From my research, while I could see that being the case, “Secure Boot” is classified by the Free Software Foundation and the GNU Project as Tivoization, and GPL-3 was made to fix that. That’s how I saw it, at least.
so glad we have to give huge corporations tons of access to our private data just to play a game we paid for! so cool!
Real talk: Not all multiplayer games require kernal level anti cheat. Fortnite is a good example. If this type of anti-cheat, forced secure boot is so necessary to prevent cheating, why doesn’t Fortnite have problems with rampant cheating? Or do they and I just don’t notice because I’m losing either way? lol
Having Anti-Cheat of any kind outside of the game is laziness or lack of resources.
I believe just have physical limitations of the character or objects and verify the movement every once in a while to make sure that their movement is not super human (ie, aim bots).
It takes more work and resources to do what they’re doing. They already do server side anti cheat. And realistically, this is more effective than not doing it, though it definitely still gets defeated anyway. I would say the things that it asks of the customer are not worth the trade even if they were 100% effective, but they are more effective.
The best thing is back when Battlefield was Battlefield, it would self-regulate because most people played on self-hosted servers, so cheaters and bad actors were taken care of swiftly. But now they want their own control to put shitty bots and SBMM in the game, so here we are.
This whole game is a case of the devs making bad decisions and then instead of changing them decisions, they apply the quickest bandaid fixes they can.
Overall scope was set by EA, they wanted a more mainstream shooter to compete with the likes of Call of Duty, so they could jump into the seasonal content/battle pass grind. But the devs made all these little individual decisions that add up.
The issue with “just analyze the players” is that it is VERY expensive computationally. And it causes issues with non-official servers as it drastically increases the cost of a dedicated server and makes a listen server nigh unusable.
To be clear: I do not think the kernel level anti-cheats are a consumer friendly solution. But it takes a special kind of arrogance to insist you know better than decades worth of research and work in trying to stop hacking.
Yeah I mean its not like Valve has been using a combination of server side and client side game file only validation to do AC for Counter Strike for 20 years or anything.
Yep yep yep, the whole industry uses Kernel AC, other than the devs of the longest running comoetetive FPS genre ever, yep yep yep!
Valve is also barely a blip in the market when it comes to this, funny enough.
Valve’s data can be more or less officially pulled and steamdb lists them as having 1 million concurrents in whatever the default window is (looks like this month). Call of Duty claims to be closer to 70 million but most conservative estimates agree they are at least in the low 10s of millions of “active players” rather than anyone who just popped in to check their dailies to see if they wanted to do them.
Personally? I think the vast majority of games (including Battlefield…) would be perfectly fine with VAC and I like VAC. But there are reasons that the studios that make more money than some small nations on their games (as opposed to their storefront, which is what VAC actually is based on) literally pay for more invasive solutions.
Which is actually the other point worth remembering. Punkbuster and EAC and rolling their own costs money. Whereas VAC is “free” with Steam (and possibly elsewhere but that gets murky). Many of the mega games are associated with their own proprietary launchers but plenty of midtier games that ONLY care about Steam still feel the need to pay for EAC or whatever.
And… there is a reason beyond “We want to spend money to hurt our users”.
Okay. Apparently EAC is free if you sell your game on Epic but… ain’t fucking nobody considering EGS their be all end all platform. Even frigging Epic sued the hell out of Apple to get into the app store for crying out loud (not quite the same but roll with me).
I mean yeah, thats why I said longest lived, not ‘most popular’.
But I am glad you agree that… VAC is reasonable, and works pretty darn well.
But this leads into Part 2…
Why does VAC work pretty darn well?
Beyond the technicals of the methods of AC…
Because if you fuckup bad enough, your entire Steam Library can be deleted.
Steam is a platform.
Every single other major company that is trying to force Kernel AC on the PC market is acting as if they do, or should just also be the de facto platform, as they are on consoles.
Yep, cheat on Xbox or PS and your account can get banned there too… but a PC is more than a gaming console, has a lot more private stuff on it than one, typically.
Valve are PC natives so they never pushed for Kernel AC.
They just allow, and now warn you about Kernel AC from other mega publishers on their platform, and these other game publishers.
Their whole thing is that they want you to use their platform instead of Steam. They’ve pretty much all done it at this point, at least tried… Ubisoft, Rockstar, MSFT/GFWL, ActBlizz (now technically MSFT but w/e), etc etc etc
And they want to force Kernel AC down your throat on your PC as well as consoles… because it gives them more data, which they can use themselves, and sell to data brokers.
… Anyway, the funniest part?
EAC and BattleEye have offered full support to game devs to get their AC working on linux via Proton… for 3 to 4 years now.
It comes with their licensing agreements.
But management almost never cares to tell development to actually use this support thst they are already paying for!
