Malware Tycoon - Dev Update #1

Intro

Hello again,

As promised in my last announcement, I wanted to give everyone a sneak peek as to what is coming in the future for Malware Tycoon! This progress update will focus primarily on some new features/reworks to existing systems. Under-the-hood adjustments have been made particularly focusing on balance as well, however, they will not be showcased in this progress update.

Ted's Hack Tool

Steam post imageIntroducing Ted's Hack Tool! This tool is for a new mechanic that you will find In Malware Tycoon - as you might have guessed, it's related directly to hacking websites. In this instance, Skill Points are used as a currency - the more Skill Points you spend, the more likely it is that your hack will be successful. You will also have Hacking Algorithms to select from. These Hacking Algorithms also cost Skill Points to use, and are related directly to the duration of how long your hack lasts before the website owner gives you the boot.

Admin Panel

Steam post imageThe Admin Panel is what you will see upon visiting a website successfully hacked from Ted's Hack Tool. Here, you can deploy malware that will be automatically downloaded to anyone's computer who visits the website while it is hacked (albeit, some users may decline the download/be privy to the hack so you won't get them all). You can also use Resource Hacking to "steal" Skill Points or money from the website - the longer the website is hacked, the more lucrative it will be to steal these resources. Finally, you have your Stock Crasher. Presuming the site you hacked is a publicly traded company, you can use this tool to release defamatory statements against the company to cause the stock's ticker price to drop significantly.

There is a secret, fourth option here that is not pictured. Let's just say for now that you'd have access to that feature should you decide to "sell out."

Malware Upload Tool

Steam post imageThe Malware Upload Tool completely replaces the old way of uploading malware to forums. Instead of having to title your forum post/give it a description, this tool does it all for you. Additionally, you can purchase "One-Time Buffs" using Skill Points. Should you have a plethora of Skill Points available, you can opt to spend some to infect more users and/or lower or completely mitigate your chance of getting banned from the forum. This is a quality-of-life improvement in that you don't have to worry about getting banned as much, nor spend nearly as much time spamming keys in the forum creation field constantly.

Sneak Peek at THE LAW

Steam post imageTo spice things up, the law is now going to be hot on your tail. Should you neglect to use your VPN, get too ballsy, or not use some of the other resources to hide your trail (cough future update cough) the law will catch up to you and hit you with a charge. The extent of your sentencing varies based on how many times you've been caught up with the law before, and what they caught you doing. It also depends on your behavior during the interim from when you get the notice to when you actually go to court. More will be revealed about this system in Dev Update #2, but just know that the days of simply worrying about having your malware detected are over...

Another Change...

You may have noticed that small "Play" button in the bottom-right of the screen that is not present in the demo nor on the store page screenshots at this time. That is your "Simulation Speed" button. Should you decide to increase the speed, pages/programs will load faster, but the time will move faster as well. This is useful for times when you deploy malware and you're waiting patiently for it to start infecting users and such, or other downtime. You can increase the speed 3-fold should you desire to. This was a much-requested feature, and I hope you'll make use of it when the full game releases.

Outro

Well, I hope this is proof that the game is coming along. From a development standpoint, I got to tie just a few loose ends with "THE LAW" and the new, yet to be seen Polymorphism payload category. I also have to add all the missing payloads as, if you played the demo, you would know that you can only level each payload category up to Level 5. Once that is done, it is a grind for more websites, more ads, more programs, and more "stuff" in general. I'm hoping to have a lot of that "must do" stuff done for Dev Update #2 and maybe some more updates to show you guys. Either way, expect Dev Update #2 in a week or two depending on how talkative I'm feeling.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments or by emailing me directly, as always, at jimmy@jimmydiamondgames.com