Explain something to me. It’s a multiplayer game anything that affects all players should be handled on the server side, not the client. So if I make a cheat it can only be installed client side, not server side.

So if my hypothetical cheat looks at object placement and any time I sees a small object approaching at a high velocity it can say “I’m going to assume that’s a bullet based on what the server told me about it.” Then my cheat would say “your character moves from here to here until the bullet passes by, then moves back. I will tell the server you moved to the left 20 inches in the blink of an eye then moved back”

This works because the server just trusts what it’s told in this example.

So there are two options here to resolve this. Either the server sets thresholds and denies any placement changes look like the Flash is playing rust, or the server evaluates suspicious placement changes later when the cpu load it’s under is lower. The first approach stops much of this instantly but is computationally expensive and could not scale well for lots of players. The second would work well enough. You need to catch cheaters but it’s doesn’t have to be within the same exact cpu cycle.

In either case, these work because the server is taught to look for something that shouldn’t be possible. The enforcement happens server side. The client doesn’t fucking matter.

There is zero reason to put anti cheat on the client side when it’s not a P2P instance. Target a few servers, not thousands of players.

I mean, Linux player base is only .01%, even if they are all cheaters, they will literally have no impact... You can't say "Linux user base is too small", and "if you support Linux you want cheaters" at the same time if you want to make sense.

TBF, you'd have to pay me to play most of these "anti-cheat" games anyhow.

one that would be poorly maintained by both us and EAC due to the low user base.

I'm sure I've been playing a lot of games with EAC, because it's actually one of the few ones that support Linux.

If I'm not mistaken (judging entirely by the RAC popup/loading), from the games I'm playing, Hell Let Loose, Fellowship, Helldivers 2, I think even The Finals used it.

Hell Let Loose wasn't working at first, because you have to check a checkbox and enable Linux support when building, which did take them a while.

So, unless I'm misremembering/confusing it with another anticheat, this is bullshit.

Also "unless you have an in-house anti-cheat team"

You made millions out of your player base. You can afford it. You're just lazy.

If your cheat detection runs on the client side only, you don't have cheat protection.

Does the anti-cheat break the game on Linux? Not buying the game. I don't need that kind of crap in my life.

i wonder if this guy heard about counter strike...

I don't play games that require anti-cheat. Simple as that. If a game is full of cheaters, I don't play those games either. I am not going to have a windows installation just to play games. I am not going to have a console that only plays games. I am a simple man, if it supports Linux and doesn't have anti-cheat I play. But also I don't have friends so...

Fair point. Means I'm not going to play the game, but that's fine too.

Curious to see though if the Valve Frame/Gabe Cube changes things.

That week I played Rust on Linux before they dropped support was pretty fun

If Linux gamers are not worth his time as we are so few then maybe this singular person's comments are not worth our time over and over.

I hope for more than merely support for a freer OS. I want the whole video games industry to move away from a proprietary model to software freedom - where demand for support is not dependant on the original dev.

even most popular Minecraft servers have better functioning anti cheat that is completely server side

Why isn't this the standard everywhere? These servers prove that server side anticheat works.

Never heard of Rust, but it sounds like something I can afford to ignore.

OS shouldn't even matter to prevent cheating; do your anticheat validation server side. Anyone who knows anything about security knows the client side can never be trusted.

What a clown ahahha

mentioning EA games like Apex Legends removing support is laughable. Sure Alistair, ALL those EA games ALL decided around fall of 2024 to ditch support for Linux/Proton. All at the Same time. Not because EA has a deal with Microsoft/Game Pass and NOT because a few months later Microsoft announced their own Handheld with Asus. Just like Riot.

So Alistair how long until Rust is announced for Gamepass with all DLC included?

So Linux users were 0.01% - one in 10,000 players - and also the main cheating problem?

Some odd math there.

They dropped Linux before proton was invented. Go on any cheat website and the requirements will always say to have windows. Maybe proton is exploited by some cheaters, news to me. You should just ban windows, no more cheaters.