Windows Cheaters - What's being done about it

[Scott Blood]

Morning All,

only a few days of the year left and thought I would try and find out what GI are doing about cheaters on the game, specifically those that manipulate the rankings for passenger numbers carried in the alliances.

Over the last few months I have worked my mouse to the bone getting my alliance (4 members) into the top 500 (RyansHair) but that isn't enough as the top one last week alone carried 6.1 million passengers.

So I did some research and came across a glitch in a previous version of Airport city that meant you could resize the window (windows only) and any active bonus was instantly reapplied. I tried this with a test account and quickly found using the secret faucet I had 100k in fuel in a matter of 12 minutes.

Looking through these forums, I noticed a thread in the windows section where people are openly discussing using older versions of the game to manipulate the rankings.

Link: https://www.airportcitygame.com/threads/players-with-not-updated-windows-client.13478/

Is anyone aware if GI are going to permanently block the older versions of the game in a future update and make these rankings fairer?

I have spent a little over £300 in the last year buying stuff for this game (usually on sale weekends) but completely refuse to any more until the game becomes fair again for all.

Apologies my end of year rant is now over

 

[AJ]

Yes, It is a issue and many players are still doing it by not updating the game.
GI is aware of this issue.
But does this effect current rankings(Updated Rankings)position?

 

[Wasted Eagle]

Hi Scott

Please link the thread you're referring to so we can weigh in...

 

[Scott Blood]

Yes, It is a issue and many players are still doing it by not updating the game.
GI is aware of this issue.
But does this effect current rankings(Updated Rankings)position?

It must do there is no human possible way of doing 6 million flights in a week. if you had 16 members in your alliance, then that equates to a total of 375k passangers each per week or 15k per day, its crazy numbers even for those who don't sleep and have enough money to buy fuel in the bucket loads.

 

[Wasted Eagle]

Looking through these forums, I noticed a thread in the windows section where people are openly discussing using older versions of the game to manipulate the rankings.

Link: https://www.airportcitygame.com/threads/players-with-not-updated-windows-client.13478/

Well, I fail to read where the manipulation happens in that thread. Three guys using the forum to team up for launches and gifting after failing to update (the one with the thunderbird) is manipulating? No, you misread...

GI states that every update they toughen up on cheaters. And they do. As a game software engineer you must surely know what a hard time those developers have in staying ahead of the cheaters/hackers.

But beware of accusations. It has happened here before, with a strange turn of events: https://www.airportcitygame.com/threads/another-supernatural-player.10284/

Nice to see you spend that amount on the game. You're not alone in this. Must of us spend and some spend big. I know a few players who spend your yearly budget per week or per month. 375k pax is a slow week for those guys.

Why don't you stick around on the forum, Scott? We're nice and don't bite. We are an active trading and launching community. Your game will evolve like you've never seen before!

 

[AJ]

It must do there is no human possible way of doing 6 million flights in a week. if you had 16 members in your alliance, then that equates to a total of 375k passangers each per week or 15k per day, its crazy numbers even for those who don't sleep and have enough money to buy fuel in the bucket loads.

If you are talking about Pink Spider then I would say they are Cheater's, they fly millions every week by cheating.
I don't know much about the Current Week #1 Alliance but as far as I can guess, there will be one or 2 player's in their Alliance flying millions (Cheater's Ofcourse) and others would be at 50-60k.
All top Alliances are like this, they have one or 2 Cheater's who does millions of Passengers whereas others don't even fly.
But there's no benefit of that since Cheater's will get banned someday and those who are playing fairly will have maps but they will be unable to utilise those map's.
Alliance rankings are checked every week by GI and even i report if I see anything suspicious.

 

[Scott Blood]

Well, I fail to read where the manipulation happens in that thread. Three guys using the forum to team up for launches and gifting after failing to update (the one with the thunderbird) is manipulating? No, you misread...

You are correct as a games developer, I would class not updating to the current version when its free as a manipulation. However if GI are too stupid to include a single line of code that runs a version check on there servers, then I retract that the players are at fault, moreover GI.

However I still stand by the fact this game is rife with cheaters which spoils it for everyone else. Preventing previous versions (with loopholes) from running is relatively simple for an developer whether it be games or bog standard windows software. You either do a version check on the server and ensure the version number being sent is CRC checked or even more forcefully, you change one of the back end calls on your API to ensure only the most current version of your software has the ability to even start the initial handshake 'hello I am here and ready to connect'.

I will be sticking around.

 

[Scott Blood]

Also please note: I have man flu and in a grump so my posts are coming across much more grumpier than they are intended.

 

[Gt city]

Also please note: I have man flu and in a grump so my posts are coming across much more grumpier than they are intended.

Get well soon, mate! With flu also, but getting better.

 

[Agent_L]

Looking through these forums, I noticed a thread in the windows section where people are openly discussing using older versions of the game to manipulate the rankings.

