The Hacker Project - a free online game

Lets play with this idea a bit..Try and tweak in a few old ideas with some new ones...

True Light Operating System, or TLOS for short, is the OS given with the computer True Light designates us.

The main purpose for TLOS is to allow a user to run a PC. If your TLOS is not running, your computer can not start any outbound connections. Running a TLOS allows you nearly full control of a server if activated remotely.

The TLOS Expires once every 168 hours (once per week) and from there must be restarted, or it can be started remotely. Gold members' Localhost TLOS do not expire. It takes 336 hours (2 weeks) to activate a TLOS remotely, but can be activated locally instantly. If you successfully activate a TLOS remotely, you gain control of the server - to the point where you can upgrade hardware, but not change IP/server name - until the owner of the server can change IP or format the HDD and run the TLOS locally or the 168 hours later when it expires again.. Remotehost TLOS activations expire weekly as well. If your TLOS is not running, a localhost Format HDD is instant but wipes the server completely - knocking it back to base hardware. This allows players the option of a "fresh start" after seeing their PCs have been used, or they could simply Change IP and take advantage of it at any point in time. It's a big risk for anyone who wants to use a remote PC for research or storage or the like.

This will allow us to keep closer tabs on who is active and who isn't, as well as keeping other players on their toes. It will also allow us an incredibly vast expansion of resources - When you have a TLOS running remotely, you can upgrade the hardware on the remote server. This will allow players to ACTUALLY claim servers - with TLOS programs. It'll also be a nice surprise if one of these inactive players decide to come back to the game - and may want to make them stay, IF they change IP instead of formatting.

The TLOS must - ALWAYS - be your highest level running program, or your computer will not function properly. Your BW will randomly change, and your PC will give you false readings as to your hardware levels and running program used resources, etc.

Here's the trick: You can research a TLOS remotely so long as it is not running, allowing for nearly full control of the server. Remote TLOS research can only be stopped by the original owner of the server, or the user researching the file.

It can not be encrypted, hidden or deleted off any PC. It can not be stopped remotely but can be shut down locally (effectively allowing players to "shut down" their pcs before going to bed at night or the like - This will let you know in the morning if you've been hacked if someone is trying to activate your TLOS, which can easily be stopped, then you start your TLOS, and you are safe for a week).

If a TLOS is not running, all remote actions may still be done to a PC.

So there it is. It probably needs a lot of work but I think that'd be a great help to the game.

What do you think?

MORE SUGGESTIONS LOWER
MORE SUGGESTIONS LOWER
MORE SUGGESTIONS LOWER

Interesting... so each server has the OS already there, so you could pretty much go "inactive" and let someone do all the researching on your TLOS for you?

That sounds fun.  Maybe a new server, edit it to look like an inactive player, and let someone "find" it and claim it and start upgrading it, then step in and bump them out, thank them for all their help and change the IP.

Would the actual owner be able to kill the remote TLOS early or would they have to wait for the time out?  Would you be able to start a claim while it's already runnning (like starting a second AV or something, stagger them so they finish in such a way that you don't have to lose connection and wait)

This could lead to interesting customizations if expanded.  Maybe you custom research your TLOS to more efficiently use CPU (slightly reduces CPU requirements of programs) or something.

Can the TLOS be downloaded?  How big is it?

EDIT:

Also, what about HOS, OOS, IOS? (Hakuza OS, Omnicron OS, Icarus OS)

Maybe each OS gives you a slightly different boost.  Also, if you complete a mission accepted from a server that belonged to the OS you are currently running you gain a small boost?  Maybe claiming a Hakuza server with a OOS instead of a HOS causes some sort of inefficiency?

The way I had thought it out would be so that if a player had gone inactive, his resources (and ultimately HP server BW) could be used up in a positive way, but if that player decided to come back he could regain control of his TLOS easily. We don't want anyone to literally be able to do NOTHING.

