hackware: prototype
A downloadable game for Windows
Hackware is a hacking simulation for PC. Inspired by movies and culture from the 80's and 90's. Connect to systems, explore their contents and discover their secrets.
Explore
Networks filled with vulnerable systems and data. While they aren't all advertised they can be found if you know how and where to look.
Learn
A command-line interface based on existing systems. Designed to be accessible to people with no prior experience but not overly simplified to others.
Hack
You will not always have the username and password at hand. Hack the systems using the terminal to gain access and complete your job.
DEV NOTE
This is a work in progress. Any feedback is appreciated.
There is no tutorial yet because I am focusing on implementing more mechanics. If you have trouble with any command type "help [command]" in terminal for examples.
Windows will display a warning about being a virus on launch. You should be able to run the game in a sandbox as a precaution.
Download
Development log
- Hack[ware] v0.45May 27, 2022
- Hack[ware] v0.44May 08, 2022
- Making Design Choices For A Hacking GameFeb 22, 2022
- Hack[ware] v0.43Sep 30, 2021
Comments
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This was a cool prototype. I really enjoy the aesthetic you're going for. I hope you end up coming back to this and fleshing it out a bit more!
Thanks man, really appreciate it!
Really great game. I got through the secret server by guessing the password. By the way, to answer the question you asked in the secret server, trace is everything, if there is a fast trace, the level will become difficult regardless, but with no trace, the level will become easy regardless.
wasn't planing on commenting again but i saw the first comment i did was 8 months ago and the last one was 4 months ago and it seemed to funny to text after 4 months again for the third time how is it going
Hey man, that is funny and I really do appreciate you reaching out. If you can, add me on discord.
yea sure thing just tell me where
I think the details are in the game launch window or in the about window in game?
yea it was i added you mb for not checking well enough lol
Hey man just wanted to see how your doing hope to see an update soo
Had lot going on with work recently but have gotten past the creative block. You will be the first to know if I have anything :)
Awesome stuff so far, as a lover of hacknet/uplink/nt4 I love the atmosphere in the game, and can't wait for more content! Good luck! Ill be keeping my eye on this one!
hello had just 1 question are u still working on the game hope to see more jobs soon had alot of fun playning the gam
Hi, really happy to hear you had fun with it. I have taken a long break from it tbh due to life/work and having creative block on where I want the game to go story wise. I would like to try and get back into it in 2024
im stuck after opening the mail at the start help
If you have only two windows open go to the top right icon and click "Startup". After that you can click on the ip address in the email. Then it is up to you, good luck
thanks!
Trying to do zt05. After setting raexec i try execute it, and get crash with this error:
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object obj_terminal_window:
DoAdd :1: undefined value
at gml_Script_scr_terminal_execute
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_scr_terminal_execute (line -1)
gml_Object_obj_terminal_window_Step_0
Uploaded a fix for it. There was a similar issue across the other exploits so fixed those too and added you to the player credit list in my computer. If you see any other problems let me know. You can always message me on twitter or discord too. Thanks again.
what discord?
Main menu screen on the bottom right corner. It is just to DM me.
A pretty fun little hacking game, rather similar to hacknet, but going its own way in a manner which is actually pretty fun. Figuring out the commands needed were... a bit wonky ("peek" was one I managed to forget pretty quickly, "jobs" and "accept" doesn't seem to be listed anywhere, and I kept trying to use "cat" instead of 'read'. In addition the download and upload commands weren't obvious to me. That might be some translation thing though, I don't really know.
As for the question you asked in the secret: I think it's a *bit* much with that timer, at least unless you have the ability to stall or extend the timer. Even with the tab completion I only barely made the timer on the second go around. Some form of mild automation would also be rather nice, like the ability to chain the command to configure and execute in one go.
As it is, the atmosphere was rather nice, and I was very amused to see a Fifth Element reference crop up even before the Matrix one!
Thank you for the feedback! I really appreciate it and it's awesome for me if you had fun and amazing that you spotted Fifth Element since no one else has noticed so far. It's been so long I had forgotten about it.
I'm sorry about the wonky learning curve. The test servers are there to show the 'core' commands I want to use in the game play loop and see if they can use them and bug fix if anything comes up.
The commands are not going to be up to Linux standard because I am not including piping or other things non technical people might consider difficult. So that is why certain commands you may be familiar with are different / simplified. 'open' is used instead of 'cat' for example. 'peek' is a reference to the commodore basic language. When a tutorial is fleshed out I hope it gets more use so people don't forget. Aside from directories I want it to be the main way players can explore a computer and see cool art.
I will update the help file to make sure job, accept and check are there. Also will have a look at the download and upload commands to make them clearer. I'd love to include chain command as well and will have a look to see how feasible it could be to include.
Thanks again!
Oh, I understand, and I was mainly just hoping to get "cat" as an alias for "open", just so my initial instinct opens up the files :P
I did really appreciate the art and felt it added quite a bit to things! And the output of "dprint" (which is only really mentioned with the helpme screen) works well enough to introduce the various exploit programs. Heck, once you get far enough, you can (ab)use tab completion so you don't have to remember which does what, or even look into what a given exploit wants in the first place! I'm imagining some of the future exploits might end up being things derived from the information already present, like "third letter in the superuser" or something. The wonky learning curve works well enough for now given the near-zero current penalty for failing, it's just a bit frustrating to be spamming various commands to figure out what you want for download (I was under the assumption that the "helpme" was supposed to be a hint system rather than documentation).
As it is, Looking forward to seeing how this goes!
As an alias it is no problem, I was just afraid of using some commands when they miss certain additional functionality. In case that annoys people. It can be added in easily otherwise.
Think of the 'helpme' as a stopgap to avoid writing a story / real introduction. When I changed mechanics before it meant scrapping a lot of dialogue as well.
Tab is meant to be abused. It is to help give off that speed hacker feel. How you see them in the movies just typing instinctively. That is why long strings like superuser are unique after the first 1 or 2 characters.
Thanks again!
I finally did it
Nice man, can't believe you got through it all. I can see you didn't figure out the second solution to the rob mission though. :)
Actually there's two solutions to every mission I think. Just for those that can't follow instructions.
I guess I got a new goal.
but u can just log in :P