If I was trying to prevent cheating, I’d hash the relevant game files, encrypt the values, and hard-code them into the executable. Then when the game is launched, calculated the hash of the existing files and compare to the saved values.
What is gained by running anti-cheat in kernel mode? I only play single-player games, so I assume I’m missing something.
They can prevent you from running cheats that other anti-cheats can’t detect. For instance, they could modify the value in memory so that your calculated hash always succeeds even when it’s modified. This doesn’t stop cheating though; it just means cheaters have to use cheat hardware that exists at a layer that even kernel anti-cheat can’t detect.
And then a game gets updated so the hashes don’t match and uh oh, everything is fucked. Oh, but we can change the hashes of the files in the executable! Yeah, so can they. People modding shit into the executable is basically a given. Let alone the fact that you’d need to sit through a steam “validation of files” length of time every time you’d need to launch a game (because validation works exactly as you have described).
What is gained is that it has access to more information. Some cheats use an entirely different program / process that reads memory and outputs info that is available to the game but hidden from the player. Like a client needs to know where a person on the other team is to be able to draw their model. So you read that, you put a little box over where they are, and bang you have wallhacks.
What you proposed can very easily be bypassed without even needing kernel access by just editing the executable code that checks hashes to always return true
It’s not like there are so many other ways to cheat, actually used in many games with anticheats.
We should all stop pretending it’s necessary to put malware into your computer just so some company can claim they have no cheaters, which is never even true.
The point of anti-cheat is to create a substantial barrier for cheating. If you have to go the extra mile to run an external hardware cheat so as to be "undetected" then surely this means the anti-cheat is working. If it were as ineffective as you are imply, cheaters would be cheating on their main accounts.
Which means that you still have to end up relying on reviewing a player’s performance and actions as recorded by the game servers statistically via complex statistical algorithms or machine learning to detect impossibly abnormal activity.
… Which is what VAC has been doing, without kernel level, for over a decade.
All that is gained from pushing AC to the kernel level is you ruin the privacy and system stability of everyone using it.
You don’t actually stop cheating.
It is not possible to have a 100% full proof anti cheat system.
There will always be new, cleverer exploitation methods, just as there are with literally all other kinds of computer software, which all have new exploits that are detected and triaged basically every day.
But you do have a choice between using an anti cheat method that is insanely invasive and potentially dangerous to all your users, and one that is not.
Modern cheats for multiplayer games don't modify local files (or attribute values in memory), since the server validates everything anyway. They're about giving you information that's available but not shown in the game (like see-through walls, or exact skill ranges), or manipulate input (dodge enemy damage, easy combos). Those cheat can run in kernel mode (or at least evade detection from user mode), so the anti-cheat needs kernel mode to be more effective.
The server doesn’t validate shit, because that takes up CPU cycles on THEIR hardware, which costs them money. A huge part of kernel level anticheat is forcing YOU to pay the cost for anticheat, so they can squeeze a few more pennies out of it. And if your computer gets owned because they installed insecure, buggy malware on your system…? Well, they’ll just deny. After all, it’s kernel-level, how are YOU going to prove anything?
If server validation was still a common practice (as it should be) then cheats wouldn’t come in the form of speed hacks, teleportation hacks, or invincibility. The traditional thing in CS that was hard to prevent is aimhacks and wallhacks. I respect that those are hard to prevent, but they can be much less impactful in modern hero shooters.
I think it’s more efficient if people get a few hundred dollar boost every week to spend when and wherever they please, rather then stand in line and receive whatever obtuse handout the government has decided they deserve.
For Literally everything but food the government can supply everything without standing in line. You are right though, I believe SNAP in America is a largely efficient organisation that takes an already convenient system of food distribution and allows the person to buy things at a grocery store like everybody else. I guess in society it’s also important that SNAP or other beneficiaries feel normal as well.
Oh, no! Competition in the games industry causing the slop to fall to the bottom! We better ban steam immediately put everything behind a walled guardian and have “AAA” companies be the only ones allowed to publish! What if the plebs start making money? Then what?