… Because they get lots of money from MSFT, and MSFT hates Linux.
Also, if you go on areweanticheatyet … you can see that almost every single AC system of any kind, in the last 10 years… has at least one game that showcases it working on Linux.
This means that it is provably, entirely possible to get nearly all AC systems working on Linux, as some game dev team has done this.
Its just that most game dev teams, under most management… are not directed to.
There is no real technical reason why AC cannot be made to work in a satisfactory way on Linux.
At best, it is dev/management laziness/nonprioritization, at worst, it is publishers not wanting to upset MSFT, or still pursuing their idea of what should be normalized in terms of a gaming distribution platform, and the backend business side of profiting from dataharvesting.
Yep yep yep, the devs of the FPS game with endemic cheating so horrible the competitive scene had to introduce their own matchmaking system with kernel AC.
So, again, Kernel level AC can be, and routinely is defeated, all the time.
This is easy to verify with a simple websearch and maybe 30 minutes of time, I don’t want to directly link to where you can purchase working cheats/hacks/methods that can defeat Kernel AC, because I do not want such things to proliferate.
But you appear to be claiming the competetive scene for CS has introduced a Kernel level AC.
I cannot find this, this does not appear to be true, but I could be wrong, could you please source this claim?
I cannot find a competetive CS community or league or tournament that has… somehow rolled their own custom version of CS, overlayed with some other AC, on top of VAC.
Frankly, I don’t see how this would be possible without somehow forking CS, and then either stripping out or modifying VAC… as … two AC systems working at the same time are nearly 100% guaranteed to fight each other, and class the actions of the other AC… as cheats and hacks.
Its essentially analagous to how, 15 to 20 years ago, if you had McAfee and Norton and whatever other realtime, always active, system level anti virus software running, simultaneously… they would fight eachother, treat the other AV system as a virus, as malware.
…
All I can find is CS communities discussing the problem broadly, mixed with a lot of speculation that a recent VAC overhaul now does include Kernel AC… despite there being no actual evidence for this, beyond the collective bias and fallacious logic that if an AC becomes more effective, the only possible explanation is that it must be because of Kernel access.
What Valve actually did, was hook up AI to greatly enhance its serverside cheat detection capabilities and accuracy… one of the rare actually good use cases of AI as it relates to cybersec.
It seems to have improved their, again, server side heuristic detection abilities… without needing Kernel level access.
…
So yeah, please source your claim.
Unlike my easily verifiable ‘claim’ that I do not wsnt to cite for cybersec reasons, your claim should not have that problem at all.
So yep, again, Kernel level AC, routinely defeated, all the time, with such regularity that it is a viable business model.
Almost like Kernel AC doesn’t do what people seem to think it does, it isn’t a panacea, and the tradeoff is that you lose all your computer security… for nothing, really.
I did not say that kernel level anti cheats makes cheating impossible. The improvement in the experience is not nothing. You would not understand unless you played both for yourself.
Kernel anti-cheat does absolutely nothing to prevent aimbots/triggerbots, as most are run using 2 separate machines, anyway. The first machine runs the game in a totally clean and legitimate environment, but sends its video output (either using standard streaming tools like OBS or by using special hardware) to the 2nd machine. The 2nd machine runs the cheat and processes the video to detect where to aim and/or when to shoot, and sends mouse input back to the 1st machine.
Colorbots are extremely efficient and can be run on just a raspberry pi.
Human reaction time is ~200-250ms, while the cheat will be introducing easily less than 10ms of latency.
I’ve never used cheats in a video game because I don’t see the point and it would spoil the fun of playing, but as a software developer, it is interesting to learn about how they work and are implemented
Wall hacks could be defeated by the server only reporting the positional information about enemy players to game clients when it detects that the client player’s camera should be able to see some part of the other player’s silhouette. This is possible, albeit computationally expensive, but the main functional issue is latency. Nobody wants enemies magically popping into view when their view changes quickly because their ping was more than 6ms lol
There are a lot of good reasons for secure boot both in game and in general. If your distro does not support it then that should be a complaint directed towards the maintainers. And… getting that through Proton is a different mess.
But EA have been spending the past year or so actively updating older Battlefields (I want to say all the way back to 3?) to actively block linux/proton. For whatever reason, they actively want to block anything but Windows for their games.
Secure boot can be used as part of a chain that eventually ends with unlocking your cryptographic keys only if the software stack has not been modified.
Sure, for most people that’ll make little difference, but it is an actual benefit.
First, Yo. Doesn’t even need to be a good password.
Second, what you are describing is something very different. Outside of very rare situations (most of which theoretical or specifically targeting a specific system by a state level actor), to be able to “boot the bios and disable it” would generally mean the machine is already VERY compromised or the bad actor has physical access to the machine.
