Development Blog

We’ve already covered the design behind the all-new robot hacking system, and now for the main course: the hacks themselves! The entire initial set is complete and ready for Beta 7, all 65 of them :D

I’ll be talking about most hacks in this post, and you’ll notice their names follow a certain pattern throughout--all composed of two words, a verb followed by a noun, separated by an underscore in between. Essentially “verb_noun.” This style was chosen to clearly distinguish them from machine hacks. By default Cogmind uses a small-caps typeface so this choice may not be apparent right away from the screenshots I use here, nor does it really matter in game, but it matters for discussion outside the game. Using a consistent format will make robot hacks immediately identifiable in conversation, even if someone has never heard of a given hack before.

There are several possible requirements for robot hacks, as described in the previous post. The vast majority of hacks require having both installed a Relay Interface Framework and attached the Relay Coupler applicable for the target class, in addition to of course carrying a Datajack to initiate the hack in the first place.

Robot hack distribution by requirements.

Wherever possible I tried to add some hacks with lower requirements, though again the main point of the system is to give it fairly significant powers, and the only way to justify that is by setting sufficient requirements.

In terms of combat vs. non-combat hacks, the latter are much more plentiful:

Hacks targeting combat bots vs. those targeting non-combat bots (the total does not equal 65 because there is some overlap).

This makes sense simply because there are a larger number of unique non-combat robot classes, and even more so because there’s only so much you can do with combat in particular, at least within the Cogmind framework. Let’s start there…

Combat Hacks

“Combat hacks” refers to those targeting combat bots, even though not all of them are actually aimed at fighting. For design purposes I divided these hacks into groups, helping ensure each hack fit a role and was different enough from others. There are five categories in all:

Distribution of hacks targeting combat robots, by effect category.

I’ll talk about the hacks by category.

Mod

The largest category revolves around simply modifying the target in some way, usually affecting behavior or hit chances (the text here is taken directly from the context help available in game):

• focus_fire: Force system to prioritize attacking Cogmind wherever possible.
• reboot_propulsion: Render propulsion unusable for 15 turns while the control subsystem reboots.
• tweak_propulsion: Rewrite sections of the propulsion control subsystem to permanently halve movement speed.
• scatter_targeting: Offset targeting algorithms to approximately halve their chance of achieving optimal aim.
• mark_system: Mark this bot to make it the most attractive target to all allies, as well as improve accuracy against it by 10%.
• link_complan: Tap into system’s combat decision-making processes in real time, increasing your accuracy and damage against this bot by 25% while also impairing its accuracy against you by 25%.
• broadcast_data: Openly share the local combat network’s defensive coordination values, giving yourself and all allies 25% better accuracy against this and all 0b10 combat bots within a range of 3.
• disrupt_area: Actively interfere with the local combat network’s offensive coordination calculations, reducing the accuracy of this bot by 25%, and that of all 0b10 combat bots within a range of 3.

This category is almost too large, as some of the hacks overlap a bit, though they still have distinct enough roles that I felt it was worth adding them all anyway to see which ones might get more use. Most of these hacks won’t make sense against weaker enemies, but that’s a standard side effect of Cogmind’s environment--most bots don’t pose much of a threat individually, the threat lies in the composite danger presented by multiple hostiles, even more so if they have different complementary capabilities. Against a stronger enemy, however, it could be worth taking the time to weaken them first, or apply a modification with some other ulterior motive.

Groups of weaker enemies are also why some of these hacks come with area effects, to work at addressing the fact that combat hacks against an individual bot may not be worth it compared to simply pulverizing them with a cannon.

