Hacking in SRHK - a few useful tips

A few simple tips that should help those who's having problems with hacking sections in Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

Introduction

Hey chummer.

If you are here, you probably either have a problem with hacking mini-game or just looking for some mechanics explanation.

This is a quick-baked guide for everyone without many numbers, in-depth analysis or any serious stuff like that.

It's supposed to teach you how to hack in SRHK. This is what I came up with and it works for me.

It is assumed that you have tried hacking in-game at least once. If not - come back when you did. Without in-game experience it will probably be messy to comprehend.

Please note, that I'm currently playing on Normal (first walkthrough) as Decker (INT 5, Decking 5, with Novatech Slimcase-10). I do not use Decript yet. I also have no idea how different is this from hacking on Hard or Easy.

I didn't touch on real-time stealth Matrix sections because I don't really have any tip on that.
The only thing that comes to mind is - if you get spotted a few times - just kill the probe and move on. It's what normally happens to me and it doesn't matter in the end.

Try this - it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes to fully comprehend the logic behind my method. Paired with some in-game trial it should give you confidence in Matrix.

"Hacking Screen"

For easier explanation, I will start with approaching the hacking UI.

So, you're in the Matrix and you approach a Blocker IC and you choose the "hack the blocker IC" option. You get into hacking UI, let's call it "Hacking Screen".

As you can see, the hacking screen is divided into 3 sections: "Numpad" , "Main String" and "String Pool" (named by me for explanation purposes).

You start hacking process by pressing "Start" on "Numpad".

"Numpad"

In the "Numpad" section numbers get highlighted in random order, your task is to repeat that order after highlighting has stopped. The quicker you do - the better. Once you have correctly entered the number sequence, you get a point. Each point increases your hack time (which is located in "Main String" section). If you feel confident about earned time limit, say, 45 seconds is enough, you can (and should) press "Next" to proceed to the second part of hacking process.


My tip here is to say out loud the highlighted number sequences. You see 3 - you say "three", you see 7 - you say "seven" and so on. It makes much easier to repeat the sequence when you have to enter it.

Alternatively - just grab a piece of paper and write the sequence down. You are able to write a few numbers without looking at the paper, don't you?

Naming symbols

Now you get to the final part, in which you have to find the matching symbol string in "Main String" and pick it from "String Pool". You are limited by hack time (which you increase on "Numpad").
If the time runs out - you've lost. If you pick a wrong symbol string - you lose a portion of hack time.
You can return to "Numpad" and add more time.

Here's my way of solving the symbol string sequence.

Strings are generated from 6 random symbols. Total variety of symbols isn't that high - it's 5 different symbols.

To make it more simple for myself I gave each symbol a name:



= M



= W



= a



= TO, wheelchair, enterprise



= eye


Those are purely subjective and by all means, if they don't work for you - come up with something more suitable. Your goal is to be able to identify each symbol and differentiate it from others quickly and painlessly.

Once you've done it, you're now armed and ready to finish this.

Finding a symbol string

So now you know the symbols by names and what you want to do is to watch the "Main String".

String consists of 6 symbols. Let's count it from left to right and get slot1, slot2.....ending with slot6.

Symbols will appear in random order. It's important to remember that symbol sequence does not change. It just keeps randomly getting unveiled and hidden again.

All you have to do is to remember which symbol appeared in which slot.

What I do is (again) speak out loud which symbol has appeared in which slot.

Here's an example.

I see slot1=eye, so I say "one-eye"

"three-a , four-eye" (and repeat "one-eye")

"two-TO" (repeat "three-a, four-eye, one-eye)


It might be overwhelming at times, but the most important part is to remember clearly each slot-symbol combination that is stuck in your head (and mouth). It's way more important than trying to remember as many combos as possible since some usually get mixed and mistaken. So do not hurry. One combination at time. Skip few, but remember one.

Also, it is easier to filter out strings in the pool by first and last symbols in it. I know that slot1=eye so I start looking only at the strings with first symbol "eye" and ignore the rest. Once I'm looking at one of them, I chek other slots that will or will not match.

At this point I can already see that only one string in the "String Pool" has a sequence of
"1-eye 2-TO 3-a 4-eye"
I don't even have to know what symbols are in slots 5 and 6.

So I choose this string from pool and win.

Wasn't that difficult, right?

If saying out loud doesn't work, writing on paper should do the trick. The paper just has to have some resemblance of slots. Then you just fill in whatever symbol you see in appropriate slot and once you have about 3-5 symbols, you are ready to pick the correct string. But that's just too easy.

That's it

This is my fairly "shamanistic" way of hacking.

I'm not looking for ratings or anything, Just trying to help fellow chummers.

Hope at least something from this will be helpful.


Enjoy the game!

Tips from comments

I have noticed that some people shared their tips in comments that definitely deserve to your attention and will be a nice complimentary addition to my guide, so I figured that I might as well just put them here.

I check this page on regular basis, so if I'll see a worthy advice about hacking or Matrix, I will add it here with crediting the author.

So if you have one, please share!

And...Thank you for comments!
It feels good to read your responses and to know that this guide has been helpful to some of you.


Now, let's get to business, shall we?

