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Time to axe this forum.

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2003 10:39 pm
by Mobius
With Outrage not even interested in replying to requests about the 1.5 patch - and with no interest whatsoever in developing any other Descent games, it's time to put this dog down once and for all.

Kill it.

*sigh*

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2003 11:12 pm
by Vindicator
But then mikem and Fugue will be out of a job... Image

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2003 11:28 pm
by Skyalmian
They stopped reading the DBB years ago.

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2003 7:44 pm
by Suncho
I'll moderate this forum.

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 8:26 am
by Kevin Bentley
Hey, I still come here occasionally!

As a matter of fact, I was playing D3 on PXO last night. My son (who was born after we finished D3) is now a D3 addict, and wants to play all the time. I'm having to set him up with a faster computer so we can play together.

Anyway, thought about 1.5 aren't lost. I'm working on it....standby!

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 10:10 am
by DarkShadow
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by Kevin Bentley:
<b> Hey, I still come here occasionally!

As a matter of fact, I was playing D3 on PXO last night. My son (who was born after we finished D3) is now a D3 addict, and wants to play all the time. I'm having to set him up with a faster computer so we can play together.

Anyway, thought about 1.5 aren't lost. I'm working on it....standby!</b></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow and we thought no one invloved with the game came here at all anymore. Image

Cool Image I wish I my son could do that. If my son didn't have Autism I would teach him to play too but he's too hyper to sit that long. Image

YAY so 1.5 may come out yet. Somehow I knew if anyone was gonna finish it it would end up being you. Image

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 12:46 pm
by Grendel
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by Kevin Bentley:
<b> My son (who was born after we finished D3) is now a D3 addict, and wants to play all the time. I'm having to set him up with a faster computer so we can play together.

Anyway, thought about 1.5 aren't lost. I'm working on it....standby!</b></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks for the heads up Kevin ! It would really come handy for shaking the cheaters out the games Image If you want to let your son loose online, we ([NuB]) are running "safe" games for our youngest member (she's 7 IIRC) regulary -- if interested, check w/ Deadmeat, Red Barchetta or me in PXO.

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 3:26 am
by DigiJo
hey now that is some good news Image

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 5:14 am
by CDN_Merlin
Kevin is from Outrage and help in making D3 IIRC. Image

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 5:26 am
by Vertigo 5
Well, this is great to hear. =) However, I heard from one of the beta testers that 1.5 doesn't completely stamp out cheating. I heard that it only prevents "a simple table file hack." There are some people who use other methods to cheat.

It's also great to hear from you, Kevin. It's also nice to hear that you still play and pass it on to your son and what not. =) It was sad not having you in chat shortly before November 1st and afterward and even now.

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 8:39 am
by Kyouryuu
You're never going to stop the cheating. Some loser will sit behind a computer for hours and figure a way around it. That's just the way some people are. Deprived of the finer things in life, their thrill is to ruin things for others. Maybe they were dropped as babies or something.

The question is, once we get version 1.5, which we might as well assume would be the last, what defense will we have when the cheaters come to ruin that? Image

(Hi, Kevin! ^-^)

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 9:10 am
by CDN_WingMan
Wow, good old Kevin.
There was a Kevin from outrage at Califest 1, was that you? if so Hi again Image

As for cheating, its almost impossible to stamp it out totally, but some games have an awesome setup, like return to castle wolfenstein, where they have punkbuster built in. This client side code is updated all the time, as new cheats are found.

I mainly play Americas Army these days and that game is full of hacks compared to D3, the Outrage guys actually did a pretty good job on D3's code to reduce hacking.

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 9:26 am
by JMEaT
Good to see you and your son are doing well, Kevin. Image

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 1:13 pm
by Deadmeat
Kevin, so good of you to let us know the 1.5 patch is not a dead horse. And I must agree, there is no way to stop real cheaters, but at least the 1.5 patch will stop the "kiddies" from altering game table files.

And Kevin, to echo Grendel, Team [NuB] would be very happy to have your son play with us. It's part of our mission to provide a "safe" environment for new players.

Again, thanx for the update.

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 1:26 pm
by Grendel
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by Vertigo 5:
However, I heard from one of the beta testers that 1.5 doesn't completely stamp out cheating. I heard that it only prevents "a simple table file hack."</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I know. Since CF I've a pretty good idea what the ships can do but I see better performance all the time online -- I think Image. It's really hard to spot or even proof a well done fine tuning of the table files (eg. homing vauss, toughter shields, faster sliding, better acceleration etc.) and it's too easy to do. So having 1.5 should at least weed out this kind of cheating and I know I'd more enjoy playing pickup games.

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 4:58 pm
by SuperSheep
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by [Grendel]:
<b> [QUOTE]Originally posted by Vertigo 5:
It's really hard to spot or even proof a well done fine tuning of the table files (eg. homing vauss, toughter shields, faster sliding, better acceleration etc.) and it's too easy to do. So having 1.5 should at least weed out this kind of cheating and I know I'd more enjoy playing pickup games.</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Homing vauss...not possible.

Tougher shields...One could give themselves shields but this is not controlled in the table file.

And I really must go on record to say that the whole myth of dropping packets is just that...a myth.

Damage packets are sent out reliably. This means that if they do not reach their destination, they will be resent until they do. You can simply not escape damage packets. So...the term dropping packets used currently as a accusation to the person who you think should be dying, is actually a problem server side or on your end, i.e., you're not sending the weapon fire or the server is fubared. The client can not escape damage packets once they are sent.