A good way of thinking of it is that secure boot isn’t the lock on the door. It is the peephole that you look through to make sure that the person with your pizzas is from Georgio’s AND you actually ordered pizza. Rather than just opening the door because “Yo, free food”.
On its own? It doesn’t do much. But it goes a LONG way towards improving security when combined with other tools/practices.
Pretty much the same as all the other modern BFs. They all had cheats in the Beta/early release versions. I’ve played and own literally every BF game since the original release of 1942. Cheats have always been present more or less.
You can, but most everything that would let you run your own boot-time code is supposed to end up in the TPM event log, which the TPM is happy to attest to with its unique/uniquely bannable attestation key. Not too difficult to set it up so that no attestation = no access.
This type of attestation is far from perfect for a lot of different reasons, and it would be really impractical to automate bans with it, but I guess it's a tool they see value in.
I was able to get around secure boot by installing the beta on my PS5. From then, I had the pleasure of being unable to enter due to broken menus! Can’t complain for having spent nothing and having little trust in the franchise.
There’s nothing wrong with Secure Boot and enabling it can prevent a small subset of attack vectors with no real downsides. That being said, the things Secure Boot does protect against aren’t likely to be an issue for most users but it’s nothing to be afraid of.
It did take off for a time, and now it looks like it’s an early access game that hasn’t had an update in 19 months. And I can tell you that if they don’t let me host the server myself and play via LAN, they’re not solving any problems for me over Battlefield.
I love Battlebit and its a fun time, but it already did take off, sold literally millions of copies (nearly 2 million in its first 2 weeks), and then was effectively abandoned by the developers.
Yeah well too bad that ship has sailed as well. Such a shame, BF2, BC2 and BF3 were quality games, just needed a modern take of one of those instead of whatever this is we got.
I figured I'd give it a look, and creative stuff like this should always be encouraged!
There's a lot of things I want to critique, but I first want to lay out some ground zero statements, if that makes sense:
I'm just one person, and things I say might not hold true from one person to another. Meaning, others may disagree with my opinions, and you yourself might even disagree; that's fine.
The most important thing is to enjoy the process. If you're having fun making these, keeping that fun going is the most important thing. If a suggestion would make it less fun, it's completely okay to ignore it!
I'm having issues formulating my thoughts as I try to write this, so forgive me if it makes less sense than intended.
The future perspective is a fun idea, but it kind of conflicts with the whole premise of a blind playthrough. How are you supposed to have a future perspective on things that you, the creator of the narrative and story, aren't able to foresee? I can understand wanting to do something creative with your first playthrough, especially if you felt inspired by the worldbuilding or lore of the Elder Scrolls world.
Let's start from the top. First, who is this character's story that we're following along on? We don't know their name, who they were before they were a prisoner, or why they're in prison to begin with. A character is much more compelling when there is already a goal, something to the story beyond just the circumstances they find themselves in.
Second, there's the issue of having a personal story layered on top of a pre-existing plot. What you're writing is currently similar to fan fiction. Not really a big deal, but given that the world of Tamriel and the Elder Scrolls series is already pre-established, not to mention the plot of the game, there's going to be many that are already familiar with the story of the game.
Given that, there's the question of intent. Are you wanting to create this for others, and for it to be entertaining? As a documentary, to sort of chronologue your character's journey or playthrough? Or is it just an excuse to try writing, using imagery and other storytelling tools? To be clear, any reason, even no reason, is fine. But there's different critique for different approaches.
For example, if the intent was to entertain, I could mention that having more personality and getting us more familliar with the main character would be a good idea. If the idea was to chronologue the journey, you could have snap cuts of the most important moments filling out a journal entry (e.g., you're reading out of a journal that the MC keeps, and adding snips of gameplay footage to coincide with the journal).
If you were wanting to just try using imagery and other narrative tools, you may want to reconsider your choice of words. While imagery is a fun way to write, adds immersion, and adds details to things that otherwise would be glossed over, you are able to show literal images of what you are describing. So there's no need to describe the undead, as the viewer can see them as clearly as our main character could. If this was what you were wanting to do, you could use the other senses to add to the immersion; smell, sound, taste, etc. Describe how the undead smell, the rotting food tastes, how moist the air is, or slippery the moss on the rocks or pebbles are.
Another thing to consider ties into what I mentioned earlier; the pre-existing universe of the Elder Scrolls franchise. Oblivion takes place within Cyrodill, with so much going on. If you're wanting to write a story within the universe, you might want to read up a bit, so you don't create a narrative that falls apart when the world or game has a different plot point than what is intended.
If this is a blind playthrough, as in, it is your first time playing the game, you may want to consider changing the tone, or perspective. If the story is told in first person, there's less issues with unexpected plot changes or conflicts between preconceived ideas or other things, as the main character will find out, or have their misconceptions corrected at the same time as the viewer.
