Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

Leaf · 2015-06-30 05:44:21

Robert William Vigil robbed me last night.

Walked into my house, disabled my traps using minimal purchases (2 bricks used in succession perfectly), then did an 8 combination lock with 70 different combinations on first attempt and walked directly to my vault without any exploration of the rest of my base.

Sure this COULD happen, but the likelihood of it is ridiculously small.

This is why your game is dead, man.

Leaf · 2015-06-30 10:27:51

Yep... actually, I was tired when I wrote this. My trap actually had 256 different possibilities. Solved on the first attempt and automatic knowledge of where my vault was. Can this please get some publicity?

cullman · 2015-06-30 13:54:16

Yes, unfortunately, there are map hacks for this game. One that dumps the Map string to disk on entering the house. You can then paste that map string into Castle Draft and see the whole map. Though, it does sound like you may be the victim of one in this case. In my experience only a few people have access to this hack and it's not widely used, and many times people mistake luck for a map hack. I happen to have the code for the map hack and it's quite easy to implement, especially due to the open source nature of this game. I am working on my own version of the game called Terminal Heist that will be closed source and aim to solve this specific problem and others related to cheating (and add mobile support). We had some missteps on a graphics rewrite which has us delayed, but we have just overcome them and should be having a beta soon like in the next 30-60 days.

Leaf · 2015-06-30 15:00:50

https://www.sendspace.com/file/f4v2rh

My video gets cutoff before fraps finishes... but you see everything you need to.

cullman · 2015-06-30 15:55:21

I mean looks suspicious to me, of course unless there are other tapes where people have sawed into your walls to see what your voltage triggers look like. I assume no one did that to the extent to uncover the code? The funny thing is I have been in that house and the code I guessed the first time I think was only one button off, which is to say it's not impossible that someone guessed. However, it is a fact that map hacks exist,

Leaf · 2015-06-30 16:56:34

cullman wrote:

I mean looks suspicious to me, of course unless there are other tapes where people have sawed into your walls to see what your voltage triggers look like. I assume no one did that to the extent to uncover the code? The funny thing is I have been in that house and the code I guessed the first time I think was only one button off, which is to say it's not impossible that someone guessed. However, it is a fact that map hacks exist,

Yep, I'm no stranger to probability... I played poker for a living from 2003-2008. I know all about odds and luck.

I know that in the long term every house is solvable by a monkey hitting a keyboard.

I also know that this is highly unlikely. Especially the way in which he entered the house on two separate occasions.

Yes, some other players sawed in- but nobody saw more than 1 of the answers and they were hidden pretty heavily.

I also changed the code after a player saw one of the answers... just to be safe.

cullman · 2015-06-30 19:25:57

Then the odds are you were map hacked. Between that and dual account use is one of the reasons I think this game plateaued and then went into decline - it was just too easy to cheat. Terminal Heist should make it at least an order or two harder to cheat at, although of course making it impossible to cheat is impossible. However, if the game picks up traffic we will eventually employ a combination of admins/moderators and statistical analysis to keep it to an absolute minimum. We will implement temporary and permanent bans. Between the cheating improvements and the fact that I think this game would be great for mobile were the very reason we started to create TH.

Leaf · 2015-06-30 23:30:37

The sad thing is, this is our society. This is what we do with nice things- because we can't enjoy them. We can't wait to let someone feel the loss of their time and effort in an unfair manner because that is our greatest joy. It's not the majority, but it only takes the minority to ruin it for everyone.

This is what we have become.

cullman · 2015-07-01 12:23:31

I completely agree. Jason said it best, which is that people that cheat at this game are mostly cheating themselves. As this came is very intense with it's ups and downs, and if you make yourself invulnerable to those ups and downs you get the full experience of TCD.

joshwithguitar · 2015-07-01 22:40:06

I've been at the top of the list for a few weeks now and I haven't seen any sign of map hacking in my tapes. Possibly the entrance of my house is difficult to figure out even with a map? But I'd say it is more likely that either someone peaked your combination and then timed out, not leaving a full tape or that someone just got lucky (1/256 isn't that low a chance). Do you have any tapes of people suiciding on the welcome mat?

cullman · 2015-07-01 23:00:54

No, he was definitely map hacked. The guy that did it admitted it to me on Skype today. Why he hasn't targeted you, Josh, I dunno - I'll ask him

Last edited by cullman (2015-07-01 23:01:05)

Passive · 2015-07-02 08:05:29

Leaf wrote:

https://www.sendspace.com/file/f4v2rh
My video gets cutoff before fraps finishes... but you see everything you need to.

Just seen the video and i would have to agree it is a bit suspect. I have been in that house loads trying different combos and didn't even get close.

cullman · 2015-07-02 13:06:39

Passive, it's case closed it is definitely map hacking as the perpetrator admitted it to me.

Josh, I asked the map hacker why he didn't target the top house, this was his verbatim answer (Skype handle redacted) :

[7/2/15, 3:57:23 AM] XXXXXX: I did map hacked
[7/2/15, 3:57:48 AM] XXXXXX: truth is, I couldn't be bothered solving the top house
[7/2/15, 3:58:00 AM] XXXXXX: ->
[7/2/15, 3:58:10 AM] XXXXXX: solving
[7/2/15, 3:58:14 AM] XXXXXX: testing in a private server
[7/2/15, 3:58:23 AM] XXXXXX: and I would probably be banned
[7/2/15, 3:58:33 AM] XXXXXX: entering a house and just straight going to the vault

Passive · 2015-07-02 14:35:13

Really don't see the point in map hacks. Then again even when I had eppfels mr smith full map I still had to brute force it lol. So maybe if you have a complex house doesn't matter that they have. Thats the problem with como locks I guess. Well that and that they are really boring.

