I ran across this gem of the internet today. It's a multiplayer mySQL based hacking game. You're given $250 and a virtual computer. The internet consists of a dozen or so IP addresses with labels. Two of them are hacking warez sites, and you don't have any software, so hit one of them up, get a password cracker and a spam virus, then see what other computers you can get into, upload the virus, run it, and delete your actions from the log file.

Cleaning the log file is important! Other players will be trawling them looking for IPs they haven't hacked yet, and if yours is in there you'll end up with a virus! Of course, you can do the same.

Viruses on your virtual PC don't actually harm your ability to play in any way, but they are making money for that other player. Want to get rid of them? Find some anti-virus software in your hacking exploits!

Once you've got a few bot PCs sending out spam you can harvest some cash, stick it in your bank account (edit your own log file, the banks can be hacked too!) and upgrade your hardware with it.

I still haven't gotten up to being able to hack a bank yet: their firewall is better than my "waterwall." Shame too, I've got 4 bank numbers I've skimmed off log files.

think i'll stick to playing uplink, or maybe even decker

One person in the thread I found this called it a multiplayer Uplink.

Just want to bump this because the more I play this game (it happens in essentially real time) the more I learn about good hacking technique.

I made a mistake and found a hack threat in the access log of the server I'd just logged into and had to hit the limited use "oh shit" button (resetting my virtual-IP). I hadn't cleared the log fast enough and left my IP in there for several minutes, and if the threat was carried out I'd have been knocked back to square 1.*

One of the very painful rules of the game is: no matter how fast you were, someone else was faster.

*It's quite possible to achieve decent status and then get sent back to start and recover in under 12 hours. I mean, there's levels I haven't gotten to of course, so "fairly well off" here is the equivalent of surviving the Milk Run campaign: there's a long way to go yet, but you're strong enough to not get hacked by noobs.

Decker?

As for the game, I played it back when it first came out. Personally I wasn't overly enamored of it at the time, though I know they have since added several things I (and likely tons of other people) suggested to improve the game such as external storage so that you didn't always get nailed back to square one when you got hacked.

Yeah, there's an external drive. Starts at 0.1 GB (main drive starts at 1 GB). So you don't save a lot of stuff, but all you need is your current water wall and seek program. Anything else you just keep notes for where to get off NPCs again.

http://www10.caro.net/dsi/decker/

Which gets boring once you realize that cybercombat "just kills you." I have a level 10 character file who doesn't even own attack programs (well, nothing beyond what he started with) but has like, level 14 stealth, spoof, and smoke.

I started playing slavehack a week ago...LOVE IT.

I think I've logged over 40 hours playing. Now, a good portion of it has been sitting idle while on my computer at work, occaisionally hacking a computer or uploading some virus to make money. Lots of fun and yeah, there is some good technique here. And honestly, I can see a lot of methods I can use to better describe hacking in my SR4 games.

I've already upgraded my external once, my HDD a couple times, my CPU a couple times and am working with a 4Mbit connection. Pretty sweet! I can get ahold of 10-15 slaves in short time, then drop a virus on them and make a couple thousand overnight, which is pretty nice.

Thanks for finding this!

You're welcome!

And that's pretty much how I've been playing at work.

(I actually have two accounts--bad me--one for home and one for work, and treat them as if I was two people: I don't share IP addresses or swap viri, etc. but it gives me the freedom to completely F*ck Up at work because I had to do work and didn't clear a log file fast enough; work account made ~6100 over the weekend (1 surviving slave); home account is running at ~295 euro an hour total off some 20 to 22 slaves; saving up for a good internet connection now; 6 Mb isn't cutting it).

...and I'm done with Slave Hack. I made the mistake of venturing into their forums and running into an attitude that puts Goon Swarm to shame.
It could have been a goon, but really, its not acceptable to be told to "suck a d--- and choke" and the offending poster is not banned (after repeat offenses, even).

Even had two SHers join another forum I'm on and drag that drama with them.

The game is fine.

Avoid the forum.

[[And if Contempt sees this, you're as unwelcome here as you are on Bay12, same goes for Jaybird. Icky-Sticky, if you manage to see this, you can follow your own advice and -redacted-. RaZr can -redacted-, and mmistermeh can be fired from mod duty for incompetence.]]

That sucks, I was just about to ask if DSFers that played wanted to try and form a hacking clan and chip in for a GS or something.

I've been on the forums, but only to read. I have no desire to post anything.

I'm now just trying to find the best bang I can go out with (eg. break as many rules as possible) and get banned.

Goon swarm?you mean the guys who make EVE online one big ganker grief fest? I never spent much time playing EVE but those guys where pretty big A-holes,if the SH forums are worst then I can't even imagine what that must be like.

Goons have a heavy presence on Slave Hack, though the SH staff (from what I've observed) basically doesn't give a damn. If you read my post and fill in the blanks you can figure out who said what and was not banned by whom.

There are some big a-holes on the SH forums, which drives players away. It's a shame, I like the game and would like to see more ppl in it.

Then they are bigger losers the I though,spending all that time and effort organizing them selves just to be asshats in on-line games,pathetic.

Yup, and I was told I was a jerk for scaring a noob away from the game by playing with a server's access logs.



Yes, yes they are.