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Written by Reiko

Adam's Journal #3: "I got to meet Forest Heart! But it's so sad, she's a huge tree, but she's dying! And I have to find her sprout so the village will still be protected when she's gone. She had one, but it didn't survive, so there has to be another one somewhere. Maybe the villagers can help me?"

Last time, I finally found the Forest Heart and received the main quest to find a sprout of hers to replace her when she's gone. She gave Adam a special branch, some seed pods, and a bark cup, which should be useful for making progress in the village. So I head back along the path.

To my surprise, I find the village occupied again when I get back. Where was everyone before? Several groups of people sit busily doing things around the big hut. A potter worriedly tends her crying baby. An older man with a painted face talks with a younger one. A storyteller tells a story to some children. A couple more people lie in hammocks, resting.

Aww, poor baby.

One problem at a time. That doesn't work for me, though.

I go around and talk to everyone. The potter [1] is worried because a bee stung her baby, who's in pain [1], and she doesn't want to bother the shaman for a poultice. The older man [1] thinks the younger, Llusti, should apologize to someone he quarreled with, named Churana. They've got a machete that looks useful, but the older man won't let me take it (until I help with the quarrel, presumably). The storyteller is too busy telling the story to talk. I now have two people to look for, though: the shaman and the person that the young man quarreled with.

On the next screen, three old women are angrily staring at a cooking pot. A weaver is sitting by her cloth, looking upset. An unhappy woman sits by the garden. And two hunters sort through arrows, periodically talking to the gardener.

Did you break your tools?

I talk to each of the women by the pot [3], and they each agree that they are waiting on some lazy woman (they don't name her) to bring some roots so they can make a drink. The weaver [1] is upset because Llusti is upset with her, so she must be Churana. The gardener [1] says others call her Lazy Sumac, so she's probably the one who needs to get the roots, but she can't work because her tools are broken. And the hunters are too busy to talk.

Well, that's certainly a lot of problems to solve. I need to get Llusti to apologize to Churana so she can weave; I need to get Sumac new tools so she can get the roots for the old women; and I need to get the poultice from the shaman for the baby. I also notice that there are now more things to scan on these screens, so I go back over both of them and find five more things: Pottery, Body Painting, Iguana, Masato, Hunting [5].

Finally a problem I can solve.

I'm not sure what to do about those problems yet, so I move on to the third village screen, the one with the vine and the small hut. A boy is sadly hanging on the vine and a man is working on the thatch of the hut's roof. The boy [1] says that everyone is angry with him because he lost a drum. Well, that at least I can solve. I give him the drum I found [5], and he happily runs off to practice.

Maybe you're really the shaman? And what's a Sky Sapphire anyway?

Oh, maybe it's this butterfly.

The man by the thatch babbles a bit about the shaman being busy sometimes. I'm kind of wondering if he's actually the shaman and doesn't want to help me, but anyway, he suggests I need to get a "Sky Sapphire" in order to see the shaman. He also names the potter as Musqui and suggests she shouldn't be afraid to come see the shaman for a poultice (so the shaman will help people that are sick, at least). Maybe I can help her, though - he says the shaman often visits Forest Heart when he needs to make a poultice. Maybe one of the gifts I received will help the baby.

I also swing back across the stream and check the bushes again. This time I can pick some berries [5]. I also find something shiny - a necklace with a dolphin's tooth on it [5]. Time to go around and see if any of my items can help anyone, or if anyone can tell me what a Sky Sapphire is. The boy, Taquia, is now playing the drums. Apparently he will be shaman someday. He says Sinchi makes him practice, but won't say who that is (maybe the shaman?). I show the necklace first to the gardener, who says it's a love charm the shaman made. Maybe that would help Churana with Llusti?

She already has a baby, so obviously she doesn't need it now.

When I show it to Churana, she says it would, but it belongs to her sister, so she can't use it without permission. Who could her sister be? Maybe the potter? Yep, how convenient. I show it to her [5], and she says those bushes were where the baby was stung, and when that happened, she ran away, dropping the necklace. But she has no need of a love charm, so Churana can use it.

You're going to give your priceless family heirloom to a random outsider you never met before today?

