ShiftOS

ShiftOS was a game developed by Philip Adams and other developers. The original goal was to go from a bare terminal to a graphical user interface with full desktop features.

History

Logo used when ShiftOS was a Arch Linux distro

Back around 2013, OSFirstTimer was doing his series on Arch Linux Adventures, which was supposed to be a journey from just a terminal to a fully graphical user interface with desktop features; he once had the idea to make that journey integrated as a real Linux distribution.

The idea was that ShiftOS was able to change the computing experience on every boot like the desktop environment, window manager, software, and the theme. A lot of software would be pre-installed, but it will randomly be selected every time when the person turns on their computer or when it is live when revealing it to the user.

He explained this on the Arch Linux forum, but most people were pretty critical of this. They thought it was too bloated as it would need to download a lot of packages every time it reboots the system, and they also have figured that he was too inexperienced with Linux distros as his ideas were too ambitious. So he decided to make his own game after realizing his distro idea alone won’t work.

Plot

The game starts off with the player's computer getting hijacked by DevX. The player is then informed that he was "involuntarily selected" to be an alpha tester for ShiftOS. The in-game computer's hard disk is then formatted with the fictional file system ShiftFS and ShiftOS is installed. After installation, DevX contacts the player with some basic information on how to use ShiftOS' command line.

Gameplay

After the opening sequence, the player gains the ability to use the in-game operating system's command line to open a basic set of programs, which show basic black and white graphics (aside from the Video Player and Web Browser). ShiftOS' virtual currency, Code Points, can be used in the Shiftorium to upgrade the operating system with new features (such as colors and the App Launcher) and additional software (such as TextPad and ArtPad). Code Points can be earned by playing minigames such as Pong, Knowledge Input or by customizing the operating system using the Shifter.

Version Changelog

0.0.1 + 0.0.2 (Nov 11 and 12 2013): Hijack screen + Intro to the game

0.0.3 (Nov 30 2013): Knowledge Input, Terminal, Codepoints

0.0.4 (Dec 5 2013): Shiftorium, Clock, Panel, Windows, Close, Program menu

0.0.5 (Feb 14 2014): Shifter, Roll-up, Colour picker

0.0.6 (Apr 9 2014): Program menu icons, Pong, TextPad, File Skimmer

0.0.7 (Aug 22 2014): Image skinning, Artpad, Unity mode, Minimize, Panel buttons

0.0.8 Beta 1.1 (Oct 11 2014):

• Shiftnet
• Calculator
• Skin Loader
• Audio Player
• Video Player
• Web Browser
• Name Changer
• Icon Changer
• Skin Shifter
• Bitnote
• Viruses

0.0.8 (Jan 22 2015):

phillips1012: (Retired)

• Created bitbucket repository

ThePCTransformer: (Gone)

• Added Unity button in AL
• OrcWrite

william.1008:

• Minimatch website
• Added OrcWrite
• Added Downloader and Installer
• Added progress bar to web browser
• Added trm and autorun.trm
• Improved Unity button in AL
• Bitnote site
• Bitnote digger fully working
• Rewrote labyrinth
• Added shiftnet storyline
• Added shiftomizer
• Added 0.0.8 apps to Shiftorium
• Added virus scanner
• Floodgate "Featured Floods" and program downloading
• SAA files
• New skinning system
• TRM file creation in TextPad
• Save converter
• Many Bug Fixes

rhobariii:

• ShiftOS crash concept (Fake crash)
• System information
• Many Bug Fixes

pfgshiftos:

• Added floodgate
• Added home page and history to Shiftnet
• Added 404 page to Shiftnet
• Added "Shiftnet can not find the web server" or something like that
• File skimmer icons + tempelate
• TRM scripts in file skimmer
• Shell scripts in file skimmer
• Added labyrinth
• Added a site no one knows about
• Simple idea for shiftnet storyline (Improved apon by william)
• Added show me [title], [message] command
• Pirateboat
• Added many programs as floods
• A few Bug Fixes

NarrodGaming:

• Unstable alias command
• 4dd3d t0t4ly l3g1t b1tn0t3 h4ck
• Coherence mode
• The Plague
• Bug Fixes

0.0.9 Alpha 1 (Mar 21 2015): Start menu, Desktop icons, crash screen, scripting