Hideout

A Hideout is a term used on this Wiki to refer to any building that belongs to a Criminal or Allied Organization.

There are exactly 12 Hideouts in every City in the current Theatre of Operations. Each Hideout belongs to a different Organization.

The location of each Hideout may or may not be known from the start of the Mission. It is possible to discover the locations of more Hideouts through various methods. It is also possible, in certain circumstances, to lose the location of a Hideout.

Hideouts may be Watched for suspicious activity, Wiretapped, or (most importantly) Broken Into. The difficulty of performing each such action is based on the Hideout Alert level.

Hideouts may or may not contain an Agent. If they do, the Agent hiding inside is always affiliated with the Organization that owns the Hideout.

The interior Layout of any Hideout is randomly generated when the mission begins, and will not change for the remainder of the game.

Definition

Hideouts conform to both of the following defintions:

1. Any building belonging to either a Criminal or Allied Organization.
2. Any location in a City which is not the local Airport, Hotel or CIA Office.

Hideout Types

The game makes a distinction between five different kinds of Hideouts:

1. Safehouse
2. Active Cel
3. Office
4. Hideout
5. Agent

These five types are visually distinguishable when viewed from the outside.

Hideout Type	Visual Representation
Safehouse
Active Cel
Office
Hideout
Agent

Unfortunately, there is very little actual in-game effect associated with the Hideout's type. The interior of a Hideout is always randomly-generated, and appears to be completely unaffected by its type.

It is possible (though unconfirmed) that Safehouses will contain a higher proportion of Floor Safes and Terminals. Again, this has not been conclusively confirmed.

There is one small benefit to knowing what a hideout should look like, and that's when discovering a Hideout through Car Tracing or Following a suspect's car. When you do this, you may arrive at a hideout which is "unknown" - you do not know which Organization owns that Hideout until you either Break-In or Wiretap it. By knowing what type of Hideout you're looking for, you may be able to tell whether or not the exterior of this new unknown hideout matches the type you're looking for. However, it is highly unlikely that the player would be aware of which type of Hideout they are seeking to begin with, so this point is almost completely moot in most cases.

Hideout Locations

There are usually up to 13 different Hideouts in each City in the current Theatre of Operations. Each Hideout belongs to a different Organization. However, the location of the majority of Hideouts is unknown at the start of the game. Max must discover the location of a Hideout if he wants to visit it for any purpose.

List of Known Hideout Locations

There are several ways to see a list of known Hideout Locations.

13 Hideouts appearing in a fully-explored city.

The first method is to visit a city. In that city's Main Menu you will see a list of all Hideouts whose location is currently known. You can select any of these locations to travel to the appropriate Hideout. This costs 2 game hours.

Another method is to review the list through your Check Data menu. Visit that menu and select City Summaries. Then choose the city you wish to review, and it will show all known Hideouts in that city.

The last method is to review by Organization. Again, visit the Check Data menu, and select Organization Summaries. Select the Organization whose Hideouts you wish to review. A list of all known hideouts belonging to that Organization will appear.

Locating a Hideout

There are several methods to locate a Hideout:

1. Discover its location randomly through a Mention.
2. Look up its location on a Terminal during a Break-In.
3. Follow or Trace a car from another Hideout.

Hideout Mentions

A Hideout Mention.

The location of a Hideout may randomly appear as a Mention.

This can occur when Wiretapping a Hideout. Each time a Target Chip is disconnected from electricity for the first time during the Electronics Mini-Game, there's a chance that a Mention will be acquired, and if that happens there's a chance that the Mention will reveal the location of a Hideout.

Another way to acquire Mentions is through Photography during a Break-In. Again, for each Container you photograph (except Floor Safes), there's a certain chance of acquiring a Mention, and if so a certain chance that that mention will reveal the location of a Hideout.

In both cases, there's no way to directly influence which Hideout's location will be revealed by the Mention. However, it does depend on the location where the Wiretap or Break-In took place. Mentions of Hideout Locations will always reveal a hideout either in the same city, or belonging to the same Organization but in another city.

