An alternative to sims (WARNING: WALL OF TEXT)
At the moment, sims are unimplemented, giving us no way to discover new schematics. Currently, if someone wants a certain schematic, we pretty much have to cross our fingers and hope an admin adds an NPC selling said schematic. I and others think that is a shitty solution to the problem, so I have decided to suggest an alternative which will (hopefully) fix some of the problems with schems. (Examples of problems: they're magic boxes, encourage staying inside your HQ/apartment, boring)
Anyway, what I'm suggesting fits with the post apocalyptic theme rather nicely, I think. If we're living in shitty, bombed out wastelands, what better way to find out how to make something than to break into/find the ruins of an old ass factory and just steal the schems from their manufacturing computers? Here's how I envision it going down: So you're wandering around Necropolis and you find the a building called the FUTURECO WEAPONS COMPANY while running from whatever. Now, these factory areas don't have to be especially big, fancy, or even a separate area but it would be nice! Now, you go inside and you find a manufacturing computer. Let's keep this simple for now and let's just say it's working, powered on, and someone left the SHIVER_SWORD.prnt on the unpassworded desktop. From there, I've prepared two options:
Option #1: You make a science check and it spits out the Shiver Sword schem then and there. However, if you lose that schem, you have to go all the way back to grab it again.
Option #2: You make a science check and it spits out a disc containing SHIVER_SWORD.prnt, which you can take to a machine (owned by you or your corporation, possibly even crafted) which can read all those wacky propietary schematic file formats. It'll save the data and print out a schem! And then you don't have to go back to the manufacturing computer if your stupid ass gets your schems stolen. (And perhaps the operation of them could use a science check as well!)
Getting schems from the manufacturing computers can be as simple or complex as you like. Perhaps the Slagtown airstrip would have the Cessna schems virtually unguarded. But perhaps some manufacturing computers could require repairs, their power could be out, they could have security protocols of varying strengths (which would require hacking), they could be behind locked door, or they could be guarded by security drones and other such enemies. Hell, you could have one requiring a break-in to the W-U building! And not every manufacturing comp should be limited to having just one schem. In my example above, you could reasonably get schems for weapons other than the shiver sword, such as zap brannigans and plasma rifles.
I feel this way of doing things would fit the post apocalyptic theme of Hellmoo better than the magical simulator units, encourage exploration, and be a lot more exciting than sims or just buying the schems from an npc.
If you've got a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it.