Other mega-corp OS's could be added, and that could even tie in to the suggestions a while ago about mega-corp alignment.

Every server would have a TLOS already - in fact maybe even a separate page for each servers TLOS files - and could be researched remotely.

Yes this would allow players to go inactive for a long period of time (say a month or so) and other players could use their servers or even upgrade them for them.

To prevent abuse there may have to be caps on what can be upgraded remotely.

Custom researching a TLOS would be AWESOME. Perhaps even take it a step further.

Patch Virii. You can install patches to TLOS's to give them positive or negative effects. Totally jack up and customize your server - it will NEVER be the same as someone elses with all kinds of different patches (Say each OS would allow you to patch it 10 times before it is either complete or you must wait for it to expire/restart it to re-patch it a different way). That's the end-game depth I'm looking for. Totally patch up someone's computer with different patch virii that make it run in different ways, while completely customizing my servers so they are never the same as anyone elses - or patched in a certain way like a group specific set of patches.

Also it gives players a MAJOR reason to buy gold as you wouldnt want your totally patched up OS to expire and have to repatch it weekly.

Examples of Patch Virii:

+CPU Patch: gives the server the OS is installed on 500 MHz of CPU - costs more than normal - this could be the effective anti-abuse tactic for siremi: Don't let players upgrade hardware on server's they have captured, instead let them patch them 10 times, and restart the TLOS. This would allow a cap on upgrades (every 2 weeks you would only be able to add 5000 MHz CPU as you can only patch your OS 10 times and would have to restart the OS which takes 2 weeks)
-CPU Patch
+RAM Patch
-RAM Patch
etc etc for hardware

the - patches are there so you can quickly and easily bomb a server, but only 10 times/2 weeks with the cap on patches + expiry.

and then you could get "special" patches - the ones you want to customize with:

Download Accelerator Patch: your downloads run 10% faster - this will allow Public FTP servers to run much more effectively

Opposite file listed above.

a patch that allows your HDD to run up +5% more capacity that it's cap - allowing for repository servers and the like, or just a quick HDD patch if you need that tiny bit of HDD room.

Opposite file listed above, takes up 5% of the HDD.

Patches that automatically delete logs if you have a log deleter running - it will delete at the log deleters level

Patches that automatically detect when a person has cracked your server - with our without an admin login

Patches that allow you to delete or undelete ALL of the logs on a server instantly - if you have a running deleter/undeleter (Will not uncover logs deleted with a deleter version higher than the deleter)

Patch that does not allow your IP to be pinged

Patch that does not allow your files to be deleted (Unless the person trying to delete them has a deleter patch with a version higher than your delete blocker patch)

Patch that automatically collects any virii that were activated from that server still tied to it every so many hours depending on the patch version. - this will allow players to steal virii profits that have been sitting on inactive servers for weeks and weeks or make it so that some players never have to collect again.

Patch that automatically completes a task if you assign it, when it is completed

Connection patch, allows you to change IP without losing any active virii connections (Localhost only)

Anti-Virus patch, which automatically begins disinfecting any virii installed on the gateway so long as there is an adequate AV on the gateway.

And then there's always malicious patches, so we can really have some fun:

Malware overload/logic patch, effectively a 0.05 malware overload/logic bomb that attacks the hardware/software 24/7 (leaves no logs)

Malware combo patch, read above, combined.

IP Database patch, adds all IP database IPs of the owner of the server

I would really like to see Emi's input on this. I hope he likes it.

Exactly.  Customization is what really makes games like this interesting.

I've been trying to figure out how to take the stuff I've seen in other games and convert it to here.  Skill systems, custom hardware.

So let me get this straight, you add 10 CPU patches.  The TLOS restarts.  Those 10 patches are now... permanent?  gone?

Can you research patches up?  Maybe a higher level CPU patch gives a boost of 550, then 600?  Patches must be equal or lower to the level of the TLOS obviously.

Edit: It's time for sleep, I will have to pick up this discussion tomorrow.

