Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,442
edits
m (Dai-Guard moved page Uplink (Video Game) to Uplink over redirect: Remove TVT Namespaces from title) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (deleted trope entry for trope deleted in 2020) |
||
(9 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{work}}
[[File:Uplink.jpg|thumb|350px]]
''[[Uplink]]'' is a video game
It's arguably one of the most realistic games out there
Compare with [[Net Runner]]. A fan sequel, called ''[[Codelink]]'', is on the works.
{{tropelist}}
* [[
* [[AFGNCAAP]]: You have no photo in your school records, Social Security, or bank account.▼
* [[555]]:
** And during the secret mission to {{spoiler|steal the agent roster from the Uplink Internal Services machine, there's always one of the ten files missing - the one containing your own record.}}▼
*** As a hint to a cheat code (which is, unfortunately, patched away), it is actually possible for the game to disclose your alias. {{spoiler|It's [[Sneakers|TooManySecrets]]}}▼
** And the phonelines you ring for voice print IDs use nonsense phone numbers.▼
* [[All Crimes Are Equal]]: An unintentional example, but someone will go to jail just as readily for rape, murder, and arson as for jaywalking, spitting, and littering.▼
** As mentioned on the article, your gateway is ''always'' 127.0.0.1. [[A Worldwide Punomenon|No place like home]]...▼
* [[Apocalypse How]] : Between Type 0 and Type 1 {{spoiler|if Revelation succeeds}}.▼
▲* [[All Crimes Are Equal]]: An unintentional example, but someone will go to jail just as readily for rape, murder
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Also unintentional, but as a result of [[All Crimes Are Equal]] above, you can indeed send someone to prison for, say, genocide, conspiracy to overthrow the government, and parking on a double yellow line. They also have to be violating parole, as you cannot authorize arrest without that particular crime. So you can turn someone into a genocidal, mass murdering jaywalker...who was successfully paroled and [[Too Dumb to Live|subsequently violated their parole.]]▼
▲* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Also unintentional, but as a result of [[All Crimes Are Equal]] above, you can indeed send someone to prison for, say, genocide, conspiracy to overthrow the government, and parking on a double yellow line. They also have to be violating parole, as you cannot authorize arrest without that particular crime. So you can turn someone into a genocidal, mass murdering jaywalker... who was successfully paroled and [[Too Dumb to Live|subsequently violated their parole
* [[Beeping Computers]] The Trace Tracker program.
* [[Beyond the Impossible]]: Hacking into the ARC mainframe servers ''before'' you get a certain plot-important email (which automatically hits you after about an in-game week) nets you some ''very'' interesting information and an equally interesting email from ARC themselves. It can done with a perfectly legitimate [[Disc One Nuke]], or you'll need a ''monster'' rig and top of the line software to do it.
* [[The Big Board]]: The [[Game Within a Game]] on Protovision's machine.
* [[Computer Virus]]: Version 1.0 doesn't spread across systems, but the speed run takes out the global network by running it on enough computers.
* [[Copy Protection]]: Actually meant as a bit of nostalgia, as they posted the shiny grid that comes with the game as a free PDF on their website.
* [[Cosmetic Award]]: There are 12 "Special Awards" to achieve, {{spoiler|mostly}} tied to the completion of the storyline missions. However, since one can only take one branch of the storyline, it's impossible to earn all of them in a single playthrough.
* [[Critical Annoyance]]:
▲** You can destroy a company's servers ''completely'' - at least datawise - and doing so will net you a nice little news article about how a mysterious hacker has cost the company ''millions''. They don't seem to ever actually go bankrupt, although their stock will tank. You can hack into a bank and funnel money into your account - possibly even bouncing it around several times and keeping it in accounts on other bank websites, rather than storing it all on the Uplink Corporation Bank.
*
▲* [[Critical Annoyance]]: The Trace Tracker. The lack of any other significant sound in the game except a quiet music soundtrack can make the slow but subtle beep rate increase into [[Nightmare Fuel]], particularly if you've only got about five seconds left.
** The motion detector will flash red regardless of who is near the computer, as long as there is more than one person (one person only makes it flash yellow; any computer upgrades you order are carried out by one person per upgrade). This could either be the FBI coming with your game over, or those 5 new processors you just ordered.
* [[Disc One Nuke]]: If you know how, it's fairly easy to rob a bank and funnel a couple million dollars into your bank account, thereby allowing you to buy all the best hardware and software early on.
* [[Dummied Out]]:
*
** The cheat code is likewise removed after patching. Modified computers that have near-infinite capacity and a negative cost does make the code irrelevant.
* [[Easter Egg]]:
*
** At the beginning of the game, you're asked for a two-character code as part of the game's copy protection. The ''code sheet'' is written in hexadecimal coding, and it ''does say something''.
* [[Everything Is Online]]: Almost everything.
