Saturday, March 22, 2008

An old favourite of mine revisited

For those of you who hasn't seen this game before, I can only say, check it out NOW. This is by far the most innovative and amusing game to play for all of us computer geeks.

The game starts with you signing up at Uplink to become a professional cracker (note the avoidance of the term hacker, hacker is imho something entirely different from a cracker) who makes his/her living out of compromising the security of everything from corporate mainframes to academic records to bank accounts to fulfill the tasks you are given.
Introversion's Uplink is one of the most captivating and innovative games I've played in a long time.

The best thing about this game is that the storyline is very loosely held, you play it when you feel ready for it. There are tons of other missions to complete to gain money to buy better programs, better hardware, and even upgrading your gateway (the computer frame you connect through when you crack computers).

And if you should stumble upon a bank account with a sizable content, then the only thing that is stopping you from moving those funds into your account is if you have the skill, knowhow, proper equipment/programs and backbone to do so. (my personal record is moving 900,000 credits into my own account).

It also features a fully functional stock market that you can both play and influence, have a job from a company that wants you to ruin their competitors? Buy the hiring company's stocks before the job. Do what you are asked to do, then fast forward 24 hours and watch your stocks increase in value.

A few tips along the way:

  • Whenever you crack, always connect through either the Uplink test server or the interNIC server first. InterNIC preferably since there is no trace what so ever from this server.
  • Always bounce through several other servers, the more servers the better. This will give you more time to perform your task.
  • Always delete the reroute logs fro the interNIC log so you cannot be passively traced.
  • Know when to bail when you have an Active Trace on your trail, if they get too close disconnect and try again.
  • If you have time, delete the logs from the target computer as well, this will cause even further confusion.
  • Connecting through a couple of goverment owned computers makes it harder for a passive trace to gain result.
  • Connecting though a server where you have a useraccount makes take longer for an active trace, connecting through a computer where you have a working admin account makes gives you even more time.
  • Buy the best software you can afford, there is no point in getting the v1 stuff unless you can't afford better.
Play it cool, don't download this game, buy it, Introversion is a small company with a lot of innovative ideas that pushes the limit of what we perceive as games. They deserve the income (at least imo).

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