Research Director

Command

Research Director

Access: Command, Research Director, Science, Maintenance

Difficulty: Medium

Duties: Direct the order of research, delegate tasks to your team and make sure they don't blow themselves or the crew up. Demote the Assistant that spams Anomalies.

Supervisors: Captain

Subordinates: Scientist, Research Assistant

Guides: Science

The Research Director (abrev. RD) is a Head of Department in charge of the Science department and its operations. While they will ideally have Scientists under them to aid in research, they are expected to have a good understanding of how to complete all tasks in their department, help Science Assistants and keep the department's complex systems functioning.

Be it making a new Cloner Pod for Medbay, a shuttle board for Cargo, or an Advanced Mop for the janitor, the primary goal of the Research Director (and their department as a whole) is to improve the quality of the stations equipment.

Science in SS14 is measured in discrete science points, which you can exchange for new technologies in the Protolathe, or other machinery.

Hopefully, by your great leadership, Science will not cause death and major station sabotage.

Managing sub-departments

Science can currently be divided into four sections: Xenoarcheology, Anomalous Research, Robotics, and the Lathes. These are normally in four different rooms or areas inside the Science department. As a Research Director, it's your job to supervise and direct all four so as to help the station. Some smaller stations may lack one or more sections.

As of now, SS14 offers two main methods of science point production: Xenoarcheology and Anomalous Research.

Xenoarcheology

Xenoarcheology (see extended article) is possible as long as there are artifacts to research and a non-blown-up artifact research room, there should be someone inside advancing research. Make sure to delegate someone here or, if needed, stay here yourself, assuming no one jumped right at the opportunity, which someone usually does.

You should try to give people here the tools to further their research: go ask engineers for a pair of mag boots, ask the chef for some monkey cubes, get a musical instrument (you can quickly zip back to your department using your hand-teleporter after you get the thing you want). Some stations may start out with some of these items, so it's better to first check before going to waste your time.

What can go wrong?

A lot. From explosions, spacing, radiation, fires, carps, holo-carps, super-heated gas leaks...

• Try to keep an eye out on the artifact room, when something goes catastrophically wrong inside the Science department, it usually comes from here.
• Additionally, make sure there are proper and organized records of the nodes of the artifacts being researched. Try to make sure that, before a completely researched artifact goes to Cargo or to a Crusher, it is actually completely researched.
• A Geiger counter anywhere near the artifact being researched is also good if you like your scientists to not suddenly drop dead from radiation poisoning.

Anomalous Research

All stations start with plasma in the associated room, therefore, assuming the Science department is not understaffed, one Anomaly should be started right away. Scram to make an Anomaly detector when it is not found in the first ten seconds of being generated. Once it's found, if it is inside a department, try to bargain with or bribe the head of said department to keep it there.

Ideally, Anomalies and artifacts will be running simultaneously, generating a steady amount of points, but this is not always possible. Be it a lack of luck with either one or a bad day for the Cargo department, not allowing you to get plasma, one may be nonoperational. Lean harder on the functioning one to try to make up for the other one, get a second artifact scanner; upgrade the Anomaly vessel's parts, for example.

What can go wrong?

Also a lot. An Anomaly going supercritical is—unlike an artifact blowing up—not only a danger to the Science department but one to whoever is close or works there.

• Have an Anomaly scanner on you at all times, and scan all Anomalies the science department is containing, even if someone else is taking care of them.
• Check on the scanners for the state of the Anomaly often enough to be able to respond to its change of state and any sabotage attempts.
• Setting up your teleporter to it if it isn't close is also a very good idea, but may not be possible if the station's Cargo department is far away from the Science department.

Remember to check if your Scientists have actually assigned the Anomaly, as the contrary happens way too often.

Robotics

Until Robotics becomes its own department, you'll have to deal with this. Try to guide the people here to make the bots and cyborgs the station actually needs and fire anyone that makes a Honkbot on the spot.

At round start, this sub-department should worry itself about bots or getting a brain to, later, make a cyborg. The value of a Medbot in Medical cannot be understated, go to the Medical department for an empty Medkit so one can be made. Making another one and a Janibot for Science can also make the department more independent.