Intel

Information gathering accounts for nearly half of all hacks, combat bots or not. Although there are fewer intel options available from combat bots, they still make up a relatively large category and can be quite useful in the right situations:

• find_shortcuts: Reveal and label all hidden doors within a range of 50. (There are a lot of ways to detect emergency access doors, but none with reach like this. Could come in handy in the long run.)

find_shortcuts demo

• find_garrison: Locate the nearest Garrison Access.
• show_paths: Highlight all current patrol squad routes. Only effective when targeting a patrol squad leader. (It will take a observation to identify which squads are considered to be patrolling, much less find a leader, and the route data is only valid while they’re still patrolling it, so I’m not sure how useful this will be in practice, but it looks cool and can also reveal lots of valid pathways in unknown areas of the map so it might catch on. parse_system will help find/teach about patrol squads and leaders.)

show_paths demo (paths glow intermittently, and are always visible while panning the map for easy reference; lines are color coded by squad type, and these records disappear after a while since they only matter for so long)

• link_fov: Tap into system’s visual feed for 100 turns. Must remain within a range of 20 to maintain the link.
• parse_system: (more on this later)

Damage

“Methods to deal outright damage” is a tiny category because merely doing damage doesn’t generally make much sense for a hacker--you either want to take down the target or achieve some other special effect. So even these hacks don’t deal direct damage, but are instead alternatives with their own niche.

• spike_heat: Destabilize power systems to induce a massive surge of heat. (This is essentially a way to instantly get the target ready for meltown, which anyone who knows about thermal transfer from TH weaponry understands that it could start causing all manner of nasty side effects that can even start to compound. Overall it’s a very cheap way to possibly take down a target, if not very reliable because you’re at the mercy of random side effects with this one.)
• overload_power: Cause power source to explode. Process takes 4-6 turns to reach critical point. (The effect is equivalent to EM spectrum chain reactions, and being able to trigger it at will offers a lot of tactical possibilities… Plus it’s just fun. And you’ve gotta time it right :). It’s the readily available AOE time bomb you’ve all been waiting for!)

overload_power demo (also a demonstration of the effectiveness of doing this next to an array of power conduits :P)

Disable

This category’s hacks are akin to mods, but completely disabling systems is often an even stronger effect, though still without doing any actual damage.

• wipe_record: Remove any record of Cogmind from memory, and block new Cogmind records from being created for 10 turns. (This effectively makes you invisible to that robot for a little while, which is pretty cool and unique.)
• disable_weapons: Disable all weapon systems for 20 turns. (There you go, you finally have a way to do this, heh. This has been brought up a few times before by the community with regard to targeting specific systems, though until the new robot hacking there hasn’t been a reasonable way to make it a potentially frequent tactic.)
• reboot_system: Force a complete reboot. The entire sequence requires anywhere from 15 to 25 turns to complete. (The previous system’s good old REBOOT hack is back in its new form, which does… the exactly the same thing :P)
• go_dormant: Wipe memory and force immediate dormant state. (This is a relatively cheap way to permanently remove a target from action, as long a you can get out of view quickly and no one else is around to wake them up. In that way it can be even better than a reboot--it’s a “reboot with a catch.” If you recall, dormant combat bots only have a chance to wake when enemies are in view, or if they’re alerted by another robot.)

Assimilate

Assimilation has always been the highest goal of robot hacking, and while it’ll definitely still be useful, I’m sure it won’t be as desirable as before, or as good as other cheaper hacks that might require more creativity :)

• overwrite_iff: Trick system into believing it is allied with Cogmind. After 10 turns the network will perform an automated quickboot to restore it to normal, a process which takes anywhere from 5 to 10 turns. (Temporary assimilation combined with a bit of a reboot is probably even better than outright assimilation in many cases--I can see this being popular.)
• streamctrl_high: Hijack the control node to force system to act as an ally. Must remain within a range of 5 to maintain the connection. This bot will follow while in this mode. (An alternative situational assimilation, cheaper than completely assimilating a target, but of course it comes with a bit of a caveat.)
• formatsys_high: Rewrite all system data, permanently converting it into a fully controllable ally. Requires 6 turns to complete the process. (As you can see, the old full-on ASSIMILATE hack is still here, although it’s fairly expensive so you [probably] won’t be raising large armies with it!)

