Talk:Science

I've made a bunch of changes. Let me know what you think. Lnmaurer 02:41, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

It doesn't say the purpose of hacking the terminals. Or a link to terminal article. What do terminals do?

Psychological approach
It doesn't work with the "psychologal" approach. The keyword you crack in the mini-game is random (different every time) and not the password you would get otherwise through the game. Section removed:
 * Often times the password is a word that makes sense for the area (person who owns the computer etc.) at hand. Many have noted synonyms (or close too) in the mini game (eg killer murder. One of these synonyms is often the password. The first and most obvious example of this is that the vault leaders password is his daughters name. The typically second is that the bar owner in megaton also has a character appropriate password. This trend continues through the game...


 * --Mirar 16:36, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Terminal Text Color?
I came across a Very Hard terminal in Wheaton Armory with white text instead of Matrix green. Does anyone know if it has any significance? Is it just to emphasize the difficulty? (I'll encrypt you so hard, you'll be color-blind!)

--Oddrune 20:34, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

"Very Easy" actually the hardest?
When hacking a Very Easy computer, it seems to be much harder than a "Very Hard" computer, because there is room for so many more words, since they are so short. Or this is how I remember it. However, it may be that the primary factor for the number of words is your level of Science, so if you're just barely meeting the requirements for hacking, then "Very Easy" will be a true challenge, even utilizing some of the refined techniques. And thus, no matter what, when hacking a "harder" computer, your science skill must be higher than 25, so there will be less words (if there were that many words, but 7-letters long, they couldn't all fit back-to-back anyway). This is worth mentioning, anyway, since the "learning curve" for your character in hacking is downhill, as opposed to lockpicking, which is clearly an uphill battle. NightChime 07:14, 27 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Except it's a lot easier to deduce a 4 letter word then it is a 12 letter one. DragonJTS 22:13, 27 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Actually, the number of words gets fewer and fewer with increased skill. It seems like the length of the word is decided by the level of the terminal, and the number of words is decided by your skill. Five 5-letter words are easier than 5 12-letter words. :) And you can't crack 21 12-letter words, since you don't have skill enough to even start... Mirar 22:17, 27 November 2008 (UTC)


 * This is true. With 100 Science skill, I've noticed that all terminals have just 5 words, no matter if they're 5 letters or 12. --DarkJeff 21:24, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Terminal Article
We need an article that talks about terminals, how they can be boobytrapped with that wierd windmill thing, and how to disarm them by having >45 explosives level. 74.216.66.215 23:11, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Also, we should have the locations of all known HACKABLE terminals. vaultman 20:57, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

I agree. I created a page about terminals: Terminal. Feel free to add to the list (and the stuff I haven't written about, I'm going to sleep now).
 * -- Mirar 22:50, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Science skill of 76-99
Is utterly worthless unless you plan to bring it up to 100 or have some specialty items that can get it to 100, right? I mean -- it gives you no benefits that you wouldn't get with a skill of 75. --TheSpoon 03:33, 2 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The same could be said of having 51-74 skill in Science. Unless you're planning on having the ability to hack a hard terminal later on, and opening up that option to yourself, then that amount of skill is worthless. Though a 25 skill point jump isn't really hard to achieve provided you find some books and have an average intelligence. As for getting your skill to 100, there are actually quite a few things you miss out on not having it that high. Same can be said of lockpicking.--Sigan 16:23, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Just a tip for easier computer hacking.
I've found that 9 times out of 10, selecting the first password on the list usually ends up being the exact match. Other times, the first one on the list ends up having the most correct characters to the actual password. Just a tip.

 λ T 00:02, 10 May 2009 (UTC)


 * It's random. Although I my self always use the first word, it is simply method without reason. Just pick any word and it will have that 1 in whatever chance to be the right one right off the bat. But I have run into a few 0 result passwords, but those can be pretty helpful in their own right. And, Hacking is much easier than Lock Picking. ZanderArch 16:46, 23 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I do the same thing - that is using the first word in the list. This is only because it's the fastest way to find out what letters to be looking for. For instance, if the end of the word is "TION" and you have 1 letter right, then you know you're looking for a word that does not have "TION" at the end of it. You come into the hacking mini-game knowing nothing about what the password is, so guessing a random word is the only way to get your first hint. In a way, your first choice is always a sacrifice in order to find the correct word. And I would also say that "9 times out of 10" the first one is correct is a little misleading. With a 100 hacking skill on a very easy terminal, this is possible as the number of possibilities is severly lowered due to your high skill and low difficulty. When you have a harder terminal though, or lower skill - like just enough skill to hack the terminal - your odds for finding the correct word the first time drop dramatically. --Sigan 16:19, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

dialogue options
there should be a list of opend up dialogue options relating to the science skill on this page.--wouter215 84.81.166.182 15:12, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

--Headgear--

Is there any headgear that ups science?

thinkcap Science 40,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

In the quest THOSE page it is said that with 70 in sciences you have dialogue option with doc Lesko and on this page it said 60....what is the real requirement or is it option with 60 and some 70...it has to be verified.

Science Content for Fallout 1, 2, & Tactics
There needs to be more information on the science skill in this section for the original Fallout games. Just having the derivative formula doesn't say anything, to an average player. There should be information on how it is used, what it affects, and the different instances where science is used in an encounter. Gamefreak1346 21:26, March 25, 2011 (UTC)

I seam to recall one use of the science skill in Fallout 1 involving the Master's layer, or Mariposa, though more often than not interacting with the physical world requires repair and not science. But because I've encountered so few science challenges in the first three games I wouldn't even know where to look... Aryeonos 21:33, 20 April 2012 (UTC)