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| 2 | %%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1654794581037656700 |
| 3 | %%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 5 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hypnospace_outlaw_banner.png]] |
| 6 | [[caption-width-right:350:Greetings, Enforcer!]] |
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| 8 | |
| 9 | ->''Witness the dawning of a new world, where sleeptime is no longer downtime. It's where the future is built. A future built by you. Hypnospace.'' |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ''Hypnospace Outlaw'' is an internet simulation AdventureGame developed by Jay Tholen and Mike Lasch, and published by No More Robots. It was fully funded via Kickstarter in October 2016, and was released in March 2019 on Platform/{{Steam}} and itch.io. A free [[DownloadableContent downloadable]] ExpansionPack, ''Hypnospace Plus'', was released in August 2020. This coincided with the game's release on Platform/NintendoSwitch, Platform/Playstation4, and Platform/XboxOne, which all come bundled with the ''Plus'' content. A physical Nintendo Switch edition, packaged with a bonus audio CD, was released by Fangamer in September 2021. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Welcome to the internet of your dreams -- ''literally''! Hypnospace is an online service created by Merchantsoft, from the most advanced technology TheNineties have to offer, that allows you to surf the net in your sleep. With the cutting edge Hypnospace Explorer web browser and your trusty [=HypnOS=] headband, you can explore a vast variety of websites and user pages for everything from classic cartoons to your favorite flavors of ice cream. Just strap on the headband, lay back, and drift off into a brave new world of the digital era. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Of course, every new form of technology is bound to have growing pains... and Hypnospace is no different. Sites filled with copyright-infringing content, harassment and trolling, and sketchy virus-laden programs abound. That is where ''you'' come in: as a Merchantsoft-employed Hypnospace Enforcer, it is your duty to police the service for content that violates the rules, remove offending content, and if need be, flag sites for multiple/serious infractions and shut them down entirely. Your diligent efforts will be rewarded with Hypnocoins, the premier (and only!) currency of this brand new online community which can be spent on everything from music and wallpapers to virtual pets. So plug in, doze off, log on, and get to work! |
| 16 | |
| 17 | In April 2022, the creators [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufMl2DlWX7w announced]] a sequel to ''Hypnospace Outlaw'' titled ''Dreamsettler'', which puts you in the shoes of a Sleepnet private detective during an alternate history period of 2003-2005. At the same time, they announced a spin-off game called ''VideoGame/SlayersXTerminalAftermathVenganceOfTheSlayer'', a {{VideoGame/Doom}}-like FPS game created by Zane (one of the characters from ''Hypnospace Outlaw'', now 37 years old) [[StylisticSuck based on ideas from when he was a teenager]]. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ''Slayers X'' was released in June 2023, while ''Dreamsettler'' is still in development with no confirmed release date. |
| 20 | ---- |
| 21 | !!NEW CASE: TROPES LIST for ALL ENFORCERS |
| 22 | * HundredPercentCompletion: Completing the [[spoiler:Hypnospace Archival Project]], which requires viewing every version of every page on Hypnospace, including Easter eggs hidden behind obscure search words like "socialism". The reward for finding all of them is [[spoiler:some special pages made by the developers, and a Super Search that checks against page text and developer notes, instead of just Hypnospace Tags like the basic search.]] |
| 23 | * EleventhHourSuperpower: Quite a few in quick succession. Notably, the game is so non-linear that you can stumble on a few of these as early as the first act just by being perceptive and clever. |
| 24 | ** [[spoiler:[=allseeing3y3=], which reveals otherwise-unclickable links made by Tim or [=m1nx=] members.]] |
| 25 | ** [[spoiler:Access to FLIST, essentially letting you view the private file collections of Hypnospace users who also have access. Aside from a bunch of new music, you can get the Professor Helper uninstaller for free, and get [=allseeing3y3=] without figuring out the secret to opening encrypted files, as well as...]] |
| 26 | ** [[spoiler:[=HypnOS=] Dreamtoolz, [=re3koning_inc=]'s personal debug/site-hacking toolkit reverse-engineered and improved from Merchantsoft's own. Using it isn't strictly necessary, but it allows you to download songs directly from the pages that they play over (the only way to collect quite a few tracks), get as much Hypnocoin as you want, and make your virtual pet ''significantly'' less irritating by letting you set their health and happiness values to "infinite" and reducing how often they poop.]] |
| 27 | ** [[spoiler:In the present-day final act, the Hypnospace Archival Project upgrades your browser with a tool that lets you switch between the three eras of Hypnospace you had access to (plus the HAP's intranet) on the fly, as part of your new job to back-up all of Hypnospace.]] [[spoiler:Not long after, Samantha contacts you with a request to find evidence of Merchantsoft's involvement with the Mindcrash, and sends you another browser extension: a sixth rule on your CHIME bar that submits potential evidence directly to her.]] |
| 28 | * TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The game was released in 2019 and is initially set in 1999. Meanwhile, ''Dreamsettler'' was revealed in 2022 and is set from 2003 to 2005. |
| 29 | * FourOneNineScam: Subverted. You get Hypnomail from one Dimitry S Jackson, looking for donations to help him and a wealthy individual fund an expedition to find a hidden treasure. You can choose to fund this or ignore it. [[spoiler:After the final timeskip, you find that he was not actually trying to scam you, but that he's gone missing. One quest involves helping catalog his last known location, which he posted the coordinates to on Hypnospace before leaving on his expedition. Thanks to your donation, he could have gotten LostAtSea or could have been involved in a SinkingShipScenario. NiceJobBreakingItHero!]] |
| 30 | * TheNineties: The game starts in late 1999. |
| 31 | * AffablyEvil: Invoked: the lawyer/rep for the equivalent of the RIAA who threatens to take legal action against Merchantsoft if they don't take down all pirated soundtracks of works under their copyright (and this is ''the'' biggest threat to Merchantsoft operations so far, as no one wants to have an expensive tangle with the record industry, even a big tech company) is noted to be very nice and polite by the responding MS employee. |
| 32 | * AffectionateParody: Of late '90s Internet culture, specifically sites like Platform/GeoCities and Angelfire. Emphasis on the "affectionate" part, since it's clear from the intense care and detail put into the structure of Hypnospace that the creators ''really'' admired this time of the internet. |
| 33 | * AllForNothing: |
| 34 | ** Abby [[spoiler:eventually succeeds in keeping Gumshoe Gooper on Hypnospace after Merchantsoft tried to follow the Briggs estate's copyright demands. Unfortunately, she doesn't follow the new policies, which requires asking for permission to use Gumshoe Gooper imagery, letting you take down her images again. Then, the Mindcrash happens and everyone abandons Hypnospace, rendering all her efforts moot.]] |
| 35 | ** By New Year's, Merchantsoft takes great lengths to improve after several PR disasters. There are more advertising partners on Hypnospace, several of the zones are getting overhauled to better fit the users, and there's a new update to the operating system. Things seem to be looking up, but then [[spoiler:Dylan's uploading of his game eventually leads to the Mindcrash, which takes the lives of some of the userbase and injures several more. The industry of sleeptime computing collapses, all headbands are recalled, and Merchantsoft shuts down.]] |
| 36 | * AlternateHistory: |
| 37 | ** Aside from the conceit of a web service that can be accessed while asleep through a BrainComputerInterface, technology in general seems a little further along in this universe compared to the equivalent tech of our 1990s. The actual Hypnospace browser is much more fluid than real-life Internet browsers of the time, and download times are practically instant. Additionally, screenshots seen of the Game Boy-alike "[=GameChamp=] Portable" appear to be around the same level of quality as the Platform/GameBoyAdvance or even the Platform/PlaystationPortable rather than the contemporaneous Platform/GameBoyColor. |
| 38 | ** The President of the United States since 1992 has been a "President Hughes", rather than UsefulNotes/BillClinton. |
| 39 | ** Of all things, the sport of tennis was unfairly exploited in its infancy and eventually turned into "trennis," which involves a circular court with three players and a "ball-catcher" in the center. The game of tennis that we know is relegated to a page in the conspiracy theory zone by someone who claims to be the descendant of the man who ''really'' invented the two-player, rectangular-court tennis. Additionally, reading the Sports section of the online newspaper shows that a very different set of teams and cities represent the Hypnospace universe's version of the NFL. |
| 40 | * TheAlternet: Hypnospace itself, a parallel internet accessed in one's sleep. The game itself alludes to other Hypnospace competitors, as well as other software used ''while'' awake. |
| 41 | * AnachronismStew: |
| 42 | ** Virtual currency, elaborate website animation and audio, and strict moderation of content weren't common in the late nineties. It's further implied that there is an automatic moderator feature in place for certain CHIME violations, something that wouldn't be implemented until the rise of social media. |
| 43 | ** The indirect ShoutOut to ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' is a mild anachronism, as while the series had been around since 1987, it was largely unknown outside of Japan besides a few early '90s [=OVAs=] and [[VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture a 1998 fighting game]]. An American teenager in 1999 knowing about it would be implausible, but not impossible[[note]]It really only reached notoriety around the mid-[=2000s=], and even then, it was mostly memes about the OVA.[[/note]]. ''Hypnospace'' taking place in an alternate universe also throws a wrench into things. |
| 44 | * AncientConspiracy: [[spoiler:HORUS seems like it could be this, but [[RedHerring is really]] a bunch of bored executives playing practical jokes.]] |
| 45 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: While there's enough hints to solving cases scattered throughout Hypnospace, [[spoiler:there is also a secret page designed by Jay Tholen himself which, for a small fee, gives out both partial and complete solutions to most puzzles in the game. This is accessed by searching for the keyword "Hint".]] |
| 46 | * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Dylan's note to [[spoiler:Rodney]] comments on how disgusting he found [[spoiler:his family]]. |
| 47 | -->'''Dylan:''' [[spoiler:(Rodney's family) disgusted me. They smelled like body odor. Their clothes were stained, stretched out, and dirty. They wore flip-flops]]. |
| 48 | * ArtifactTitle: ''Outlaw'' was originally the main focus of the game, with the web pages of individual users being accessed by catching them. As the development team shifted focus to Hypnospace itself, the game was kept in as a side project developed by Dylan Merchant, [[spoiler:and it does still play a significant role in the plot]]. This isn't obvious until [[spoiler:the Mindcrash]], though. |