Useful tips from comments:

Vincek [ http://steamcommunity.com/id/HrvatskiBogMars ]:
"I find use of calculator very helpfull, on mobile phone or just an ordinary calculator. But I never went for more than one dot on numpad"
(Basically, using a physical calculator is a great alternative to saying out loud or writing on paper during "Numpad" game)

[AC] Retagin [ http://steamcommunity.com/id/Retagin ]:
"The bit generator usually give you the 4th or 5th bit, then the 1st. For most blockers, you only need to memorize 3 bits because that already narrows down the pool to one or two.
Don't be afraid to force a block. If you are burned out from the last blocker, most systems tend to have a 200 ish trace cap, sometimes even more on the bigger systems. As White and black IC adds 5 trace a round, and watchers add 20, if you don't draw too much aggro in a system you can safely force blocks.
I think the prosperity tower has something like 400 trace cap."

ledeir [ http://steamcommunity.com/id/ledeir ]
"my personal advice is to pair off the numbers when you get to longer length strength, for me 19 23 36 is easier to remember than 1 9 2 3 3 6"

Bort [ http://steamcommunity.com/id/bortington ]
"On easy, the NumPad combinations are broken down into 2 lots of 4 number combinations, 2 lots of 5 number combinations, 2 6 number combinations, and one 7 number combination.

When I reach the six number combinations, I usually count them in segments of three. So, 876345 I would remember as 876 and 345, often saying the first three aloud, and just letting myself remember the latter three.

This was with Int 4 and Decking 3.

Also, the blocker rating seems to determine how much time you start off with. Rating 7 gave me 35 seconds to start, and rating 9 gave me 25 seconds."

Konrad [ http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198043057431]
"NumPad action:
I don't really remember the numbers but more the positions on the pad. As if swiping a phone lock pattern. Also the three different beeps help."

Strelok [ http://steamcommunity.com/id/mcswooft ]
"For real time stealth:
1. It's important to note that Watcher IC follows a set path, which the game actually highlights, here's an example: http://static1.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1406/14063904/2939734-shadowrunhk3.jpg
Once you know to look for those lines predicting Watcher IC patrol path & evading them becomes much easier.

2. You have to be precise where you click the mouse to move your avatar. If you click just slightly off the movable area your avatar will stand still instead of manuvering around Watcher IC FOV. This is another reason it pays to observe Watcher IC's patrol paths, by identifying gaps in Watcher IC coverage your decker can finish up their work in the matrix & get back into the fight 1-2 turns earlier than if they're slogging their way through the IC.

3. Sometimes it's easier to run! Some of the IC towards the end of the game simply takes too long to fight & they can still be evaded by moving through a portal to the next area in the matrix."

Bootch [ http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198049734981 ]
"with regards to the NumPad and increasing 'Hacking Time'

from my experience going beyond the 4th or 5th code didnt seem to be worth it risk/reward wise
Spoiler: there is an achievement for Completing all the Pips just need to do it once

the further you go, the longer the code is, the longer the code the more time it takes to display, more numbers you need to input (this maybe minimal if good with NumPad)

while the amount the 'Hacking Time' increases does go up the longer the code is
if you 'Miss' a long code thats quite a bit of time lost

NOTE: was able to do all Matrix runs with Is0bel and 30-40 was usually plenty of time"


Share yours!

[greenwitch]

ngl i'm a bad decker haha. I think I'm getting better. Thanks for the tip, chummer.

[FLESH]

First time a game made me feel so frustrated and stupid. For some reason due to there being a limited amount of time my brain refused to understand the last part of the hack. Thanks for the break down, it actually was pretty intuitive now that I think of it.

[SCARaw]

hacking in this game is garbage, only reason i m happy they no longer do Shadowrun is how they ruined barely acceptable, please let me skip it hacking in dragonfall with Hongkong garbage

[Spanky]

Too bad LCDs are all the rage now, in the old days of CRT I'd beat match games like this by just drawing the patterns on the screen with a crayon or grease pencil as they appeared. I *suppose* you could still do that now, but cleanup would be a B...

[TTIO - Puppykit]

A tip for anyone who knows devnagri (the hindi/sanskrit alphabet), you can use the following letters to remember the symbols more easily - the same order as given in this guide:
M, W, र, ठ, O

It makes life so much easier, and there's no longer names to remember (like the wheelchair example given).

[Mickmane]

Hiya sMash. Thanks for the reply. :)

Too bad about no pause, I evade games where hectic reacting is neccessary. Here I'll just have to push through, I guess. :)

[sMash]

Hey Mickmane, glad this helped. I don't think there is a pause. Been a few years since I last played, but don't think they'd ever change it. One of the key parts of the minigame is the real-time nature of it. Time is ticking, symbols are changing. Pause would trivialize the task.

[Mickmane]

Thanks, this helps with my confusion concerning that minigame. I was more guessing than knowing what to do.

One question though: Is there a way to pause it at all?

[[CoH] Joker]

I generally have little to no trouble with the actual hacking part of the game, having grown up on games like tabletop games like Simon and Mastermind.
It's the sneaking around to get there that gives me trouble. I usually get caught and the trace skyrockets.

I seem to have a Han Solo style of hacking. I prefer a straight fight to sneaking around.

[Eugene]

Article is good, system is bad. When i buy this game, i dont want play THIS shit.