View Full Version : Uplink Clone
FuzzYspo0N
24-03-2010, 07:39 PM
Win
So, while the ideas are fresh in everyones mind. Not too long ago a friend (he makes some cool GPU roguelikes and what not http://www.tametick.com/ampa/ , charl on that project) started to wonder why there had been no real DECENT uplink clone (not that there arent some fun ones out there).
It was 9 years ago that uplink was released, i think its time. We both had an interest for architecture and, long story a short a lot of talking led to some code prototypes, and some code prototypes led to milestones and a short time later we had a project on our hands. I dont know how it happened, but its come around.
So what now
Well, while i have been developing a flexible core to expand the gameplay on top of, we have been thrashing out all sorts of tools/ideas/concepts and designs. While this is fun alone i think i would like opinions more often on where we go with this.
The current plans
This part is simple, an online based uplink clone. Not much interaction between players at this stage (by choice), but the same sort of mission style as uplink. Some mini stories, mini games here and there, and an everchanging "in game OS".
The post HERE
What would you like in an uplink clone? What annoyed you and what made your experience awesome. What made you feel truly godlike in game? The game will lend itself to incredibly massive "dreams" but starting simple is the best hand we can play. Keep it simple (think : uplink clone but better (ignore online if you must))
The candy
Theres always candy.
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/963/mockuppre.jpg
Big version :
http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/7891/memock.jpg
The more feedback we can gather the better the game can be. While the project is "ours" the game core lends itself to being developed by the players themselves. A simple example is the filesystem.
A file on the filesystem has a type. |ImageType| . Great, i can see its an image but why cant i view it? Well, ill get around to that at some stage but why dont you add the functionality for the sake of other users?
var coreImageType = new core.file.fileHandler();
var coreImageType.onOpen = function(fileHandle) {
//we will need a window, to show the image in
var window = core.ui.addWindow("Image Viewer");
var imageHolder = core.ui.container(800, 600);
var image = core.ui.image(fileHandle.location);
imageHolder.addImage(image);
//add it at 0,0 in the container.
window.addContainer(imageHolder, 0, 0);
// version 2 can include cycling images in this folder, etc etc.
//for now just tell the window to call filehandler.onClose on the file.
window.closeFunction = this.onClose();
core.ui.showWindow(window, core.ui.centered);
};
I hope this makes sense, and i hope the potential can be seen from what i am doing with javascript and the exposed core objects.
There is always a blog
The blog has a lot more candy, including dev tool mockups etc. Theres a lot of chatter ill be making on my blog over here (http://blog.owned.co.za) and there is a small (and not much yet, but its pretty) download over here (http://blog.owned.co.za/?p=152) to play around in. There is also a discussion about the extensible script interface going on in the comments of this post here (http://blog.owned.co.za/?p=183).
What are your ideas with regards to the first step : a simple uplink clone?
dislekcia
25-03-2010, 03:45 AM
The first step is always something playable.
Right now, you're asking people to give you feedback on an idea. Beyond "I liked Uplink and blah was a fun feature" you're not going to get much out of it. To be dead honest, I think you're scaring people away with that code snippet up there and talking about writing their own sections of the game. That makes no sense: Surely you should have the general gist of the game in your heads, you're the developers, right?
So my advice is to build something playable and keep iterating on it. Then, when you've got people talking about "this cool feature" or whatever that they'd like to see added, expose the tools you seem to be talking about here. Are players supposed to write code like you mentioned as they play the game, or are you asking for people to get involved in the actual development? Both have lead-ins needed to get the most out of them, you can't just dump people straight into the hard part ;)
I wants it! I've been trying to find a clone for ages. Closest I came was Onlink, a huge mod and update, but that project has died.
dis is right though. What I want most is to have it working so I can poke around. Then I'll be sure to voice what I want different. One of the BIGGEST problems with Uplink was the drawing of the routing map. It would slow down when you had many bounces.
