Ingress Basics, Resources (Part 3)

In the last post, I discussed how to hack portals in order to gain resources. We also looked at the consequences of hacking enemy portals (in short, it hurts). So, lets look at how we can look after our friendly portals so we can hold onto them and make them more productive.

Basic pro-portal resources are:

• Keys
• Resonators

In this episode we'll look at these. In the next episode we'll look at more advanced defensive options such as the new portal mods that only just (as of June 2013) coming on-line.

Keys

We touched on keys in the first post in the basics of Ingress. Basically, they are used to link portals together to form triangular fields.

I'm not sure keys quite fit my two category model for resources. However, I would justify it by saying that they allow you to create links and fields which contribute to the defence of the portal, hence they are pro-portal.

The number of links terminating at a portal contribute to the defensive strength of that portal.

Additionally, having a key in your inventory allows you to remotely recharge that portal. This has two benefits:

Remote recharge keeps the portal strong

and in your possession (hopefully)

You can remotely defend your portal from attack

This is a bit hit or miss given the refresh rate of the app. However, you can make yourself feel a bit better knowing that you are causing the attacker to waste more resources in taking your portal!

Tip: Don't attempt to recharge a portal under attack straight away, you'll run out of XM trying to recharge all resonators. If you wait until there are only a couple of res left and time it right you can keep the levels up to a sufficient level that the attacker may run out of XM and/or patience and/or XMP.

So, try to retain at least one key per portal so that you can tend to your portals remotely.

I would recommend that you get into the habit of doing a remote recharge on your friendly portals at least once a day. A fully charged portal is a strong portal (and a more generous one when hacking but I can't confirm this).

Resonators

Resonators are probably the first resource you will come into contact with. They come in 8 level-based flavours (in a similar way to player level).

These are used to power up portals and to claim them for your faction.

The most basic configuration to fully power up a portal is eight Level 1 resonators. If you are lucky enough to find an un-guarded portal in the early days of your playing of the game this will have been the configuration that you deployed.

In a nutshell…

Powered up portals dispense resources. Higher level portals dispense higher level items.

The deployment of resonators can have an impact on how much resources it will produce and how resistant it is to attack. There are deployment techniques that can assist. So, the following section contains...

Resonator Deployment Considerations

Position

You should be aware of where you are when you deploy resonators to make it more difficult for an attacker to mount a successful raid.

Simply put, spread the resonators as far apart as possible.

You achieve this by deploying resonators when the portal is sitting at the very edge of your circle of influence (the green circle surrounding your cursor in the scanner app).

WHY? Resonators placed together are susceptible to concentrated burster damage.

It can take a bit of doing to get the scanner to give you a stable enough position to achieve the perfect spread of resonators but it should be your goal.

Resonator level

While not so important at lower levels (cause you have little choice), the level of resonator that you deploy is a consideration as you gain higher level status.

Firstly, as with other level based items, you can only utilise resonators that are of a level equal to or below your current level. This obviously influences what configuration of portal you can deploy.

In addition, you can only deploy a limited number of each level of resonator on a single portal. For example, there is a limit of 4 level four res per player per portal.

EIGHT L1
FOUR L2
FOUR L3
FOUR L4
TWO L5
TWO L6
ONE L7
ONE L8

This is part of Niantic's strategy to encourage co-operative play, you cannot raise a portal to the highest level (or indeed above level 5) without the assistance of other players.

There's a nifty calculator that can be used to work out what combinations of player level and player numbers are needed to give portals of a given level.

So, be aware of the what resonators are needed to deploy the highest level portal possible for your current level.

Don't mash the 'deploy' button

The easiest way to fully power up a portal is to hold down on the portal in the scanner, slide right and select 'Deploy'. You can repeat this action eight times in a short space of time but I would advise not to in most cases.

What will happen is that the system will deploy the resonators in turn from the lowest level to the highest given your current inventory. So, for example, it'll lay down 4 1's, 4 2's, and 4 3's if you have them in your stash.

The problem with this approach is that 9 times out of 10 you are not interested in deploying low level resonators and will only 'overwrite' them with higher level (see below).

Therefore, avoid deploying the low level stuff in the first place.

WHY?  Because it wastes your lower level inventory leaving you forced to deploy higher level resonators when you might not want to. Indeed, you might find yourself unable to fully deploy a portal because you have insufficient resonators to make up 8.