| 49 | * ArtisticLicense: Even with the [[StylisticSuck janky, low-resolution aesthetic]], Hypnospace is a lot more fluid and dynamic than the real-world internet of the time. |
| 50 | * AssholeVictim: [=ThatBrassyKid=]'s longer suspension and labeling as a "loner" to be moderated harder, compared to Zane's slap on the wrist, seems unfair. Then you check his and his (now ex-)girlfriend's page, and it's clear he's harassing and being an overall "Nice Guy"[[note]]entitled men who think being nice to a girl means they must return their investment in the form of sex and/or a relationship[[/note]] and creep towards another teenager, to the point of ''dumping his existing and supportive girlfriend to chase her'' [[spoiler:and also making it all up in an apparent attempt for clout.]] |
| 51 | * AstroTurf: |
| 52 | ** [[spoiler:Dylan mentions on [=m1nx=] that despite having a whole board dedicated to it, the Coolpunk movement boiled down to "a few kids being weird online", and Coolfest didn't exceed 200-300 attendees. Though not directly stated, it's implied that Gray's Peak and Merchantsoft were attempting to make it a much bigger deal than it really was to boost the soda sales.]] |
| 53 | ** In an inversion of this trope, [[spoiler:Counselor Ronnie is an official Merchantsoft page that's being controlled by [=m1nx=], a group of unofficial pranksters. Because of Merchantsoft's incredibly hands-off moderation, they've essentially taken the job for real.]] |
| 54 | * BadBoss: Adrian and Dylan Merchant are the two opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to Bad Bosses of an Emerging Tech Company. Adrian Merchant is far too ''hands-off'', only thinking about how he can make the most profit from sleeptime computing, and being removed at best and downright callous at worst towards how it is used by the everyday users who made it a success. Dylan Merchant is far too ''hands-on'', having a dangerously-high emotional investment in the success of his invention, while neglecting the social and ethical responsibilities that come with his power and status because he still thinks of himself as "one of the boys". |
| 55 | * BaitAndSwitch: If you can't figure out a password for FLIST, you can buy one from Tim. He sends you a text file saying [[spoiler:thanks4thehc]]. Seems like you got tricked and Tim is taunting you... but the password is actually that. |
| 56 | * {{Bathos}}: [=BurnRubber50=]'s tribute page to his late wife, Lisa. It's pretty sad, but that doesn't change the fact that Carl Parker speaks in [[CapsLock all-caps]] and portrays the relationship between him and his wife with a [=GIF=] of a ''skeleton biker''. And this is all while loud electric guitar-laden music plays in the background. |
| 57 | * BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler:"Counselor Ronnie" started as a [=m1nx=] prank to see just how crappy they could make his content before Merchantsoft noticed. However, since Merchantsoft showed little interest in moderating Teentopia themselves (despite it being a zone for ''vulnerable children''), the person playing Ronnie ends up doing the job themself for real]]. |
| 58 | * BigBadDuumvirate: If you aren't dealing with [[TheCracker T1MAGEDDON]]'s destructive malice, you're dealing with [[PointyHairedBoss Dylan Merchant]]'s [[HanlonsRazor even more destructive incompetence]]. Most of the major problems you encounter in Hypnospace are the doing of one or the other. [[spoiler:After Tim's HeelFaceTurn, Dylan takes center stage as a singular BigBad -- he may only be a buffoon trying to cover his own hide, but he's still the true antagonist for the final chapter]]. |
| 59 | * BigGood: [[spoiler:Samantha and [=Re3koning_inc=], in different ways. Samantha is the OnlySaneEmployee of Merchantsoft and, having reason to believe that they were complicit in the Mindcrash, she motivates the player to find and expose the Merchant brothers' crimes. [=Re3koning_inc=], though [[PresentAbsence not around in the present day]], already found the incriminating evidence by spying on the Merchant brothers and leaking their internal documents. Most of the endgame revolves around finding a way into [=Re3koning_inc=]'s hacker group [=m1nx=], using the [=allseeing3y3=] program to uncover their hidden messages, and using those to find the two sets of files they uploaded showing that Hypnospace is unsafe, and that the brothers knew about this.]] |
| 60 | * BittersweetEnding: |
| 61 | ** [[spoiler:Adrian and Dylan Merchant's culpability in the Mindcrash is exposed, exonerating Tim, who was framed for the incident... though only after Tim spent six years in prison and lived with nearly two decades of guilt.]] |
| 62 | ** [[spoiler:Though Hypnospace (and by extension, the user-driven Internet of old) is long gone, its legacy will live on in the hands of dedicated archivists and people who carry on its ideals.]] |
| 63 | * BlatantLies: The jingle for [[NutritionalNightmare "Granny Cream's Hot Butter Ice Cream"]] claims that the product is "very tasty and healthy too." |
| 64 | * BoldInflation: A variant. The case list puts key phrases in ALL CAPS, making it seem like an automated form. It's later revealed that [[MissionControl Samantha]] writes them manually, and she complains about it: "I wish we didn't have to do this IMPORTANT THINGS IN CAPS thing because it's a pain to keep it consistent." [[spoiler:She ditches it in the final act when she uses the case system to collect evidence of Merchantsoft's crimes.]] |
| 65 | * {{Bowdlerise}}: ''Hypnospace Plus'' changes Corey's animation of Zane [[OffWithHisHead being decapitated]] into an animation of him getting his teeth punched out instead. According to Jay Tholen, this was originally a one-off change he made for his young cousin, but he liked the new animation enough to make it a permanent change, as he felt it was more in-character for Corey. The original animation was reused in ''VideoGame/SlayersXTerminalAftermathVenganceOfTheSlayer''. |
| 66 | * BrainComputerInterface: The Hypnospace headband allows a computer to interface with the user's brain while asleep. [[spoiler:The mechanism turns out to be lasers stimulating parts of the brain, which has a side effect of keeping the user in REM sleep for longer, hurting their health.]] |
| 67 | * BrownNote: [[spoiler:The Mindcrash has this effect, sometimes with lethal results.]] |
| 68 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Most of Merchansoft's staff is like this, but Artie Dispenza, Merchantsoft's resident visual design guy, takes the cake. Let's just say he isn't a NewAgeRetroHippie just on paper. |
| 69 | * {{Calvinball}}: Trennis appears to be basically a bastardization of tennis, to the point there's a page describing how badly the latter got mangled. |
| 70 | * CallASmeerpARabbit: As explained in Hypnospace Central, even though [=HypnOS=] runs through a BrainComputerInterface, it's set up like a standard desktop computer for ease of use, so terminology like "type" and "click" is used even though that's not technically how it works in-universe. There are some rare cases where more accurate terms are used, such as the default profile text reading "''Focus'' here to add a description". |
| 71 | * TheCameo: |
| 72 | ** The initial ad for [=HypnOS=] you get before the tutorial has a shot containing a plush of [[{{VideoGame/Dropsy}} Dropsy the Clown]]. One of the food items you can buy for your virtual pet is the medicinal cake pill...thing that plays an important role in that game. |
| 73 | ** [[Music/AndrewWK Dave Pino]] plays the massive guitar solo [[LongSongShortScene buried]] in "Ready to Shave". |
| 74 | ** [=SteveGuy=], who has a bizarre page full of mouth sound effects and pictures of his face photoshopped onto rocks, is played in both likeness and voice by Creator/NeilCicierega. |
| 75 | ** The "[=HoloAngel=]" sparklehaze track on Slushmouth's guide was written by Niklas Åkerblad of ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' fame. |
| 76 | ** Half-handed Cloud, who composed "Nativity Costume" (the original song "Millennium Anthem" is based upon), also wrote the songs for Future Recycler in ''Hypnospace Plus''. |
| 77 | * CausticCritic: |
| 78 | ** The Dumpster's entire schtick. This said, [[EveryoneHasStandards they prefer going after corporations and publicly-available content rather than ordinary people when the opportunity presents itself]], and their article on Zane goes out of its way to point out that his genuine cruelty has earned him an exception to their usual [[WouldNotHurtAChild "don't mock people under 18" rule]]. |
| 79 | ** The aforementioned Zane is (initially) a fan of The Dumpster, and tries to imitate their style. However, because Zane is a genuine {{Jerkass}} and not just cynical and world-weary, the needlessly malicious result earns him a MedalOfDishonor from The Dumpster. |
| 80 | ** Harris Lawton appears to be (a very childish) one. Whereas The Dumpster at least tries for humour and glosses over the genuinely horrible (such as the Coolfest disaster), Harris openly whines about anything not fitting into his vision of Coolpunk and maintains a secondary page with personal attacks on the targets of his ire, to the point where he obsesses over mocking the Chowder Man's [[spoiler:amputation and the death of his drummer that left Chowder Man in a deep depression]] even ''after'' having the initial content taken down. |
| 81 | * ChekhovsGunman: Tamara Frost, a relatively unimportant spoken word poet/musician whose Hypnospace pages you could go the entire game without seeing. [[spoiler:After the Y2K Mindcrash incident, she becomes a famous author and the main financial backer of the Hypnospace Archival Project.]] |
| 82 | * ClumsyCopyrightCensorship: In-universe. After Counselor Ronnie's T-Nubs page [[spoiler:gets taken down for misinformation]], his "Snub the Nub" rap is altered to remove any references to the FantasticDrug, becoming a generic anti-drug rap. The dubbed-in takes are ([[StylisticSuck purposefully]]) done very poorly and inconsistently. |
| 83 | * CoincidentalDodge: Later on in the game, you have the optional choice to permanently ban Zane and Carl for repeat violations. [[spoiler:Doing so will cause them to survive the Mindcrash, which kills them if they're still logged in.]] Empty Nest Sandy starts the game as the favorite for the new community leader of Goodtime Valley; after becoming disillusioned with Hypnospace due to their reactions to the Gumshoe Gooper takedowns and Beefbrain, she opts to not renew her subscription, [[spoiler:likely sparing her from the Mindcrash]]. |
| 84 | * ComicallyMissingThePoint: |
| 85 | ** Zane proudly displays the MedalOfDishonor The Dumpster gives him. |
| 86 | ** The Coolpunk genre started with a song by [=Fre3zer=] that ironically sampled the jingle of Gray's Peak Cola to deliver an anti-consumerist message. The company completely misses out on this and starts officially sponsoring Coolpunk to promote themselves. |
| 87 | * ComputerVirus: Much like in the real world's internet, Hypnospace has programs that can interfere with the normal function of your in-game computer. Browse carefully! |
| 88 | * ConspiracyTheorist: Hypnospace does not lack for them, and they come in varying levels of coherence. [[spoiler:A few are ProperlyParanoid, while others are [=m1nx=] hackers playing pranks.]] |
| 89 | * CorruptCorporateExecutive: [[spoiler:Adrian and Dylan Merchant cross over from PointyHairedBoss to this in the leaked [=ChitChat=] logs. They commission a report on the health effects of Hypnospace, but keep the results a secret when they find out it's actually potentially dangerous.]] |
| 90 | * TheCracker: |
| 91 | ** [[LeetSpeak T1MAGEDDON]] (a.k.a. Tim), a misanthropic teenager desperately trying to impress a girl with his hacking skills. [[EvenEvilHasStandards He's got limits]], with his viruses intended to annoy rather than destroy, but he's still a constant thorn in your side; a number of your missions are spent cleaning up his handiwork. [[spoiler:In the DistantFinale, [[TookALevelInKindness he's much nicer]].]] |