The latter two hacks were originally named stream_control and format_system, and applied to both combat and non-combat bots, but I later decided it was important (and made sense) for the coupler cost to be cheaper when used against the latter group. It would’ve been possible to simply show and apply a different cost for these hacks depending on the target, but I wanted to remain consistent--one hack, one cost, so I gave them somewhat different names instead. As you’d expect, the other versions end with _low :). Technically there are 67 different robot hacks, but these pairs are equivalent in effect so I didn’t count the duplicates.

Non-Combat Hacks

Most hacks target non-combat bots, which is more in line with a hacker’s non-confrontational style, using other bots to make exploration or combat easier, or helping avoid the latter altogether. However, the wide variety of hacks also means that just about any kind of player can benefit from at least some of the system, allowing for all sorts of hybrids.

Like the combat hacks, here I’ve broken down non-combat hacks into categories, though note that I only did it for fun/demonstration purposes--it wasn’t part of the design process like it was above.

Distribution of hacks targeting non-combat robots, by effect category.

Understandably intel is by far the largest category, considering there are so many different classes with their own responsibilities and knowledge to “share,” while most other hacks deal with controlling the target and/or their surroundings in some way.

Although normally non-combat bots see Datajack hits as a threat, in cases where a hack is some kind of order they’ll override that reaction and instead do what they’re told.

Even where bots do consider it an attack, or are affected by a hack, there are currently no effects on alert level. This is cool and logical in a hacker sense, though we’ll have to see how abusable it is. That said, by extension hacks don’t score points, either--they’re just recorded in stats as usual. In any case, robot hacking is meant to be pretty good within its niche, since 1) sacrifices need to be made in terms of plot and build, and 2) it only applies to 0b10 bots.

One major area of differentiation between combat and non-combat hacks: the former requires numerous couplers, one for each target type, whereas all non-combat hacks are processed through a single Relay Coupler [NC]. That’s going to be a popular one… (it’s also the most common). If combat hacks were similarly accessible it would trivialize combat and robot hacking strategies, and the system would be less interesting overall.

Just look at all these [NC] robots that can be hacked…

Distribution of robot hacks by non-combat robot class.

Any

Some basic hacks can be used on any non-combat robot, so this category is general purpose stuff which’ll be available almost everywhere.

• no_distress: Prevent this system from generating distress signals.
• generate_anomaly: Induce an energy anomaly resembling a long-range distress signal that will attract nearby patrols and sentries to investigate. Anomaly detectable up to a range of 15.

generate_anomaly demo

Under easier difficulty modes this hack also indicates the positions of robots that will respond to the anomaly.

• generate_echo: Destabilize power systems to generate a wave of energy which can be analyzed to temporarily pinpoint robots at a distance. Beyond a range of 20 the echo becomes too weak to be useful.

generate_echo demo

• start_evac: Instruct system to follow local evacuation protocols by heading to another 0b10-controlled level.
• link_fov, overload_power, streamctrl_low, and formatsys_low are equivalent to the combat hacks.

link_fov demo (blue circles indicate the range outside of which the connection is lost)

• parse_system: (more on this later)

Operator

As the most connected 0b10 class central to operations, Operators make juicy hacking targets. For similar reasons some players like to have one of these following them around as an ally, though the benefits are not identical (in a general sense, robot hacks have more potential because the bot still has greater access to 0b10 systems at the time, unlike once it’s been assimilated).

• check_alert: Query system for current alert level.
• purge_threat: Lower the alert level. (A useful hack, but it’s also the most expensive by far.)
• find_terminal: Locate the nearest Terminal.
• locate_traps: Reveal and mark all traps within a range of 30.
• disarm_traps: Disarm the nearest trap array within a range of 30.

locate_traps/disarm_traps demo

• reprogram_traps: Reveal and reprogram the nearest trap array within a range of 30.
• block_reporting: Block ability to report hostiles at a Terminal.
• summon_haulers: Force system’s call for reinforcements to instead redirect any Haulers within a range of 50.
• recall_investigation: Recall the most recently dispatched investigation squad.
• clear_repairs: Clear the sector-wide repair queue and any pending Builder orders.
• clear_recycling: Clear the sector-wide part collection queue and any pending Recycler orders.

