Question for devs: Gamespy?

[Yoma 0]

Another question i'm sure a multitude of coders out there have:

Will Arma2 use GameSpy?

If so: what protocol version?

Will it basically behave the same as Arma1 but with a different "name"?

Do change the name in game query because "armedass" is kind of silly :-)

Is the "name" known yet?

[Dwarden 1125]

i would wish the GameSpy protocol is completely abandoned and SteamWorks portion of code is used for this ...

why ...

well because it's way modern designed offers more in total and cost exactly zero

to understood it check this

https://partner.steamgames.com/

http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/index.php

and read it carefully

[Nicholas 5]

IF they use steamworks, would valve perhaps let them use VALVE Anti-Cheat? Which is really quite good...

[POTS 0]

IF they use steamworks, would valve perhaps let them use VALVE Anti-Cheat?  Which is really quite good...

VAC is horrible, i don't know what your talking about. It can take weeks to months to catch a "hacker". And the steam method is just buy the game again to get unbanned. It's not ment to stop hackers but to get more money.

[eenter 0]

And the steam method is just buy the game again to get unbanned. It's not ment to stop hackers but to get more money.

And what do you consider a good method, ban for 6 hours and then let them hack again?

That's one of the strong points of VAC, you get caught and you get banned forever.

[POTS 0]

And the steam method is just buy the game again to get unbanned. It's not ment to stop hackers but to get more money.

And what do you consider a good method, ban for 6 hours and then let them hack again?

That's one of the strong points of VAC, you get caught and you get banned forever.

Thats not true, you simply buy another game.

[Deadfast 43]

And how do you think for example PunkBuster works?

You get a global GUID ban. Wanna play again? Just get a new CD key.

On top of that PB is paranoid it's not even funny.

[Maddmatt 1]

And the steam method is just buy the game again to get unbanned. It's not ment to stop hackers but to get more money.

And what do you consider a good method, ban for 6 hours and then let them hack again?

That's one of the strong points of VAC, you get caught and you get banned forever.

Thats not true, you simply buy another game.

As if many people are willing to buy several copies of a game just to cheat

The few who do that, well extra money for devs and Steam is yet another reason to implement it.

[BLSmith2112 0]

As if many people are willing to buy several copies of a game just to cheat

The few who do that, well extra money for devs and Steam is yet another reason to implement it.

Exactly... I completely don't understand the counter argument here.

On another cheerful note:

I hate gamespy.

[Dwarden 1125]

IF they use steamworks, would valve perhaps let them use VALVE Anti-Cheat?  Which is really quite good...

VAC is horrible, i don't know what your talking about. It can take weeks to months to catch a "hacker". And the steam method is just buy the game again to get unbanned. It's not ment to stop hackers but to get more money.

VAC delayed bans are no different to PunkBuster's delayed bans or even to ArmA's own anticheat BattleEye ...

just by pure logic you need realize the CHEAT must be first

DISCOVERED

ANALYZED

DETECTED

CONFIRMED

and then

BANNED

also what other method that LIFETIME ban you suggest ?

plus new game copy mean at least new money for developers ...

And the steam method is just buy the game again to get unbanned. It's not ment to stop hackers but to get more money.

ever heard about PunkBuster hardware UIDs ?

anyway ... STOP Hijacking this thread ...

if You actually read the details about STEAMworks You would know that it's possible use certain modules w/o others

hell you can even use some STEAMworks features w/o STEAM at all ...

[Synide 0]

anyway ... STOP Hijacking this thread ...

the topic of the thread is gamespy... not steamworks... lol.

This thread should be devoid of response except for 1 replying post from a dev that says...

"yes, version blah or no, and you'll have to wait and see, sorry"

... or it should still be empty awaiting a response.

[Michael_Wittman 0]

Lifeban is good...but I would be more radical with cheaters..

If a person is caught cheating I would set the program to override the game options so it will no longer work for multiplayer (just single player) forcing the cheater not only to buy a new key but also forcing him to reinstall OS if he wants the game to work in multiplayer mode.

[Pyronick 21]

GameSpy ftl, SteamWorks ftw.

Play Red Orchestra, you'll know.

Even Unreal Tournament 3 has SteamWorks integrated, if you register your key on Steam.

