CHEATING in MP games - question to DEVS (mostly)

[gribol]

Hello

In the last few MP games I participate in, there were allegations of cheating against one of the players. Another person proved that cheating in this game is possible (he added himself 15,000 gold).

And now two questions
1. Can developers patch this hole?
2. Is it possible to check, based on game/save data or otherwise, whether a specific person has cheated in the game?

[Pocus]

As this does not alter the code but is editing values in memory, no, it's impossible to do anything, except report it, so I can check the previous turn and see if there is something fishy.

Give me the name of the game and player by PM. I guess it's the same game as the one reported on Steam?

[gribol]

As this does not alter the code but is editing values in memory, no, it's impossible to do anything, except report it, so I can check the previous turn and see if there is something fishy.

Give me the name of the game and player by PM. I guess it's the same game as the one reported on Steam?

I have send PM.
Thank you for help.

[Pocus]

So both games are almost impossible to load as they trigger many errors. I strongly suspect synchronization issues here, which seem to be corroborated by the messages exchanged between players.

In both cases, I was able to review the messages, even the one-on-one ones, and there are indeed a few interesting facts and comments about cheating, along with a procedure for doing so.

Both games have been put on hold until further notice. They might progress by at most one more turn, but after that, they will remain as they are. I would advise either stopping play or waiting for the next patch, which is expected before the end of the month. However, that would still require waiting a few days.

Considering the synchronization issues, the blatant cheating, and the pause, I believe it would be best to abandon both games. This would also be detrimental to the cheater(s) since they would see that cheating results in a game being stopped, which might lead them to move on to other games and not plague Kingdoms.

Version 1.03 will do its best to close the exploit they are using. One vulnerability has been identified that allows them to use their Trainer program.

[TORNADO92]

Drives me crazy trying to understand why someone would cheat at multiplayer Field of Glory: Kingdoms, of all games! I guess cheating really is just a compulsion and/or way of life for some people...

[Surt]

Drives me crazy trying to understand why someone would cheat at multiplayer Field of Glory: Kingdoms, of all games! I guess cheating really is just a compulsion and/or way of life for some people...

Unfortunately some people thinks it better to cheat than lose, you can see that all around you in business, politics, sports, games etc.

[Joch1955]

I never understood what players gain from cheating in a game like this, there is no money involved, no ranking system and with such a small niche community, all you are doing is ensuring no one will play with you in the future.

[trex1983]

All it takes is one bad apple.
Could I propose that the players using the trainer program, one especially comes to mind, can have more than a warning / "slap on the hands" ?
Thanks for everyone who was able to find that out and track the bad apples.

Edit: Ok... wow, the publisher of the trainer program even took the effort of posting a YT video on how to use it.
Well for me, this means that France, Bohemia and Castille has MVP and a Heroic Victory for holding out 3:1 against an infinite money cheater in that PBEM game...

[gribol]

And again - "innocent, until proven guilty". Thats still my opinion.
And this moment, that are only accusations against him.

[Surt]

I'm not sure, it could be gaming the engine, finding a loophole in the rules (which also disadvantage all others ), but without sufficient log files I would not be able to find out one way or another.

It would be good if the trainer problem went away, very negative auth got hit harder, and diplo blitz which I suspect is the reason/method might need another look.