| 92 | ** The members of the local hacker group [[spoiler:[=m1nx=]]] are much smarter, more capable, and more subtle than [=T1MAGEDDON=], though their leader briefly considers letting him join. Among other pranks, they have convinced users to put an annoying song on their pages to prevent their headbands from exploding, [[spoiler:singlehandedly made and spread the Beefbrain hoax]], and [[spoiler:''created Teentopia's community leader.'']] They also have their limits, as shown when [[spoiler:[=re3koning_inc=] uses what little time remains between the Year 2000 update and the ''Outlaw'' release to desperately spread the word that the headbands actually are dangerous, going so far as to post in what is probably an administrators-only zone and link to evidence. Unfortunately, the evidence is very quickly removed by other Hypnospace enforcers (or Dylan Merchant himself) and the page is a mess of CHIME-violation messages by the time you can access it. Tim's "Mindcrash" hoax provides a perfect scapegoat for when something ''does'' go horribly wrong.]] |
| 93 | * CrapsaccharineWorld: Welcome to Hypnospace, the bold new frontier of the internet with pastel-colored websites, virtual pets, music for every genre imaginable, {{troll}}s and other {{jerkass}}es, meddling from big companies, malware, internal corruption, and gross mismanagement [[spoiler:which ends up ''killing people'']]. |
| 94 | * {{Creepypasta}}: Parodied with a small group that make "scaries," CYOA-style sites which often include creepypasta-esque plots. They're mostly teen-rated, of course, but [[spoiler:Tim's are a bit more disturbing, and serve to foreshadow both the True Tranquility and Mindcrash viruses he makes.]] |
| 95 | * CruelMercy: [[spoiler:Zane and Carl can be prevented from dying in the Mindcrash]], but only if they've been banned from Hypnospace. Knowing this in advance and still not banning them ends up being this trope on part of the player. |
| 96 | * CruelToBeKind: Conversely, [[spoiler:Zane and Carl can be saved from the Mindcrash]] if the player does get them banned from Hypnospace. |
| 97 | * CuttingOffTheBranches: The Enforcer canonically banned Zane from Hypnospace, and he is ''still'' salty about it [[https://twitter.com/Zane_Rocks_36/status/1501669034152054786 on present day Twitter.]] |
| 98 | * {{Cyberspace}}: Hypnospace is a version of the internet that is accessed while dreaming. |
| 99 | * DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler:Zane and Tiffany, who are teenagers, are victims of the Mindcrash. Zane's death can potentially be averted, but Tiffany inevitably dies.]] |
| 100 | * DeconReconSwitch: At first, Hypnospace appears to be a mocking parody of the late '90s internet, both in design and user behavior. Over the course of the game, it becomes a passionate tribute to the creative power and freedom of the late '90s internet, celebrating its culture and the individuality of every user. |
| 101 | * DeliberateValuesDissonance: |
| 102 | ** [[{{Downplayed}} Subtle]], but Hypnospace has the same general values of real-world 1999. Zane insults The Dumpster by calling its writer a "fruity fairy", two outdated homophobic slurs -- and when [=T1MAGEDDON=] breaks into Zane's page, his idea of comedy is to make the page of a macho {{Jerkass}} into a crude CampGay stereotype -- while actual LGBT users generally avoid explicitly stating their sexuality in favor of the "hs_lifestyles" tag, whose meaning is obvious to the modern reader with its rainbow coloring but avoids directly stating anything. The use of the word "lifestyles" in the tag's name additionally invokes the common misconception at the time that being LGBTQ+ is a choice. |
| 103 | ** You can choose to take a demographic survey for Hypnospace, which comically [[ButThouMust only has one correct answer for each question]]. This includes gender and income; saying you're female or poor will immediately disqualify you from the survey. |
| 104 | * {{Demonization}}: "The [=SquisherZ=] Deception" is a webpage run by a fundamentalist Christian who uses very strained logic to try and prove that ''[=SquisherZ=]'' is part of a demonic conspiracy, parodying the fundamentalist backlash towards ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' in its early years. |
| 105 | * DevelopersForesight: |
| 106 | ** If certain citizens get flagged enough times, they'll be temporarily banned from Hypnospace. In some instances, this requires going out of your way to mark violations that wouldn't be obvious at first glance. Doing so can [[spoiler:potentially save two victims of the Mindcrash, Zane and/or Carl, by forcibly disconnecting them before the accident; this will cause the live-action news segment to announce a different number of deaths, and omit them from the ending obituaries.]] |
| 107 | ** In the initial launch version of the game, you can strike [[spoiler:the pirated music on Dylan's FLST]] as soon as the game begins, skipping directly to Act 3. Attempt the same in ''Hypnospace Plus'', and you'll find the skip has been removed; [[spoiler:Dylan's FLST only contains some "amusing viruses"]]. If you strike them, you'll receive a bemused email in response. [[spoiler:If you have not gotten a link to the pre-beta Outlaw game in a previous email, he will send you an email for that game after his viruses are struck down.]] |
| 108 | * DifferentWorldDifferentMovies: Linda's Horror Page describes some horror movies that exist in the world of ''Hypnospace'', but not ours: ''Wax Children 2: The Rebirth'' (an apparent SurprisinglyImprovedSequel [[invoked]] to ''Wax Children''), ''Harold for Dinner'' (a BloodyHilarious comedy/horror), ''The Spooky Crayons'' (a lost '70s Halloween cartoon), ''Blender'' (a gory cooking film featuring a haunted blender), and ''Niteclub'' (a film that's described as both horrifying and strangely beautiful). |
| 109 | * DigitalPiracyIsEvil: One of your duties as a Hypnospace Enforcer is to enforce intellectual property laws, which can range from taking down illegally uploaded files to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential removing cartoons drawn by first-graders posted on their teacher's web page]]. However, if nobody's ''actively requesting'' a takedown, Merchantsoft quietly condones piracy on their file-sharing FLST. [[spoiler:[[PointyHairedBoss Dylan Merchant]] even participates... [[RightHandVersusLeftHand which gets awkward when that takedown notice does come]].]] Out-of-universe, the game subtly ''encourages'' you to partake in piracy, since it's the only way to collect a lot of music and other content that it has to offer. |
| 110 | * DiscOneNuke: Two examples, though both are mainly useful in repeat playthroughs since they require advance knowledge of certain puzzles: |
| 111 | ** [[spoiler:[=allseeing3y3=]]] can be accessed as early as the first act by [[spoiler:downloading it from the Halloween pack in Terry's General Store, though this requires knowing how to decrypt it and [=HypnoCure=] to get rid of the virus that comes with it.]] In turn, this means you can find [[spoiler:[=re3koning_inc=]'s island]] in the second act as soon as the Freelands become available, unlocking easy downloads of [=HypnoCure=] Pro and [[spoiler:[=HypnOS=] Dreamtoolz]], normally a discovery meant to be made in the endgame. |
| 112 | ** [[spoiler:There is a page probably by [=T1MAGEDDON=] that will sell you his FLST password for 99 Hypnocoins on the first day. This is the only way to get into FLST on the first night of the game since the clue to cracking some weak passwords is not present until the second night. However, it is [=SamWich=] encrypted, forcing you to find a way to decrypt it. The price rises to 199 Hypnocoins on the second night of the game, probably to try to encourage you to find another way to crack someone's weak FLST password.]] |
| 113 | * DisguisedHorrorStory: The game starts out as a wacky, pastel-shaded pastiche of late-'90s internet, full of SurrealHumor and quirky characters. And then it gets ''dark'', as it explores the serious consequences of what the rushed-out and experimental BrainComputerInterface web service does to people. While it becomes a DeconReconSwitch by the end, it still culminates in [[spoiler:a hardware issue that kills at least four people and hospitalizes numerous others]]. |
| 114 | * DisproportionateRetribution: When solving a case about music piracy, [[spoiler:you find the culprit is Dylan Merchant himself. Reporting him causes him to send you a furious email and use his admin status to ban your account for no valid reason.]] |
| 115 | * DistantFinale: The last portion of the game [[spoiler:is an archival project in the PresentDay, with the in-universe clock and calendar displaying the actual date and time you're playing the game]]. |
| 116 | * DownloadableContent: August 2020 saw the release of ''Hypnospace Plus'', a free update that also came automatically with console releases. It adds extra pages, games, cosmetics, tracks, and more. |
| 117 | * DueToTheDead: |
| 118 | ** Hypnospace Heaven is a virtual graveyard in Goodtime Valley where people can leave messages to their deceased loved ones. |
| 119 | ** Carl Parker III has a memorial page to his dead wife on his site that admittedly looks goofy despite its subject matter, due to the fact that it's made entirely of clip art, with Carl representing himself with a [=GIF=] of a skeleton biker and his wife with a [=GIF=] of an angel. |
| 120 | ** [[spoiler:Dylan's final version of Outlaw serves as one to those who died in the Mindcrash. There are are very few cars, each representing a victim. Capturing them causes them to "ascend" and a short eulogy being downloaded to your headband. After all the victims are ascended, the game shows you that the outlaw is Dylan himself who does not resist at all, showing that he admits his guilt and responsibility for it.]] |
| 121 | * EarlyBirdCameo: During the tutorial segment, the instructor's audio has been abruptly re-recorded at several points, likely to accommodate for changes to the system that were made after the original recording. [[spoiler:The voice you hear is in fact Roddy Wall, one of the developers at Merchantsoft, but you won't know this until you hear that same voice in relation to his "Trial of the Axxelerator" hints. The video rants added in ''Plus'' are also by him, poorly disguising his identity.]] |
| 122 | * EasterEgg: |
| 123 | ** The operating system will gradually get slower and slower if you use it for long periods of time, and will eventually crash due to running out of memory. The speed will be restored by performing a reboot by either quitting the game or clicking the reboot button. |
| 124 | ** Hypii has a special message if your Hypnocoin balance is exactly [[FourTwentyBlazeIt 420]] or [[LOL69 69]]. |
| 125 | ** After Dylan sends you the ''Outlaw'' version 0.85 download link that ends act 1, you can go back to that link during acts 2 and 3 to download version 0.94 and version 0.99, respectively. Doing this is completely optional, but a good way to earn Hypnocoin. |
| 126 | ** There's plenty of secret pages made by the backers and Discord users. All of them are way sillier than the vanilla Hypnospace pages, but none of them are important to the plot. |
| 127 | ** The Eye of Horus is hidden all throughout Hypnospace, and even shows up for a single frame in the ''[=SquisherZ=]'' rap video. [[spoiler:One of the endgame goals is to find out its purpose, and it turns out that it's just a game to sneak occult symbols into unsuspecting locations]]. |
| 128 | * EveryoneIsSatanInHell: [[invoked]] ''[=SquisherZ=]'' are accused of being "satanic" by the website Lookout Ministries, referencing similar real-life accusations against ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. Their arguments amount to "some [=SquisherZ=] look like wolves and snakes, which are used to represent evil in the Bible" and "some [=SquisherZ=] have eyes and stars on their designs, which are occult symbols". |
