Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[nenjin]

To me it's not about the hardware anymore, for things of this scope. It's all about the software and firmware. To which I have no problem saying they're l33t. I just like consistency in the structure, because total junk fantasy/sci-fi makes it harder to take a story seriously for me. (For example, in a game about hacking, where the technology makes the player a god and yet authorities seem to have no idea how to secure themselves.)

Besides, this is straight out of the Italian job. Only there someone actually had to install hardware at the traffic signal control box iirc.

[fenrif]

I'm willing to suspend my disbelief for something like that provided the games setting is internally consistent and coherant. For example, if some super secret spy agency has better computers than everyone else and can hack into things with their phones then I'll accept that in the service of decent gameplay.

[Pnx]

I'm assuming he has some kind of secret ultra-tech that lets him somehow hack anything and everything, even if there isn't any kind of wireless connection.

[Tilla]

It's not that big a stretch to imagine he's interfacing with a larger system via VNC or whatever on his phone, is it? Assuming you could hack this stuff to begin with, triggering it from a phone is cake.

[Leatra]

Maybe a wizard did it.

[nenjin]

Somehow I don't imagine city infrastructure leaving open vnc connections to their hubs on a publicly accessible wireless network. That'd be the kind of disconnect between the emphasis on circumventing security, and blatant stupidity to justify the hack button, that I'd have a hard time swallowing.

From what we've seen, it's just doing short hand for all the involved processes and putting it in a nice UI. (Browsing for public wireless signals (ie. people's phones with the icons), launching a crack at the password prompt, assuming control of the processes and executing them.) I guess I just don't like the "Hack Naow" button. I don't think someone familiar with actual hacking would have done it quite like that, even in game design.

[Tilla]

Somehow I don't imagine city infrastructure leaving open vnc connections to their hubs on a publicly accessible wireless network. That'd be the kind of disconnect between the emphasis on circumventing security, and blatant stupidity to justify the hack button, that I'd have a hard time swallowing.

From what we've seen, it's just doing short hand for all the involved processes and putting it in a nice UI. (Browsing for public wireless signals (ie. people's phones with the icons), launching a crack at the password prompt, assuming control of the processes and executing them.) I guess I just don't like the "Hack Naow" button. I don't think someone familiar with actual hacking would have done it quite like that, even in game design.

What I mean is that he is VNCing to his own computer at home rather, which in turn is doing the heavy lifting. Set up these backdoors in advance and then trigger them with the phone. Not VNCing into public works

[nenjin]

Other than the fact VNC is horrifically slow even between two cable connections, that's very possible and actually would make the character seem like a saavy, well-trained operator instead of a guy with a magical hacking phone.

[Pnx]

Actually I kind of just expect him to be a script kiddie who has no idea how the magic hacking phone he got from someone else works.

[Jake]

Anyone else get the distinct impression that the game draws rather a lot of thematic inspiration from Daemon and its sequel Freedom^TM by Daniel Suarez?

[sluissa]

To be fair, smartphones are as powerful as desktop computers from 1995 or so. (I'm guessing there, don't shoot me.) By definition, a smaller computer will always be less powerful than a larger one, so phones and desktops from the same point in time will never change in relative processing power.

My smart phone is more powerful than my netbook from about 5 years ago. My netbook is more powerful than my laptop from 10 years ago. My laptop from 10 years ago is more powerful than my desktop from 1995. 1995 Was roughly around the time the Pentium processors were just getting popular on the market. We're talking 100-200 mhz computers around this time. Maybe 300 if you were on the bleeding edge of the hardware. These computers would have in the tens of megabytes of ram. I believe mine from the period had 32 or 64. Comparatively my smart phone has 1 ghz processor and 1 gigabyte of ram... and it's somewhat of a budget model.

No shooting here, just saying you're vastly overestimating 1995 computing, or underestimating smart phones. My android phone can install a nearly full featured linux kernel and terminal emulator. I've known people who've run apache webservers off their phones. I personally use mine to VNC into my computer and, albeit slightly klunkily, manipulate my desktop from another room, or across town.

I have no doubt you could, with the right preparations, and the given setup that the setting provides, do anything this guy was doing, present day. It's the preparation that'll get you and the fact that odds are, as soon as what you're doing is noticed, you'll be cut off pretty quickly, and anyone half way competent will patch whatever security hole you exploited, making most or all of your preparations meaningless.

[dennislp3]

For all the people talking about the games premise of hacking anything at random with a phone...there are 2 considerations...one being that the city is just connected to one giant computer:

The game's near-future premise involves a single supercomputer controlling major cities. Our lives are controlled by computers, "but who controls the computers?" The game focuses on data turning against us. Data is interconnected and "everything can be hacked." -IGN

Also point 2...who says its a standard phone of any sort? Its likely a device that is connected to the mainframe via network connections of whatever sort.

[Neyvn]

Watching that preview, two thoughts came up...

1: IF the Traffic Incident is scripted or not Wonderful. If Responsive and random, the reaction of the Driver who's partner had been killed in the crossfire was WONDERFUL... Actually felt sorry for him...
2: Love the way the Violence Probability grew as the character approached a Security Guard. Gave a great indication about who and what the hell was going on...

[Scelly9]

Watching that preview, two thoughts came up...

1: IF the Traffic Incident is scripted or not Wonderful. If Responsive and random, the reaction of the Driver who's partner had been killed in the crossfire was WONDERFUL... Actually felt sorry for him...

If that was not scripted, then here comes a whole new type of gaming. I would love to see more stuff being non-scripted.

2: Love the way the Violence Probability grew as the character approached a Security Guard. Gave a great indication about who and what the hell was going on...

Yeah, this game is gonna be fun.

[timferius]

Anyone else notice the random passerby with the umbrella run to help right after the accident (I believe it was on the left side of the screen, been a bit since I watched the trailer).