Slashdot Mirror
Uplink
miracle69 writes: "Well, it looks like the perfect convergence for the average Slashdot reader. What we've got here is a game that is approaching the Slashdot Enthusiast's Valhalla. It's released under Windows and Linux, costs a mere 25 USDs, and has no middleman to jack prices up. Of course, that means it's not available in stores, nor will it be seen on TV, but according to Newsforge, it's got great gameplay. So, will 25 bucks, a fresh game idea, and a Linux release make others in the gaming world stand up and take notice?"
and it kinda makes me feel dirty :P
:]
I mean, it's like a cheap movie. 'Crack Password' buttons, a nice little world map to make connetions through. A storyline of a sort. Everything that I've yet to see in real life...
Though, the temptation to yell out quotes from Hackers while playing this was unbeleivable
I wonder if they have real life events like the FBI crashing in on you in 26 locations all at once. Thats gotta suck.
If the large game-companies don't care about Quake and UT for linux, why would they even look up for a low-budget small game (which is quite fun in my opinion)?
NOTE: as of right now, the US mirror for the demo is NOT faster than the main download site.
Skivvy Niner? Email me!
HEY! Look left just ONE MORE TIME!
I think this game looks really cool. But it would be a lot cooler if it were network playable.
Compete with other online hackers to get the job done.
~ "When I'm of that age I'm just going to live up a tree."
Linux schminux! I don't even boot Linux anymore, now that I've got Mac OS X. Where's the OS X version?
... is that according to this screen, Windows (a) is still around and (b) has the same fscking logo.
Parsec is non-commercial and will be free (as beer)! Finally a state of the art online action game that for Linux (and MacOS X). CS is dead, long live Parsec! Unfortunately it's not finished yet.
Did you know you can fertilize your lawn with used motor oil?
They state specifically that the game will not allow you to fine-tune any real-life hacking skills. This is purely for fun. It is not realistic...
~ "When I'm of that age I'm just going to live up a tree."
It's already /.-ed, so I looked at it only a little bit...
/., hacking and games and Linux, all in one :P
What will really decide the fate of this game is whether or not it can run on low-end machines (P200, 64MB RAM, 3 GB HD, NO 3-D Accelerator). A Mac release would also help the popularity.
Other than that, it seems custom-tailored to
Everything is mainstream now.
./uplink: error while loading shared libraries: cannot open shared object file:
cannot load shared object file: No such file or directory
cap@kira:~/uplink$ file
./uplink: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1 (Linux), statically
Odd. As if it can't make up whether it using statically linked libraries or shared ones.
Shame I can't play the demo, this is a game that would look nice next to my Loki collection.
Um.....you'd be wrong then. This game may be short on graphics but long on gameplay. Try the demo before you pronounce judgement.
Avery
Speaking of screen shots, what kind of IP addresses are those? Obviously invalid IPv4, but not IPv6 either.
Itmakes you wonder if the game designers knows anything about net technology or hacking at all. So how do you hack in the game, click a "HACK" button?
Unfortunately the site is slashdotted and I could download teh beta/demo.
I know some people will see this article as a blatant advertisement, but you have to give it a try. I have two friends who swear by this game, but of course the demo doesn't run on my system for some ungodly reason.
[o]_O
Why's that? Just because it doesn't have cutting-edge 3D graphics? Graphics have nothing to do with quality of gameplay. Zork was one of the all time greatest games ever, and it had *NO* graphics.
-Vercingetorix
"Necessitas non habet legem." -St. Augustine
Just as books cannot be judged by covers alone, games cannot be judged by screenshots alone. Based on screenshots, would you ever play this game? No. But you should.
I grabbed the demo about 2 weeks ago, and I have to say, it's pretty damn fun. After I hacked in and changed some guys social security number, the demo ended because my rating got too high.
Apparently there's a story line which gets quite interesting, and the CD has a password protected zip file on it. You have to crack it to find out what's in it. I don't have the full version yet, but I'm planning on buying it. 2 of my friends just received their copies today.
Just download the demo and try it out, chances are that you'll buy it. I can't stop playing once I sit down in front of it, and I'm not normally into games at all.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
I think you might need to download the demo to see just how silly your post is.
Uplink simulates movie and TV style hacking. IE. Not realistic hacking in any shape or form. This style of hacking is fun.
Looks kinda similar to the old game "Hacker" for the APPLE 2 that came out in the 80's.
Shop smart, Shop S-Mart.
this sounds like paranoia to me... but I dont blame you...
\m/
The reason there aren't many screen shots is because it's not an FPS and it's not a RTS.. it's more like a text-based SIM. You basically take on the "role" of a hacker for hire. Everything is done in-game and you get emails from the company that hired you containing tasks (ie servers to hack into, jobs to complete).
You download "tools" from the company server and you get paid for jobs you complete. More complex jobs require more expensive tools so you have to save up for them.
It's interesting, but it doesnt exactly reflect the real world. Nothing you learn in-game could help you hack into a bank or anything.
Assuming that one would take screenshots of the best scenes in the game, then from the screenshots given on the website, I'd be inclined to think that this game is absolutely horrible.
This game runs on Linux -- and on Slashdot you aren't allowed to criticize any game that runs on Linux. No matter how lame, ill-conceived, or bug-ridden, it must be heralded as the wave of the future and a business model for game companies everywhere. Get with the program!
Next thing you know, you'll be telling me that Wolfenstien 3d is a better game than that Linux game with the penguin sliding on his belly in snow...
