Database and fab network lockout conditions

[Skar1ath]

Any advice on what causes these to happen?

I've only played through a few factory floors (with a lot of hacking), but I feel like the complex has some kind of advanced system that predicts when I'm about to head towards a group of fabricators with schematics I want to fab, and quarantines the fab network right before I get there.

The database lockout I got made a lot of sense - I knew I was pushing my luck, trying to get a cld. gravmag schematic out of literally the last unused terminal on -6. But I swear the fabricators are cursed, so what's the point of schematics anyway?

Some concrete questions (which I hope won't be too spoiler-y or technical to answer):

• Does pulling schematics affect the chances of getting a fab lockout?
  
• Do schematics from direct hacks (i.e. "just sitting on the terminal") increase the lockout chance as much as manually pulled schematics?
  
• Does resetting the level i.e. by jumping down a chute clear all of the lockout info? Or if the system was previously locked down at this depth, is it very likely to be locked out again?

BTW the game is truly amazing, I'm having a blast in RPG mode.

[Kyzrati]

Glad you're enjoying RPGLIKE! I knew it'd be worth adding for at least some people to stick with :)

Schematics are definitely useful--lots of expert players tend to build parts they really need to round out their build if they haven't found them yet, even more so if they've also got hackware to reliably pull it off. It of course helps if you have discovered some of the Fabricator Trojans ;)

Jumping into chutes is definitely a common part of a fabbing strategy, too. Fab-focused players love doing that.

Schematics don't really have anything to do with lockout chances. No one really knows how lockouts work, which is intended because I don't want it to be a system people can game or even fully rely on in the short term. If you get locked out you get locked out, just gotta use a chute or head to the next floor to get what you want next. Even with the occasional lockout you'll definitely still be able to fab plenty of stuff along the way, just not always at the exact pace you might want. So if you've got a good number of fabbing goals, start early :)

Note that RPGLIKE may exacerbate the feeling that fab lockouts are more frequent because it's theoretically much easier to safely remain on a floor for a long time without losing to attrition, whereas in the regular mode only certain builds are capable of pulling this off. Just another area where you can tell the game wasn't designed from the ground up around RPGLIKE assumptions. Sorry but it can't be as tightly designed as the main game which has been building on itself for many years now :P

[Skar1ath]

Thanks for the info!

Honestly, I don't think getting locked out relatively more frequently makes RPGLIKE feel imbalanced, it just gives you a reason to move on rather than trying to farm more stuff.

I'll freely admit to being the kind of person who really likes gaming the system (yes, I might have hit Hi-sec in the Hub garrison at depth -6. Take no notice of my EMDS or Exp. phase shifter while I overload my hover units and get out of here).

But sometimes there's no substitute for good judgement and a backup plan.

[Kyzrati]

Hehe, at least Cogmind has plenty of systems you can try to game :P

This one in particular is an outlier in that I wouldn't recommend trying, because it's basically impossible, so it was worth pointing that out :)

RE pushing you forward, I was just thinking that you will be more likely to get locked out with almost any build in RPGLIKE (assuming you like to fab), where technically in regular mode only really good players with fast hacking builds will hit it on every map, too. Like I play combat and only occasionally build something, so lockouts are basically a non-issue in that case.

Good luck on your adventures :D

[Skar1ath]

Thanks! -5 has been much kinder to me in terms of fabricators (I pulled a quantum capacitor schematic, and managed to fab one, and I'm not even locked out yet!)

Now just to figure out what other shenanigans I can pull off before I jump down a chute or something.