Researcher

Researchers have a lot of options because they know stuff. Stuff you might want to know, too.

• find_scanalyzer: Locate the nearest Scanalyzer.
• disable_scanner: Permanently disable an active stasis system to prevent scanning and analysis.
• locate_prototypes: Mark all prototypes and alien tech across the map, also providing their IDs.
• report_prototypes: Force system to reveal 10 new prototype IDs.
• report_schematics: Force system to reveal 10 new part schematics.
• report_analyses: Force system to reveal 3 new robot analyses.

Worker

K-01 Serfs are all over the place, so it’s nice to have some things to do with these little guys. Hacking them can even be extremely useful…

• find_chute: Reveal and mark the chute this Worker might use if immediately tasked with disposal.
• deconstruct_machine: Dismantle the nearest non-interactive machine.

deconstruct_machine demo (you can also try what happens when they start taking apart an explosive machine ;))

• hold_bot: Latch onto the nearest visible non-prototype 0b10 bot to hold it in place. This task is automatically cancelled after 25 turns.
• start_disposal: Dispose of currently held bot via a chute, if possible. Huge bots are too large to push.

Hauler

For just being defenseless bots that ferry parts, Haulers have some decent hacking options!

• find_fabricator: Locate the nearest Fabricator.
• drop_inventory: Force a complete inventory dump, fully identifying contents in the process.

drop_inventory demo (sure you could just blow them up, but that’s unreliable and won’t give you the advantage of knowing whether any of the contents are faulty/dangerous!)

• recall_reinforcements: Recall reinforcement squad requested by this Hauler.
• locate_stockpiles: Mark all common part stockpiles.

Mechanic

Mechanics aren’t all that common, but aside from those operating from a Repair Station, assault squads do sometimes have one in tow, which may be a bad idea for them if you’re a hacker :P

• find_station: Locate the nearest Repair Station.
• release_backups: Force the system to release all backup parts from compressed internal storage.

release_backups demo

• deconstruct_bot: Disassemble the nearest allied visible non-huge non-prototype 0b10 bot into its constituent parts.

Watcher

Hacker’s paradise when it comes to intel. I mean, that’s their job, right?

• map_route: Show scan information from along this Watcher’s patrol route. (While it’s possible to get unlucky and find a Watcher with a really short route, this hack can also be a gold mine of info.)

map_route demo (finds an exit)

map_route demo (here hacking from the middle of its route, and labeling discovered items)

map_route demo (tiles)

• mark_security: Mark all active security positions within a range of 40.
• relay_feed: Permanently hook into the sensor feed system, receiving scan data transmissions from up to a range of 20 from Watcher’s position. (Basically you get a remote Sensor Array, pretty good if you don’t have one of your own, and even better if it’s a high-level watcher.)

relay_feed demo

Protector

Protectors are generally only found supporting assaults, and all they really have to their name are shields, so…

• disable_shields: Permanently disable an active shield or force field system.
• redirect_shields: Permanently reprogram defensive system to protect yourself and allies from attacks, instead of Protector’s allies. (This one’s more expensive, but if you and/or allies are close enough to take advantage of it, it’s a pretty nice buff for you plus debuff for enemies. Remote force fields are really annoying to fight through, so you want them on your side.)

Engineer

No you’re still not allowed to build new walls, sorry ;)

• ignore_repairs: Block system messages regarding the repair queue.
• map_walls: Reveal all walls and emergency access points within a range of 25.

map_walls demo

Tunneler

T-07 Excavators generally hang out at lower depths where you won’t be doing much robot hacking anyway, but just in case…

• randomize_corridors: Permanently add new paths to the local complex layout. (This is one of the few hacks I don’t think will be very useful, but added it anyway just to give them something extra related to their regular tasks.)
• map_earth: Reveal all earth within a range of 25.

map_earth demo

Recycler

Cogmind’s #1 annoying bot can now also be dealt with by hacking it directly, though there are already other pretty effective methods of handling them (like just shooting :P).

