VSCS-I
If you enjoy VSCS-I, a sequel, VSCS-II, is in development - you can follow me for updates or join the community Discord at https://discord.gg/Kbx4eCqe3X.
About
The VSCS-I (Very Secure Computer System Mk.I) is a fictional terminal-based home computer system from 1977. The aim of the game is to access all profiles on the machine by exploiting security flaws and making use of in-game journals left by the previous users.
VSCS-I has a main story mode, as well as three challenge packs that can be unlocked after the story is completed. Please note that progress will not be saved if you leave this page.
Also, be aware that using resources (ex: the internet) outside of the game is not cheating, and is in fact required.
VSCS-I was developed as a final project for the spring 2020 semester of CPSC 329.
How to Play
All interactions with the VSCS-I are done via the command line. Type text into the input field in the bottom left of the screen and press enter to submit a command.
Navigation through the file system is done via the OPEN, LIST, and BACK commands. If you don't know where to start, type HELP, then press enter.
Hints/Help
For more detailed help, check the Guide/Walkthrough, which can be downloaded below. VSCS-I can be fully completed without the walkthrough, but one puzzle in particular requires access to a search engine.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Tiny Update: Quit Option AddedApr 01, 2023
Comments
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should've predicted the ending from the guy's name lol
I... really should have seen that coming. Good game though, I enjoyed it!
$$$
people who didn't get that far are going to be so confused
Love the game! The challenge packs are really fun, though I think Level 4 of Challenge Pack 1 might be missing a file, and I do wish there were an easier way to navigate Home without going back through each directory... I love everything else about the game, though! Being able to guess passwords based on patterns is always fun, and I'm proud to say that I managed to get Rick's password early and beat Challenge Pack 2 without reading half of the instructions through the power of nerdy references >:)
I absolutely love the feeling of working on ancient computers, and this captures that down to the loud fans and clickity-clacky keys! Makes me want to get my hands on an old Apple and set up an escape room on its file directories...
the fact that 'cd' and 'ls' is working but not 'cat' is trowing me off every 30 seconds. Good job tho
I KNEW WHAT THE SECRET FILES WERE GONNA BE GRRRR
Amazingly fun! I figured out Rick's password at the second fragment. (Spoilers but you can't put 'hand' and 'hook' without me understanding the reference haha!)
same lmao
I like that the ls and cd aliases work.
requires brain i like
the ls/cd aliases save so much time
uhh….. how do I quit the game????
Sorry, this is one of my older games! Alt+F4 will close the game (or Alt+Tab to switch to another window and close from there). I was considering pushing a few tiny fixes sometime soon; if I do I'll be sure to add a proper quit command.
Probably should have mentioned that I’m on Linux and I don’t know if Alt+F4 works outside of Windows, but I just clicked outside of the game window to bring up my XFCE panel and right clicked on the game and clicked close in the menu that popped up. And if you do put in a proper quit command that’d be great.
(also, god dang it this game is just a-gets pummeled for potential spoilers)
Incredibly late update, but for anyone reading in the future: this is fixed in the most recent builds (first update in like, 3 years :P). It adds a QUIT command which should work on all downloadable platforms.
Definitely the best game I've played in the "computer terminal" genre. Wish there were more like it.
WHAT ARE ALL THE PASSWORDS?
Go to https://cryptii.com/pipes/caesar-cipher set the shift by 3 enter the encrypted password into "cipher text" (make sure to change it to decode instead of encrypt) make the letters in it abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890, and profit, but if you still need it the password for shaun is DogsRgr8.
monica is password1
G0ldf$h is $$$
rick is HANDHOOKCARDOOR (use the capitals)
pretty late, i know, but how did you guys figure out monica's password? spent way too long figuring it out then i just gave up
weird thats what i used
i cant get past the mega.exe part :(
the pass is $$$
I loooove that you can also use ls and cd instead of LIST and OPEN. It felt more natural. Also, yeah, the help for the HIDE2 cipher doesn't fit the screen
I love this so much, but I'm far too small brained to continue. I couldn't even get past the third account.
I really should have seen the ending coming... Really good game anyway!
