[READY] The Portable Chemical Mixer

[LordVollkorn]

About The Pull Request

Adds the Portable Chemical Mixer to the game, an item that can be worn on the belt slot and dispenses and mixes chemicals. This item does not produce reagents on its own. Every single reagent has to be supplied to it. Using a screwdriver, the player can open the device to place in a maximum of 50 beakers, similar to the chemical bag. When closed and in usage, each beaker will appear as a usable button that states the primary reagent of said beaker, along with its remaining units. If a beaker contains more than one reagent, its respective button will dispense all of them in equal amounts. (In Cobbys words: The gunk you put in is the same gunk you get out. -> Your individual beakers dont get filtered.)
The Portable Chemical Mixer is printable at the Medical Techfab and starts out empty.

Why It's Good For The Game

This item offers an alternative style of gameplay that gives Chemists the incentive to leave their pharmacy and interact with other departments closer, better fulfilling the needs of e.g. the kitchen, botany or the janitor while not having to constantly run back to their dispensers. In the same way, Chemists are now more mobile in finding and receiving reagents (e.g. from Botany). The Portable Chemical Mixer is designed to be future-proof for any possible changes regarding Chemistry.

Changelog

🆑 Jay Smith & Michael Trauf
add: Portable Chemical Mixer (Requires a vortex anomaly core to activate)
imageadd: Unique sprites for the Portable Chemical Mixer
code: Added Portable Chemical Mixer to the Medical Techfab
/:cl:

[Angustmeta]

Will plastic bottles fit?

I really miss plastic bottle being a beaker subtype.

[optimumtact]

This must require an anomaly core to make.

Pick whatever one suits you best that isn't used

See: https://hackmd.io/@tgstation/r1tzxpwPL

Available types:

tgstation/code/__DEFINES/research/anomalies.dm

Line 1 in 6b424e1

// Anomaly core types

[Ryll-Ryll]

Don't you think 50 beakers is a bit excessive

[evilcyborgmrt]

O man I really like your plans for anomaly cores. According to your design doc, other items that should require cores are phazon, beam rifle and BoH.
Would you really rank this proposed chem belt among those items? It doesn't even do anything you can't already do with a chemistry bag, just streamlines the process.
This thing should obviously be more rare than a chem bag, but requiring an anomaly core is way too much. I'd rather use my core for a BoH so I can carry infinity beakers instead of 50.

[antropod]

Anomaly core for chem bag with interface is too much!
It does not synthesize chemicals, just makes mixing easier. What is the problem?

[antropod]

Don't you think 50 beakers is a bit excessive

What amount do you think is acceptable?

[optimumtact]

It's not a request it's a precondition for merge and it doesn't need to share the same core as the BoH

[antropod]

What is the reasoning? I don't understand. It's not BoH or phason, it's just a tool for mixing chems, like chem bag with ui.

[optimumtact]

It's a portable chem mixer, it's undeniably useful and powerful, I want to be able to precisely control how many of them exist in the game in a round, and the anomaly system allows me to do that.

[antropod]

It can not produce chemicals, you still need dispenser to do that.

[antropod]

@ExcessiveUseOfCobblestone your thoughts on this? We removed its ability of producing chems from thin air. We made it not purify chemicals.

[optimumtact]

I can see that, but it's still a portable mixer, nothing like this has existed before, so I am not going to take any chances.

Lot easier for people to swallow the removal of the anomaly core requirement post merge if we find it's not actually strong/utility than it will be to add it on after the fact.

Easiest route for me is to require it now and review it after a period of use.

[antropod]

My problem with anomaly cores is that it makes you dependant on R&D.

[optimumtact]

technically also cargo, but you should be able to curry favour with both.

[Drackzo]

Compromise: it could start with a low beaker count (5 maybe?) and if you want more you need to upgrade it with an anomaly core and maybe better matter bins or some other limited resource? I feel locking it completely behind anomaly cores will render it undesirable and you won't get much feedback on whether it's OP or not since no one will use it.

[optimumtact]

Listen, I'm open to changing it after it's been in the game and had some time to play out, but I'm aiming to over shoot on initial restriction because in my experience it's a lot easier to buff something after the fact than it is to nerf it.

Out of date review

[ExcessiveUseOfCobblestone]

You have generated new variables/procs/defines without proper documentation for the autodoc to work.

Please click here for a guide on how to properly document these items.

[LordVollkorn]

You have generated new variables/procs/defines without proper documentation for the autodoc to work.

I have added the documentation to my best ability, I hope this meets all the requirements

[optimumtact]

I'm going to run a poll sometime this week asking people if they have experienced this yet and what they think.

If people are generally positive we can lift the core requirement

[LordVollkorn]

I'm going to run a poll sometime this week asking people if they have experienced this yet and what they think.
If people are generally positive we can lift the core requirement

Thank you, I am interested in their feedback as well 👍