Grafx "Trick" or Exploit

[ritalin]

I had learned several months back that some players were intentionally lowering their grafx settings in order to make the hidden easy to see. I was annoyed with this instantly as the user for this trick was openly suggesting it to other players on the server. To make matters worse said user is a 2frag admin.

Now before I go any further on this I will give you the basics on the play mechanics in The Hidden.

ALMOST completely invisible guy wants you dead, you don't want to die.
THATS IT!!!

Amazingly this game is almost perfectly balanced as it stands and some of the few remaining inconsistencies will be patched in the coming update.

Having said that, it is my reasoning by logic alone that anything done (short of brighting up some of Boxy's overly dark maps) on the client side that changes the nature of the hidden's invisibility (ie Makes the hidden plain as day to see) is and should be considered an exploit. If you take away the hiddens invisibility then all your left with is a simi-fast guy with a knife and 8 guys with high powered weapons hunting him. That kinda changes up the game play mechanics don't ya think?

I have been playing this mod since beta 1, I have paid my dues and gained the ability to see the hidden well enough to hunt him very effectively. Hell a few months of game play will give you the ability to spot him 3 out of 4 times. But to decide that you should not need to learn this skill. To decide that you can achieve the same outcome by other means. Well friend, I can call you by only one name, Cheat.

Please let me know you thoughts on this.

[Silent-Er@sEr]

now i belive that changing models and other things are exploits but dude lowering or raising your settings for your vid is not an exploit. if it is then i should be banned as i had to turn AA on to even see him at all. seeing the hidden has to do with your monitors refresh rate more then anything.

and lowering your vid would allow you to increase your refresh rate.

"by your Logic and stop and think about it. anyone that has a shit pc and has to have their setting low is a exploiter. or anyone with a insane set up is exploiting too....."

my monitor is not that great for refresh rate if i am moving my gun i do not see the hidden at all. however if i am standing still i can see him plain as day.

oh and this comes from a 2frag4fun founder

exploit is something that was not intentional in the game that you have found to gain an advantage over the other players.
i am sure Grafix setting were placed there intentionaly

[SilverSquirrl]

@Silent: I have a bit more knowledge of certain situation and the members involved as this has been a simmering issue for a while now ingame.

I don't like that certain people have been modifying their video settings in certain ways that give what I (and ritalin) believe are crossing the line of cheating as certain setting combinations create an extreme advantage, and at the same time make the game look horrible. (I'm not going into anymore detail then that, you can pm me if you want more details) The hard part about setting a rule about this next to impossible to enforce. The only way we really know about certain people doing this is that they have openly stated that they do this ingame.

Now, to look at this the other way, it could also be said that having an extremely large monitor can also be considered an exploit as it makes the hidden easier to be seen.

Having the bigger monitor doesn't bother me as much, I feel that if you put the money into making your system the best it can be, go for it. But purposely adjusting your settings for non optimal settings just so you can see the hidden as if he was just shaded does cause concern.

Ritalin brings up a valid point. I'm just not sure the best way to go about this issue.

[Silent-Er@sEr]

rgr i guess i did not know the full of it.

[syriquez]

The graphics exploit of which he speaks makes the Hidden as visible as a Celerity+Cloak skulk running full-tilt. Your changes just balance your ability to play.

[ritalin]

I was playing with a regular the other night. Now this guy is a decent IRIS that can spot the hidden in most normal situations. When he pulled this trick his spotting ability increased at least 10 fold. He said it was such a massive change that it took all of the challenge out of the game for the IRIS. If that doesn't paint a good enough picture for you Im not sure what will.

I would agree that making changes to your AA and AF settings allows you to see the hidden better. However by better I mean, to see the hidden the way the devs intended you to see him. Does running the game with 16xAA and 16xAF at frame rates above 60 give a user and advantage? Sure it does but the advantage is not nearly the same as the hidden is still.... HIDDEN. I have recently purchased an 8800gt to replace my 6800 Ultra. Was the change revolutionary in terms of my ability to see the hidden? NO! It just allows me to not mistakenly view the hidden as texture shimmering in some situations. Is that an advantage? Yes! But it does not break the the gameplay mechanics in any way. Its more along the lines of putting on a pair of Blue-Blocker sun glasses on a bright day. It doesn't make things suddenly appear, it just allows me to see the world with a bit more detail.

In truth this argument can be made about most games. If you have a better Rig then you have a small leg-up on me. Crysis DM would be the perfect modern example of this. This is just the way it is. But the fact is that people with uber rigs are a small minority and thus cause little issue.

The Hidden beta 5 if it is ever released, will take some harsh steps to curbing the advantage that lower DirectX cards have at present by not rendering the hidden at all for any card lower then DirectX 9. With that said, any DirectX 9 cards that can not run the game at at least 10x7 would be few and far between. What Im saying is, if we can find a way to prevent players from joining the server with these settings. The amount of users that HONESTLY need to run the game at these low specs would be very, very small.

[Unknown]

They're lowering it even more? I know DX7 doesn't render at all, they're scrapping DX8 now too? Good. Also, don't allow them to encourage people to tilt their LCD monitors(if they have them), because that's just as bad as BHS or whatever it's called.

[YO_MA_MA]

ok, i have a fairly nice rig, with 8800GTX, 22in LCD monitor, 3000:1 contrast, 2ms refresh time at 60Hz with settings maxed (though AA and AF were at 'x0') and i had a hell of a hard time seeing the hidden. Im fairly new to the game but depending on the background and if i was moving or not really changed how i could see him. i might change some settings around and see how much it changes but the fact that he is "hidden" this is how I believe it was ment to be... that's what makes this game called "The Hidden" .. duh?

[TravisTheUSSJ]

Ritalin I know your talking about me ;):withstupid:

[ritalin]

Ritalin I know your talking about me ;):withstupid:

You are correct Sir. You are one of the people I was referring to. You have informed me that you no longer use this trick, so I have no issues with you. But this is a known topic on the hidden forum and since a fix for this issue is no where on the horizon I have been talking with some people much smarter then I am in an attempt to see if there is a way prevent its use server side.


Watch out there's a GoodYear in your face.

[TravisTheUSSJ]

You are correct Sir. You are one of the people I was referring to. You have informed me that you no longer use this trick, so I have no issues with you. But this is a known topic on the hidden forum and since a fix for this issue is no where on the horizon I have been talking with some people much smarter then I am in an attempt to see if there is a way prevent its use server side.


Watch out there's a GoodYear in your face.

Yeah I used this "trick" for about 5 months or so and I will be the first to tell you it is second only to "black hidden" as far as making it easier to see the hidden. It alters the game play such as bunny hopping, as in it's not the way the game was meant to be played. I can hear people on the server all the time "I got my graphics perfect now where I can see the hidden easier".

[ritalin]

I have been talking with several members of the Beta team as well as the developers. The issue has now been proven and measures to correct the situation are being looked into.

As for now I would suggest that admins try to get the users to admit to using these settings. If the users admit to it their steam ID is recorded and it is shared with the ban lists for other servers.

We belong to a small community in regards to this game. Lets try to keep this situation under control as much as we can.

[TravisTheUSSJ]

It's sad the "trick" is spreadig very quickly. every day I hear "I changed my graphics now I can see the hidden easily"