The fact that they have the guts to put these screenshots online (they're boring indeed) can only mean two things: (1) it really has to have great gameplay or (2) they need to replace their marketing department:)
0x or or snor perron?!
What a crapload of free advertising for something I 'm not interested in, dunno about the other slashdot readers but lately it seems that a lot of people and projects are getting unnecessary advertisements..
:)
Doesn't it suck to visit a personal website, which Slashdot still is?
So who do I pay to get my site mentioned ?
Read the FAQ.
Half the comments I see are about the graphics, Well I have played the game and yes the graphics are not great but the gameplay keeps you playing..
There are 100's of games on the shelf that have great graphics but there play sucks.. Im tired of it.. Anyone can hire a couple teenage graphic artists and throw together a smoldering pile of shit these days but few companys seem to be able to get some decent programmers together to make a Playable decent game.
Personal Website
It's called "Internet". My friend came over and installed it on my computer. It's amazing! It's like a virtual copy of our world in the computer. For example you type cnn.com, and you get plausible computer generated news, like if there were a mirror copy of the world inside the computer! The best are these "chat" areas where you can talk to AI programs. Also, there are weblogs that detail the daily life of some simulated people. Much more convincing than the SIMS! But it doesn't show you the people inside the computer as often as the SIMS. Very cool stuff! Am I supposed to tell you guys that you're only AI programs running on my P3 800MHz? Haha, can't wait to get a feedback. I bet you're programmed to deny it, like in these chat rooms.
Your not going to learn to be a hack/cracker by playing this game. Get real.
I am sure that bin laden trains all his people with M$ Flight Simulator to crash airplanes into buildings.
It's a very nice game, with sleek graphics though there is nothing more than a few pictures at best.
the game isn't realistic at all (not opengl style cracking like the movie 'hackers' , but not real either)
Though the game gets pretty repetitive, it does have an external plot, and is very nice.
For a nice review check out the home of the underdogs' review
Another game that is being exclusivly published over the net is pontifex, better known as bridge builder 2, which is an awesome and very addictive game.
And then we get the terrifying situation where thousands of would-be hackers are let loose on the 'net, and destroy civilization as we know it by clicking large buttoned labelled "CRACK PASSWORD" and "DISABLE PROXY".
As far as I can tell, it'd have exactly the opposite effect that you described - instead of 13-year-old wannabes spending all their time attempting (and failing) to hack into their school network, they just fire up Uplink and pretend they're gods. Take it from me, it's more interesting than real hacking anyday.
The traditional way of learning to hack involved hacking into actual computers on the internet.
Actually, the traditional way of learning to hack involves lots of time reading manuals, poring over source code and experimenting with machines under your control. Real computer security experts (both white hat and black hat) have *knowledge*, not "5ki11z". No computer game is going to teach you the volumes of excruciating detail about systems that is required to break into them (or, if it does, it won't be a game that many people find entertaining).
Note that I'm not addressing script kiddies here, who have neither knowledge nor skill, just a set of hack tools they've downloaded and don't understand. I suppose knowing which tool to apply to a particular system might be considered a "skill".
The common view of system hacking as some sort of art or magic is bogus. Social engineering has some art to it, though...
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
That's not true, you can always judge the book by cover most of the time.
Good Looking Cover usually means better content.
kawai
No offense, but I took a look at the demo the other day and it was incredibly boring. This may be amusing for the type of person who doesn't understand the tongue-in-cheek nature of the movie "Hackers" or who finds egg drop scripts in IRC incredible... But otherwise it's pretty... I dunno. Uninteresting.
It *looks* good. The presentation is good. I just don't know how much fun you can have pretending to hack into things and completing corporate espionage missions.
I'm sure I'll be modded down, but I've got to support this game. I'm not a gamer, it's one of the first things I delete when I need space on a computer. Uplink is addicting, though. The graphics are simple but the game play pulls you in. The music is enjoyable and the price is right. I highly recommend this game. But don't take my word for it: grab the demo.
In a massive MS/FBI sting, the last users of the terrorist operating system "Linux" have been simultaneously arrested.
"It was easy," crowed MS/FBI chief Steve Ballmer. "In 2001, we released a game which proported to be a simulation, but was actually a real cracking tool when run on any OS other than XP. After enough evidence had accumulated, we simply rounded up all the perps! I LOVE this company! I LOVE THIS COMPANY!"
I'm a bloodsucking fiend! Look at my outfit!
:)
hawk
sadly the games still a bit *buggy*.
i can't get it to work on any computer i have access to:
linux homebuilt
win98se homebuilt
win98se dell
win2000 dell
it's early beta quality.
After clicking on the uplink graphic at the main site, it says forbiden. Did they take it down cause of all the /. readers flocking there?
You don't have permission to access / on this server.
---------
If it's such a great game, how come their site's screwed?
I bet you're quoted on CNN and MSNBC before day's end.
Is this site coming up 403 Forbidden for anyone else or have they just decided they want to ban all Verizon DSL users such as myself?
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
For those who haven't figured it out yet, he was being facetious when he posted that. (Hopefully anyway, hehe)
I still think the media could have a field day with a quote like that from a "reputable source". Damn journalists. Kill 'em all. Let the ethics committees sort 'em out.
If only I could think of something GiMP, if only you had an obvious project you liked, GiMP.
Maybe I should try the homepage listed in the header... HEY that's not what I expected!
