by BarkerJr, March 2001
Cheating: So many words to describe it, but none that really fit it. As a league admin of Top10 league, I am always worried about it. There are quite a few ways of stopping cheating, but none which stop cheating entirely. A few ways are mentioned below. What is cheating? There are so many ways of cheating, that one could easily get confused. A few of the ways, but not nearly all, are also discussed below.
Some games have better cheat protection than others have
Take Quake1, for example. Quake1, without the QuakeWorld, is a good example of server-side games. Server-side games require that the game server must authorize every single movement, shot, or anything else, before it occurs. This method has its disadvantages, though. Distance from the server and connection speeds affect how well a player can play and both the game server and the player must use more bandwidth (Internet connection) to run the same number of players. Many servers and players have limited bandwidth, too.
Another style of games is the client-side games. These games trust what the client (the player's computer) sends to them. These servers use a lot less bandwidth and generally do not show any change in game-play pertaining to connection speeds. The biggest problem with these servers is the trust that's put in the player to not cheat. In the perfect world, this would work out fine, but unfortunately some members of the community feel that personal gain is worth any means. Most games are not purely client-side, but a mix of server-side and client-side, like Delta Force and Half-Life.
Why is it worth it to cheat?
It isn't. It's as simple as that really. But, to understand cheating, we must understand how the cheaters think. Cheating isn't usually easy, admittedly, in Half-Life, one only needs to copy one file into the game directory for some cheats, but most cheats, one might have to edit game files and possibly corrupt the game. Some cheats, involving editing video drivers to see where you shouldn't, often causes the computer to become unstable and maybe not even boot.
What could make it worth it to cheat? Many cheats are used by people that aren't in gaming groups and are just playing with the general public. This might be because most clans/squads dislike cheating. In any case, by cheating, what are they gaining? It can't possibly be fun to always win, it must get boring rather quickly. Would being top of the scoreboard be worth it? This is sometimes what people want to achieve by cheating, but it isn't even worth it, really. A scoreboard is just a chunk of ones and zeros that get erased once the game ends.
In a cheater's mind, it might be worth it to cheat during a challenge against another gaming group. If the cheat is undetectable, that is, or at least hard to notice. If the cheat is noticeable, the clan/squad will lose face and disband soon thereafter. Cheating may be a short term fix for the unethical squads/clans, but it never works forever and will most likely be the downfall of that particular group. Eventually, no matter how carefully planed, a mistake will eventually be made. A player that accidentally mentions cheating in public or private with the wrong person. A screenshot that shows incriminating cheats. There are numerous ways to expose yourself, and when a member of a gaming group is found to cheat, the whole group will be hurt, and if they are not a strongly built group, they will disband within days.
There are numerous ways to try to stop cheaters
Some games have better cheat protection than others. Quake3 will check every file that the client uses against the size of the same file on the server. If any files do not match, the player will not be accepted onto that particular server. Half-Life checks some more popular cheats by checking selected game files. Both of these file checks can be deceived with the use of a proxy cheat. Not all game proxies are cheats, but sadly some are cheats and they give all proxies a bad name. Most organized leagues ban proxies.
Other game servers will simply block the cheating client from using the cheats. For instance, some game servers will drag the player back if they move too fast. Others will disconnect the player if their feet leave the ground. Some game manufacturers will release patches from time to time which will block certain cheats, but as sure as Windows crashes, there will always be bugs in maps or games to be exploited by the unscrupulous with way too much time on their hands.
There are programs that detect and disconnect cheating players. For Half-Life there are many administrator moderations for the server which adds many new features and stop cheats. One of the newest anti-cheat programs for Half-Life is called PunkBuster. PunkBuster is a program that runs on the server and the client. It creates an encrypted tunnel for PunkBuster client to "talk" to the PunkBuster server. PunkBuster checks the files associated with Half-Life for cheats. One of the advantages of an anti-cheat software is that it can often be updated much more regularly than the software itself.
What can I do to stop cheats?
With new cheats appearing every month for any given game, it could be very frustrating to think about. Keep in mind the one thing that cheaters do not keep in mind: it's just a game. It's not worth losing sleep over, not worth failing classes for, not worth divorces. Employ any combination of anti-cheating techniques. And, always, keep an open mind.