• find_recycling: Locate the nearest Recycling Unit.
• ignore_parts: Block system messages regarding the part collection queue.

Compactor

Hackers ain’t afraid of no Crushers! A single [NC] coupler is enough to pacify an entire Waste sector’s worth of these menaces (and you normally don’t need to confront nearly that many on your way out).

• ignore_targets: Block system messages regarding waste processing targets.

ignore_targets demo

And with that we’ve covered all 65 hacks, except for that one…

Universal Hack

The combat and non-combat lists above both refer to “parse_system,” a special hack that works on any bot, even non-0b10 bots. All it takes is a Datajack to access it, and it’ll always appear when hacking bots, just like the Manual command.

PARSE was available under the old system, although never really used. I had originally added it mainly for fun, thinking it might eventually become something, and now it has! For one it gives more details than it used to, including info about the AI, squads, and more.

parse_system demo (multiple)

But the most tangible advantage is the fact that it both lists all parts attached to the bot, identifies them all even if unknown or prototypes, and even adds them to your gallery if not already there! This will be a new non-evil method to get records for some of those cool parts your friends and/or NPCs are using without, you know, murdering them :P

By extension, using a Datajack on a friendly will no longer be considered a hostile action, allowing you to parse them, too.

In the past completing the full item gallery required either straight up killing your friends (preferably with weapons that increase salvage rates), or getting really lucky and not only meeting valuable allies but having them be killed and drop their special gear for you. Some people understandably disliked the former for roleplay reasons, and the latter isn’t really a feasible long-term approach given how many rare allies and parts there are.

Balance

Last time I talked about one of the first important elements of balance: access to Relay Couplers. The other main one would be the cost of the hacks themselves.

I only made a few references to cost above, though obviously these values will factor highly in terms of each hack’s relative strategic applications. Hacks can range anywhere from free to consuming an entire Coupler in one go, so for reference I’m posting my design spreadsheet used to set the costs in the first place.

Combat hacking Coupler costs. You can see how they’re divided into the categories described earlier.

I start with the number of hacks I think is reasonable for a single coupler, and it calculates the rest automatically so that things are quick and easy to adjust. Costs have changed a bit as I worked through the implementation process, and will likely see some more adjustments in the future, but this is a good starting point.

Here’s the cost info for all non-combat hacks:

Non-combat hacking Coupler costs.

For fun you can compare to the design spreadsheet for the old pre-Beta 7 robot hacking system, which was much more complex, and because it’s based on a percentage system isn’t very reliable--players would only bother with it if they could reach near or at 100% on their desired hack!

Pre-Beta 7 robot hacking system design spreadsheet.

We went from 5 hacks straight to 65 :P. And this is just the first batch--more could be added, or some might be tweaked or even removed down the line depending on what hacks players use and how. We’ll have to see how Beta 7 turns out first!

Update: The RIF system itself also has been expanded with passive permanent effects that can be gained as abilities similar to some of these hacks, and more.

Over three years ago, before Cogmind’s first alpha version was released, I wrote about robot hacking. Well we can keep that post around for posterity and historical research purposes, but as of the next version robot hacking is undergoing radical changes and a major expansion. This post will explain the fundamentals of the new system (much of this content was originally serialized in a series of SITREPs on the forums and Steam news).

Background

First a bit of history.

Back in the pre-Alpha days (2015 and earlier), robot hacking was never fully realized. Ideally it would be designed to fit in with all the other systems, but there had really been almost no playtesting since the 7DRL and three quarters of the world had yet to be created, so there wasn’t much to go on at the time. Rather than build up something large right away, a better long-term approach would be to just add a smaller functional placeholder that could be tweaked or possibly replaced when necessary as the rest of the game took shape.

So then, as now in Beta 6, there were just a handful of general options running the spectrum from “temporarily disable” to “permanently assimilate.” As it was clearly an underdeveloped system tangential to everything else going on, Alpha players almost entirely ignored robot hacking for a long while, exploring other mechanics instead.