Hey!!! the parentheses are good for something
If you refer your friends you get a free Bonus disk once Introvision has finished it. Way cool game by the way, and you can use your Demo "work" in the full version, You do not have to start over.
Help fight continental drift.
this is where you can download the windows demo version version:
c obranded/0,1506,42211,00.html
http://www.ciudad.com.ar/ar/portales/juegos/nota_
You can find a positive review (of the Windows version) at gamesdomain.
"The good die first." "Most of us are morally ambiguous, which explains our random dying patterns." --- MST3K
I heard that Neverwinter Nights from Bioware is releasing a Linux version at the same time it releases a Linux version. This is one game that would complete my conversion from Windows to Linux.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
I found this link to the demo using Google's cached pages of Introversion's webpage. It's a U.S. mirror, and it seems a bit slow, but it works.
Now if they would only fix the permissions so everyone can read the HTML docs. I get a 403 Forbidden when I try to get to anything within the directory '/uplink'. The main page has me physched, too bad I can't learn more about it though. I guess I'll just have to wait...
"I don't trust goats," --To Catch a Spy
get real. like this game teaches you 'real hacking.' it is nothing more than a fun little game. its been out for a while, and is pretty popular. stop the acid, your paranoia level is too high.
Now instead of the "script kiddies" having to launch some DOS attack, they can simulate it. Its all done for the thrill, if the same thrill can be received from a game, all the better than in real life. Until now there were not too many easily attainable alternatives, except setting up networks for friends to "attack". What fun is that? This game is actually a *good* thing for kids to play.
/; or what log files to remove, or even how to interpret port scans" Any basic ideas, such as using multiple routing hosts, bouncing signals off banks, etc .... are either pure common sense or can be attained easily on the Net already by a newbie - and therefore the game is not a detrement at all.
It is also not going to teach "Billy" how to hack. This game, although text driven, from the demo that I played does not teach players to "rm -rf
looks like someone got a little too into the game, cuz i can't get on the page (access forbidden)
I think my principles are reachin' an all time low
hawk, who learned to program by cheating at appletrek
I tried Uplink out a couple months ago, and was less than impressed. The game didn't run well (it shouldn't take over 2 seconds to drag a windows around on a GHz machine)
On top of that, the game simply wasn't fun.
bah, i thought this stupid book was the latest John Grisham novel but it's a flipping cook-book
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
This game came out months ago!! I got hooked on the demo (which can be clocked in 15mins once u get good). :(
There is however a problem for those of use who don't have a credit card. HOW DO WE BUY THE FULL GAME. No shop will order it in
The music and interface are good for the style of the game.
Though it is one of those Movie OS's which are highly secure till you use the password cracker. It also downloads whole files with one click in seconds.
What we need now is for some aspiring group of hackers to join the interface to real scripts and real servers. Then we will have a whole new generation of script kiddies.
Does playing this game make u l337??
What's depressing is the realization that this will just result in more AOL users writing me to ask if I can change their credit files.
(I get a couple a week, these days.)
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
The point isn't to simulate real-world hacking (which is pretty boring and interests few people older than 15) but the sort of glamourous hacking that goes on in the novels of William Gibson and his imitators. Thus, differences from real technology are actually intentional, just like James Bond movies aren't documentries about British intelligence agencies.
The third one down...
Enjoy!
So "the Slashdot Enthusiast's Valhalla" is 403: "Forbidden You don't have permission to access / on this server."
Um. . . no.
Tee-hee. I bet you don't like the idea of Grand Theft Auto either, huh? Carjacker training tool? Mmmm. Definitely. ***
Look, graphics help immersion in a game. They can make it more real, more funny, more touching. They can add little details - they can add atmosphere.
Graphics add to a game. They won't save a dog, but they can make the best game better. Even text adventures benefit from the choice of a stylish font.
Oh, and this story refers to the untangible "gameplay" factor. Congratulations, you're now going to hell where they'll have lots of "gameplay".
You're absolutely right of course. My years of playing Dungeons and Dragons, and GURPS have honed me into a killing machine. In fact, I once had a character with an ST of 40, so I bet I could pick up a car in real life!
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
I'll definitely shell out $25 for this, as soon as the web site comes back on line. In the mean time, this article made me remember HackersLab @ Free Hacking Zone.
Furthermore, through Ozzy Ozbourne logic(1), the writers could probably be sued if anyone could take something from the game and perform a real-world exploit.
(1)Fictional mention of doing something stupid as a sue-able event, ref "Suicide Solution".
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Yeah... I read the "about" link on the site, and the first thing that popped into my head was "Grand Theft Data".
Ah well.
--Fesh
Kill -9 'em all, let root@localhost sort 'em out.
That's funny, I always thought that "RTFM you F-in piece of S* moron" was the traditional way of learning to hack. Reading text files and Phrack and 2600 and the System V manual. Then, setting up a variety of systems in your house/apartment/warehouse with various operating systems and testing your skills on them, off the network, and then try to catch yourself by doing things a normal system administrator would do. This is how I learned to be a sysadmin, by building computers and trying to hack them, then fixing the ways that I did it.
If anything, this game should teach people to be better administrators, not better hackers.
A solution to the problem with music today
A CD drive is another $300.
Is there a way to play these CD based games legitimately, but without a CD drive?
I asked Loki but they ignored me :)
Thanks kellan
You see, us male geeks don't live only on microwaved junk food and cola nor does the nerf gun provide all the fun we need.