For example, while Wiretapping a Hideout belonging to the M18 in Bogota, you may find the location of other M18 Hideouts elsewhere in the world, or you might find the location of another Organization's Hideout in Bogota itself.

Note that it is possible for a Mention to reveal the location of a Hideout whose location is already known. The game simply chooses randomly from all valid Hideouts, and therefore may randomly choose one which is already known.

Hacking

The most efficient way to locate a Hideout is by Hacking a Terminal during a Break-In. You can actually query the Terminal about a specific hideout this way.

To do this, you need to know which Hideout you're looking for, and Break Into another (known) Hideout which is either in the same City or belonging to the same Organization.

Once inside, collect letters for the Terminal Password from various Terminals, and then enter the Password into one of them.

The correct query to put into the terminal depends on your current location:

• To get the location of other hideouts in the same city you're in, type in the name of an Organization. For instance, if you break into any hideout in Vienna, querying "Stassi" on a Terminal will reveal the location of the Stassi Hideout in Vienna.

• To get the location of other hideouts belonging to the same organization, type in the name of a City. For instance, if you break into any Stassi hideout, querying "Vienna" on a Terminal will reveal the location of the Stassi Hideout in Vienna.

This allows you to pin-point the location of a Hideout simply by breaking into another hideout in the same city, or another hideout belonging to the same organization in another city.

Note of course that a Break-In is usually a risky venture. If you get Wounded during the action, you will waste a large amount of time recovering after the Break-In. Also, if you fumble during the mission you might raise the Hideout Alert, possibly even at the Hideout you're trying to discover.

Finally, remember that you can't always count on there being enough (or any) Terminals in the Hideout you broke into...

Tracing and Following Cars

Possibly the least useful method of discovering Hideout locations is to either Trace or Follow a suspicious vehicle leaving another Hideout in the same city.

To do this, visit a Hideout and Observe it until you spot someone leaving the building. Then either install a Trace on their car (which involves an Electronics Mini-Game) or Follow their car (which involves a Driving Mini-Game).

If either of these is completed successfully, the suspicious person will have led you to his/her Hideout.

If the destination Hideout is not already known to you, it is initially, marked as "Unknown". To complete the process, either Wiretap or Break-Into the hideout to reveal which Organization owns it.

Following suspicious persons in a gamble. They might lead you to a place you already know, wasting valuable time. They might also lead you to a hideout you're not interested in. To make things worse, tracking a suspicious person leaving a Hideout will almost invariably create a new Suspect File for that person, whether he is involved in the plot or otherwise. This can lead to great confusion.

The best use for this method is to discover the location of a Hideout belonging to a known Participant in the plot (which is what you usually want to do). For this you'll need to know which city that Participant lives in, and have either their Affiliation or Facial Photograph. If the Affiliation is known, check out that Organization's details and find out who is Allied or at least Associated with them. Stake out the ally/associate's Hideout, and you've got a better chance to stumble into your suspect. It's even easier if you have the suspect's photograph, in which case you can identify him as he leaves the building. He will lead you straight to his Hideout. If you have a photograph it's usually possible to stake out any Hideout in the city and just wait until you spot his face. This can be time consuming though.

Available Activities

There are three different things you can do in each Hideout you visit:

1. Break-In.
2. Wiretap the place.
3. Watch the Hideout and follow people leaving it.

Each of these activities takes a certain amount of time to accomplish.

Break-In

Main article: Break-In

Max can Break Into any Hideout he finds. This is considered to be the "meat" of the game.

A Break-In is a Combat Mini-Game where Max explores the various rooms of the Hideout, collecting information, installing Bugs, hacking into Terminals, and ultimately also making Confiscations and Arrests.

Preparation for a Break-In costs 1 hour of game-time. The game also keeps track of how much time passes inside the building. After leaving the building, assuming Max hasn't taken any Wounds during the attempt, another 2 hours will automatically pass. This is a high cost in time, but is usually worth the benefit of all the goodies you can find inside.

Wiretap

Main article: Wiretap

Max can attempt to install a Wiretap at any Hideout. This invokes the Electronics Mini-Game.

During this game, any Phone that Max can successfully disconnect may reveal various information such as Mentions, Evidence, Clue pieces, or even the location of other Hideouts in the same city or elsewhere in the world.