When I give it to Churana [5], she gratefully gives me a necklace she received from her mother with a tiny pattern carved on it. Now she goes back to her weaving, content. I then show the bark cup to the gardener [1] who says I'm special for being able to borrow the shaman's medicine cup. Of course, I got it from Forest Heart, not from the shaman. She has something to say about all my other new items, too, but can't use any of them. The berries aren't for food, so she doesn't grow them, and she doesn't know how to grow the special seed pods either, but she says the shaman uses them.

The old women [1] say I need to return the medicine cup to the shaman. They get a little alarmed when I show them the berries and the seed pods, as they aren't food and shouldn't go in the drink they're trying to make. Churana also recognizes the medicine cup [1] but doesn't tell me anything new.

Who is the shaman?

Now that I've helped Churana, the older man has also managed to reason with Llusti, who is gone when I get back to the first screen. Now the older man will graciously allow me to take the machete when I reach for it [5]. I don't actually know what I need it for yet. He also refuses the medicine cup [1], of course, saying I need to return it to the shaman. Adam asks who the shaman is, and he says it's hard to say, because he is someone of the tribe and yet apart from it.

The weaver says the medicine cup [1] is what the shaman has used to mix poultices for her baby. She stops me when I try giving the berries or the seed pods to the baby, saying they aren't for food. But she says the seed pods smell like the poultice she needs, except they're too rough for the baby's skin. Surely there will be a way to crush them up or something to make the poultice.

Are you sure you aren't the shaman?

I still don't know what a sky sapphire is, although I suspect it's the bright blue butterfly that has been flitting around the hut screens, inviting me to catch it. It can also be scanned to reveal that it's a Morpho Butterfly [1]. I don't know how to catch it though, and the ecorder information is no help with this either, so I go back and talk to the thatcher again. When I show him the medicine cup [1] he says I should hold onto it for now, but he will tell the shaman. He also names himself as Sinchi, so he's the one that's been teaching the boy. All the more reason why he could be the shaman himself. When I show him the seed pods, he says he doesn't know why Sumac can't grow them, but they're useful for poultices, and I should put them on the bench next to him, which I do [1].

At this point I'm at a bit of a loss. I've helped Churana, but I'm not sure where the shaman is, I don't know what to do with his cup (I was going to put it on the bench, but Sinchi says the shaman was going to fill it, and I could do him a favor by holding onto it - but fill it with what?), I don't know how to make the poultice for the baby, and I don't know how to catch the butterfly.

I did notice that bugs seemed to be attracted to the liquid in the cookpot that the three old women are tending. I think I need to get some so that the butterfly will land somewhere so I can catch it. But the only container I have is the bark cup, and I can't use that on the pot. Also, if I try to get the butterfly on the first screen, I get a message saying it won't stay anywhere long enough, but if I try to get it on the second screen, the message says that grabbing it would damage it. That seems to suggest I need to catch it without touching it, like with a net or cage. But I have nothing like that either. None of the other pots or visible containers around the village can be picked up or manipulated.

Sumac's not lazy, just underequipped.

Wait a second. Sumac needs a tool, and I now have a machete. I thought I'd already tried that, but nope, the machete is exactly what she needs [5]. She gives me the roots for the old women (and warns me that they're poison unless prepared correctly). I pass them on to the old women [5], who add them to the pot to make their drink. No apology to Sumac, though. They say I need a cup and then they'll give me some, but I still only have the bark cup and it still isn't working on the cookpot. There's an empty pot sitting around on the waterfall screen, but I can't pick it up: I'm just told it's empty when I try. Why can't I use that?

The old woman's response to finding bugs in the drink. Yuck.

Any suggestions (ROT-13) for what container I need for the drink or what else I need to do to catch the butterfly would be helpful. I have apparently missed something somehow.

Score: 347/1000
Scanned items: 42/82
Inventory: passport, Ecorder, Forest Heart amulet, leaf with sticky sap, branch, bark cup, carved necklace, berries

Session Time: 2 hour 15 min
Total Time: 5 hour 30 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

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There's little that's more cringy than people actually saying, "hip-hip-hooray."

Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed

United States
Strategic Simulations, Inc.