The hardware boost/destroy patches would reset, all the others would be permanent (but removable?) i dont know........ I don't know, maybe the patches would stay on the OS until it was researched again.

and yeah, there would be higher version and lower version patches. a higher version download accelerator patch for example - could increase 20% instead of 10% and a user would only have to use 1 patch slot instead of two.

And say if your TLOS was version 10.0, the max version patch you'd be able to put on it would be 1.0. It would make sense if the patches actually increased the TLOS version level.

This would allow players to constantly keep tweaking their OS and noone's will ever be the same.

Now obviously a LOT of ideas are going to have to be touched up upon or altered in a way - these are pretty much jot notes, after all.

Double posting this here as with the alignment thread because they overlap:

*Jaw Drops*

SirEmi, please add this to HP. This is what HP needs to jump up a level in PBBG (Persistent Browser Based Game). The thought of customization and operating systems is amazing. This is what I have been waiting for, for the longest time.

+ Infinity Support.

What it needs is for research to go AT LEAST .2 instead of .06, it will act as if it had gone up .06 (slower benefits) but it will make it much easier to keep as your top software!
It could also be a hardware/software, you can upgrade it as a hardware, but it would be an instant research, and it would go up by w/e (you had a .1 TLOS, you now have a .99 TLOS, each TLOS would have a seperate tab, and you could make the patches there. They are the researchs for the TLOS, patches. They could make your gateway much more adept at w/e you patch it at. (cracking, downloading, uploading, increasing stats [discounts!!], etc.

Or, in addition to normal research you could install patches that would automatically boost your OS by a certain version.

Is this actually persistent, though? I mean, doesn't "Persistent" imply a lack of resets? ;)

... That is what we are trying to achieve with the FU (faith union). We can prolong it for quite a while.

I thought the FU was all about installing the rev virus....

To truly defeat an enemy, you must know how it ticks.

gs 059 = /FAIL


Please keep the topic ON TOPIC.

Siremi, would you like to comment?

The ideas are great, customization is my expertise so it could be implemented.

What you need to work on is how this will balance all of it and to allow as little abuse as possible.

Now if the patches / upgrades to this OS have an expiration time of 1 week for non-Gold and 2 weeks for Gold, combined with each patch adding up to the version of the OS up to a limit of V 10 for non-Gold and V 20 for Gold, we may have something here...

Then comes the part of defining and balancing those upgrades / patches, maybe combining bonuses and stuff and maybe the patches are composed of parts of programs that you get from missions and then you combine those programs to make the custom patches:

e.g. for a +10% transfer rate patch you need:
- 100 logical algorithm
- 20 compare function
- 25 for statements
- 5 recursive function

All in all great ideas, keep them coming :)

That's taking this idea to the next level. Each patch has different versions, and the OS (Or multiple OS's, if using different ones from different mega-corps, which someone else suggested) has a cap on the maximum version of ALL patches, combined, that'd be great.

More "Elite" patches would obviously take up more of your OS Space, but the customization still has endless possibilities.

If anything comes out of this idea, I'd love to see patches at least.

These are my ideas based on all other ideas:
The OS dont expire after 168 hours, it run as long as no one try to shut it down using.
Therefor it cannot be killed like any other proccess.
To prevent abuse it would be protected by password that the owner of the server select.
It means that you need to get the password before you can shut down someone else server.
Shutting down remotly take 2 hours, local shut down take 1 hour.
Then the timer finish the server will attempt to complete all the tasks it have, if it cant it will kill the task.
Activating server take 1 hour regardless to if its local or remote.

Then the OS is active you can set files to read only, again using password, the limit is 10 files for non-gold players and 30 files for gold players, limited per server owned.
You can buy the passwords at the dealer... only that you can only buy for private server that are in you IP DB and you'll have to guss to who the password belong. or another option is that you'll know the IP but you'll have to wait some time befor hacking.