This is particularly true for middle level players who do not yet have access to the full range of inventory.

Selectively deploy resonators

So what can you do to avoid this situation? The solution is to selectively deploy your resonators. It is slightly more time consuming but it gives greater degree of control.

From the scanner, select an in-range portal. In the Portal details page, select Upgrade Portal and you will be shown a representation of all eight resonators on a wheel.

You can dial in any of the resonators then select the level of resonator you wish to deploy.

Think about what level of portal you wish to deploy and only use the resonators necessary.

Be smart when upgrading

Resonators can be upgraded. You can upgrade your own resonators (within the restrictions outlined above) or those deployed by other players. By upgrading resonators deployed by others a portal can be raised to a higher level.

Upgrading a resonator is done in the same way as the deployment method outlined above.

A rule of thumb when upgrading… 

When you have multiple resonators to choose from always upgrade the highest level first. This way you will free up a space in your allowance which will enable you to upgrade another resonator to take its place.

For example, you upgrade a level 5 resonator to level 6. You will now be able to upgrade a 4 to 5, and so on.

This tip is getting a bit picky and if you have ample inventory then feel free to ignore it. However, from my experience, if you find yourself with a meagre selection of resources you will want to maximise each deployment.

Conclusion

In this episode we have looked at basic pro-portal resources, keys and resonators. We now have our portals up and running so the next step is to protect them and make them work for us.

Ingress Basics, Resources (Part 2)

In the first episode of this series I began my discussion of resources in Ingress by talking generally about resources. I attempted to give a categorisation and I came up with the following:

Ingress game resources fall into two categories, pro and anti portal.

In the next episode I'll focus on pro-portal resources as they should be your starting point to build up your inventory and progress in the game. I'll then move on to talk about anti-portal items.

First of all though, a slight digression…

Where do resources come from?

Resources come from portals. You obtain resources from portals through the process of hacking. (OK, you can get resources from codes but I'm not going to dwell on that).

This is the first thing you do in the game tutorial so you will be familiar with this process.

However, there are some aspects of hacking that may not be immediately apparent when you first start playing the game.

Hacking Portals

Rules and Consequences

You can hack any portal once you are in range. You are in range when the portal sits within your circle of influence on the scanner.

You can hack a portal once every 5 minutes

In my experience this is a flexible rule. I have found that hitting the Hack button a second or third time often yields further items before the recharge period kicks in (though you have to be quick).

Further, with new mods (which we'll look at in a later episode), you can reduce this cycle time.

A portal can be hacked 4 times before it burns out

So a complete hack of a portal will take 20 minutes. Again, this is not strictly true given the new portal mods that are coming online but this is the base rule.

A burnt out portal will take 4 hours to recharge

I think that this one is a hard and fast rule.

Higher level portals will provide better stuff

The level of a portal will determine generally the level of resources it will dispence. I say generally cause lower level portals can sometimes surprise you and give out higher level items. I think it also depends on your player level.

Enemy portals are less generous and will bite

Now we can talk about the consequences. Hacking a friendly portal has no cost (or at least a very low cost) in terms of XM. Enemy portals are not such an easy proposition.

Each hack of an enemy portal will cause a reaction. XM lightning will zap you and cause damage which will reduce your XM.

Also, the resources gained from hacking enemy portals are usually less than what would be gained from a friendly portal (although this is purely from my experience). Often you will get the dreaded 'Hack acquired no items' message.

Getting zapped… things to bear in mind…

Sometimes you don’t have much of a choice as to which portals you have to hack. In a city currently dominated by the opposition, you will have to get your supplies the hard way. So, what do you have to know to make the process easier (or at least less painful)?

Higher level portals will deliver a bigger shock

As a lower level player with a lower stock of XM, bear in mind that hacking a higher level enemy portal will cost you a considerable amount of XM.

Conclusion

So, putting aside the larger goal of gaining & holding territory for our faction, we need friendly portals as the easiest source of resources to continue the fight.

Remember, enemy portals are less generous and will bite so relying on them to maintain an inventory can become a real slog. Let's make things easier for ourselves, shall we? Once you have your friendly portal you want to do everything possible to hang on to it.

This is where our pro-portal resource items come in.

Ingress Basics, Resources (Part 1)

In the second of my series of posts on the basics of Ingress I want to focus on resources.