Slop falls to the bottom but I bet a lot of hidden gems do too. The greater volume of games coming out, the harder it’ll be for individual developers to get recognized!
Old school indie developer Jeff Vogel has a whole talk about how difficult it is.
Competition in the games industry causing the slop to fall to the bottom!
Do you really believe that markets and competition creates better products and services? How do you square that with basic observations about how the world is? If success was linked to quality, then Subway would be the worlds best food; Clash of Clans the best video game; and Tesla the best car.
The markets of the world say that Nvidia is worth more than the Pharmaceutical Industry.
I spent the last two days building a machine from old parts and installing Linux Mint. It’s my first time using Linux and I am really surprised at how lovely it is. I am still learning, but I can easily see it replacing my home gaming PC. I have yet to find something I can’t get to work.
It might be, but the point of the Microsoft handheld is to grant access to Game Pass and games with lousy anti-cheat on a UI that doesn’t suck like desktop Windows does.
The imagine if their cloud runs the game using proton. The provider with the lowest overhead would have lower costs and thus a cheaper service. If Microsoft doesn’t do it, someone else could.
I think the issue here is DirectX, so unless there’s meaningful changes to how DX works internally, DXVK at this point can always be a step ahead with all the changes it can make without tech debt to worry about. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why Series X despite being stronger than PS5 on paper, struggles to match performance in non zero count of games.
They don’t want to miss out the “hype” but also Valve deem the hardware jump is not that much to consider “Deck 2”. If only these manufacturer also consider bringing software optimization rather than keep producing portable handheld with small performance jump.
That might bias the results towards gaming cafes and people building test machines. Cases where an account is used but a single snapshot doesn’t necessarily reflect what they normally use or that would capture the same machine multiple times.
There’s some ageless classics. HoMM3 came out 25 years ago and is still pretty much the top of its genre. Freespace2 more or less shut down the spacesim genre 25 years ago, as well…
Robocaft was my most played game on steam for many many years. It’s sad to see it shutting down, but it hasn’t been the game I fell in love with for so long it doesn’t feel like i’m missing much. The armor changes and the physics changes and then the regen and the pivot to loot boxes took so much from a great game
The loot boxes came along with the beginning of the changes that really spoke to me. Not the loot boxes themselves, but the pivot away from grinding for objectively better parts and toward a flatter structure where everything had its use case. Of course, it sucks that neither of us can play either of those versions anymore.
I started to fall off the game around when they reworked the chassis blocks to all be one tier. There was so much depth in balancing durability with trying to stay in the right tier. And having to actually protect your pilot seat.
Losing the specialization with the weapons and letting you out all of them in the same vehicle further removed any kind of tradeoffs and then the loot boxes completely ruined the progression system.
I wish they’d release server code, it would be sick to be able to run small community games
The presence of tiers at all was what bothered me. The version I liked most did have light and heavy blocks with tradeoffs so you could have that depth without wreaking havoc on matchmaking by splitting your player base into 10 different pools.
Ahh you may have played earlier than I did. Most of my playtime was around rise of the walkers. I think I started playing a couple months before the nano machine heal gun things.
I liked being able to pull higher tier stuff into lower tier games, and even grinding up the ladder before I was T10 it was pretty rare for it to feel super unfair.
I started playing at the end of 2015. I saw the game go through a bunch of different forms. The people pulling higher tier weapons into lower tier bots were mostly doing all-in strategies around that weapon, because they didn’t have enough budget left for much else, IIRC. But it was going to be mathematically impossible to support to 10 tiers of 10v10 matches as the game went on anyway, and it became a really fun competitive game with no tiers in early 2017. Then they went for some kind of half-assed return to tiers at the end of 2018 that made no one happy.
