should never be varedited on a map. All areas of a single type, altered instance or not, are considered the same area within the code, and editing their variables on a map can lead to issues with powernets and event subsystems which are difficult to debug.

Subtypes only intended to be used on ruins should be contained within an .dm file with a name corresponding to that map within code\modules\ruins. This is so in the event that the map is removed, that subtype will be removed at the same time as well to minimize leftover/unused data within the repo.

When not using StrongDMM (which handles the following automatically) please attempt to clean out any dirty variables that may be contained within items you alter through varediting. For example changing the pixel_x variable from 23 to 0 will leave a dirty record in the map's code of pixel_x = 0.

Unless they require custom placement, when placing the following items use the relevant directional mapper, as it has predefined pixel offsets and directions that are standardised: APC, Air alarm, Fire alarm, station intercom, newscaster, extinguisher cabinet, light switches.

Mapper Contribution Guidelines

These guidelines apply to all mapping contributors.

For mapping PRs, we do not accept 'change for the sake of change' remaps, unless you have very good reasoning to do so. Maintainers reserve the right to close your PR if we disagree with your reasoning. Large remaps, such as those to a department, must be justified with clear, specific reasons.

Before committing a map change, you MUST run Mapmerge to normalise your changes. You can do this manually before every commit with tools\mapmerge2\Run Before Committing.bat or by letting the git hooks do it for you. Failure to run Mapmerge on a map after editing greatly increases the risk of the map's key dictionary becoming corrupted by future edits after running map merge. Resolving the corruption issue involves rebuilding the map's key dictionary.

If you are making non-minor edits to an area or room, (non-minor being anything more than moving a few objects or fixing small bugs) then you should ensure the entire area/room is updated to meet these standards.