Released 1992 for DOS

Date Started: 1 August 2020

Date Ended: 29 August 2020

Total Hours: 32

Difficulty: Moderate-Hard (3.5/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

Summary:
Matrix Cubed is a sequel to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (1990). Both games are based on the Buck Rogers XXVC tabletop roleplaying game and use the "Gold Box" engine originally designed for Dungeons and Dragons games, which blends first-person exploration and axonometric, turn-based, tactical combat. The "exploration" half of the Gold Box engine was showing its age by 1992, with limited graphics and map configurations, and the combat portion is less interesting in a game that doesn't have magic. Matrix Cubed feels more rushed than Countdown, with a shorter, more linear plot and without Countdown's side-missions. Space combat is completely optional, the characters don't seem to grow very much, there's little purpose to the economy. It has some positive points, particularly at the beginning, but overall it feels like a superfluous game.

*****

How sad to see a franchise fail. Buck Rogers had a good run, from 1928 to . . . well, roughly this game. Attempts to revive the character over the last quarter-century have been mostly embarrassing, its copyright holder is in shambles, and the character seems destined to enter the public domain, if he hasn't already. The problem is a lack of interest even in a free version of the character. If you're going to make a fish-out-of-time story, why not just call the character "Chet Bolingbroke"? (I demand only 8% of the gross.) Other than being a swaggering American war hero, Buck Rogers isn't much of anything. Either is his setting. It has been updated and revised so often that besides Wilma Deering and a couple other named characters, there's barely enough information to inform a franchise. In my account, did anyone honestly find NEO, RAM, and PURGE that compelling?

Therein lies the problem with both Matrix and Countdown. The only thing interesting about Buck Rogers is Buck Rogers himself--the man out of time--and you don't get to play him. At best, you get to meet him a few times, and those moments aren't interesting enough to carry a franchise. Contrast this with Star Trek or Star Wars or most other franchises, where the settings themselves are compelling enough that you'd be happy to play a group of unknown soldiers who only occasionally meet the famous heroes.

A rare space combat.

My last session began with a mission to find a RAM spy on NEO's Fortuna Base, which is on an asteroid. As usual, it was difficult to find a particular asteroid amidst the constantly-rotating ring. I fought a few space battles against RAM cruisers so that I could afford to re-fuel as I searched for Fortuna. Space battles are otherwise a completely superfluous part of the game, which makes it all the more ridiculous that they have a separate economy.

When I finally found it, Fortuna Base was five small levels. As usual, the developers stretched things out by requiring the party to circle the area multiple times, first collecting a variety of passes and other items needed to access the full base, the second time clearing out attacking RAM forces. The spy turned out to be someone named Zachary Cebert, which we discovered too late to be of any good, since the overwhelming RAM invasion force forced us to evacuate and destroy the base.

Setting the base to explode.

Back at Salvation base, we learned that the Stormrider scientist we freed from PURGE, Dr. Makali, had already abandoned the project to help her people with some kind of revolution. The whole issue with the Stormriders was introduced very late in the game. From what I could gather from the materials, a group of humans established a colony on Jupiter's moon Amalthea, and from there created a race of genetically-modified creatures called Stormriders, which look like muscular humans with fish heads. The Stormriders live in "spherical cities that float above the high-pressure atmosphere" of Jupiter. The Amaltheans expect the Stormriders to serve as slaves for 100,000 years "in repayment" for their creation, but the Stormriders are naturally a bit unhappy about that, and the two sides are functionally at war.

Since we had unwisely decided to locate the Matrix project in Jupiter's orbit, the worsening tensions between the two societies were threatening the project. (It occurs to me as I type this that I'm explaining things far more eloquently than the game does.) My team had to head for Jupiter, but without a ship with enough fuel to get us there, we had to take a long route by sailing to a "fungus asteroid" near Juno, then transferring to a living ship operated by the Stormriders.

A ship--a living ship--full of strange alien life forms.

Despite some nice graphics, the "living ship" was never very well explained. As it approached the asteroid, it was clear that something was wrong. It eventually swallowed the asteroid with us on it, and we found ourselves in its guts.

It turned out the ship had been invaded by pirates. We had to run around the ship's six levels fighting them, freeing Stormriders, and fixing things. I have to be honest--I had largely checked out by this point, but I feel that the situation would have been confusing even if I hadn't. There were multiple places where it appeared I could facilitate some kind of truce between the pirates and Stormriders, but although I passed some of these encounters, it never seemed to affect anything. Similarly, there were numerous places where I found the ship wounded, or some of its equipment damaged, and had to pass a medical or technological skill check. Sometimes I passed, sometimes I failed, but I have no idea what the net result was.

