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Hacking

From BioShock Wiki

Contents

[edit] BioShock

To hack a system, one can:

Note: Auto-hacking and buying out machines does count toward Skilled Hacker

[edit] Effects

Things that can be hacked in this manner are:

Notes:

  • A player who frequently hacks Health Stations may notice that enemies who use it will almost invariably die. This is because Splicers who go to heal there are usually severely injured.
  • Researching Security Bots and Turrets at level 4 will enable the player to instantly hack those devices without having to go through the minigame (see below).

[edit] Controls

In the PC version, clicking a tile uncovers it, dragging a tile over an uncovered tile swaps the two tiles, clicking the Increase Flow Speed button rapidly increases the rate the liquid flows through the puzzle and should only be used when the puzzle has been solved.

In the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, the left analog stick or the directional pad moves the cursor, the A (X PS3) button either uncovers a tile or swaps the highlighted tile with the tile that is currently stored in the swap box and the Y (Triangle PS3) button greatly increases the flow rate (for when the player has finished solving the puzzle).

[edit] Difficulty

The difficulty of the game changes depending on what the player is hacking, how far on they are in the game, what Engineering tonics the player has equipped and if the device being hacked is frozen (freezing a hackable device significantly slows down the liquid). The difficulty ratings are not absolute. Sometimes a "medium" difficulty hack can be nearly impossible, while a red-zone hack will not be all that hard. Before wasting a hacking tool, try a manual hack first, even on maximum difficulty hacks. If the player has a tonic in the Hacker's Delight line, they will get back some/most of the Health they lost on the failed manual attempt. It will sometimes happen that the layout is such that it cannot be solved because all routes to the exit are blocked. Other times one may find that the only route would have required changing the first tile to start the flow in the opposite direction and it is too late by the time the player discovers this.

The difficulty of a system being hacked is reflected by the number of overload traps, alarm traps and accelerate tiles, and the speed of the water running through the tubes, or the amount of cash to be spent. Automated Hack Tools are unaffected by any difficulty level. Using the Winter Blast Plasmid will cause the flowing liquid to slow down, giving the player more time to hack the machine; however, it has no other effects.

[edit] General Tips

  • Safes must be explored quickly, as even with Speedy Hacker, it won't be long before the fluid begins pumping, and the initial configuration is poised to fail quickly.
  • Pay attention to the meter on the screen before one decides to hack: The closer the needle lies to the red area, the harder a device is to hack.
  • If a winning solution cannot be found, make sure that the liquid will not come into contact with an overload or an alarm tile before it short circuits. These are worse outcomes than just failing (an alarm will summon Security Bots to attack the player -- however, this sometimes can be used to one's advantage, as described in the Security Bot article). If the player sees the possibility that this may happen, put a random tile in the line of flow to block it before it hits an alarm.
  • The minigame screen does wrap, so the player can quickly get to the opposite side. For example, if one is at the top, and there is a piece at the bottom, just go up once more to appear at the bottom. This can save those precious seconds.
  • On the PC, the player can quick-save with F8 before attempting any hack. If one fails the hack, reload with F9.
  • Rarely should the player move a tile anywhere except to the next square in the starting string of tiles. This maximizes the time one has to uncover more tiles.
  • If one has to move a tile over several squares, use that time to glance back at what one has already done to look for errors. The most common error is when the player wants to put a particular tile in a specific spot. If that spot has a piece of pipe showing, one click will replace that piece with the active piece, but if the spot has an unturned tile, the first click turns the tile over and one must click again to replace it. So if the player is in a hurry, clicks once and doesn't notice that the tile didn't get replaced, they risk failing the hack.
  • When the player thinks they are done, don't press Y until after looking back over the layout to make sure it is correct.
  • It is an advantage to hack when the player's health is low because a failed hack takes away some of their Health, but it will never lower it to zero. One can retry hacks as many times as they want with their Health bottomed out. Just don't forget to use a First Aid Kit the second one is done.
  • Most Medical Stations are relatively easy hacks, so if the player has Hacker's Delight and their Health and/or EVE are a little low, hacking a Medical Station is a good way to give them a boost, even if the player doesn't want a full shot from the station. Hacking the station also has the advantage of having it poison any Splicers who try to use it.

[edit] Strategy 1

At the start, uncover 3-5 rows or columns of Hidden Blocks, find the pipe you need and place it. Keep going until the player reaches another row or column or hidden blocks. Uncover 2-3 rows/columns and take what pipes one needs. Repeat until one reaches the end. If the liquid is in the middle, press Y, but makes sure all pipes are connected and lead to the end.

[edit] Strategy 2

Uncover the complete path from beginning to end first! This is crucial to the player's success as one needs to uncover those spaces anyway. Benefits of uncovering one's path first include knowing any obstacles that are in the path and knowing what pieces the player needs. Once uncovered, start by replacing the pieces closest to the beginning as possible, to make sure there is enough time to finish the rest.

[edit] Strategy 3

Rapidly uncover the entire grid as soon into the puzzle as possible. This not only avoids surprises from short-fuses or alarms mid-solution, it also allows the player to visually scan for the piece they need next, and it enables them to swap any two board pieces right away, thus lowering the risk of making an error by forgetting to switch out a tile after they've revealed it. One may need to scramble a bit after a few rows to ensure that the initial segment of pipe has enough length to buy the player time for extra flipping, particularly on the hardest puzzles which start with a very limited pipe route. Select the piece that the player wants to replace first (known endpoint) while scanning the area visually for its replacement, then rush to the newly found piece and trade the two. Stick resistors as early in the route as possible to increase flexibility for piece rearrangement later in the pipe.

[edit] Layout Is A Factor

The layout of safes simply does not allow time for the flipping of a lot of tiles as suggested above, even on Medium or Easy. Layouts which start on the right and go down and the exit on the top-left can be tricky because the player needs to find a top-to-left elbow tile quickly. Security Camera layouts are the easiest. Even on Medium or Hard difficulty there is plenty of time to run across the top from right to left, down the left column, then back up the 2nd column flipping tiles before one has to start looking at what to move.

[edit] BioShock 2

Hacking will make a return in BioShock 2. However, instead of the original minigame, it is now in the form of a small bar on the side of the screen, with an arrow moving across the bar. The player needs to stop the arrow on a green section of the bar for a successful hack, landing it on a blue (normally more difficult to land on) section of the bar will hack the machine and give you a bonus. Landing on a white area will cancel the hack, while landing on a red are will likely harm the player, either through direct damage or through an alarm. Hacking will be displayed in real-time while playing the game, unlike in the first BioShock, where the minigame takes up the complete screen and freezes the rest of the game world around the player.

The player will be able to hack up close and from afar, using a device equipped with remote hacking darts.

[edit] Recommended Tonics

[edit] BioShock

  • The Hacker's Delight line of tonics will partially or fully restore the player's Health and EVE after a successful hack. This bonus does not activate if the player has hacked a Turret or a Security Bot after researching them to level 4.
  • The Speedy Hacker line of tonics will reduce the liquid's flow speed when hacking.

[edit] Trivia

Retrieved from "http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/Hacking"