But I have to leave disappointed now. Though this was just an advertisement of a FINISHED Uplink clone... :( Now there's more waiting, for this, and more importantly, Subversion...
EDIT: Actually, if you need some coding help I wouldn't mind at all. As long as I have time I'd be willing to throw my two cents in. Wanted to build an Uplink clone myself some time ago, but work and real life made me realise THAT an online version is a HUGE undertaking and I didn't have enough time and/or XP to take it on.
But if I may ask, what are you using to build the game? XNA? C++?
FuzzYspo0N
25-03-2010, 10:16 AM
Valid points Dis, xcal. I probably just posted a BLAH instead of something short and logical.
The point is to get something playable.
How far away is that? Not too far really. Why did i post? We need simple playable ideas. Remaking the exact experience is where we are starting. You have a gateway, a mini OS thing and you can play some missions... But what makes the missions fun? What makes them interesting? Is it just password breaker on a window, look at files, copy files, or is the password breaker more interesting, ala Mass effect/Mass effect 2 style mini games. Those mini games are where im asking,
What interesting ways are there to break a password?
It need not be 100% accurate to real world experience cos it is a game afterall, but what kind of gameplay can we do NOW - simple gameplay to make it worth playing.
Does that make more sense? If you disregard the first post and i say "yea i had this cool idea" - it kinda felt like i was posting an MMO post thats never gonna happen. I guess i spammed all the info because i wanted to show the foundations are there, and there already something going on :)
Im asking for help on ideas. The ideas behind the simple gameplay, if anyone was interested in actually developing they can feel free to ask.
xcal - its written in C++ (using phoenixCore for rendering) , but the majority of the game itself will be written in javascript.
Fengol
25-03-2010, 12:34 PM
Rather than the user writing code snippets I would commandline tools. Create some awesome commandline tools and then introduce piping, xargs and shell scripts. That why you can slowly introduce tools and provide "upgrades" by changing them as the play moves along.
FuzzYspo0N
25-03-2010, 01:58 PM
not a bad idea, but i am looking for ideas on the uplink clone side. Not the hardcore side. :)
dislekcia
25-03-2010, 03:40 PM
Um, Fuzzy, I keep trying to re-read this thread to understand what you're looking for. I keep getting the idea that you're basically saying "Hey people, help me design my game!" which isn't really a great idea: Not only are people not going to understand what you've got in mind for the game without playing it first (heh), but you're not going to be able to judge incoming ideas with any coherence unless you've got a strong feeling of what your game is about.
It seems like you have a vision of something you want to make, make it and then you'll see ideas coming at you: Whether they're good or not still depends on you and what you choose to do with your game.
BlackShipsFillt
02-04-2010, 11:24 AM
I haven't played the Uplink mods, so some of my suggestions may be moot/obvious.
Things I didn't like about Uplink:
There was a lot of repetition. There was a lot to explore in the game, but certain things became very mechanical.
There was very little explanation. Uplink worked back then, but players will not tolerate lack of tutorials/guidance/intuitiveness today.
Simple processes, like routing a call through multiple computers, cracking a password, and deleting logs should eventually be automated. I would suggest making bots purchasable. Initially routing and such should be manual and tricky, but with the help of bots this could be made simpler and the gameplay could shift to more puzzly things.
And make the necessary tutorials. It doesn't have to be dumbed down, the great thing about Uplink is that it takes place in an interface. Use this to your advantage. Make fake operating system help files and readme files that come with your programs. Simulate an actual OS.
Things I thought made Uplink great:
Progression. Upgrading your systems and buying new tools to tackle new problems made me feel like I was becoming the Uberhacker.
A large variety of very clever tools to explore. Obviously if you want a game as memorable as Uplink you're going to have a build a feature laden experience
Open ended problem solving... Also it was not technically the case, it felt like the puzzles could be tackled in various ways.
