Review: Uplink 1.3.1
Developer: Ambrosia Software, Introversion
Price: $25
Requirements: Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X 10.1, 64 MB RAM (128 MB on OS X), 30 MB HD space, 300 MHz G3, OpenGL 3D video card, OpenGL 1.2, CarbonLib 1.6, DrawSprocket 1.7.5.
Trial: Feature-limited (limited hardware purchases in the Uplink store, cannnot acquire higher-level missions)
Introduction
The hacker in all of us occasionally dreams of dropping in uninvited on our least favorite company’s network and mucking about. Maybe you want to be sure they can’t really sell your name and address to unsavory characters. Perhaps their stately “About the President” page would look better with “l337 h4xx0r 0wnz j00!” written across the top. Uplink turns this dream into an occupation, though admittedly not one that includes a 401K and tax returns—not your own, anyway.
It’s worth noting that “hacker” as a malicious computer invader is media parlance, probably used by the game for convenience. Dictionary.com’s first definition is neutral.
hacker
1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
“Cracker” adds the connotation of maliciousness, though crackers aren’t necessarily skilled, just malicious. Some will debate “hacker” versus “cracker” ad nauseum. The game sticks primarily to the generic title “agent.”
Game Play
Start the game to work as an agent with the Uplink Corporation. Uplink gives you a basic gateway computer and will sell you hardware and software to augment it as the game goes on, charging a virtual membership fee for each month of game time. Uplink runs in real time, though there are controls on the main screen to accelerate time if you’re waiting for new missions or otherwise want time to pass quickly.
Uplink’s single tutorial mission helps you purchase equipment, examine targets, and crack basic security measures. That’s it! The rest you learn on your own, usually the hard way. Get caught by a company and you’ll probably pay a fine. Get caught by a bank or the government and it’s GAME OVER. I watched several hours of game time go down the tubes by carelessly ignoring the need to cover my tracks.
Uplink’s Tutorial Daemon-in-a-box
The tutorial guides you in purchasing your first password cracking program, which you need to break into target systems. Dictionary crackers are faster and have good odds of working, but they’re not guaranteed. Buy one for the early missions, then the other when you have the money to expand your options.
Targets immediately start tracing your connection when a password crack starts. Make it harder on them by bouncing your signal back and forth across the Internet and buy a trace tracker to estimate the time remaining before an active trace nabs you, so you don’t get caught unawares.
Uplink revolves around the mission board, where companies post job offers and agents browse them. Your experience determines how many jobs you can see at a given time and pay is commensurate with the job’s difficulty. This is very similar to Escape Velocity’s mission boards, another Ambrosia Software game. Early missions involve breaking into a company and stealing or destroying data. More advanced ones will involve destroying personal reputations and exploring corporate LANs.
An Uplink Mission Description
It’s fun to steal stuff and obliterate years of research, but don’t focus only on the Uplink mission board. A parallel story develops on the Uplink news page, rumors of strange goings-on at a company called ARC. Another Uplink agent will tip you off to ARC’s activities. Follow his lead to be contacted by ARC, starting a series of missions centering on a virus they’re developing. A choice quickly appears: follow the money and work on the virus or help the government set ARC up for a fall. You play the game largely at your own pace, though ARC-related missions will come in sequence.
History of a Stock on the Market
Need more money? Invest in the stock market, easily found from the InterNIC site database. Your missions can directly impact stock prices, acting as a nice bonus to your pocketbook.
Graphics
Uplink is graphically spartan, but definitely isn’t a text adventure. It’d almost be better that way, actually—several times during play, I thought “Real hackers would use command-line scripts, not just click around on everything.”
The game uses a heads-up display with components spread around the screen. You switch back and forth among most of them during even the simpler missions. In the upper-right corner is the world map, both a tool and status indicator. Expand it to show available Internet connections and plan multi-site connections. Minimized, it indicates the progress of an active trace started by your current target (if you have the necessary software). Icons along the bottom of the screen represent your gateway computer, installed software (including available space), and mission details.
Players should use the 800x600 resolution to avoid feeling visually cramped and 1024x768 is better if you can handle the small text. Uplink isn’t graphically intensive, but can feel that way. The buttons don’t respond quickly, so click carefully. This becomes annoying when seconds count and you’re missing clicks on file sources or targets.
Strategies
Cracking passwords takes time and CPU power, especially when you’re running multiple programs at the same time. Upgrade your gateway CPU as soon as possible and give higher priority to the cracker program (click the right arrow next to its usage window).