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 5:34 pm
by Mr. Perfect
Hear hear! Horrah for 1.5!

Now Mobius can relax his stranglehold on those fairies a little. Image

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 6:20 pm
by Grendel
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by SuperSheep:
<b> Homing vauss...not possible.

Tougher shields...One could give themselves shields but this is not controlled in the table file.</b></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Weapon:Vauss:flags:silent homing, check.
Ship: Pyro-GL:Armor scalar, decrease from 1. to .87 to have tank shield.

Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 7:22 pm
by Krom
That stuff wont work in MP...

-Krom

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2003 3:47 am
by STRESSTEST
Great news Kevin. I just started playing again Image

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2003 4:06 pm
by Mobius
Supersheep, I think you're seeing the "packet dropping" issue from the wrong side of the fence.

Simply put, dropping packets is YOUR upstream loss, not anything on the server. You are skipping about the place because ship position packets are NOT reliable....

So player A fires at Player B (The lossy client). The fusion blob of Player A travels towards Player B, and under normal circumstances would hit Player B squarely on the side - killing them.

However, Player B is lossy, and D3 doesn't interpolate ship positions between packets... so Player B drops 2 position packets, and travels from one safe side of the fusion shot, to the other, with the fusion passing harmlessly between his positions.

THAT'S "dropping packets".

As far as delayed damage - yes, you can take damage a LONG time after being hit: I seem to recall my modem playing days, sometimes getting damage packets up to 3-4 seconds after being "hit". So it does seem unlikely you can escape a damage packet - although the server isn't stupid - if an ACK isn't recieved after several tries - eventually it will give up trying to send the damage packet. Who knows how long it takes though? And if a connection is THAT flakey, D3 is gonna be sucking royally anyway.

=================================================================

As to 1.5: I wouldn't hold my breath. One guy saying he's working on it does NOT a patch release, mean! No insult intended to Kevin, but we have had MULTIPLE promises and assurances from Outrage employees regarding the release of 1.5.

We understand there's no official support for the 1.5 patch, and that employees have been working on it in their spare time in the past.

Personally, I'd bet good money the 1.5 patch is dead, or at least won't see the light of day until D3 is 5 years old. By which time, D3 *REALLY* will be dead.

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2003 4:10 pm
by Ferno
Mobi.. guess how 1.4 came about. yep, from just one person's hard work. Kevin's. So why can't you offer words of support instead of potentially pissing the guy off?

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2003 5:33 pm
by Suncho
You think d3 will be dead in less than a year, Mobius?

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2003 5:36 pm
by Kyouryuu
No, that's just when Mobius plans to leave Descent 3 for other pastures, so it must be dead in his eyes! Image

Gah. One writes some giant guide about Descent 3 that's mostly personal opinion and thinks they are a god of all that is Descent. Image

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 2:19 am
by Skyalmian
<font face="Arial" size="3">Gah. One writes some giant guide about Descent 3 that's mostly personal opinion and thinks they are a god of all that is Descent. </font>
Not all of Descent. Remember, he despises D1 and D2 with a passion. Image

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 11:33 am
by Ferno
I just remembered.. where's a 'stfu Mobius' pic when you need one?

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 12:37 pm
by Kevin Bentley
For you doubters out there, I have a 1.5 patch that has many fixes and has been tested. All I need is permission to release it (supported by me). I have all the D3 source still, and I could release patches all the time, as long as I have permission from the copyright holder...

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 12:46 pm
by snoopy
Image legal issues are never fun...

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 3:55 pm
by Grendel
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by Kevin Bentley:
I have all the D3 source still, and I could release patches all the time, as long as I have permission from the copyright holder...</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Just make sure you store backup copies in at least 2 different locations -- one never knows, maybe someday the (c) holders will decide to release the src... Don't flame me, I like optimistic thinking Image

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 4:41 pm
by Duper
Well.. as lond as Interplay isn't involved, it shouldn't be a problem.

I heard a rumor that Outrage is going under. :\

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 6:28 pm
by Ferno
who is the copyright holder anyways? it can't be Interplay.. they just publish the games and have rights to the name only.

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 7:40 pm
by Mr. Perfect
Parallax owns Descent.

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 7:52 pm
by Pugwash
My understanding was that the release of 1.5 was being held up by the MAC version not being completed (or maybe not started??).

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 11:15 pm
by Ferno
Perf: ok well that would be outrage/volition..

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 4:04 am
by DigiJo
well at least somemone is on it after all this years. sounds to me like a real descenter Image

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 2:12 pm
by Delkian
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by Pugwash:
My understanding was that the release of 1.5 was being held up by the MAC version not being completed (or maybe not started??).</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yep, this was what I was also thinking. I definitely hope that if it ever comes out, it's not only for the Windows version. Well, even that would be better than no patch... I guess. Maybe.

In any case, it's very cool to see this news, Kevin! More power to you!

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 4:35 pm
by Duper
actually, The Descent title is owned by Volition, Outrage, and Interplay. It's my understanding that each owns a different part of the game. The internet source, I was told long ago, is in ownership of Interplay, as are the movies.

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 8:12 pm
by Mr. Perfect
Parallax owns the rights to Descent. The compandy still exists in name only(owned by the two founders). Yes, the Parallax employees split into Outrage and Volition, but Parallax still owns the copyrights. Interplay owns the publishing rights. Orbital had to cut through all this BS when they tried to get authorization to do D4.

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:17 am
by Ferno
ok well that solves that.