Then came late Alpha, and it was discovered that a Cogmind could stack Hackware like there’s no tomorrow and literally own anything in the complex, especially later in a run. Here’s an example of this type of build, in a screenshot shared by zxc:

zxc’s uberhacker loadout.

A +247% to hacking and the ability to hack robots around corners before they even know you’re there? That sounds mighty OP! (zxc used such a build in early 2017 to achieve the highest-ever Cogmind score, a record which still stands to this day)

Certainly it takes skill to set up, but roguelikes should technically get more challenging as a run progresses, not easier, and that’s generally how Cogmind works except when it came to strategies abusing this mechanic :P

Flight hackers had their fun with magic wands for a while, then of course I had to nerf it, explaining the diminishing returns of high-level robot hacking over the length of a run as a result of the system adapting its defenses. That said, even the nerf itself was just a temporary band-aid, because clearly much bigger changes were necessary as part of a new system, and that point would be coming in late Beta given that all the other systems were pretty much done.

And that’s where we are now, adding Cogmind’s last major system (“last” on the FAQ’s main roadmap, but I have more secrets planned, plus of course there’s always this which might happen :D).

I collected and mulled over numerous ideas for how to revamp the robot hacking system for more than a year. There were quite a few reasonable possibilities to think through, but also a lot of potential pitfalls! Devs are unlikely to get a system absolutely perfect the first time, but as long as it has a solid foundation it can be tweaked and expanded without too much trouble if necessary. So this foundation is extra important. I’ve never spent this long designing a single system before (21 hours just designing!), and it went through lots of iterations and refinements (all on paper) as it started to look both relatively balanced and interesting.

It’s also worth pointing out that I’m very glad I didn’t move on this system earlier, or try to have a complete extensive system available from Alpha 1. It would have had a negative, limiting impact on other developments, and much about the current state of Cogmind’s world and content has enabled me to make smarter choices about how to best integrate robot hacking into it all, be it the tactics, strategy, or lore. In short, doing this earlier would’ve meant more wasted effort and less pleasing results.

So what is this new system already…

Principles

While reviewing all the concepts floated over the past year, I identified the major areas that a new robot hacking system would need to address in order to fit in with Cogmind’s many other systems and also be enjoyable but balanced in its own right. The resulting underlying principles of the new hacking system:

• Decouple machine and robot hacking. Even just machine hacking alone provides a wide range of extremely effective abilities, so there’s no reason to keep both types of hacking under the same umbrella of supporting parts. Thus robot hacking shouldn’t be based on standard hackware, we’ll need something else.
• Control the snowball effect seen with robot hacking during alpha testing. Sufficient stacking of machine hackware makes pretty much any hack a success, and this is fine for players willing to invest that kind of slot use, but applying the same approach to robots makes it far too easy to eliminate any and all danger by accumulating more and more allies, or at least nearly effortlessly taking out enemies. We’ll need upper limits on what is possible.
• Remove much of the RNG. Under the old system, anything but a good robot hacking setup is too unreliable--you have to hit with a Datajack, penetrate to their system, and then there’s still the final hack chance to succeed at. RNG works well for machine hacking, but with robots the time element is much more limiting, and the consequences of failures are too dire, especially for bots that are not necessarily set up for combat! Too much RNG in a system like this makes planning much more difficult, thus keeping the RNG would basically work against the combat hacker style itself. Removing the RNG here will be very good for balance.

Compared to the old robot hacking system, overall there are more limiting factors under the new system, but by extension that means it can be more effective! More effective is more interesting, as it also increases the range of possibilities. The goal is not to become OP, it’s to gain tools for solving a subset of unique situations and challenges, and being creative in how these are deployed.

Relay Interface Framework

This is where it all begins, with this machine:

Interfacing with an RIF Installer.