Yeah, right, who do you think you're kidding?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This is a really cool game, and I haven't been able to put the demo down yet. It's really exhilerating to crack a government system, search their database, and change someone's SSN with precious few seconds remaining before you get caught. Of course, Uplink is movie-style computer cracking, certainly nothing realistic. But that's why it's fun!
;)
However, there are some problems. A lot of people are reporting some glitches, such as the game not responding for a few seconds at random intervals. I personally don't have this problem as much as others, but I have one of my own. The sound lags about 3 seconds behind everything that happens on-screen (I'm thinking it's a problem with ALSA... sigh, isn't it always?).
Anyway, the few flaws I've seen are very minor, and I still think it's a great game. With some patching/tweaking it will undoubtedly get even better. Definitely worth $25, which I'll be coughing up for my full copy soon.
Mozilla's a nice operating system, but it needs a better browser.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I made a game too. It won't be in stores, but I blame "the man" and "the system" for that. It may not have great graphics or great gameplay, but I am still selling it.
Did I mention that it is also revolutionary?
------
Let me give you the lowdown
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It's just a few guys in England who've put together a fun game. They can't afford a marketing department. The game is quite entertaining, though, assuming you can enjoy a game that doesn't push your graphics card to the limit.
Only one thing to add :
civilization I
Can someone here say its not a good game?
The demo doesn't seem to work very well on Windows XP (Matrox graphics card).
... minimising/restoring the window makes buttons appear and disappear.
.... maybe I'll try a later build if/when one is released.
images are only half drawn and there must be some that aren't drawn at all
Oh well
Mmmmmmm
Yeah, actually. Hated it. But thats only because I played civ2 first, I guess.
Mod point free since 2001
Yup, next time I see a dragon terroizing my neighborhood, kidnaping princesses, I'll be all trained to take him.
Mod point free since 2001
The site
w ww.introversion.co.uk/uplink/+&hl=en
:)
http://www.introversion.co.uk/ gives a 403 error, but thanks to google we can still do some kind of browsing:
Main site: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:HF4gZfFTKQQ:
How to browse the site? Easy: just hoover your mouse over a link, copy-paste the URL in google, and click the 'view google's cache' link. Browsing has never been more easy!
--
If code was hard to write, it should be hard to read
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access / on this server.
Apache/1.3.19 Server at www.introversion.co.uk Port 80
Looks like someone played the real life version, and introversion lost.
*Not a Sermon, Just a Thought
*/
often has better looking graphics, and runs on speedier machines, but the idea is basically the same. There's a joke that everything in the computing world was invented in 1962. The only thing funnier than the joke is to see younger folks
"invent" the same thing over and over again.
Uplink sounds basically the same as an early 1980s Activision game called Hacker
which appeared on the Commodore 64 and other personal computer of that era. At that time (to the best of my knowledge), Hacker was a kind of revolutionary game. It offered no explanation, either on-screen or in the game documentation, as to what was going on. You were simly presented with a text login prompt when the game started, and had to take it from there.
Bob
Science, like Nature, must also be tamed, with a view turned towards its preservation.
you really should be moderated +5 funny. as I hope that you arent that dense to think that ANYONE can learn to hack from this or anyone could learn to fly from Flightsim.
"hacking" which is so wrong of a title. is a helluva lot harder than clicking on a button. If you want to hace a target you need to spend weeks gaining information about them.
I doubt there is a dumpster diving section in the game, or a social engineering section, or the plethora of other skillz needed to sucessfully crack a system. portscanning and brue force attacks or scripts are NOT cracking in any way shape or form. It is just luZers or script kiddiez. If you want to have a nice refrence for hacking? get every technical manual in existance and start reading. Learne electronics, learn how "capt. crunch" started hacking the phone systems, read the back history of hacking (the real stuff not the made for TV crap on the shelves.)
Sorry, you want a hacking simulator? buy 5-6 computers a couple of routers a switch and install linux windows and BSD, secure them as well as you can from online sources and then hack yourself. THAT is a hacking simulator, not some silly game.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Amazing. The company making the game won't let me buy it (403 Forbidden), so I use _my_ tools to get to W4rez Sit3s which of course held the CD image, so I'll pay Introversion as soon as they get the damn site back up and in the meantime I play their game.
Isn't it ironic. I use real-world hack tools to get a game about hacking, because I can't access the company selling it - the company seems to have been hacked...
Oh, and this story refers to the untangible "gameplay" factor. Congratulations, you're now going to hell where they'll have lots of "gameplay".
If it doesn't have good gameplay, why the hell would you play it? Some people know what makes a game fun. It isn't graphics. I agree that they can help make things more interesting sometimes, but depending on the game, they don't always make sense. I've played the demo, and I really don't think that more or better graphics are what this game needs. What it needs is less repetition and a bit more depth. It's not a bad game, it's just not a great game.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
So, when is the last time you were beamed up to your starship? Or how 'bout the last time you drove 100MPH through the LA city streets and never caught a single cops eye? How about that robot that keeps nagging you to remove an inhibitor bolt and find his little three wheeled friend so he can deliver a message to some princess?
It's called 'entertainment' people. I've played the game, I own it, and I wanted to know what others thought of it. Almost all the posts I read are ripping on how 'not real' it is. The IPs are so wrong, you don't hack like that, it's so wrong I can't play it... Well, let's think about that for just a sec...if a game were created where you could pretend to hack and it was based upon 'actual' methods and 'real' ip addresses...somebody in big brother's crew might just not like that, ya think?
