An idea to detect cheating in the GOTM

[Ribannah]

After the SF novel "Where Were You Last Pluterday?" by Paul van Herck.

IIRC the Pluterday is between Monday and Tuesday, and only accessible by some happy few.

 

[Karasu]

I have missed this Pluterday! My calendar says Tuesday and I am sure yesterday I was in a Monday...

Therefore, I am not one of the lucky few. do you know how one qualifies for Pluterdays?

 

[ltcoljt]

Pluterdays are easy to find, you just need to add the proper graphics mod to your calendar.

(sorry, i couldn't help that one).

 

[Ribannah]

Originally posted by ltcoljt
Pluterdays are easy to find, you just need to add the proper graphics mod to your calendar.

 

[The Carp]

Originally posted by Hurricane
Another point is that crashes always forces you to reload. I had two crashes in my game already, forcing me to reload from the autosaves.

I was wondering. Is reloading leaves a distinctive mark in the save files ?


And in general, how can you tell a save file has been tempered with and/or someone used unfair methods while playing ?

I'm not asking for every details of course but I'd like to know the easiest ways to detect if there's something wrong with a game file.

 

[Nightfa11]

I think the number of reloads can be detected. I doubt if they can detect whether games are reloaded from autosave or saves (and it really doesn't matter).

Also, outrageous things can be detected simply because they change the outcome of the game so outrageously. If you cheat and give yourself 100k gold for example, the results of something like that will be obvious.

 

[Yndy]

@the carp

There are some other ways of telling whether there has been tampering with the file as far as I know but I am not a computer guru as some of the staff here so I cannot tell you exactly but if you change the .sav file or your own .bic, .bix file directly, the change can be observed. And yes, there are those obvious things like conquering two nations each twice as big as you in three turns simultaneously, or having your opponents mysteriously refuse to build more than one city, or building one wonder every two turns, until there are no more wonders to build.
What I do and advise you to do is stay confident that everything possible is made to make sure the results are fair. And do not attempt to cheat for you will be uncovered.

Edit: Just noticed that you know your PHP and YourSqL so until I will find out what that letters mean please refer to the staff if you want to help or something.

 

[Mark Cutt]

Originally posted by cracker

We could not say this in August and September of last year, but today we can safely say that each month's games do provide a fair a realistic representation of the game play process without a lot of room for incursion by screwiness that will do anything significant to destabilize or un-level the playing field.

What happened in August and September of last year?

 

[Yndy]

Then and before, there was little control on the scores and how did some of the players reach that scores. Search in older GOTM for saves of VK or Valeri Kousnetsov.

 

[The Carp]

Thanks for the info everyone.
It's good to know there are ways to spot cheaters; although it seems like it's possible for clever ones to cover their tracks. I think we shouldn't put too much effort into this. Sure it's annoying for the honest players, especially for those who deserve recognition from their peers, but does it really matters if someone cheats?

I see the GOTM concept as a means for us to compare our playing skills with other members of the community in a friendly competitive environment and improve those skills at the same time. Of course, the awards and ranking systems are stimulating and fun ways to see if you're doing well (or not). But in the end you are your own judge. You're the one who knows if you really deserve it or not. So if someone needs to cheat to get an award or a good rank then [ sarcasm ] congrats chumpy! [ /sarcasm]. They are just proving to themselves they are good at "hacking" a game file and lying !

If that person realises that they don't deserve it (most people will) then they will get bored of doing that really quickly. If they don't, and enjoy doing so, then I really pity them because they are only lying to themselves!

 

[The Carp]

Originally posted by Yndy

Just noticed that you know your PHP and YourSqL so until I will find out what that letters mean please refer to the staff if you want to help or something.

YourSQL

"PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML."
The PHP Group

PHP stands for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor". I think it's a bit silly but recursive acronyms are very popular among open source project circles. Go figure!
Combined with a database like MySQL It let you do very dynamic webpages.
In fact, this very forum is using a MySQL database and is coded in PHP.

I would really like to help if I can. It would be cool
Is there a thread where I can offer my help or is it better if I pm a staff member directly ?

 

[Yndy]

You can Volunteer here or you can PM cracker.
I have heard about those web development tools but just don't have the time to study them. Maybe when I'll build my own web page. Anyway if I want to study more IT I should study VBA, that I would really use.
As you noticed, one can probably hack the code but that is not playing at all, where would the fun be?

 

[alamo]

The solution to cheating would be easy for firaxis to program - something as simple as a turn counter would work. We have to put up a pound of cure for lack of an ounce of prevention.