Bjossi on 30/8/2006 at 17:06
Quote Posted by Ultraviolet
Bjossi: For everything that uses the hack interface (repair, modify, or hack) there is a skill requirement, and then there are difficulty percentages and a number of ICE nodes, all specified in the gamesys or the specific item in the editor.
If you move the skill requirement down to 1, all you'll have to have is any level hack/repair/modify. There will still be ICE nodes and a random failure chance per node (normal or ICE as I understand it). Each skill point you have beyond the initial requirement increases your chances, and cyber affinity helps too, along with Expertech implants. What I'm saying is drop the skill requirement to 1 for all things, then boost the failure chances up to where once you DO have the skill up to what the normal requirement would be, it works the same.
Ah ok, now I get it. Sounds like a great idea to me. :)
Kolya on 30/8/2006 at 17:49
Uh, maybe I wasn't as clear about this as I should have been.
What Ultraviolet plans to do is to reduce 36 skill levels to 6.
BEFORE
Hacking 1
Cyber affinity 1 2 3 4 5 6
Hacking 2
Cyber affinity 1 2 3 4 5 6
Hacking 3
Cyber affinity 1 2 3 4 5 6
Hacking 4
Cyber affinity 1 2 3 4 5 6
Hacking 5
Cyber affinity 1 2 3 4 5 6
Hacking 6
Cyber affinity 1 2 3 4 5 6
AFTER
Cyber affinity 1 2 3 4 5 6
I wish hacking would become a more interesting process, not more simple.
Bjossi on 30/8/2006 at 18:12
Wasn't the idea to just lower the skill required, but still being able to upgrade Hack/Repair/Modify to make life easier? :erm:
Kolya on 30/8/2006 at 23:09
No.
Quote Posted by Ultraviolet
What I'm saying is drop the skill requirement to 1 for all things
It rather seems Ultraviolet wishes to do away with skill requirements and shove it all into cyber affinity.
As I said, you'd need more nodes in the hacking interface then.
Bluegrime on 31/8/2006 at 00:07
I belive he means that you can TRY to hack anything you want, just raising the skill or cyber affinity will make it that much easier. (So the entire process works like cyber affinity does now.)
Kolya on 31/8/2006 at 02:03
Being able to try - the hack skill - is part of this skill system, not just a hindrance that keeps you from trying your luck.
The hack skill is the multiplier that makes 36 possible skill levels out of 6 cybernetic affinity levels.
And you cannot map 36 skill levels into the same number of nodes that was used to depict the 6 cybernetic affinity levels only.
Ultraviolet on 31/8/2006 at 17:18
Kolya: I hadn't thought of it quite like that. The idea of there being more risk to it makes it that much more tempting for me. And you wouldn't just need more nodes -- you'd need to connect more than 3 in a row.
Some kind of PCB where you can draw new traces with nanites could be cool. You could have a hacking toolkit that contains various items for cutting old traces, things like that... And then you can make bypasses. Then there could be a software interface or whatever. Where the cybernetic rig could come in is that it could identify chips and traces for you so you'd know where to make connections.
All that would be really simplified, of course... But still a complicated side-path for the player. And everything would be hackable. Everything.
Kolya on 31/8/2006 at 18:19
Now that sounds much more interesting. :)
Somewhat like the first hacking interface you encounter in SS1.
This probably won't be easy though. Apart from grafical changes no one has changed the interface in SS2 before.
Ultraviolet on 31/8/2006 at 22:31
Well, ideally it'd be a new game in the Unreal engine (or Doom 3 engine because of its GUIs). Maybe it would work as a Sapphire Scar feature request or something.