The meep-meep thing. When cracking passwords it gives you a danger level through beeping. This is genius. Other danger levels could also be illustrated in this way (like if the player is being traced).
Buying faster systems and new programs is a must. I'd suggest buying automation bots to make things quicker at later stages of the game. Having multiple versions of some things (like dictionary password hacker vs random password hacker) will give the player a feeling of a little bit of freedom.
Other suggestions:
While playing Uplink occasionally I felt it blindsided me. It did a gameover thing with very little explanation. This was kind of cool because it kept the player on edge, but also not much fun.
While I think it is awesome that if the player does not cover his/her tracks he or she should be compromised and made to lose the game, I think there could be more feedback. In fact this could be very atmospheric... If the player is given a warning that another hacker is trying to trace his/her tracks.
Once again, this could be a feature of bots/programs in the later stages of the game, perhaps advanced trail-erasing bots can set up monitors that look out for other bots or hackers. The awesome thing about this is that the player may encounter enemy bots which the player must learn to trace or hack.
In-game coding or even command line hacking is Hacker-game nirvana. But it also may fail horribly. If you're going this route, do it right or do not bother. Disleksia is right in that you need to get something playable ASAP.
While it is fun using programs to crack passwords, I also like cracking passwords through cunning. If you create NPC's in the game who can be interacted with through email (or simulated online chat) you could allow the player to crack passwords in more human ways.... Eg. blackmail or bribery and deaththreats through contacts in the underworld!!!...
Why hack a computer when someone out there already knows the password or can be persuaded to remove the firewall.
It would be really cool if the player could earn status in underground hacking cults and trade favours with them, maybe even outsource jobs, maybe even allow the player to become a hacker-king with employees.
I'd like to see online newspapers and other streams of information in the game... this could facilitate blackmail and/or bribery and create a far richer world/story...
But the first step obviously is getting a basic OS and remote computer viewing/cracking and email/chat system running.
BlackShipsFillt
02-04-2010, 11:27 AM
Ooooohh!!!
And there must be hacker terrorism!! Email-bombing and server overloads. I want to be able to hold a country's internet ransom.
FuzzYspo0N
03-04-2010, 09:34 PM
Wow, a real wad of reading. I like it :)
After a long hard look at what i had done and what i need to get the most minimal direction - Iv decided to use the uplink stories/mission lines as an intro to the gameplay. Streamlined/minimal versions of the same awesome stories, that are condensed into a small byte sized bit of gameplay.
This will give the players an actual view into the tech iv built around the game and the direction id like to head in (much of which you even mentioned).
What do you think? the first say, 1 hour of "gameplay" is a quick paced version of the awesome story that was in the original. Of course, the names and copyright issues will be avoided
For reference : http://guide.modlink.net/section3.php
Theres quite a few styles of missions, but a condensed apporach will be much simpler to implement quicker.
FuzzYspo0N
22-04-2010, 02:04 PM
For anyone interested development is progressing, getting something playable and THEN making a noise i guess, apparently thats a cool idea too.
if anyone played uplink, you might recognise the similarity in the menus :)
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9779/screenshot213m.jpg
dislekcia
22-04-2010, 03:39 PM
Ah, interfacing :)
I'm doing UI stuff atmo. So much tweaking time...
FuzzYspo0N
22-04-2010, 07:15 PM
mine is web based so the stuff takes quick to tweak :P browser based UI is seriously a nice way to make UI (at least for me) :)
in fact, theres a horribly slow older flash version over here : http://owned.co.za/ff/mm , it was the first rough 2 min test, and yea using 5000x5000 something res images in a game context - FAIL.
And yea, its not meant to work yet it was a mockup. notice the subtle background animations and whatever. :)
BlackShipsFillt
24-04-2010, 01:53 PM
Your old one was huge (sorry, I gave up on loading it)... I'm loving the new look... Don't be surprised if you get calls from various Secret Services asking you to skin their intranets.
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