Make sure to start every mission through InterNIC. Its simple password interface provides easy access to the connection log, where you’ll erase log traces of your actions, breaking the Internet trail that points back to you. Log Deleter 4.0 is perfect for this and should be high on your purchase priority list.
Go ahead and take on a bunch of missions early in the game. Doubling up missions on the same target means more money for less work. More CPU power is helpful and a worthy first hardware upgrade. If you plan to run “steal data” missions, expand your storage space as soon as possible, since you don’t start with much.
Once you’ve cracked your way to fame and almost-fortune, consider a bank transfer to finance your leap to the elite levels. Some missions ask you to trace bank records, which usually lead to an account with lots of credits. Crafty work can net you the credits, but banks are unforgiving victims. Open an account at the same bank and write down the account number. Break into the traced account and transfer the money to your new account. Finally, delete the log entries for both the transfer and your receipt of same. Success means an increased rank and tons of cash.
The ARC story progression requires well-developed skills and hardware, especially near the end. Try each of the other mission types, especially cracking LANs, before you take them on. For additional game play help, visit Ambrosia’s Uplink site and check out the Web boards. One interesting in-game feature is the ability to purchase an IRC client that connects to the real Uplink IRC channel (if you’re connected to the Internet). It’s a debatable source of game help, but cool nonetheless.
Annoyances
The keyboard adrenaline rush of Uplink will capture many, but there are some annoyances. The aforementioned slow button click response is the biggest. Text typos pop up, probably more notably because the game’s so text-dependent. Labels on the world map can jump around when you show a bunch at once—clear your Internet jump path, then close and reopen the map to settle them down. Selecting something on the screen often closes the mission detail window. An option to “lock” a window open would help.
Summary
Uplink is a rare beast, twitch gaming adrenaline without a gun in your hands. Pull off a major heist or system crash with the clock ticking down and you’ll feel like pumping your fists. Progress is saved automatically, so there’s no easy “undo” of your actions, unless you back up your character file before playing. Mistakes stick with you, especially when you tick off one of the game’s “big boys.” Uplink occupied four straight up-until-3 AM nights for me, providing an excellent change of pace for the gamer of varied tastes or lower-powered hardware. The story isn’t as deep as Escape Velocity’s, but Ambrosia ported Uplink well and it should satisfy tech-oriented gamers, in spite of its interface flaws.
Copyright © 2003 Matthew Glidden,
mglidden@atpm.com. Reviewing in ATPM is open to anyone. If you’re interested, write to us at reviews@atpm.com.
Reader Comments (39)
When you can type ://fileserver, then it will respond either opened or with a proxy block. Then, you can simply type :delete and it will delete every file on the server and sometimes crash it.
(jeah i know late answer, but I had to!)
P.S. also some good websites to DL mods from
O and P.S.S. if there is a mod maker for mac can i have that too??? THANKS GUYS!!!
NASTY WARNING: street hacker has ALOT of bugs which are VERY annoying, i can only get so far because a bug doesn't let me get further, i have restarted several times yet i can't get further
i will use example
Hacking Banks
You will need:
Voice Analyser
Monitor Bypass (Possibly Level 5)
Proxy Bypass OR Disabler (again possibly Level 5)
Pass Cracker
Decypher (preferably Level 3)
You need to:
1. Look the bank's owner up in InterNIC
(e.g bank's owner is Digital systems)
2. Connect to the Public Access Server of the banks owner
(e.g I connect to Digital systems Public Access Server)
3. Get the ADMINISTRATORS number (usually on the right)
4. Disconnect
5. Connect to the guys phone system, and start the voice analyser.
6. When its finished disconnect.
7. Bounce your connection thru as many hacked computers as you can
8. Connect to the bank you want to hack
(e.g Digital systems Bank)
9. Use Monitor Bypass (i think for most banks you will need a level 5 monitor bypass)
10. Use either a Proxy Bypass or Disabler
(trace doesn't matter when you used the monitor bypass)
11. Select User I.D / Pass option and use Pass cracker on the box
12. Click Proceed (This will start a Trace)
13. Select Voice ID press the play button on the Voice analyser.
14. Then finally open up the elliptic blah blah and use your decypher on it.
15. once your finally in (:P) you can look up accounts of people in the bank, note down a couple with passwords
16. if you have enough time left clear the banks logs.
(if you don't clear another computers you bounced from)
IMPORTANT NOTE: Banks have the fastest passive traces in the game so you will have to be quick or they can capture you.