As in a lot of games, once you get up and running in Ingress you will soon realise that the gathering and management of resources is fundamental to success. When you're 'in the trenches' you will become more and more aware of how scarce some of the most essential items can be (at the least opportune moment in my experience).

The purpose of this guide is therefore to get you up to speed on what resources are, how to get them, and how to use them. My main aim would be to give you the info you need to maximise the return on all that walking you will be doing.

I apologise in advance if this is all a bit too basic for some. Essentially it is intended as a basic introduction but I hope that some of the information is of use to higher level players. In particular, I will try to keep the information about mods up to date as they are released and as we discover more about them.

Previous Posts:
Previously I posted about Linking and Fields.

What are resources?

When I talk about resources in Ingress I mean the items that are gathered, stored and used by the player.

There are several types of resource/items:

• Keys
• Resonators
• XMP Bursters
• Portal Mods: Shields, Power Cubes
• Virus weapons

In addition to the above, as of the beginning of June 2013, there are a number of new mods being released which are designed to enhance the defensive and linking properties of portals.

Portals, Anti or Pro?

To simplify things, I will divide the resources available into two categories:

• Portal Modifications (pro-portal resources)
• Weapons (anti-portal resources)

I'll use these categories as a reference point as I continue the discussion.

In the next episode in this series I'll begin by looking at how to get resources and pro-portal resources.

But first, how do you finance these resources?

XM - the 'currency' of Ingress

Before we get stuck in I thought I would mention XM (or Exotic Matter to give it its full title). Often new players don't realise the significance of XM but it is pretty fundamental to the whole sheebang. From hacking, to portal building, to portal destroying, XM is the 'currency' that must be used.

In a way, if we are talking about resources, then XM is the resource you must deal with first and foremost.

The XM Basics

XM is the sparkly neon white stuff that litters the playing field. You collect it as you walk if you have space in your XM inventory.

The XM inventory is shown as a power bar at the top of the scanner. As you carry out actions (such as hacking, deploying portal mods, or attacking) you will see the power bar deplete. Every action in Ingress has a cost in XM. Some actions are more expensive than others. In order to replenish your stocks of XM you must hoover more up (more walking, it keeps you fit).

Things to note about XM and its availability...

• XM will appear primarily around portals. You will find it elsewhere but in far smaller quantities. It is found in built up areas.
• After it has been harvested by a player the supply of XM will reappear after a period of time (20 minutes approx.)
• If other players are active in the area you will notice XM being depleted

By using XM as a currency the designers of Ingress have provided a pretty good mechanism by which players are limited in their actions in any one session. You will become aware of the consequences of your actions and the levels of XM available.

(XM can be stored in Power Cubes but we'll get to that)

XM costs are one of the ways in which the designers of the game provide balance. They periodically tinker with those costs so it pays to be aware of what the current 'exchange rate' is. For example, see this post which outlines the costs of firing weapons and deploying resonators.

Anyway, I hope this introduction has been useful and informative. Onwards to how to get resources.

Ingress Basics, Links and Fields

The Basics

What I wanted to do in this post was to give some information on one of the fundamental aspects of the game of Ingress, namely creating links and forming control fields.

This can be a confusing aspect of the game for new players, I certainly found it so when I started playing. You know that links and fields are important but you're not quite sure why and you’re not quite sure how to go about creating them.

So hopefully this guide will give some useful beginners tips as well as maybe some good info for more advanced players.

[Update, July 2016] This guide was written quite a while ago now. TBH I didn't think it would still be getting views but I'm glad it still appears to be helpful.

I'm aware that the information contained herein may be out of date. Any suggestions for improvements would be gratefully received.

What are links?

A link is a straight line formed between two friendly portals. So, fundamentally, you need to control both ends of the link.

The rules are that links must have clear line of sight. In other words, a link cannot cross another links (regardless of faction). This has implications for the layout of fields (see later) and the overall strategy of the game (see blocking links).

What are fields?

A field is a triangle formed by the creation of three links. When the last link is created a field is formed.

When I first started playing I thought that a control field was bounded by links and could be of any shape (I think this may be a common misapprehension). But no, triangles, triangles, triangles.

You will think in triangles and the most efficient way to lay them out for a given number of points. You will do it in your sleep eventually! :)

Here's an example...

Why create links?

The primary reason for creating links has been outlined above, to create fields.

However, links can be used for more strategic purposes, namely to block the activity of the opposition. Remember that links cannot cross other links. So, a link thrown over an area will prevent creation of links in that area.