As it is, it is a very basic representation of hacking. You run a proxy bypass program to get around proxy security. Sure, that's nothing like the real world hacking, but you quickly find yourself tapping your foot watching your time run out and your program not run fast enough. Darn! I didn't bounce off enough public domain servers or a large enough bank. You try again, you get in and steal a file, delete your logs, your home free. IT'S A GAME! And a fun one at that.
Buy it, Play it, Enjoy it...
[ http://www.dvigroup.net/self ]
I have a GEForce 2Ultra... do you know if XP supports the Matrox card?
After playing the game for about 13 hours straight, I can say it's probably the best game I've ever played -- and I'm a pretty heavy gamer.
It does have a few glitches (mostly spelling errors and animation quirks), but overall it's extremely fun and has a great re-play value.
Just my $0.02.
Here's a link to Fileplanet.com.. A lot easier..
i le =80967
http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?section=0&f
is a severely slashdotted apache server :D
When I click the link (in Mozilla or Konqueror) I only get an error:
You don't have permission to access / on this server.
Since when is *that* a fun game?
It's not good gameplay (congratulations, you're also going to hell) it's the term "gameplay". Gameplay is about the most vague description of a game, ever. You may as well say the game rocks.
please, tell me your home address, i'll come beat up the virtual you and see how the real life you feels when you wake up
Yeah, I got my 4 gigquad gateway, connected to the IRS ( ip address 862.154.677.42 ) and changed my social security number using the built in GUI interface. A security guy was tracing me and almost caught me before I transfered all 5 bogomegs of data from the computer I just haX0red. Really. But at least they use IP addresses, instead of "Connecting to: irs.gov".
Uplink is a phenomenal game. I picked it up a month or 3 ago when i came across the demo..
I ordered the full version, received it about 3 weeks later, and played the crap out of it.
Take everything from the demo and amplify it by an order of magnitude.. Not only did they add all kidns of extremely advanced missions, there's a cool as all hell overriding plot line..
AND.. Its a plot line that you get to dynamically control.. Similiar to the branching fallout did (but a little more freeform)
All in all a great product.. IF you get it, make sure to dig up the "hidden" development journals..
And make SURE to get the patch. It fixed a big recurring crash i was having..
Great game from a teeny tiny developer..
Is that before or after your mother the little girly troll a bath..
Please tell me what meaning your post has? None.. When the trolls go away and everyone has enough balls to post using a real account slashdot will be a better place
Personal Website
Did anyonbe else find the IP addresses used in the game amusing?
ex. 388.956.256.402
What are you, Einstein or something? Man, that's an impressive statement.
Wroot, the game master (score: 100)
Try the demo? I downloaded it, extracted it, went to run it, and it promtly crashed. Maybe I'll make a note of the URL and check back later, but if they certify it for "Win95 and up", and it crashes on my Win2000 gaming rig, I'm a little dubious.
Gawyn
Freedom of Speech?
Oh, bullshit.
No amount of time playing quake prepares you for combat with real guns, nor will playing the old arcade game "Karate Champ" turn you into either Ralph Macchio or Pat Morita. There's no substitute for real-life experience when you're doing something dangerous and difficult.
Of course you must read manuals and experiment. And of course you *shouldn't* do this. But the sort of problems a hacker encounters in the wild can not be easily simulated on your home network. If I was hiring someone to protect my network, I would never trust someone who claimed to have learned to secure networks by hacking into their l337 firewall on 192.168.100.1. I might think they woulnd't steal from me, but then I wouldn't expect them to competently protect me from anyone who wanted to, either.
I would find a hacker with life experience who I thought I could trust. People who crack for money can probably not be trusted. People who crack for ideology or fun may be trustworthy. People who are obviously trustworthy are most likely incompetent. It's a vexing problem.
I'm trying to do the test misson but I can't find out where to click the link to connect to the computer. Help anyone?
At http://www.maxthe.net you will find another hacker Windows game called Max the Net. It works as a world net attack game allowing you to pick tools and target sites within cities in whichever country. There is a demo version which allows only two regions of the world.
uplink is fun. This game reminded me of another hacking challenge site. Dunno if its been posted, but Try2Hack is a great way to test your 5K1LLz.. its pretty fun. For an added challenge, try to not use the forms! Everything from decompiling VB programs to hacking an IRC eggdrop bot! No registration needed, free of charge. Enjoy!
I didn't find it that great in the end, I bought it, and it has a lot of bugs in it. Now I found out that in the meantime the makers haven't been fixing bug, but been working on a bonus disc that you _only_ get when you get somebody else to buy the game too.
I find it rather insulting for me to buy a game, and then not get support, or extra's. Also to be honest I find the copy protection rather stupid.. A black sheet with black numbers printed on it.
All in all, the game is too short, lot of bugs, no support, you don't get cool stuff when you actually bought the game and the network support we were promised is still nowhere in sight..
You don't have permission to access / on this server.
Apache/1.3.19 Server at www.introversion.co.uk Port 80
So this is what happens when Apache can't handle a
The addresses are bogus IPv4 to prevent anyone from getting bright ideas from the game--which is itself meant to be hacked. Introversion definitely Gets It. Read the forum when it comes back up; Chris's posts will remove your doubts.
Typical, I see the game, go to the site and find it doesn't work. Now I know why... Luckily for me you can go directly to the order page... you'll have to search for it in Google 'cos I can't be bothered to look it up... Looks like a great game and at only about £16 I couldn't resist.
The hypocricy is simply amazing...
for the love of god, quit erasing my posts just because I type fast!!!@#$!@$!
