Computer Worm Antag

Suggestions
1

I had this idea for a while.
You become a conmputer virus, you can only exsist inside computers and active electronics. You are an small AI designed to storm bases that heavily rely on the use of computers. You have several portable servers around the station ( the amount depends on the number of crew) if all of them are destroyed, you are destroyed aswell.
Your gain intel by hacking into new electronics, you also passively gain intel if you stay inside certain electronics. You can use this intel to do several things:

-jumping to another electronic within your FOV (no cost) this can be any computer, airalarm, camera, newscaster, pda, etc
-setting computers (only the staitionery ones) as restore point, you can jump back to these computers at any time but it costs intel
-hacking airlocks, air alarms, etc
-hacking an electronic that is whitin the POV that you gain using a camera console
-adding cameras to a list, cameras inside this list can be accessed at anytime, but not jumped to
-causing nanitens to malfunction
-uploading temporary laws to IPCs, cyborgs, AI and people with electronic body parts

How to stop such a powerful foe:
The longer a worm stays in an electronjc , the more obvious it becomes that there is something wrong with that device.
Worms need to be fast, the longer they stay in station they generate logs on devices that are under their control, at some point these logs will be accessable by crew. They can doenload the logs on a disk and get them to R&D whete they can make antiviruses based on logs. If one of these programs is uploaded to an electronic it can:
-make the device much harder to access for the worm
-alarm the crew about the hacked device
-work as a trap, they let the worm in but print the location of one of their servers

If a worm gets trapped in a black out, ION storm or someone breaks the device they are in, they will automaticly jump back to one their restore points, servers. The only way for them to be completely disabled is to find all servers and destroy them

Objectives:
-steal a set of doncument from a specific computer
-gather a certain amount of intel
-hack a certain amount of electronics
-subvert the AI or destroy it ( if this is the objective, an annoucment will be made right on start, and AI cameras will automaticly gain a firewall that needs a password to access. This password then must be downloaded on a head of staff’s computer)

Laws:
Since this badboy is capable of fast plasmaflood, draining and etc, it must follow these laws:

1: your mission is a secret. you must avoid exposing yourself to crew by mass hacking the station or causing large amounts of casualties unless your existence is already exposed or you have lost a half of your servers.
2: you must follow the orders of any agent of syndiecate that you come across

Also, other traitors can order upgrades for the worms, such as:

  • a small robot controllable by the worm
  • a module that allows the worm to update permanent laws to cyborgs
    -a module that makes worm able to hijack a cyborg and control them
    -a module that allows them to duplicate themselves
    -an extra server

All the modules have to be installed manualy on the servers

4 Likes
2

Maybe instead of a syndicate virus you could be some sort of gremlin creature, like a sort of Reverant.

It’s purpose should be to cause as much menace as possible, so it souldn’t have the ability to hack air alarms, turrets, etc. Instead it should hack APCs, and cause blackouts, electrified doors or even camera hallucinations in hacked APC rooms.

Maybe you could download your form into a holoform (that looks like a pAi) to walk between APCs, and even disguise yourself as a fake APC or fake pAi to hide.

Maybe it could have quirky objectives, like hack X silicon with ion laws (yea it should be able to do that), send X viruses to PDAs, hack into RnD servers or tcomms, etc.

1 Like
3

@qwertyquerty code pls

4

Forgot to mention that you have to hack something first to jump into it, also small electronics are not jumpable, the smallest device that you can jump into is pda. I also think it would be cool if your max intel is depending on the device you are on, the smaller the device is, the less intel you can have, if you have more than that, you lose it when jumping in. Also intel should be saveable on certain points.

I really liked to code this myself but byond code is complicated and there is no good tutorial out there

5

I mean, how I “code” is stealing code from other places and messing around until it works, closest thing to this is malf AI APC shunting

6

:flushed:

Imma try coding again bruh

7

I love the idea of a self-improving Stuxnet-esque program loose on the IT debacle that is the typical Nanotrasen computer network, but the idea as you’ve outlined it seems clunky and a bit close to a preshunted malf. Maybe it should be more like a sentient disease that infects station equipment rather than the crew and is combated by the silicons and the engineering department rather than medical. Take control of computing devices to gain processing power points, spend the points on new abilities to hack more things and to amplify the damage that can be done with what’s already controlled. More powerful equipment would yield more points, but that would come with greater exposure: a worm that sticks to infecting PDAs will remain undetected, but won’t ever accrue the points or control to cause any more than irritation, but going for APCs without silencing their alarms will draw the attention of the AI and the engineers. Hack too many APCs or cause enough distruption with them and CentCom might set progress back to square one with a powernet reset.
There shouldn’t be any real control of what’s been hacked, there should be an emphasis on causing distruption, confusion, and chaos: turning off cameras, randomizing scrubber and vent settings, blowing lights, draining research points, emagging bots, corrupting cloning scans and researched technologies, -make backups- and ultimately temporarily uploading Ion Storm laws. It would be very thematic if the worm’s player saw the station’s systems and equipment like Cyberspace in the System Shock games: glowing icons in a black void, color-coded to signify their spreading infiltration, blind to the station’s actual goings-on and seeing only operation, status and position.

