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A3 caught up with TheRodent to talk about his efforts on the Tribes 2 Anti-Cheat program, DefenceTurret.
A3: how’s it coming along...are you still working on the Linux client?
Rodent: Yes, I've just been distracted with the Legends Linux release since Sunday.
A3: oh I see
Rodent: we got slashdotted yesterday :)
A3: are you quite involved in legends also?
Rodent: Yes, I'm one of the developers.
A3: ah ok...how do you have any time to do anything? Do you have a job in computers also?
Rodent: Yes, I'm Systems Architect at a company in South Africa that supplies stock market data.
I basically work on side projects during the evenings. My only wish is that I was an insomniac.
A3: well, its great you find the time to put into legends and DT...no financial reward in either I guess…
Rodent: I've been addicted to Tribes2 and its engine since I got introduced to it about 3 months after release.
It’s sucking my will to live ;)
A3: Ha-ha. I know how that is :)
Rodent: I enjoy coding in and around the Torque engine though. I find it an amazing piece of software.
A3: I cant say I know much about coding, although I use the fix you gave us for demos every day (I'm a demo whore) and I've followed DT's (defence turret’s) progress from the start.
I was interested to read about the T2 UE handler that is to be included into DT 1.12
Rodent: Yes, that's something that's bugged me for a long time.
A3: Great idea, I wish sierra had thought of it
Rodent: I think the Dynamix guys were just so pressed for time, that they couldn't add that bit of QA to T2.
Exception handling always seems to be the last thing on developers' minds.
A3: They should put you on a salary ;)...have you talked with any of the T:V (or tribes 2) development teams?
Rodent: I've chatted to the original T2 team at Dynamix a few times, but mostly around new Torque issues.
A3: I guess dynamix's untimely end left a few things unresolved have they been helpful?
Rodent: Yes, they're a great bunch of guys. Most of the guys on the Legends dev team have been interns at GaraGames this summer.
Rodent: The T:V (Tribes Vengeance)Unreal engine has some good exception handling though.
A3: it does? Have you done any work around the Unreal engine?
Rodent: I've toyed with the Unreal engine yes. There's a few popular mods made here in South Africa, one of them being "UnWheel" basically, monster vehicles for the Unreal engine. The unreal engine is very similar in concept to the Torque engine. Right down to the way the net code works.
A3: ah, ok...I'm not familiar with “UnWheel”. I really only play tribes myself, sounds fun though. I do love vehicles...So that would have outdoor terrains I take it?
Rodent: Yes. Outdoor terrains are obviously doable in the Unreal engine; it's just a lot more difficult to do, since the engine wasn't really built with huge landscapes in mind. In tribes2, a heightmap gets converted to a mesh, in Unreal; you have to build the mesh yourself.
A3: Are you personally happy with the decision that sierra have made to go with the Unreal engine?
Rodent: Look, after having let Dynamix off their employ, I don't think they really had any choice for the continuation of the franchise.
They couldn't very well re-employ GaraGames...
And as far as engines go, Unreal is technically very sound, and suited to the type of game.
Even though I prefer Torque, Unreal is the obvious choice for the continuation of the game.
We’ve just recently fixed the "ski" bug in legends.
I'm trying to do some retrofitting of that logic into T2, but it's a bit complicated.
A3: Back to DT, how often do you see yourself having the time to update it and do you have any other people helping with the coding?
Rodent: Currently it's a Solo project, but with a lot of help from Ilys, and some great suggestions and technical ideas from people like LouCypher, and others.
I can update quite regularly, but prefer the model of bundling a LOT of changes into a single release.
The upcoming win32 release for example will sort out the Logitech driver issues, and have the UE handler and a few other fixes incorporated in one go.
A3: that's interesting...here at bittah.com we have mixed feelings about LouCypher...people see him testing hacks on servers and don't know whether he's one of the good guys or bad guys...so he's been helpful?
Rodent: Lou's been one of the biggest "against" DT scripters, but he's actually been quite invaluable in making suggestions with regards to fixes etc.
I appreciate his technical input.
