History VideoGame / Hacknet

''Hacknet'' is a Hacking SimulationGame released in 2015. The player character receives a mysterious email from a hacker named "Bit" and slowly uncovers a conspiracy that could change the world forever.

The game was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, Twitch Prime, and Website/GOGDotCom.

A DLC named "Hacknet Labyrinths" was released on March 31, 2017.

!!This game contains examples of the following tropes:

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:Bit. [=EnTech's=] CEO only wanted his goon to intimidate Bit into silence about Project Hacknet. Unfortunately, a miscommunication led the goon to believe he wanted Bit dead which he carried out before the CEO could stop him.]]

** [[spoiler:It is one. The very last line in the game confirms you're using the very [[TitleDrop HackNet]] software mentioned in the story.]]

* AmbiguousGender: Kaguya. [[ShrugOfGod Confirmed]] [[https://twitter.com/Orann/status/879147034741166080 by Matt Trobbiani himself]].

* ArtisticLicense: The [=HackNet=] OS that you're using is UNIX-based as evident by the file directory terminal commands, executables are [=EXEs=], and at one point when you [[spoiler:get your GUI deleted]] you get treated to a UsefulNotes/BlueScreenOfDeath, which is a Windows-specific thing.

** In order to start the FinalBoss, [[spoiler:you have to activate a modified music sequencer program, which signals Vapor to connect you to [=EnTech's=] backup archives. Naturally, it fulfills it's regular function and plays an intense electronic song (Carpenter Brut's adrenaline-pumping "Roller Mobster") during the attack.]]
** In ''Labyrinths'', [[spoiler:Remi Gallego's Sabotage (AKA Altitude Loss) starts playing as soon as Kaguya announces the mission to crash a plane full of innocent passengers, and the beat drops at the same time that it starts crashing. The music gets more and more intense as the altitude drops further an further, pressuring the player as they either rush to patch a fix in order to save the plane or watch as it (and potentially a second plane) crashes.]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler: Kaguya. Unlike Entech CEO whose actions were only criminally careless (letting general public run wild with a HollywoodHacking tool for a while), Kaguya was planning to kill hundreds personally - see EvilPlan.]]
* BlandNameProduct:
** Macrosoft, [=eOS=], CFC... where to start? Although Windows and Linux are namedropped.
** Incidentally, CFC is an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Fried_Chicken actual brand]].

** The mission "Project Junebug" (see NightmareFuel on the YMMV subpage) must be followed until a certain point,[[spoiler: as it is the only legitimate way to get [=KBT_PortTester.exe=], which is necessary to open port 104.]]
** [[spoiler: Once you get to the final arc, you can find a copy of the needed program in the [=CSEC=] Assets Server once you reach the final arc.]]
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: [=Sequencer.exe=], a program in the [=CSEC=] Asset Server that doesn't seem to have any use, is used at the end of the game to signal Vapor to start the attack on [=EnTech's=] backup servers.]]
* ContractualBossImmunity: [[spoiler: In the endgame, most of Entech's servers are protected by an "Invioability Error" that prevents [=PortHack=] from working, necessitating the player to find out a correct user/password combination another way. That said, Entech created [=PortHack=] in the first place, so [[JustifiedTrope of course they'd have countermeasures for it]].]]
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Entech CEO. [[spoiler:Even if Bit's death was a miscommunication, Project [=HackNet=] is a horrifying breach of antitrust and cyber security laws.]]
* TheCracker: Naix. He does ''not'' take well to being reined in, either.

* DeadlyEuphemism:[[spoiler: Entech's [=CEO=]]] wanted Bit to be "discouraged". [[spoiler:He meant "Smash up his computers and have him arrested". Unfortunately, the person who was given the task interpreted it as "Have Bit killed".]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: Bit's cause of death.]][[spoiler: The [=CEO=] of [[MegaCorp Entech]]]] tried to stop the assassination, but couldn't.
** The player can inflict this on another hacker. [[spoiler: If the player is careless and gets hacked by Striker during ''Labyrinths'' they can retaliate by hacking Striker's personal system and deleting their university project, earning the player a ''very'' angry email.]]
* EleventhHourSuperpower: [[spoiler: [=TraceKill.exe=]]], or its (near) equivalent from ''Labyrinths'', [[spoiler: [=SignalScramble.exe=]]].
* EqualOpportunityEvil: One of the systems you have to hack into during the endgame reveals Entech to be this, as they've taken significant expense to allow one of their employees who suffers from a severe heart disease to work safely by constantly monitoring their pacemaker from their desktop.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Entech CEO may be a CorruptCorporateExecutive, but even he [[spoiler:was appalled at Bit being outright assassinated instead of "just" being intimidated into silence about Project Hacknet.]]

* FeaturelessProtagonist: You, since the game's interface is the software itself.

