Half an hour later.
Sam sent over a few game discs.
Turning hacking techniques into video games isn't exactly a new concept in the gaming industry.
After all, over 90% of those who worked in the game development industry in the early days were geeks.
They were both hackers and hardware engineers, so naturally they had a strong interest in these things.
However, for Linus, a guy who had never shown any interest in video games...
This is something new.
"I didn't know there were games like this?"
This name is so simple and blunt; it practically screams "hacker" on its face.
"Not only do we have it, we even published it."
Lin Lixin laughed heartily. Who is the publisher of Hacker?
It's Activision.
But that was back in 1985.
This game, just like its name suggests, is a legitimate hacker simulator, not a reskinned traditional action game.
The player's task is to study the clues and information provided in the game, and then input commands through the terminal to continuously attempt to hack into the device.
This design is stunning, both then and now, and can be considered the progenitor of the hacker genre.
However, limited by the era, the capabilities of 8-bit machines at the time couldn't be very innovative.
Scrolling further down, aside from Hacker's own sequels, you'll find mostly titles that stitch together different gameplay elements.
For example, there's the CRPG hacker game adapted from the novel "Neuromancer".
"Therefore... we need to simulate another Unix system within the computation."
Linus briefly played through both Hacker games.
Well, it's quite different from the real hacker world. But it's definitely a pretty interesting game.
However, based on his understanding of Lin Lixin, what Lin Lixin wanted to do was definitely not something so simple.
"We don't need to simulate the entire Unix system; a simple virtual environment that looks legitimate will suffice."
Lin Lixin shook his head.
Hacknet is heavily based on real-world Unix system commands, but with significant simplifications.
A user familiar with Unix can quickly find their rhythm after getting started.
Even complete beginners can quickly master the basic operations in the simplified environment.
When making games, you don't need to fool everyone; you only need to fool most people.
"Let me think... We need a file system, process management, user management, network, ports, programs, and a terminal."
Essentially, they created a fake system using programming.
The input commands appear to be entirely based on the game's own string matching and processing logic.
A network connection is simply a set of data stored locally; it doesn't require actual communication or protocols. At the program level, it's not particularly difficult to understand.
The entire development process can be completed without the involvement of outsiders.
With Lin Lixin and Linus, that's more than enough.
But after Linus had gathered most of what he needed, he discovered a problem.
How should this hacking process be designed?
"If it were really designed according to real-world hacking techniques, the process would be incredibly complicated, and I don't think... the average player would like it."
"Huh? I thought you were the kind of guy who supported realism and liked nerdy works."
Lin Lixin looked at him in surprise.
For a tech geek like Linus, who isn't interested in games and only wants to work on technology, shouldn't the more faithful to the source material be the better?
"Because you said that a game must first and foremost be fun."
He may not be a big fan of games, but he's very clear about these principles.
"It's not easy. If Will or Carmack were here, they'd probably be pushing towards realism." Hearing this, Lin Lixin chuckled.
Look at their level of awareness!
"You're right. We don't need to completely replicate the hacker's workflow; instead, we should simplify all the tedious and boring parts and only keep the most essential ones."
Lin Lixin nodded.
"Rather than calling it a hacker simulator, what we're actually doing is more accurately described as..."
"ScriptBot Simulator."
Linus took the initiative and answered the second half of the sentence.
Even within the geek community, there exists a hierarchy of disdain.
Generally, those at the bottom of the social hierarchy are people who lack professional skills but use readily available tools downloaded from the internet to launch attacks.
Hackers call these people "script boys".
Because they may not actually understand those technologies at all; it's entirely due to the skillful writing of the tool's authors that they have some ability.
Go to Bing Search Flags to see the latest chapter! It's like a young master from a powerful clan who has no cultivation but is full of magical treasures.
Hey! That's exactly it!
Lin Lixin laughed heartily.
All the originally tedious and cumbersome parts have been written into pre-compiled tools, so players only need to learn how to call them to easily break through the enemy's defenses.
"Moreover, this design has a natural advantage, I mean for games."
"What?"
