The Soup Nazi
Member
+18|6797|North Lauderdale, FL
anyone who has ever admin'ed on a Counter-Strike server (CS or CSS) will tell you that an invaluable feature to the game is a spectator mode.  the ability to see what another player is seeing is of utmost importance when trying to decide if a player is hacking or not.  if a player is wallhacking, for instance, the admin would not be able to see through walls (like the suspect can - assuming they're wallhacking), but could easily recognize if the suspect is tracking targets that cannot be seen. 

i've been an admin (and am still, actually) of a counter-strike: source clansserver and have had a lot of experience and exposure to wallhackers, aimbotters, etc.  and, because i know there are wallhacks readily available for BF2, this would be a terrific feature that admins could use to monitor other players.

and, on the other side of the coin, if a player needs to get up to leave their computer (bathroom break, grab a drink, etc), this could give them a chance to do so.  they could join the spectators "team," do their business, and come back to the battle when ready.  while in spectator mode, they are considered idle unless if they are chatting.  when they are idle for long enough, servers can easily kck them off.

another great outcome of having a specator mode is it would be much easier to switch teams around.  say a MEC would prefer playing as USMC.  they ask if anyone on USMC is interested in switching.  if anyone is, the two players join spectators first and then join the other team.  (this would circumvent auto-balance)

why this was left out in the first place, EA only knows.
77th|1st Lt. Werstein
Member
+1|6821|Virginia, USA
yeah in BFV there was spectator mode...not many people used it, and i think EA didnt include it because no one would want to watch people rake up points...you would want to do it yourself
WormGuts
Member
+17|6804|Dayton, Ohio
i'm actually rather pleased that spectator mode was left out of the game.  to many people used it in CS and other games for 'ghosting'. 

i just feel that spectator mode for the most part only helps people who want to cheat. 

except for those few people out there who would be willing to spend an hour watching someone else play to try to gain knowledge about certain tricks and tactics.
SteamCore
Member
+0|6786
I think spectating might create the problem of too many player slots filled up in the ranked servers.  If you aren't playing, either deselect the spawn point in the spawn menu (don't spawn) or leave, that's my opinion

-SC
The Soup Nazi
Member
+18|6797|North Lauderdale, FL
i think you guys are missing the point i was trying to make here.  let's say a new wallhack comes out called "ClearWalls 1.0."  this hack will be undetected by punkbuster for at least two weeks before it becomes popular enough that punkbuster will detect it and ban for using it.

even with a two week window, servers could be flooded with hackers who've downloaded ClearWalls 1.0 and admins currently have no way of seeing whether or not a player is wallhacking.  but if there was a spectator mode, a savvy admin would be able to spot the common movements and behaviors of a wallhacker and ban for it- with or without detection from punkbuster.

i know for a fact that i've been the victim of wallhackers in BF2 before.  once i was walking around the corner of a wall and was met with a grenade launcher before i even made the turn.  this was by a player who had not been able to see me from their vantage point before i walked out there.  after i was killed, i was like "nice wallhack, $playerName."  ...to which he replied, "yep, it works great."

sure it takes up valuable real estate on ranked servers to have the ability to be a spectator, but i think the good could outweigh the bad.  maybe sooner consider spectators idle the entire time and kick them after a defined amount of time to prevent ghosting.

i for one am very suspicious of anybody who can snipe from the carrier to the mainland in Dalian Plant.  and i've heard people brag about being able to snipe enemies from across Wake Island (across the bay area).  my draw distance is 100% and i cannot see enemies from either of those locations with my m95...
tF-voodoochild
Pew Pew!
+216|6858|San Francisco

The Soup Nazi wrote:

i know for a fact that i've been the victim of wallhackers in BF2 before.  once i was walking around the corner of a wall and was met with a grenade launcher before i even made the turn.  this was by a player who had not been able to see me from their vantage point before i walked out there.  after i was killed, i was like "nice wallhack, $playerName."  ...to which he replied, "yep, it works great."
Now first of all, I want to say that I agree that a spectator mode should be available to players (or at the very least admins.) Having played numerous multiplayer fps games it just seems like standard issue stuff at this point, except to DICE/EA apparently.

The trouble with admins being able to tell whether or not someone is wallhacking simply by watching them play in bf2, though, is the uav. I have killed TONS of people in bf2 using the uav, or an ally spotting the enemy. Everytime they scream, 'OMG HAX!' at me after I kill them. Sure, the guy you mentioned above could have actually been wallhacking and was honest to you about it, although he could have just been using the uav to track you down and then messing with you when you complained.

I'm not saying there aren't wallhackers out there in the bf2 community, there most likely are. However, the addition of the uav and radar in bf2 make it rather difficult to determine which of these a player is using as the uav is really accurate if the radar map is zoomed in as close as it will go.
krazed
Admiral of the Bathtub
+619|6790|Great Brown North
ive only seen one "hacker before", he was killing everybody with 2, maybe 3 shots in full auto from the G3 alot faster then he would have been able to switch targets:\ or maybe he was just really lucky? although there are some people with the M95 that make me wonder, as being shout ot of a jet a couple times as im flying with full afterburners gets me suspicious
SteamCore
Member
+0|6786
Soup you got UAV'd.  On maps that I am very familiar with, I don't even look where I'm walking, I use the UAV, and watch my screen peripherally.  I guarantee the player that got you saw you on the UAV.  You shouldn't be suprised if you are playing against me someday and a C4 lands right in front of you in your secret hiding place and goes off.  Or if coming around a corner I have my knife ready and stab you like you sent a postcard to me a week earlier saying where you'd be.  And if you said "Nice hack" I would have replied the same - he was mocking you.

