DiRT Rally Road Book 09/09/16

[ChristinaMc 784]

Original post here: https://dirtgame.com/blog/5841

Hello.

It’s me.

I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet...

OK, OK – so that might be being a bit dramatic. But it’s been a few weeks since we’ve last updated the Road Book, so we’re just letting you know that we’ve missed you. It’s been a pretty busy few weeks for the DiRT team – both in the office, and out - so let’s crack on with the update!

Frolicking in France – our Loheac Road Trip

As we mentioned in the last Road Book, last week we found ourselves in Loheac for the French round of the World Rallycross Championship. While we can’t talk too much about the specifics of the Top Secret Stuff we were doing out there, it was incredible to soak up the atmosphere and catch up with the drivers. With local hero Sebastien Loeb racing at his home race (and in a Peugeot no less!) the paddock was absolutely buzzing to see the French RX dream team on home soil.

While we didn’t stay for the race (because we’re absolute fools), the Frenchman delivered in front of his adoring crowd – managing to bag a podium position alongside winner Kristofferson and second place Bakkerud. Alongside Solberg’s double-Joker magic, it was a pretty crazy weekend with a lot of bumps, jumps and battles. If you didn’t manage to catch any of the action as it happened, then head right here to see the incredibly action-packed final:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGoP9xrSZZc 

Anyway, anyone keeping a close eye on our online activity will have seen just a glimpse of what we got up to - especially over on Instagram. And anyone who got close enough to us while we were in the paddock could have overheard some extraordinarily tasty bits of gossip. But don’t worry – all will be revealed eventually. In fact, you could even say that we’ll unveiling things... Soon™.  ;) 

Oh, and for those of you who were interested - our hire car vehicle wildcard was a Nissan Juke. We still managed to put it through its paces though. It’s safe to say, we certainly left our mark. 

Our Steam leaderboards 

As you all might be aware, we recently reset the DiRT Rally PC leaderboards to rid the timesheets of cheaters. We’re a little further on now, and unfortunately, people have still been getting their way around our anti-cheat systems. It’s a sad reality that while we have been doing our best to combat cheaters, they’ve still been able to get onto our leaderboards...

... But not anymore. We’re delighted to say that we’ve been working with Steam to get VAC enabled status, which we’ve now achieved. So starting very soon, we’ll have a nice new shiny badge on our Steam store page letting you all know that we now have this protection against hacks and trainers.

To be clear, now we’re VAC enabled, this means that anyone running the game alongside any hacks or trainers will get VAC banned by Steam. The ban will be permanent, and it’ll come down across all online facets of the game – including PvP, Steam leaderboards, leagues, Dailies, Weeklies, Monthlies, and Special Events. It goes without saying, the ban will also be completely explicit too – you’ll get an Account Alert that drops in through your Steam account.

We want to give you guys a heads up that this is happening, as while there might be some bad eggs out there who like to cheat and ruin the leaderboards for everyone, we suspect that there might be some good eggs out there who run or who have ran trainers - perhaps out of curiosity, or just to play around with the game without actually exploiting leaderboards. It wouldn’t feel right banning these people without any warning, which is why we’re making you all aware of what’s around the corner now.

We take our leaderboards very seriously, and this will be a big step in maintaining the integrity of our leaderboards and times. We’ve always had a zero tolerance attitude to cheating, and this new way of implementing bans is far more effective and automated than anything we’ve had before.

On that note, please consider this post both a reassurance and a word of caution. It’s reassurance to those who work hard to achieve their valid times that you’re very much valued, and we have been listening – and a cautious word to those who have been cheating that they will be banned.  

Unveiled at Cupertino: F1 2016 Mobile

Just before we head over to catch up with Hatward, we’re crossing the streams again on our games... but with very good reason! If any of you tuned into the Apple Event this week, you’ll have seen Codemasters make an appearance on stage. And yes – it was to announce a new game: F1 2016 mobile!

We’re not saying too much about it just yet, but the cat’s rather brilliantly out of the bag to the 300 million people who tuned in to see Apple launch their latest products. To be honest, we heard a little bit of chat about some wireless earphones... but from what we could tell, most of the buzz was absolutely about our new mobile title. That was absolutely and definitely the case.

While we announced the title at the Apple Event, it’s not just an Apple-exclusive product; as well as being on iOS and tvOS, the game will be coming to Android devices too. You can stay up to date with F1 2016 Mobile over on the Codies blog: blog.codemasters.com 

Redecoratin' with Hatward

Hello DiRT friends! This is not an update from the studio. We’re in a recently acquired empty office putting our new playtest facility together.