This game is great. I suggest you all play it. I DLed the demo back when, then got the full version ASAP. Not only does the full version not cut you off like the demo does, not only does it have a ton of in-game goodies, it also has a lot of OUT of game secrets that just add to it's cool factor.
I've found out some of them, but not even close to all of them. =(
I've found the booklet, gamebible book 1, page 25, introversion ip, and the protovision pass.
If anyone knows what to do with the encoded MP3, send me a mail at chikaan(at)mail.com... =)
Dunno where you got that, but in many interviews the coder stated he HAD to make it fictional because if it was like the "real world" it would be very very boring. Which is the truth. But the end effect is that the game is FUN, and you'll be up all night cracking into banks and govermment systems collecting info to blackmail people with. I even got a job to steal some data for Steve Jackson Games!!
I think you played the wrong game, Uplink has no windows that you can drag around. It runs in full-screen OpenGL only as far as I know..
Of course, now that I've said that, someone will provide at least 3 counter examples...
Uh, no. There are small windows, 'panes' really inside the game that you can drag around, and it took WAY to long for them to actually move...
Similar theme. Only more integrated into real life. Instead of being encapsulated within a game, make the "game" use actual servers on the internet, use real email systems, allow the user to actually telnet in, etc etc...
Of course, this should be done in a more vitual manner so that others can enjoy the experience at the same time without interfering with others, but of course, interfering with others is part of the game.
I'm going to have to think this over some more....
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
One of the goals in the game is to upgrade to a better computer with more and faster processors, more memory and the like. Perhaps you never got around to upgrading?
Anything worth doing is worth doing badly -- G.K. Chesterton
A few years ago there was a program on British TV called 'Killernet' and it was all about a CDROM 'multimedia' game where a whole town was simulated and you had to go around killing women in the town without being caught. Sounds fun.
However, the whole premise of the story was that some crazy maniac programmer dude wrote the game in the first place and when you murdered chicks in the game he actually DID the murder in real life.
Because friends of the people playing the game knew about the game they generally turned their friends over to the police and the players ended up getting the blame instead of the psychopath who wrote the game.
Could that be what this 'game' is about? Perhaps this software company are just using YOUR skills to hack into real life banks folks.. and YOU'LL get all the blame.
Watch out.
mogorific carpentry experiments
"Zork was one of the all time greatest games ever, and it had *NO* graphics."
I hate it when people say things that aren't qualified appropriately.
I agree that the lack of graphics doesn't make a game bad. But I disagree with the classification of Zork.
Zork was one of the greatest games FOR ITS TIME. But when using the term "greatest game ever", you have to start including more recent developments.
Zork was great back then because there wasn't Half-Life, Baldur's Gate, Diablo, Age of Empires, Thief. But there were so many things wrong with it. It's interface is among the worst ever. Pure text interface with no indication of what words are valid. It hints that it understands english syntax, but it doesn't really. The synonym list is limited. And it lacked a real story arc. It was, pretty much, a string of close-ended puzzles. There was one, and only one non-intuitive way of solving each puzzle.
To make it one of the best ever, people would have to be willing to play it versus other possible games. [It's available if you're interested at woozle.org. Just use the link to the java applet SSH terminal to play.] I for one would rather play 100 other games before playing Zork. Even as a form of interactive fiction, Thief is much better.
It's easy to be the best when you're the only one on the field. Being important or groundbreaking doesn't make you permanently among the elite. The Model-T Ford is among the most important cars ever, but it is far from being among the best cars ever. I'd much rather do my commute in any of a couple hundred car models produced in the last decade than in a Model-T.
Some things stand the test of time. That makes them among the best ever. Zork hasn't withstood the test of time.
So let's not get all sappy with our reminiscing. Zork, Planetfall, Suspended was fun for their time, but like choose your own adventures, they're not pickin' up the chicks like they used to.
passetspike!
The whole "play hacker" thing has been going on for some time, so this isn't really that new. However, if you're into games that somewhat emulate challeges a hacker would face, at least in style, you should look into the many online hacking challenge sites. The challenges range from breaking encryption, reverse engineering, simulated exploits, to the more mundane logic puzzles. A few I recommend:
http://aspect.l8nite.net - Storyline based set of challenges that require alot of "outside the box thinking".
http://www.slyfx.com - Non-storyline sequential tour of computing challenges.
The Game - Java reverse engineering.
+Ma's Reversing - Reverse engineering.
http://home.cyberarmy.com/w0lfie/ - a bunch of links to others here.
the term "gameplay". Gameplay is about the most vague description of a game, ever. You may as well say the game rocks.
I define "gameplay" as those aspects of a game that make it fun. Most of gameplay falls into these two categories: 1. responsive play control, and 2. balance.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Well, I guess the game I'm most into right now is "Space Tripper". It's released on Linux, Mac and Windows. Check out the demo if you're looking for an old fashioned style shooter.
Oh yeah, some rave reviews here , here and here
Brant
Someone may have posted this earlier (I didn't read through all of the replies) but I am going to buy this game on principle alone. 25$ for what sounds like a brand new gaming theme, the fact that they released it for linux (even though I don't run or even like linux for that matter), and the fact that they did it all without using any major corporation to hype the game and in turn double the cost, is a damn good price. Anyone with a heart for the lowly game publisher should buy this game.
Just one man's opinion though.
P.S. Good luck to all those who were busted in the past week, we're thinking about you.
"...instead of 13-year-old wannabes spending all their time attempting (and failing) to hack into their school network..."