This went nowhere.

All I know is that I kept circling the ship, and eventually I had killed all the pirates. By now, my party was relying on explosive weapons (rocket launchers, plasma launchers, grenade launchers) almost exclusively, but I never got to the point where I could just ALT-Q the combats and put them under computer control. This is because you not only have to win the combats, but do so in a good enough state that the doctor in the party can heal the damage afterwards. This means the doctor can't get knocked unconscious himself, and it's best if none of the other characters do, either.

After we were victorious, the Stormriders took us to one of their cities, and we met Dr. Makali. This was the last place we could train and restock ammo for our weapons. My characters were Level 8 when we started the game, and they ended at Level 11 or 12, which isn't a lot of development. My warrior only got to pick one new weapon specialization during the game, and my characters could only learn 4 new skills.

On my last level-up, I could choose a new weapon.

Dr. Makali refused to return to the Matrix Device project because the Amaltheans were planning to attack the Stormrider colony. Naturally, they attacked shortly after we arrived. We had to run around the map (a single-level 16 x 16), defeating parties of Amaltheans, defusing bombs, rescuing hostages, and putting out fires.

A typical encounter in this section of the game.

When the invasion was over, the Stormriders revealed a plan to end the Amalthean threat by releasing genetically-modified "wasphoppers" into the Genetics Foundation headquarters where the Stormriders had been created. We volunteered for the mission and were successful.

"Success."

With the Amalthean threat handled, Dr. Makali agreed to help finish the Matrix Device. We sailed with her to a "mining rig" in Jupiter's atmosphere, where Leander was overseeing the final touches for the project.

The mining rig map was the last map (except for a small shuttle). It wasn't even a full 16 x 16, but it was annoying as hell. We had multiple rounds of RAM forces arriving in the living ship (there was no information about how they had managed to commandeer it) and rappelling to the mining rig's platforms. Each round involved one battle on the platforms and then a search of the rest of the rig for additional RAM forces to clean up. Sometimes it was human troops, sometimes robots, sometimes gennies. At one point, we were overwhelmed (this was scripted) and had to retreat to a shuttle, from which we flooded the rig with efanite and lit it to burn out an infestation of gennies.

A typical enemy contingent on the rig's platform.

Dr. Makali suggested that one of the party members fly with her by jetpack to the living ship and free it from RAM control. Despite choosing a character with a skill level of 142 in "Use Jetpack," the attempt failed and, I guess as punishment, we had to fight a few more rounds of invading RAM forces.

Finally, we seemed to drive them away. But there was an explosion and the rig started sinking into the atmosphere. The only thing that would save it was the Matrix Device itself, which for some reason needed to be flown through Jupiter's high-pressure atmosphere at high speeds. My pilot had to do this, and I guess the game made a skill check for "Pilot Fixed Wing," a skill that was never needed before because there were no such aircraft in the game before (or the previous game). Fortunately, I'd been putting some skill points into all the pilot skills, and Starbuck must have passed. Reviews of the time are filled with stories of people who didn't, and at this point in the game had no recourse if they had failed to invest in that skill.

I guess this means we passed the skill check.

We had to endure one last attack by Sid Refuge (I have accidentally typed "Sid Vicious" at least half a dozen times), even though it made no sense that he was there. The battle involved two back-to-back combats with no resting in between, but neither was particularly difficult using our "blow the living hell out of everything with rocket launchers" strategy.

I admire his spunk, but fighting him is like flogging a dead horse.

When we had defeated Refuge for like the fifth time, his cyborg skeleton crawled into the crucible of the Matrix Device. We locked him in there and used him as the necessary matter to fuel the device, which I admit was a fun turn of events and a genius solution to the problem, akin to Doc and Marty solving their problems by cramming Biff into the "Mr. Fusion" reactor. The rig got the power it needed to return to a stable part of the atmosphere.

The Living Ship appeared for what seemed like another attack, but the soldiers descending from it were NEO rather than RAM. No word on how NEO managed to take over the Living Ship from RAM in such a short time, nor indeed how they managed to get here at all when we had to go through a big rigmarole. In any event, two of the soldiers were Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering. When they found that the Matrix Device was working, Buck demanded "three cheers for these heroes!" I cringed as the assembled NPCs literally shouted, "hip-hip-hooray!" three times before the game dumped us unceremoniously to the DOS prompt. That hasn't happened in so long that it was literally startling.

