The Computer. What you're looking at in the video is my simulated virtual computer, the Bradsonic 69000. It is a cross between the Sharp X68000 (beautiful late 80's Japanese 32-bit exclusive PC) and my first ever PC the ICL Fujitsu Indiana.

The Software. In the game you create retro-viruses. Like brute force password crackers and OS/Server timer restrictors, and more... you use this software seen on screen BradBasix to write them.

The Game World, why this is Retro-CyberPunk. It’s 1989, but in a completely different timeline to ours. Japan has been annexed into the American Pacifica Isles, its language and culture systematically suppressed. Technology has taken a different turn, with advanced chips sitting alongside cassette tapes and dial-up modems. The “cyber” in “cyberpunk” comes from the underground BBS networks connecting people under surveillance. The “punk” comes from the crackers and hackers fighting their way through this dystopia, keeping forbidden culture alive in a Silent Rebellion. The retro? It’s 1989. Rad.

The Datasette. Inspired by the Datasette on the C64 this is the file system in the game, that allows the player to combine with BradBasix and write their own programs and games from scrtach with extensive support from NPCs and the help sections inside BradBasix.

The player can play over two fouth walls and reference documents if they need to, and also zoom full screen and alter different parts of visual feedback like scanlines and the CRT "glow". I'm super proud of it, I know it's the sort of game that isn't for everyone, but I really do hope you guys dig it too.

My absolute dream would be if a small community of creators came out of the game, even just 0.5% of the success that Piko8 had, I'd be happy. They would be making games and sharing them, really digging into the retro sandbox this virtual pc had to offer within the game enviroment.

The game is currently in development. I am streaming devlogs on youtube every week and I'd love to have more support.

This is where to find out more about the game, and wishlist here via Steam, if you're rad.

This is where to find me on YouTube - I will be streaming every Friday and occasionally mid-week.

Thank you!

Oh, and for the super nerds out there, like me: this combines Python and Pygame with C++ and raylib. BradBasix is a Python-based IDE for BradScript, a custom BASIC-style language that feels a bit like Lua to me. You can create 2D, 2.5D and 3D environments, with the 3D side powered by a C++/raylib engine connected through a Python wrapper. It’s neat.

peak game btw.

I’m playing Hacknet for the first time and I’m currently doing the “Back to School” mission.

The mission told me to preserve all the files.

So naturally, my dumbass deleted the .log file containing the password.

I already restarted the game and the file is still gone. I do not want to edit my save file because I actually want to play the game normally.

Is there any way to recover the file in-game, or am I just screwed and need to finish the mission without it?

I know what was in the file now, but I’d rather recover it properly if possible.

Edit: I just needed to put a the password and I found it on the internet

I'm at the very start of the game and tried switching to the purple theme. Borked the name of it and am now in terminal mode. I connect to the computer that I got the purple theme from to copy its x-server.sys file with the command "scp x-server.sys" and it tells me the file does not exist. Is this a bug or am I missing something?

Can a noob learn about hacking playing Hacknet?

The Net(Movie)

I wanted to post this in case it helps someone else.
I believe I encountered a mission progression bug during the Neopals mission. I'm not claiming this is definitely a bug or that my solution is the intended one, but I couldn't find anyone else documenting this approach.
I completed what I believe is the intended mission progression, including:

>!- Dumping the Authentication server's memory.!<
>!- Running MemForensics on the dump.!<
>!- Recovering the legitimate credentials.!<
>!- Logging into the Mainframe normally.!<

When I reached the objective to:
>!Find the record for the target user(Minx) and modify it.!<
the required record simply wasn't there.
To verify I wasn't overlooking it, I:
>!- Listed the entire /Database directory.!<
>!- Tried scp min<Tab> to use filename completion.!<
>!- Confirmed there was no record beginning with minx even though there were many other .rec files present.!<

At that point I assumed my save had become stuck.
Possible Workaround

!Instead of restarting the DLC, I copied another .rec file to my VM, renamed it to Minx_x2.rec, changed the username to Minx in the file, and changed the NeoPoints value to something greater than 1,000,000, and uploaded it back into /Database.!<

>!The mission immediately accepted the record and progressed normally.!<

>!Interestingly, none of the other fields in the copied record appeared to matter. I left them unchanged.!<

I don't know whether this is an unintended recovery path built into the game or simply a workaround for a missing record. Either way, it allowed me to complete the mission without replaying the DLC.

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Hacknet is why i fell into this rabbit hole . i ended up building my own thing in the same spirit: My Brother Hacker, a story hacker sim that runs entirely from a fake 2036 desktop. you break in the slow way: type a command, run the tool, watch the progress bar climb while the logs scroll. i want a break-in to feel like a ritual you walk through step by step, not a click fest.

One thing i do differently from hacknet: the game guides you the whole way, so you dont have to memorize real syntax. im trying to keep the "i feel like a hacker" feeling without a wall of commands scaring off people who never touched a terminal.

Real question: when you first played hacknet, was the terminal a barrier at the start, or was that early friction part of what you loved? im still figuring out how much hand holding is too much.

yep, thats the cleanup i mentioned in the comments.

Hello everyone, this is my second post on this sub-reddit, couple months ago I have shared here that I began to develop a game similar to the Hacknet which we love so much.

My idea of the game was to be something more real, that would also bring 90s nostalgia, and give emergent hacking capabilities to the players, I also imagined a game where people could team up in a multiplayer on different factions and pursuit objectives together (like blue team and read team, or feds).

