Ingress: Now available for iPhone!

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by Aikar, Jul 16, 2014.

  1. Hey everyone.

    Back in the days I use to talk about this game called Ingress made by a division of Google called Niantic Labs.

    This is a game you play out in the real world, by actually traveling to locations, walking around cities, seeing monuments and other things like Libraries, churches, small businesses and more.

    Until now, it has been limited to Android, but it is now available on iPhone!



    This game is pretty much world wide. It's a battle between the Resistance (Blue) vs the Enlightened (Green, my team so join us :D)

    These special locations throughout the world are established as "Portals". The factions battle it out to control them for their team. When you build up the portal with 8 "Resonators" (an energy unit for the portal that acts as defense), you can then link it to another portal that also has 8 Resonators.

    If you link 3 portals into a triangle, you create a "Control Field", blanketing the inside area of the triangle with a field of your teams color.

    This field blocks your enemies from linking or creating any fields of their own inside of it. so massive fields can shut down large areas for your enemies to not be able to do stuff.

    Then, these fields give your team a score boost based on the size of the field and the population density IRL under that field (ok im not 100% sure on that but I believe its true).

    there are local scores, region scores and then the world wide score for each faction. Teams work together to coordinate thee fields.

    To get items, you "Hack" the portal. When you own a portal, you can then mod it and put things like Shields or Weapons on it, giving it more defense, or more offense, or utility items that let you hack the portal more/faster (Farming it), or letting you link farther away than it normally could.

    Players have an energy pool that every action takes up called XM. When attacking an enemy portal, it will attack you back, draining some XM. A max level portal with offensive mods installed can zap away your entire energy pool in just a few attacks! making it hard to take it down without help.

    Traveling you will find XM energy all over the world, mainly in areas of high IRL population density, with massive clusters of XM on top of portals.
    ------
    The game has a lot of "Lore"/story behind it (viewed through "Media" in game, online puzzles, and official "Events" that Google has throughout the world). But it is not required to participate in it, but Google loves to keep it interesting.

    Even things like "Hint" Water bottles contain codes under some of the bottle caps that are actually codes to get items in Ingress, but the bottle doesn't mention what the code is for!

    This game is heavily social. It almost requires group play, as solo play will burn out a lot of resources. It's a great way to get out, explore your local area in better detail, see things you normally would of easily overlooked, and meet local people in your area who share a love for gaming.

    It's not a game you can play if you don't have a way to travel on your own, and is really best if you get out of the car and walk.

    but don't let the group play thing let you down because you don't have friends to play with, meet new ones who already play!

    Max and I have personally met up with tons of our local players, and they are all very friendly usually. We've met at least 40+ people, even one time doing a massive group event of 30~ people, where we all walked through downtown, destroying the entire city and turning it green.

    The hard core players get into massively strategic gameplay, with external communication methods, trackers, tools that monitor for things and alert players, coordinated group events, and even cross COUNTRY planning to do massive fields, and work together to create fields to shut down the enemy, and work together to shut down large enemy fields.

    There is a lot of strategy involved here, in things such "Field Anchor" placement, with things like placing the portals for a massive field in "inconvenient" locations such as middle of forests (like monuments on walking trails) to make it harder to take it down from a car/at night.

    It is a great game to get out, explore, get some exercise, meet new people, all while playing a video game! complete with XP, Achievements, Levels, Inventory, Bombs and more! What more could you ask for :)

    Join the enlightened and ask your locals for information on joining local communities (most people don't communicate with the in game chat due to spies)

    ==========
    Warning: it uses quite a lot of data and WILL destroy your battery. Be prepared to buy external battery packs like this if you really get into it.

    Find the game here:
    Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticproject.ingress&hl=en
    iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ingress/id576505181?mt=8

    Remember, Become Enlightened :)
    ChamelonNYC, porphos, Boozle_ and 8 others like this.
  2. As an android user, this surprises me. Normally iphone users get content first.
    EDIT: in general. I know this is a google thing
  3. We've had it for like 2+ years now =P
  4. Since Ingress and Android are both associated with Google, I would actually be more surprised if it had NOT come out for Android first.
  5. I.. have joined the enlightened.
    herocrafter2912 and deathconn like this.
  6. Wow this is amazing

  7. As did i. I am already obcessed.
  8. I just downloaded it, and it's telling me to travel to London even though I live 5+ hours away from it by car ._. And it knows i'm in Liverpool, btw xD
  9. Is it bad that I have already traveled to a portal?
    Aikar and deathconn like this.
  10. So...I'm having problems downloading the app. It's stopping at about 20% and saying it couldn't be downloaded...
  11. Score! Did you claim it?
  12. What do you mean its telling you? as in thats the portal thats showing up with an arrow nearby?

    that is quite odd.
  13. I Just Joined-Now To Figure Out How To Play (I'm On Green Btw :p)
  14. I just downloaded it so I'll join now :)
  15. I think so. I deployed a resonator thingy and it lit up green:p. It was at a shopping center right near me. There is also one at a church, but it is owned by the Resistance. :(
  16. :mad: why you do that =P
    deathconn likes this.
  17. PalpatineEvil.jpg
  18. I've always wanted something like this! But... Nooooo, it's only for iOS 7 :(
    How can Android's OS from two years ago support it but iOS 6 can't? :confused:
    boozle628 likes this.