"A sense of accomplishment and a sense of growth."
In game psychology, [growth] and [collection] are both among the 12 basic needs of players.
Just like stars in puzzle games, or attribute progression in RPG games...
Most games maintain long-term player engagement by designing a growth curve.
But Hacknet chose an extremely clever method to hide all of this.
It's not an RPG game; there's no clear attribute progression. Aside from the player's own skill constantly improving, it seems difficult to design any kind of growth or reward system.
but...
If this were a script kiddie emulator, things would be much simpler.
"You mean... like collecting equipment, where players constantly collect new hacking tools?"
"Exactly! At the same time, it allows ordinary players without technical skills to quickly get started and create cool visuals, which is the most important thing."
Lin Lixin chuckled.
This thing absolutely must be published on the Hermes platform.
"Imagine, Linus, you're sitting in a coffee shop or a library right now, you type in a few lines of commands, and the game automatically pops up a script to run, filling the screen with cool output that ordinary people can't understand."
"Huh? So what?"
Lin Lixin smacked his lips, slightly disappointed.
Okay, Linus is an extremely laid-back guy; talking to him about this is a waste of his time. Hacknet was purely a tool for showing off; in today's terms, it could be called a " Jiahao simulator."
As long as you don't let anyone in the know see it, you'll be the coolest kid around.
It sounds sophisticated, but it's actually quite low-tech.
It can also fool unsuspecting passersby.
By leveraging the self-satisfied mood of these script-wielding players, this game can pique the interest of even players with no prior experience.
To put it simply, the fun of this game lies in its cool graphics.
The players themselves may not even have a clue what happened.
But as long as I know it looks cool, that's enough.
Is it really just a game?
"However, on the other hand, I do have some extra expectations for this game, but I don't know if it will run as I want."
Lin Lixin gazed at the gradually taking shape design, pondered for a moment,
"Linux is an open-source system. Once it matures and is officially released, it will undoubtedly have countless branches, just like Unix." Android, Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL...
They are all products derived from Linux.
"I hope to build a cybersecurity team. It may not be very useful in the short term, and they may not even have a need for it for a long time to come. But even so, we need it."
Linux will be an unavoidable topic in network security.
If he could use this game as an opportunity to develop the cybersecurity field, he would definitely want to give it his all.
"You mean developing a Linux branch version specifically for network security?"
"Perhaps, a real 'hacknet,' maybe I'd call it Kali, Kali-Linux or something like that."
"A system that script kiddies love the most."
An operating system that integrates various useful and convenient penetration testing tools, much like the terminal operated by the player in "Hacknet".
I really don't know whether the emergence of this kind of thing is a good thing or a bad thing...
"Ha! That's it, but it will also be a treasure trove for our cybersecurity team."
There is no absolutely secure system in this world. Even if you never connect to the internet, a sophisticated hacker can use social engineering to climb in through a window and steal your belongings.
Cybersecurity is essentially like a turn-based game.
Attackers are constantly discovering new vulnerabilities.
The defending side, on the other hand, is constantly patching up the vulnerabilities.
This is a never-ending cycle.
So-called defense often just means making offense more costly.
When the cost exceeds the benefits of an attack, it naturally becomes relatively safe.
"This reminds me of Atari's SwordQuest campaign back in the day."
Looking at the project plan in front of him, Lin Lixin suddenly had an idea.
Although this game is essentially a popcorn movie player, they can also use some other methods to target specific groups.
"We could put an Easter egg in the game..."
Imagine this: in a hacker simulation game, a seemingly unrelated peripheral computer is covered by an intricate web of defenses. When the player finally manages to break through, all they find is an IP address.
A... real-world IP address.
Only truly skilled experts can break through the server's layers of defense and finally uncover the true nature of this Easter egg.
"I feel like... it's getting heated again?"
Linus suddenly had a strange feeling.
He felt his heart rate rising rapidly.
This is the first time I've ever felt such a strong and intense interest in a video game.
He couldn't wait to see Hacknet come to fruition.
Of course, there's also the impending, inevitably intense, cyber warfare.