17. Reconnect to the bank
18. Log on to a person's account you noted down
19. Increase loan to maximum and then steal money
20. Delete logs from their account and then log to your account and delete your logs
IMPORTANT NOTE: Even if you have the "un-catchable gateway" they can trace you using your bank account so you will need to delete these logs also.
21. repeat 18 (different account) to 20 until you have no more accounts noted down.
and ta-da! you just got a better rating and some more green!
Note: I strongly recommend you make a backup of your agent before you attempt this because you probably will not get it on the first try.
Firstly, you will need to complete a 'Trace a recent balance Transfer' mission in order to get an account # with a good amount of credits in it (1 million or above). This is not the # listed in the mission breifing but the one detailed in the statement of that person; the person in the breifing transfered 'a seizable amount of money' to. You will also need to copy down the ip of the Uplink international bank and the target bank.
Now, log into the bank where the target account is at. make a new account in that bank, copy down your new account number. Now, log off the bank, and log back on, this time bouncing you connection first through InterNIC, then through every available system to the target bank (It is strongly strongly recommended you save this connection, as you will need to quickly recover it later). Connect, go to 'manage existing account', and for the id type in the target account's id. Begin running the password cracker on the login screen. When the password's cracked , disconnect from the bank. Now go to InterNIC, go to 'Admin', break the passwork if you havent already (they never trace you for it), and use the log deleter on the 'routed connections' log(s). Now go to your map and load the saved connection. Now, goto manage account, log in using the target id and the password you cracked before. No tracing will start at this point. Now go to 'transfer money'. For the Bank Ip, but the ip of the target bank (the one you are currently connected to), for account id, put the id of the account you opened at the target bank, and for amount put 1 million.(For you slower people, thats a one with six zeros) Now run the proxy disabler, and give it full cpu. When it's done, an active trace will have already been started. Quickly hit 'Transfer money' and go back to the account managment screen. From here, go to 'View statement'. Use the log deleter on the 'transfered 1000000 to' log (should be the most recent) Now go back, click 'done', and go again to 'manage existing account'. Now click on the account you created. Go to 'View Statement' and use the log deleter on the '1000000 transfered from' log. Now disconnect from the bank, log into interNIC, go to admin and delete the 'connection routed' log(s). Now go to the map, load your saved connection, connect to the bank, log into the account you created, and go to 'Transfer Money'. Start the Proxy Disabler and give it full cpu. For the bank ip, put the Ip you copied down of the Uplink international bank. For the account #, put your uplink bank account #. For the amount, put 1000000. Transfer the money. Go back to the 'account management screen', click on view statement. Get the log deleter ready, and when the proxy disabler is done, use the log deleter on the 'transfered 1000000 to' log. Now disconnect from the bank, goto interNIC and delete the 'routed' log(s) like before. Now bounce your connection first through interNIC, then to all available servers, ending at the uplink international Bank. Go to 'manage existing account' and log in using your account. Go to 'View Statement' and start the proxy disabler. When it finishes, delete the '1000000 transfered from' log. Then disconnect from the bank, login to InterNIC and delete the 'routed' logs like before. Now fast forward a few days. If your aressted, you may have not deleted logs correctly. Just restore your backup. If nothing happens, congrats!
Special thanks to Admiraldennis
Any questions? e-mail me at [email protected]
AND I along with joey, would like any info on mac mods and stuff.
This is a very nice way of getting money, I'm impressed.
There's also another way: If you have a mission someone
wants to have the financial infos about someone else.
Just hack this persons account (not as admin, as the person itself), send the infos to your employer and transfer the money to your account. Then you just need to log out, login as admin again and delete or cheat the logs.
thx in advance felow players
P.S check this! get ur I.P scan then
scan the I.P 128.128.128.128 then password break the password, when ur in it tells u about the ideas of uplink 2! plz e-mail me the awnser to my question! thx! :D
i dont know if it is the log delete i have to use but i want to delete the files where i was hacking so the FBI can't catsh me... Some plz help:D
In return I would like for someone to please tell me how to use it.
I must say I'm dissapointed at how many people are here asking for help.
[email protected]
bs hacker replay.
i played darksigns that one was fun but a bit short
First of all, disconnect from any server you maybe conncted to, then look for a server called Uplink Internal Services System, click it and type in your login details, next click on Software Upgrades and buy away.
If you wanted to buy Hardware Upgrades (e.g processors, memory, security) then click hardware Upgrades.
There is also the Gateway Upgrades.(Now this is pretty much, self-explanitory, don't you think.)
Hope this helps,
Stevisan / Slasher
thank you
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