It pays to explore the San Francisco Bay Area. In fact, your main concern outside completing operations and accruing Followers is exploring additional optional areas and finding the collectibles hidden within them. A complete list of collectibles (and an example of finding each type) was discussed earlier in this chapter.
Finding Items: Here’s how you should attempt your exploration: Start by visiting an area you haven’t discovered yet and toggle NetHack. Immediately scan the vicinity—using Marcus, security cameras, the RC Jumper, or the Quadcopter—for possible rewards, known as “items” on your Nudle Map legend. When viewed in NetHack, each reward pulses with a blue “spark” that allows you to more easily pinpoint it. In this example, key data has been spotted and is shown in your usual vision and in NetHack vision.
Operation Intel: In every case, you use your DedSec app to discover Main and Co-op Operations, after which you head to the objective and begin or continue the operation. Not so with some Side Operations, which can be discovered during explorations. If you see (in NetHack) a person of interest or object with an orange “pulse,” which Nudle Maps tags as “Operation Intel,” this is usually someone or something that begins a Side Operation.
Activity: Don’t overlook these activity icons, which also appear during explorations (but don’t have a different look in NetHack mode). They allow you to start a Driver SF mission, a drone, motocross, or sailboat race.
Audio and Video Logs: The only other element that glows with an orange hue in NetHack mode are audio and video logs stored on cell phones, tablets, or laptops. These are found only during Main Operations. They add a bit of background flavor to the mission you’re undertaking and are purely optional to find. They have no reward if you find them all (and you can’t go back into some of the locations to grab them if you miss them). Simply check for these before leaving each restricted area.
Businesses: There’s also explorations you don’t need your NetHack view for. Dotted around the map are different businesses. In this example, Marcus has stumbled upon a coffee shop (all businesses are already flagged on your Nudle Map). Different businesses grant you different bonuses and collectibles. They are discussed later in this chapter.
