USS Almayer Appreciation Station

[shotgunbill]

So, we've had a bit of time to digest our new space home: the USS Almayer.

Let's use this thread to share our thoughts on the new ship, along with the new changes that have been implemented recently. Using Steelpoint's summary from the following Reddit post (https://www.reddit.com/r/SS13/comments/ ... their_new/), I've put together the following collage to clearly express my feelings about these changes.

• New marine role: Warrant Officer. Essentially the Head of Security, he looks different but is identical to the MPs as far as I can tell.



• Two Dropships and two Pilot Officers. The Dropships are much larger and the marines get two of them.



• New engine, based on a Fusion Reactor. An admin claims that if it blows then the entire marine warship will blow up with it.



• Combat Engineers can deploy a M56D Mounted Turret, essentially the uber powerful mounted smartgun turrets from Whiskey Outpost.



• New Escape Pod system. Escape pods are more akin to Aliens where there are around ten small, three man, escape pods around the ship. When activated they all take about three minutes to launch. If you make it in all you can do is get into a cyro pod and ghost, but you get to live.



• New Self Destruct system. Seems to be more automated. Near engineering is a self destruct system. When activated it will slowly raise four pylons which must be activated, each pylon taking five minutes to rise up. Once all pylons are activated you simply need to hit the big red button in the middle of the room, which will instantly set off the ship to explode.



Have at it, I guess. If this is a replica of an existing thread, just yell at me and we'll take this down I guess.

edit: no photocopier the ship is trash throw it out immediately

[OatzAndHoes]

Yeah this new ship is beautiful

[Renomaki]

The ship has a lot of improvements, but so far I have been noticing a few things of concern.

1: Where do CTs get helmets and ammo from now? With all the weapon vendors locked behind marine prep rooms, I can't help but worry that Cargo has been nerfed a bit and now getting supplies is a lot more expensive now. Either that, or you gotta bug an officer or marine to help you load the shit you need.

2: There are no more medical wall mounts, meaning grunts can't pack gauze and cream anymore, which means you are even more reliant on medics to survive even the smallest of wounds now. I liked how the ol' Sully had MWMs all over the place, ensuring that most marines were properly prepared with basic first aid supplies, should they get in trouble and have no medic nearby to help them.

3: The dropships are confusing, in that you can't tell which one goes where on the map. Until we get some more hints, I might have to bug the admins to remind me which ship is supposed to go where on the map so I don't end up humiliating myself like I did earlier today.

[Steelpoint]

mfw someone references something I posted.

T-thanks!

I love the new ship thus far either way.

[David Attenbruv]

I enjoy the new ship, especially now that the admins have sorted out a image upload to the Wiki so that I can actually know where I'm going and reference to where I want to go instead of walking blind.

[completelynewguy]

I love the ship and just about everything that comes with (Granted, there's some things that need polishing). What I even love more is the fact that the map is ambiguous in tone concerning who won at the end of the round; so less salt as the midi of "GOD, HAS A HARDON FOR MARINES!" or "GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER!" plays.

[Zantus]

New medbay is nice as well, though missing some cleaners.

[4thsurviver]

Small problems for me are as MP I can't take my emergency pistol and need to steal one from cargo. As SO I can't find a cigarette vendor on the top deck. I've taken to using the smokes already there and a welding tool also outside my room. And as a standard I can't find where I can grab some basic first aid items since I can't see any wall boxes. Also is there no cryo oversight terminal? I was looking for one when Delta's spec gear went missing and a new spec spawned in.

I'm also curious with everything being expanded why the brig lost a cell for a medical station. I'm wonder what happens if they fill the 3 cells. I certainly prefer the new ship though. As a regular marine I can get everything I need in a easy path on the way to the hanger and when I come back wounded I don't need to climb a ladder to get help. Even with 2 decks and added fluff like the conference rooms and basketball court it still feels efficient. I can't wait until I learn it and actually remember the layout.

[Steelpoint]

I agree, here's a small list of minor issues I've seen or had with the new ship.

• No Nanomeds anywhere, makes healing minor injuries impossible as a non-medic (i had to crawl all away across the ship as a MT to get a bandage for my bleeding wounds from stray gun fire)
• Cargo personal have no access to marine prep rooms, making getting the ammo and helmets they need even more tedious.
• Cargo has no autolathe
• Research has no protolathe or ability to make a autolathe, so he's only good for making healing chems.
• RO has no QM Stamp, meaning cargo loses out on some cargo points.
• Maint Tech's have no access to telecomms, considering how tcomms breaks every second round this becomes a minor issue.
• No ability to lock down dropships, feature or otherwise but now xenos are much more able to overrun a dropship.
• When the Escape Pods launch or when the Self Destruct is activated, there's no real warning to the crew. If comms are down or the AI is dead you get no message. Would be nice if there was more of a alarm or light change to signal this.

[Jalleo]

My only issue is that you only need about 4 reactors on with each deck to provide enough power to charge and power the ship. Biggest issue is that the reactors brake so often.

[Steven Sneider]

As steelpoint said, researcher is just a glorified doctor now.

[mosshadow]

Slight complaint. the doors to the 4 squad rooms are not colored.

Does anyone know what the chaff dispensers are for? I don't think AA rockets are in game. Also whats the ammo storage for? Do we have actual nukes to drop on the aliens?

[GoliathTheDespoiler]

Research is useless on the new map.

Many lights are missing, leaving black spots all over the ship.

You can't drag ayys up the ladders in Medbay.

Autopsy room doesn't even have Alien Autopsy equipment.

Walls look nice I guess?

I just would've preferred they spent a bit of time bug testing it before launch. It's not finished.

[Monoo]

I just love the attention to detail on this map so much. It's symmetrical and not a ship-shaped blob, unlike the Sulaco, and you can actually see the lower deck from the upper deck! (The plating that extends past the edge of the ship on the upper deck lines up with the shape of the lower deck)

The fucking catwalk floors that you can see all the complicated piping through. The new, retro-future 80s looking sprites. The beautiful colors, the lore-friendly gameplay overhauls. I love it all.

[Nick123q23]

I love all the little weapons rooms, sensor rooms, the new CIC, even a room for the physical location of the AI. Helps immerse people and they all look pretty.

The engine being a completely different, resource management kind of thing rather than the confusing atmos mess that was the sulaco's SM engine.


My favorite part of the Almayer would be the crash mechanics. Queens can't fly very well, and it shows when they end up in random locations each time.