Hacking, a few questions for scripters, and hopefully solutions for the future.

[tigrisjk 2]

I'd like to ask a few questions on a few things about hacking in DayZ, and, I hope, address possible solutions. I think we all recognize that the amount of hacking in DayZ is a little over the top at the moment... but also realize that DayZ, as a mod in Alpha, drew way more attention than anyone thought an ArmA mod would draw. And now, we're getting a standalone, which is flippin' fantastic... but it also means we can address the issue of hacking in the future. I guess I have questions of my own, after falling victim to hacks so frequently lately, so I've highlighted my questions in red.

I'm going to ignore dupers and other engine exploits for the moment and focus on external scripts. I have a very basic understanding of how scripts work, in the sense that they push code to the server which is then executed... but the level to which it's possible in the ArmA engine seems a bit extreme. Aside from the now-apparently popular Thunderdoming and Honeymooner-ing... and the unimaginative nuking of all the players and/or their gear, I've encountered more amusing situations in which NPCs were spawned into DayZ onto everyone on the server, or in which weapons are replaced with horns.

Which leads me to wonder, and perhaps someone who does ArmA scripting can answer this:

Is there something about the way ArmA divides the way it handles information server-side and client-side that makes it this easy to manipulate people en masse? Are, in other words, the problems we're experiencing endemic to the way that ArmA itself is built to handle information?

Next question: If I understand how Battleye works, when it ArmA runs a script, it hails Battleye, which then compares the script to a blacklist. Which means new scripts, or self-compiled scripts, slip through the cracks. Assuming I understand this correctly, even at this basic level (of which there is no guarantee)... is there a better solution out there that would help significantly reduce the amount of scripts floating around in this game? Obviously VAC claims a pretty high rate of success, but how valid are their claims? And furthermore, if Steam and VAC integration isn't an option on the table in DayZ's development, is there another service that could ostensibly improve the current condition?

Anyway, enough questions for now. It's 0430, I miss my AS50, and I'm going to sleep weeping over my loss.

Edited August 8, 2012 by TigrisJK

[Gogster (DayZ) 626]

All hail the daily hackers post.

[DarkRaven123 602]

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/55031-hackers-what-you-need-to-know/

[DarkRaven123 602]

All hail the daily hackers post.

This one is actually better than the usual ones.

[Gogster (DayZ) 626]

This one is actually better than the usual ones.

That's true.

[tigrisjk 2]

I wasn't looking to complain, gog, I am seriously interested in how ArmA handles info and whether it was the reason people could abuse it in such an obvious manner. Raven, thanks... So it's pretty much as I thought it was. Good to know. Going to stop reading the forums in bed now.