In addition, the Wiretap has a lasting effect of increasing the Surveillance Quality at this hideout. This will increase the chance for Max to detect Message Traffic going to or from this hideout and/or decipher its contents. It will also detect Meetings taking place here, and may record part or all of the conversation.

If an Alarm Chip is triggered during the Mini-Game, the Wiretap will not raise Surveillance Quality, but will raise the Hideout Alert level. Any information gained during a Wiretap is not lost if an Alarm is triggered.

Wiretapping takes 2-3 hours to complete.

Observation

Main article: Observation

Observing a Hideout.

It is possible to Observe any Hideout to see which persons come and go from there. Each suspicious person leaving a hideout may be followed back to their own hideout.

This can be done in one of two possible ways. You can try to install a Car Trace on the suspect's car. This involves a slightly-easier version of the Electronics Mini-Game. Another method is to Follow the suspect's car by playing the Driving Mini-Game.

Both of these will end with the same result - reaching another Hideout in the same city, whether one you already know about or an entirely new one.

You can spend any amount of time Observing a building to see who comes out. Anywhere between 1 and 2 hours will pass between each time a suspect leaves the hideout you're watching.

Hideout Alert

Main article: Hideout Alert

A "Safehouse" on high alert.

At the beginning of a Mission, the various Organizations are not concerned about the law - they believe they are untouchable. However, if they become aware of Max Remington's involvement in the investigation, they may become concerned for their affairs.

Hideout Alert is a term that measures the level of security at any given Hideout. Initially, all Hideouts are set to level "0" alert - they are "relaxed", and do not post any extra guards. However, the more activities Max performs in a City, the more security will be posted in the various Hideouts in that city.

Hideout Alert is shown in the short description of the Hideout when it is viewed from outside. It can range from none (level 0) to "Swarming with Guards" (level 3). Hideout Alert will rise gradually as Max performs any actions in that city, including Wiretapping Hideouts, Breaking into hideouts, or following suspects around. It doesn't matter whether Max raises any alarms, the sheer bulk of his actions is enough to raise Hideout awareness of his presence.

Effect

There are three effects that accompany the rise in Hideout Alertness across a city:

1. More enemy guards appear in an Alerted hideout during a Break-In.
2. Shorter time limit to complete Wiretaps and Car Traces based on the Alert level of the hideout where they are installed.
3. Enemy agents may Chase Max's Car and try to run him off the road and kill him!

Break-Ins

During a Break-In, the Hideout Alert level of the Hideout that's broken into affects the number of guards that appear inside the building at the start of the Break-In.

Also, if the Alarm is raised during the Break-In, higher Hideout Alert also causes more guards to spawn.

Wiretaps and Car Traces

Both Wiretap and Car Trace installation have a time-limit. If the limit is reached, the Electronics Mini-Game ends prematurely. For Car Traces this basically means a failure, while for Wiretaps it means you just didn't get as much benefit as you would from a full installtion (or none at all, if you failed to disconnect any Phones.

The Time Limit for a Wiretap is 10 minutes when Hideout Alert is 0 (no alert). When at Alert level 3 ("Swarming with Guards"), you only get 2 minutes to complete the wiretap.

For Car Traces, the limit is halved - only 5 minutes at no alert, and only 1 minute at full alert.

Note that on modern computers, the seconds tick by considerably faster!

Car Chases

On anything but the easiest Difficulty setting, it is possible for enemy agents to Chase Max's Car as he tries to leave the location of a Hideout.

This occurs when Max tries to return from a Hideout that's on Level 3 Alert ("Swarming with Guards") to the main City Locations menu.

It triggers a Driving Mini-Game where Max is the target, being chased by two cars. If he cannot evade the enemy cars and reach safety in the CIA Office (or, sometimes, an Allied Organization's office), he'll be run off the road and a Combat Mini-Game ensues. In this Mini-Game, Max needs to kill all the enemy agents before they can knock him unconscious.

Failing this Mini-Game equals Capture by the Organization that sent these men after you. If you refuse an Exchange of agents, you'll be taken to that Organization's Hideout in the city, and will need to escape it.