* FiveFiveFive: Averted.
** The servers use realistic, if randomized, IP adresses.
** The services on the servers are also running on the correct ports ([=FTP=] on port 21, [=SSH=] on port 22, [=SMTP=] on port 25, [=HTTP=] on port 80, [=DICOM=] Medical Services on port 104 and [=SQL=] on port 1433.)

** The third faction [[spoiler:/el]] is this. [[spoiler: To get to them, the player needs to delete x-server.sys on Naix' root gateway and then following his missions. However, this [[PermanentlyMissableContent is not possible anymore]] if "Aggression must be punished" has been completed.]]

*** Naix' attack on you can actually be repelled, [[spoiler: if you remember from the in-game [=NetEdu=] archives that a shell command can be set to "Trap" and then triggered to release an emergency forkbomb on all incoming connections. Doing this when the game tells you of the "suspicious activity" on port 22 will crash Naix' proxy and sever his connection to your machine before he can delete x-server.sys and run the forkbomb.]]

** The 'TRUE ULTIMATE POWER' achievement for getting [[spoiler: Clock.exe]] requires you to follow a very subtle trail of breadcrumbs some other hackers are looking into, then hack a specific [[BlandNameProduct [=JMail=]]] account to get the IP for an undocumented server. By the time you first run into it you might not even have all the tools you need to do it, so hope you remembered it later!
* GameplayStorySegregation: [[spoiler: At the end of the game, your copy of Hacknet gets deleted in order to ensure nobody gets ahold of it. After the credits roll, you're immediately brought back to the interface and can basically muck around with whatever's left, including a new "credits server".]]

* DarthWiki/IdiotProgramming: The notes program consumes ridiculous amounts of ram. The explanation is that it intentionally wastes memory to implement the text display.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Naix refers to the player as a 'script kiddie' after you delete the data off their proxy. Which is correct, since you either steal or get given all your exploit tools from or by other people. [[spoiler:Even [=PortHack=] and [=HackNet=]. The endgame is all about how dangerous it is to have tools so powerful that even a novice like you can go around hacking pretty much anything you want to with just a little bit of training and basic terminal knowledge.]]
* JumpScare: If you aren't paying attention, [[spoiler: and if you have a CD tray on your real computer, connecting to your ingame computer and typing 'opencdtray' can be this]]
* LastChanceHitPoint: Unlike ''VideoGame/{{Uplink}}'', getting traced does not mean immediate Game Over. [[spoiler: It does, however, start a "Trace Aversion Sequence" that the player must complete by getting a new [=IP=] address before the trace truly completes.]] [[spoiler:The Hacknet [=OS=] does this by triggering a self-induced crash at the very moment when the ping from the hostile server arrives, giving it no return, so that the hostile server assumes the ping never arrived.]]
* MegaCorp: Entech

** Explore Kaguya's server after the above events - [[spoiler: They are lying through their teeth about everything. See EvilPlan.]]
* MundaneMadeAwesome: The use of ''UsefulNotes/{{Synthwave}}'' as the primary soundtrack, especially in the more intense parts of the game, naturally leads to this as all you do is type, point, and click.

** When Bit [[spoiler:hacked into Entech's servers one night and discovered their plan, he]] had a change of heart.

* PlayfulHacker: The player, as well as (presumably) the other members of Entropy and [=CSEC=].

** All [=eOS=] devices use "alpine" as the admin password[[note]]This actually was the default iOS device password for several years running[[/note]]. Justified as the end users don't have access to the console of their devices and can't change the default password. [[spoiler:Averted in ''Labyrinths'' in one particular device, as it was jailbroken [[ProperlyParanoid and the default password changed]], making the player have to root around for the password via other methods.]]
** The [[ShmuckBait CCCHacksquad server]] also starts with a predetermined password. [[spoiler: The password is "honeypot", but attempting to hack it causes the password to change and, due to updates preventing certain exploits from working, renders the server's contents inaccessible until the postgame.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: A miscommunication between EnTech's CEO and one of his contacts led to Bit being killed.]]

* PunnyName: [=D3f4ult=] in ''Labyrinths.'' Not for the obvious one, either. [[spoiler: At the climax of the campaign, [=D3f4ult=] will always side with Kaguya and if you don't actively intervene Kaguya's plan succeeds. In other words, Kaguya wins by default.]]
* SadisticChoice: See MultipleEndings above.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Porthack's [[HollywoodHacking magical]] properties aren't an abstraction. It's ''really that powerful''. You look like a genius cracker to the other groups because they're stuck using present-day tools.]]
** To put this in perspective, [[spoiler: all you would need to do to control just about any computer in the world is a crack, Porthack, and some decent knowhow of Terminal-based operating systems. Considering Bit teaches you this in under half an hour, a more dedicated hacker could destroy entire companies if they had the knowledge and dedication to learn]].