▲** The v3 and below Trace Tracker somewhat subverts this in that it will sometimes jump around a little, but still stays fairly consistent. V4 shows your [[Exact Time to Failure]]. The MapTrace HUD upgrade, despite costing more than the best Trace Tracker, does ''not'' show how much time you have until the trace is complete, only many bounces your hack has been traced through.
* [[Extreme Graphical Representation]]: Justified, because it ''is'' a representation of [[Hollywood Hacking]].
* [[Fan Sequel]]: ''[[Codelink]]'', currently in open beta. [http://codelinkv2.com/web/ Here's their dev blog
▲* [[
▲** And during the secret mission to {{spoiler|steal the agent roster from the Uplink Internal Services machine, there's always one of the ten files missing
▲*** As a hint to a cheat code (which is, unfortunately, patched away), it is actually possible for the game to disclose your alias. {{spoiler|It's [[Sneakers|TooManySecrets]]}}.
* [[Feelies]]: Although even these are virtual:
** The passworded "Game Bible".
** The shiny bonus disc, with old builds of the game and their ideas for ''Uplink 2''.
* [[Final Death]]: Get caught during a hack or passive traced, and your account will be suspended. To all intents and purposes, that game file is dead (justified in that Uplink disavows all knowledge of your actions, prevents you from ever reconnecting your gateway computer, and generally pulls the plug on your actions, while also implying that your gateway contains the only information that can lead directly back to you). You can go a bit meta and back up your saves, however.▼
▲* [[Fan Sequel]]: ''[[Codelink]]'', currently in open beta. [http://codelinkv2.com/web/ Here's their dev blog.]
▲* [[Final Death]]: Get caught during a hack or passive traced, and your account will be suspended. To all intents and purposes, that game file is dead (justified in that Uplink disavows all knowledge of your actions, prevents you from ever reconnecting your gateway computer, and generally pulls the plug on your actions, while also implying that your gateway contains the only information that can lead directly back to you).
▲* [[555]]: The computers you hack into use nonsense IP addresses.
▲** And the phonelines you ring for voice print IDs use nonsense phone numbers.
▲** As mentioned on the article, your gateway is ''always'' 127.0.0.1. [[A Worldwide Punomenon|No place like home]]...
* [[Game Mod]]: Lots.
** Sometimes
* [[Hoist
* [[Hollywood Hacking]]: The entire game can basically be described as a simulation based off Hollywood's portrayal of hacking.
* [[Hyperspace Arsenal]]: Not ''per se'', but by the end of the game, you'll probably have a rather respectable collection of hacking tools at your disposal
* [[Karma Meter]]: Of a sort. The game keeps track of whether you're a hacker or a cracker. If you willfully destroy systems, ruin lives, and destroy data, then you'll earn a reputation for doing so. If you alter records, trace other hackers, and prefer to leave systems intact, you'll earn a reputation for being "mostly harmless". Mission givers ''will'' react to your reputation. And you sell the list of Uplink agents, your reputation will be ''locked'' into a completely amoral sociopath.
* [[Let's Play]] [http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Uplink/index.html Uplink: Hacker Elite!]
** Good deal of [[Mind Screw]] in that particular Lets Play, also.
** [http://professor-prof.livejournal.com/146655.html#cutid1 Professor_Prof's LP]
* [[Make It Look Like an Accident]]: The main story starts when
* [[The Mole]]: {{spoiler|[[Video Game Cruelty Potential|You]], if you manage to steal the whole list of agents of your very own company and sell it to a third party. Cue "[[Make It Look Like an Accident|suicide]]" spree among Uplink employees. To top it off, [[Cosmetic Award|you'll receive a Special Award for doing so
* [[Nonstandard Game Over]]: The normal game over is the feds getting their hands on your gateway. There is basically only one non-standard game over and two ways to acquire it.
* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]: The blank screen when your account is suspended.
* [[One-Gender Race]]
* [[One World Order]]: There is only one government, which makes hacking their databases very convenient.
▲* [[One Hundred Percent Completion]]: Subverted - you can't get all 12 special badges in a single playthrough.
* [[The Password Is Always Swordfish]]:
▲* [[One World Order]]: There is only one government, which makes hacking their databases very convenient.
*
**
**
** Initially, even admins use highly insecure passwords, but as the game goes on and your notoriety rises, the cheap and cheerful ''Dictionary Cracker'' is about as much use as... well, a ''cream'' cracker. With the spate of hackings, massive amounts of data theft, data loss, server wipes, etc
* [[Password Slot Machine]]: The Password Breaker.
* [[Piecemeal Funds Transfer]]: Averted
* [[Playful Hacker]]: ''You'', [[Wide Open Sandbox|if you so choose, anyway]]. Gain access to someone's academic record and give them a qualification as a Registered Sex Worker! Change someone's government records from reading 'Single' to 'Married' (or vice versa)! Plant a Bestiality charge on some poor random bastard's criminal record for the lulz! Give them a qualification in Mathsology, Archeomatics or [[Stephen Colbert|Truthiness]]! Given that this is a British game, the most appropriate crime to pin on people is probably {{spoiler|buggery}}.