Hey! I suceeded in hacking into my school network!
If you're using the Linux version of the game, you'll see a Linux logo for your "home system." If you're using the Linux version of the game, you'll see a Windows logo for your "home system."
What will really decide the fate of this game is whether or not it can run on low-end machines (P200, 64MB RAM, 3 GB HD, NO 3-D Accelerator). A Mac release would also help the popularity.
I'm afraid the most low-end machine in the game runs at 60GHz, and has 24 Gigaquads of memory with a 1GQ/sec net connection. Your system seems a little aged.
The windows INSIDE the game.
One of the goals in the game is to upgrade to a better computer with more and faster processors, more memory and the like.
I tried that, but then the computer said "Could not execute uplink.exe: Unknown executable format." The game doesn't run on anything but Win32 on x86, and the fastest x86 machine is still in the 2 GHz range. And if I try to run it on a machine with more than one x86 processor, the machine just laughs at me, asking for my credit card number so that it can license an upgrade to a "professional" operating system. Trying a real professional operating system (Linux with Transgaming WineX) produces unpredictable results.
Will I retire or break 10K?
If you pay over $40 for a CD-ROM there is something wrong with you.
Not every common PC system has a $40 CD-ROM drive available. Some people use laptops, and laptops can't take standard ATA 5.25" form factor drives. What if the choice is between a $300 laptop CD-ROM drive or a $40 standard ATA CD-ROM plus a $260 docking station? It's still $300 either way. For $300, heck, I could get a GameCube and two games.
Will I retire or break 10K?
The game doesn't run on anything but Win32 on x86
s/Win32 on// (the reviews on the sites that are up don't clue a fellow in on the existence of a native version)
Trying ... Linux ... produces unpredictable results.
OK... native version... same result. Damn proprietary beta drivers.
Will I retire or break 10K?
External USB 48x CD-ROM $100
http://www.coolmaxusa.com/del52xexcdro.html
Note, I am not affiliated with these guys at all, I just did a search on pricewatch and they came up with first, fast name-brand CD-ROM, there were others for $50 but only 24x.
I did a few missions, but I canceled one (baaad mouse click, bad mouse click!) so my rating is too low to do the next missions...is there a "Rating system server" I can hack to remedy to that?
Strong points:
Lots of fun
Intriguing backstory
Sound basic principals (don't connect directly to the system you're breaking into; be careful and erase your tracks)
Choose your own path--script kiddie or security professional
Weak points:
GLX/OpenGL requirement--this game uses *no* 3D, yet I can't play it in linux because my video cards (Voodoo 2, Riva 128) aren't supported by GLX
Logical errors--when I'm caught hacking into Uplink's own mainframe, I shouldn't get the generic endgame message "A large company has informed us that [etc.]"
If you progress too far into the game without performing a certain action, you miss the entire backstory and must start over from the beginning to catch it
Extremely repetitive after awhile--just like real [h,cr]acking!
Once you have enough money (and hacking banks is pitifully easy) you can afford equipment good enough to ensure you'll never be caught, and the game becomes way too easy
All in all, this is a good game. It's easy to get immersed in the gameplay. The sound effects are just right. The music gets repetitious after awhile (only 5 songs or so), but it's good old .mod and .s3m stuff from the likes of Skaven (attention, Introversion: did you credit the music creators? If so, I missed it).
To address peoples' complaints: yes, the IP addresses aren't real. They aren't supposed to be. It's a game. No, it isn't like real [h,cr]acking, apart from the basic principals of "bounce your connection and clean up after yourself." It isn't supposed to be. It's a game. It isn't going to teach anyone how to hack. It isn't supposed to. It's a game.
I think the best part of the game is that you can choose how you want to play it. You can accept the script-kiddie "give this system a virus" or "delete all files" missions, or you can accept the much more complicated "track down this hacker using log trails which may have been modified" missions. Just like real life--do you want to be a scum-sucking script-kiddie, or do you want to learn a thing or two? Your choice....
I would recommend that *anyone* at least download the demo and give it a try. $25 for a fun game that runs on linux (assuming you have recent hardware) is a goddamn steal.
-Legion
i finally can afford to get this game, and you bastards go and post it on /. and kill the server :)
I'm me. I think.
Wow, this looks like fun, I'm always looking for stuff like this, being a shadowrun/cyberpunk rpg'r. I just hope we haven't irrepairably /damaged/ the company with our little slashdotting... (Read: 'net equivelant of a tac-nuke)
/warn/ people before you do this? ;) Like, "Hey, you guys have a great game and all, and we understand that you're a small company, but try and reinforce your webserver, 'cause we're comin' in!'
Does it ever occur to you guys to
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
for interested parties, you can download from:
http://download.ciudad.com.ar/uplinkdemo.exe
Ahh, I remember plenty a night camped in front of the C64 playing "Hacker" and then later "Hacker II"
As I remember Hacker was all text and Hacker II included the text based hacking and a strange part involving moving a robot around a Russian (remember the cold war?) office building without being detected.
Yeah, it's like every stereotype you've ever seen in movies. Almost as bad as Hugh Jackman spinning little tetris cubes to make a worm and got more goofy computer bleeps to boot. But it's fucking addictive, and the developers have put a lot of time in adding extra shit that actually makes this one worth checking out. You can do stuff like hack into a bank and transfer 10000000 dollars to your own account and then go back and cover your tracks. It's not like it was an assigned mission, but it sure makes the game a lot easier. Or if you ever get caught, you can hack into the police database and remove your own criminal record. Just like real life! There's also some .zip file included in the game where you can decode secret text Secret Decoder Ring style, and some of the servers that you connect to are named from old movies like WarGames, where if you watched the movie you know the password and you can use them to boost your trace time.