Yeah, I can totally see how matchmaking for 10 tiers would implode. It really requires a ton of new players or each tier to be unique enough to go back to
I tried to get into terraria so many times, but this 2d perspective is just not doing it for me. For the same reasons, I don’t play metroidvanias and platformers. There are some platformer that I like, Gris, for example, but that’s not exactly the same. I have no problems with Core keeper or Stardew valley, so the genre is not the problem. I need to reconcile with it and accept that some games are just not for me.
What this means is that now you can play GOG games that previously required the (non-Linux native) GOG Galaxy client!
…for multiplayer.
And I’m not sure why these developers forgot how to add LAN and direct IP connections to their games, but it sure does muddy the experience of buying “DRM-free” games.
While I agree it can be painful to do anything multiplayer without dedicated network support in the game itself, it’s a nontrivial thing for devs to add. Expecting every dev studio to be network experts as well as having the infrastructure for the cloud peer connections is why Steam finally added a way for games to simulate couch co-op between remote players. I try to buy games on GOG as my first choice but there are definitely factors (including price) where I’ll consider Steam instead.
It’s a nontrivial thing to make a good product for your customers, but it should still be done. If only GOG had the market muscle to require this without shooting themselves in the foot, like when Apple pretty much universally made digital music purchases DRM-free.
EDIT: Wait, what does this mean?
as well as having the infrastructure for the cloud peer connections
What infrastructure? You need some port forwarding know-how, but other than that, you type in an address and go.
Doing things with a direct connection to friends is something no one does anymore. Port forwarding for a game? Yeah it’s fine for people who are technically minded like I’m sure anyone in the community is, but walking a friend through it on their router just to play with them is a nonstarter. No, the cloud connection is how this is handled now. I haven’t seen a game in a decade do it via a direct connection from player to player.
The unanimous game of the year did it just last year. No one uses seat belts or air bags until you have to either. LAN, direct IP connections, private servers, etc. are essential for when services like GOG’s or Steam’s are no longer functional or available. Without them, some part of the game will effectively always have DRM.
That’s news to me, but looked it up and confirmed you’re absolutely right. That blows my mind, because in many circumstances it can be impossible for players to connect, especially in a double NAT situation or you’re playing on a network you have no control over (e.g. university network).
But comparing a safety feature to a technical requirement is a bit misleading here, no? This is more about making sure gamers can just play rather than having to reconfigure network equipment, which they may or may not have access to.
Honestly if Steam is down at this point, I’ve got bigger things to worry about personally. Does it happen? Do I curse the name of GabeN? Sure, but it’s such a rare instance and happens maybe once a year for a matter of an hour or so typically.
But let’s not confuse using a client app as being DRM. On GOG Galaxy, it’s not doing anything DRM related other than providing you access to download the game itself. All the client is doing is providing a “friends network” that everyone is connecting to and creating a cloud bridged connection. This solves any double NAT problems, obfuscates your IP, removes any need to make network config changes, and no one has to think about it.
It’s convenient for players, who don’t need to know anything about networking to play, which is why we all use it despite its downsides. But it always has downsides. Steam networking goes down for regular weekly maintenance and kills your multiplayer session in a lot of cases. If you and a couple of friends are on a train or in a rural area with terrible internet, you can still play with LAN.
But these online connections are in fact DRM. If you need to connect to your store’s servers to play multiplayer, I imagine that reduces piracy compared to being able to copy paste the executable a few times and send it to a few friends that can all play together. Still, I want the guarantee that what I’m buying is built to last, which means no DRM, which means requiring that connection to my store’s servers is not it.
I completely agree with you that Steam itself is DRM and that we use it for convenience.
But I do disagree with the same statement about GOG Galaxy because it doesn’t provide the same digital decrypting functionality that all DRM provides. They don’t do it because they don’t have to, proven by the ability to download the EXE and BIN files directly even in Galaxy. I liken the Galaxy app to using a VPN or other network tool like Hibachi people have used when a game only had couch co-op support.
Either way, your point is made, but I don’t see an issue with running a client app that provides so much. I don’t inherently trust Valve or GOG, but they haven’t done anything that I know of to betray me as a gamer or consumer. I do NOT however see a point in running a client app that also has additional launchers required afterwards like all Ubi games. DRM on top of DRM is anti gamer imo.