A3: Its a shame so much time is having to be spent on logitech driver issues...but I'm sure those running logitech will appreciate it...well they better :p
Rodent: Yeah it's been a bit of a pain. But only because of the insane methods that logitech used to get their software working.
After having reverse engineered their mouseware for a few days I have to say that I'm stunned that it actually works.
I'd prefer if Windows just supported all the buttons internally via events.
A3: I was reading today another forum flame with PJ throwing in his "its already hacked (DT)" 2 cents in...What would you say about that?
Rodent: I call bullshit of course. It also depends on what someone calls "hacked".
Sure, there are other ways to spam, but I sincerely doubt that DT's client verification routines have been compromised as yet.
DT is about making sure that clients have a certain level of "compliance".
Mainly being, that no ones running any hacked .exe's, and that textures are compliant.
A3: I guess there always will be coders (guys like happy) that COULD crack DT if they wanted to, but do you see many people making that kind of effort?
Rodent: absolutely, anything can be reverse engineered; however, I don't see a lot of people going to that amount of trouble for a 2+ year old game.
A3: let’s hope not
Rodent: Client side protection is a matter of fact these days, even in games like counterstrike.
The idea behind client-side protection is really to make things "difficult", not impossible.
Statistically, which is better? 90% of people cheating with no countermeasures, or 5% people cheating with possibly compromised countermeasures.
A3: I think anyone that has any involvement in T2 competition really must’ve been shocked when HappyMod2 went public. Was that a main motivating factor in getting DT up and running?
Rodent: I'd started on DT when l33thax (an executable hack for tribes 2) became public, and also when I gathered enough information about script holes.
When I started seeing the HappyMod2 cracking thread at MPC it just added fuel.
A3: have people been forthcoming about cheats...have you been given anything you'd never heard of?
Rodent: I was pretty sure that HM2 would become public since it took me about 5 minutes to remove the "key check" when I received an uncracked copy.
A3: omg, really?
Rodent: yes, I actually received a copy of HM2 from a few players, and obviously, it didn't work.
A3: yes, I remember it had a key based on a player ID check.
Rodent: A few minutes in a debugger was all it took. I must give props to Happy that he actually did that; otherwise it'd have been public for months.
I've received a lot of information about cheats from various players.
From scripters, to team leaders, and even some teamwarfare staff.
A3: I'm pleased to hear it
Rodent: A few ones I'd never heard of before too, for instance there were some inventive exploits received from some Aussies.
A3: How much in the way of admin tools will we see in the final release?
Rodent: DT admin tools?
A3: will there be many off/on functions...or will it look similar to 1.11
Rodent: Well, 1.11 includes some configuration options already, and that will be expanded if there's anything else required in 1.12
A3: like currently there is the WP height
Rodent: I'd hoped some scripters, or admin mod creators would continue with that interface, but I'll do it myself I guess.
Ilys has also offered up a number of fixes for gameplay issues that have been included in some admin mods.
Those will be included in 1.12 as well.
Mostly fixes to base issues, such as the observer team exploits, etc...
A3: I've seen various people asking for the ability to turn everything off or on, from automissile to waypoints for spam...will these requests be catered for or will people have to learn to press fire again ?
Rodent: I consider automissile quite lame. I regularly play ladder games in Europe at 300ms plus, and I still manage to missile. I can't see someone complaining about it at 100-200ms pings.
But I might make that a configurable option.
some things are technically difficult to turn on, or off at a whim.
A3: I guess the more options you add in, the more time it takes?
Rodent: Yes.
Interpolate for instance, isn't just "on/off" easily. It'd require you to actually restart your game.
The client-side waypoints are obviously highly configurable already.
A3: yes, they surely are. Well I'm sure I speak for all of our community when I say that we appreciate you breathing some new life into T2...its all we have until T:V beta hits, thanks for all your hard work.
It’s a pleasure. I'm just happy that DT is giving people some options.
Like I said from day one. If it makes just ONE ladder admin's job a bit easier, then it's been worth it.
BTW, shout-out to "worldspawn" who moved to Oz about 1.5 years ago...
A3: Thank you
Rodent: Just as a side note. I'll be updating my plan regularly, so that people can check on the progress.
A3: Thanks rodent, keep up the great work. |
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