Yeah it looks like it was made with Flash 5. But check it out, and remember, it's just a game, it's not Mitnick: The Biography.
LOGON PLEASE:
What's going on here? Who are these guys? What are they doing? What am I doing?
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Opps. I'm posting on a windows box at some party. Yes, I'm posting /. well at a party. IE responded.... like a microsoft product. Anyhow, in response to this:
What will really decide the fate of this game is whether or not it can run on low-end machines (P200, 64MB RAM, 3 GB HD, NO 3-D Accelerator). A Mac release would also help the popularity.
I have some buds who are very non-ignorant in the MMORPG / Gaming industry and they tell me that people with slow computers (200MHz) make up a very small part of the (gaming) market, a part that already occupys itself with MUD's and older games.
With no specific people in mind, I would contend that mainly people with slow computers suggest this. Am I realy out on a limb on this one? I gett the feeling I'm not.
Hey... I'm currently on a 350MHz 320MB comp and it's the slowest (not just cause of the OS) that anyone I know is running for anything other than a firewall or secondary computer.
On another note if it works on a 200MHz box then all the better for my 750 mhz chunk of scrap metal. Enough from me now.
My Karma ran over your Dogma....
I downloaded the demo and while the idea is interesting actual gameplay *sucks*. The interface is clunky and slow and would have been much better done had it just been done in NCURSES or something. I mean seriously, it's neat and all, but I sure as hell wouldn't pay $25 for it.
A|Q|U|A
Uplink is one of the best games I have ever played.. $25 US well spent. I purchased it about 2 days after I heard about it on Penny-Arcade, and I haven't regretted it once. Even if you only play through it once, it's a highly enjoyable experience, plus free of all that violence and nudity that parents don't like. Nothing beats altering a criminal record to bear the name of one of your friends, adding tons of offenses, and sending them a picture... Fun for the whole family! :)
using namespace slashdot;
troll::post();
To each his own I guess. I still play Zork occasionaly, which gives it the biggest replay factor of any game I've ever played. Running around shooting things loses it's thrill rather quickly, but Zork managed to present an immersive game world despite its limitations.
-Vercingetorix
"Necessitas non habet legem." -St. Augustine
It's only 3 megs! Unfortunately the connection is really slow... but it's there.
Have fun, da Lawn
't used to be LawnMOWER, really...
What better way to advertise a hacking game than to make people actually have to work to get ahold of it. Not that using google or fileplanet is hacking, but it did make us think, and after all, isn't that the point of the game?
you know, strangely this reminds me of an old BBS game called "BBS Hacker" except with more graphics, a few more options, and deeper gameplay.
Does anyone know what's up with Introversion's website? I've been itching to buy this game since I finished the demo, but no avenue of purchase is forthcoming. The suspicious "You don't have permission to access [any path] on this server" suggests that either Introversion got slashdotted and are trying to cope..or some script kiddy thought it would be a cute prank to take them out of service.
the ABOSOLUTELY best part about the game is that the protovision game server is in it! (remember war games?) i got into it, via the all-famous password JOSHUA...its SO great they actually kept it...and it gave me the list of games, but global thermonuclear war was unavailable in the demo...(MUST get full version!)
QED
BSD is for people who love UNIX. Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.
Feel free to use it if you want. (Just US version)
Gonzo Granzeau
"Nothing the god of biomechanics wouldn't let you into heaven for.." -Roy Batty
here is the demo for Linux.
mail received from webmaster@introvision.co.uk:
I'm afraid you've mistaken our intentions. Believe me, nobody at Introversion Software wants our site to be down right now - in fact we are
simply horrified about it since we have lost so many potential visitors.
Our web site service provider shut us down a couple of hours after the slashdot article,
and we haven't been able to contact them since.
I can assure you, we did not "pull the plug". What reason would we have?
Anyway, thanks for your interest. -webmaster
One thing I like about Loki's games is that I install 'em, then the CD can go to whereever-it-is that all my CDs go to, and I can just play the game forever without having to remember where the CD is.
This game, Uplink, is like that too, except for one little thing: whenever you create a user, there's a grid-lookup thing where you have to look up some numbers from a black piece of paper, with black (but different textured) lettering. It is an attempt at copy protection.
It's not something that happens a lot (unless you screw up and forget to pause the game you're interrupted in Real Life while in the game you're being traced ;-) so it's not a big deal, but it is there.
And as usual, it only annoys Introversion's real customers (people like me) who have sent them money, and pirates have undoubtably disabled it in their versions. :-/ I would not have bought the game if I knew it was going to treat me like a criminal. Loki doesn't do that, and I've bought something like 7 or 8 games from them. These guys do it, so they only get my money once (because I didn't know), and never again.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Closed minds, indeed. Is that how you managed to become so ignorant?
I played this game on a friend's computer and soon stopped. Thing is you're able to *downgrade* your gateway. In my case I chose to install a modem that I then learnt was slower than the one actually included. So here I was with a slow modem not able to crack any password or retrieve any data files. I was stuck.
I hope some patches are available.
dCX
Magius_AR
Thanks for the spoiler, fucknut.
Wow, you've managed to spoil a game AND a movie in a single post. Great fucking job.