Coder Application: Chowder McArthor

[Chowder McArthor]

Byond ID: Chowder McArthor
Age: 20
Gender: Male
How would you define yourself? : Coder

If Coder, what languages?
Dream Maker mainly, however I have been learning to read/write in Java/C, due to me going to college for Computer Science (First Year).

Any previous experience developing with SS13?
Yes. I worked for around a year developing for D20, a TG code server, and then freelancing for a while, mostly assisting Matt in some of his projects, although most have not gotten through development.

Proof of any previous or current work:
These are all from d20;

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Yes, I added children into ss13, for d20. They were essentionally still human mobs, but changed sprites for if the age was between 12-16 (I didn't add in babies, no.) They had less health, got drunk faster, and eating too much sugar reagent gave them sugar rushes, which was a bit like having hyperzine, but on a lesser scale.

Big wews for little lads.

This was probably the most complex/impressive part; being able to ride corgis. Was it realistic? No, but the sprite fit, and I thought it'd be funny, and people enjoyed it.

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I've lost the first image I had in the first dev. app somehow, but it was a hat of holding; basically a storage item that you could put on your head, with a small chance to spawn rabbits.

Including plasma rabbits, that secreted plasma.

And exploded when set on fire.

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Was to act somewhat like how pAIs on other servers could fold up and move, except this would allow the pAI to still be on the person, to prevent being stolen. Had cute, little sprites to reflect that.

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Again, nothing too complicated, just a fun use for the sec barricades, since they were never used. You could deploy them and throw them for a faster deployment.

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Yes, the idea came from lifeweb. It is more complex than lifeweb's pigs, though. And the sprite is lifeweb's pigs, but redone by fridge.
Pigs would eat literally any food item, which would allow them to get fatter. This meant that more meat and lard would be gathered from them when butchered. Or, you could take a female pig, put it with a male, and it'd transform some of that fat into piggies. So, it was a way for hydroponics to get real meat, and get rid of some excess produce, and not have to use the biogenerator.

How well do you know Git?
Fairly well, I've used things like source tree in the past, using it for several different projects.

Your primary job is server development, not policing the server. You may be given Moderator-level of access but you should *not* be invoking any administrative actions unless there are no moderators or Admins online. Do you understand? (Yes/No)
I understand.

Anything else you'd like to add?
I also have experience in mapping; however, my main focus is coding, as you cannot understand mapping properly if you do not know the code behind it.

I have made two developer apps in the past.
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=15416
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=16182
I have made mistakes with them. However, I'd like to say that my attitude has improved since then, and I have learned more since; I haven't been able to code for ss13 since the last app, as I had to attend college; but it was for Computer Science, so I have learned more about coding in general, and I have been a member of the CM community for a while, with a synthetic whitelist and many friends in the community.
As well, BMC has given me permission to make one last application for developer, as the development team has decided to give me one last chance.

[Karmac]

This ones for all the marbles, good luck chief.

[Skysoldier]

So, as far as I know, the denial reasons for previous applications are practically your unwillingness in the first, and second application was I suppose inconsistency with the first.

Whats the real difference now and then? I don't think you are explaining much with 'different attitude'.

What has really changed? how are you going to approach things, in both development and team perspective?

And for the last question, what are your problems/things you wish to change about the current state of CM? (in terms of coding)

[Chowder McArthor]

The first one, was because of my denial to make sprites. I messed up, I put down spriter to just make myself look better, and realized I wasn't a good enough spriter to actually say that, as my spriter work isn't good enough for CM.
The second one, I thought I should just put down coder, and rely on my strengths, and it was denied because BMC thought that I never planned to sprite, which wasn't the case, I just realized my sprite work wasn't good enough for the server.

I've become a bit more humble, and learned to be more accepting of others, as before I have somewhat had a worse opinion on people before actually getting to know them.

In development, I've learned more about how to code outside of DM, due to my year studying Computer Science, and be more patient before judging a person.

For the last one, first there's a lot of bugs. This isn't slamming on anyone, it's just a matter of fact, things sometimes get overlooked, and there are unintended consequences to actions. There's also things that need to be smoothed over, such as synths being unable to eat, or being unable to see flamer fuel levels without examining.
As well, I'd like to add more to the game in support roles, which usually are overlooked. Research comes to mind, I've always loved doing R&D on other servers, and I've done a lot of balancing and adding to it on d20, so if there's a way to bring it back that people would enjoy, I'd sign up for it.
As well, some system to give MTs projects to do. If you've ever played TG, think something along the lines of the station goal, but a bit more mild; a project MTs could choose to work on over the round that requires cooperation from many players, but in the end can provide a boon to the marines, if used intelligently.
Lastly, there's a lot of ways the game's atmosphere could be improved; creating random corpse spawns around the map so the colony looks more lived in (and there looks like there were more last stands or battles), ambiance to areas, more sounds to actions, and other such things would help improve the atmosphere of the game, which would improve the immersion very much.

[WinterClould]

Since their denial in the last application Chowder became a lot more active in our community. I can expect some to still question their trustworthiness but if it means anything they've earned my trust as a friend and I'll vouch for them and say their mistakes can be forgiven. I hope their application is judged on their talents they can display for us and not what they said before.


As far as questions go. You seems to be quite marine focused. This isn't a bad thing, but it isn't an ideal thing. It's simple to come up with ideas to dev for marines but few have an easy time with xenos. Do you have any ideas on things you could develop for the xeno players?

[Chowder McArthor]

Someone once mentioned a xeno hidey-hole; basically, a hole in a resin wall a drone can make for a xeno to go in, where they can hide, and regen health/plasma more quickly, mostly for really low xenos. It would need a lot of plasma to make obviously, would be slow to enter/leave, and I would say possibly not allow regeneration while the queen is dead, or maybe even spitting out xenos trying to get in if the queen is dead. Obviously xenos inside of it would not count towards round'end.
A problem is that I am only one person; I get a lot of ideas from talking to players, seeing what issues they have with the game. Xeno players are very anonymous; I can name fifty marine mains, while the only person I know who's good at xeno, not necessarily a main, is chubs. This may just be me not talking to the right people, but it's also that xenos really have no way to identify themselves. Letting xenos name themselves, however... Well, we already have enough of an issue with human names, expecting xenos to name themselves something appropriate is a bad idea. One idea was to give them a selection of parts of names, so they can combine it; for example, from a selection of tribal names, "Iron Weeds", "Leaf Walker", "Chitin Moon", etc., a system that would let developers control what xenos can be named, while allowing xenos to still have some degree of individuality.

[Nicboone]

In the last two applications, I hear there was some miscommunication- and some frustration with chowder. But he has also been very active in the community, and a few people have come forward saying some very positive things. Seeing as now he's applying as a coder, and spriting is no longer on the table- I dont think I really have anything technical to ask.

I think as long as the communication is clear things should go well. I think you have a clear idea of how the game plays and what we might be looking for.

Ill leave it to the rest of the team to speak with you for all that.

[spookydonut]

Non-Staff who post in applications are restricted to giving feedback on their experiences with that person only, not questioning the applicant or their application.

[Bmc777]

This isn't being ignored, it's just been a busy few weeks. So far everything seems to be checking out. I'll come back in a few more days with a final decision.