Every garrison will now contain an RIF Installer, and it’s your choice whether to use it and deal with the consequences, and of course take advantage of the benefits! You’ll only have to do it once, and the first garrison appears on -8, so that would be your earliest opportunity, though you can also choose to install at any garrison after that as well. You still get all the other benefits of a garrison on top of that, and there will be another advantage particular to robot hackers that we’ll get to later. Basically I liked the idea pioneered by the original system that robot hacking is linked to garrisons (albeit manifested differently), so the new system really emphasizes that link, and as a better system should also better incentivize the occasional garrison visit!

“RIF” stands for Relay Interface Framework, and with that you’ll gain access to dozens of ways to manipulate other robots via the complex-wide garrison relay network. Like a number of other major strategic decisions, however, this comes with a drawback as it will prevent you from forming certain… alliances. Such is the strategic cost of effectively linking up with 0b10 to facilitate access to their systems. And from this point you can probably infer that the new robot hacking system only works on Unaware! This is just the first of several limiting factors--robot hacking will be quite useful, but not a panacea. It’ll be what an interesting system should be: very effective when used creatively, but also challenging you to create manageable situations to begin with. Unlike the Alpha approach of “it’s an enemy, reboot/assimilate it!!!” there will be many unique encounters and different methods of approaching each. As with other strategies, planning ahead will be very beneficial, and to me that also really fits the theme of a robot hacker, whether a stealth hacker or combat hacker or anything in between.

Planning ahead will also be facilitated by the fact that the new system removes much of the RNG from robot hacking :D

Relay Couplers

The hacking process itself starts similar to how it exists now: Datajacks are still a thing, and you have to both hit the target and penetrate to its system, but after that the processes diverge significantly. Robot hackers will often want to make use of a new type of Hackware dedicated to robot hacking: Relay Couplers. As Hackware these are destroyed on removal in normal fashion, and even have limited uses, but they enable all the best hacks.

Sample Relay Coupler.

Self-destructing Relay Couplers. Oops, better get that RIF.

Couplers come in a variety of types (there are 12) and must match the target’s class to gain access to high-level hacks for that target. For example a “Relay Coupler [Grunt]” is used to hack Grunts. The one exception is Relay Coupler [NC], which applies to all “non-combat” bots, so that one alone will be much more widely applicable.

The alternative approach would’ve been to have Hackware that enables specific hacks, rather than targeting specific bots, taking the system in a completely different direction, but I believe it’s far more interesting to be able to do almost any kind of hack to a specific kind of robot than the same hack to any robot. This both opens the door to a greater variety of strategy and tactics, and will essentially force that variety in many cases because there’s no one-hack-suits-all ability.

Note that not all hacks require a Coupler, or even an RIF. So Datajacks will still have some robot hacking purpose aside from their other functions. The new PARSE behavior will serve that purpose alone, as it’s free and always works, usable on almost any robot. (I’ll demonstrate that later once it’s implemented.) There are also some cost-free hacks that still require an RIF, for use against non-combat bots.

Most hacks do, however, require a target-appropriate Coupler to pull off. These hacks appear in their own box with a “Coupler” header.

Robot hacking UI diagram.

The numbers off to the right aren’t the percentages you might expect given the other/previous systems, but are instead static costs for executing each hack. That cost is directly deducted from the Relay Coupler value seen at the top and the hack takes effect, period. So Couplers are expendable, and each has its own “remaining value” before it is depleted. You can carry or attach as many Couplers as you want, and if you have more than one applicable Coupler for the current target robot their values are combined into a new total.

As you can see, the new system is easier to balance by forcing a trade of valuable slot/inventory space for guaranteed hacking effects, whether you want them to play a non-combat role, a supporting role, or a fully confrontational “I own you all” role.

Sample robot hacking build with Datajack and a few active Relay Couplers.

As mentioned before, hack costs are static--there is currently no way to influence the cost via utility or other means, and allowing for the modification of costs would make it easy for robot hacking to creep into OP territory again. Better to have only one variable at play, the Coupler value, which can in some cases be higher than normal so that there’s room to get more out of a single Coupler!