Link: https://www.airportcitygame.com/threads/players-with-not-updated-windows-client.13478/

That's my thread and you could have simply asked instead of falsely accusing of cheating and manipulating.
If you would take the effort to actually read that thread instead of using it merely to fuel your self-righteous fury, you'd learn that people with old client are left on the old ranking, different than yours. So we can't participate the ranking you're in, not even talking about manipulating it. And that's destination ranking, not the alliance one. What can I say, emotions cloud judgement.

I would class not updating to the current version when its free as a manipulation.

"A junior admin installs new version right away. A seasoned one waits for junior to discover the bugs". Like green-stealing popups and increased item loiter time.

BTW, was your research good enough to discover that despite my warnings everyone upgraded asap, and the only who stayed on the old version did that not on their own choice, but because GI deprecated their devices? They can't "prevent previous versions", because they have no new version for them at all.



A puny alliance of merely 4 people is bound to have trouble to make it to top500, having to compete with established alliances of 18 people. That's not cheating, that's the game design. The sole fact that you dare to compare yourself with #1 proves how much you lack patience. You're my age, yet you behave like a spoiled kid: "mommy, I want to win NOW!".
This is pay-to-win game, in case you haven't noticed. How many greens have you spent at buying flights so far? I bet zero.

In fact, it's you who's cheating with the windows resize trick, I haven't knew it before because I play on phone. But thanks for your confession, 20xifb0i , I'll report your fuel cheating to GI so you will have first hand experience on how cheaters are dealt with.

Also please note: I have man flu and in a grump so my posts are coming across much more grumpier than they are intended.

Why people always use their gender as an excuse to be a complete jerks? Man flu or PMS, nothing excuses you from not being a responsible adult who weights his/her words.

 

[Scott Blood]

@Agent_L I retracted my statement in a post above, maybe we both need to reed more clearly and concisely and I am a man thus, I use the term man. Also would like to point out that man flu is a pejorative I was using to put myself down, nothing to do at with any form of gender bias, its a typical British phrase used quite regularly, a bit like jerk is in America, even though its actually a food.

Your move flower!

 

[Gt city]

I am watching you, guys
@Scott Blood @Agent_L

 

[Wasted Eagle]

You are correct as a games developer, I would class not updating to the current version when its free as a manipulation.

Failing to update meant not being able to update, involuntarily from the player's perspective. A discontinued service by GI to certain 'outdated' hardware, if you will.
The update being free brings no solace to the ultimate price that, for example, I had to pay: buying new hardware. The money I had already invested in this game prior to forced updating surpasses the cost of a new laptop or phone or Surface tablet multiple times.
No, not manipulating. Trying to continue to play the game we got hooked on for a few years before the update of death came along. Less players in an outdated version means more opportunities for the stragglers. Yes, some of them chose to stay behind, but others were forced.
But if organized playing to save resources and maximizing the outcome with the help of this forum is manipulating, then I am guilty. In fact, updated or not, we all are guilty. Just by using this forum. We manipulate rankings directly or indirectly on a daily basis. We grant ourselves a significant advantage to unorganized players by launching together, by setting up gift networks, by communicating in alliance work, etc.
Manipulation has no simple definition, if you ask me.
But let's be clear that what I told you is pláying the game with the cards we have been dealt, not bending or breaking or hacking the game. Players guilty of those things should be banned without a hiccup.

And as far as this rant goes, I could easily start a second one on game developers manipulating their game to discomfort and trick players. This topic, however, is covered very extensively here on the forum...

Take care of your manly flu, friend...

 

[Wired Parrott]

Not sure I should speak......
Your flu did muddle your math above though 375k is more like 53k give or take per day.
I read 15k and thought I get that when trying and I am a low count player compared to many.

 

[Scott Blood]

And as far as this rant goes, I could easily start a second one on game developers manipulating their game to discomfort and trick players. This topic, however, is covered very extensively here on the forum...

Airport city along with lots of mobile \ tablet orientated games is full of manipulations and tasks that would be impossible to complete without spending money. this is how developers make money from people who get hooked on this kinds of games, pretty much akin to the gambling addictions people have to FOBT machines in high street bookies.

 

[Agent_L]

@Scott Blood I'm delighted to see this situation getting defused instead of escalated : )

I stayed on the old version for pretty much same reasons that bother you: cheaters.
Not so long time ago we had separate rankings for each platform (the destinations one, not alliance). Now, I play on WP which is the most closed of all platforms, so cheating there was minimal. Of course, it's the least represented too, so our rankings where the easiest by the sole virtue of least players, yet we still haven't had regulars able to take every spot, every week. When the rankings were merged my biggest fear was being thrown into one ring with heavyweight cheating champions of the most hackable platforms, Android and Windows PC. Of course, there were other reasons, namely friends being stranded there on their Surfaces, and the ranking being deserted by upgrading players.
Was it fair to merge rankings? No. And yes. The point is the "fair" doesn't mean anything. This is GI's game, so they make the rules, not our feelings about what constitutes "fair". I only exploit those rules to my advantage. That's 100% legit.

