Hypnospace Outlaw

Hypnospace Outlaw is a wholly remarkable game set in an alternate universe where, apparently, the point of divergence is when someone plagiarized the game of tennis and made it a game for three players. The result is the internet becoming a brain-computer interface... that works while you sleep! As an HSPD Enforcer, your task is to browse Hypnospace for any offending/illegal content, but you can also get side-tracked and download an assortment of fun things, and discover side-stories within a huge fake internet!

read this.txt#

At the top level of the game directory is a file called read this.txt. It warns against looking through the game files if you haven't finished the game yet.

 _   _  ___________ _____            ______ _____  
| | | ||  ___| ___ \  ___|           | ___ \  ___| 
| |_| || |__ | |_/ / |__             | |_/ / |__   
|  _  ||  __||    /|  __|            | ___ \  __|  
| | | || |___| |\ \| |___            | |_/ / |___  
\_| |_/\____/\_| \_\____/            \____/\____/  
                                                   
 ___________ _____ _____ _      ___________  _____ 
/  ___| ___ \  _  |_   _| |    |  ___| ___ \/  ___|
\ `--.| |_/ / | | | | | | |    | |__ | |_/ /\ `--. 
 `--. \  __/| | | | | | | |    |  __||    /  `--. \
/\__/ / |   \ \_/ /_| |_| |____| |___| |\ \ /\__/ /
\____/\_|    \___/ \___/\_____/\____/\_| \_|\____/ 
                                                  
MAJOR SPOILERS!!! Do NOT proceed unless you want to RUIN EVERYTHING for yourself.

If you have yet to complete the game, do yourself a favor and stay out of these folders. Feel free to explore later, but we decided not to hide anything from players via encryption or whatever, so just be careful okay.

You've been warned :)

Unused Videos#

Three-Death Mindcrash Scenario#

Watch on YouTube

While this video is similar to the ones involving a news reporter discussing the Mindcrash, y2kinterstitial-3d.webm is the only one that goes unused due to the game letting you save up to two people.

This is also accompanied by a newspaper graphic on the HAP pages.

Early Y2000 Update Install#

y2000update.webm in the "downloads" folder, there is an early version of the Y2000 update video that appears at the start of Chapter 3. The only differences this one has to the final video is the loading bar, and the loud, sudden ending. This video was removed in the PLUS update.

"My Amazing Talk"#

myamazingtalk-2017.htv, in the "downloads" folder in the game's data, is a subtitled video of Jay Tholen speaking at Fantastic Arcade 2017, discussing the concept of the game.

Watch on YouTube

Test#

test.htv and testbig.htv, also in the "downloads" folder, is... well, exactly what it says on the tin. For some odd reason, testbig.htv has reduced audio quality.

Watch on YouTube

Inner Realm Screensaver#

hs_innerrealm.htv, in the "screensavers" folder in the game's data, appears to be the basis for a screensaver that was initially scrapped.

Watch on YouTube

The screensaver was eventually reinstated in the PLUS update.

Unused Images/Gifs#

Some leftover images/gifs from the files, most of these still exist in the game's files.

Outlaw Detainment#

A leftover from the cut HSPD Outlaw Detainment Zone.

Son of Tim Wallpaper#

A wallpaper of Son of Tim is in the game files, however it is currently unobtainable by normal means.

Creepy.

Metacritic Screenshot#

A screenshot of the Metacritic score for the game Dropsy.

Minit#

A promotional image for Minit, used in a Twitter video by Jay Tholen. Can be seen here. Other assets are visible in the video, but this is the only image left over.

Early SquisherZ Images#

These early designs for SquisherZ were used in the pre-release beta version of the game, but got replaced by more cartoony versions in the final release. These can be seen in the 2018 Trailer, and these sprites still sit in the images folder.
(Note: A few pages might use a few early Squisher designs)

Unused Menus/Applications#

These two pieces are hidden outside the boundaries of the screen, accessible using Debug Mode.

Removed Zones#

While images for these zones still exist in the images directory, the zones themselves no longer exist.

Leftover Development Text (v1.04 to v2.23)#

In the downloads folder, a file titled 2-15-2019-endgamerevamp.txt is left over. This file was removed with the Modding Update.

- give Re3koning diatribes on his page.
- put the chatlog leak on a Re3koning page
- change the m1nx endgame forum to reflect changes to tim & re3koning's stuff

tutorial prev
200x170
x-20 y+27

tutorial  new
372x130
x-186 y+19

Headband

C.H.I.M.E.

Mailbox

Case Files

Glasses Disguise

Gavel

As the filename suggests, this file was created just around a month before release. Jay Tholen gave an explanation for this file:

ah yea those were quick notes, if i remember right around hte time when we were talking to [a Kickstarter Backer] about how to design re3koning
who is more or less his character in the game
hilarious that they made it in

The only thing that wasn't explained, was the "Glasses Disguise" mentioned with what seems to be the different parts of the Tutorial.

Other text files can be found, such as nongamesstuffforjay.txt.

November 25/n/n/n...................................../nNovember 16/n/n/n...................................../nNovember 7/n/n/n...................................../nOld Junk/n/n/n...................................../n


I WENT TO COOLFEST '99
hs\02_the cafe\~thedumpster-coolfest.hsp


FLIST: TOO POPULAR NOW?!?
hs\02_the cafe\~thedumpster-flist.hsp


THE FREELANDS ARE AMAZING
hs\02_the cafe\~thedumpster-freelands.hsp

VISIT THE ARCHIVE
hs\02_the cafe\~thedumpsterarchive.hsp

This is what seems to be writing/scripting for the page "The Dumpster". Yet again, this was removed in the Modding update.

