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Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

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Re: Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

#21

Post by Cthulhu_ »

bogwog wrote: post #16
dx87 wrote: post #9

Doesn't suprise me. I was watching a video where they had devs watch a speedrun for HL:2, and they said that there are a ton of hacky fixes that never got properly fixed. They said that same code is now in HL:Alyx, and that it's funny looking through the code for a modern AAA game and seeing comments like "Quick hack to get demo stable for E3 2005. Add permanent fix after show".

Professional game development seems to revolve around the art of quick hacks. Gamers aren't going to care whether your code is clean or not, and they sure as hell won't want to wait for you to tidy it up.

But the weird thing here is that Source is based on GoldSrc which was based on Quake; apparently, instead of learning from years of experience and building a brand new engine without the baggage, they decided to just keep building on top of the old stuff?

I mean to a point I get it, but if some code is unmaintainable, you don't keep trying to fix it, you have to decide to replace it.

Valve has no excuse, they make crazy amounts of money, they can fund the development of a new engine from scratch easily. They just choose not to.

Re: Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

#22

Post by stefan_ »

Hence why game engines are now their whole own business, and before that time, people used to just start fresh with every game, maybe having a drawer of useful snippets. Crunch time is fundamentally incompatible with the discipline needed to not end up in this place.

Re: Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

#23

Post by meibo »

laurentdc wrote: post #11

I still don't get why they can't make a basic anticheat or protect the process memory like most other games (even the Faceit AC client itself for CS:GO!). Is there some explanation like keeping compatibility with very low end PCs? You can get wallhacks in multiplayer by simply using WriteProcessMemory calls. [0] [0] https://github.com/Snaacky/Diamond/blob/master/diamond.py

To be even remotely safe from this, you need to use a kernel driver, which is invasive and widely seen as unacceptable - at the moment anyhow.

See Riot and Valorant from earlier this year. There was a lot of outcry and the response from the devs was basically "we don't give a damn".

Other games, for example, scan window titles or signature for a variety of debuggers/hacking tools like IDA and x64dbg. There's many techniques and variations you can apply to make things like this more "annoying" - but never impossible.

Earlier this year, there was a PCI card PoC that would read memory and act as an "undetectable" wallhack - people are clearly crafty enough to always find their way around.

Re: Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

#24

Post by exoque »

laurentdc wrote: post #11

I still don't get why they can't make a basic anticheat or protect the process memory like most other games (even the Faceit AC client itself for CS:GO!). Is there some explanation like keeping compatibility with very low end PCs? You can get wallhacks in multiplayer by simply using WriteProcessMemory calls. [0] [0] https://github.com/Snaacky/Diamond/blob/master/diamond.py

Won't this hack be caught by VAC? And if not, what is VAC actually doing?

Re: Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

#26

Post by episteme »

laurentdc wrote: post #11

I still don't get why they can't make a basic anticheat or protect the process memory like most other games (even the Faceit AC client itself for CS:GO!). Is there some explanation like keeping compatibility with very low end PCs? You can get wallhacks in multiplayer by simply using WriteProcessMemory calls. [0] [0] https://github.com/Snaacky/Diamond/blob/master/diamond.py

They do, it's called VAC, this repo even says you will get banned using this.

Re: Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

#27

Post by laurentdc »

exoque wrote: post #24
laurentdc wrote: post #11

I still don't get why they can't make a basic anticheat or protect the process memory like most other games (even the Faceit AC client itself for CS:GO!). Is there some explanation like keeping compatibility with very low end PCs? You can get wallhacks in multiplayer by simply using WriteProcessMemory calls. [0] [0] https://github.com/Snaacky/Diamond/blob/master/diamond.py

Won't this hack be caught by VAC? And if not, what is VAC actually doing?

It's not caught by VAC. I changed the glow colour (which probably changed the signature), tested it a few months ago on local server and then played some Valve deathmatch on official servers, account is still good. I'd expect the game to at least throw me out of the server if I tamper with what objects should light up, but nope.

Re: Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

#28

Post by gameswithgo »

dx87 wrote: post #9

Doesn't suprise me. I was watching a video where they had devs watch a speedrun for HL:2, and they said that there are a ton of hacky fixes that never got properly fixed. They said that same code is now in HL:Alyx, and that it's funny looking through the code for a modern AAA game and seeing comments like "Quick hack to get demo stable for E3 2005. Add permanent fix after show".

There is a video like that for every game ever made.

Re: Ex Valve dev on CS:GO’s codebase

#29

Post by gameswithgo »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #21
bogwog wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Professional game development seems to revolve around the art of quick hacks. Gamers aren't going to care whether your code is clean or not, and they sure as hell won't want to wait for you to tidy it up.

But the weird thing here is that Source is based on GoldSrc which was based on Quake; apparently, instead of learning from years of experience and building a brand new engine without the baggage, they decided to just keep building on top of the old stuff? I mean to a point I get it, but if some code is unmaintainable, you don't keep trying to fix it, you have to decide to replace it. Valve has no excuse, they make cr…

Quake is full of hacks and bug too.
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