-SC
The Soup Nazi
Member
+18|6797|North Lauderdale, FL
quite possible that i was UAV'ed, yes.  but it seemed really fishy to me.  i would've loved to watch this guy play as a spectator, though.
SteamCore
Member
+0|6786
Now that I think about it even spec'ing wouldn't help for wallhacks. I trace people through walls using the UAV as well.  My screen would look more like a wallhack than someone who uses one.  The UAV is a built-in wallhack, if used right...    Spectating might be a nice tool, but I wouldn't bring up catching wallhackers as a point for it's inclusion in a later patch

-SC
Croak
Member
+11|6815|San Marcos, CA
It'd be fun, but it'd be abused so bad it wouldnt' be funny.

Spectator mode and Teamspeak, or a good old fashioned telephone is the first thing that comes to mind.  Too easy to use it to become a free permanent UAV (or multiple UAVs) that can even tell you what kit the bad guys are using, which one is the squad leader, etc.

You'll have to settle for Battlerecorder.  Me, I'd like to see more public Battlerecorder downloads, especially grudge matches, etc, and a better interface for using it (like notification when a round you've been playing is downloadable, and a click to download, without having to exit out to the main menu).
The Soup Nazi
Member
+18|6797|North Lauderdale, FL
people play dramatically different when they know where their opponent is, i agree.  but since the UAV makes a sweeping motion and only shows blips for a moment (without being able to really see exactly where an enemy is or how fast they are moving in a direction), i don't think it's very possible to time grenade launcher rounds like the one i was killed by without other aide.

here are some screenshots of one such hack in action...

Normal Game View:
http://graphicintegrity.net/temp/bf2/normalview5ap.jpg

Chams:
http://graphicintegrity.net/temp/bf2/up … ams8tb.jpg

Chams + NoFog:
http://graphicintegrity.net/temp/bf2/chamsnofog8az.jpg

Chams + NoFog + NoSky:
http://graphicintegrity.net/temp/bf2/ch … sky1mi.jpg

Chams + NoFog + NoSky + Wireframe:
http://graphicintegrity.net/temp/bf2/ch … ame7pu.jpg

Chams + NoFog + NoSky ~ Sea Still Ingame:
http://graphicintegrity.net/temp/bf2/ch … sea7gq.jpg

Chams + NoFog + NoSky + NoSea:
http://graphicintegrity.net/temp/bf2/ch … sea0gs.jpg


now tell me that that doesn't give the hackers out there an unfair advantage...

Last edited by The Soup Nazi (2005-10-11 22:03:19)

kilroy0097
Kilroy Is Here!
+81|6854|Bryan/College Station, TX
That Chams no Fog one. Geez. Yea you would be able to see everyone all the time. No hiding, no bushes just there you are plain as day and bam your dead.  I really hate cheaters.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis
The Soup Nazi
Member
+18|6797|North Lauderdale, FL
no kidding.  this hack is currently available for download and is undetected by Punkbuster.  now wouldn't it be nice to know that admins could watch suspicious players for hacks like this?
CBRad929
Member
+1|6794
I agree about allowing a spectator mode.  When I was adminning a CS server, I found it an invaluable tool to determine if someone was wallhacking, ghosting or aimbotting (or even glitching).

I will say however that I tended to error in favor of the player.  Bad cheaters have tell-tales.  Good Cheaters know how to cover their tracks.
Seaweed
Member
+0|6782
I'm not sure if one would consider it "Spectator Mode" but there is a way to follow players in a game.  On the upper right corner of the spawn map is an X, once selected you can follow other players on your team.  I believe you use C to switch between players.  So if autobalance isn't turned on then you should be able to do this for someone who just killed you, by switching teams first.  Obviously this functionality could have been made easier for an admin, but this is how I would do it until then.
The Soup Nazi
Member
+18|6797|North Lauderdale, FL
but when you do that isn't it only in 3rd person view?  you would certainly need to see things through their "eyes" to be able to spot a hacker.
Seaweed
Member
+0|6782
You are correct, it is in 3rd person view, and I would agree a 1st person view would be better.  But you may be able to see some signs from this view that would indicate a hack.  I'm not sure if you see their mini-map, but that too would be usefull in determining if their enemy was spotted or if there was a UAV overhead.
Hurlin
Member
+5|6785|Australia
"Spectator Mode" would be good I used it alot on CS/CZ mainly for going too the toilet or for a smoke, but I did use it alot too watch other players too get tips or catch hackers.
And the kiddie hackers are starting too pop ther heads up .......... I've come across very few so far some people who are very suspect and if they are on the same server as me I will not stay but go too another server; but the other night I did see 11 people get kicked by an admin and he mentioned what hacks they where useing; mainly aim bots but 3 where useing "clipping hacks" had too ask my brother about that one seems they can walk thru walls with a clipping hack.
dan500
Member
+57|6857
Its not always wallhacking, xfire works really well

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