A small overview of Ingress or how to privatize the sights

Introduction

When I woke up this morning, I saw on my phone an invitation to participate in the exclusive beta testing Ingress. On the design of the letter and the name of the sender “Niantic Project Operations”, I immediately remembered this post and thought that I invited everyone. The first thing I copied the invitation code and went to the market for the application. When you first start it offers to choose an account from the already existing ones on the phone. The code was not asked anywhere that questioned the limitations of this event. After this, the training begins, but nowhere does it say that I was immediately confused. At this point, it seemed to me that the whole essence of the game in missions was “to go there, do something”. When it dawned on me that this was a “training” mode, I was already starting to open this post , comments on which prompted me to write this review.

The technical side of the application

Let's start with the bad

It should be immediately noted that these problems are possible exclusively on my device (HTC One X, custom firmware).

My first discovery was the launch of the application when the Internet signal was lost. Without notifications, the application instantly crashes, offering to send a report to the developers. Perhaps this is due to something else, because this was only a few times, later wrote "No Data Connection". If you run when there is no connection, then there will be either a black screen or the message “Secure connection could not be established! Please try againg ”with the“ Try ”button, when clicked, the application closes in any case, is there internet or not.

The next disappointment was the problem with taking screenshots. Periodically, after the next screenshot disappears map. There is an interface and sound, but there is no card, only restarting helps. Also, after each screenshot, the gps signal disappears, which causes some problems.
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The inability to simultaneously listen to music and use the application. Even if you turn off all the sounds in Ingress, there are always intergalactic noise, possibly a feature.

Huge battery consumption. For an hour of use it was spent three times more than when watching a movie (~ 90 minutes). Perhaps it affected the cold, I can not guarantee.

I like!

Making a card. It is wonderful. Simple, beautiful, elegant. When gps signal is lost, interference starts across the entire screen. In a suit, you can pass for Bond, if others do not know about this game.

Chat. You can choose from what distance will receive messages. The choice is made between 20/200 kilometers and the whole world. There is also the opportunity to write in the general chat, and only for your faction.

Ability to complete any learning mission whenever you want. If you have missed or forgotten something - do not worry, you can always fill these gaps.

The fun is just beginning

So, after the first run, learning begins, as I mentioned.


On the left, on the right, the beginning of the first mission

The first mission is training on collecting XM (Exotic Matter). This is a local mana. Behind it, objects are cracked, resonators are installed, and other objects are attacked. Going by itself if it enters your allowed radius (approximately 30-35 meters). At the first level, the maximum margin is 3000XM.

Considering the fact that training is not interesting, and hardly anyone reads my words, we will immediately turn to military action. We put on a bullet-proof vest and take the gun boots, buttoning the jacket in a hurry, and run to the street. When you skip training, we are offered to choose a faction that we will pull to victory. Campaigning is naturally present.



At the time of selection, it seemed to me that the "Enlightened" are the dark side, seeking to seize the planet, according to popular belief that always have cookies. I did not hesitate to join them for a long time, I always wanted to try myself as a villain.



The first thing I decided to check the chat and saw just such a funny picture



Almost everyone who launched the application within a radius of 200km did not understand what it was about and how they came to be here, which made me wonder.

Let's go to the capture points. My first point with the ability to capture was the metro station.


In general, everything is simple. Select the portal on the map, click the "Hack" button and wait. If everything went well, then a list of items received for this hacking is displayed. If not, 300 seconds to recharge this item until the next hack is possible. After a successful attempt to climb with interest check inventory. I had one level one resonator, the XMP Burster (used to attack enemy portals) and the Portal Key on this object. From the second time, I got 5 level 2 resonators, 3 first and the mystical Pandora thing. I will tell about it at the end of the article.

The game has 8 levels of things. The higher the level, the better the subject. Resonators have more energy, XMP Burster increases the impact range and can cause damage, it should be checked. The player has no right to use items that are higher than the level of the character.



On the next tab, you can check the status of fractions at the moment. Until now, with a huge margin, lead the "Enlightened". At the time of this writing, the Rebels had 7.8 thousand controlled population, when the Enlightened had as many as 20 thousand.



After placing at least one resonator you are recorded in the owners, and the portal passes to the possessions of the faction. After a while, I ran through the nearby places and began to actively capture. Having decided that the closest place to me for a more detailed study would be either Arbat or the Ploshchad Revolutsii metro station, I went to the second address, grabbing a friend. It was rather cold outside, so we could only endure an hour of continuous skirmishes and seize the power of seizing the portals.

On leaving the subway, we looked around and went towards the Kremlin, as there was a huge cluster of portals. At first everything suited me, but a little later I noticed a trick. In the vicinity of 10 meters there were about 5-7 monuments to Zhukov, which undoubtedly upsets. The whole scheme of the capture of the portal occurs in the same scenario: Hack -> Deploy Resonator -> Hack -> Hack and so until the hacking fails. In most cases, I threw only one resonator on one object, collecting for further investigation.

After 50 minutes of routine actions, the battery began to refuse from me and the center of Moscow acquired the following appearance:



Monuments to Zhukov are not unique, repetitions are present in many cases, however this does not prevent them from being privatized. Approximately in the middle of the trip I got the second level. With the passage of all these places, I liked three objects with beautiful photos and adequate names. It was with them that I decided to practice.



We refuel the "Red Square" on all 8 resonators and improve some of them. Would improve everything, but the resonators of the second level ended abruptly.



We also improve the “Kazan Cathedral” and the “Historical Museum”, connect them with the “Red Square”, then among themselves. We have a whole field inside this triangle. For what it is necessary and in what advantages one developer and a group of violent fans are still aware. At this, my acquaintance is over. I did not manage to try to repel the possessions of another’s faction, as Godless wanted , because there are so few activists in Moscow and I haven’t found someone’s portals.

Easter eggs

In the middle of the article, I mentioned Pandora. After hacking objects there is a chance that additional materials will fall out. I had about 8 pieces, unique of which only three: Pandora , Replicated and Enlightenment .

Conclusion

In my opinion, the project is very interesting, makes you move your legs, but it requires a lot of time for the players. Thanks for attention!

UPD The power shift has changed in one morning. The rebels are leading with the number of 63 thousand controlled population against 27.5. This morning they began to destroy my resonators on the Bauman, a pair of resonators fell under this onslaught, but the portals themselves withstood. Each destroyed resonator received a letter in the mail. Thank you caezar for the explanation .