This can be useful in stopping the creation of larger fields and to annoy the enemy.

Why create fields?

Why go to all the trouble?

Well, creating fields is lucrative in terms of Action Points (AP). AP is the stuff that levels you up so if you want to progress in the game you need the AP. Creating a control field gets you 1250 AP, by far the biggest return for a  single action in the game. Knocking down fields is also a good way of leveling but we'll get to that.

See http://goo.gl/5pBKH for more info on AP and levels.

It's the primary goal of the game

You will see a faction score at the top of the Intel screen. This is the number of Mind Units (MU) controlled by each faction. The number of Mind Units is determined by the area (and population) underneath control fields. So basically, fields you create will provide a number of MU to the total.

It's satisfying!

The first time you create a series of control fields, maximising the possible number of fields, you'll know what I mean.

Mmm...

How to link

I've got the key, I've got the secret

In a nutshell, in order to create a link to a portal you need the key to that portal. Keys are gained by hacking and are given out on an unpredictable basis.

To link a portal, stand at the source of the link and choose Link Portal from the portal  info screen. This will show you a list of keys that you have available. Choose the one you want and the system will tell you if the link is possible (see blocking links earlier). Hit Confirm and your link is created. 313 AP are yours.

Note well, the key used to create the link (i.e. the destination) is used up by this process.

So, what implications does this have? Keys are a precious resource especially for portals that are remote (i.e. you don’t hack them very often). Think about how you use then.

See this guide for more info on linking http://goo.gl/ec1NH

Build 'Em Up, How to create a field

Given what we have looked at up 'til now, creating a field is a straight-forward task. Create three links that form a triangle and you have a field. 1250 points to you.

There are some considerations though… mainly under the title of plan ahead.

Size does not matter

If you are looking to level up then your primary concern is getting AP. The quickest way to do that is to create as many fields as possible.

Note that you get 1250 points for creating a field. It does not matter if that field is the size of a city or covers a couple of streets, you get the same amount. So, look for areas that have a large number of portals in a small area. These will give you the biggest return for your resources and effort.

What if those portals do not belong to your faction. We'll get to that.

How many fields can you create?

When planning your field creation, if you have a collection of portals then you have a range of choices as to how you create the links and fields. Think about the order in which you are going to create the links before you venture out.

Watch out for blocking links, they are very frustrating when you block yourself (and you can't get rid of them).

Overlapping Fields

You can create smaller triangles within bigger triangles in a Russian doll stylee.  Create the inner fields first as fields cannot be created within a larger field.

Minimise your travelling

If you have all the keys you need then, as a minimum, you are going to have to visit two of the three portals in order to deploy the field. If you are on foot then this is a consideration because if you mess it up you're going to be getting a lot more exercise than you bargained for. It's also a big consideration when looking at the creation of big fields.

Big Fields

As stated before, the size of the field doesn't matter from an AP point of view. So why would you create a big field. The primary reason would be to get lots of MU for your faction. 

However, the other reason is to block game activity under the field. I said that a field can't be created within another field. If a field is created that spans a whole city (or region, or country) then the game is effectively shut down while the field is in place.

Why would you do this? Mainly cause it's fun and really winds up the opposition. It also requires planning, co-operation and seeing places you've not seen before. All of which are very much in the spirit of the game.

From a practical point of view, big fields require the following:

• The right keys, this might require a lot of travelling or the exchange of keys and the co-ordination of players to deploy links at the correct time.
• The leveling up of portals. The level of resonators on a portal determine how far a link it can throw. Depending on the distance, this might require several high level player to achieve.

See http://goo.gl/4CPCa for an example that nearly came off.

Knock 'em down

I said earlier that creating fields is the most effective way of getting AP. This is not strictly the case if you are in an area dominated by the opposition. In such as situation it can be hard to level up and you have to turn to guerrilla tactics.

Destroying a field yields 750 points (plus points for each link severed) so you can get a fairly cost effective return on your precious XMP bursters by mounting hit and run attacks on the portals that are the hub of many fields (as will occur in heavily populated areas).

Pick your target. Perhaps lie low for a while to let the portal degrade (and hope that no-one is recharging). Ensure you have the weapons to take it down quickly and completely (again to prevent a recharge). And then go for it. A heavily linked portal can yeild > 10K AP for a single attack so it's worth it.

