Vkbasalt , MangoHud , GOverlay. Is there a risk in using any of these third-party types of software along side with Proton / SteamPlay?

[Ancient]

Vkbasalt

Vkbasalt is similar to the Windows software called Reshader . It allows the user to make adjustments and apply a certain "layer" of post processing to Vulkan in order to enhance visual graphics of the game you wish to play.

Now, i do not know exactly how this layer system works because there is little to no information about it, but since this is an alternative to Reshader for Windows (which injects dlls and hooks into the game and shader compiler) and Reshader has had some conflicts in having people getting banned (from what i saw it was in games were there were online components to it), so i am distressed to use it not knowing what collateral damage it might take along.

MangoHud

MangoHud is similar to the Windows software called MSI Afterburner . It displays overlay that contains gpu and cpu usage, fps information, all within real time of the game you are playing at that moment.

Likewise Vkbasalt i've also saw some reports of players getting banned on online games because of it (or at least claim to be because of it).

GOverlay

GOverlay it's just a GUI to help manage both Vkbasalt and MangoHud settings. Didn't see any reports about it.

Final questions

My main goal to use this type of software (or even mods) would be in single-players games only since i don't trust any third-party tool in online games because the way each developer codes in order to detect and punish certain behavior varies a lot, therefor i would rather not risk it.
But because some players might be interested in also using these softwares in online games, i shall include single-player, co-op and multiplayer games in the following topic.


Would there be a risk using MangoHud or Vkbasalt where it could have negative implications because of it?
(does it work similar to third-party mods and these are also a risk?)


Examples of negative implications:

• Example 1: Game with single-player mode only - locking certain achievements because the game thinks i'm cheating?
  
  
• Example 2: Game with single-player seperated from online Co-op and Multiplayer - doesn't flag anything on single player mode but when the player goes into online co-op or even multiplayer mode they can be banned for using the softwares?
  
  
• Example 3: Game with single-player + online Co-op + Multiplayer - while playing in single-player the game thinks i'm cheating and restricts or bans the player from playing multiplayer? (for example Dark Souls where the single player translates to multiplayer)
  
  
• etc.

Those are just a few examples of negative points that i imagine coming up if the coding would assume you're doing something bad.

Now the questions in hand can be as many as for example:
Is it always safe with single-player games?
Does it always have a risk when a game has any kind of online features?
I think by now you get the idea of what this topic is all about.

Feel free share any information that would be relevant to this topic.

[Cat on Linux]

steam play (Proton) is the first reason to get banned if developers decide to hunt those who can be potential hacker.

all of these "HUDs" do not modify anything in your game files, they inject the stat window on user side, "on your screen". it is perfectly fine for single player games, you can also cheat and hack single player games to your heart's content, you're the only one affected.
in MP games you have to research if wine/proton is allowed, some games allow it, some can ban you. "HUDs" don't matter.

I used mangohud for Proton games, works well even for windowed mode.

[Ancient]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Cat on Linux:

all of these "HUDs" do not modify anything in your game files, they inject the stat window on user side, "on your screen". it is perfectly fine for single player games, you can also cheat and hack single player games to your heart's content, you're the only one affected.

Does that apply to Vkbasalt? since it's not really a HUD, it's more of a post processing layer on top of vulkan, which i assume it injects or hooks calls withing the Vulkan shaders in order to modify various visual effects?

[Cat on Linux]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Ancient:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Cat on Linux:

all of these "HUDs" do not modify anything in your game files, they inject the stat window on user side, "on your screen". it is perfectly fine for single player games, you can also cheat and hack single player games to your heart's content, you're the only one affected.

Does that apply to Vkbasalt? since it's not really a HUD, it's more of a post processing layer on top of vulkan, which i assume it injects or hooks calls withing the Vulkan shaders in order to modify various visual effects?

I have no idea how it hooks in and if devs can consider it a cheat. from their github page

Will vkBasalt get me banned?
Maybe. To my knowledge this hasn't happened yet but don't blame me if your frog dies.

[Ancient]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Cat on Linux:

I have no idea how it hooks in and if devs can consider it a cheat. from their github page

Yeah that information was one of the things that made me start this topic.

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย catbox:

singleplayer games are fair game for open access

What about games like Hitman 1 (2016) and Hitman 2 where the campaign require an internet connection to have all the game features (even with leaderboards) and game progression?
Although the game itself it's played with a single player it does a good amount of online work behind it, do you think this type of game can be a risk for any type of third party software?



PS: Btw, I'm not trying to disavow your comments and useful information. The reason i'm giving more hard scenarios it's just for the sake of developing the topic for potential people who might have uncertainties, because as catbox said it is in matter a fact a grey area topic.

With your current answers I'm already pretty convinced of which side of the grey area i'm more inclined to accept, so I'm just letting you all know that your information and opinion is greatly appreciated and can help people who might have thought of the same dilema.

After all it's an interesting topic that would for example be cool for such tools to be implemented natively along side proton to avoid problems like this:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย catbox:

vkbasalt can be coded to highlight enemies/players

mangohud has a crosshair option

of course none of these are allowed...

So further comments are still greatly welcome.

[Ancient]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย catbox:

VAC would be the easiest to get started on a discussion like that

all other anticheats are probally off the table until it becomes an "industry standard"

visit steam for linux github...ask for a feature request
no idea

That's a great idea, will do.

[Cat on Linux]

if you don't plan to play multiplayer part of the game they can't ban you from single player for cheats. even if it's leaderboard and online connection involved like with Hitman. however some games from big publishers recently decided to take advantage of user's money and started to ban people in SP.
I'd suggest to research every given game to make sure it is safe to use. this is grey area indeed.