* [[Post
▲* [[Post Modern]]: A borderline example, as rather than having a distinct character that the player acts as, the player ''is'' the character.
* [[Real Time]]: Time moves in real time, even though people reply to messages instantly. You can speed up time though.
* [[Save Scumming]]: Most clever players will back up their files, like any smart hacker should do. It's
* [[Scare Chord]]: While not a literal chord, any first time LAN hacker will jump at {{spoiler|the shrill sound when the System Administrator logs on
▲* [[Scare Chord]]: While not a literal chord, any first time LAN hacker will jump at {{spoiler|the shrill sound when the System Administrator logs on.}}
* [[Schmuck Bait]]: ARC's email spells it out very, very clearly: {{spoiler|"DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN REVELATION LOCALLY."}} And yet there are still reports of people who have destroyed their own gateways in that very manner...
* [[Self
* [[Sequence Breaking]]: Instead of following ARC's instructions, {{spoiler|1=you can destroy the whole Internet by yourself as soon as they send you the first version of Revelation. In fact is easier than sticking to the storyline since nobody else knows about the existence of the virus, therefore Faith hasn't even been conceived. The only difficulty added to this shortcut is that one must infect about twice the amount of computers that Revelation 3.0 would need, as well as amassing loads of money early to build a decent rig for the task (usually via [[Game Breaker|bank hacking]]).[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiZp9CUwGhg This speedrun demonstrates it.]}}▼
▲* [[Self Destructing Security]]: One security measure you can purchase for your gateway is a [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]], intended as a last resort if the Feds are closing in on you. You lose all the hardware, but at least you avoid getting [[Game Over]]'d; if you have extra bank accounts set up you can use them to rebuild.
* [[Sensor Suspense]]: The Trace Tracker is an absolute necessity, since it shows you how close you are to being backhacked and identified. Much of the strategy in the game consists of finding ways to increase the amount of time you can spend on a system before they start getting too close.
▲* [[Sequence Breaking]]: Instead of following ARC's instructions, {{spoiler|1=you can destroy the whole Internet by yourself as soon as they send you the first version of Revelation. In fact,
* [[Shout-Out]]: Protovision's machine is a homage to ''[[War Games]]'' (it's the only machine you can't crack with the Password Breaker - you need to recognise the shout out to get the password ({{spoiler|JOSHUA}}, of course), and Introversion (the developers) have an in-game website which mentions ''[[Johnny Mnemonic]]'' and ''[[Mission Impossible]]''. And then there's the [[Steve Jackson Games]] server, which has of course been pinched by the US Secret Service.▼
* [[Shout-Out]]:
▲*
** Also, the use of "Quads" as a measurement of data storage could be a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Star Trek]]'', as [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Quad quads] are what the Federation computers use.
** "Hello. I am the Administrator. [[Sneakers|My voice is my passport. Verify me.]]"
* [[Spiritual Successor]]:
*
** The Protovision machine's depiction of [[The Big Board]] is like a foreshadowing of the their following game ''[[DEFCON]]''.
* [[Take That]]: "Once again, the Global Criminal Database has been hacked. The system appears to have more security holes than the popular '[[Microsoft|Micro Software]]' written in the late 20th Century
* [[
* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]]: It's set in 2010. [http://forums.introversion.co.uk/introversion/viewtopic.php?t=2354 Now officially recognised as being set in the past
* [[Unreadably Fast Text]]: Take a closer look at the output of the gateway installation program. You can read fast...
* [[Unwinnable
** You cannot start the storyline if you wait too long, as it will play out on its own.
* [[Viewer-Friendly Interface]]: Standardised login screens, massive loading bars and tasty IP-dialling
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: {{spoiler|ARC seem like straight-up villains at first, but it's eventually revealed that they're a group of radical hacktivists who are appalled at the overly commercialized, corrupt state of the Internet and the danger to privacy and insecurity posed by the global governmental databases and wish to destroy it so they can start again from scratch
▲* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: {{spoiler|ARC seem like straight-up villains at first, but it's eventually revealed that they're a group of radical hacktivists who are appalled at the overly commercialized, corrupt state of the Internet and the danger to privacy and insecurity posed by the global governmental databases and wish to destroy it so they can start again from scratch.}}
* [[Wide Open Sandbox]]: There's nothing to stop you from ignoring the storyline entirely and focus on freelance hacking.
* [[Zeerust]]: BBS software? ''Really''?
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Science Fiction Video Games]]
[[Category:Simulation Game]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:Uplink]]▼
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:Microsoft Windows]]
[[Category:Mac OS]]
[[Category:IOS Games]]
[[Category:Android Games]]
|