Let's look at our example fields again. Which one should we attack if we had limited resources?

The selected portal has four fields associated with it so destroying it will yield 6285 AP.

Conclusion

I hope you've found this guide helpful. Please let me know if you think something is incorrect or you think something should be added. I'm grateful for all feedback.

Basic WPF - Binary Resources

Resources In WPF

The purpose of this post (and subsequent) is a write up of notes made for the exam I am (re)sitting in a few weeks time... Windows Application Development in .Net 4.0. I am trying to use the process of writing these posts as a way of ensuring that have the subjects straight in my head.

The outline for the next few days study is the basics of the WPF control structure. This will include the following:

• Resources;
• Styles;
• Templating.

All of which enable the WPF control structure which can be used to produce extremely flexible user interfaces.

Resource Types & Resource Handling

There are two types of resources used in WPF:

• Binary;
• Logical.

Binary resources are what developers would traditionally consider to be resources... images, files, etc. Chunks of binary that are required by the application at various times. 

Logical resources are chunks of XAML that define objects that can be reused around the application.

In WPF there is one system of handling/referencing resources regardless of whether they are binary or logical which I will describe after I have touched on the following... 

Binary Resources & Pack URI Syntax

Binary resource types...

The actual binary resource can be anything really, image, sound file, video, document, etc. However, as far as the WPF resource system is concerned there are two types of binary resource:

• Embedded/Compiled Resource files;
• Loose/Uncompiled Content files.

From MSDN:

Microsoft Windows applications often depend on files that contain non-executable data, such as Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML), images, video, and audio. Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) offers special support for configuring, identifying, and using these types of data files, which are called application data files. This support revolves around a specific set of application data file types, including:

Resource Files: Data files that are compiled into either an executable or library WPF assembly.

Content Files: Standalone data files that have an explicit association with an executable WPF assembly.

Site of Origin Files: Standalone data files that have no association with an executable WPF assembly.

One important distinction to make between these three types of files is that resource files and content files are known at build time; an assembly has explicit knowledge of them. For site of origin files, however, an assembly may have no knowledge of them at all, or implicit knowledge through a pack uniform resource identifier (URI) reference; the case of the latter, there is no guarantee that the referenced site of origin file actually exists.

The choice between Resource and Content...

The choice between Resource and Content would be a case of how often a resource file is likely to change. If infrequently, then it should be included as a compiled resource. If more frequently, then it should be included as a loose content file which would allow it to be updated without the need to recompile the assembly.

On the flip side, the only way to absolutely guarantee that a resource will be available to an application at runtime is to compile it into the assembly (or referenced assembly).

Referencing a binary resource file...

Resources are referenced using the Pack URI scheme.

From MSDN:

The scheme that is specified by a URI is defined by its prefix; http, ftp, and file are well-known examples. The pack URI scheme uses "pack" as its scheme, and contains two components: authority and path.

The following is the format for a pack URI.

pack://authority/path 

The authority specifies the type of package that a part is contained by, while the path specifies the location of a part within a package.

This concept is illustrated by the following figure:

Packages and parts are analogous to applications and files, where an application (package) can include one or more files (parts)...

To access these types of files, WPF supports two authorities: application:/// and siteoforigin:///.

The application:/// authority identifies application data files that are known at compile time, including resource and content files. The siteoforigin:/// authority identifies site of origin files. The scope of each authority is shown in the following figure.

Application resources are available in the immediate assembly or a referenced assembly.

The syntax for a resource available in the immediate assembly is as follows:

pack://application:,,,/Subfolder/ResourceFile.blah

If the resource resides in a referenced assembly then the assembly name is added, as follows:

pack://application:,,,/ReferencedAssembly;component/Subfolder/ResourceFile.blah

Note the use of the ';component/' between the assembly name and the path. Also, notice that the authority path is followed by three commas instead of forward slashes.

Next, Logical Resources...

References:

WPF Application Resource, Content, and Data Files: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa970494.aspx

Pack URI Syntax: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa970069.aspx

Hello World

Hello World


This is the first post from my new blog thing.

My plan is to use this space primarily to make notes during study (WPF, WCF, MVC, other development acronyms). However, I will also use it as a compendium of knowledge relevant to my work as well as other stuff I find interesting.

I hope that others may find something useful here.

What is a CommonPlace?

From Wikipedia...

Commonplace books (or commonplaces) were a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books.