FAQ

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[edit] What's my IP for? And why do people want it?

Your IP is your most valuable asset. Protect it like an animal protects their young (except hamsters). People want your IP because then they can hack you. The only way to hack another computer is with their IP. As soon as somebody has your IP, they have it permanently. You can guard your IP by getting a domain name, which is a part of the upgraded account package.

[edit] Where do I get IPs? (aka: How do I find people to hack?)

There are a number of ways to get IPs in the game:

[edit] NPC IPs

  1. The easiest IPs to get are NPC IPs. These are IPs of computer players. You can get them by going to Places > Network, and mousing over the NPCs.

[edit] Other Players IPs

  1. Use the in-game search engine to search for random words. Anybody who has the word you're searching for in their website will be indexed and searchable. The IP of the player who runs the website is shown in the search results.
  2. Log them whenever somebody scans or attacks you. You need to set up watches to log IPs for you when you're scanned or attacked. This is a fantastic way to collect IPs. Warning: high level players can edit your log messages, so the IPs might not be who actually attacked you. High level players can also "zombie" other computers and attack with them, making the attacking player show up in the logs.
  3. Attack other people and "Peek At Logs" (one of the menu options in Show Choices).
  4. Be in the chat. People often post IPs of people that scan them. This is bad practice, and will make you very unpopular and a target if you do that. However, it happens.
  5. Log IPs of people that visit your website. People do this. Beware.
  6. You can find them in your Game Messages:
  • if you try and attack a computer's port that is already under attack you will see the message "Port X at XXX.XXX.X.XXX was already under attack by YYY.YYY.Y.YYY." The last IP is the IP of the person who's attacking the port that you were attempting to attack.
  • if a player has been doing a lot of operations in a short amount of time, you will see "Player XXX.XXX.X.XXX has been very busy." in your Game Messages. This is most likely a high-level player, and they don't take it lightly when you scan or attack them. Proceed with caution.

[edit] What's an NPC?

A "non player character" -- ie/ a computer player. You find them by going to Places > Network. Mouse over them to find out more information about them.

[edit] How do I make money?

The answer to this question changes depending on your level. I will assume you're a noob:

  1. Hack bank ports. This allows you to empty their petty cash. The first NPCs aren't going to give you much, but they'll help you level up your attack, and allow you to beat higher level NPCs, who have more money. Don't hesitate to try out other NPCs - it's good to experiment, to find out where you're at. The worst that will happen is you lose a little money (if you have to heal more than you make back from the hack) or you overheat.
  2. Hack FTP ports. You will get cards and applications from FTP ports. You can then sell them back to the store from your Places-->Home directory.
  3. Do the quests. You get valuable experience and a pocket-full of bling. And you learn some of the game features! Open Places-->Network, then click on the quest NPCs, and visit their websites.
  4. Overwrite bank applications. This is slightly more advanced, but you can overwrite other peoples banking applications, so that the money they withdraw, transfer, and deposit can be sent to you. You do this using installScript() in the API, or by buying paying somebody to write you a malicious bank script, or by buying a malicious script from the store. When you're getting into this, the game starts to _really_ get fun ;)
  5. Your daily pay. You will receive your daily pay ever 12 hours from the account creation time from the time you created your account, if you have an active/turned on bank application and HTTP application. Learn more about Daily Pay.
  6. Daily pay. If you hack somebody's HTTP port, you can change their daily pay target to be your IP, and you collect their daily pay (if you have an active bank port) until they replace their HTTP application.

[edit] How do I stop NPCs from overheating me?

After you're out of noob protection (total level 30), you will start to get attacked back by the NPCs. You only get overheated when you're attacking.

  1. Overheat them. This may be hard to do as a noob. But as long as they're attacking you, you have a chance to overheat them by attacking their attacking port.
  2. Use firewalls. Firewalls absorb damage every time you get hit. This means you can stay alive longer.
  3. Heal. Heal the ports you that are taking damage in your Port Manager (by clicking on the Health of the port). This can get expensive as a noob.
  4. Cancel the attack. You will not finish your attack but you will also avoid being overheated.

[edit] When do I get my daily pay?

You get your daily pay ever 12 hours, if you have both a Bank port and an HTTP port installed and turned on. The amount of pay you receive depends on your HTTP level. See the Skills guide for more information.


[edit] Where do I get cards?

There are a few places to get cards:

  1. Hacking NPC FTP ports. Sometimes you will be able to steal cards. Be warned, at low levels, a lot of cards are crap. As you get better (or luckier) you will get better cards. Don't underestimate how important hacking FTP ports is.
  2. Buying them from the game store. People (including you) can sell their cards (through the File Browser) to the store, and you can buy them there. Sometimes you can get some sweet deals.
  3. Buying them from other players. Players can sell cards in their in-game websites.

[edit] Where are the files I've stolen?

They are in your Home directory. Places -> Home.


[edit] What does "Could not execute application on port X." mean?

This means that either you tried to run an application (for example, an attack or redirect using the Applications menu, which uses the Default for that type of application - you can have more than one and one needs to be default) when that application is not turned on.

OR it means that somebody tried to do something to one of your ports that is not turned on.


[edit] What does "Player XXX.XXX.X.XXX has been very busy." mean?

It means that the player with that IP has been doing a lot of something in a short amount of time. You should be very hesitant to attack these IPs because generally speaking, they're high level players, and don't take getting scanned lightly.

IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU WERE ATTACKED BY THIS PLAYER!!!!!

[edit] How do I get a domain name?

It's as simple as pie. And less costly. A domain name is part of the service upgrade available in HackWars Upgrade your account! A domain is so valuable: it allows you to keep your IP hidden from potential attackers that find you on the high-scores list, or visit your website.

[edit] What should I spend my money on?

