Are you seriously suggesting that you can write intrusion programs on the scale of the combat round?
It takes weeks, perhaps months, to write the code necessary to crack systems.
You use your computer skill to write the program, which can be given an intrusion rating based on TL, computer skill and task outcome. This is then pitted against the security rating of the system you are trying to affect.
By all means personalise the programs and fight it out in some avatar like projection, but writing code takes time, and lots of it.
no, I was not.
I separate 'writing your own code in downtime' from 'combat/fast action rounds
hacking' - which is generally described more in terms of 'physical hacks' as opposed to 'movie grade handwavium'. as in, pulling open access points, drilling locking mechanisms, etc.
If you spend a lot of credits on a door and lock, you probably shouldn't mount it in drywall, but a lot of places IRL actually
do.
bearing in mind the nature of 'roleplaying games', particularly, their being a method of telling an entertaining story with good pacing and an engaging plot for
all the players, you have to allow for some tropes to flourish.
if your player
wants to be a cybered-up hacker, you can let that happen.
I like to make sure my hard-core criminal PCs have a balanced mix of the right skills. if they don't to start with, I write in the deficits as plot devices to push them towards the 'advanced version' of the character.
a brilliant coder can only do so much. likewise a great locksmith. the two, working together, after a couple near misses on an early caper, can probably build one if those cool black boxes, while in jumpspace.
So, again, It's all well and good to throw stones at what you see as 'bad' in someone else's game.
how do you run it?
or, are you just here to tell us how lousy Traveller is? I'm not starting a fight, but I'm feeling a bit disrespected by your perceived tone. I get that certain tropes are BS compared to 'how the real world works' {we could spend
hours deconstructing gunfight rules, my friend,
hours.}
I run a weekly game. have for decades. it works pretty ok, but I always look to improve my craft. suggestions? I'm open to them.