QUOTE (Mercer @ Nov 17 2011, 11:46 PM)
It seems like there would be some effect on the clothing's color shifting ability from damage. Particularly if the color-changing ability is a civilian mod, it may not react to well to bullets.
Given the abilities of programmable, color-changing fabric in the write-up, it seems like there should be a step between the camo suit and the chameleon. Either an optional armor quality or a separate item that costs a little more than a standard camo suit and gives you a little variety. Personally, 1200
is a little too expensive for a piece of armor that you would need to repurchase for every different terrain you might encounter anyway, particularly when you add in all the individual mods each piece would need. I'd rather have a base set of armor (form-fit, vest and so on), and then wear terrain appropriate camouflage (whether it be a ghillie suit or tuxedo) over it.
QUOTE (Mercer @ Nov 19 2011, 02:58 AM)
There's also the down side to color-changing camo-- that once it gets hacked you're running around in a glowing, neon-pink onesie for the rest of the combat.
It would seem like the benefit to color-changing fabrics might be something as simple as it's never inappropriate. It may not be capable of giving you a benefit for camo, but it never gives you the penalty either.
One thing that has never made sense to me is that if the camo suit gives you a penalty if your in the wrong terrain, then almost all clothing should give you a penalty almost all the time. In my mind (and perhaps only there, but accompany me on this flight of fancy), you're better off with a suit of jungle cammies in a dark alley than you are in a white t-shirt. If a GM gave me the "inappropriate camo" penalty for a white t-shirt I'd understand, but it'd still technically be a house rule.
QUOTE (KarmaInferno @ Nov 19 2011, 06:14 PM)
If I was houseruling, I'd just eliminate the specific Camouflage and Chameleon Suits, give any clothing with appropriate static coloration/patterning to get the +2 bonus, and the +4 to any Ruthenium Polymer type adaptive cloaking capable suits.
-k
Amid all the bitterness and pedanticism I found these posts, all of which make valid points.
I'm running a new campaign from next week and bearing in mind I like an easy life i'll be going with the following:
It takes skill and effort to create a camouflage pattern, so if you want changeable patterns, a program to run them off your commlink must be bought from someone who has gone to the trouble of drawing one - I'll go with 200Y per point of rating and one pattern per point, availability equal to the rating and freely available. Changing between patterns requires a simple action. Chameleon and Ruthenium exist RAW. Perhaps some more expensive armours may come with additional camo software for a wee bit extra nuyen.
If you put such on non-armoured clothing, a hit from a weapon or a hard fall will disable the pattern to its default. With armoured clothing, it is secure. As a changeable pattern will require some kind of link to your comm, either will be hackable, with a rating equal to as purchased and as such will be spoofable (thanks Mercer).
I'll also get rid of the +2 mod for inappropriate camo as it makes no sense other than as a balancing act.
edit: edited, thanks Yerameyahu!
If you take away the ruthenium part of it, and provide an entirely different type of solution, then there's no reason it can't work, whether through metamaterials or nanotubes or 3d liquid crystals. Most of these solutions would be much more practical on a surface whose relative shape the computer can know, so things that don't change shape [like cars and buildings] or things that change shape in a manner that's easily predictable [like armor suits] would be relatively simple, while complex shapes that change quickly [like flexible clothing] would be much more difficult [though not conceptually impossible]. Shadowrun made this same shift once before, technologically, from ruthenium polymers only working on hard materials to being able to use it on cloaks and whatnot.