If your server's OS was remotly activated you will have to shut it down and restart it before you can use it, this to prevent people to use it for abuse of free stuff for zero work. {but i like this idea ^_^ }

only the server woner can change the passwords.

On the IP DB an offline server will be shown as SO {Shut Off}

Then a server is SO it would be easy to hack it because no protection is activated BUT... its useless because you cant access any file unless the OS is working.
Another point here: then remotly activating OS it will do this:
attempt to activate the highest verision of:
Firewall protect
Password protect
Scan blocker
IP cloaker
Auto gateway password change
Now you will have to hack the server again ^_^"


The size of the OS is 1GB
the same with the  /root/OS/os.sock

if i have more ideas i will edit this post

hope you like it

Just had a thought along these lines. (This wouldn't exclude any of the ideas in this thread and will even supplement them.)

One of the biggest debates going on these days is the discrepancy between veterans and newbies. There is also the PvP issues.

What if we took this Operating System concept and expanded it into the realm of player "levels?" In other words, you upgrade to a different operating system when you reach a certain development level. The new OS speeds things up, but it is incompatible with your old OS, rendering any actions against those of a lower "level" futile. You can still crack, log into, and transfer files between any platform, thereby you can help out those of a lower "level" than you are.

The incentive to upgrade would be faster run and delete times and access to higher program version levels and, perhaps, some software would only be available on certain operating systems. You would be able to break into stronger NPC servers and take missions with greater rewards rather than the current system which seems to punish new players more and more as the game ages and the version requirements increase while the payouts remain relatively flat.

The disadvantage would be that you would be exposed to attacks from players and the missions would be harder.

Let me explain by example.

A simplified version of this would use, let's say, three operating systems which we will call Slimeware OS, Medianware OS, and Eliteware OS.

As a new player you get Slimeware installed on your system for free. This gives you all the basics and you can perform delete and small disinfect missions but you do not have the ability to run things like Malware, Spyware, Fileshare, Robber Baron, Revelation and their related Anti-virus version or Decrypt/Encrypt. You also cannot be part of a faction. You can attack other players who have Slimeware OS installed and can research and run up to V5.0 software. You can, in theory, download and hold versions greater than v5.0 and even hold the unusable programs on your HDD, but you cannot run them. Activating Malware on a remotehost would not work either as the target would either be running Slimeware or would be a higher OS which you cannot interact with and would probably have protects higher than you can crack. Slimeware cannot overload either, and Medianware servers would start out at v5.0 protects.

This would grant newbies and learners an increased level of protection from abusive players of higher level and experience. They could be hacked by these guys but that's all they could really do. You'd only need fear another Slimeware user who can only infect you with adware, kill your tasks, delete or hide your files. Nothing really all that major, especially if they are Gold members and have that FTP server to back things up on. Conversely, they could still be assisted by higher level players because they can still transfer files to and from other OS types.

Now, the player has maxed out their protects and is looking for a greater challenge. They've heard about the advantages of faction membership from their fellow group members, some of which have already moved on to a new OS. They are bored of delete missions and marginal returns from Adware virii. What do they have to do? It's simple, really, upgrading to the new operating system would require that one crack a maxed out faction public server of a new type. This may even be done through the software dealer. The amount of time would be minimal, say an hour per owned server. We'll call these upgrade servers Portal Servers for the purposes of this example. The player must reach a certain power ranking appropriate for their new level and then upgrade their servers through a portal server or the software dealer. This process would cost a bit of cash and AP, but the benefits would be worth it.

The player is now running Medianware OS. This allows access to faction membership, faction missions, Fileshare, Spyware, Encrypt/Decrypt, and a host of new public and secret servers to find and crack. They can now research and run programs up to v20.0 so they can still use all the software they had accumulated under Slimeware (software backwards compatibility) but they cannot cause any harm to Slimeware servers (incompatible file systems, like FAT and NTFS).