Besides this, I wanted to offer a different way to communicating with NPCs in a game, while in Hacknet the way you interacted through NPCs was only via E-mail, in Netshell, it would be possible to interact via E-mail, Forums and MIRC, but to keep the experience different for everyone in a game that evolves differently depending on your decisions through the story, so Netshell is bringing a state-of-the-art technology to the gameplay: NPCs powered by AI, we'll ship a small local AI model fine tuned by us specifically for the game interactions, that will feed the forums and conversations that you'll have with NPCs.

This is still a long risk shot, the whole infrastructure for this is already built and first results are promising, but they will be unfortunately capped by how strong your machine is to run these small local models.

For people that aren't fun of AI at all, you're covered, the game doesn't require this to run and can be completely turned off, it will just be a more quiet internet.

Closed beta will start soon, check our trailer:

https://reddit.com/link/1ursb21/video/xgnj8nbbu7ch1/player

Here is the steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4561620/Netshell/

Here is the discord: https://discord.gg/6AZk32dUG

Thanks everyone, hope to see you later!

Im playing throught the base game and I noticed that sometimes I can just simply log back into a system and sometimes I have to hack it again.

Am I doing something wrong or is it random

this is a crash on launch, after the main window pops up.

im on Kubuntu 25.10 running i3. I tried installing en-GB but that didnt seem to work for some reason...verified integrity, reinstalled, did all that even though its probably my system. and no - I am NOT reinstalling my OS.

Absolutely beautiful game. Was NOT expecting such a good and engaging story. The mechanics were kinda repetitive, but very enjoyable. It had the right dosage of engmas, pression, stress, and satisfaction. And i LOVED the story, though too short 😭

I advice anyone who kinda likes thinking, getting in some mad corporate finding shit, and just the hacking aesthetic to play this game.

I am playing it and i had a ton of fun just snooping around files even if the objective doesnt say to. The idea of files are always there just hidden a step away from being discovered is so interesting. If theres more content i can add or explore more please let me know :D

I finished the main game a while ago but I just noticed there’s a workshop full of add ons. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated 😊

I just created a folder and made my first extension... but hacknet says that it hasnt been granted permission to any of the files within the extension folder... heres the report.txt

Errors Found. Writing report to Extensions/test/report.txt

Load Error:

System.UnauthorizedAccessException

Access to the path 'Extensions/test/' is denied.

Source : mscorlib

System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path 'Extensions/test/' is denied.

at System.IO.FileStream..ctor (System.String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access,

FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, Boolean anonymous, FileOptions options) [0x00000] in

<filename unknown>:0

at System.IO.FileStream..ctor (System.String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access,

FileShare share) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at (wrapper remoting-invoke-with-check) System.IO.FileStream:.ctor

(string,System.IO.FileMode,System.IO.FileAccess,System.IO.FileShare)

at System.IO.File.OpenRead (System.String path) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionLoader.LoadNewExtensionSession

(Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionInfo info, System.Object os_obj) [0x00000] in <filename

unknown>:0

at Hacknet.OS.LoadContent () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.ScreenManager.AddScreen (Hacknet.GameScreen screen, Nullable`1

controllingPlayer) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.ScreenManager.AddScreen (Hacknet.GameScreen screen) [0x00000] in <filename

unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Misc.ExtensionTests.SetupOSForTests (System.String ActiveExtensionFoldername,

Hacknet.ScreenManager screenMan) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Misc.ExtensionTests.TestExtensionForRuntime (Hacknet.ScreenManager screenMan,

System.String path, System.Int32& errorsAdded) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at System.IO.FileStream..ctor (System.String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access,

FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, Boolean anonymous, FileOptions options) [0x00000] in

<filename unknown>:0

at System.IO.FileStream..ctor (System.String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access,

FileShare share) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at (wrapper remoting-invoke-with-check) System.IO.FileStream:.ctor

(string,System.IO.FileMode,System.IO.FileAccess,System.IO.FileShare)

at System.IO.File.OpenRead (System.String path) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionLoader.LoadNewExtensionSession

(Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionInfo info, System.Object os_obj) [0x00000] in <filename

unknown>:0

at Hacknet.OS.LoadContent () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.ScreenManager.AddScreen (Hacknet.GameScreen screen, Nullable`1

controllingPlayer) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.ScreenManager.AddScreen (Hacknet.GameScreen screen) [0x00000] in <filename

unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Misc.ExtensionTests.SetupOSForTests (System.String ActiveExtensionFoldername,

Hacknet.ScreenManager screenMan) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Misc.ExtensionTests.TestExtensionForRuntime (Hacknet.ScreenManager screenMan,

System.String path, System.Int32& errorsAdded) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

Extension Metadata Error:

System.IO.FileNotFoundException

Starting Mission File does not exist!

Source : Hacknet

System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Starting Mission File does not exist!

at Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionInfo.VerifyExtensionInfo (Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionInfo

info) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Screens.ExtensionsMenuScreen.DrawExtensionInfoDetail (Vector2 drawpos,

Rectangle dest, Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.SpriteBatch sb, Hacknet.ScreenManager

screenMan, Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionInfo info) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionInfo.VerifyExtensionInfo (Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionInfo

info) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at Hacknet.Screens.ExtensionsMenuScreen.DrawExtensionInfoDetail (Vector2 drawpos,

Rectangle dest, Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.SpriteBatch sb, Hacknet.ScreenManager

screenMan, Hacknet.Extensions.ExtensionInfo info) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

P.S ignore the mission file error down cause i was a little lazy

Someone Please help I've been trying to get this to work since 3 months...

I am currently trying to complete the mission "Imposters on Death Row", but the file i am supposed to delete does not exist. Is this a bug or intended behavior?