I'm happy you're enjoying the world of Tamriel. I myself grew up playing the original Oblivion, so it's nice to see others re-experiencing the original fascination I had with the world and game. That's all from me though!
Thank you so much for the advice! I decided that I’ll rewrite the script using most of the tips you gave me, specifically:
Adding more personality. Giving my character a name. Writing the script in present tense (if I understood you correctly) Adding details that the viewer can’t see as opposed to what they can see
I am writing the script to entertain people, not so much for myself. I don’t have an inane desire to write, but I do have an inane desire to entertain people. I feel as though let’s plays are too done, and I need to try something new.
Do I have any writing skill, or am I more or less wasting my time here?
First off, I wouldn't worry even a little about 'writing skill'. Skills in anything are things you develop, and you develop them by doing! So it doesn't really matter if it's a waste of time. The important thing with any creative endeavor is that you wanted to do it.
Think about it like this, lots of really popular artists and content creators didn't start off that way. They simply wanted to do something different, and got better as they kept doing it.
The reason I asked the reasoning and desire here, is that goals and intent are a big guiding force, and having different end goals changes what would be positive changes, at least in my opinion.
Since the goal here is to entertain people, there are a couple of reasons why I recommended adding a backstory to your character, and being present tense. First, the game introduces your character as kind of a blank slate; it doesn't matter what you did before, what crimes you committed, or life you led, destiny has set you on this path. In the grand scheme of things, it works, especially if a player doesn't really want to think too hard about roleplaying.
But adding extra depth to a character, like any roleplaying, adds more reasons to be invested. It allows you to flex your narrative skills, completely free of the restraints of the game engine, the game plot, and gives the audience something to be interested in besides the base game's plot.
That's part of what I was attempting to explain earlier; the remaster of Oblivion came out recently, but the original version of the game came out well in the past, in 2006 (geez I feel old!).
Part of the reason I suggested using first person in your writing style is that it gives you opportunities to voice things in more expressive ways. If you're going this route, you'll basically be doing a fan dub of the game. There's plenty out there, where you can effectively re-write the dialogue to be as silly, nonsensical, or meme worthy as possible. Of course, there's plenty opportunity to really try voice acting, and writing a narrative that fits you.
Either way, that's what I meant when using the term 'personality'. Just showing emotion, or if you really wanted to get into character, you could act out scenes as your character itself, and roleplay your playthrough that way. There's really no wrong way of doing this; you won't get much attention on your videos starting out, but that's the same for every creator out there, some close friends included.
The advice I gave for imagery can still be applied in first person too! Instead of recalling torrential rain, you could instead have the character shouting against the wind and rain. This may require some editing skills on your end, though the possibilities are absolutely there. Heck, half of this stuff is why the original Oblivion and Skyrim have such massive modding communities.
Finally, wanted to leave some suggestions. I don't know if this is your first creative thing you've done, or if you've been working on stuff all the time. Either way, the best thing you can do to get better is to keep making stuff, whether that's editing videos, script writing and creating scenes, or whatever you prefer.
If this is your first time, I wouldn't take it too serious, to take the pressure off making them. Doing a fandub like I mentioned earlier is a great way to kill time with friends and add some goofiness into a game you enjoy. Fair warning though, fan dubs are typically better when everyone already knows the game/media before hand, so they can set up funny punchlines, or do skits with a scene they know about beforehand.
That being said, if you do want to do a more serious story, that's perfectly fine too! A serious story can be really fun, and since it's a project you're doing for fun, don't be ashamed to rip character traits from some of your favorite characters!
This is digressing from the point I'm trying to make, but I'm a big fan of TableTop Roleplaying Games (TTRPGS). Think Critical Role, or other games like that. They're really fun, and are great ways to experiment with character ideas or story ideas, although your milage may vary depending on who is at your table.
But in all my experience at these games, video games, and reading, most stories are iterations of one another, just with a different personal flavor. So don't be ashamed to steal an idea you really like, just make sure to put your own spin on it, or reframe it in your own interpretation!
People spend $60+ to go to overpriced movie theaters to eat some food and watch a movie ONCE with a friend or family for about 2 hours, only to no longer have access to it immediately afterwards.
Nobody cares.
People spend $60+ to play a game for potentially tens or hundreds of hours and there’s a chance they might not have access to it years down the road when they likely have forgotten about it anyway.
To be fair, a lot of movie theaters ban bringing in outside food. At least in my experience. I agree with just not eating though. It would certainly be healthier to decouple moviegoing from snacking.
Might be a UK thing. Here in the US I don’t think I’ve ever been to a theater that allowed any outside food or drink. I doubt it’s because of safety, I’m pretty sure it’s because it would cut into their profits from concession stand sales.
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