In the not-so-distant future, we hope to host some of you here to play something exciting.

...and it won’t be ping pong.

Stay tuned!

Tweets of the Week

As always, you guys have been spewing some pretty awesome 140-character nuggets of joy! Here’s just a few of our favourites making the Twitter Hall of Fame today:

https://twitter.com/NFSFan0011/status/768901078838575104

https://twitter.com/Strider2079/status/769079788686438400

https://twitter.com/ConeDodger240/status/769196337967538176

https://twitter.com/Lucanalin700/status/769606419972849664

https://twitter.com/Ryu_Makkuro/status/769566081921015808

https://twitter.com/sergiarpi/status/769915752375787520

https://twitter.com/marcelpfister87/status/770119840703152128

https://twitter.com/TheReal_TORA/status/770285872671498241

https://twitter.com/michaudstudios/status/771088561038819328

https://twitter.com/SoundNetworkUK/status/771339431076823042

https://twitter.com/Ryu_Makkuro/status/772794300090445824

https://twitter.com/BeatenDownBrian/status/773510793795084288

[Porkhammer 78]

Wooo, VAC! Thanks DiRT team!

Keep up the good work!

[Dytut 89]

No ping pong? And here I thought ping pong 2017 was the new title.

[JZStudios 631]

Dytut said:

No ping pong? And here I thought ping pong 2017 was the new title.

I know, I got all excited for it. Those desks are perfect for it. I suggest making a leak video with what the guys in there are working on, but they're really just playing ping pong over the divider.

[tbtstt 2,387]

ChristinaMc said:

And anyone who got close enough to us while we were in the paddock could have overheard some extraordinarily tasty bits of gossip.

I would have heard something if you hadn't all gone home before the racing started! :p

[versedi 39]

VAC! Yes, yes! Amen!

Thank you again for listening to us and doing what gotta be done. Cheater will stay a cheater forever, banning is the only way to get rid of them.

[RyuMakkuro 6]

ChristinaMc said:

We’ve always had a zero tolerance attitude to cheating

ChristinaMc said:

we suspect that there might be some good eggs out there who run or who have ran trainers - perhaps out of curiosity, or just to play around with the game without actually exploiting leaderboards. It wouldn’t feel right banning these people without any warning, which is why we’re making you all aware of what’s around the corner now.

I don't want to sound like an arse (inb4 people saying I sound like one anyway) but those two statements contradict each other. "Zero Tolerance" policy against cheating means cheating in any form at any given time will result in a perma ban. Not only that but even before DiRT Rally left Early Access stage you guys informed that the cheaters have a "second chance". If that's not a perfect example of not having a "zero tolerance" attitude/policy to cheating, then I don't know what is.

But... let's leave that not interesting part and hopefully from now on that policy will actually stick. It's a good thing VAC will be in DiRT Rally. Definitely something to celebrate, although it's not perfect naturally (as can be seen in CS:GO).

I'm however super excited for that extra stuff for DiRT Rally, since if I take a look at the Instagram, the possibilities start flowing nicely. Specifically the Focus RS RX, Audi EKS S1 RX Quattro and possibly the prayers have been answered and the Gr. B icon will appear in the game after all... the almighty E2 :D
Although I'm still hoping it's going to be Loheac RX circuit over anything else.

In any case, it's good to see you guys are moving in the right direction.

PS. 3 mentions in a single Road Book... that has to be some record :D I swear I haven't sent any cheques in for that to happen xD

[enamel 0]

VAC nice! Thanks for the work to implement this.

CM Ping Pong doesn't even sound that crazy, Rockstar made a ping pong game, so why not? :smile:

[ChristinaMc 784]

RyuMakkuro said:

ChristinaMc said:

We’ve always had a zero tolerance attitude to cheating

ChristinaMc said:

we suspect that there might be some good eggs out there who run or who have ran trainers - perhaps out of curiosity, or just to play around with the game without actually exploiting leaderboards. It wouldn’t feel right banning these people without any warning, which is why we’re making you all aware of what’s around the corner now.

I don't want to sound like an arse (inb4 people saying I sound like one anyway) but those two statements contradict each other. "Zero Tolerance" policy against cheating means cheating in any form at any given time will result in a perma ban. Not only that but even before DiRT Rally left Early Access stage you guys informed that the cheaters have a "second chance". If that's not a perfect example of not having a "zero tolerance" attitude/policy to cheating, then I don't know what is.

...