Part of the short denouement.

In a GIMLET, I give Matrix Cubed:

4 points for the game world. I feel like I'm being generous. I couldn't have cared less about it, but I can't say it didn't have original elements or make the party's place clear. Too many of the story turns were just arbitrary, though.

3 points for character creation and development. It gets most of this for creation. The system of races and classes and skills isn't terrible, but the amount of development you get in the sequel is minimal. The number of skills should have been cut in half (at least) and made more meaningful.

This guy feels like he should have been able to fly a jetpack.

3 points for NPC interaction. There are some NPCs; you get journal entries from some of them.

4 points for encounters and foes. Humans were just humans; "gennies" just re-skinned Dungeons and Dragons monsters without even an interesting set of attacks and defenses. There were some decent non-combat encounters involving the use of skills or even a role-playing choice here and there.

4 points for combat. An engine designed with magic in mind just didn't transition well to science fiction battles. I was mostly bored with combat, which is something that I never thought I'd say about the Gold Box. I want to give it extra credit for the space combat, but it isn't any more interesting.

The robot enemies were generally the most difficult in the game.

3 points for equipment. The problem is that everything is standard. There's no place in this setting for unique artifact weapons and armor. Meanwhile, a few types of grenades don't make up for all of the potions, wands, scrolls, rings, and wearables that you'd find in a fantasy RPG. The developers had no imagination here.

2 points for the economy. It was useful for restocking ammunition.

3 points for quests. The game had one main quest, mostly linear, with no choices or alternate outcomes. It mostly lacked the side-quests and side-areas that Countdown offered, with a few small exceptions.

5 points for graphics, sound, and interface. The best part of the game was the engine, which still works as smooth as butter. Both regular and cut scene graphics were nice. I could take or leave the sound.

Sid Refuge's appearance was narratively senseless but graphically okay.

3 points for gameplay. Matrix is far more linear than its predecessor. It's a bit too hard in some places, and it has no real replayability. The best I can say is that its length was right for its content.

That gives us a final score of 34, a dozen points lower than Countdown, and the first time that a Gold Box game has fallen below the "recommended" threshold. It mirrors how I feel, though. I tried to be positive about the game, even thinking that it might be good during my second or third session. But it just collapsed into a nonsensical narrative with boring mechanics.

If I knew nothing about the game, this cover would make me think that you play as Buck Rogers.

I knew Scorpia would be with me on this, and she was. In the May 1992 Computer Gaming World, she levies particular criticism at the way the game handled skill checks (the "Pilot Fixed Wing" issue getting a couple of paragraphs to itself), the uselessness of space combat, and the scripted moments when the party has no equipment. She had to do the same thing I did and lower the difficulty meter. She also found the final sequence repetitious and nonsensical. But her worst invective is reserved for the "three cheers" followed by the DOS prompt, which she compares to the end of Eye of the Beholder.

It was reading Scorpia's review that I was reminded that the whole business with the Sun King and his counselor De Sade never had any resolution, nor did the Mercurians attacking us on Venus. It's a measure of the game that such things happen and the player just shrugs them off.

Our opinions aren't universal, though. The editors of Dragon (June 1992) quite liked it, with a 4/5 star rating praising its character development, story, and combat system. I've had commenters tell me that it was better than Countdown, and I see passionate defenders of both games all over the Internet.

In my first entry on Matrix Cubed, I called it a "corporate game." The story that I've heard--without a lot of primary source references, you understand, so don't take this as gospel--is that Lorraine Williams forced SSI to make the Buck Rogers games as a condition of their Dungeons and Dragons license. (As we've covered, the source of Williams's fortune was the rights to Buck Rogers, which she inherited from her grandfather, and by in 1985, Williams gained a controlling share of TSR, owners of Dungeons and Dragons.) This strategy wasn't just to make a few bucks off the games. Rather, Williams hoped that a few successful Buck Rogers games might re-ignite interest in a film or television series, the last attempt having fizzled in 1981 after two low-rated seasons. Unfortunately for Williams and the Dille Family Trust, the two SSI games failed to serve as kindling for anything more significant.

