PBEM PATCH NEEDED ASAP

[Tactician]

My friend Blue exposed a serious flaw with the pbem in JTCS. I have tried numerous times to notify Talonsoft and then Matrix but no patch fixed this. I am certain this has been know by some players a long time. Ever seem like your opponent just knows where you are out of los or has all the right moves? 
For the integrity of the game and to finally force Matrix hand, I will expose the flaw.

When you receive the pbem file from your opponent go to AI in top menu. Which ever side your opponent is (axis/ allies) highlight that side and hit manual. Boom. You know everywhere your opponent is like God mode.
Exit, relaunch, and your opponent will never know. I have known about this flaw and I am certain it has been used to advantage by players on ladders for years. I was skeptical but sure enough, Blue was right. People this goes back to the Talonsoft EFII days and no one knew? lol ya right. Win % over 90 for years....really?

I stopped playing since Talonsoft / Matrix wont patch this flaw. Now its out there. The parties over.
Bet some players are gonna hate this. Win percentages will come down to realistic levels if they fix this long standing flaw in a patch. Until then I wont play any pbem. Head to Head is only option.
Sorry for the bad news but I want fair play for all players. No way this has not been noticed before. Haters gonna hate.  Please fix this in a patch asap.  The game depends on it and I love Campaign Series.  Best computer war game ever.  

[Scud]

My dad always told us "if you cheat, you're only cheating yourself." Find opponents you like and trust and hope you're a good judge of character. If you're wrong about someone, well it's just a game. Sad, though, that there are people like that, but there are more who aren't.

Dave

[Warhorse]

Is your name Dumnorix by chance, hang it up. go ahead and cheat, your loss.

[Big Ivan]

WOW!

I remember that name Dumnorix.

OMG it is still alive.....

[Warhorse]

Any money it's that asshole, what a loser, pay for my mod, pay for my mod! Whatever!

[Mowgli]

That's really bad. I knew you could just re-load your turn, but the flaw brought up here is on another level.

I know, I know! It's a game for gentlemen! But it leaves a sour taste in your mouth when you don't know if it was all just good gut feeling on your opponent's behalf when enemy recon units never ever stumble into you. And it does not go well together with the idea of a ladder / "competitive" scene.

I really don't get it why the answers here are so aggressive. It's an obvious flaw and if something could be done about it, the game would become better. When I show the game to new players, I always have to inform them that yes, there is a way to cheat and it's just up to the players' good will not to do it.

As for the solution, I don't know. I'm not a programmer. I guess the problem is that anything that messes with the save-file has the risk of corrupting the whole game and as the turns just consist of ordinary files, nothing prevents you from copying them. Any solution would be quite complex?

E.g. there would need to be at least a combination of two things:
1) The game would need to have a way to tell if the player opens the "original" turn-file or a copied version of it (the latter should not be allowed)
2) The player should not be allowed to save the turn. The game automatically saves the turn (updates the "original file") when the player closes the game. Players must not be allowed to cancel/evade that autosave.

But then team games are no longer possible. A solution for team games would probably require some kind of server that provides the "original file" to the players. Everytime a player makes a move, that original file (stored online) would need to be updated.

[Big Ivan]

The chances of getting a patch for JTCS to prevent this are extremely remote since JTCS is no longer supported.

I did a quick test of this this morning in CSME and it appears to be true. I sent the file to Jason so he can confirm.

However, with that being said this is not the only way one can cheat. There are most likely other ways, perhaps many, out there that I or a lot of players are not privy too.

Finally where is the fun in cheating? 


One only cheats himself when one goes down that road! 

IMO once someone is caught at cheating I will never give them a game again. Just saying.

[berto]

It's an obvious flaw and if something could be done about it, the game would become better...

[Effectively nothing can be done about it.  See here:

https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards...#pid433393

If someone were to ask (not saying you are that someone):  "Please go back and fix this."  It would be kind of like (imperfect analogy) saying to Ford Motor Company:  "Please go back and make me an exact replica of a 2008 Mustang.  Except install a more secure IOT door lock that I can control via my cell phone."  Maybe a (not so) simple fix back then.  Simply impossible now.  Why?  The factory has been retooled, as it were.  Ford can't make custom-built 2008 Mustangs now, in 2020!

Similarly, it is practically impossible to fix a (20+ year old) security flaw in a game that was end-of-lifed years ago.  We are no longer set up to do that.  Not for JTCS.

(Not to mention that, like Ford, we would not do this for free.)]

... As for the solution, I don't know. I'm not a programmer. I guess the problem is that anything that messes with the save-file has the risk of corrupting the whole game and as the turns just consist of ordinary files, nothing prevents you from copying them. Any solution would be quite complex?

E.g. there would need to be at least a combination of two things:
1) The game would need to have a way to tell if the player opens the "original" turn-file or a copied version of it (the latter should not be allowed)
2) The player should not be allowed to save the turn. The game automatically saves the turn (updates the "original file") when the player closes the game. Players must not be allowed to cancel/evade that autosave.

But then team games are no longer possible. A solution for team games would probably require some kind of server that provides the "original file" to the players. Everytime a player makes a move, that original file (stored online) would need to be updated.

[We think we have a fairly simple fix for this, for currently supported games (CSME, in future scheduled updates) and all future games going forward.  As you note, the many layers and playing modes for this game are quite complex and intricate.  Gotchas, unintended consequences, Fix One Thing Break Another abound.  Looking ahead, we will see what we can do.]

[Warhorse]

Good deal, thanks Berto!

[Herr Straße Laufer]

I really don't get it why the answers here are so aggressive. It's an obvious flaw and if something could be done about it, the game would become better. When I show the game to new players, I always have to inform them that yes, there is a way to cheat and it's just up to the players' good will not to do it.

The club has clear rules against cheating.
And, as many have stated once found a cheater becomes very lonely?

As for aggressive I think most answers have not been aggressive enough.

Cheaters are just losers in winners costumes?

PS. If the "baby" is Dumassrocks he should just stay away. He's a loser in a losers costume.



HSL