| 129 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 130 | ** Merchantsoft, the company behind Hypnospace, is a reference to Microsoft. They even are both abbreviated as "MS". [[spoiler:The present day sequence implies that Merchantsoft, or its successor, becomes a mix between Twitter and Apple. Dylan signs his emails with "@Dylan" (in the manner of Twitter's "@jack") followed by "sent from my [[IPhony D-Phone]]".]] |
| 131 | ** [=NetSettler=], the non-sleeptime web browser Merchantsoft developed which Hypnospace is based on, references Netscape Navigator, which popularized the concept of web browsers in the real world. |
| 132 | * FantasticDrug: T-Nubs, a suppository said to be taken primarily by teenagers that can cause rashes when used for weeks at a time. [[spoiler:It's a fake one, of course, since the one who divulges this information is [[InventedIndividual Counselor Ronnie]], mostly to cause a stir among Hypnospace's adults.]] |
| 133 | * FanWorkBan: In-universe. The very first mission you are given is to take down any unauthorized images of the character Gumshoe Gooper, as enforced by the estate of its creator. This can potentially include [[ExaggeratedTrope pencil drawings by first-grade children]] that their teacher uploaded to her page... [[spoiler:which snowballs into a patriotic counter-movement claiming that the ban is a Communist scheme.]] |
| 134 | * FictionalVideoGame: Multiple, though the one given the most prominence is ''[[{{Phonymon}} SquisherZ]]'', a ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' parody centered around collecting and initiating conversations between alien slime-creatures to make them feel safe enough to come with you. |
| 135 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 136 | ** Merchantsoft's chief visual designer discusses the various inspirations and themes behind the [=HypnOS=] logo. [[spoiler:One of these is rapid eye movement, the first (and least-restful) stage of the sleep cycle. It turns out the [=HypnOS=] headbands, in order to interface with the users' brains, keep the users in [=REM=] sleep for almost the entire night, which means they aren't getting enough proper rest.]] |
| 137 | ** Many, ''many'' Hypnospace users complain of or otherwise discuss [[spoiler:feeling sleepy or restless after a night of Hypnospace browsing, with a few going so far as to say that they occasionally wake up with migraines.]] |
| 138 | ** [[spoiler:One of [=m1nx's=] more recent pranks on Hypnospace is "Beefbrain," a hoax medical report claiming that the service's headband technology essentially microwaves your brain. Sandy in Goodtime Valley also offhandedly mentions an earlier prank in which the group convinced several people that their headbands would explode if they didn't set some annoying song to auto-play on their pages. On their private message board, there is a general feeling of genuine distrust and unease towards the Hypnospace technology, and at one point [=re3koning_inc=] half-sarcastically tells Dylan to stop pushing out untested builds of ''Outlaw'' before one of them makes their headband explode. Naturally, their skepticism regarding both the tech (the headbands in particular) and Dylan's reckless obsession with finishing ''Outlaw'' is completely justified on New Year's Eve.]] |
| 139 | ** On her personal page, [=DarkTwilightTiff=] briefly mentions that [[spoiler:she has epilepsy. While she hasn't had a seizure in years, she probably didn't react well to the Mindcrash...]] |
| 140 | ** On the bottom of the ''Drug Runners'' page, a piece of text scrolls by. It's too fast to read normally, but if you take a screenshot or time your button presses just right, you can read what it says: [[spoiler:[=m1nx=], hinting at Counselor Ronnie being linked to [=m1nx=].]] |
| 141 | ** [[spoiler:The only request Chelsea submits to the HAP is that you research the H.O.R.U.S group responsible for hiding the Eye of Horus all over Hypnospace. It turns out to be a RedHerring, but it serves as an early indicator that she's digging into the secrets of Hypnospace with a definite purpose in mind. She specifically mentions Adrian Merchant as a reason for making the request, to boot]]. |
| 142 | * {{Forgiveness}}: A major theme of the game is forgiveness, for the mistakes that other people make and for the mistakes you have made yourself. This is most emphasized by the Hypnospace Patrol Department itself: it's needlessly cruel and oppressive without any room for compassion. Several pages on Hypnospace, such as the Peacelands in Coolpunk Paradise, espouse the ideals of forgiving others and being forgiven. [[spoiler:At the end of the game, Tim has forgiven himself for believing he caused the Mindcrash, and when Dylan is cornered as the actual perpetrator, he personally apologizes to all of the victims, laying his guilt to rest.]] Jay Tholen's personal page on Hypnospace quotes [[Literature/TheFourGospels Matthew 5:44]]. |
| 143 | * FrameUp: [[spoiler:[=T1MAGGEDON=] might be a {{troll}}ing [[TheCracker hacker]], but [[EvenEvilHasStandards he's no killer]].]] In truth, [[spoiler:the cause of the Mindcrash incident is actually an official [=HypnOS=] update pushed without proper QA, combined with the shoddy hardware of the BrainComputerInterface]]. |
| 144 | * FunWithAcronyms: CHIME is the officially-recognized shorthand for flaggable violations of Hypnospace's rules: '''C'''opyright infringement, '''H'''arassment, '''I'''llegal activity, '''M'''alicious Software, and '''E'''xtralegal commerce. [[spoiler:In the final act of the game, the acronym is expanded to CHIME(S) when you are given the ability to '''S'''ubmit evidence of Dylan Merchant's wrongdoings directly to Samantha.]] |
| 145 | * FutureSlang: Downplayed; since ''Hypnospace'' is an AlternateHistory, some Internet acronyms are slightly different on Hypnospace compared to our world. The most prominent examples are BWL ("bursting with laughter", equivalent to LOL), WITW ("what in the world?", equivalent to WTF), and ICBI ("I can't believe it", equivalent to OMG). |
| 146 | * GameBreakingBug: |
| 147 | ** Invoked in the game's story: [[spoiler:''Outlaw'', Dylan Merchant's pet project game, is so insanely glitchy and buggy that it bricks your [=HypnOS=] system the first time you test it, then ''kills'' people when a second test version is pushed out.]] |
| 148 | ** Out-of-universe, the initial release of the Platform/NintendoSwitch version had a problem with occasional crashes during the visual glitching effect that occurs when trying to load the in-universe-outdated [=NetSettler=] pages or [[spoiler:randomly throughout all of Hypnospace on New Year's Eve]]. It was infrequent enough to not be that much of a problem, coupled with autosave mitigating the potential damage, but the issue was common enough for a patch to address it. |
| 149 | * GameMod: ''Hypnospace Outlaw'' has native support for mods on PC, and comes with one that adds a Windows 95-based desktop theme. The game's main directory includes the same tools the development team used to make web pages and music for the game, which can also be downloaded for free as the [[http://www.hypnospace.net/create.html Hypnospace Productivity Suite]]. |
| 150 | * GenreMashup: |
| 151 | ** Haze, a fictional, synth-y descendant of psychedelic rock, its ancestor genres, and its descendant sub-genres. There's a whole map and fictional history with samples. It's all very plausible. |
| 152 | ** The genre du jour when you first arrive in Hypnospace is Coolpunk, which [[NonIndicativeName is not punk]] but a sort of synth movement with samples from dad rock, Christmas music, and advertising jingles similar to {{Vaporwave}}. It's mostly StylisticSuck, with some silly but surprisingly enjoyable pieces mixed in, and a couple of unironically emotional and expressive pieces. [[spoiler:[[CondemnedByHistory The genre collapses]] during your tenure as Enforcer, overtaken by the cave-themed Fungus Scene and a few other former Coolpunks coming up with potential new genres.]] [[invoked]] |
| 153 | * TheGhost: Bobson Dugnutt, the new PR guy Merchantsoft hires late into the game, is the only employee of theirs without anything attached to his name. His image on Merchantsoft's page is broken, and the link that's supposed to go to his own page leads to Chowder Man's instead. The ''Plus'' update [[GenderFlip replaces him]] with ''Barbara'' Dugnutt, who at least has an image, but still no page. The update also elaborates on her role in the company: she works on zone redesigns (such as [[spoiler:turning Coolpunk Paradise into The Venue]]) and cracks down on misinformation, [[spoiler:forcing takedowns of the Beefbrain hoax and Counselor Ronnie's T-Nubs page]]. |
| 154 | * GirlfriendInCanada: |
| 155 | ** Both [[spoiler:Zane and Corey]]'s girlfriends, named Jessica and Jennifer respectively, have pages dedicated mostly to their loved ones. [[spoiler:Aside from the obvious overromanticized plot those pages provide, it turns out each girlfriend has the exact same headband ID as Zane and Corey respectively.]] |
| 156 | ** While not a girlfriend, there is a similar case happening in the Coolpunk Zone, with a young girl gushing about how cute [=Fre3zer=] is, just like she imagined, and positive reviews of his new album. [[spoiler:And when you check the headband, sure enough, it's the same ID as [=Fre3zer=]. The page is even completely deleted following his announcement of a "hiatus".]] |
| 157 | * GlobalCurrencyException: An in-universe example; Hypnocoins are used for Hypnospace transactions but have no real-world value, and one of your jobs as an Enforcer is to crack down on [=CapaCash=], which is part of a scheme to get around this restriction. |
| 158 | * GottaCatchThemAll: |
| 159 | ** While you're unable to play the widely-advertised ''[=SquisherZ=]'' game, you can participate in collecting all 10 ''[=SquisherZ=]'' stickers around Teentopia. |
| 160 | ** ''Hypnospace Outlaw'' itself has elements of this as well. Collect more Hypnocoin, collect software, collect new music for your Tunebox and sample packs for your SGS, collect new wallpapers and themes.... [[spoiler:Collecting ''all of Hypnospace'' in your access device's absurdly large storage memory serves as your final case.]] |
| 161 | * GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:When Dylan is finally cornered, he provides a full confession and personalized, sincere apologies to everyone who died because of him. He mostly just seems relieved to finally confess the burden of guilt that has been haunting him for years.]] |
| 162 | * GreyAndGrayMorality: About the only completely unsympathetic character is [[{{Jerkass}} Zane]], and literally everyone hates him. [[spoiler:Even then, it's indicated that he comes from a broken home, and if he dies in the Mindcrash, Dylan's dedication mentions that his online behavior was only a glimpse into a teenager struggling through a tumultuous phase. Even Dylan himself turns out to just be trying to cover up an accident he feels absolutely horrible about, and that he feels would sabotage a potentially revolutionary virtual-reality technology in its infancy.]] |
| 163 | * HanlonsRazor: The single most destructive force in ''Hypnospace Outlaw'' is incompetence, particularly that of Merchantsoft and especially Dylan Merchant. The trolls, pirates, and even virus-writing hackers you have to chase down as an Enforcer are much less destructive than the numerous poor decisions of the company that runs Hypnospace. |
| 164 | * HateSink: |
| 165 | ** It seems like almost ''everyone'' can't stand Zane, and most pages that reference him aren't doing so nicely. The only exception is his girlfriend... [[spoiler:[[GirlfriendInCanada who's completely made up]].]] |
| 166 | ** Adware-claiming-to-be-assistant Professor Helper is never looked at with a shred of respect from any of the users across Hypnospace. The sole exception is Adrian Merchant, who is only concerned with how it affects the company's partner brands. |