Fuck I've been rickrolled by a computer
Really great game! I love the aesthetics.
*spoilers*
I felt like the accessing G0ldF$h and Rick were a little too easy, the former just gave you the password straight up without having to decypher anything.
Unfortunately the UI is broken at a certain challenge level and I'm unable to continue. In level6 of challengepack2, when reading the helpdoc (for the HIDE2 cipher), the text does not completely fit on the screen. It cuts off after "Then add them up horizontally and you would".There is no way to scroll down to read the rest of the document (and thus know how to finish the cipher). I max-zoomed out in the chrome tab and could see a few more lines up text, but still not enough to know the next step.
For what I'm able to read, I took (171,1) (86,2) (217,4) (96,8) (150,16) and split them into standard (171,86,217,4,96) and result (1,2,4,8,16). The result translates to 1(1), 2(10), 4(100), 8(1000), 16(10000). The result lined-up looks like:
0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0
0 1 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
Filling in the standard:
0 0 0 0 150
0 0 0 96 0
0 0 217 0 0
0 86 0 0 0
171 0 0 0 0
Adding horizontally gives a 5 number string
150 96 217 86 171
and that's all the instructions give
I also couldn't read the rest of the instructions, but I figured it out anyhow.
First you separate the couples into two sets:
(171, 86, 217, 96, 150) RESULT
(1, 2, 4, 8, 16) STANDARD
Then convert each number in the result set to binary and list them each vertically (e.g.: 171 > 10101011). That step ends up looking like this:
1 0 1 0 1
0 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 1 0
0 1 1 0 1
1 0 1 0 0
0 1 0 0 1
1 1 0 0 1
1 0 1 0 0
Then You substitute each '1' in the first column with the first number of the standard and the second number for each of the 1's in the second column, etc. That gives you eight numbers between 1-26 which suggests simple substitution of these numbers for the letter in that place of the alphabet, yielding the password UNIVERSE.
1 0 4 0 16 = 21 = U
0 2 4 8 0 = 14 = N
1 0 0 8 0 = 09 = I
0 2 4 0 16 = 22 = V
1 0 4 0 0 = 5 = E
0 2 0 0 16 = 18 = R
1 2 0 0 16 = 19 = S
1 0 4 0 0 = 5 = E
Now I myself got stuck in ChallengePack1 I think. The last level4 has a file named Complete, but it's password protected and I'm unsure if I'm supposed to be able to open it. I don't see a way that the previous codes (255-015-240-179, 1F772, NEXT) relate in away to open it. Maybe I'm not supposed to open it. Anyway, great game, ya'll. I'm sorry to report I also didn't take the time to decode your names, but it was a fun ride!
For some reason I can't access the fifth user, just tells me 'file not found'. I even typed it in without the password to make sure it's not that I don't have the password. Can someone tell me why this is? It totally broke the game but I managed to guess rick's password anyway.
Hey, sorry for the late reply! In fifth username is a pretty goofy spelling of "Goldfish": it has a '0' (zero) in place of the 'O' and a '$' in place of both the 'i' and the 's', so the username is "G0ldf$h". Hopefully it was just a typo, since that would have given you the error you described, if not please do let me know. I hope that didn't stop you from enjoying the game though, thanks for pushing through and finding a way around it!
lmao i unlocked ricks account after the first 2 fragments cause i recognized those words
Password guessing is definitely in the spirit of the game, so I was actually hoping someone would do this. Thanks for playing!
This game is absolutely amazing and I LOVED the ending!!! Next April Fools' if the earth still exists I'm totally gonna make my friends play this (or perhaps I'll get impatient and force them to within a week or two XD)
I also love that you provided extra challenges, but I think you may have forgotten a file in level2 of challengepack1? in level1 it gives you binary to convert to unlock the next level, but in level2 it only has the level3 folder and the helpdocs, none of which have what i need to decode in them, just help on how to decode (which obviously doesn't help much if I don't have anything to decode!)
other than that though, WONDERFUL game. fantastic. I cannot stress this enough.
Thanks for the kind words! I checked the files and it looks like I made a typo, so the file you needed just wasn't showing up. It should be fixed now, thanks for letting me know.