Exploiting via Workshop Addons Possible?

[John Helldiver]

After browsing through the Workshop for this game, I became a little concerned after noticing the nature of some of the modifications, mainly weapon, scope, and team skins.

Would it not be very easy for someone to create an add-on that gave people an unfair advantage over others?

What if someone made a Workshop file that reskinned one or both of the teams with a bright, highly visible texture with the intention of making it easier to spot and engage them? Are there any steps that could be taken against files such as this? Have they already been taken?

I'm not saying we shouldn't allow reskins of these items by any means, since I use a few of them and really enjoy them, I'm just curious as to if there's a system to filter these files out and what steps someone should take if they discover one.

[Halo Squatch]

I like to use workshop items that change the scope sight. For example I downloaded one that improves the kobra sight. Which ones do you use?

[John Helldiver]

For scopes, the only add-on I'm subscribed to is the Elcan M145. I'm also subscribed to the 'Militant' series of weapon skins, as well as the Veteran Insurgent and 82nd AB/SF team skins.

[Halo Squatch]

I just browsed through the workshop and seen that somebody made bright red and blue character skins. That could be a little bit game breaking....

[John Helldiver]

Originally posted by Fuzzle:

I just browsed through the workshop and seen that somebody made bright red and blue character skins. That could be a little bit game breaking....

Is there a way to report files that might be viewed as abusive/exploitative?

Those files definitely sound like they fit in at least one of those categories.

[Arc]

sv_pure on the server should help :)

[John Helldiver]

Originally posted by Arc:

sv_pure on the server should help :)

Well, that's really not a solution I'm okay with, since I really like using Workshop mods. Plus, I don't think I've played on a server that has actually had that enabled. There should be a way to flag Workshop items that might be unfair or exploitative so that they can be reviewed and dealt with accordingly.

[pipi long stocking]

this is what happens when you give mod tools to a game community.

I'm impressed by the player skins, that give a a variety to camo, but keep them within a military context. and there's some really good insurgent skins, "veteran insurgent skins' that are actually better than the stock skins.

but , this freedom, does allow for someone to create a custom skin, for themselves or others, made of characters like hello kitty, bright blue or pink player skins for cheating.

such is the catch 22 of modding. :(

at some point , I hope NWI integrates the best ones into the official game, and all players will be able to see the good ones, and private servers can run skins that look like chickens if they want.

[Arc]

Originally posted by Stevetrooper:

Well, that's really not a solution I'm okay with, since I really like using Workshop mods. Plus, I don't think I've played on a server that has actually had that enabled. There should be a way to flag Workshop items that might be unfair or exploitative so that they can be reviewed and dealt with accordingly.

yea it should, but, workshop is not the only source of mods, if you ban this in workshop they can dl if from anywhere else, sv_pure can be set up for certain files (textures restrictions, but not sound, for example) but never for complete mods.

[John Helldiver]

Originally posted by Arc:

yea it should, but, workshop is not the only source of mods, if you ban this in workshop they can dl if from anywhere else, sv_pure can be set up for certain files (textures restrictions, but not sound, for example) but never for complete mods.

I wasn't aware you could get mods for this game anywhere else. Hm... This isn't exactly a solution I think is viable either, but what about only allowing add-ons from the Workshop? I imagine there are probably some old fansites that would take a major hit and possibly shut down entirely if NWI went that route, which is exactly why that isn't a solution either.

[Towely_ban]

mods shouldnt be allowed to be run in multiplayer. Thats actually really dumb for a competative multiplayer game.

[Schwee]

They might have to implement a white list at somepoint. This was a concern with Natural Selection 2. People were using skins that colored all skulks (a sneaky wall crawling alien) bright pink or something.

[cG. KCIV]

The problem is the workshop is unmoderated. SVPure is not a sollution. Sorry but I like my GAGE skins (realism) Workshop items should be "verified" before being publish or something.

[Casual Sun]

It is possible, but even when there are cheating skins readily available, people few and far between even bother to use the, Look at Counter Strike source. You can probably find at least 10 team skins somewhere on Gamebanana that color sides bright red and blue, but hardly anyone actually uses those. Any sort of flagging system could prevent these skins from being shared via workshop.

As for scope skins, I would say it's a matter of personal preference for the most part. We can't objectively decide among most reticules if there is one that vastly outperforms the others. A simple, tiny dot obscures view the least and should theoretically be the best sight, but even at that, performance improvement is likely negligable.

[John Helldiver]

Originally posted by Casual Sun:

...

I agree to basically everything you said, but I believe the workshop is probably a lot more accessible than Gamebanana is, as far as installing the skins is concerned. I think the fact that it's so easy to use the workshop will mean that more people use these exploit add-ons but hopefully there's something the developers can do to stop it.

[Towely_ban]

they need an svpure command to basically assume all mods are bad unless whitelisted by NWI. Then you strike a balance and all those not whitelisted are always, aside from servers which want it off, disabled.

Simple fix, hope the devs pay attention here.