VanillaTF2

It’s weekend, which means it’s time for our rendition of “speaker’s corner”. Waster:

From now and then someone gets banned for cheating. And all who agrees and disagrees together with the happy trolls and flamebaits seem to join the debate on the ETF2L forums which inevitably result into a locked topic where nothing is really discussed. Because its always the same sort reasoning in these topics I want to give my view about it. I need to mention that I am not an expert in anti-cheat in any way.

A cheater in computer games can be defined as someone who gains an unfair advantage over other players by using third party software. The cheats can make it easier for the cheater to aim or hit enemy targets (aimbot, triggerbot) or give the cheater extra information which he normally wouldn’t know (wallhack). So how can we spot cheats? We can either try to observe the players in the moment by using anti-cheat software or we can try to analyze the behaviour of players by using pov-demos.

As with pretty much all online communities, there’s an awful lot of drama within the European TF2 scene. It only takes one glance at the ETF2L forums, and this site itself to notice it. With topics such as “Unban BeaverN!” and “AC Admins are the Gestapo!” popping up rather often and filling themselves with puerile arguments, you would be forgiven for closing your browser, walking away from the PC, and going to cry in a corner at the sheer stupidity of it all.

At times it seems nobody can actually discuss anything logically at all!

The new Anti-Cheat program with a price tag of €500,000 is in the open beta phase and ESL are looking for people to test out the beast before it’s officially released. This means they need you to test it out to discover bugs that might occur when running it together with Team Fortress 2.

Last week they opened a 1on1 ladder which people could utilize as their testing base but alas it possibly wasn’t the best idea for a team based shooter, and the admins are now offering another chance to test it; the Wire Anti-Cheat one day cup. The tournament is set to start Monday 4’Th at 20.00 CEST and it will feature up to 32 teams

Participating in it will also give you the chance to experience their new format for the map ctf_turbine. It will be played as Bo3 with a time limit of 10 minutes and win limit 5 of caps. This means that 2 rounds are initially played and if both teams win one round each (1:1), there will be a decider round.

Finally it’s worth noting that ESL have been quick to take a stance regarding the myriad of new weapons released with the Mann-conomy update: “It is forbidden to use any of the new weapons in any Team Fortress 2 competitions. The hats, tools, mini games, gifts and crates remain allowed as they don’t affect the game play.”

Quick facts:

• Date & Time: 04.10.10 20:00
• Teams: 32
• Mode: Single Elimination
• Sign up: here
• Wire Anti-Cheat must be used!
• How to install WAC: link
• Configs: link
• Maps: ctf_turbine, cp_obscure_final, cp_badlands, cp_granary.

For everybody who has praised the idea of “vanilla + meds,” here’s your chance to support the league that is already enforcing these rules. At the same time you give all of us STV-junkies out there a chance to view some exciting games.

- YoungBlood

Just the other day I wrote that ESL’s new anti-cheat is nearing its release date and shortly after it actually went into open beta, but as you might recall then TF2 wasn’t amongst the games that were included. Things however change quickly at the German headquarters and they have added 6 new games to the beta and our game is one of them.

This means that you now have the opportunity to test how the Wire Anti-Cheats works while playing TF2. The feedback you give them offers them a chance to get rid of potential bugs before it is released and everybody are forced to use it in the league.

The TF2 admin crew have written the following on the ESL site:

“Please test ESL Wire Anti-Cheat only in the 1on1 Anti-Cheat Ladder, in all other ladders you still have to use Aequitas. If you don’t use Aequitas, normal penalty points apply.

The settings you play in the test ladder are not important, you can play any mode you want, as long as you want. It is just necessary to have Wire Anti-Cheat running.

After every match, it is necessary to fill out a small survey, in order to give us feedback how good the test was. Even if you had no problems at all, we would be pleased about every survey submitted.”

If you wish to test the program click on this link and follow the instructions.

Source: ESL

- YoungBlood

For a long time we’ve been used to loading up Aequitas whenever we had an ESL game but that is soon to change as the German organisation is in the phase of finalizing a whole new anti-cheat tool. The new piece of software is called “ESL Wire Anti-Cheat” and its final test version, aka release candidate, is ready one week after the closed beta was announced.

ESL had originally planned to release a new iteration of Aequitas but those plans have been drastically changed according to hltv.org:

“Back in 2009, ESL were originally developing the second edition of Aequitas, but problems occured in the third quarter of the year and the deadline was not reached. This made the developers start working on another tool simultaneously.

As months went by, and the schedule for Aequitas 2 became even more delayed, the new project had advanced with much greater speed than what its planned predecessor had. Close to two months ago, the Aequitas 2 plans were officially canceled, and ESL Wire Anti-Cheat was looking very promising.”

The one thing about the new tool that no doubt will grab the most attention is its spectacular price tag of €500,000 which was confirmed by community manager Julia “diejule” Christophers:

“Thanks everyone for being patient and for trusting the new AC. More than €500,000 have been spent on the new AC already and many months of hard work. We are really excited and we do not want to make any hasty steps.”

The final release date is yet to be announced but they are hoping to finish it in the near future. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what this beast will be capable of, and for the sake of everybody I hope they have saved a lot of money for continued updates as every cheat coder in Europe will be looking to find a way past it.

Update:

The Wire Anti-Cheat has gone into open beta so ESL can start stress testing their servers but there’s a catch, only 5 games are supported in the beta (cs, css, sc2, cod4 & ca) which means we can’t test how the program functions in cooperation with TF2 yet. ESL employees have stated that they aren’t quite ready for the massive load all games would create together.

If you wish to test the program with one of the mentioned games click on this link and follow the instructions.

Source: ESL

- YoungBlood