LoneWolf83 said:
That is not hacking, that is magic.
You have to understand, that most people DO think hacking is magic. This game is for all those oblivious people. Anyone who knows even a little bit of computer security or hacking would laugh at this nonsense. But then again, this is a video game, so it's "suspension of disbelief" time.
Strictly speaking, it could theoretically be possible to do things like this from a cellphone. The groundwork in the game has all the possibilities. CTOS is this all-encompassing overwatch system connected to everything in the city from utilities, banks, CCTV cameras, all the way to baby monitors. If you had a backdoor or worm in this system, and your phone has high-speed internet access, you could (in theory) flip traffic lights or raise bollards and whatnot. But not at the speed Aiden does it. First, you have to somehow log into the respective sub-system, search for the intersection or device in the giant database (it's Chicago after all), then send the code that would bypass a billion firewalls, encryptions and security measures built into the system and the devices themselves, and then and ONLY THEN would you be able to flip that light or raise that bollard. Again, in theory, you could automate most of this process by tying it into your phone's GPS, so it shows your the stuff you might be able to hack around you (like in the game).
BUT (and this is a big but), any action like this would raise all kinds of hells and bells throughout the system, and any competent computer security guy would shut you out and track you down in a heartbeat. Don't tell me the people who designed and developed a giant system like CTOS are this incompetent in their own software as portrayed in the game. If in real life something like CTOS would get implemented and some douche would hack into it and screw with traffic systems, they would shut the whole system down, track down the security hole, patch it, and probably install a billion more security checks and failsafe systems. In the game, they just let Aiden (and anyone else really) run rampant, destroy half the city, steal millions of moneys and not lift a finger. That's what made this game really stupid for me.
I would've introduced a game mechanic, that whenever you press Y to log into CTOS using your backdoor, it would start a security trace. The more things you do in the system, like rob accounts, open doors, etc, it would make the trace much faster to the point they eventually reach your phone and alert the authorities to your EXACT location using your phone's GPS. You either log off before that and wait a set amount of time for a new backdoor to be created (which will take longer each time because of the new security measures), or if they did reach your phone, you could throw it away and escape, but then you have to buy a new phone (which costs a considerable amount of money because of all the custom made software on it). Either way, you won't be able to hack anything in the meantime. Yes, this would've made the game too complicated for some simple minded people, but all the more fun for many of them. Consider the adrenalin rush, when you are escaping from a gang fight, you already used your phone many times to steal some data or something, and the trace is getting dangerously close but you need the phone to hack bollards and whatnot. Do you log off and try to escape the offline-peasant way, or keep using it and run the risk of the police joining the chase and losing your phone altogether. Things like that...