I’ve generally avoided consumables in Cogmind’s design, at least in the traditional sense, but Couplers don’t really fit that sense anyway since they have multiple uses and are also quite flexible in what they can be used to accomplish.

Coupler value is a factor of two elements: its source, and the type of robot it applies to. An individual [Behemoth] Coupler won’t let you do much, though you could combine more than one to do just about anything! A lone [Grunt] Coupler, on the other hand, will last for a lot more hacks, depending on what you want do accomplish. There are five ways to acquire Relay Couplers, two of which I’ll leave for you to discover, but here are some of the main ones:

Garrison Relay.

Straight to the source! Like previous and current versions of Cogmind in which Garrison Relays play a role in robot hacking (albeit through a different mechanism), so do they under the new system. Venture into a Garrison itself and blow up relays to collect the most valuable Couplers inside.

Garrison Access destruction releasing Relay Couplers. Doing this will likely tempt some players to try out robot hacking ;)

Destroying Garrison Access locations will net you some Couplers as well. They’re partially used and thus not as valuable, but at least they’re fairly easy to acquire!

If lucky you can also find special caches in a Garrison containing lots of high-value Couplers, but don’t count on it :P

UI Upgrades

Manual hacking of robots is already a thing, but it’s a pretty simple system that’s always been used purely as a way to enter random codes you might collect as a result of certain encounters. There’s not much of a need to type out any commands to begin with, considering there’s a complete context menu that appears to recall all the codes, as seen here using the old hack list:

Sample special codes menu during robot manual hacking (old hack options).

But with the number of hacks increasing significantly in Beta 7, some keyboard players might be more likely to prefer entering hacks by typing them out rather than finding them in the menu. Of course no one’s going to bother if you have to type out the entire command, so like manual machine hacking we’ll need to facilitate the process! For this I added both autocompletion and a command buffer:

Robot hacking autocompletion and command buffer demo (parse_system effect at the end is a placeholder for things to come).

It kinda sucked to have to switch the whole manual robot hacking system over from its original simple architecture (which already worked nicely) to one that could support these new features, and many hacks were involved, but hey everything once again works as expected so I won’t complain! QoL FTW!

While at it I also added an advanced option to alter the default cost-wise method of sorting Coupler-based hacks:

Two different preferences for sorting Coupler-based hacking options.

Another tweak made even more recently (after all the above media was created :P) was to have the header for any Relay Coupler hacks highlight the remaining value to make that clearer:

Robot hacking UI with highlighted Coupler value.

I had noticed the potential issue while creating the original mockup weeks before, but didn’t see any immediate fixes so decided to leave it like that for the time being. And of course as soon as I started sharing gifs there was already a comment about that value not being clear enough, so… yeah, I put some more time into finding a decent solution :D

In a departure from the machine hacking standard for the past five years, robot hacking is also getting context help! All listed hacks indicate exactly what they do when accessed via right-click or shift+letter key.

Sampling context help for robot hacks.

Unlike machine hacking it’s quite important to know precise effects in advance because robot hacking often has real consequences while facing off against enemies (one of the principles discussed earlier with regard to the switch away from a percentage-based system). Obviously it’s also good for learning the mechanics, and having easy direct access to what hacks do so that infrequent players don’t have to remember their effects. It’s possible this feature will also come to machines later (I talked a bit about that dilemma in SITREP #32).

And one last UI feature for completeness sake: Automatic removal of newly-depleted Relay Couplers also comes with its own animation in the parts list.

Relay Coupler depletion.

That about covers the fundamentals of the upcoming robot hacking system. There’s a lot more work to do lore-wise and with regard to other peripheral elements, not to mention putting together all the actual hacks themselves, but the latter is a topic for another day!

I’m pretty confident this system will serve as a good foundation for a new play style, as well as augment existing styles, and do the concept of robot hacking justice even if its finer points require a little tweaking down the line.

So no there will not be a Take 3 ;)

But we do now have a follow-up, an article covering the first 65 hacks available under this system!

Update 2: The RIF system has also itself now been expanded with abilities/upgrades!