PBEM Security, again

[QBeam]

Wow, I'm gone for 24 hours, and the thread is already closed?

Anyway, the concensus appears to be that the counter-thingy that tells how many times your opponent opens the file is the primary defense. In theory that would be fine, but in practice, with this game, that doesn't appear to be helpful. I, myself, have experienced the "blue screen of death" many times while playing this game, thereby forcing me to restart my turn. (It always happens right when I go to save my turn, too, so I have to do the *whole* thing over again.)

Over time, I'm figuring out what the work-arounds are. Don't ever try to alt-tab out, for example. But that one is really annoying, thanks to the antiquated technology for sending the turn files to your opponent. Digging turn files out of the directory and manually sending? Wow, I liked DOS, too, but the world has moved on...

Anyway, my larger point is just that this counter technique won't really be useful until the stability of the game is greatly improved.

[Barthheart]

I think an even easier solution is don't play with cheaters! After awhile we'll all know who we can trust.

I'm kinda new to this "play people over the net" either with e-mail or direct net connection, but why all the fuss? Is cheating really that rampant? If so just don't play with those people anymore. Seems pretty simple to me.[:'(]

[Reiryc]

I, myself, have experienced the "blue screen of death" many times while playing this game, thereby forcing me to restart my turn.

Are you using win98?

[Dalwin]

I haven't had any BSODs and I alt-tab out of the game all the time. Since I purchased via DD, this is the only way I have to check the manual while playing.

The one time the game hangs for me is if I hit the icon to return to the main start menu and then try to begin another game. To start a new game, I have to exit the game completely and then relaunch it.

[solops]

ORIGINAL: QBeam


Anyway, my larger point is just that this counter technique won't really be useful until the stability of the game is greatly improved.

Stable? This is the first game I have played in the last 6 years that has not crashed. I've played 3 to 6 hours a day for 7 straight days without a single bobble. This game is the most stable game I've played since the old Apple IIe DOS game, North Atlantic '86.

[Mr.Frag]

This is the first game I have played in the last 6 years that has not crashed.

As with all PC's, the very first thing you learn is they are not all created equally.

Many folks have problems that get blamed on the software. You only need to go to ANY forum and see an average of at least 50 people posting the same old "my machine runs blah blah blah perfectly, it's your software!"

This is the number one reason that developers have switched to console based production. They don't have to deal with people who refuse to accept the fact that their $299 Gateway special is REALLY a $299 Gateway special. [:D]

Sad but true. The computer business is about as ethical as the used car business. Personally, I'd trust a used car salesman more. Bargain ram, low end power supplies, substandard parts, it's a commodity business. You get exactly what you pay for. If you think you got a good deal, chances are you got hosed.

[TheHellPatrol]

ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag
As with all PC's, the very first thing you learn is they are not all created equally.
They don't have to deal with people who refuse to accept the fact that their $299 Gateway special is REALLY a $299 Gateway special. [:D]
Sad but true. The computer business is about as ethical as the used car business. Personally, I'd trust a used car salesman more. Bargain ram, low end power supplies, substandard parts, it's a commodity business. You get exactly what you pay for. If you think you got a good deal, chances are you got hosed.

[8|]Tell me about it, i've got 5 in the garage...they make a nice workbench when they're all lined up[;)] You DO get what you pay for[&o].

[QBeam]

No, I'm using a brand new machine (purchased from Dell in Dec. '04), with all the drivers up-to-date. It's about as clean as a machine can be. The bottom line is that this program just isn't very robust.

Much of the problem goes away if I just obey two basic rules: don't try to run any other programs in the background while running WaW, and don't ever try to alt-tab out of the game. Despite the fact that I know these things create problems, I still don't always obey them, because I get away with them enough that the lesson doesn't seem to sink in. Part of the problem is that it takes so long to load this game. It's just so tempting to try to alt-tab out to send the turn file, rather than terminating the program, then restarting it.