Day Counter Leftover#

In the files, tut-03.png looks like an ordinary screenshot, but upon further inspection you'll notice the "DAY 0" text. This is a remnant from when the game was going to originally follow a day-by-day schedule, instead of the chapters spread across weeks in the final game.

Jay Tholen said some stuff about this in the Hypnospace Discord:

time was gonna be 'real' as in, you'd solve your cases and then hang out and skip to the next day manually when you felt like it. was gonna start in the days immediately preceding y2k. i realized p quickly that for any hope of a decent story we needed to start the game earlier so characters had enough time to convincingly change and adjust their pages.

Plus Changes#

The Hypnospace Plus expansion adds, as well as changes, a few things.

Zane Sucks Badge#

During your investigation on the second case, the player could find a "Zane Sucks" badge created by Corey Paul Henderson (ThatBrassyKid) that they can report for harassment. In the original, the animation showed Zane being decapitated with a sword. In Plus, it was changed where Zane instead gets punched in the face in a cartoony fashion. When Jay Tholen was asked about why this was changed, he stated the following on the Hypnospace Discord:

I changed Zane Sucks animation in a single copy of the game for my cousin since he's relatively young and I don't think his parents would appreciate a bloody decapitation (silly as it may be) but ended up liking the new animation a lot so I left it in. It's more 'corey'ish anyway I think anyway. Not censorship. :P Pinning this since folks are asking a lot.

Original	Plus

Oddly enough, the sword hilt from the original animation was not removed in the Plus version. The original animation was later reused in Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer, a spin-off title presented as a game created by Zane Lofton, playing in an in-universe movie theater.

Soproxi and Minirop#

These two Hypnospace Discord users are included in their own in-game wedding, as a secret page (appropriately placed in the secretpgs folder).
Their in-game pictures were redrawn by Mike Lasch for the Hypnospace PLUS update, to prevent any copyright issues with their avatars, as they are both characters from existing media (Weedy from Unhack and Rikka from Love, Chuunibyou, and Other Delusions).

Console#

The console can be used as a debug tool, essentially. You activate it by holding B when HypnOS is booting, and checking "Enable Console". Then when playing the game, press ~ to bring up the console. Here is a list of known commands and what they do.

Internal Debug Mode#

This mode is different from the Console seen in the BIOS. As the game "boots up", holding the D + E + B keys will show the following text in red.

/-\| /-\| /-\| DEBUG MODE ACTIVE \-/| \-/| \-/|

Log in as usual, and "Debug activated" will appear over the HypnOS splash. So far, the only found changes to the gameplay environment are:

• A decimal timer that ticks up whenever Hypii speaks.
• The Hypnospace Archival Project HAP-Tool changes. The page descriptions gain the internal filenames. Shift-clicking a page that has not been archived yet will browse the player to that corresponding page and timespan. Refreshing the page will then add it to the Archive.
  • Items the player would otherwise not be able to archive are visible. This includes transitions (the "THREE WEEKS LATER" slate, for instance). If the player browses to one of these, HypnOS will reboot several times, and send the player to that chapter, often in a corrupted or inconsistent state.
• Regardless of the version of Outlaw played, the window will display debug information identical to that seen in Outlaw's earlier iterations..

This list is non-exhaustive. There are probably other functions that depend on the current context.

Placeholder Chapter Transition#

Internally listed in chapters.ini as [Chapter6], this transition does the following:

• Resets HypnOS back to 1.04
• Provides (and sets) the starting customizations.
• Adds the November timeframe to HAPTool
• Assigns the player to Hypnospace Central and HSPD Headquarters
• Adds Tutorial and Settings icons
• Assigns the player the hidden Malicious Software (General) case (that normally indicts BESTDEALSTERRY)
• Resets the Violation points that SouthernGentRR has accrued.

YOU SHOULD NEVER SEE THIS! THIS IS A BUG, OR A HACK OR A MOD OR SOMETHING IDK.

Unused Emails#

There is one "example" email and several "debug" emails alongside all of the regular emails in emails.ini.

[example]
From=Jay's Butt
Subject=Welcome to My Butt, /p!
Important=0
Attachments=
DateTime=2069.04.20 04:20
Body={{avatar:jaysbutt
Hello /p, Welcome to My Butt!

Line breaks are respected! 

link:hs\07_open eyed\~linkme.hsp|Jump to Link Example Page
END OF EMAIL
 
> original message:
>avatar:Artie
>I cannot overstate how proud I am to introduce my good friend and former full-time employer...
> 
>tabla roll please...
>this content is tabbed over! 
> 
>to put a line break in make sure to put a > on the empty line
>> 
>> you can make it even MORE tabbed over too
>>> 
>>> AND EVEN MORE!!!!!

}}

[Debug01]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 01
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST01}}


[Debug02]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 02
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST02}}



[Debug03]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 03
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST03}}



[Debug04]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 04
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST04}}


[Debug05]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 05
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST05}}


[Debug06]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 06
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST06}}


[Debug07]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 07
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST07}}


[Debug08]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 08
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST08}}


[Debug09]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 09
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST09}}


[Debug10]
From=DEBUG
Subject=DEBUG EMAIL 09
Important=0
Attachments=
Body={{TEST10}}

References#