| 167 | * IncompetenceInc: Merchantsoft QA seems to be virtually non-existent, it relies on over-worked interns and unpaid volunteers, [[RightHandVersusLeftHand and its enforcement department sometimes ends up outright at odds with the rest of the company]]. Dylan himself is a PointyHairedBoss, and any competent underlings are hamstrung by his poor decisions, lack of communication, buggy software, and plain ol' nerd rage and tantrum throwing. [[spoiler:In fact, the only reason you return in time for the Mindcrash is that Dylan was too busy trying to crunch on his shitty car game to tell the head mod to not reinstate you.]] |
| 168 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: Tiffany helped Tim create the "True Tranquility" creepypasta stories, and basing them on existing Hypnospace citizens was her idea; still, it seems unlikely that she realized just how far Tim would go with the idea. All of the 'digital parasites' are ''extremely'' mean-spirited caricatures of the citizens they're based on. Tim's writing makes it clear that he genuinely views most of them, especially the disabled Arlan, as being "leeches on society." She also never meant for him to go to the lengths of creating an ''actual'' True Tranquility virus. |
| 169 | * InterfaceScrew: Downloading a virus can cause your [=HypnOS=] to act strangely. [[spoiler:That is to say nothing of what happens when you play the alpha version of ''Outlaw'', or get caught in '''[[WhamEpisode the Mindcrash]]'''...]] |
| 170 | * TheInternetIsForPorn: {{Defied|Trope}}. Hypnospace's file-sharing directory, FLST, specifically tells its users ''not'' to put porn on it. |
| 171 | * InsaneTrollLogic: At first, the hidden socialism page written by an apparently mild-mannered Hypnospace user proclaims that the Gumshoe Gooper estate removing "unauthorised" reproductions of the titular character in any shape or form must be a comrade, as they are actively removing a "imperialist propaganda" cartoon... even though it later turns out the estate was just removing the reproductions for copyright (and thus capitalist) reasons. The "imperialist propaganda" bit seems like typical tankie talk, but it does turn out the creator of Gumshoe Gooper was an ardent anti-communist. |
| 172 | * InventedIndividual: |
| 173 | ** [[spoiler:Counselor Ronnie]] is revealed later in the game to be completely made up by [[spoiler:the [=m1nx=] hacker group. Dylan is aware of this, and allows it anyway because it earns Merchantsoft ''a federal grant''.]] |
| 174 | ** [[spoiler:Both Zane and Corey made accounts and homepages for fake girlfriends. Corey's is even listed as [[GirlfriendInCanada living in Alberta.]]]] |
| 175 | ** [[spoiler:There is a page gushing about [=Fre3zer's=] music and how cute he is. After all the backlash about Coolfest '99, she's still defending him. Her ID is, of course, the same as [=Fre3zer=]. The page is deleted after he leaves Hypnospace.]] |
| 176 | * {{Irony}}: |
| 177 | ** [[spoiler:Dylan Merchant made ''Outlaw'' to win back customers that were bored of Hypnospace's lack of features. Ironically, ''Outlaw'' turned out so buggy that it killed some of the users, and the rest completely abandoned Hypnospace ''and'' its competitor.]] |
| 178 | ** One that doubles as {{Foreshadowing}}: the SAI Freelands is run by an [[spoiler:apparently friendly nerd who just wants to protect fellow nerds. In reality, he's a whitebread tyrant who gets off on raging at anyone who doesn't fall under his vision of the internet actively making things worse and abusing people who want to help.]] Not unlike Merchantsoft, really. |
| 179 | * ItsASmallNetAfterAll: Though the game centers around a very realistic [[TheAlternet alternet]] with hundreds of unique pages, that still pales in comparison to the real-world Internet even in the game's setting of 1999. It's justified by your occupation as an Enforcer, as you are only assigned access to a small portion of Hypnospace's true size. |
| 180 | * {{Jerkass}}: |
| 181 | ** One user, zane_rocks_14, is a bit of a blowhard, such that other users are very vocal about their disdain for him. Not that it stops one of the people he's going after from setting up a shame page in return. |
| 182 | ** In the [[spoiler:[=M1NX=] board posts]] you can read, [[spoiler:[=re3koning_inc=]]] comes across as this. They are ''very'' snarky and disapproving of [[spoiler:Dylan being on the team, seeing him as a corporate sellout and a two-faced dick.]] [[JerkassHasAPoint And they're totally right.]] |
| 183 | ** As it turns out, [[spoiler:Dylan Merchant.]] Appearing to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and fellow geek, [[spoiler:he, instead, is a typical techbro with an ego bigger than the sun. Even before his accidental murder of at least four Hypnospace users and the subsequent cover-up, he begins screaming in all caps whenever he thinks his competence (which is nil) is vaguely questioned, even if it's reasonable criticism. He tries to fire a female underling ''and'' dox her when she raises concerns about a program Dylan worked on, steals credit in multiple ways like piracy, and kicks the player off moderation duty in a fit of rage when his aforementioned piracy is reported.]] |
| 184 | ** [=CPColdSnap=] secretly hosts a page flaming the fuck out of anyone he deems a "Coolpunk poser", and even after Coolpunk goes on the decline, decides the best course of action is to [[spoiler:openly jeer at a dead man out of some kind of sad, obesssive belief he caused Coolpunk's decline.]] |
| 185 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: |
| 186 | ** [=T1MAGEDDON=] is a troublemaker and causes you the biggest headaches early on, but he very much cares for Tiff and his other friends. [[spoiler:After the time skip, he is a happily married man with a young daughter.]] |
| 187 | ** [[spoiler:[=re3koning_inc=]]] might be vocally disdainful of anyone they consider beneath them (up to and including Merchantsoft itself), but [[spoiler:their leaks indicate a strong concern for the well-being of others, especially when Hypnospace's health concerns come to light.]] |
| 188 | * KeepCirculatingTheTapes: [[invoked]] [[spoiler:The fourth act is set in the present, and you are given the mission of finding pieces of lost media that are archived somewhere on your Hypnospace headband.]] |
| 189 | * KentBrockmanNews: The Hypnospace Global Newsroom publishes stories that are blatantly slanted to portray Merchantsoft in a positive light. |
| 190 | * KickTheDog: |
| 191 | ** The True Tranquility stories by Tim. All of the "digital parasites" are cruel caricatures of actual Hypnospace citizens, and the short stories are clearly designed to dig at their deepest emotional wounds. It's also heavily implied that, like with his later attack on Zane, Tim hacked into each victim's personal account specifically to learn more about their personal lives and expose their insecurities. To add a cherry on top, all of them are later targeted by Tim's True Tranquility virus. |
| 192 | *** Arlan's story makes fun of his disability, implies he's only good at being a salesman because people pity him, and outright refers to him as a "leech" on society. |
| 193 | *** Carl Parker III's story digs at the recent death of his wife, Lisa, and makes a point of suggesting that he's rapidly forgetting the time he spent with her due to his old age. It also makes it a point to state that his fictional counterpart also lost his motorcycle-riding license. |
| 194 | *** Eric 'Chowder Man' Helman's page erases any semblence of subtlety, describing his counterpart as a washed-up has-been who nobody remembers with anything other than annoyance. [=T1M=] goes one further and heavily implies that he's become an alcoholic to deal with the depression. |
| 195 | *** Gus's page opens with discussing how alone his equivalent feels after his divorce, and proceeds to state that his kids ''hate'' spending time with him. It also implies that his relationship with Sherri amounts to little more than her bilking him for cash. |
| 196 | ** Even Tim doesn't go as far as [=CPColdSnap=]. On top of being a blowhard gatekeeper who keeps a hate page laden with personal attacks towards Coolpunk "posers", he later obsessively mocks Chowder Man's [[spoiler:disaster at Coolfest '99 that resulted in his leg being amputated and the death of a bandmate]] as both karma and some kind of grudge for "killing Coolpunk", even after being suspended at least once. He goes so far as to register a new account ''and'' potentially a new headband (that costs ''hundreds or thousands of dollars'' if adjusted for 2019 inflation) just to continue mocking [[spoiler:a dead man]] out of nothing more than elitism. |
| 197 | * TheLastDJ: Roddy Wall takes issue with a lot of Merchantsoft's decisions, particularly their mistreatment of the geek-focused zones, [[spoiler:and ends up creating programs to subvert his employers. His hasty replacement on the MS site's employee page suggests that he may have been fired in the month that passed between chapters 2 and 3, after you revealed that he made Axxelerator.]] |
| 198 | * LoggingOntoTheFourthWall: Websites for both [[https://prof.help/ Professor Helper]] and [[https://capa.cash/ CapaCa$h]] exist on the real Internet. |
| 199 | * LeetSpeak: Pretty common among Hypnospace hackers; see [=T1MAGEDDON=], the hacker group [=m1nx=], and the program [=allseeing3y3=], for example. |
| 200 | * {{Leitmotif}}: The "Millennium Anthem" is composed by Dylan Merchant in-universe, and its melodies slip into various jingles and system sounds from Merchantsoft. It was based on an earlier song, [[https://soundcloud.com/halfhandedcloud/nativity-costume-2000-years-eve "Nativity Costume" by Half-handed Cloud]]. |
| 201 | * LevelEditor: The game's PC release comes bundled with the same page builder and music sequencer that the developers used, allowing players to create their own custom Hypnospace sites. The tools can also be downloaded for free directly from the official website. |
| 202 | * MeaningfulName: Hypnospace and the operating system it runs on, [=HypnOS=], are used while sleeping. Hypnos is the personification of sleep in Greek mythology. |
| 203 | * MillenniumBug: [[spoiler:While the [=Y2K=] bug had the same, extremely minor effects that it did in real life, the [[BrownNote Mindcrash]] also occurs shortly after midnight at the turn of the millennium, with much more severe consequences.]] |
| 204 | * MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: At first, Merchantsoft seems harmless, if [[IncompetenceInc incompetent]]. The first big red flag is when [[spoiler:you catch Dylan Merchant [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem violating his own rules]] by hosting illegal music downloads, and he bans you when you report him]]. This is a good indication that something deeper is going on at Merchantsoft. Sure enough, you later find that [[spoiler:Dylan knew that Hypnospace was harmful to its users' health and covered it up anyway, and framed an innocent kid when people died from his own negligence]]. |
| 205 | * MiscarriageOfJustice: Tiff tries to bring harassment she gets on [=ChitChat=] to the attention of Merchantsoft and the Enforcers. Since her page hosts the screenshots and since [=ChitChat=] is a separate service, it's ''her'' posts that get taken down and ''her'' account that is flagged for violation of Hypnospace rules while Dylan refuses to do anything about the situation. |
| 206 | * MisplacedRetribution: |
| 207 | ** Violation points are applied to users if the page that they host ends up guilty of any of the C.H.I.M.E. rules, even if they never committed the act in the first place. Namely, the [[spoiler:True Tranquility virus that affects different users' pages is taken down, but violation points go to the users for having the shock images on their page instead of whoever caused it.]] |