Fighting it should be relatively simple, first figure out there’s a computer worm going around, then scream at people to reset their PDAs, scan for abnormal activity, -either a new AI power or subtle clues like increased power consumption- and reboot consoles and APCs to remove the worm from the machine.

Traitors should be able to buy a thumb drive floppy disk/PDA cart containing the worm to infect any and all consoles/PDAs the disk/cart is inserted into, giving the worm a head start in creating distruption to accomplish objectives during.

2 Likes
8

I kinda like your idea, but at best I thing there canot be such massive computer virus infection. Sure it is fun but it does not match with ss13 system because:

  • the first thing that someone will do when they see a virus is to cut off the power by using APC. APC’s hacked? No problem just open the cover and cut all cut wires
  • when someone is infected you don’t bash them to stop infection. But if it is a computer virus, you just break the outta that computer or even easier, just screwdrive it once to disable to computer.
    -pda infected? Space it and get a new one at HOP office, its free

These are the reasons that I made my worm stealth based

However, it’s still a good idea. And i don’t think it will require asmuch code as mine.

9

My version of your idea is still stealth-based, if it acts too openly, by infecting lots of equipment in rapid succession, or by committing sabotage without also silencing diagnostic programs, the engineers and the AI would see alarms/notifications and come over to stop it.

I’m not sure what you mean by cutting wires and screwdrivering consoles, there would be reset options in the interface for any infectable piece of equipment, same for PDAs, to remove the worm from that machine.

10

i mean, the infected computer will be non functional if they cut off the power or screw them all to disable them

11

it wont work
rn engineers cant be bothered to fix huge hole in a middle of hallway, you have to do it yourself

12

Expanding on the idea, here’s some abilities I came up with:

APC Form: You start downloaded in a random APC. While in an APC you have the following abilities:
Download - Download yourself into a holoform. Your abilties work differently. Holoforms have digital camoflage. The AI and other silicons cannot see or interact with your holoform.
Hack - Hack an APC in your line of sight. 20 seconds to succeed.
Transfer - Transfer yourself to another hacked APC in line of sight.

Holoform Abilities
Upload - Hack and upload into an APC after 10 seconds.
Hack - Hack an APC in your line of sight. 5 seconds to succeed.
Camoflage - If next to a wall, camos you as a fake APC. If on ground, you turn into a pai. Humans can spot you (right clicking reveals your name) and interacting/clicking destroys the camoflage.

Global Abilities - You gain Processing Power from hacking APCs like a regular malf ai, and these abilities require Processing Power. Can be used in any form.
Open Doors (20 PP) - Opens all the doors in hacked APC rooms
Bolt Doors (20 PP) - Bolts all the doors in hacked APC rooms

Gremlin Archertype: This soft antag spawns randomly, like Revenant, and has objectives like hack X apc, or hack bridge/brig APC. It’s purpose is more to cause chaos than to hurt people.
Unique abilities:
Blackout (40 PP) - Powers down the equipment and lights in all hacked APCs
Strange Behavior (40 PP) - Releases an EMP like blast that inflicts Ion laws on all affected silicons

Syndicate Archertype: Traitor item (maybe RD and robo unique item? IPC race unique item?). Reverse engineered wormed that can aid a traitor to achieve it’s goals. Servant to it’s master, like a pAi.
Unique abilities:
Electrify Doors (40 PP) - Electrifies doors in all the APC rooms
Override (40 PP) - Emags the target console, computer or equipment. Does not work on silicons, robots (EDs) for balance reasons.

1 Like
13

I find tis worm antag idea great personally

14

Casually necros 2 year old post

Says its a good idea

Refuses to elaborate further

leaves

5 Likes
15

lets go, computer antag

16

We have sentient disease, so computer worm makes sense… I would have liked real hacking possibilities like IRL to perform things from afar as antag, using laptops for that purpose. Do laptops even have any use now that I think of it? I just don’t get what the antivirus is supposed to do and how to upload it on laptop

17

Instead of this Id like to see more amusing options for malf ai to use.

*hack the cargo console and cause the cargo shuttle to plow straight into cargo bay like a syndicate assault pod.

*hack an all in one grinder so the next person who grinds something with it gets their arm sucked into the grinder when its turned on.

*hack the cloning console to spit out deformed freaks with antag objectives instead of crew members.

*hack a microwave to cause it to constantly irradiate an area around it.

*hack crew monitor to show everyone is already dead, or alive even if they actually arent.

18

Nice necromancery my men

19

i shall have mercy on this SUPER NECRO
because i do also like the idea
but for it be realisticaly possible, we’d probabbly need a computer rework so our computers turn into actual computer, like on goon-ish or maybe similar to yogs Ai-rework (but on all computer not just ai)
:man_shrugging:

20

Current AI can interact with all electronic applicances (we can suppose via waves instead of cables). So allowing a worm to go freely from appliance to appliance does not seem that new to me.
The issue : AI has access to camera and that’s why it can jump from one electronic device to another. The prerequisite would be for worm to have access to.
And for good balance (like in sentient virus), there should be countermeasures for crew, like using antivirus