As a noob, the first thing you should do is buy a better CPU. Then get a firewall (or find one by hacking FTP ports). From there, it is wide open, and up to you. Everybody finds their own way :)


[edit] What should I do first?

You have 30 levels of unattackable bliss where the NPCs will not counter attack you (but their attacking firewalls will, so don't think you can go and attack strong NPCs :)) and you can't be attacked by other players. Use them wisely:

  1. Level up your attack. Attack is the most important skill in the game.
  2. Buy a better CPU. This is the most important piece of hardware in your machine, and determines how many applications you can run simultaneously.
  3. Do the quests. They will get you cash and experience, and will teach you more about the game. I would be tempted not to do them until I'm out of noob protection, to maximize my noob levels.
  4. Start setting up your defenses. Get firewalls, and set up some watches to help you find out what's happening to your system (both when you're online, and when you're not!).


[edit] I am losing money when I w/d and then deposit again, what's going on?

There are a few options:

  1. Every time you deposit or transfer money, the bank takes a cut. The better your bank script, the lower the bank's cut.
  2. You were hacked, and somebody replaced your bank script with a malicious script that deposits a bit of money into their account, and a bit into yours. Tricky tricky!


[edit] Can I tell what exact script is installed on each port on my computer?

  1. No. And there's good reason for this: malicious scripts! If you could tell, you'd know immediately when a malicious script was installed on your machine. You should use the note field.
  2. Yes! Once you are able to run zombie attacks, you can attack your own ports and choose "peek at code." This will let you see exactly what script is installed on your ports.

[edit] Where do I go for help?

  1. The wiki. I see you've found it, very good. It's good to rtfm. That's what all good hackers do.
  2. The Help tab in the chat. Lots of players are willing to help.


[edit] My applet won't load... what's wrong?

The most likely culprit is that you've got an out of date applet. You will need to clear your Java cache.

[edit] Windows

  1. Try just closing and re-opening your browser. This will work in most cases.
  2. If it doesn't: open your java console (from the System Tray) and clear the cache. Restart your browser.
  3. If you can't find that, or it doesn't work: Open Control Panel -> Java. Delete the Temporary Files. Restart your browser.

[edit] MAC

[edit] Linux

Another thing that happens from time to time, is that you're trying to connect to HackWars from behind a firewall. There's not much that we can do on our end about this problem. Try connecting from somewhere else or opening ports 10020-10030 outbound.

[edit] When I take over another person's daily pay, how long do I get it for?

Until they change their HTTP script. For an NPC, you will collect it every 12 hours until somebody else changes their daily pay target.


[edit] How do I know if I got hacked?

  1. You will have logs (assuming you setup some watches!).
  2. You will experience strange behaviors in the way you'd expect your scripts to work.
  3. Get a trusted player to hack you and peek at your code.

[edit] Scripting FAQ

[edit] How do I write my own firewall script?

There is no firewall script. Firewalls can bought from other players or the store or looted off an NPC's FTP.

[edit] How do I write a watch that logs every scan and attack?

You cannot. You need to install a health watch on each port and one scan watch to do that.


[edit] I am trying to scan, but it wont work!

  1. Are you being charged? If you are losing petty every time you scan, it is working
  2. Are you scanning another player? If you are, they may have their ports off.
  3. Is your bank on? go to System -> Port Management, and make sure your bank port is on, and that it is not set as a dummy port.
  4. NPC's never have their ports off, so if that is the case then it probably is one of the above.


[edit] I am trying to attack, but it wont work and/or is acting weird

  1. Are you being charged? If you are losing petty every time you attack, it is working.
  2. Are you attacking another player? If you are, they may have their ports off.
  3. Is your bank on? go to System -> Port Management, and make sure your bank port is on, and that it is not set as a dummy port. Do the same for your attack port to.
  4. Do you have the right IP address. Check and make sure that you did not mis-type the IP, or it wont work.
  5. If you are attacking, and its freezing, or the other way around, or something else weird is happening, then your attack port may have been maled. Also, if you get a file not found error, then you were most likely given a nasty spam mal.

[edit] Help! Someone installed a malicious script on my computer

OK, do the following:

  1. Make sure your still not under attack.
  2. Go to System -> Port Management and turn off the port. If it will not turn off, you either have an attack running if it is an attack port, or the port has been frozen.
  3. Replace the port by going into the port management and clicking on the type part of the port. Then select replace. Make sure you have a spare compiled script to replace it with. for example, if you had a maled BasicBank.bin and you needed it replaced, you would use a spare BasicBank.bin. If you don't have a spare you need to buy one or compile one.
  4. Turn the port back on and hope it does not happen again.

[edit] How do I install a firewall

  1. Go to System -> Port Management and find the firewall section for the port. Click it and select install. Assuming you have a firewall on your in-game hard drive, just select the firewall and confirm.


[edit] How do I change networks?

  1. In order to change networks you must first get a Network Card by completing Zahara's quest (located at Zahara.hw). This will be a series of sub-quests that require you to go talk to other people and collect items for people. Once it is all done Zahara will give you a Network Card.
  2. Now that you have a Network Card you must be granted access to different Networks. In order to do this you must visit the in-game site of the Gateway NPC's. You must complete the quest here as well in order to be granted access (these quests have a minimum level requirement that you must meet before you'll be allowed to attempt it). These quest usually involve collect a certain amount of encryption keys in order to decode the network keys. After you have finished collecting these keys you will be given access.
  3. Go to the network map and click on the Network you wish to move to.

[edit] How long do you have to be on a network before you can change again?

  1. 3 mins

[edit] What are the maximum operations (max ops) that can be used in hackscript?

  1. 4096 for non-upgraded accounts
  2. 16384 for upgraded accounts
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