This idea might be a bit much of a change, or increase difficulty factor too much for some but I thought I'd throw it out there anyways.

Basically Bouncing as far as I understand it is done by gaining access to a system, getting trusted user access usually via a shell login and then using that access to contact another bounce site, or your intended target.

My issue with how bouncing works currently is that you can bounce through anything, wether you've gained any access or logged in at all. Now I can understand nobody wants to spend hours logging into each host and then redirecting to the next, etc. So the software that Uplink has provided simplifies the methodology of it all. Instead you select your bounces and it performs the actions. But still isn't that almost too simplistic...

What I mean is shouldn't we have to atleast hack into the place, and prepare it to so degree, create a user account in some name, or upload a special virial trojan program provided by uplink. Once you've done that your software can do its function because you've paved the way.

Personally I tihnk it would add alot more depth to the game. And if you think about it, it needn't be overly complex, but it would limit you from grab all the address's on Internic and right off the bat running these huge bounces that will never get traced even if you doze off for a while on the earlier hacks.

Perhaps instead have them supply you with a few base entries to start from and as you do more missions or hack more sites you pave the way. And those places you've done that on could change color or have a new symbol and thus be bounceable links.

Also it would be kind of nice if you had to maintain your bounce sites, not go bouncing the a site 50 times from the same place or else it causes you some level of grief, or if you know a sys-admin is particularly noted for being on the ball you couldn't bounce through it alot or if you did he'd have cleaned up his system and you'd have to hack in again and set things up again.

I really think some sites should be more valuable then others, and especially if you start getting into the sort of hacking that could have you running against other hackers it would make sense to use your best bounces, places you'd hope they might not have access to yet and thus would have to work to hack into to get at the logs and continue their trace. I'm not even sure if such things are really considered at this point in this game, it seems they are relatively equal and you just add more to increase your time factor. But in reality it 10+ low level sites should be worth 1 high level site. Atleast it makes sense to me that it would.

Anyways just some ideas regarding bouncing and sites I thought I'd toss out there and see what other s thought.

Good idea, but it might take a lot of time and might not be a fun thing to do.
The less unrealistic uplink gets, the better i like it though

i wonder how that would work for phone systems (my favorite way to bounce)

i dont think a person in real life can bounce a connection through a telephone system without an actual host to forward the connection in the first place.

maybe by bouncing throught the telephone exchange in one area and then to the next, but that is very simple to track as we currently have logging systems in place all the way around the world ((to the best of my knowledge))

i havent noticed if the game has a trace-rate difference between 1 machine bounce to target and 1 telephone bounce to target, if there is a difference please tell me as i would love to know. But if not, wouldnt it be better if there WAS a difference? like cirtain telephone exchange services in asia taking a longer time to let the trace through than ones in the USA and also traces through machines being different to the trace through the telephone exchange?

infact, re-reading that, did that make any sence at all?
never mind, hope it gives something to think about.

regards
rabz

The architecture of thge AWAN is very different to the then-obsolete internet. Bear that in mind

I agree that the AWAN would be different in MANY aspects, but i would have thought the basic principles were the same. ((say, telegraph to telephone. AM radio to FM radio to digital))

just a thought.
rabz

You know... that is the best annology yet that i ahve seen, "AM radio to FM radio to digital" That is a good way to say it I should be using that one in real life when I talk to poeple about certin aspect of that.

You are right, the basic principles are the same, but the more you stay the same the more things change, and Vice versa. Meaning you can go way to over board on something just one thing but then loose the aspect of what the game is all about. That has happen alot of time, still keeping it simple though, and not to complicated for the people who want to play the mod is going to to be a minor problem. I think, or maybe not, if they learn on Uplink first, then play Onlink then you shouldnt have a problem, well that much of a problem that is.

-Kethlar

Yes I wasn't suggesting it become overly complicated or anything, I just thought it might add another skill level to the game. It might be a bit too complex to add to the game, but I thought I would toss the idea out there and see what others thought. I do think that it could be done in a way that would be overly complex for a game, but it could also be done in a way that isn't too difficult to perform or maintain and would add new avenues to the gameplay.

Things like a BBS or mission which allows for you to acquire specially restricted or hard to acquire access to some systems. You could do side missions for another hacker to gain this information, or perhaps you could just spend some money and acquire a list of less known systems. Anything to suck up a players money is a good thing imo.

Or for instance lets say you need to gain access to a mainframe later on in the game but the security of its associated servers is very tight. Perhaps too much for you to handle you have to seek out someone with information and perform a task for them.

It could be a form of knowledge which is highly valuable and useful, and most importantly it would limit you ability to become a "super-bouncer" right from the start. So that you would have to be careful and try to find means to acquiring some heavier metal before you do that heavy upcoming hack.

I don't think adding too much effort or complexity is worth it for the games sake. But adding a little complexity for the sake of adding more depth of experience and more side-plots and mission or adventure would be worth it in my opinion.

Thanks for the discussion all.

its exactly the same as a normal machine without an active admin account (an account that you still have an unrevoked pass to)