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hackmud, or "hackmud" [Official Site, Itch, Steam] as it likes to be called is now out with Linux support from day-1. It's a cyberpunk themed text-based hacking simulator so I imagine some of you might find it fun. For someone like me who isn't a big fan of diving into the terminal, it scares me.

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A bit weird is this message on the Steam store:

QuoteI am a solo dev on this game, and I cannot currently keep up with player concurrency. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME RIGHT NOW IF SLOW SERVER PERFORMANCE WILL MAKE YOU REGRET YOUR DECISION.

Thank you very very much for your patience and your excitement about the game! I look forward to being able to support ALL of you playing in the future. :D

Best,
Sean


The game is listed as Single-player and Multi-player, so it's not entirely clear what type of game it is. As it also claims it's an MMO. I think the developer needs to make it much clearer exactly what is online and what is offline.

Features
- A deep, nuanced and engaging storyline full of discovery that will keep you guessing
- Encourages deep exploration and testing the limits of the system through rich side-content
- An intuitive retro-futuristic text-based computing interface that escalates to advanced with glitches, hidden commands, and arcane syntax
- 90s film style ‘hacking mode,’ for when you need to get some ‘serious’ hacking done
- An original electronic soundtrack which will chill you out while exploring or amp you up when the pressure’s on
- Persistent and constantly-evolving game universe powered by an almost endless stream of user created tools, puzzles, traps and much more
- A fluid and organic class system determined by the currently loaded upgrades on your system
- A fully scriptable in-game world with a global player-based economy of code and in-game botting
- Regular balance patches to keep the game fun and engaging for players of all styles and at all levels of experience

Are any of you picking it up?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Indie Game, Simulation | Apps: hackmud
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13 comments
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Shmerl Sep 26, 2016
QuoteI am a solo dev on this game, and I cannot currently keep up with player concurrency. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME RIGHT NOW IF SLOW SERVER PERFORMANCE WILL MAKE YOU REGRET YOUR DECISION.

I didn't quite get that. What kind of player concurrency? Is it a single or multiplayer game?
Liam Dawe Sep 26, 2016
Quoting: Shmerl
QuoteI am a solo dev on this game, and I cannot currently keep up with player concurrency. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME RIGHT NOW IF SLOW SERVER PERFORMANCE WILL MAKE YOU REGRET YOUR DECISION.

I didn't quite get that. What kind of player concurrency? Is it a single or multiplayer game?
Yeah, it's bugging me a little now. As it claims it's single player, multi player and an MMO...whut.
Dax Tailor Sep 26, 2016
When I understand this right, the game itself is running on a server and not local. But is has the multi player icon on the steam shop side so I guess its multi player too which makes it unique in its class of games (there are only a few though).
(Thats like Gremlins Inc. needs a server too even in single player.)
Leoworm Sep 26, 2016
So I've played it a little, and you have to have a constant connection with the server to play. The first bit of the game (the tutorial so to speak) is singleplayer, meaning you won't meet others and be hacked by them, but this doesn't mean that you don't need a server connection. The second part of the game you unlock after managing the first part, and it is here where you meet others and try to scam them. The dev doesn't seem to have anticipated the popularity of the game, so nearly all commands you execute have a at least 5-second delay. But once the server issues are fixed I think this can become a great game.
Enkhiel Sep 26, 2016
Here is a review extract:
QuoteIt begins with a 3-4 hour single player tutorial which is really well done and teaches you the ropes in a clear way - while still being entertaining - before throwing you into an imposing, and initially impenetrable, multiplayer version.

Hope that helps :)
14 Sep 26, 2016
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Maybe his full-time job is working for EA. I kid.
The game sounds fun.
MayeulC Sep 26, 2016
QuoteI am a solo dev on this game, and I cannot currently keep up with player concurrency. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME RIGHT NOW IF SLOW SERVER PERFORMANCE WILL MAKE YOU REGRET YOUR DECISION.

At first, I got it as a joke, like if he was the one typing the answers to the commands (ant I thought that the joke was pretty funny). Maybe related to some manual events? Though I doubt it. It's not doable to interact with the entirety of the player base.

I quite like the terminal animations :) Would probably not use them on my system, though, unless it's for showing off*

*I already have ponysay for that


Last edited by MayeulC on 26 September 2016 at 9:42 pm UTC
DrMcCoy Sep 27, 2016
Nitpick: it's not "h a c k m u d", but "hackmud".

The former is just the normal ASCII latin characters with spaces inbetween. This is not it.

The latter is CJK "fullwidth" forms of the latin characters, i.e. each character takes up the space a CJK character would use. In fixed-width fonts, that would be the space of two usual "halfwidth" characters.


Last edited by DrMcCoy on 27 September 2016 at 12:21 am UTC
Luke_Nukem Sep 27, 2016
Quoting: DrMcCoyNitpick: it's not "h a c k m u d", but "hackmud".

The former is just the normal ASCII latin characters with spaces inbetween. This is not it.

The latter is CJK "fullwidth" forms of the latin characters, i.e. each character takes up the space a CJK character would use. In fixed-width fonts, that would be the space of two usual "halfwidth" characters.

You, sir, have reached a new level.
Kinda interesting too.
WorMzy Sep 27, 2016
Quoting: DrMcCoyNitpick: it's not "h a c k m u d", but "hackmud".

The former is just the normal ASCII latin characters with spaces inbetween. This is not it.

The latter is CJK "fullwidth" forms of the latin characters, i.e. each character takes up the space a CJK character would use. In fixed-width fonts, that would be the space of two usual "halfwidth" characters.

But how do you pronounce it? :O
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