Question regarding programming Options

[ReverendMo]

Here's an oddball one that a player tossed out to me, and I couldn't find anything solid in the books so I thought you folks would have some good input.

The PC has some decking skill but wants a custom-built software suite including a bunch of common progs. Unwired doesn't seem to say anything on how to create a suite, and to complicate matters more, he doesn't want to do it himself, he wants to hire a better hacker to program it. He's fine with paying more that way, but I can't find any table or info on how much it would cost to hire a hacker to code something, nor any modifiers for coding a program suite. Any advice?

[DireRadiant]

If they don't want the specific programs that come in HomeWrecker, Iris Anitvirus or Shamus, just swap them in and out as appropriate using the existing suite base price as a baseline.

e.g. HomeWrecker has two R3 Attack programs with options 12F for 6000 nuyen. You could make another one that has Exploit 3 and Stealth 3 called Sneaker for example.

As for hiring someone to write it, you can use the Advanced Programming Table on p 119 UnWired and figure out what the individual program cost in terms of time. Or you could look at the Hacker Services on p. 93 and try and guess. Or you could simply say they can pay the same as you wold for a commercial package, but it's custom written for them. (At least initially, no doubt it will be in commercial release in a nanosecond or two so teh Hacker can recoup development costs.)

[Night Jackal]

Page 128 in Unwired

Software suite source code can be programmed, cracked, or patched like any normal software (follow the rules for each component program, however all changes must be done together).

Its the last paragraph and it basically tells you that to program a suite you have to do each program separately and then when you complete them all its a "suite"


Shamus = Browse 3 (150), Exploit 3 (1500), Sniffer 4 (4000) = 5,650 Sells for 5,500 that's about 3% discount....So I would do a 3-10% discount depending on you.

To have another hacker do it...I would say its probably already out there for download at the sell price mentioned above.

He could do all the normal that buying and selling allows including pirating.

[ReverendMo]

Much appreciated, thanks! Seems I completely didn't spot those, feel a bit silly but still familiarizing myself with the details in Unwired.

[MikeKozar]

As for hiring someone to write it, you can use the Advanced Programming Table on p 119 UnWired and figure out what the individual program cost in terms of time. Or you could look at the Hacker Services on p. 93 and try and guess. Or you could simply say they can pay the same as you wold for a commercial package, but it's custom written for them. (At least initially, no doubt it will be in commercial release in a nanosecond or two so teh Hacker can recoup development costs.)

Remember that you can always call for a Negotiation roll when dealing with an individual (or small business - from what I understand the build rules kind of require a team or a lot of time) to get a cost multiplier. I'm not sure what RAW is, but I'd just eyeball a %10 price shift for each net success on the winning side. It gives the Face some screen time and saves the player some cash, and can turn a vending machine shopkeeper into an interesting NPC.