[QBeam]

I'm prepared to accept that it's highly stable on your platform. I'm not sure why it would be less stable on mine, but it plainly is. More importantly, it is patently obvious from the number of people who complain bitterly about stability problems that there are a wide range of rigs that observe these stability problems.

That is obviously a function of the fact that this game did not recieve anything like the range of beta-testing that titles with a broader appeal recieve. Of course, that's an economic certainty, so I don't hold it against the developers, or at least not much. (Greater stability is always appreciated, but I also appreciate the economy of diminishing returns.)

[QBeam]

I don't have any reason to disagree with your thesis, but I think it fair to observe that my rig is a top-of-the-line Dell purchased in December. And that I've updated video drivers since then. In this case, if the program is less stable on my machine than on others, I'm guessing its because mine is more up-to-date than the rigs the software was developed and tested on.

[Reiryc]

ORIGINAL: QBeam

No, I'm using a brand new machine (purchased from Dell in Dec. '04), with all the drivers up-to-date. It's about as clean as a machine can be. The bottom line is that this program just isn't very robust.

Much of the problem goes away if I just obey two basic rules: don't try to run any other programs in the background while running WaW, and don't ever try to alt-tab out of the game. Despite the fact that I know these things create problems, I still don't always obey them, because I get away with them enough that the lesson doesn't seem to sink in. Part of the problem is that it takes so long to load this game. It's just so tempting to try to alt-tab out to send the turn file, rather than terminating the program, then restarting it.

So what os are you using?

[QBeam]

Windows XP, of course. Dell doesn't sell anything else, any more.

[Reiryc]

home or pro?

Home seems to have more problems associated with it I've noticed from other gamers than pro.

I haven't had a crash yet on my machine and I constantly alt tab out while the ai does it's moves and surf the web.

My specs:

p4 3.4 ghz, intel 915gag motherboard with 1.5 gig ram.
Vid card: PCI Express nvidia 6600gt 256 meg ram
OS: Win xp pro
120 gig sata hd

Got all this in october of '04. So I'd guess that my machine is is up to date as well.

For christmas I got my wife a new dell laptop and we've had quite a few problems with software that ran fine on her old dell laptop. Many times a program would crash due to driver issues even though I've updated all of them. Maybe they've got some really cheap hardware or memory in for building their systems lately.

[Alan_Bernardo]

QBeam,

On the PBEM security thing or anything relative to security-- there are always going to be holes.

Best thing to do would be to play PBEM with those whom you can trust. Outside of that, make no excuses and accuse no one of cheating. After all, this is a game. There is no money involved, just experience and fun.

If I suspect a person of cheating and know it to be an absolute fact (not just some phantom that I've made up to cover my loses), then I just don't play that person again, period.

Alanb

[dobeln]

IIRC you have one free reload before the counter starts ticking up (According to some Matrix rep in the other thread.) So you should be able to muddle through without getting the cheater tag, provided you don't have multiple BSOD:s per turn. (In which case you probably have bigger problems on hand than being branded a cheater... ;P )

PS.

If I ALT-TAB out and do something from full-screen mode, (surf, open a PDF, etc.) that means that the game will hang when I try to get back in. No BSOD though - the OS will remain stable.

DS.

[WanderingHead]

ORIGINAL: dobeln
If I ALT-TAB out and do something from full-screen mode, (surf, open a PDF, etc.) that means that the game will hang when I try to get back in. No BSOD though - the OS will remain stable.

It seems like there are several issues with Alt-Tab. It used to Crash To Desktop for me every time I Alt-Tabbed. Then I installed updated NVidia graphics drivers and I haven't had that problem since.

Still, I am experiencing a bug in the replay feature (the control buttons are missing), and Joel indicated that this has been seen and appears to correlate with having Alt-Tabbed.

[jgonzo]

Being an IT I havenoticed this. That if your pc crashes or hangs when you alt tab one of two things are happening

1. Memory is bad
not that is is broken it is just bad

2. the correct vidoe drivers are not properly installed.