Matrix Cubed isn't technically the last Buck Rogers creation. In 1995, TSR tried again by creating something called High-Adventure Cliffhangers: Buck Rogers Adventure Game, a tabletop RPG that returned Buck Rogers to his original earthbound setting. It produced only a single module before it was discontinued. Since then, there have been a few comic books and action figures, but every attempt at something more substantial has failed. This includes a 2009 web series that was announced, then canceled, then subjected to a Kickstarter revival, then canceled again when it failed to meet its funding goals. A Frank Miller-written movie in the 2000s never went anywhere. More recently, Transformers producer Don Murphy announced plans to make a film based on the first Buck Rogers novella, which has since entered public domain, which led to a suit and counter-suit with the Dille Family Trust, which filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

The legal status of Buck Rogers remains in controversy, but I end as I began, wondering: why bother? Does Don Murphy or anyone think the name "Buck Rogers" is regarded so fondly that it's going to sell tickets on its own? If not, why not make the same type of movie and name the character something else? That's basically what Farscape did, and it did fine. I apologize to anyone who really loves Buck Rogers, but in general I'm happy that most RPGs do not feature licensed characters.

Braxton Hicks

Can't wait for Eldar to come to AI!

Well, what can I say? I've been gone a long time. The last time I posted on the blog was over a year ago, covering ASOIAF. Since then, a lot has changed: Work got busy, got a kid on the way, COVID, and the craziness that is 2020 keeps on coming.

I'm not even sure who even follows the blog anymore so I'll try and keep this brief, just to test the waters. To keep everyone honest, there's a lot of content out there that talks about 40K these days. I stopped writing and started listening more to podcasts, watching others play games on YouTube and reading other blogs out there that are really informative and interesting. While I still play the game, I just haven't been writing as much because well, there's not that much need to.

The games I still play are:

Warhammer 40K (yup, still playing.. since 3rd lol)

All Eldar - DE primary, then E, then Harlequins

Age of Sigmar (fairly recent)

Hedonites of Slaanesh

Aeronautical Imperialis (just built my Tau, waiting on Eldar, still haven't played a game)

Tau, until Eldar come

Games that I have currently retired:

X-Wing (sold all of it after FFG rebooted/destroyed it)
Armada (packed up and sitting in the garage, just got boring with no new content)
ASOIAF (packed up as well, just couldn't find any interest nearby or in my immediate playgroup)

Since I promised to keep this brief, I'm just going to leave it at that. If anyone is still following, let me know if you want to see some content on 40K, AoS or AI. I know with 9th Ed. coming up, there's going to be plenty for me to write about. I also don't see a lot of content out there for Aeronautica for some reason, maybe that can be something I can get into.

Stay safe everyone :)

Braxton Hicks

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Braxton Hicks

Still working on the conversions. The fish eyes came in so most of the tanks got them glued on. I still need to make some hatch plugs for some Salamanders and the Baneblade but that's mostly done. I also finished the Commissar plugs aside from sculpting the arms on them.

The Salamander Scouts got their autocannons this week. I ended up hacking apart a Chimerax turret, brass wire and a plastic tube that I drilled out to make the muzzle. One turret got me two autocannons. I'm still thinking on the Command, I think I'm going to try and make a heavy flamer like the Hellhound's cannon out of plastic.

The Exterminators got muzzles for their twin autocannons as well. I drilled out a plastic tube and cut away a small bit down the side so I could fit them side-by-side. They came out all right I think.

Braxton Hicks

How do I get started with bug bounty hunting? How do I improve my skills?

These are some simple steps that every bug bounty hunter can use to get started and improve their skills:

Learn to make it; then break it!
A major chunk of the hacker's mindset consists of wanting to learn more. In order to really exploit issues and discover further potential vulnerabilities, hackers are encouraged to learn to build what they are targeting. By doing this, there is a greater likelihood that hacker will understand the component being targeted and where most issues appear. For example, when people ask me how to take over a sub-domain, I make sure they understand the Domain Name System (DNS) first and let them set up their own website to play around attempting to "claim" that domain.

