Xenos are the number one event request I see to spawn as an admin, it’s also one of my favorites to observe, fight against and fight as. I think a game mode where players are randomly spawned as larva in maintenance or isolated areas from roundstart would be a great addition to the rotation on both servers.
Side note: I want to call attention to the PR on Xeno nerfs because I don’t think they need any nerf at all.
Clock cult I think is still bugged rounds wouldn’t end
But it’s my favourite round
If you get the big names equal on both sides and # of players on either side
Slav
Collins
Karen
Etc
Then it’s amazing fun
They may need nerf, i mean imagine a department getting captured by xenos 5 mins into round when crew hardly know each other and they can’t trust eachother to share equipment to fight xeno (of course, that will only happen if sec is unable to stop the xenos and crew are not some LRPist who give away AA for the meme)
And the rounds will be short, most captians will call the shuttle the second they hear xenos are around.
And other round types aren’t short? Revs can finish the round within 5 minutes, and Monkeys can end even faster.
The unprepared thing is a good point, though. But again, Nukies who don’t do war ops can be on station within a few minutes of round start. Admittedly, they tend to do war ops.
Revs can go stealthy or slow(which they usually do), on monkies (that we all know and hate) I agree with you, but monkies suck and they are rare so no big deal.
But xenos are usually discovered fast when people see xeno floors on their department or AI not having access to cameras in a place(which causes people to go and check), so they are not very stealthy like and will cause masspanic
EDIT: also both xenos and ops can be stopped, but nuke ops will kill the crew while xenos kill and reproduce the more they kill, the longer it goes the stronger they become
But althrough, i really like this idea. However it may need some overhauling for the xenos (nerfing, adding xeno hunters for when the station is went to shit but not enough for DS, adding more xeno types, etc)
If we think about it as another type of conversion mode, then xenos definitely need a nerf to get closer to other conversion antag levels. I do quite like the idea though.
On a similar note: turning others into zombies is basically conversion, so that could also suit becoming it’s own mode.
You’ve just made me realize I don’t actually hate conversion antags as a whole, but rather just the conversion antags that cause mass confusion and 4noraisin tickets.
I like the idea of zombies as a round type too though.
Xenos are fine on average but there is some features that need some polishing.
For example, the tackle. Bloody very long stun with no counter if in solo.
Also the fact that if the Queen died the xenos will be wall slamming themselves to death for few minutes.
One way to deal with the roundstart preparedness issue: have xenos begin the round on a different z-level w/ a shuttle similar to how nukies and pirates work. Give them a bit of time to do prep work (build a hive, facehugger monkeys, etc) before the shuttle automatically launches with a warning announcement to the station.
The delay + blue alert makes it so that there’s ten or so minutes for the station to do its thing before xenos land. Also makes it so there’s no certainty of what the antag is.
Prep work and the shuttle launch means xenos have a solid base to attack from so they’re not scrambling to find a way into the station.
Alternatively, maybe finally use CentComm for an antag role and have the xenos use the emergency shuttle to board. I foresee some problems with shuttle purchasing, though.