| 208 | ** More glaringly, Tiff trying to report her case of harassment on [=ChitChat=] from other people by using a page she built gets taken down and [[ShootTheMessenger earns her violations when you send it to Samantha]]. This could be fixed with more programming, but [[PointyHairedBoss Dylan]] isn't currently interested. |
| 209 | ** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] with Zane and Corey's situation. On the first chapter, Zane makes an entire page dedicated to mocking other users while Corey makes a page and badge insulting Zane back. Zane gets let off with a warning while Corey is given a three-day ban. While seemingly a situation where the bully gets away as their victim is punished for fighting back, Corey ''did'' portray Zane's character as getting bloodily decapitated in a webzone housing a young audience (though it's an animation of him getting punched in later versions) |
| 210 | ** Citizens across Goodtime Valley declare war on Merchantsoft for their censoring of Gumshoe Gooper, when really Merchantsoft is enforcing the creator's estate's copyright. |
| 211 | * MissingSecret: |
| 212 | ** In the base game, the third [[spoiler:(actually fourth)]], ''[=SquisherZ=]''-themed, virtual pet talked about on a few pages is never available to the player at any point. It was added for the ''Hypnospace Plus'' update. |
| 213 | ** The Dumpster's article on weird FLST directories in chapter 2 lists one with some kind of "poetry" on it under a non-functional number. (The ID number is the same as Sarah Sanders -- it's not impossible to imagine that she took it down after seeing it getting laughed at.) Also corrected in ''Hypnospace Plus'', where you can see Sanders' college poetry about her depression and battles with mental illness there. [[spoiler:Taken down by New Year's Eve, with an angry note that [[AwfulWeddedLife her husband saw it]].]] |
| 214 | * MoneyForNothing: While money is somewhat hard to come by for the majority of the game -- flagging violations or playing certain minigames are the only ways to earn it -- by the endgame, you effectively have a resource for infinite money [[spoiler:through [=HypnOS=] Dreamtoolz]]. In addition, most of the required payments can be gotten around through other methods (for example, [[spoiler:re3koning provides a cracked copy of [=HypnoCure Pro=] for 1 Hypnocoin]]), meaning that it's basically never mandatory to have money to progress. The various cosmetics and albums you can spend money on serve as the primary MoneySink. |
| 215 | * TheMoralSubstitute: ''C.H.O.S.E.N.: Anointed'', a Christian-themed counterpart to the FPS ''Kataklysm'', is mentioned on a few pages. Previews show that it's about a pastor who uses a sword with a Bible stuck to it and [[InstrumentOfMurder musical instrument guns]] to destroy things like a children's museum featuring an exhibition on evolution. Game reviewer The Observer claims it's surprisingly good despite less-than-impressive graphics and insane fundie silliness. |
| 216 | * MultipleEndings: In a small way, but still there. [[spoiler:It's possible to prevent two of the Mindcrash deaths, completely unintentionally if you haven't been spoiled, by getting the users banned. This of course means that the other victims were quite literally too pure for this world....]] |
| 217 | * MundaneMadeAwesome: |
| 218 | ** The basic concept of the game. You're a moderator for a '90s-era AlternateHistory internet, patrolling for the usual stuff: harassment, copyright violations, and so forth. Then things escalate. |
| 219 | ** An entire, [[EpicRocking almost seven minute long]] prog rock song complete with epic guitar solo about shaving: Chowder Man's ''Ready to Shave''. [=GillSCreates=] has a page [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory analyzing the lyrics in-depth]].[[invoked]] |
| 220 | * NeverWasThisUniverse: It initially seems like the 1990s were the main point of divergence from our own timeline, but then you discover what happened to the concept of ''tennis''. |
| 221 | * NoobCave: The Café is available from the start and doesn't have any cases officially assigned to it, but it's a good place to go if you need hints on how to progress, as many of its users will inadvertently provide clues for your cases. |
| 222 | * NothingIsScarier: Much of the actual horror elements of the game rely on a creeping sense of dread rather than anything actively trying to harm you. |
| 223 | * OnlySaneEmployee: NaiveNewcomer Samantha Clausson, who ends up being your MissionControl, is the only Merchantsoft employee the player interacts with who seems both sane and competent. The others are {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s ''at best''. |
| 224 | * ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: |
| 225 | ** One of the pages on WITW has a guide for setting up an easy-to-remember password, entirely using personal information. A lot of people follow it to the letter, which makes accessing some hidden pages easy since you have access to every user's info. This includes the person who ''wrote'' the page, giving you a solution to a particularly important puzzle. |
| 226 | ** [[spoiler:The users of [=m1nx=], meanwhile, have [[DefiedTrope much more secure passwords]] with random capitalization and symbols, long strings of numbers, and more obscure words/phrases. The majority of them also change their passwords regularly, meaning you have to hunt them down multiple times in the finale.]] |
| 227 | * PaymentPlanPitch: One of Professor Helper's ads is for "Katie's Kuddly Kat Korner", a cat bed designed for corners, which is available for "only 4 easy payments of 29.95 USD". $120 -- in 1999 money no less! -- for what basically amounts to a triangular cat bed. [-Cat not included.-] |
| 228 | * PeripheryDemographic: In-universe. Hypnospace is a service meant for ordinary people to connect with each other, but a significant portion of its users (at least a third, by Dylan's estimate) are "nerds" into niche music, gaming, sci-fi, and so on. A running theme through the game is that Merchantsoft wants to make Hypnospace more mainstream at the expense of its existing audience. Adrian is dismissive toward them, and figures that the profits from Hypnospace going mainstream will cover what they lose from the "geeks" leaving in protest. Meanwhile, Dylan's misguided attempt to appeal to the nerdy community with ''Outlaw'' leaves them unimpressed [[spoiler:and backfires horribly, causing ''everyone'' to abandon Hypnospace and lose trust in the safety of sleeptime computing as a whole]]. |
| 229 | * {{Phonymon}}: ''[=SquisherZ=]'', which looks like ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' crossed with ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}''. |
| 230 | * PlayerTic: Invoked. The player is told early on that shaking the mouse cursor makes things load faster. Surprisingly, this actually works. The tip site that tells you about this explains that no one has any idea ''how or why'' this works, and that they can only guess. [[spoiler:Presumably, this is because Hypnospace uses REM sleep to interface with the user's brain, so shaking the cursor causes increased brain activity.]] It is actually a ShoutOut to a bug in Windows 95 where rapid wiggling of the mouse would speed event processing as seen in [[https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/11533/why-did-moving-the-mouse-cursor-cause-windows-95-to-run-more-quickly this article]]. |
| 231 | * PlayfulHacker: |
| 232 | ** A recurring character through the game is a teenage hacker named [=T1MAGEDDON=], who has the chops to manipulate Hypnospace's code directly, but only uses them to impress the hacker group he wants in on and a girl he's infatuated with. [[spoiler:This is deconstructed after the Mindcrash, which kills at least four people and leaves hundreds injured; Tim believes it to be his fault and emerges from prison a much more stable man, working in computer security with a wife and daughter.]] |
| 233 | ** [[spoiler:The aforementioned hacker group, [=m1nx=], seem to prefer using their skills for harmless pranks rather than anything truly damaging. Among them, the only one who takes themselves seriously is [=re3koning_inc=].]] |
| 234 | * PoesLaw: {{Exploited|Trope}} by [[spoiler:[=m1nx=]]], who [[spoiler:run fake accounts in the [[ConspiracyTheorist Open-Eyed]] zone to spread silly hoaxes and pranks. The actual people in that zone are [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} so out there]] that the parody accounts blend in without issue.]] |
| 235 | * PointOfNoReturn: [[spoiler:Tim's fake Mindcrash puzzle]] provides a '''Cruel''' example. Solving it will trigger [[spoiler:Dylan to push out Outlaw before it's ready, causing the ''real'' Mindcrash]]. From the moment you press the button, [[spoiler:you can't save anyone, and progressing any open Investigations becomes impossible]]; the game gives you no hints that this is the case, and [[spoiler:Tim's]] puzzle is so pathetically simple that anyone who's been following the character will probably guess it effortlessly as soon as they see it. |
| 236 | * PointyHairedBoss: |
| 237 | ** You don't see much of Adrian Merchant, the CEO of Merchantsoft, but his brother Dylan is a frequent sight. [[HanlonsRazor He isn't malicious]] and seems to care, on the whole, about creating an exciting product with nascent technology that makes his userbase happy. A pity he's utterly incompetent, overly interested in his ([[StylisticSuck destructively buggy]]) video game side-project, has communication issues with his employees, and [[spoiler:[[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem can't follow his own C.H.I.M.E. laws]]]]. |
| 238 | ** Adrian himself isn't great. He seems to be prone to angry rants, [[spoiler:such as if you flag Professor Helper's page after you were instructed not to]], and is clearly lacking in the basic tech knowledge needed for running a major software company. [[spoiler:The fantasy zones being condensed onto a crappy server and needing to have speed caps put on them was his idea, because all the "geek zones" were going against his vision of Hypnospace being for "regular people", and he cared more about that than the backlash from pissing off one of the service's largest audiences.]] |
| 239 | * PrecisionFStrike: During the video showcasing [[spoiler:[=Fre3zer=]'s lip-syncing being caught on-camera at Coolfest '99]], an angry concert-goer can be clearly heard yelling "horse shit!" amongst the booing crowd. |
| 240 | * PresentAbsence: [[spoiler:re3koning_inc]] is a major presence in the endgame and a key figure in [[spoiler:incriminating Dylan for the Mindcrash and its subsequent fatalities]], but the character is completely absent by the time you meet them, as their involvement occurred long in the past. |
| 241 | * PublicDomainSoundtrack: |
| 242 | ** Professor Helper's website plays Music/JohannSebastianBach's "Concerto in F 'In the Italian Manner'". |
| 243 | ** Goodtime Valley uses "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" on various pages. |
| 244 | ** A few Coolpunk songs sample "Jingle Bells". |
| 245 | * PunkPunk: |
| 246 | ** The game has a mild '90s {{Cyberpunk}} vibe to it, and features an all-controlling corporation who has a monopoly on a peripheral that lets you directly jack in to the internet while you sleep. |
| 247 | ** There's an in-universe ClockPunk fandom in place of Steampunk, as well as an ice-themed music genre called "Coolpunk" [[SellOut that has since been co-opted by a soda company]]. |
| 248 | * PunnyName: [=HypnOS=], an operating system accessed while asleep, is named after the Greek personification of sleep. It's mentioned that [=HypnOS=] was based upon an earlier operating system called [=FlamingOS=]. |
| 249 | * RainbowSpeak: In the most literal sense, anyone on Hypnospace can do this since everything you see is a webpage built by the users. Mechanically, some hints as to what to look out for are explicitly highlighted by making the text pulse different colors. |