Read books. Lots of books.
One way to get better is by reading fellow hunters' and hackers' write-ups. Follow /r/netsec and Twitter for fantastic write-ups ranging from a variety of security-related topics that will not only motivate you but help you improve. For a list of good books to read, please refer to "What books should I read?".

Join discussions and ask questions.
As you may be aware, the information security community is full of interesting discussions ranging from breaches to surveillance, and further. The bug bounty community consists of hunters, security analysts, and platform staff helping one and another get better at what they do. There are two very popular bug bounty forums: Bug Bounty Forum and Bug Bounty World.

Participate in open source projects; learn to code.
Go to https://github.com/explore or https://gitlab.com/explore/projects and pick a project to contribute to. By doing so you will improve your general coding and communication skills. On top of that, read https://learnpythonthehardway.org/ and https://linuxjourney.com/.

Help others. If you can teach it, you have mastered it.
Once you discover something new and believe others would benefit from learning about your discovery, publish a write-up about it. Not only will you help others, you will learn to really master the topic because you can actually explain it properly.

Smile when you get feedback and use it to your advantage.
The bug bounty community is full of people wanting to help others so do not be surprised if someone gives you some constructive feedback about your work. Learn from your mistakes and in doing so use it to your advantage. I have a little physical notebook where I keep track of the little things that I learnt during the day and the feedback that people gave me.

Learn to approach a target.
The first step when approaching a target is always going to be reconnaissance — preliminary gathering of information about the target. If the target is a web application, start by browsing around like a normal user and get to know the website's purpose. Then you can start enumerating endpoints such as sub-domains, ports and web paths.

A woodsman was once asked, "What would you do if you had just five minutes to chop down a tree?" He answered, "I would spend the first two and a half minutes sharpening my axe."
As you progress, you will start to notice patterns and find yourself refining your hunting methodology. You will probably also start automating a lot of the repetitive tasks.

More info

Braxton Hicks

How do I get started with bug bounty hunting? How do I improve my skills?

These are some simple steps that every bug bounty hunter can use to get started and improve their skills:

Learn to make it; then break it!
A major chunk of the hacker's mindset consists of wanting to learn more. In order to really exploit issues and discover further potential vulnerabilities, hackers are encouraged to learn to build what they are targeting. By doing this, there is a greater likelihood that hacker will understand the component being targeted and where most issues appear. For example, when people ask me how to take over a sub-domain, I make sure they understand the Domain Name System (DNS) first and let them set up their own website to play around attempting to "claim" that domain.

Read books. Lots of books.
One way to get better is by reading fellow hunters' and hackers' write-ups. Follow /r/netsec and Twitter for fantastic write-ups ranging from a variety of security-related topics that will not only motivate you but help you improve. For a list of good books to read, please refer to "What books should I read?".

Join discussions and ask questions.
As you may be aware, the information security community is full of interesting discussions ranging from breaches to surveillance, and further. The bug bounty community consists of hunters, security analysts, and platform staff helping one and another get better at what they do. There are two very popular bug bounty forums: Bug Bounty Forum and Bug Bounty World.

Participate in open source projects; learn to code.
Go to https://github.com/explore or https://gitlab.com/explore/projects and pick a project to contribute to. By doing so you will improve your general coding and communication skills. On top of that, read https://learnpythonthehardway.org/ and https://linuxjourney.com/.

Help others. If you can teach it, you have mastered it.
Once you discover something new and believe others would benefit from learning about your discovery, publish a write-up about it. Not only will you help others, you will learn to really master the topic because you can actually explain it properly.

Smile when you get feedback and use it to your advantage.
The bug bounty community is full of people wanting to help others so do not be surprised if someone gives you some constructive feedback about your work. Learn from your mistakes and in doing so use it to your advantage. I have a little physical notebook where I keep track of the little things that I learnt during the day and the feedback that people gave me.

Learn to approach a target.
The first step when approaching a target is always going to be reconnaissance — preliminary gathering of information about the target. If the target is a web application, start by browsing around like a normal user and get to know the website's purpose. Then you can start enumerating endpoints such as sub-domains, ports and web paths.

A woodsman was once asked, "What would you do if you had just five minutes to chop down a tree?" He answered, "I would spend the first two and a half minutes sharpening my axe."
As you progress, you will start to notice patterns and find yourself refining your hunting methodology. You will probably also start automating a lot of the repetitive tasks.

Related links

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