FALLOUT TERMINAL -Password Hacking Guide-

FALLOUT TERMINAL -Password Hacking Guide-
by Yanaka White

Hacking terminal interface in Fallout 3 and New Vegas

I should probably start this with Fallout introduction. Fallout is a game about post-apocalyptic world set from the 90's reference of future age. So you'll see some old school laser gun and rocket-shaped flying cars. You know, old school future style. The Fallout series I'm talking here is Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. I haven't play it yet, but Fallout 1 and 2 is kinda different from these next 2 series.

Let's cut to the point after all, 'coz you won't be opening this page if you don't know what Fallout is in the first place. So through out the game, you'll encounter these computers called terminal and you have a choice to hack them to ease your journey. It has functions like opening locks, disabling security, getting information, and such. Terminals has various difficulty levels and you'll need a higher Science to hack a more difficult terminals.

Now the thing is, once that interface comes out most beginners will fry their brain instantly. JUST LOOK AT IT!! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! It looks more like a green version of the blue screen of death to me.

But once you got used to this puzzle, it's actually pretty fun. And after a while, I find hacking, lock picking, and interrogating is more fun and professional than just going in and gun blazing killing anything that moves.

ACTUAL GUIDE

I'm writing this guide according to my own experience. There might be even better methods in the net. Go google them, or bing them, or whatever you want.

Okay, so after you get to that screen, the first thing you'd want to do is to click any words to get a clue. This will likely took away one of your chance.

The trick here is to choose the word you think the password owner will most likely choose for the password. For example, 'honor' for an NCR army terminal and 'conquest' for a fiend terminal. (Those are factions from New Vegas)

If you're lucky, you might get the right password in first try! But if not, you'll get a clue, something like x/y correct.

Y is the total digits of password, and X is how many correct digits in correct places there are.

If you're not lucky enough to get it right in the first place, you can also considered lucky if you get 0 correct! Why? Because you know what letters is not correct, and most of the choices consist of almost same letters and positions... So your next move is to choose a word that has no same letter and in same position as that first word you chose!

In other hand, you next move is to look for opening brackets like '(', '[', or '{'. These are important. If there's a compatible closing brackets like ')', ']', or '}' in the same line and is after the opening bracket, try to sort the opening bracket. The computer will highlight some symbols with the brackets like it highlight words. For example (%&*#^&) or [_)%&!#], or {} like that.

These brackets can be used only once and the effect is random. Some of them remove dud words that is not the password but there to confuse you, and some of them replenish your chance. This is why I told you to use one of your chance ahead, so you won't be wasting the lucky brackets.

When you stumble across the 'replenish chance' bracket, stop there and choose another word. I would like a word that has only X similarity to the first word, or you can try your luck by choosing another word you suspect would be the password. OR if you get over 50% correct of total digits, just choose another word that is very similar to the first one!

If it still fails, continue with the brackets if you haven't use them all. Don't worry, keep using them until you hit another 'replenish chance' or there's no more left.

After the second word, you should know what you have to do from here. Look at how much correct the second word has and compare it to the first word. You should now know what and where the correct letters are. Use that clue to choose the next word. Use a bit of your luck, and you will find the password in no time.

Here are some tips:
Before you attempt to hack, make sure you save. Quick save (F5) or Actual save, whatever, just save. With this, you can use all your chances until permanent lockdown without fear, as you can always load the game and try again. It will give you a different puzzle tho.