BOOTLINE: Desktop Simulator

Start from a blinking cursor. BOOTLINE hands you MorrowDesk, a small fictional personal computer, and a neighborhood of people who need things made on it. Draw a badge, save it as a picture, set it as your wallpaper, attach it to a mail, publish it on your home page. Everything you make stays on your machine, and the machine slowly becomes yours. ONE CONNECTED COMPUTER 18 applications share a single virtual file system. A drawing exported from Sketchpad opens in Photo Viewer, becomes desktop wallpaper, goes into an Archive Manager pack, travels as a Postbox attachment and shows up on your HomePages site. Files, Notes, Calculator, Media Player, Terminal, Calendar, Recycle Bin, Backup Center, Control Panel and more all read and write the same folders. Nothing here is a screenshot you click on: the Terminal command you type is visible in Files a second later. A 40-ASSIGNMENT STORY Postbox delivers 40 main assignments across 5 chapters, from First Boot to Open Desktop Day, a community showcase you assemble with your own files. Every assignment shows an exact checklist of what is still missing, never a grade on how pretty your work is. Add 24 optional side jobs and 8 repeatable quick jobs for extra Credits. There is no deadline, no daily login and no penalty for walking away. A LOCAL WEB OF 12 SITES Webline browses SoftShelf, PartsBay, PixelPatch, Loop Radio, TownWire, FixIt Forum, HomePages and 5 more fictional sites, each with 6 pages, tabs, bookmarks, history and downloads. Download a package, install it through Package Center, and a new app or game appears on your desktop. No real internet is ever touched. VIRTUAL HARDWARE THAT MATTERS Career starts you on a modest machine with 120 Credits. Choose among 18 fictional parts: 4 CPUs, 4 memory sticks, 4 drives, network links and graphics modules. More RAM lets the simulated machine keep more apps open, a faster CPU and link shorten virtual jobs, a bigger drive holds more of your content. Buy, stage, restart, upgrade. The cheapest computer can still reach the ending. 8 GAMES INSIDE THE GAME Orbit Pinball with 2 three-dimensional tables, multiball and nudge. Byte Runner, a 3D courier runner with 12 routes and endless mode. Minefield, Circuit Link with 40 verified boards, Parcel Push with 30 boxes-on-goals levels, Cardstack Klondike with draw one or three, Brickline with 30 formations and Tailbyte with 12 gardens. Records are kept per profile. MAKE IT YOURS 30 generated wallpapers, 6 accent themes, 3 screen savers and 8 original music loops you can queue into playlists. 3 profile slots, with a previous-revision recovery copy and a checksummed export you can back up anywhere. PLAYS YOUR WAY Keyboard and mouse, or a controller from start to finish: D-pad focus, pointer mode on the left stick, on-screen keyboard for names and notes. Text and control scale from 100 to 200 percent, high contrast, reduced motion and separate music and effects volumes. Everything in BOOTLINE is fictional and local. No real drive, operating system, network or account is ever changed.