Urgent. Host Cheating: Problem and Solution.

Saber Cherry · #1 January 25th, 2004, 09:42 AM

Oh, wait, I figured it out. OK:

"Force Host Disabled"

and

"Master Password Disabled"

will allow perfectly cheatproof network play. Nothing, to my knowledge, can prevent host cheating in pbem. But still, allowing for the possibility of cheatproof play is... in my opinion... more than just a good idea. Obviously, it's best to play with a host who is trustworthy, but in the shady Vegas $50k Dominions II blitz games I play... one can never be too careful, ya know...

-Cherry

PhilD · #2 January 25th, 2004, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:
Oh, wait, I figured it out. OK:

"Force Host Disabled"

and

"Master Password Disabled"

will allow perfectly cheatproof network play. Nothing, to my knowledge, can prevent host cheating in pbem. But still, allowing for the possibility of cheatproof play is... in my opinion... more than just a good idea. Obviously, it's best to play with a host who is trustworthy, but in the shady Vegas $50k Dominions II blitz games I play... one can never be too careful, ya know...

-Cherry

Considering the "Master Password" option is one that was added at the players' request, so that dropping players could at least be turned to AI... I think you're mainly trying to make the devs go nuts

Gandalf Parker · #3 January 26th, 2004, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by PhilD:
Considering the "Master Password" option is one that was added at the players' request, so that dropping players could at least be turned to AI... I think you're mainly trying to make the devs go nuts

Ahhh I wondered what that was. (probably in the docs somwhere but never got around to looking for it). Oh but now I have to bug them to see if its included as a command-line switch.

Saber Cherry · #4 January 25th, 2004, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PhilD:
Considering the "Master Password" option is one that was added at the players' request, so that dropping players could at least be turned to AI... I think you're mainly trying to make the devs go nuts

No, this is a legitimate concern

Really! If two people want to play competitively, and one of them is a known cheater... well, that's currently impossible without a 3rd-party host!

johan osterman · #5 January 25th, 2004, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:

quote:
Originally posted by PhilD:
Considering the "Master Password" option is one that was added at the players' request, so that dropping players could at least be turned to AI... I think you're mainly trying to make the devs go nuts

No, this is a legitimate concern Really! If two people want to play competitively, and one of them is a known cheater... well, that's currently impossible without a 3rd-party host!

Not that it is any of my concern with whom you want to play, but why would you play with a known cheater. I would avoid them like the plague.

PhilD · #6 January 25th, 2004, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:

quote:
Originally posted by PhilD:
Considering the "Master Password" option is one that was added at the players' request, so that dropping players could at least be turned to AI... I think you're mainly trying to make the devs go nuts

No, this is a legitimate concern Really! If two people want to play competitively, and one of them is a known cheater... well, that's currently impossible without a 3rd-party host!

Only if both are known cheater. And it should only be a concern to known cheaters. If you absolutely must play with a cheater, and aren't one, you can host.

Jasper · #7 January 25th, 2004, 10:08 PM

There are ways to significantly avert cheating, such that cheating would require a hacked copy of dominions with security turned off. They are a quite a bit more cumbersome however, as they require action from several people to host.

For a hosted game, it would be enough for hosting to require that several people connect and provide their password over a secure chanel (eg SSH). One would also need to ensure all players have the same .map, to avoid unscruplous editing.

For PBEM this would be more difficult. A host request could send out encyrpted and time stamped requests to several players, and only host after receiving their response.

IMHO this is a significant problem, not so much due to rampant cheating, but to remove the commonplace suspicion of cheating -- especially should the host have even a slightly lucky start. Admitedly it's probably easier to just play with people you trust, or trade hosting so players aren't in games they host.