Out of the many times I have face this problem the later has been the issue 9 times out of 10. Notice I said the correct video drivers not the LATEST [:-]. Here is the case i recently faced with my Dell XPS laptop running XP pro (I would NEVER be caught dead with a home edition AGAIN but that is another issue).

some games I could alt-tab all I wanted and have no problems, other caused lock ups and even reboots. well it could be either memory or video driver. I did a little research about 2 hours worth. I found the Omega drivers (3rd party) for my card. WOOT installed configured and I have never had the problem since. the Omega drivers are not the latest and they are not from dell or ATI (the card on the laptop) but they work wonders on my system. will I upgrade my driver again just to have the latest and greatest? only if I NEED TO; meaning that I have a problem that should be solved by upgrading the driver to the CORRECT driver set not the LATEST.

Also you can try this if all drivers are wirking the same for you. Instead of Alt-Tab do an Alt-Enter (I Have not tried this with WaW) This should put the game in window mode and all you to alt-tab no problem. Do another Alt-enter to go back to full screen

[ravinhood]

I don't have any reason to disagree with your thesis, but I think it fair to observe that my rig is a top-of-the-line Dell purchased in December.

Lol just about everyone knows DELL is garbage. They use the cheapest mother boards, the cheapest ram, the cheapest of everything and that's why they have such deals. Even the top end machines use cheap mother boards and parts. I wouldn't use a DELL if someone gave it to me. The BEST systems are always those sold or built by independents that use the BEST boards, the best ram, the best video and sound cards.

I learned a long time ago that store bought computers are made to sell to the "unknowing". People buy a name brand and get screwed. Once I learned how to build my own, I rarely experience a problem with my system and when I do I always discover what the issue is. That BIOS has to be updated from time to time and I would wager your run of the mill joe never updates their BIOS.

DELLS are ok/fair for business machines, but, I would never own one for a gaming machine.

[Cmdrcain]

ORIGINAL: QBeam

No, I'm using a brand new machine (purchased from Dell in Dec. '04), with all the drivers up-to-date. It's about as clean as a machine can be. The bottom line is that this program just isn't very robust.

Much of the problem goes away if I just obey two basic rules: don't try to run any other programs in the background while running WaW, and don't ever try to alt-tab out of the game. Despite the fact that I know these things create problems, I still don't always obey them, because I get away with them enough that the lesson doesn't seem to sink in. Part of the problem is that it takes so long to load this game. It's just so tempting to try to alt-tab out to send the turn file, rather than terminating the program, then restarting it.

If installed it for all users, then create a limited account,
which will load less processes then an admin acct, at least thats how it is with my PC.

I played the game all way to end in 1947 (no time limit)
no Bsod's for me, you don't specify what your PC has..

Mines a P-4 1.8 ghz hyperthread supported Mobo, 32MB All in wonder radeon in an AGP port, 512MB ddr-266 RAM the virtual cache is
1.2 Gig

With limited acct the available free sys Ram is around 350MB vis admins around 220MB

XP Home in use.


Also I run WAW in windowed mode, I've had no problem running something else while games loaded..

Motherboard, is what was once a flagship Mobo over a year ago (It7Max2) Manufactured PC's can be cheap but depending on what options might pick can be decent or so-so PC's, I still have a quantex that runs , bought in 1998 but I never was quite happy with the limits on what options I had, a good PC system is one thats built to specs, I basically bought my parts and put together all of it.

No ones system is going be same as anothers, so performance will vary.

So whats your specs?

[solops]

ORIGINAL: QBeam

Much of the problem goes away if I just obey two basic rules: don't try to run any other programs in the background while running WaW, and don't ever try to alt-tab out of the game. Despite the fact that I know these things create problems, I still don't always obey them, because I get away with them enough that the lesson doesn't seem to sink in. Part of the problem is that it takes so long to load this game. It's just so tempting to try to alt-tab out to send the turn file, rather than terminating the program, then restarting it.

So what's the problem? Turn of the background & TSR programs (standard practice) and don't Alt-tab. Problem fixed.