| 250 | * ReassignedToAntarctica: OnlySaneEmployee Samatha Clausson, a programmer by trade (and a competent one, as her anti-virus software demonstrates) gets stuck on [[MissionControl HSPD dispatch]] because [[spoiler:Dylan wanted to keep her from "nagging" him -- that is to say, trying to make him do his job instead of working on his game. This ends up putting her in [[ReassignmentBackfire the perfect position]] to discover what really happened in the Mindcrash.]] |
| 251 | * RedHerring: Near the end of the game, the player is asked to investigate [[spoiler:the Eye of Horus symbol that appears in various places around Hypnospace, including several official Merchantsoft sites]]. This leads you to a password-protected site featuring... [[spoiler:the records of a benign BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats who have been hiding the Eye in random places as a sort of EasterEgg hunt.]] |
| 252 | * RedScare: A bunch of people in Goodtime Valley become convinced that [[spoiler:your takedown of Gumshoe Gooper art]] is a communist plot. |
| 253 | * {{Retraux}}: The aesthetic of the game draws inspiration from the earliest days of the internet, especially Angelfire and Geocities. Low-quality videos and [=GIFs=] abound, and much like in the user pages of old, almost every site has an autoplaying MIDI-like song. |
| 254 | * {{Retcon}}: The news report seen following [[spoiler:the Mindcrash]] pretty unambiguously states that it caused the end of [[spoiler:the sleeptime computing industry]]. However, ''Dreamsettler'' apparently takes place in the mid 2000s, well after [[spoiler:the Mindcrash]]. The game does imply that [[spoiler:sleeptime computing is still used in the present day to an extent, with Dylan using a "D-Phone" that runs on it]], and [[https://twitter.com/Zane_Rocks_36/status/1580229214493515776 Zane's comments]] on his present-day CharacterBlog suggest that [[spoiler:different companies unsuccessfully attempt to bring back sleeptime every few years despite knowing the health risks]]. |
| 255 | * RewatchBonus: Due to the nature of the game, it's possible to find pages that help contextualize other pages and events in new ways. A big one is [[spoiler:the reveal that Counselor Ronnie is an InventedIndividual, which puts his StylisticSuck pages into a completely new light.]] |
| 256 | * RightForTheWrongReasons: Lookout Ministries cites the Eye of Horus being present on some of the [=SquisherZ=]'s designs as proof they're part of an occult conspiracy. [[spoiler:They actually ''are'' part of a conspiracy, if you can call a bunch of bored executives playing pranks a conspiracy]]. |
| 257 | * RightHandVersusLeftHand: The many parts of Merchantsoft are nowhere near being on the same page with each other. |
| 258 | ** While Enforcers have to deal with the antics of various Hypnospace hackers, [[spoiler:Dylan is fully aware of who they are and even a member of their private chatroom.]] |
| 259 | ** Roddy Wall is a Merchantsoft programmer disgruntled over the condensing of the geek zones, and [[spoiler:makes a program to bypass the speed cap imposed on the server the Freelands are hosted on.]] |
| 260 | ** Comes to a head when you're tasked with finding out who's distributing pirated music on Hypnospace. [[spoiler:It's Dylan. Flagging his downloads has him scramble to remove your Enforcer privileges and prevent anyone else at Merchantsoft from seeing the CHIME reports. After a TimeSkip, Samantha puts you back on the force, unsure why you were banned and wondering if she did it on accident.]] |
| 261 | * RoleEndingMisdemeanor: In-Universe. By November 26th, 1999, Jan "[=Fre3zer=]" Wolf has become a pariah after he was caught lip-syncing during his set at the disastrous Coolfest '99, thus exposing him as a fraud and [[GenreKiller causing the demise of Coolpunk as an emerging genre/movement]]. |
| 262 | * RunningGag: Every single Chowder Man song has the words "The Chowder Man" somewhere in the lyrics. |
| 263 | * ScheduleSlip: In-universe. In ''Plus'', the page for ''C.H.O.S.E.N.: Anointed'' sets its release date as "Easter 2000"... then "late 2000"... then finally, "2001". Note that much of the game takes place before the turn of the millennium. |
| 264 | * SchmuckBait: |
| 265 | ** Savvier players will know not to click on any of the out-of-the-ordinary links or download dodgy-looking software. [[spoiler:Apart from the fact that an early case requires downloading Professor Helper to zero in on the payment system used by the ads it forces on you.]] |
| 266 | ** [[spoiler:[=HypnOS Dreamtoolz=]]] has an option to donate Hypnocoin to "the hax godz". It specifically warns you not to enter a negative amount for a donation. In a humorous subversion, doing so [[spoiler:will give ''you'' the amount of Hypnocoin you entered, effectively becoming a source of unlimited money]]. |
| 267 | * ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: |
| 268 | ** It's often a good idea to keep a copy of any illegal or pirated goods you encounter in Hypnospace before bringing down the hammer. |
| 269 | ** Later on, [[spoiler:Dylan doesn't take getting caught breaking his own C.H.I.M.E. laws well.]] |
| 270 | * SelfInsertFic: |
| 271 | ** Zane's webcomics, where he battles demons alongside the frontman of his favorite band, who has magical powers and is secretly his father. |
| 272 | ** Gary outright admits this is the case with his [[ClockPunk CyberCog]] InteractiveFiction, down to the protagonist sharing his name and breaking the narrative to directly address the reader. |
| 273 | * SensoryAbuse: |
| 274 | ** The auditory variety shows up as part of the tutorial, with some of the tutorial lines ''not'' narrated by the usual narrator, and instead read out with a ton of audio clipping and half-assed delivery by Roddy Wall, one of the few programmers at Merchantsoft. |
| 275 | ** [[PlayfulHacker T1MAGEDDON's]] page serves as the visual variety with flashing, cycling images. This is a bit strange, considering that [[spoiler:Tiff, the girl he's trying to impress with all these shocking and flashing images, is epileptic.]] |
| 276 | * SequenceBreaking: The open nature of Hypnospace allows a knowledgeable player to get ahead very quickly. |
| 277 | ** While it's much harder to do without having played the game already, [[spoiler:you can find and report Dylan's FLST page, and skip straight to New Year's Eve as soon as you start the game.]] This one was patched out in ''Plus'', suggesting it wasn't intentional. |
| 278 | ** On the game's release, it was possible to accidentally skip to the end of the game by [[spoiler:searching the word "Dylan" on the HAP intranet, which would reveal the download page for ''Outlaw'' 1.0 before he joins the HAP and actually uploads it]]. This method was removed after launch, so the page can only be accessed via direct link. |
| 279 | * ShoutOut: While direct references to real-world media are largely avoided (since the game takes place in an AlternateHistory where the past century of pop culture is completely different), there are several indirect references appropriate for the game's setting. |
| 280 | ** HYPII, the floating head that delivers notifications and reads out text on command is by name a reference to Clippy, Microsoft's most well-known Office Assistant. |
| 281 | ** Professor Helper, an obnoxiously-intrusive helper program that serves as a delivery mechanism for ads, can be seen as a reference to Bonzi Buddy. His phrase of "I see you're [x], want help with that?" also echoes Microsoft's Office Assistants. |
| 282 | ** ''[=SquisherZ=]'' can be seen as a reference to the initial popularity of ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'', right down to having a very popular Pikachu equivalent, a rap music video, and a religious site trying to cite it as proof of a satanic conspiracy theory. |
| 283 | ** Several of the [=SquisherZ=] themselves are pop culture references: |
| 284 | *** In terms of direct equivalents to Pokémon, Garblugh and Glopoly are takes on Garbodor and Porygon, respectively. Mushi fills Pikachu's role as the marketable mascot, while Ickygoo more closely resembles it in design and name. |
| 285 | *** Leaka is based on a Toys/{{Furby}}, playing on its unintentionally creepy nature. Similarly, Yuckey is based on a Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}, and also includes the four face buttons of the Platform/PlayStation on its display. |
| 286 | *** Goost is a fairly obvious take on [[Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}} Slimer]]. |
| 287 | *** Turthole, a turtle mixed with a manhole that evolves into the radioactive Shellslop, is likely referencing a particular set of [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles mutant turtles]]. |
| 288 | ** The chorus to Seepage's "Nothing Left For Me" drops the names of ''{{VideoGame/Doom}}'''s first three episodes, before ending with "''The Ultimate Doom''". |
| 289 | ** Slushmouth's Guide to New Digital Music is based on an actual music map about electronic music from 2000 called Ishkur's Guide To Electronic Music. It's just as snarky too. |
| 290 | ** The Merchantsoft logo features a red spiral that looks very similar to the logo of the Platform/SegaDreamcast. [[StealthPun Yes, Dreamcast]]. |
| 291 | ** A few minor characters, such as Merchantsoft employee Bobson Dugnutt, have names taken directly from the infamous ''Fighting Baseball'' SNES game, where a Japanese developer came up with several bizarre American-sounding names for the American baseball team. |
| 292 | ** The tagline on the poster for the fake movie ''Blender'' seen on Linda's Horror Page is [[Advertising/WillItBlend "Will it blend?"]] |
| 293 | ** The Observer, a game review website, shows a preview of a highly-anticipated first-person shooter game called ''Kataklysm: Microtrooper''; the reviewer notes it to be very repetitive and buggy despite its impressive graphics and marketing hype. This is likely a take on the notorious FPS flop, ''VideoGame/{{Daikatana}}'', released in 2000 to similar criticism. |
| 294 | ** The logo of CP_Shaman's page, two hands (one with a ring) with their fingers over a peace sign, invokes the imagery of an infamous real-life ShockSite. Developer Jay Tholen, when the image was posted on a Reddit thread of accidental imagery, replied with "Accidental though? :-)" |
| 295 | ** One [=NetSettler=] page consists of a collection of graphics and stickers made by a "Bryce Freedy", which references [[https://www.daz3d.com/bryce-7-pro the "Bryce" 3D rendering software]]. |
| 296 | ** The results of the ''[=SquisherZ=]'' fan-art contest include one with a highly-detailed face and '''ゴゴゴゴ''' surrounding it, bringing to mind ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. Jay Tholen was [[https://twitter.com/jaytholen/status/1371569463099801603 unaware of the reference]] when he included it, as it was a submission from a user on the ''Hypnospace'' Discord. |
| 297 | ** The technical aspects of Hypnospace Tune Sequencer (HSM) files make them direct analogs to Platform/{{MOD}} music files, but their reputation for sounding cheesy and their widespread use as background music for pages also makes them analogous to Platform/{{MIDI}} files. Likewise, AUD files, being high-compressed digital audio recordings, are Hypnospace's version of [[Platform/{{MP3}} MP3s]]. |
| 298 | ** One of the trennis players listed in the sports news section is [[VideoGame/ChuckRock Chuck Brock]]. |
| 299 | ** A hidden page features a "wedding" for two users of the Hypnospace Discord, whose avatars are Weedy from ''VideoGame/{{Unhack}}'' and Rikka from ''Literature/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions''. The ''Plus'' update has their icons redrawn in a [[StylisticSuck deliberately amateurish style]], though they are still recognizably the same characters. |
| 300 | ** The "T-Nubs" prank is likely based on the moral panic of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenkem Jenkem]] from the late 2000s, where kids were supposedly marinating shit and piss to get high. Coincidentally, Jenkem is an ''actual'' thing from the 90s... |