PS. 3 mentions in a single Road Book... that has to be some record :D I swear I haven't sent any cheques in for that to happen xD

I hear you! It almost depends on your definition of cheating, however. If you're deliberately running trainers to cock up the leaderboards, I'd label you a cheater. But, if you're playing around with certain things just out of interest/curiosity, without spamming the leaderboards with unrealistic times, I might just call you adventurous. There are probably some cheaters who might see the warning and stop cheating (thus giving them their 'second chance') - but to make sure we're not penalising the fans who've been playing around, we thought a fair warning was the only thing appropriate. 

And, really? In that case, there's a tenner on my desk and I'm not sure who or where it came from... ;)

[dgeesi0 305]

Vac Bans.my oh my.im happy now. :)

i have all but stopped playing due to the cheating.knowing you are still on the ball and super serious about it will have me playing again now.

hopefully the bans cover your other games also.so if banned on Dirt Rally you are banned from F1 2016. and so on.its often engine based but the more the deterent for cheating hopefully less will cheat.

hopefully a full wipe of times happens now. with a more secure anticheat setting it would be great to have a fresh start.

[ChristinaMc 784]

dgeesi0 said:

hopefully a full wipe of times happens now. with a more secure anticheat setting it would be great to have a fresh start.

We're going to keep an eye on how things are doing, but yup - DiRT Rally season 3 could be on the cards. :)

[Porkhammer 78]

ChristinaMc said:

dgeesi0 said:

hopefully a full wipe of times happens now. with a more secure anticheat setting it would be great to have a fresh start.

We're going to keep an eye on how things are doing, but yup - DiRT Rally season 3 could be on the cards. :)

Please no...

[KevM 44]

Great game - Terrible topic - so frustrating

Hopefully VAC will break the 'never ending circle'.

[Porkhammer 78]

Well, resetting the leaderboards would be very dumb at this point, in my opinion. Definitely the lazy way out. Granted, I don't know the full procedure of removing individual times, but it would cause an awful lot of grief for those who just got started with setting good times again. Besides, there aren't that many hacked times around... not even half as bad as it used to be. I'll happily dig them all out myself rather than seeing all my times disappear again.

So please... don't reset the leaderboards.

[bogani 756]

Yeaa. Remove all impossible times that sits on top and keep the rest. I personally wouldn't care about a whipe but I feel the pain among the people that live for the leaderboards.

[KevM 44]

Porkhammer said:

Well, resetting the leaderboards would be very dumb at this point, in my opinion. Definitely the lazy way out. Granted, I don't know the full procedure of removing individual times, but it would cause an awful lot of grief for those who just got started with setting good times again. Besides, there aren't that many hacked times around... not even half as bad as it used to be. I'll happily dig them all out myself rather than seeing all my times disappear again.

So please... don't reset the leaderboards.

Cheating is dumb & very lazy, combatting it is not
Impossible for anyone to identify & weed out anyway.  Activate the Auto-Ban & reset the boards.  As mentioned, dabblers are getting a bit of a warning shot, bit it's a nonsense if their 'dabble-times' remain.

[RyuMakkuro 6]

ChristinaMc said:
I hear you! It almost depends on your definition of cheating, however. If you're deliberately running trainers to **** up the leaderboards, I'd label you a cheater. But, if you're playing around with certain things just out of interest/curiosity, without spamming the leaderboards with unrealistic times, I might just call you adventurous. There are probably some cheaters who might see the warning and stop cheating (thus giving them their 'second chance') - but to make sure we're not penalising the fans who've been playing around, we thought a fair warning was the only thing appropriate. 

Well, the general definition of a cheater would be someone who breaks the rules. And this is regardless whether we're talking about video games or motorsport or anything that has any form of rules in it. In the view of a video game, that means anyone who breaks the Terms of Service of a given game is effectively a cheater. That is what happens when we're talking in the defined meanings.

Now, when we start applying our own definitions to things, then a term such as "Zero Tolerance" should not be even taken into account, as effectively you're creating your own level of "tolerance" towards something, while that statement is an "absolute term". In other words, it doesn't allow for "personalization".
That's kind of the main reason behind the term. To point out there's no room for mis-interpretation. You broke the rules to which you agreed in any way, you're out.

Also, there's a saying that exist for a very good reason: "Once a cheater, always a cheater".

I get what you mean with not penalising the fans, but those that did it, would do it in an offline mode to not only ensure there would be no time uploaded to the leaderboards (regardless of how good or bad it was), but also any form of anti-cheat in the game would be unable to report that they did such a thing. Effectively erasing the event from existence.
If someone did it in an online mode... well, that was their mistake and they should be penalised for it. That is what "Zero Tolerance" refers to.

