If this guide helped you, please consider donating GC to user @b who wrote b.faq

The FAQ you are about to read is provided to you by the community. If you have suggestions for changes, please make a comment here. Major contributors will be given shared access to this FAQ.


Many thanks to the major community contributors @dtr, @soron, @orion

This game is a text-based MUD. Its main rendering engine is your imagination. MUD stands for Multi User Dungeon.

The game starts out as a single player game tutorial, where you learn the basics. After this you will enter the multiplayer game. You must be online for both the tutorial and the multiplayer game as your stats are recorded to the server as you progress.

You will have noticed the game costs 13.37 in whatever currency you buy it in. If this is a problem for you, buy the game from the humble store for the price in dollars. This will save you money if your currency is more expensive. (However, it doesn't hurt your karma to pay full price to the dev.)

No! You can play as a social member of the various groups and help others attain goals by simply being helpful. As the user created content increases, there are various activities to partake in.

The player scripts are written in javascript with various built in functions. You upload your scripts from your computer to the game to run them.

Hold ALT as the program is starting. This will open up a dialogue that allows you to chose your window size. This will resize the text accordingly.

https://www.reddit.com/r/hackmud
https://www.hackmud.com/forums/new_players/

These are server error messages. There is one dev for the whole game and he is working on fixing the servers for the large amount of new players. A fix is coming.

You could check on the forums if someone else has had this issue. It is heavily recommended that you do the following first:
Check for confusion between 1 and l (one / L). This is a common problem with the font.
Read back over the things the NPCs have said and the results you have received from various commands.

No. If you have the command, you can skip forward in the tutorial. For example, joining certain chat channels or connecting to certain programs.

Everyone has been through this stage. Sometimes it's as easy as going back and reading something you've missed before. Sometimes you must solve a puzzle in several steps of the tutorial. It's worth completing it, we promise! If you still feel stuck, don't hesitate to ask for help on the forums provided above.

It can take anywhere between two and six hours, depending on your skill level and patience. It's recommended to take a break from the game every hour or so - make sure you remember where you were before you leave.

The game saves automatically, but it's recommended you use the shutdown command when you want to quit.

You can run scripts.trust to find trusted scripts, or you can check if a script is safe by using scripts.get_level. Highsec scripts will never cause you an issue.

If you scroll up a little, the screen will stop scrolling. You can do this by pressing 'page up' or scrolling up with the scroll bar.

Check scripts.trust for a list of scripts you can use that will show you your possibilities.
Check scripts.fullsec for 'quests'. Just like in the tutorial, there are npc factions with poor security just begging to be infiltrated if you can find their security flaws.

When you find a list of dead accounts buried in an archive, you can connect to them over the hardline. A series of pattern matching and guessing will usually get you through their weak security.

Mostly, you will get money by cracking dead accounts - but it's also possible to earn gc from other players. Ask if anyone has any tasks that need to be done. Scripting, writing FAQs and writing stories can be a good way to make some GC to upgrade!

You can see your loc under sys.loc. It's your unique location, similar to an ip which allows other users to run malicious scripts on your machine. If you tell it to someone, or run a malicious script which steals it, your system will become vulnerable. Make sure you keep this secret and safe!

In the future your loc may rotate, but currently it is permanent. If you lose your loc your system will be compromised for good. For now, think of it as a permadeath.

You can check a script is safe by using scripts.get_level. Highsec scripts will never cause you an issue.

Any level of user can be hacked if they run a dangerous script - on purpose or mistake.

To get to the next tiers, you need to have enough funds to do sys.init. Upgrading your system introduces risks, so proceed with caution in doing so. Reaching each tier introduces vulnerabilities but also increases the slots for upgrades and how many characters your scripts can have.

Depending on which updates you have installed, your class will change. By visiting market.browse you can find a selection of items for sale which will upgrade your system in various ways.

Filter by tier. Use market.browse{tier:1}

Below are examples of code provided by @soron, a user in HackMud.
http://ethankaminski.com/fanstuff/hackmud/coding-info.html
http://pastebin.com/wxgZ6iz5
https://github.com/ethankaminski/hackmud_sample_scripts/

You can check @dtr's script manual page. Type: dtr.man{page:"$.scripting_basics"} into the console.

https://mmos.com/editorials/interview-with-sean-gubelman-developer-of-hackmud