| 301 | * SingerNamedrop: All songs made by Chowder Man have him saying his stage name at least once. That even includes [[spoiler:a private unreleased song he made to cope with losing his leg in a helicopter accident]]. |
| 302 | * SoundtrackDissonance: Hovering over a profile on the profile selection screen plays whatever song was last playing before you logged off. As a result of this, [[spoiler:the song you hear when you get booted back to the profile selection screen directly after the [[WhamEpisode Mindcrash]] will likely be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4GVeVVGRk8 "Hypnospace is Cool"]] since it plays on the main page of Teentopia after you return it to normal.]] |
| 303 | * SpringtimeForHitler: [[spoiler:Counselor Ronnie]] was the result of m1nx making a [[spoiler:very, very blatant troll account and seeing how long it would take Merchantsoft to notice]]. Not only do they [[spoiler:make Ronnie the community leader of Teentopia, he '''earns Merchantsoft a federal grant''']]. |
| 304 | * StylisticSuck: Tons of it. |
| 305 | ** The Enforcer video guide has portions where the professional voiceover is replaced by a Merchantsoft employee who leaves line read mistakes in and uses low-quality equipment. |
| 306 | ** Various user websites abuse low-quality [=GIFs=], sound effects, and format templates. |
| 307 | ** [=HypnOS=] will run more and more slowly as time goes on, simulating a memory leak, until it crashes or the player performs a reboot. |
| 308 | ** ''Outlaw'' looks like it would be a decent game, if not for the horrendous glitches and bugs that can brick your [=HypnOS=] computer [[spoiler:or ''kill you in your sleep'']]. |
| 309 | ** Special mention must be given to Counselor Ronnie's horrible "Birthstone Song", which is completely arrhythmic and horribly mispronounces the name of each stone, such as "ruby" sounding like "roob-''why''". [[spoiler:Ironically, this was completely intentional in-universe. Counselor Ronnie was created by [=m1nx=] to see how crappy they could make his content before Merchantsoft noticed...and they pull it off so well that “Ronnie” earns Merchantsoft a ''grant from a federal agency for promoting forward-thinking child-friendly content.'']] |
| 310 | ** Most of Tamara Frost's audio poems are sincere, but amateur and experimental in a way college students who just picked up poetry are. One of her poems is just her reciting the word "River" and various objects in different tones. [[spoiler:Small wonder she claims not to really remember anything she wrote before her bestselling book that launched her career.]] |
| 311 | * StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: |
| 312 | ** You're pretty much required to download the obviously-shady Professor Helper in order to crack down on its ads, which break the rule against extralegal commerce. |
| 313 | ** In order to get to the penultimate chapter, you have to [[spoiler:report your own boss for copyright infringement, ''to'' your boss]], which goes about as well as you would expect. |
| 314 | * TakeYourTime: For most of the game, you're free to solve the cases at your own pace. There are only two timed segments in the entire game: [[spoiler:when you get banned after reporting Dylan's illegal FLST files at the end of act 2, and when you deactivate the Mindcrash virus and Dylan pushes out ''Outlaw'' v0.99 at the end of act 3.]] In both cases, you're booted out of the OS after a few minutes. |
| 315 | * TargetAudience: Some of Merchantsoft's woes are caused by Adrian Merchant's attempt to push out the "geeks" that made Hypnospace successful and attract a more mainstream audience of teens, elderly, and professionals. |
| 316 | * TechnologyMarchesOn: {{Invoked|Trope}}. [[spoiler:The final act of the game takes place in the present day, long after the Mindcrash incident convinced people that sleeptime browsing was dangerous and Merchantsoft went out of business during the ensuing investigations. The tech world has moved on, and Hypnospace now exists primarily as a time capsule of early internet history. Dylan uses a 'D-Phone', implying sleeptime is still around to some extent.]] |
| 317 | * TeensAreMonsters: Downplayed, insofar as it's a loud and troublesome minority of repeat offenders, but expect to swing the "harassment" hammer a ''lot'' in Teentopia. |
| 318 | * ThemedCursor: There are a handful you can download, including a magic wand and a ''[=SquisherZ=]'' creature. |
| 319 | * TimeSkip: Used at a few points in the plot. First, a few weeks after Dylan sends you a buggy game that bricks your [=HypnOS=]. The next, a few weeks further after being temporarily banned from Hypnospace. [[spoiler:The next time skip occurs after [[WhamEpisode the Mindcrash]], which jumps the player at least nineteen years into real-life present day.]] |
| 320 | * TitleDrop: Hypnospace is the name of TheAlternet that the game takes place in, and ''Outlaw'' is the title of the computer game side project that Hypnospace's creator works on. [[spoiler:''Outlaw'' is also instrumental to the game's plot, and by the end of the story, ''Outlaw's'' creator is a Hypnospace (and real-life) outlaw himself.]] |
| 321 | * ThatSyncingFeeling: [[spoiler:[=Fre3zer=] gets recorded lip syncing at Coolfest, which plays a significant role in sinking the Coolpunk movement.]] |
| 322 | * ThereAreNoGoodExecutives: A running theme of the game is how large corporations try to suppress, exploit, or monetise the works of Hypnospace users in the name of maximum profit. W.E. Briggs' estate demands that every single use of their copyrighted character is taken down regardless of context, [[spoiler:and only relents after striking a sponsorship deal with Merchantsoft]]. Merchantsoft exploits the free labor of Counselor Ronnie to win grants from the federal government and sponsorships with videogame companies, [[spoiler:despite ''not knowing his true identity'']]. The entire Coolpunk movement [[spoiler:was astroturfed by Merchantsoft to get them a sponsorship deal with Gray's Peak Cola... who then proceeds to steal the identity and (freely-distributed) work of the anonymous [=Fr3ezer=] to sell "him" as a pop idol]]. Overall, Merchantsoft tends to prioritize money and the bosses' personal preferences over the feelings and payment of employees, [[spoiler:and covers up their own culpability in numerous accidental deaths]]. |
| 323 | * TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]], in one case. [[spoiler:Zane can be banned from Hypnospace by taking every opportunity to strike and flag his account, including “his” new stuff on New Year's Eve. If you pull this off, then Zane will be barred from accessing Hypnospace...just before the Mindcrash incident, which otherwise kills him.]] |
| 324 | * {{Troll}}: There are users and websites in Hypnospace that exist only to annoy or disparage other users. As ''Hypnospace Outlaw'' presents a microcosm of the late-'90s Internet, expect to meet the full gamut of a-holes, from Something Awful-style mockery sites to teenagers who just don't know any better to {{Playful Hacker}}s. |
| 325 | * TurnOfTheMillennium: The game eventually transitions to the 2000s by the third chapter. This event plays a sizable role in the story, being the deadline for upcoming updates for Hypnospace. |
| 326 | * YouAreWhatYouHate: Unfortunately for the SAI Freelands, they're rather like Merchantsoft: [[spoiler:glitchy pieces of shit whose leaders abuse power like mad over the pettiest of things and are prone to manchild rageouts over perceived defiance.]] |
| 327 | * ViolationOfCommonSense: Professor Helper: clearly intended for those without net savvy. Free to install, but costs 11 Hypnocoin to uninstall. Has a legal disclaimer that is hard-to-read and gives the company ''way'' too many rights and permissions. [[spoiler:Mostly true for the player as well, as Professor Helper's ads are the primary way of finding the sites utilizing the unauthorized [=CapaCash=] service.]] |
| 328 | * VirtualPet: There are virtual pets you can buy in-game to raise on your desktop, such as an angelic hamster. [[spoiler:They have a hidden feature relevant to a puzzle as well.]] |
| 329 | * VisualPun: While Chelsea's mail features her face on the profile picture, her [[spoiler:Hypnospace Archival Project]] page only has a picture of a sea shell. [[spoiler:And intentionally so, as it turns out.]] |
| 330 | * WeirdlyUnderpoweredAdmins: |
| 331 | ** After the first TimeSkip, Hypnospace is a mess. Rulebreaking has run rampant in the time that you've been gone, because your hardware wasn't the only Enforcer unit that was damaged by [[PointyHairedBoss Dylan Merchant's incompetence]]. For about three weeks, there were only two moderators left on the entire {{Alternet}}, and they could only do so much due to being overwhelmed. |
| 332 | ** [[invoked]]Even when things are calmer, Enforcers aren't as powerful as they should be courtesy of Merchantsoft's in-universe DarthWiki/IdiotProgramming. Namely, they can only take action when someone breaks a rule on a page they published. If someone else uses their page to report harassment that they received over instant messaging, or if their page was altered by a hacker, ''they're'' the one who gets the warning points while the perpetrator gets away with a clean record. And if someone [[SockPuppet makes a second account]] to cause trouble, they're completely untouchable because it isn't their main account breaking the rules. |
| 333 | * WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:It's New Year's Eve. You stopped Tim's Mindcrash virus and you think you can finally relax. Then Outlaw v0.99 forcibly installs itself, and your hardware goes on the fritz. The system crashes, you ''wake up'', and learn that the "Mindcrash" has ''killed'' people. This leads into the final portion of the game, which has a similarly grim tone]]. |
| 334 | * WhamLine: A few in [[spoiler:[[DistantFinale the final act/epilogue]]]]: |
| 335 | ** [[spoiler:Reading the Hypnospace Archival Project's Intranet page describing the Mindcrash, and seeing [[TheLostLenore Tiff]] and [[BunnyEarsLawyer Roddy Wall]] listed as two of those killed.]] |
| 336 | ** [[spoiler:Three in quick succession. First, the financial backer and co-leader of the HAP happily announcing that their latest member is none other than former Merchantsoft lead programmer [[BigBad Dylan Merchant]]. Second, using your new Rule 6 to report to Samantha the screenshots of the chatlogs in which Dylan and Adrian admit to burying the report about Hypnospace's potential danger. To hammer in the seriousness of this, the email she sends you after closing the case is just titled “URGENT: Dear God”, and the short two-line body of the email implies that she's too shocked to do anything other than tell you to keep digging. Third: soon after that, Dylan himself emails you regarding how ''strange'' it is that you can still utilize the violation system 20 years after it was disabled...]] |
| 337 | ** There's one as early as ''the end of the first act''; with how unstable the alpha build of ''Outlaw'' is, it's only natural that the game ends up crashing, forcing a system reboot. What ''isn't'' natural is what the game tells you moments before you're returned to normal gameplay...[[spoiler:and is the first explicit hint that Hypnospace's problems might be tied to Merchantsoft's incompetence as a whole]]: |
| 338 | --->[[spoiler:'''[[TimeSkip THREE WEEKS LATER]]''']]\ |
| 339 | [[spoiler:'''NOVEMBER 26, 1999''']] |
| 340 | * WritingAroundTrademarks: One of the songs you can download, "Corduroy" by Barnaby, mentions Polaroids; on the official lyric sheet, it's spelled Pohler-Oides. Apparently, [[CallARabbitASmeerp this is just what instant photographs are called]] in the ''Hypnospace'' universe, as [=IcicleKid=]'s page shows a photo literally called an Oide. |
| 341 | ---- |
| 342 | ->''Y2K\ |
| 343 | You let me down, now\ |
| 344 | You let me down, down\ |
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