Hacking game idea.

Nice Coder · 2004-11-26T19:15:54

You have been commisioned by [insert alias], to hack into the nsa's supercluster, codenamed SPYHUNTER. While in spyhunter, you are to complete missions. At the end of each mission, you will recieve a reward. As you progress through the game, new missions will be unlocked, allowing you to progress further, and eventually finish the game. Missions, would be: for eg. Insert Trojen into A:\data\Secutity\Autorun Or delete file A:\data\records\Criminal\Federal\JoeSmith In order to do these things, you need to hack the system, using tools you have unlocked (by hacking), or have been given by [insert alias]. The win condition is to complete all the missions, and find the root password. You must opperate without nsa security noticing, this is one of the hard parts, trying to break into a system, when it is looking for people breaking in (using obvious means, non-obvious means would probably not be looked for). Some missions are timed (ie. security backup in 30 minutes, you must patch virus1 into A:\data\security\Manager), and logs are kept (and sometimes must be erased within a time limit) You start off with a guest account. With that account, you can view, write to, read from, and execute from, \usr\guest In there, you get your first mission. You also get your tools. These are: A dissassembler (to look at programs, what they do, decompiles to a heigh level language) A patcher (to patch in viruses, and hacks) A Memory editor (to look at programs that you are running, it cannot see other programs that are being run by other people). A compiler (compiles code, for hacks) A file viewer (to look at files, used to read logs, text documents, ect.) And other things, which would be unlocked by [insert alias]. These would probably get unlocked one at a time, as you complete your first few missions. (with maybe the file viewer coming at the beginning.) Good game idea? Comments? Sugestions? Anything else? Am i running out of question marks? From, Nice coder [Edited by - Nice Coder on November 20, 2004 4:00:04 AM]

superpig

1,826

November 25, 2004 03:20 AM

You should definitely play Uplink.

A command-line hacking game could be fun, but it may not be very engaging. One of the things Uplink did very well was a sense of tension - you get a 'trace tracker' which tells you how close you are to being traced and disconnected by beeping. The faster the beeps, the closer you are to being detected. So you're sat there waiting for the last of the corporation's database to copy down and navigating back through their security system to erase your logs and the trace tracker is just emitting a constant squeal... real adrenaline rush.

Uplink is not realistic, but it has style.

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TechnoGoth

2,939

November 25, 2004 07:18 AM

Uplink went the right route with as a hacking game, it choose to be Hollywood style hacking as opposed to real hacking. The fact is that a command line based only hacking game would appeal to only to very small niche market. If you can achieve a similar game using a graphical system you would attract a much larger audience. You could even integrate both system into the same game and allow the user choose their hacking style. Perhaps in the game the graphical interface is easier to use and more visually appealing but its slower then the command line system.

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superpig

1,826

November 25, 2004 12:31 PM

Quote:
Original post by TechnoGoth
You could even integrate both system into the same game and allow the user choose their hacking style. Perhaps in the game the graphical interface is easier to use and more visually appealing but its slower then the command line system.

Funnily enough, that's almost exactly what Uplink did - you could go to the file browser and drop a 'file deleter' program on each one listed, or you could launch the Console and type "cd usr; del *.*" to do it the quick way. There were a few things you could do through the console that you couldn't do anywhere else, such as deleting system files and shutting down the machine.

Richard "Superpig" Fine - saving pigs from untimely fates - Microsoft DirectX MVP 2006/2007/2008/2009
"Shaders are not meant to do everything. Of course you can try to use it for everything, but it's like playing football using cabbage." - MickeyMouse

Xipe66

122

November 26, 2004 10:43 AM

Like others have already said, take a real good look at Uplink, it's by far the best hacking game made; it's the game to beat in that "genre".

Another game you should look at that has alot of hacking and tons of style and immersion is Neuromancer. It's pretty old now (released by Interplay in 1990), but wow what a game. Lots of neat ideas you can get from that one too.

Neuromancer was probably the first really cool hacking game made (personally I never got into Hacker and Hacker II). A classic you really should look at.

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As for the ideas you have presented, a few comments:

* if you make it a "command line game", please do it in a UN*X environment, I wouldn't be caught dead hacking in a DOS environment! :)

* make sure you start thinking about a plot - lots of crappy hacking games have been made over the years (just Google a bit and you'll find a handful), all sucked mostly because there wasn't any incentive to play at all. Have a story that sucks the player in is more important than the actual technical implemenation of the hacking part... again, have a look at Uplink and Neuromancer

* reality is nice and all... but hacking in real life is boring... and if I was gonna do it I wouldn't do it the script-kiddie way... so my suggestion to you is that you ease up a bit on the "reality" of it all and make it fun and cool instead