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?"
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)?
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."
./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.
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
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?!
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.
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.
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
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_
In other gaming news, Blizzard will release the Windows version of Warcraft III on the SAME DAY as the Windows version of Warcraft III is released.
Back to World News, when Osama bin Laden is caught and executed by the US experts predict that he will die at the same time...
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
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
hawk, who learned to program by cheating at appletrek
Infallible logic, that.
</SARCASM>
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
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.
- About
- Latest News
- FAQ
- Demo
- Other Files
Sorry no screenshots, images.google.com doesn't seem to have them. Enjoy!"I don't trust goats," --To Catch a Spy
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.
paradox.tydel.com:/pub/games/uplinkdemo_linux.zip
there are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots
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.
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.
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
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.
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 ]
Here's a link to Fileplanet.com.. A lot easier..
i le =80967
http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?section=0&f
That's right, let's find a reason to say that it isn't worth the money. Then we can all justify not buying the game so the company will stop offering it and we can all go back to playing $CLONE and $SEQUEL on $WINDOWS_VERSION_OF_THE_WEEK
I mean, we certainly wouldn't want to encourage anything *original* or *different* would we?
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..
Only 10 users. More mirrors please, and the windows link also.
. in troversion.co.uk/cgi-bin/countdown1.cgi?uplinkdemo .exe
Also, something funny to read -
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:http://www
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..
Of course, now that I've said that, someone will provide at least 3 counter examples...
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
You try and fly an airplane into a building in MS Flight Sim - it's hard!
News and bla for computer musicians: http://lomechanik.net/
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.
Have ye tried reading the readme and following all the helpful suggestions?
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
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.
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
*clicks on "Firewall bypass"*
*clicks on "Proxy bypass"*
*plays admin's voice sample*
*clicks on "Decypher"*
*clicks on "Password Breaker"*
*transfers 1,000,000 dollars*
*cleans up logs*
If I could break into banks that easily in real life, I certainly wouldn't be wasting my time doing it in the game. :)
-Legion
-Legion
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.
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...
Oh, I don't know. Back in the Apple ][ days I regularly flew into the Hancock building. The only building on the entire horizon, but it was a big Cessna-sucking black-hole. Ever since, I've wondered why anyone without a death-wish would ever fly out of Meigs Field.
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
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.
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
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.