** Had it not been for [[spoiler:Bit sending the player a complete copy of Hacknet, Entech's plan would have gone off without a hitch.]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/{{Uplink}}''.
* StickyFingers: You can copy and(/or) delete literally any file on any computer you hack. Whether it's a good idea or even matters depends on the mission, but pretty much every executable has to be copied from someone else's system (though some are gifts). If you're in a hurry but looking for a specific file, one tactic is to just copy everything and look through it later.

** One server, the CCC Hacksquad Filedump, traces any hacking attempts in mere seconds, making it even harder to hack than the final boss! There's no way to get into it until the postgame, and the intended method is pretty quirky- you need to [[spoiler: go to the credits server and download the Security Trace.exe program that the dev has put in the bin. Then, you need to run it while hacking each port, since only one trace can be on your system at a time, and killing the process before time runs out]]. There is an actual password, though if you even attempt to hack it, the password cycles, rendering the contents effectively [[PermanentlyMissableContent Lost Forever]]. [[spoiler: It's "honeypot", fitting given the server's purpose.]] The reward for breaking in is [[spoiler: an exclusive honey-themed X-server.]]

* TakeThat: Naix' missions have you hacking into the corporate network of a company called "Nortron". Naix even says in one of his emails he'd rather have a virus than their "security software" clogging up his system.
* TheTeam: The player, [=D3f4ult=], Coel, and Kaguya.

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: [[spoiler: Sequencer.exe. At the moment you run the sequencer, you are immediately connected to the Entech offline backup network that was brought online, starting the final mission, and the moment you're connecting, you're immediately traced.]]

-->'''Kaguya''': [[spoiler:I want you to crash flight Pacific Air Flight PA_0022]]

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Not only the command prompt accept UNIX-based command prompt, but it also accept some Windows or DOS-based command prompt as well.

* BonusBoss:
** One server, the CCC Hacksquad Filedump, traces any hacking attempts in mere seconds, making it even harder to hack than the final boss! There's no way to get into it until the postgame, and the intended method is pretty quirky- you need to [[spoiler: go to the credits server and download the Security Trace.exe program that the dev has put in the bin. Then, you need to run it while hacking each port, since only one trace can be on your system at a time, and killing the process before time runs out]]. There is an actual password, though if you even attempt to hack it, the password cycles, rendering the contents effectively [[PermanentlyMissableContent Lost Forever]]. [[spoiler: It's "honeypot", fitting given the server's purpose.]] The reward for breaking in is [[spoiler: an exclusive honey-themed X-server.]]
** There's an even harder one, which is also very well hidden. Accessible only after the ''Labyrinths'' DLC is completed, [[spoiler: The Gibson is a secret node, accessible only by creating a memory dump on the Head of the Polar Star node, something that isn't suggested anywhere in the game. While its trace isn't instant like CCC Hacksquad, it's the hardest node to break into in the entire game, having ''all nine ports in the game required'', on top of a proxy that ''takes longer than the trace's duration to complete'' and a firewall for good measure. The timing on the trace is ''ridiculously'' tight at 95 seconds, and neither Tracekill nor [=SignalScramble=] can stop it once it's activated. It can be considered the final test for everything you've learned in both the main game and ''Labyrinths'', and what's the reward for breaking in? [=ClockV2=], an second version of the original Clock program, as well as a link to an elusive Discord server for fans of the game who have beaten the challenge.]]

* HollywoodHacking: Played with. The descriptions of the various protocol exploits used are actually based on sound theory[[note]]Although executables like the ones used would not stay viable for long - that's why patching is a thing[[/note]] but then you still have to use the magic "[=PortHack=]" to crack into the system. [[spoiler:Then you discover [=PortHack=] is an '''InUniverse''' example of HollywoodHacking, except it ''works''. The last act's theme is how ridiculously dangerous this is.]]

** Taken UpToEleven in the DLC when [[spoiler: even the terminal doesn't work - you have to delete a file on your own ''real life computer'' to resume the game]].

* ArtifisticLicense: The [=HackNet=] OS that you're using is UNIX-based as evident by the file directory terminal commands, executables are [=EXEs=], and at one point when you [[spoiler:get your GUI deleted]] you get treated to a UsefulNotes/BlueScreenOfDeath, which is a Windows-specific thing.

* ArtifisticLicense: The [=HackNet=] OS that you're using is UNIX-based as evident by the terminal commands, however at one point when you [[spoiler:get your GUI deleted]] you get treated to a UsefulNotes/BlueScreenOfDeath, which is a Windows-specific thing.

* ArtificialStupidity: When Naix attacks the player's in-game computer, he'll delete x-server.sys - but not anything else, including any theme files the player may have in their /sys directory at that point.