Look out for understaffed departments, these are prime candidates for borgs to be made for. You can also consult the heads of the departments using the Command Channel for any of them that need a cyborg. Once you have cyborgs going, make sure they get upgraded with new modules whenever possible.

Making a positronic brain, along with other things in the Lathes, requires gold and silver. You should go to the vault to get these materials early on, or you can delegate a cyborg to do so. Plasma is also necessary, make sure it is not needed for Anomalous research before spending it.

What can go wrong?

Not as much. If there is the suspition that a cyborg has had it's laws tampered with, be it by an ion storm or an e-mag, you can recall all cyborgs and check up on them. You can disable any cyborgs going haywire on the Robotics Control Console after swiping your ID (make sure to not destroy them), but e-magged cyborgs will not be affected, this can be used to check if they have been malitiously tampered with. You can have them simply state their laws, but an e-magged cyborg can lie to you. The laws of a cyborg are tied to the body, therefore a cooperating brain outside the body will tell you if it has been e-magged and, if it has, by who, as it is no longer subject to law four of e-magged cyborgs.

Another thing to look out for is over-enthusiastic roboticists. The Science department does not need three or four cyborg bodies lying around doing nothing. A roboticist going for more bodies without any need and without permition must be stopped so as to not consume all of the department's resources and leave the Lathes dry.

Lathes

A crucial part of the department, the Lathes is where Scientists go to get the stuff they and others need. Try to have the machines always stocked up on materials, and order more before they run out.

You should try to get this sub-department upgraded as soon as you get the research to do so. The flatpack is an extremely useful machine, and so are the hyperconvection machines.

You can find a list of items that can be made in the Research and Developement page.

What can go wrong?

Surprisingly, not a lot. Just make sure you Scientist aren't giving away items people can use to break into places with no good reason or cryobeakers to make bombs. You should also keep in mind that, if a Lathe is capable to make items it normally can't, like ammunition or guns, that means it has been e-magged.

Your Equipment

Hand Teleporter

Use the item to create an orange portal, and again to create a second, blue portal. Anything that enters one portal exits the other simultaneously, keeping their direction and speed. To destroy portals, use the hand teleporter three times in quick succession. An lone portal works like a blue-space Anomaly, teleporting anyone that touches it to somewhere nearby.

This is one of—if not the most—useful item you have access to: if it's setting up a quick way to Cargo or Medical, facilitate the containment of anomalies far away, quickly returning to your department, helping Medical evacuate, etc.

This also makes it a very strong tool for any antagonist; escaping most situations is as easy as placing a portal somewhere in maintenance, or break into nearly anywhere by using the random teleportation of a solo portal. It can be a syndicate steal objective, but, regardless, it is really important it does not fall into the wrong hands, be really careful if you are going to let someone borrow it.

Note that your hand teleporter cannot create a portal to or from different grids (between the station and the shuttle, for example). If you try to create one, there will be a zap when the second is placed, and both portals will be destroyed.

Experimental Hardsuit

The damage reduction modifiers:

-10% Piercing, -20% Slash, -40% Blunt, -70% Heat, -80% Caustic, -90% Radiation, -90% Explosion

A very strong suit, especially good against the dangers inside the Science department. It does slow you down by 25%, therefore you may not want to walk around with it always. If the alert level is anywhere above green, you should probably consider having it on. It is a syndicate steal objective.

Research Assistants & Mentoring

As Research Director, you should try to assist anyone in your department that needs help. This is particularly true with Assistants. Always check on the crew manifest if there are any Research Assistants on your team and, if so, ask to make sure they are getting all the help and mentoring that they need in order to do and understand their work (it does not necessarily have to be you mentoring, but if someone needs it, you should make sure someone is on it). Make sure they know how to use the science radio, so they can easily and conveniently ask questions or request help.

Science can be a challenging, different and weird department to understand at first, so please always be patient with any new players. This is a growing community, the last thing anyone wants is for new players to feel left on the side, confused and ignored, even when they ask for help, eventually leaving the game. Be friendly, even when someone messes up.

Speaking of messing up, due to their inexperience, Research Assistants are also much more prone to commiting big mistakes that cost science a lot and put in danger anyone else on the station, so this is another reason to make sure they know at least the basics of whatever it is they are doing.