More actions
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The object of the hacking minigame is to '''find and disable the container’s System Core'''. You do this by maneuvering a virus through the board of “nodes” that represent the container’s electronics. | The object of the hacking minigame is to '''find and disable the container’s System Core'''. You do this by maneuvering a virus through the board of “nodes” that represent the container’s electronics. | ||
Moving around the board is easy enough. Unexplored nodes in the system are marked as green. Clicking on an unexplored node will reveal its contents: if the node is empty, it will turn orange and allow you to further explore nodes adjacent to it. Sometimes, however, a node will contain an obstacle or other item of interest. Among the various things a node may contain are... | Moving around the board is easy enough. Unexplored nodes in the system are marked as green. Clicking on an unexplored node will reveal its contents: if the node is empty, it will turn orange and allow you to further explore nodes adjacent to it. Sometimes, however, a node will contain an obstacle or other item of interest. | ||
A recent (late 2014) addition is that as you click on each node, if it is unoccupied, it will briefly display a number, from 1 to 5, which indicates the distance from the nearest good (or possibly good) node. This includes all Utility Subsystems, System Core, and also Data Caches. These can be used to guide the direction that you move around the grid. | |||
Among the various things a node may contain are... | |||
* '''Defensive Subsystems''' | * '''Defensive Subsystems''' | ||
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** Additionally, more difficult hacks contain Data Caches that might expose particularly nasty Defensive Subsystems (Restoration Nodes), so sometimes, '''you may just want to leave opening Data Caches as a last resort.''' | ** Additionally, more difficult hacks contain Data Caches that might expose particularly nasty Defensive Subsystems (Restoration Nodes), so sometimes, '''you may just want to leave opening Data Caches as a last resort.''' | ||
* Because exposed Defensive Subsystems cut off access to adjacent nodes, '''you may want to explore nodes along the edges first before exploring inward'''. This is because if you happen to expose a Firewall or Anti-Virus along a “wall,” you will be a bit less likely to cut off all of your movement options in that direction. | * Because exposed Defensive Subsystems cut off access to adjacent nodes, '''you may want to explore nodes along the edges first before exploring inward'''. This is because if you happen to expose a Firewall or Anti-Virus along a “wall,” you will be a bit less likely to cut off all of your movement options in that direction. | ||
* Use the 1-5 numbers in empty nodes to guide your movement around the grid. For example, if you're approaching an edge or corner of the grid, and the number is a 5, then trying to explore anything towards that corner/edge is not useful, because you know that there cannot be anything good within 5 nodes. So in general, you want to click in directions that make the numbers smaller. Because the numbers disappear as you move along, you need to remember where there were 5's, so you know which areas not to bother going back to later. | |||
== Item recovery == | == Item recovery == | ||