[POTS 0]

There has to be other options between punkbuster and vac. So stop assuming i like punkbuster.

[Pyronick 21]

There has to be other options between punkbuster and vac. So stop assuming i like punkbuster.

There are many roads to Rome. But the optimal way, is the paved way.

Using third-party middleware is expensive and if it's a continuous service, the quality of the game depends on them.

AFAIK VAC is free, as long as your game is distributed through Steam.

Anyway, let's get back to the topic.

[LJF 0]

AFAIK VAC is free, as long as your game is distributed through Steam.

...

[Michael_Wittman 0]

This game is pretty unlikely on being protected by ANY anticheats as its freely moddeable etc..

Wether you choose its open or is cheating-protectable

Valve has fighted cheating very seriously since they released CS:S and they did a great job the first 2-3 years because old CS 1.6 was unplayable and they knew that was going to kill their milking cow.

Valve had the money, the will and proffesionalism to protect the common player from that s***

Comparing Battleeye with VAC, punkbuster, cheatingdeath or whatever is unfair for just 2 reasons:

1st - Battleye didnt infact stop cheaters from the very beggining. It came out at the same time they realeased the Warfare game mode ... big failure ... that poor devil was born death. Any efford to make this game PvP capable will face the decission of making the game not freely moddable.

2nd - As said this game is so moddable that running a anticheat to check integrity of player´s files etc could take forever.. it´s so difficult having the game this way that it will surely kick or ban legal people running something like FDF sound but letting real cheaters in.

For what regards gamespy ... i gave it a try some years ago finding out that it in fact worked as spyware.

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

And how do you think for example PunkBuster works?

You get a global GUID ban. Wanna play again? Just get a new CD key.

On top of that PB is paranoid it's not even funny.

Actually it only works that way with individual games.

Get caught hacking their code, and it takes a new pc to play again.

[Alex72 1]

Play on closed servers with your team. No need for any of this.

[i0n0s 0]

Would you mind to create a different thread to discuss about the cheat-protection that should get used in ArmA2?

This thread is only about which game search system ArmA2 will use, so that Yoma can implement it in his tools.

[Pyronick 21]

AFAIK VAC is free, as long as your game is distributed through Steam.

...

That shouldn't really be a problem, as the game can always be sold in retail DVD boxes. Just like Unreal Tournament 3, Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 and even Half-Life 2/Orange Box.

The problem with most anticheatware is that fact that it doesn't operate heuristically, blocks alot of potential populair modding library's and being resource demanding.

Not to mention the licence costs for Bohemia Interactive.

http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif[/img]]For what regards gamespy ... i gave it a try some years ago finding out that it in fact worked as spyware.

Not only that, it generates alot of unwanted connections to various what appeared to be IGN servers. Couldn't look in to the package checksums as these are offloaded and filtered on my NIC. My curiosity unfortunately was tamed by laziness so I never really bothered to see what that traffic actually was.

Same with IRC connections to QuakeNet and GameSurge, both generated alot of useless traffic even with +ix mode.

http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif[/img]]Actually it only works that way with individual games.

Get caught hacking their code, and it takes a new pc to play again.

Get new/different drivers for any random hardware component and you're set to go.

Or change a few useless HW ID registry keys and you are good to go.

Even a simple hex editor can do many tricks.

[SimonSIx 0]

The best AntiCheat system is a good (server) Admin

[Deadfast 43]

Oh right.

Like if the admins have a forensic degree to figure out which of the 20 players is spawning the bombs all over the place...

[POTS 0]

Oh right.

Like if the admins have a forensic degree to figure out which of the 20 players is spawning the bombs all over the place...

Actualy, yes. You clearly have no knowledge of administration. I was caught by an administrator cracking into my fellow students computers. He said he would get me exp'd if I didn't tell him the exploit or weakness I discovered. I agreed to it, as I wasn't trying to do any damage or cheat in the first place. Point is, they know a lot.

[Deadfast 43]

No, it's you who clearly has no idea.

First of all if you intended to do no damage it's not called cracking, but hacking.

Second, how can you even compare network administration with ArmA server administration.

A net admin has all sorts of log on his disposal. With ArmA you have one log which 99% of time doesn't contain any relevant data and is paint to work with ("Network message XXXX is pending" spammed a few thousand times).