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Bearclaw
I'm running Harlequin and don't have a clue how to cross the old matrix system over to the new. Has anyone already done this?
Abstruse
I can't remember who originally posted this, but I asked the exact same question on the old forums and got this as the best answer:

QUOTE
Under SR3/Matrix rules, if I were standing inside the local Stuffer Shack's cheapass Host I'd probably see the subsystems as their UMS defaults/node representation:

- the Access subsystem (previously known as SAN nodes) is represented by a UMS rectanglar icon;
- the Control subsystem (previously known as CPU or SPU nodes)are represented by 3D Hexagonal icons;
- the Index subsystem (aka the SPU node) are also represented by 3D Hexagonal icons;
- the Files subsystems (aka Datastore nodes) are represented by multicolored Cube icons.
- the Slave subsystem (aka Slave node) might or might not be present.
All of these are accessible and easily identifiable from where I stand inside the Host after passing through the Access subsystem/SAN with my Access System Operation.

If I were to want to insert a fake order for a fastfood delivery at my safehouse, I would go to the Files subsystem and insert my address data and then move to the Index subsystem to insert the fake order and get the system to acknowledge it (all the while making the relevant System Tests).

For comparison in a Sculpted Host system navigation becomes more intuitive and less obvious, but there is NO fundamental difference between this and SR1 and SR2 Sculpted systems:

If I were standing in the Sea-Tac Airport system the same subsystems would be represented differently:

- the Access system (old SAN) is represented by rotating entrance doors flanked by security guards;
- the Control subsystem (aka SPUs or CPUs) are represented by Check-In Desks on the main throughfare(with the White Probe IC represented by helpful attendants behind the desk);
- the various Index subsystems (SPUs) would be represented by the various Departure/Arrival Flight Information Boards around the airport concourse;
- the various Files subsystems (old Datastores) would be the Waiting rooms the Flight Information boards/Index subsystems guide you to (the files themselves could be the different lounge chairs, the rolled up newpapers and magazines, the other 'passengers' or anything else that fits the metaphor - the correct System Test will tell you what is what and accessing or editing a file simply requires sitting in the correct chair or opening the correct paper).

I would still have to get through the Entrance area (Access subsystem/SAN) to use the other system functions but the only real difference after that, in terms of game mechanics, is that I don't have to then "move" node-to-node (dungeon-crawl style) but can "move" about freely inside the Host. There is no need to map or draw anything since there are only 5 or 6 subsystems and notes will do to define the general metaphor. However I may need to use different Programs and System Operations to actually find what I'm looking for.

The Security Sheath now represents the whole host meaning all the IC is incorporated in the general Airport metaphor around me, some obvious (security guards icons, sniffer dog icons, surveillance camera icons, etc) some not (flight attendant icons, little old lady icons, abandoned suitcase icons, etc).

Remember though this does not mean that all the systems you are looking for are on one Host! Tiered and chokepoint hosts have replaced their Node system equivalents and still exist.

For example in the SeaTac metaphor above, the Access subsystem (old SAN) for the 2nd-tier Host might be a security checkpoint to the Airport Personnel Restricted Area and the door beyond that leads to the second Host sculpted in Control Tower, Environmental Controls or Security Room metaphor (depending on function), or even alternately make the Access subsystem (old SAN) a Boarding Gate and a second Host sculpted in an aeroplane metaphor.


Don't ask me who posted that either...

The Abstruse One
EVLTIM
So uh ...who posted that first Abstruse ? twirl.gif
TinkerGnome
I did a mockup of the system at one point, in this thread.

Here it is again in spoiler format:

[ Spoiler ]
Synner
QUOTE (Abstruse @ Oct 25 2003, 01:29 AM)
Don't ask me who posted that either...

That would have been yours truly.

I did that as a general 'conversion' guide but as TinkerGnome's pointed out there's been at least one attempt to convert one such system from Harlequin.
Bearclaw
Thanks a lot guys. I really didn't have the time needed to research that. I would have just faked it, and pulled one of the sheafs from Target: Matrix.
Bearclaw
OK, now I've got more questions.
In the old model, finding the bosses machine and the data on it wasn't hard. It's all nice and laid out and looks like a set of hallways and corridors. How do you find it now in the big blobby configuration?

PS, from the looks of it, if you can hack your way onto the bosses system, you're into everything, right? How is that handled?
spotlite
The physical representation you describe would be unchanged. But instead of worrying about exactly which node is which, you worry about which subsystem it fits in. Thus if there are several datastores, and on the map in game you have to go through SPUs and god knows what else, you ignore that. Instead they have to get to the bit of the host which represents the file subsystem, which can be protected all on its own if you want. So the whole host may look like a corporate office block, but the files subsystem might literally be in a room filled with endless filing cabinets! A part of the Slave subsystem might be behind a door marked 'on site security' and when they get through there they find out why - its because that's where all the security cameras feed into - and look! There's a security decker on duty...

Remember - what you see in the matrix is your deck's interpretation of the data which is there. Everything is representational so there's no reason why the halls and corridors of the file subsystem should look any different to any other part of the same host - but the individual rooms may differ substantially, and there's no reason why it couldn't be laid out so you HAVE to travel certain data pathways like it was in SR1 & 2. The choice of left or right at that glowing node can make all the difference, if you want. Equally, there's no reason why each part of the host should look the same either - its all down to you. The challenge in SR3 decking is not navigation, its the hacking itself (a big improvement, especially in terms of what the rest of the players get to do in the meantime while the decker is finding his way around his own personal adventure!).

I think the idea is to make it intentionally abstract, so that the player doesn't need to know that much about real computers/hacking, and can just say 'I want to look for files pertaining to x'. The Gm can add some flavour text and make them jump through a bunch of roleplaying hoops, but what is really happening is they just make a browse test against the files or index subsystem. The decker might see a bunch of filing cabinets which he has to manually rifle through. But the mechanic is a single computer roll. Does that help any?
Hot Wheels
Our deckers are all npc's but on those rare cases where one of us decks or more commonly sees a system map, we use the old system.
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