Station Engineer
Station Engineer
Superiors: Chief Engineer
Difficulty: Medium
Guides: Guide to Construction, Guide to Power, Guide to Atmospherics
Access: Engineering, External, Maintenance
Duties: Maintain and fix the station. Make sure the power doesn't go out. Perform renovations.
Subordinates: Technical Assistant
Radio:* common
- eng
Station Engineer is a job in the Engineering department.
The Station Engineers are in charge of rebuilding walls, fixing windows, repairing airlocks and fixing hull breaches (spaced areas), as well as setting up and maintaining a power source for the station.
Starting Out
Head to the nearest engineering locker and open it. You'll need the insulated gloves in there to protect you from electric shocks while screwing around with wires. It's also recommended that you take a t-ray scanner for checking under-floor pipes and cables, a gas analyzer to check local atmospheric conditions, and a stack each of LV, MV, and HV in case of power outages. You could take half a stack of metal and glass, but they are generally better reserved for usage across the department, so don't keep them in your backpack unless you are going to use them soon.
Power
Main article: Power
As an engineer, one of your primary responsibilities is generating power. This is absolutely essential to keeping a well-functioning space station from descending into darkness, chaos, and spess monotheism worshipping the Chief Engineer villainy.
The first thing Station Engineers need to do in every shift is set up the Antimatter Engine (AME). Next, the Chief Engineer should provide direction on what types of permanent power generation should be set up, as the AME will not keep the station powered for a full shift. Once the station is running on permanent power, Station Engineers may move on to fix the solar panels but this is optional.
Fixing Hull Breaches
When an area gets bombed or dismantled and exposed to space, its atmosphere is almost instantly sucked out into the void. Squishy players of various species need that atmosphere not only to breathe, but also to prevent parts of their body from boiling and bruising.<ref>see cold and asphyxiation in damage types</ref>
Equipment
You should have an engineering hardsuit, magboots, and an oxygen tank before entering a spaced compartment - that equipment is available in engineering lockers. A Template:Crowbar, gas analyzer, holofan or inflatable door, t-ray scanner, and RCD are optional but greatly speed up repairs. The materials typically needed for hull breach repairs are steel, glass, and all three types of wires.
Entry
A holofan or inflatable door can be used on the airlock to a spaced compartment before opening it to prevent pressure drops in adjacent compartments. If you don't have one, evacuate nearby crewmembers before opening the airlock to prevent pressure-related injuries. If power to the doors has been disrupted, you may need the crowbar to open the airlock. Remember to close the airlock behind you.
Lattice and Hull Plating
If there are empty tiles where you can see freely into space, open the Crafting menu (default G) and make metal rods from steel sheets and click on the empty spaces to add lattice. To seal against the void of space below, click on the lattices with steel sheets to plate the hull.
Walls and Windows
Once the lattice and hull has been built, you will need to seal any lateral breaches due to missing and damaged walls or windows. Wherever these lateral holes are, you should have placed plating beforehand.
To construct walls, open your Crafting menu again and search for "wall". Select it to see it's instructions, then hit "Place Construction Ghost". A blue planning grid will overlay your screen and you will be able to place planning ghosts. Simply click each tile that you need to build a wall on to place ghosts. When you're done, right click to exit the planning mode. The ghosts will remain - use steel sheets on them to first construct girders, then use steel sheets on the girder to complete it.
Alternatively, an RCD allows you to quickly rebuild walls and windows (including reinforced ones) without needing other tools or materials.
Windows work similarly with the caveat that you should probably use reinforced glass to make reinforced windows (from the crafting menu). Reinforced glass can be crafted by hand using metal rods and glass - in a pinch, you can re-form any broken shards of glass nearby using a lit welder to create new glass sheets and rods.
Further Repairs
If all has gone well, the area should now be safe safer. Double check that there are no holes to space anywhere, and you should be good to re-open any firelocks nearby. Be aware that this may trip further firelocks as the atmosphere between adjacent sections of the station equalizes.
Depending on the cause of spacing (mainly, whether there was an explosion or not), lights, doors, and machines may still be unpowered. If the power is not on, check if the nearby substation is connected to HV and MV networks, and if so whether the MV connections to APCs are still powered.
You will want to make sure that any pipes leading to vents and scrubbers are intact, otherwise the air may not be breathable.
Work with the Science department to rebuild any destroyed machines, such as computer consoles.
Things To Keep In Mind
- Communicating with other engineers to delegate tasks will keep a station powered and intact. Use your radio to divide work and listen to command roles.
- If Engineering is understaffed and no Chief Engineer is on shift, ask the captain for help with setting up permanent power for the station.
- Learn from and teach your fellow engineers! You don't know what you don't know, but others might (and vice versa).