Fixing the cheater problem

[vagrant solstice]

With the introduction of steam we have seen a lot of cheaters get pumped into the game (and its pretty clear that EAC is not stopping them).
The solution I propose is that the team incorporate some kind of server-side anti-cheat. I am not concerned personally with players using chronus or light cheats, only those where its almost undeniable that cheating is occurring.

an example of how this might function is as follows:

client 1 is the player and client 2 is the cheat. The server is you guessed it, the server.

1. client 1 engages in a fight with client 2.
2. client 2 fires at client 1, but in reality there cheats are telling the server that they fired 30 proton rounds at the players head (or whatever gun they are using) in 1 second with perfect accuracy as an example.
3. the server recieves this and looks at the information to verify the action (not computationally intensive). with a quick check it concludes that one player cannot fire that many rounds in such a short time frame. to fix this the server does not let this corrupt information alter the game state for the other players and instead sends what is in parameters. 1 proton round roughly per second is what will be shown to other players in the game state not 30. In affect a check is performed to see if the action is within possible parameters.
4. the result is that client 1 will be aimbotted (because were are not trying to fix chronus type cheats, only stuff like shooting through walls and curving bullets) probably, but they will not instantly die because the server will not allow the excess damage the cheater is send to affect the game state.

In essence, most of the cheats would not work if the server did not allow them to work as it is what manages the game state.

Let me know what you think

[haughty ibex]

By reporting the users correctly you can provide the game devs with the information they need to make patches. ie support website.

the server receives information but when cheats do their thin the job is to manipulate and hide the memory changes fooling EAC and inbuilt security.

by sending in information this can assist the devs in finding these small changes or patterns.

Cheating wont stop fully ever not in a game like this when the future it projects gains.

for all we know as players right now the devs are well aware of this have their traps in place LETTING people cheat currently to collect this information to plan accordingly which is why 3rd parties exist.. Devs really dont wanna be chasing theses gremlins around they wanna improve the game. (mb bring back Neosyd too <3)

[thin swallow]

I have noticed recently cheating seems to have come waaaay down. At least on console only servers. Whatever you're doing keep it up. I know cheats are a constant fight especially in shooters like this. But your work has been noticeable and you should know we appreciate your efforts

[haughty ibex]

No cheaters seen today 😮

[vagrant solstice]

manipulation of computer memory is irrelevant. the cheater cannot manipulate the servers game state in an undesired way, unless the server lets them do so. Report is great for cases the server can't programmatically check if someone's cheating, like the use of chronus and ESP wallhacks. but what it can do is stop someone from dealing more damage to someone than is possible (by this I mean exceeding the max possible dps of anything in the game).

[vagrant solstice]

yeah, they were hanging around in almost every lobby, then the other day I didn't see them at all. As if they just disappeared of the devs did something (like add some server rules) to stop the cheats form working.

[haughty ibex]

i could really get into this topic with you in dms if you like sometime but any non hardware reliant cheat relys on memory manipulation.

For DMA it attempts to correct this on a hardware level before it even becomes data that can be detected hence why chronos, Dma cards and other hardware type cheat units arent as detectable by EAC or anyone who looks at the code ONLY So those recording come in handy. (until the sauce get leaked)

Flags are set in place if triggerd (by rage cheating usually) This then causes a ban.

Usually with an external or internal cheats those get detected way easier by a system than DMA (hardware level) Because again its software level.

Dma usually has limitations to usability to be labled more safe but if your watching someone you can tell pretty fast.

[haughty ibex]

There was a ban wave sunday.
Lets just say The devs got some sauce

[vagrant solstice]

DMA?

[haughty ibex]

Direct memory access.

its a thing PC users would have not console

console = coronus pre much

[vagrant solstice]

ah I see. though hardware cheats are not the issue. The most they can do without getting detected is wallhacks and crosshair movement.

[haughty ibex]

thats still an issue and a cheat but limited as i said in first message.

External/ internal cheats are the ones with more stuff in them but also more detectable

first wave of these are over. the second wave will come so prepare for that

[vagrant solstice]

while it is also data being sent to the server, its fairly difficult to say with absolute certainty (because the goal is to automate the detection process) crosshair movement has been altered. however stuff like damage numbers, etc, are part of game mechanics, and are therefore very easy to detect.

[haughty ibex]

Well no DMA isnt gonna hide your score or dps or crosshair movement and this doesnt matter cuz its not what Anti cheat is looking for or there would be more false bans atm than reliable ones. u get it? 🙂

||"(alot of Cheating users fake their losses to even out their KD either at the start or end of their sessions too so these things you talk about are controllable by the user to trick people)"||

Thats why videos and our contributions matter atm.

When users are banned their datas re used to create patches and so begins the cycle

The devs acted very fast this wave compared to other games IMO it took them less than 1 week to figure things out But in saying this a new batch will come eventually..

[autumn frost]

Its not a technical issue on how to spot cheats, its lack of effort to address it on the Dev side, simple as that. They dont want to cut any of their small player base, even though a large reason for it being small in the first place is because of cheats 😅

[haughty ibex]

is that right? i havent seen any since the weekend have you played since then?

i disagree that its a lack of effort on behalf of the devs. theres cheaters in every game and its not exactly a switch you turn on off 90% of the time is a player who got salty with how the games direction was going and they feel validated to go cheat cuz they spend X amount of dollars or hours.

Thats why they pay for EAC so they can do other things with their time.. like open the main net or stock open sea with nfts

[haughty ibex]

~~first of all
why would or should a dev respond to you or me? what u want them to say? and even if that thing was said to convince you there will be another wave of cheaters and another wave of patches.

second you play cross play right? well steam and epic both use EAC but your console wouldn't have it no thats why things like Chronos exist.

also consider that when you decide to connect your wallet to withdraw in the future youll have to give over forms of ID in the KYC process so if your ok with that EAC on your pc wont do anymore damage other than profiling you and making sure your machine isnt involved in any cheats.

(if you dont have a pc its a pretty good experience)

third ignoring the task i mentioned they Could be doing instead as an example consider the DEVs would Rather do anything else than deal with these people that is why they get EAC licenses for their games so they can focus other things.

its not cuz they dont care at all 100% they ban people but like.. if u were in their shoes youd have a million other things you got into the industry to do than WANT to deal with trolls~~ (comment this was to is removed)

oh.. it got deleted.. .. no worries.

[autumn frost]

Yeah honestly, I dont know why I get involved 😂 Makes no difference if its chatting with another random player etc anyways right. They should respond to customers though, thats what discord customer service/feedback etc is for no. Anyways 🤞 for a positive future 😅👍

[haughty ibex]

ye for now im just a random player your fully entitled to chat.

in the future try get videos of them report them get the Tracker Id etc etc. these helped me with tickets.

We should be coming up with ideas not arguing about whoes fault it is. 🙂