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# System prepended metadata

title: Genetics Rework

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# Genetics Rework

## The Old Genetics

So, currently genetics suffers a lot.
It's a department that's really bogged down, most of the mutations being nerfed a lot and not having a lot of power other than shifts with like 50 hulks which just end up miserable.
Genetics just gets broken into so people can inject in themselves whatever the geneticist researched, which kind of necessarily makes it so the abilities have to be gimped, they are widespread, cost nothing to use and gotten incredibly easily, with a very simple minigame which is played out entirely out of character, in a big tgui panel.

## The New Genetics

The new system I'm proposing aims to solve these by making the process more individual. It involves the geneticist giving his target a pill (probably just a printable resource from lathes), which contains a nanodrone.
The nanodrone is a tiny controllable robot, which you move with the genetics console (similar to the mining base building console). It travels through the patient in effort to modify their DNA.
The patient can go into the linked mutation vat. This vat makes the drone's job a bit easier, gives the patient a screen overlay of their gene map along with the location of the ship, allowing for coordinated navigation and can be flooded with chems to support the drone.
The drone goes to DNA strands and connects them together to discover genes, as well as being able to collect spare biomatter from the body, which is used to create copies of DNA strands (essentially one time injectors of the discovered mutation)
After successfully connecting stuff, the drone can be purged from the body (or kept, in case the geneticist wants to resume modifying the body at a later date), and the patient has gained a mutation.
The drone can encounter gates that block its progress until certain upgrades have been done, like upgraded gear, or a chemical being present in the body.
All this should cause a system where mutations are much more personal and can be powerful without it being lame.
The appearance modification part of genetics will likely be separated to a different machine specifically for appearance stuff. Would be nice if we could make it not hexcodes but stuff editable for human beings.

## Dangers

The body is not a very peaceful place, the drone can be attacked by microbodies trying to fight it off and has to maneuver around it to not be destroyed. As an example, your patient being diseased could cause the virus to attack you. Temperature of the patient, other chemicals, radiation all can modify the environment and how the drone can traverse through it.

## Progress

Main progress throughout the round is doing experiments (i.e. discover some mutations, connect all nodes on someone), which give you points on a separate techweb, which let you suit the drone to quickly and efficiently get through a target. As an example, a microlaser which can break through tissue blocking the path, or a portable Drone controller helmet, which would let the geneticist do his work on the go.

## Mutations

Now for the actual mutations. Instability will either be removed, or reworked to be gradual effects that also affect your natural genes, rather than a deathswitch that randomly triggers on injected mutations.
Mutations will have more visual feedback (examine messages, more sprite effects like the blue aura over TK) and the more powerful mutations require fuel, that being unstable mutagen. Fuel could be obtained temporarily by just chugging a bunch of mutagen, it could be stored in an implantable organ, and also you could carry large mutagen tanks on your belt/back. Mutations would directly use fuel from these sources to power themselves. Negative mutations would naturally regenerate fuel, allowing you to take negative effects to use positive ones more often.
Mutations are randomly generated inside a guy, with a few great ones, a bunch of good ones, as well as a bunch of neutral and negative ones, and they form only once uncovered, not being specifically any mutation before that. This is because the round's happenings affect your genes, for example, if you got shocked a lot during the round, you have a higher chance of a gene rolling something like Insulated when uncovered.
Chromosomes are removed, strands can be reinforced using biomatter if mutadone immunity is needed. Each mutation has a set strand length, which means you may need more biomatter to clone or reinforce it depending on its power.
If you have suggestions for mutations, you can add them here! https://hackmd.io/@icpVWOPuRbqlv9pPsbvBxw/r1hYSO9Tj
