I've made quite a few maps for warcraft 3 and have yet to get started with a starcraft map, but before i do,
i got a question regarding the "data" saving aspect of starcraft. In warcraft this was impossible, but several maps use this to save unit stats, achievements etc.
But i heard some rumors that this system was easily hacked and that it often bugged and resetted.
I've got a good map idea in mind, but it relies heavily on achievements/progression. If people would get resetted every so often, it would destroy the idea of the game, and if cheating is easy, it wouldn't really make much sense either.
So im asking exactly how easy it is, whats really the deal about this matter?
I just want to know, whether or not i should create a different type of map, as i don't want to waste my time with something that doesn't work properly.
thank you.
For the bugging and resetting, you can take precautions and use fallback saves to prevent a complete reset. If you are cautious, this shouldn't be too much of an issue.
The problem with saving progress would be, that banks are stored client-side, so everyone has access to their own save files. Given enough time and dedication, people will eventually find out, how to modify them to their benefit, regardless of all precautions you take. All you can do is make it hard for them. You can (and should) encrypt the information stored in the bank, you can verify the bank with a signature (which, in theory, should be enough to secure the bank, this has proven to be easily circumvented, though).
However, you need to also keep in mind, that everyone has access to your map in the editor, map protection is ineffective and can be negated in seconds. So all kinds of obfuscations etc can be figured out, just by looking at your code. Of course, you can obfuscate your map script, as well, but again, this is no life saver, but merely additional effort for a potential bank hacker.
So unless Blizzard changes something, like storing banks server-side or whatever, you will never have 100% secure banks. But the effort might be too big for people to bother.
Actually, the resetting and bugging was the thing i feared the most, as it would destroy the experience for those who want to play to have fun.
As long as only "hardcore" modders can get to the bank, it's more or less okay. The only thing i feared was that the general player base, would rather choose to cheat, if that option was easier. I hope people that have no experience with the editor won't be able to do it in a couple of minutes, thats all really.
Btw, were you active in the german wc3 modding forum once?I think i remember you
Nobody jet proved me that bank signatures can be hacked.
I have all my maps with banks and nobody hacked them.
(however you can always make safety copy of your banks to exploit it for example)
Hi,
I've made quite a few maps for warcraft 3 and have yet to get started with a starcraft map, but before i do, i got a question regarding the "data" saving aspect of starcraft. In warcraft this was impossible, but several maps use this to save unit stats, achievements etc. But i heard some rumors that this system was easily hacked and that it often bugged and resetted.
I've got a good map idea in mind, but it relies heavily on achievements/progression. If people would get resetted every so often, it would destroy the idea of the game, and if cheating is easy, it wouldn't really make much sense either. So im asking exactly how easy it is, whats really the deal about this matter? I just want to know, whether or not i should create a different type of map, as i don't want to waste my time with something that doesn't work properly. thank you.
For the bugging and resetting, you can take precautions and use fallback saves to prevent a complete reset. If you are cautious, this shouldn't be too much of an issue.
The problem with saving progress would be, that banks are stored client-side, so everyone has access to their own save files. Given enough time and dedication, people will eventually find out, how to modify them to their benefit, regardless of all precautions you take. All you can do is make it hard for them. You can (and should) encrypt the information stored in the bank, you can verify the bank with a signature (which, in theory, should be enough to secure the bank, this has proven to be easily circumvented, though).
However, you need to also keep in mind, that everyone has access to your map in the editor, map protection is ineffective and can be negated in seconds. So all kinds of obfuscations etc can be figured out, just by looking at your code. Of course, you can obfuscate your map script, as well, but again, this is no life saver, but merely additional effort for a potential bank hacker.
So unless Blizzard changes something, like storing banks server-side or whatever, you will never have 100% secure banks. But the effort might be too big for people to bother.
Actually, the resetting and bugging was the thing i feared the most, as it would destroy the experience for those who want to play to have fun. As long as only "hardcore" modders can get to the bank, it's more or less okay. The only thing i feared was that the general player base, would rather choose to cheat, if that option was easier. I hope people that have no experience with the editor won't be able to do it in a couple of minutes, thats all really. Btw, were you active in the german wc3 modding forum once?I think i remember you
However, if some people can crack it and there is a high demand for it, they could just create a program, so everyone could easily do it.
Yes, this might very well be the case ;)
Nobody jet proved me that bank signatures can be hacked.
I have all my maps with banks and nobody hacked them.
(however you can always make safety copy of your banks to exploit it for example)
However banks has many limitation: http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/resources/tutorials/28875-trigger-bank-facts/#p1