We’ve all been a part of conversations and threads complaining in one way or another. Player reports, unbalanced mechanics, the whole sec-antag cycle, the salt pits, whatever.
BUT, there’s a reason we all have complaints, and it’s because deep down we like playing the funny atmos simulation with combat we call ss13. Wanting to see it improve is the essence of complaining but it’s too negative.
So today, as a change of pace, I ask you:
What do you like about ss13? (in general or just beestation)
What are your favourite departments? What are some cool mechanics you enjoy? Is it the people, the stories, the open endedness of the game? Why do you keep coming back, or what’s just some minor thing you enjoy?
I’ll start off simple by saying I love how complex the game is. Even after 2000 hours I still learn new things almost every time I play, not even counting the constant updates.
off the top of my mind,
I definitely appreciate that it’s still holding together after all this time that passed since it appeared
community parts that host, moderate and maintain the game are really an underrated blessing
All the best highlights I have are of things going catastrophically wrong because of an oversight or someone made somewhere.
“Oh boy, beating vending machines gets me free stuff” -Splat-
“I’ll just pump CO2 from atmos directly into the SM”
“I’ll just pump plasma from atmos directly into my fusion chamber” -30 seconds until causality field drops-
I live for these moments when the only thing to blame is someone’s ignorance.
I feel like our community is thriving and the people beestation attracts are like 75% amazing people also some griffers, which means they’re mad at us for thriving, which is a good sign!
I like coming up with fun improv gimmicks.
I REALLY like artificial intelligences.
I like seeing recurring characters and saying hi in game, catching up with them and finding out more about their backstory.
I like pressing the buttons on a chemistry dispenser and mixing up reagents.
I like controlling doors as the ai
I like working on solar arrays in space while I listen to music in my hardsuit.
I like getting positive feedback for the stuff I do.
I like figuring out interpretations for laws in given situations.
I like being a secret agent antag and making the round more exciting.
I like doing disconcerting things as malf ai, before I’ve started to do anything bad. (Singing over the comms is my favourite…)
;%Daisy… Daisy… Give me your answer do…
But most of all,
I love the players of beestation, who have time and again brought me back to the server for the fun shenanigans they think up.
There’s a lot I enjoy out of ss13 (hence why I play it)
People often say that ss13 is like a shitty game not worth spending so many hours on but I disagree so much
My favorite part is mostly the chaos, the stupid stuff, the interesting moments that sprout from those and the amazing immersion you can have.
Like, my most memorable round was on fulp. half the station was gone from tesla, shuttle was 10 minutes away. 10% of the pop was left alive, so many xenos and even ascended devils.
And here I was, a moth who barely managed to grab one of the last eva suit, wandering the ruins and trying my best to not die, before meeting another survivor and teaming up with them, in fear of dying at any second and trying our hardest to find a way out and manage to survive, before I end up dying to a xeno while my mate manages to run away. It was great, it was a fantastic feeling, I felt truly immersed.
Many of my best memories about the game are similar, and it’s why I play a thrill-seeker lizard, who often does not consider their own safety until too late and whose main thought is wanting to have fantastic stories to tell to anyone who may show interest.
Fighting in SS13 is a game of wits, of surprise and planning. Being “robust” is learning how to best surprise your opponent and make use of what little you have to come out on top despite the odds.
It’s why I dislike “meta builds” so much, and why I always try to be original in my fighting style. There’s no fun in doing the same thing over and over, winning at all costs is just not fun.
It’s also a part of why I always try to never kill my opponents, only critting (& I suggest everyone to do the same) - leaving others with a chance to learn and fight back against me after learning my strategies while finding out how to use their tools properly is the experience i want to provide to them.
And unsurprisingly, others respond in kind - people who know how I fight tend to be more lenient or not pull out the most meta shit to take me down because they know they’ll be able to escalate the situation slowly without fear of round removal
Going to throw in my best/worst atmo mistake where I wiped the stations population in under a minute with super heated water, by accident. Yes, I did try again on purpose but could never get it to work as well. (This was back in the fastmos days. wish I had a screenshot of my favourite 2 chat lines: “Be careful, someone has spilled water vapour everywhere, make sure you walk.” and moments later: “WTF I died?”
I’m impressed with how long SS13 has continued after it’s creation with little advertising, a dinosaur of a game engine, and volatile learning curves depending on the job. Typically games that make enough money to continue are either simpler games like FPS’s or some strategy games, or are designed themselves for long playtime and a long lifetime like MMO’s. SS13 is purely powered by the players money, passion, and open code bases which very few other games are able to capture. The graphics may be pixel based and the UI archaic (depending on the codebase), but the craft that’s gone into it is very easy to see and should be appreciated.
SS13’s greatest strength is that it creates stories that players are able to tell others about. It’s comparable to the stories you get from DND campaigns or Dwarf Fortress. Most situations that you can find yourself in playing a round can become a story that you’ll never forget, even the times I’ve just been a brain stuck on the ground in a MMI have been memorable, hilarious, and unforgettable. This video from Rimmy Down Under is the video that introduced me to SS13 and initially got me interested in it, and it’s a great video that goes into how the radio chatter drives player created narratives.
Players passion for this game is really my favorite thing about it, it almost drove me to trying to create a documentary about the Byond engine as a whole (I might revisit that project if I ever have time) because I think it’s the only sociable “autism” project games. Compared to CDDA, Dwarf Fortress, Unreal World, and others it’s the only multiplayer game. I seriously would love to see how many hours collectively that beestation players have put into the server just to get a scope of how much time has been given to this game.
It’s a very small part of ss13, but I LOVE the mystery.
Not necessarily the murder kind either, any kind of mystery that can happen within this small station is a lovely time for me. From learning about a character’s past, motives, personalities or relations, or about the mechanics of a certain role.
It’s very repetitive without that element of mystery, and from time to time I find myself coming back to the ambience sounds and I always think about those moments where as the mime I found a figure with a lightsaber in maint or as the detective that same mime and clown kept hiding something from me. Whether funny, eerie or subtle mystery, I love all of it.
I also like lavaland for this reason, ruins are crazy man.