Leaf · 2015-07-02 16:32:52

So can we ban this guy then? What's the big idea here...

cullman · 2015-07-02 22:09:52

Well I don't have the power to ban anyone. Anyway, I can't really reveal my sources as I have been working with a couple of cheaters (paying some of them to show me cheats) in order to make Terminal Heist harder to cheat at. That being said I have shared with Jason, not the names of cheaters but some of their methods. When he changed the bounty system (devaluing killing family members) that was due to me sharing some of the tips cheaters showed me to generate cash.

Edit : I actually have shared everything I learned from the cheaters not just "some" of it.

Last edited by cullman (2015-07-02 22:46:27)

cullman · 2015-07-02 22:51:13

Passive wrote:

Really don't see the point in map hacks. Then again even when I had eppfels mr smith full map I still had to brute force it lol. So maybe if you have a complex house doesn't matter that they have. Thats the problem with como locks I guess. Well that and that they are really boring.

I agree completely, not that I am pro-cheating in any form, but I don't like combo locks. Even with a big number of bits people can still get lucky. Where my best house used a lot of animals and things had to be done in an exact order, and as a result there was no way for someone to guess the solution. In fact, I emailed a map shot of that map to LordOfHam and he still couldn't figure out how to do a tool less run on it even with the map revealed.

Leaf · 2015-07-03 13:07:10

cullman wrote:

Passive wrote:
Really don't see the point in map hacks. Then again even when I had eppfels mr smith full map I still had to brute force it lol. So maybe if you have a complex house doesn't matter that they have. Thats the problem with como locks I guess. Well that and that they are really boring.
I agree completely, not that I am pro-cheating in any form, but I don't like combo locks. Even with a big number of bits people can still get lucky. Where my best house used a lot of animals and things had to be done in an exact order, and as a result there was no way for someone to guess the solution. In fact, I emailed a map shot of that map to LordOfHam and he still couldn't figure out how to do a tool less run on it even with the map revealed.

one of the problems this game has is no stable way to generate revenue (even small amounts) over a long period of time safely...

So you need the cheapest trap that is guaranteed to kill the most people (combo locks).

It doesn't matter what you know about this game, if you don't know the combo, you can't beat it (unless you brute force it).

The dream is that you build up a decent amount of money and you build a great house out of that.

Last edited by Leaf (2015-07-03 13:07:53)

cullman · 2015-07-03 14:07:24

Back when there was a bunch of players even simple houses would/could generate a couple of $1000 an hour in income just by people scouting...One of the earlier version of TCD had the wife be a source of income I think. That is something that could maybe be re-introduced.

Last edited by cullman (2015-07-03 14:07:48)

Leaf · 2015-07-03 18:28:27

cullman wrote:

Back when there was a bunch of players even simple houses would/could generate a couple of $1000 an hour in income just by people scouting...One of the earlier version of TCD had the wife be a source of income I think. That is something that could maybe be re-introduced.

Where is the guy running the show? Has Jason checked out?

cullman · 2015-07-03 19:09:26

I don't think it's fair to say checked out, as if there was some serious bug or server problem he would fix it. However, he is on to his next game, Cordial Minuet, and won't be making improvements to TCD anymore.

Leaf · 2015-07-03 19:34:00

cullman wrote:

I don't think it's fair to say checked out, as if there was some serious bug or server problem he would fix it. However, he is on to his next game, Cordial Minuet, and won't be making improvements to TCD anymore.

Why not appoint someone as acting-admin?

Make a copy of things the way they are in case shit goes south and just hand the project off to someone in the community that actually cares about it?

cullman · 2015-07-03 23:54:35

I would argue that he has done that by making it open source. Like I said, there is the free community server and there will be TH which will be actively developed and admined with dedicated full time resources.

Leaf · 2015-07-04 02:38:48

cullman wrote:

I would argue that he has done that by making it open source. Like I said, there is the free community server and there will be TH which will be actively developed and admined with dedicated full time resources.

how many people play on this free community server, and how is someone going to play on it without purchasing the original game first?

cullman · 2015-07-04 19:10:50

I dunno you'd have to go on the community server to see. I haven't played on it myself. The guy that runs the community server provides a client you can download for free that's how you play without having to buy the game. Jason released the source code for the game, so the game itself is free. What you are paying your $16 for is access to the official TCD server.

The Castle Doctrine Forums

#1 2015-06-30 05:44:21

Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#2 2015-06-30 10:27:51

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#3 2015-06-30 13:54:16

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#4 2015-06-30 15:00:50

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#5 2015-06-30 15:55:21

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#6 2015-06-30 16:56:34

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#7 2015-06-30 19:25:57

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#8 2015-06-30 23:30:37

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#9 2015-07-01 12:23:31

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#10 2015-07-01 22:40:06

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#11 2015-07-01 23:00:54

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#12 2015-07-02 08:05:29

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#13 2015-07-02 13:06:39

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#14 2015-07-02 14:35:13

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#15 2015-07-02 16:32:52

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#16 2015-07-02 22:09:52

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#17 2015-07-02 22:51:13

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#18 2015-07-03 13:07:10

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#19 2015-07-03 14:07:24

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#20 2015-07-03 18:28:27

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#21 2015-07-03 19:09:26

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#22 2015-07-03 19:34:00

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#23 2015-07-03 23:54:35

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#24 2015-07-04 02:38:48

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

#25 2015-07-04 19:10:50

Re: Pretty sure there are hacks out for this game... or someone has hacked

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