They are still protected from the highest echelons of players and can help newbies but they can now play freely among players of approximately equal caliber and enjoy gaining faction skills and faction standing as well as higher payouts from delete and disinfect missions of a higher caliber (larger delete files and virii disinfects) but can start customizing their OS to a certain extent, improving their delete times within a certain range and other things listed in this thread.

This keeps the playing field level while allowing us to delete that v3.5 Encryptor in 4 hours instead of 40, for example. (Numbers obviously not so scale!)

When they get bored of running Medianware, they can find another Portal Server (or go to the software dealer) and gain an upgrade to Eliteware OS. This would take a bit longer, say 2 hours per owned server. The countdown would take place either in the account page and/or on the server run processes page, so they know how much longer they need to wait.

The player now has access to the full spectrum of software and capabilities. They can also become the target of Malware and Revelation attacks! They can use Robber Baron virii to maximize their income while completing only the hardest and best paying missions, gaining more standing as well, so they can afford the occasional malware strike eating away at their hardware.

What do you all think?

Obviously, there is room for improvement and tweaking and I'd like to see at least six actual operating systems if this were implemented but it would probably take quite a bit of retooling of the game engine.

We would want to keep Gold membership out of the requirements for higher level OSes for fairness sake, but there could be a special Gold Eliteware OS, for example, which could be an option only to Gold members which would be functionally the same within the game mechanics but it would allow some visual customization such as colored text in the server descriptions and other basically benign but interesting incentives. A lateral upgrade from standard to Gold Eliteware would not take much time or resources as they are essentially the same.

I think its good but one question
what if someone have 3 server with different OS?
could he have access to attack everyone? noobs and veteran alike?
it could allow to abusive players { like the one who dont leave me alone ever since i started playing } to keep dameging others and destroying the will of playing HP

I'm actually thinking that the upgrade effects all servers--your whole personal intranet, hardware and software--hence the 1 hour or 2 hours per owned server. There is no owning 3 servers with different OS. You upgrade all of them or none of them.

Also, there is no going back. Once the upgrade is made, you're stuck. No downgrading to harass lower rank players.

Besides, even if you could have 3 servers with different OS, you would still have to abide by the restrictions of the one currently serving as your active gateway. Go ahead, switch down to a Slimeware OS gateway, lower payout missions and the software cap still apply. You've done nothing but handicap yourself.

Also, who's harassing you? I could maybe amuse myself by tracking them and harassing them in return....

@ex -  :thumbsup: :update: :thumbsup:

More support like this and I'm moving this to a new thread and/or emailing Emi about it.

Wow, it's a year old and still has steam. If that doesn't say something... well I don't know what is. There has been a lot of development in PvP lately and this would just kick it up another notch. I'd say give this one a go.

This sounds very interesting.  I like the idea of leveled players.  It would allow the newbies more of a gradual approach to game pvp and learning when they only have to worry about a couple of things instead of the whole world being presented to them after upping their bandwidth to 11  :laugh:

I like the idea of tying it to factions missions as well.  They would have to complete a certain number of missions of each type (we need more missions types BTW  :shifty:)  before they can advance to the next level...  Requirements to advance should be something that has to be worked towards, not something that could be completed in a week of hard play.

I'm working on some details as far as hardware limits and an idea I call "patching" which allows each server to have an individual specialty like deleting, researching, AP saving, etc. At the moment I have four "levels" I'm working with in spite of what I said earlier about wanting at least six. I have to give credit to all the others who have added suggestions about operating systems and specialties and etc. but I think this conglomerated idea will please most and offer an acceptable solution to a lot of our problems. I hope to present it to the public soon in its own thread, but I have experienced some issues of late which may involve a tree falling on my drop lines after the recent storm in California so I have no power, telephone, or cable. I'm actually typing this on a library machine right now. First time in my life I've used a public comptuer.  :laugh:

hate how those only give u 1/2 hr at a time and 1 hr max

ya put it in another thread so we can rip it to peaces and start over!

what were we talking about?