###### tags: `Deprecated`

# Xenoarch

Xenoarchaeology is a system revolving around the excavation of rare, delicate artifacts. In a way, it can be described as precision mining: use small tools to delicately and precisely excavate an artifact. In Shiptest, it serves to disseminate lore information and details in an engaging IC way, as well as serving as a vital source for important science-related items and resources.

## Goals

- Provide a way to gather science staple items, such as strange objects or anomaly cores, without relying on random events or mapped-in loot pools.
- Add another potential task for people to do while docked at an encounter that will not *force* players into direct combat.

elaborating on this one in particular in the goals section because it doesn't have a real place in the main contents: excavation as a task should encounter far less danger than a miner spelunking through caves. The most they should need to worry about is the occasional weather event.
- Be a way for certain lore fluff and information to be shown in-game in a more interesting way.

## Non-goals

- Provide a method to get powerful equipment and weapons. Mining has enough of a problem with powerful equipment as is, we do not need to exacerbate this by letting people dig out pristine katanas. Balance of items given through xenoarch will need to be carefully considered.
- Be a task done *solely* by the away crew. While by nature the exploration team will have a strong part to play in xenoarchaeology, we should not make the entire process done solely by them.

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Xenoarchaeology primarily consists of two "steps": Excavation and Processing.

**Excavation** is the actual recovery of artifacts from digsites. Each digsite has a limited number of artifacts, which are dug out of the rock wall in a Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Underground-esque minigame: you get a limited number of strikes to reveal artifacts before the wall collapses. Strike size, shape and effectiveness depends on the tool you use. Several finds can be found in a single digsite.

To actually play the mini-game, simply click on the wall with any Excavation-valid tool or a Depth Scanner. If you have a Depth Scanner you will be able to see the material types (see below paragraph) of detected anomalies as well as the wall's integrity, which will degrade as you continue mining. Once the wall collapses, any finds you discovered will fall onto the ground intact while any other ones will be lost.

To rein in the random and varied nature of artifact drops somewhat, a digsite type system similar to [VG's implementation](http://ss13.moe/wiki/index.php/Xenoarchaeology_Digsites) is used to give the excavator a good idea of what they might dig up.

**Processing** involves everything that is done to a find after it has been dug out of the ground and given to the ship's naturalist. By nature, this is going to vary *wildly* between different types of items; the best I can do here is give various examples of potential processing steps for potential finds. In general however, processing should be able to be completed with things printable from an autolathe.

Strange Objects: This is perhaps the most obvious thing to put into the xenoarchaeology loot pool; it fits right in with the system, after all. Its processing step is simple: put it into the Experimentor, hit discover, redeem your research points and find out what it does.

Raw Anomaly Cores: We can go several directions with these. Anomaly toxins is tempting to port, but most ships do not come with the required equipment and infrastructure to do this. A more funny and accessible idea is to perform an act relevant to that core's anomaly effect, for example, setting a pyroclastic anomaly on fire. This could potentially get old very quickly, however. A third way could be to turn the raw anomaly core into an active anomaly by signalling it, which you must then neutralize in order to get your core.

Slime Extract: A random slime extract, why not? Processing consists of actually using the extract.

I am not going to cover or let alone *think* about large artifacts here. What I will say is that the triangulation process, while obtuse and bullshit, does require work done primarily with your lab equipment that is most likely bound to the ship.

## Alternatives

- Replace digsites with Geodes. Geodes become an ore type that you mine out. Take them to a Xenoarchaeology station table to play the excavation minigame.

I personally do not like this approach for excavation, and I feel like it takes out quite a bit of the general feel of careful artifact extraction if the process consists of "smash into a rock wall with your pickaxe, pick up these allegedly delicate geodes and throw them at your local science main". The upside would be allowing people without internals and an EVA suit to play the excavation minigame, but it devalues the experience by putting the excavation process in a controlled environment instead of in the field.

- ??? okay im not a very creative person also its 1:30 AM i cant come up with good counter-examples :sob:

## Potential Changes