How is cheating possible?

[Zapmeister]

Early on Norfleet spoke of some skill with hex editing. I doubt that discussions along those lines will occur outside of the dominions beta forum at most.

Well, so long as it happens somewhere, that's good. It's not a comfortable feeling to think that there's another Norfleet out there waiting to happen, or even Norfleet himself, under a new name tomorrow.

Kudos to Stormbinder, BTW, for his achievement. It took a lot of hard work and a thick skin to the jibes of Norfleet's supporters to pull this off. The end result is an invaluable service to the Dominions community and I, for one, would like to express my gratitude. Thanks, Stormbinder.

[Stormbinder]

Well, so long as it happens somewhere, that's good. It's not a comfortable feeling to think that there's another Norfleet out there waiting to happen, or even Norfleet himself, under a new name tomorrow.

Kudos to Stormbinder, BTW, for his achievement. It took a lot of hard work and a thick skin to the jibes of Norfleet's supporters to pull this off. The end result is an invaluable service to the Dominions community and I, for one, would like to express my gratitude. Thanks, Stormbinder.

Thank you for your kind words, Zapmeister. I really appreciate it.

[Demosthenes]

Yes Sir. Well worth the effort. Cleaning house is good for everyone.

RE: Zap and the topic heading...

I believe that we would all like to know how it was done. I recognize that Gandalf said it would be kept out of public eyes; I'm not sure I want to go wandering into the alley where I will find that answer.

[Molog]

I guess hexedit the 2h file so that your commanders have iligal orders. Would work, if they aren't checked on server

[Zapmeister]

I guess hexedit the 2h file so that your commanders have iligal orders. Would work, if they aren't checked on server

Two problems:

1) The 2h file is encrypted and checksummed;
2) The format of the 2h file prior to encryption is not public knowledge.

[Evil Dave]

Two problems:

1) The 2h file is encrypted and checksummed;
2) The format of the 2h file prior to encryption is not public knowledge.

While I'm not a cryptanalyst, I suggest you search the net for "chosen plaintext attack".

Apologies to the Moderators if mentioning this is a no-no.

[Zapmeister]

While I'm not a cryptanalyst, I suggest you search the net for "chosen plaintext attack".

I won't do this, but I will take your word for it that the encryption can be defeated with an appropriate tool.

That being the case, there's no defense short of server checking, and there's a lot of checking to do. The type and quantity of every asset a player apparently holds (gems, items, units etc) in the incoming 2h file has to be reconciled against the ftherlnd file, and that's not easy.

[Zapmeister]

I believe that we would all like to know how it was done. I recognize that Gandalf said it would be kept out of public eyes; I'm not sure I want to go wandering into the alley where I will find that answer.

Sure. But finding that answer is a pre-requisite for closing the vulnerability. And after that vulnerability is closed, it no longer matters if everyone knows the details.

But I have no problem with this happening behind closed doors, if that's the way the Powers That Be want it.

[reverend]

I also want to thank Stormbinder. I'm currently in my first MP game, fortunately without Norfleet. (made sure of that, I don't like powergaming.)

What I had read on the Boards about your claims against Norfleet was enough to make me 1. not want to play MP for the fear of yet undiscovered cheating, 2. not want to play against Norfleet.

Someone like you with the dedication to actually prove cheating even with all the flaming from several people deseves my respect.