Most active commenters
  • snarfy(3)

←back to thread

379 points mobeigi | 14 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
Show context
snarfy ◴[] No.41862807[source]
For UT2004, you can ban by player GUID (a hash of the CD key) or IP. With the game abandoned by Epic, a number of key generators have cropped up, which makes GUID bans useless. IP bans only go so far with VPNs costing $2 these days.

The main solutions we have today are IP ban + VPN blocking using a database of known VPN subnets and adding them all to the firewall, and a similar fingerprinting technique which scans their folder structure of certain system folders.

replies(12): >>41862963 #>>41863123 #>>41863371 #>>41864302 #>>41864313 #>>41864340 #>>41864577 #>>41865500 #>>41865762 #>>41866999 #>>41867262 #>>41885146 #
1. IncreasePosts ◴[] No.41864302[source]
How about just a whitelist? I can't imagine there are a ton of legit ut2k4 players left?
replies(1): >>41864358 #
2. snarfy ◴[] No.41864358[source]
Yes, we have a whitelist ability also, but it is definitely a last resort. The game is mostly dead and difficult to discover for new players. We don't want that roadblock if we can avoid it.
replies(4): >>41864468 #>>41865345 #>>41865487 #>>41866968 #
3. Syntonicles ◴[] No.41864468[source]
TIL people still play UT2004.

I was going to mention how much I loved that game, until I realized I played UT99. Time sure does fly...

replies(3): >>41865049 #>>41865393 #>>41868246 #
4. ghffjgff ◴[] No.41865049{3}[source]
Ut99 with the matrix mod was where it was at for LAN parties...
5. VTimofeenko ◴[] No.41865345[source]
Do you happen to have a link for a good manual on "how does one get into the modern UT2k4 multiplayer"? I.e. must-have modlist, servers, etc.
replies(1): >>41879046 #
6. dylan604 ◴[] No.41865393{3}[source]
Is this game online/multiplayer only? I mean, people still play Galaga and PacMan and other older classic games so why would you think someone wouldn't still play this one too?
replies(1): >>41866753 #
7. catlikesshrimp ◴[] No.41865487[source]
Suggestion: Anybody can play against bot(s). Whitelist can interact with real players.
8. Ekaros ◴[] No.41866753{4}[source]
It is not online only as we would now understand. But it is certainly only multiplayer game. Well you can play against bots, but even then it is multiplayer.
9. matheusmoreira ◴[] No.41866968[source]
Small number of players works in favor of a whitelist. People shouldn't be playing with randoms, they should be playing with friends.

Game companies invade our privacy and destroy our computer freedom with ineffective malware tier rootkit solutions only to fail to solve the problem in the end. Their business model depends on enabling people to play with any random from anywhere in the world. They are forced to trust untrustworthy clients. The truth is people should not allow their computers to talk to strangers.

replies(1): >>41866990 #
10. klausa ◴[] No.41866990{3}[source]
>People shouldn't be playing with randoms, they should be playing with trusted friends.

People should be able to play with whomever they wish.

replies(1): >>41867059 #
11. matheusmoreira ◴[] No.41867059{4}[source]
I presume "whomever they wish" means anyone who is not a cheater. In that case they need a whitelist. Because without one, every player is a potential cheater. Non-whitelist solutions don't match what I presume they want. They asked for NotCheater, server returned MaybeCheater.

Without a whitelist, it's only a matter of time before an actual cheater joins their server and ruins their fun.

Enumerating badness just doesn't work.

12. hypercube33 ◴[] No.41868246{3}[source]
I still play Quake 1 and 2 online, randomly pop into Tribes 2, Counter Strike 1.5....usually the community is clicky and toxic to outsiders but sometimes you bump into really neat people.
13. snarfy ◴[] No.41879046{3}[source]
The unrealtournament subreddit is your best bet.

You can find links to download the game, get a cd key, and configure for the new master servers so you can find servers online. Game tracker still lists this game, so you can check there to find the most popular servers which are still active and have players.

replies(1): >>41882080 #
14. VTimofeenko ◴[] No.41882080{4}[source]
Thanks!