* BattleThemeMusic: [[spoiler: In order to start the FinalBoss, you have to activate a modified music sequencer program, which signals Vapor to connect you to [=EnTech's=] backup archives. Naturally, it fulfills it's regular function and plays an intense electronic song (Carpenter Brut's adrenaline-pumping "Roller Mobster") during the attack.]]

** There's an even harder one, which is also very well hidden. Accessible only after the ''Labyrinths'' DLC is completed, [[spoiler: The Gibson is a secret node, accessible only by creating a memory dump on the Head of the Polar Star node, something that isn't suggested anywhere in the game. While its trace isn't instant like CCC Hacksquad, it's the hardest node to break into in the entire game, having ''all nine ports in the game required'', on top of a proxy that ''takes longer than the trace's duration to complete'' and a firewall for good measure. The timing on the trace is ''ridiculously'' tight at 95 seconds, and neither Tracekill nor [=SignalScramble=] can stop it once its activated. It can be considered the final test for everything you've learned in both the main game and ''Labyrinths'', and what's the reward for breaking in? ClockV2, an second version of the original Clock program, as well as a link to an elusive Discord server for fans of the game who have beaten the challenge.]]

** There's an even harder one, which is also very well hidden. Accessible only after the ''Labyrinths'' DLC is completed, [[spoiler: The Gibson is a secret node, accessible only by creating a memory dump on the Head of the Polar Star node, something that isn't suggested anywhere in the game. While its trace isn't instant like CCC Hacksquad, it's the hardest node to break into in the entire game, having ''all nine ports in the game required'', on top of a proxy that ''takes longer than the trace's duration to complete'' and a firewall for good measure. The timing on the trace is ''ridiculously'' tight at 95 seconds, and neither Tracekill nor SignalScramble can stop it once its activated. It can be considered the final test for everything you've learned in both the main game and ''Labyrinths'', and what's the reward for breaking in? ClockV2, an second version of the original Clock program, as well as a link to an elusive Discord server for fans of the game who have beaten the challenge.]]

* BonusBoss: One server, the CCC Hacksquad Filedump, traces any hacking attempts in mere seconds, making it even harder to hack than the final boss! There's no way to get into it until the postgame, and the intended method is pretty quirky- you need to [[spoiler: go to the credits server and download the Security Trace.exe program that the dev has put in the bin. Then, you need to run it while hacking each port, since only one trace can be on your system at a time, and killing the process before time runs out]]. There is an actual password, though if you even attempt to hack it, the password cycles, rendering the contents effectively [[PermanentlyMissableContent Lost Forever]]. [[spoiler: It's "honeypot", fitting given the server's purpose.]] The reward for breaking in is [[spoiler: an exclusive honey-themed X-server.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Without Bit sending the player a complete copy of Hacknet, Entech's plan would have gone off without a hitch.]]
** [[spoiler: Coel's CrazyPrepared reaction to Kaguya's plan shows she had previously hacked the Bibliotheque server to get admin permissions, something she had no reason to do. Kaguya is caught totally off-guard.]]

** [[spoiler: At the end of ''Labyrinths'' you can potentially fight Kaguya's endgame by preventing the plane crash.]]

* DiscOneNuke: Kaguya's missions can be taken on just before the player takes on Naix. In this case, [=SignalScramble.exe=] becomes this, as it allows the player to become immune to traces far earlier than the game expects. While it needs admin privileges to run and takes up a whopping 600 MB of your in-game RAM, it can be started while Porthack is running, slowing down traces even before it's completely loaded.

* HollywoodHacking: Played with. The descriptions of the various protocol exploits used are actually based on sound theory[[note]]Although executables like the ones used would not stay viable for long - that's why patching is a thing[[/note]] but then you still have to use the magic "porthack" to crack into the system. [[spoiler:Then you discover Porthack is an '''InUniverse''' example of HollywoodHacking, except it ''works''. The last act's theme is how ridiculously dangerous this is.]]

* SuperPrototype: [[spoiler: PortHack. The reason why the player is so easily able to hack isn't because they're good, but because PortHack is an absurdly powerful tool. As a metaphor, most in-lore hacking devices can be considered akin to lockpicking tools, while PortHack is like a battering ram. PortHack is Bit's contribution to Entech's Hacknet project and is, in his words, the skills of a master hacker condensed into a program. The player's copy is the only one which ever had the complete program compiled into it.]]

* UnwinnableByMistake: If you delete a file that you need to make progress, there's no way to get it back, except restarting the game. And it's quite easy to do this by accident, since you're constantly using "rm *" to delete log files. Run it in the wrong directory, and say goodbye to your files.

** In Labyrinths, [[spoiler:Remi Gallego's Sabotage (AKA Altitude Loss) starts playing as soon as Kaguya announces the mission to crash a plane full of innocent passengers. The music gets more and more intense as the altitude drops further an further, pressuring the player as they either rush to patch a fix in order to save the plane or watch as it (and potentially a second plane) crashes.]]