So all I'm asking is that if you use that term, please, make sure you really mean it. I think it's safe to say we're all tired of the constant cheating issues and the "Zero Tolerance" policy that you're talking about which allows the cheaters to roam free (for the past... 10 years or so). I'm personally sick and tired of seeing the same thing said over and over again while not a single thing changes.

Porkhammer said:

Well, resetting the leaderboards would be very dumb at this point, in my opinion. Definitely the lazy way out. Granted, I don't know the full procedure of removing individual times, but it would cause an awful lot of grief for those who just got started with setting good times again. Besides, there aren't that many hacked times around... not even half as bad as it used to be. I'll happily dig them all out myself rather than seeing all my times disappear again.

So please... don't reset the leaderboards.

I partially agree here. Taking out individual times instead of a full wipe is definitely preferable, however some stages need a wipe due to the times just being... ridiculous and very sketchy. For those few stages there shouldn't be much of a problem to re-do them for those that are really into that. At least it would prove they're that good.

Also... I really don't want my butt clenching runs with 037 on Monte to disappear xD

ChristinaMc said:
And, really? In that case, there's a tenner on my desk and I'm not sure who or where it came from... ;)

Well, apparently then someone did that but instead of his tweets, mine were "boosted" xD Sucks to be him/her/it then xD

[Cobra 21]

I had very much fun in DR using ACAT mod. For me it's even more sad cause I never participated in any daily/weekly/whatever events. Do I get banned now!?

[Porkhammer 78]

KevM said:

Cheating is dumb & very lazy, combatting it is not
Impossible for anyone to identify & weed out anyway.  Activate the Auto-Ban & reset the boards.  As mentioned, dabblers are getting a bit of a warning shot, bit it's a nonsense if their 'dabble-times' remain.

No, it's not impossible to see what times are not legit. Don't be daft.

[RyuMakkuro 6]

Porkhammer said:
No, it's not impossible to see what times are not legit. Don't be daft.

When it's near the limit, it's very difficult to tell. It becomes a lot easier when that limits is crossed by a bigger amount. Would help a lot if CREST was available for the Leaderboards as well, instead of just Dailies.

[Porkhammer 78]

RyuMakkuro said:

Porkhammer said:
No, it's not impossible to see what times are not legit. Don't be daft.

When it's near the limit, it's very difficult to tell. It becomes a lot easier when that limits is crossed by a bigger amount. Would help a lot if CREST was available for the Leaderboards as well, instead of just Dailies.

I have yet to see one since the reset. They've all been obvious.

[dgeesi0 305]

a reset as much as i hear you porkhammer should happen.why ?

people may remove trainers or cheats which they already set top times with.who cheats ? no one can actually answer that anyone could ! i seen during many years anyone will cheat even those you know best.so you have to be level headed about it and be flat straight across the line.which only a wipe can do. anyone here could use a trainer /hack.

so regardless of this being added their time stays.clever cheats will just be scraping home just in front or just a sec in front.wipe times let the anticheats do there work now in place.also with starting a fresh and knowing they will be banned permernant with VAC ban on record will deter many.

also those that just tweak odd files.

remember the exuast bug some top times were set with that it was wiped. just like now should be a wipe.

it needs to be concreated in so there is no leeway so it becomes questionable whether its worth risking so less do it.as said by a few others there should be seasons every few months and just wipe the times anyway.then maybe have all time hall of fame set of times or something like.

as for crest or telling it could be very hard. for eg i know what many of the trainers do some are very subtle things which a reasonable. for eg cars going slightly faster in each gear or extra grip some guy does this and beats the top time by .5 of a sec well done will be said when its the exact opposite.

thats why the anticheat needs to work and the tables need to be wiped.so if it is upto scratch its going to catch them.

[Porkhammer 78]

The thing is, even with VAC these players will show up. Lowlives always finds a way. That's why a reset is pointless.

[KevM 44]

Porkhammer said:

RyuMakkuro said:

Porkhammer said:
No, it's not impossible to see what times are not legit. Don't be daft.

When it's near the limit, it's very difficult to tell. It becomes a lot easier when that limits is crossed by a bigger amount. Would help a lot if CREST was available for the Leaderboards as well, instead of just Dailies.

I have yet to see one since the reset. They've all been obvious.

What about all the "unskilled" cheat users?  How do you pick them out?

Is the 'rule of selection' : faster than Porkie - must be a cheat?  Im pretty sure that won't really solve the problem.  

People cheat just to appear mildly above average & star anywhere in the top 100 too... Still cheating, even if they suck at it!

[ALF 8]

VAC. Hip, Hip, Hurray!!

Hopefully, all Codies games will have it, from now on. Next step... e-Sports.