Steam itself can be DRM but isn’t always. I would use GOG Galaxy if I could, but they don’t let me. What bums me out is that it’s required for multiplayer functionality in some cases, and I can no longer just assume that the entire library of GOG fits my values the way that it used to. A lot of this information I’m looking for is often not clearly communicated on store pages and requires lots of extra research.
I don’t know of an instance where it’s not used as DRM. Maybe on F2P games since there’s no license management? Would be interested in knowing where you’ve found it isn’t used. And yes, more clarity on what is happening under the hood would always be welcomed by me. I do feel I have a decent grasp of things just because of my IT background and work with cyber security, but closed source software will always have its secrets.
Also, definitely like the play on words with your username lol. I have a domain that is a pun on my last name, so I always like seeing creative ways people use their own names.
It’s not exactly an advertised feature when a game is DRM free on Steam, so this list may not be comprehensive or accurate for every game. DRM is optional on Steam. You can copy these game directories out of Steam and run them on a totally separate computer with Steam not even installed, and they’ll still work.
And I’d have just made my username &rew if they let me, but this is the one I use when that one is taken or they have limitations on special characters. With the special character, it has the benefit of fitting in old-school four character clan tags as well as Smash Melee names (and I don’t like going by Drew).
I read that games with ads were already banned from Steam a long time ago. That explains why we don’t have more junk in the Steam store. Judging by how many never completed early access asset flip games there are, it would be a complete cesspool with ad-supported games. Good decision by Valve.
I have two computers that I attempt to install Windows 11 on just out of curiosity. My old gaming rig which has a motherboard from I would think 2016 (technically the entire computer is from 2010 but other than the case I don’t think any component is that old) can install Windows 11. A laptop I got in 2019 can’t install it. How does that work?
Ditto. Windows is now impossible to decrapify. Have dipped my toe in Linux gaming about a half dozen times starting in 2004 but it never felt ready til now, Proton, nvidia drivers and distros like Nobara making it not just possible but a better experience.
Absolutely devastating. Prey, high fi rush, evil within. All amazing games. Hate this shit. Love that one of the wealthiest companies in the world bought these studios and are still closing them. Fuck this shit
Arkane Austin was hemorrhaging talent before and during Redfalls development. In the end, there wasn’t much left of the studio that had developed the Prey reboot. Hi Fi Rush and Evil Within are critical darlings, but the former only got its player base thanks to Game Pass and both didn’t sell enough to keep a studio of more than 130 people alive (for perspective, that’s about as many people as worked on Skyrim).
I get how sad it is to see these studios disappear and it’s of course devastating for individual employees (at least in the short term), but it isn’t all that surprising. Also keep in mind that the talent doesn’t evaporate into thin air. We as players should pay far more attention to game credits and individual developers than the studios these people are working for. Talented developers are very likely to reappear elsewhere and continue making great games.
I think the blame for the demise of these studios is at least equally shared between Zenimax, Microsoft and the studios themselves. Blaming it all on Microsoft is a bit simplistic.
Idk id argue it is surprising. Say what you want about the performance of these games financially, but these studios were bought by one of the wealthiest companies in the world. Sure maybe the games weren’t a huge hit, but like… So? You have money. One flop and they’re axed? Xbox said they want to be bigger in the Japanese market, yet they closed their only Japanese studio. A studio with a bunch of talent and training that is gone now. Xbox has a huge problem bringing studios up and getting good output. Their best exclusive (at the time) of 2023 is now without a developer. Why not eat that cost? Yes I get a lot of studios are closing right now but that shouldn’t be happening at a company like Microsoft. But line must always be going up I guess
I think this comes from the mindset that if someone isn’t generating immediate success. It’s time to fire them. We see this a lot in sports. Team off to a terrible start with a new coach? Fire the coach and start trading players.
It really highlights how organizations see people as disposable. If people don’t make line go brrr, out the door they go.
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