Is it fair that old players have 10 instead of 6 Planetariums, buildings that produce Greens, and 18 instead of 12 planes due to Event Hangars? No, it's not fair. But is it allowed and legal? Yes. Those are GI rules, they can take that away but they're not doing that. In fact, on some of those we have official statements that those exploits are acknowledged, allowed and not punishable.
The game is never fair, just like real life. Alliance rankings have limited capacity, so eventually new alliances will have no change to grow as all spots that yield xp will be occupied by old alliances. Even more, some platforms got the alliance feature before others. So potentially, players on Windows Phone and PC could never be given any chance at alliance. How fair is that?

As @Wasted Eagle had said, the sole fact of being on this (or any other) forum gives us huge and unfair advantage over solo players. Yet, it's not forbidden, therefore we exploit it.

About updating apps: this is my computer. I am it's owner and I have the ultimate saying on if app gets updated or not. GI can't really forbid that. They've updated the Unity engine version, and it no longer supports Win RT. So they not only skipped this extra "if" to ban old players from participating in rankings, they keep the old ranking servers up. They actually take the effort to allow doing what I am doing. Hence I take it as official approval.

My point is that you can't run around, throwing accusations and your judgments on other people's actions. I've seen that happen in the real life too many times: X sees Y eg. stealing, and instead of going to the police, testifying and getting Y sentenced (because that's scary, unreliable and too much trouble), they start warning other people about Y. Unfortunately, this constitutes defamation. So Y's sues X, and while Y's stealing is well hidden with X as the only witness, X's slander is well witnessed by many people. So the thief walks free and the witness gets punished.
Bottom line is: the law is not yours to take action upon, no matter how much something violates your sense of justice. If you have proof, go to the officials. If you have nothing, then just bite the bullet, you can only make it worse.

 

[Kesh]

Airport city along with lots of mobile \ tablet orientated games is full of manipulations and tasks that would be impossible to complete without spending money. this is how developers make money from people who get hooked on this kinds of games, pretty much akin to the gambling addictions people have to FOBT machines in high street bookies.

That's the direction where gaming industry is going. Check more popular games, after initial purchase almost every update in term of DCLs is needed to be payed extra.

At the end it's your choice to either stay at lower level of the game or invest some money in terms of faster progress/better rankings or whatever it's your personal goal in the game.

Before platform merge I was able to won some gold tokens almost every week only by ranking. This changed - now I'm not even close but I focused on other ways of gaining items I needed, I changed strategy, game play, fleet.
Merging also introduced me to new friends, great players with whom I was not able to collaborate before.
Everything has it's pro and cons - I'm trying to forget about cons and embrace pro's.

Happy playing!

 

[Scott Blood]

About updating apps: this is my computer. I am it's owner and I have the ultimate saying on if app gets updated or not. GI can't really forbid that. They've updated the Unity engine version, and it no longer supports Win RT. So they not only skipped this extra "if" to ban old players from participating in rankings, they keep the old ranking servers up. They actually take the effort to allow doing what I am doing. Hence I take it as official approval.

Once again I make an apology for my assumption that it was cheating. I was fully unaware that separate ranking systems are still used, I wont pretend to understand why GI insist on supporting an old platform, but fair play to them on doing this for players who have older \ unsupported devices.

On the WINRT front, because these are ARM based processors, the current Windows Insider build of windows 10 has a very very early build of WOW for ARM (windows on windows), which basically means come June \ July possibly even august windows 10 will be able to run any app on ARM based processors regardless of what architecture they were built for a bit like how 32 bit apps still work on 64 bit processors.

Sorry for the geek bit

 

[Agent_L]

What's being done about it

Back on topic:
First, to judge what's being done about it, we have to consider what can be done about it. And the answer is: not much, sadly.

There is on huge difference between mobile AC and most other mobile and Facebook games: It is an offline game with bit of optional online elements. Once can never get it as cheatproof as eg. World of Warcraft, which happens on a secure server with clients merely displaying the results. With AC, you can take your phone into the wilderness for 6 days, do all your flights offline and then return to civilization on Sunday, upload a week worth of scores and then "suddenly" win the ranking. This means that it's almost as vulnerable to cheating as offline games, when we used hex editors as kids to change a byte to 0xFF to get 255 of gold.
There are buildings and planes, there is warehouse of passenger and fuel bonuses, one can buy those with greens, one can buy "pay to win" flights with greens, there are green-producing buildings - the point is there are so many legit ways of achieving 10Mpax/week that it's nearly impossible to say "beyond all doubts, this score must be result of cheating". And banning people without proof is even less acceptable than letting cheaters go unpunished.

It would be imaginable to drop the offline feature, cut of many of players who play on long flights. It would be imaginable to create a server which could retrace all possible action the way Deep Blue could and sometimes come with conclusive proof of cheating. But it's not a job for one programmer to add one "if". It's hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of work. It's quite possible that it would be cheaper to simply declare the game a total loss and shut it down rather than to make it considerably more cheatproof.

Is GI doing something to eliminate cheaters? Yes, a bit. You can report, they'll look after it and most often they come with false negative. Sometimes they ban people, but false positives also happen (like Cow.reborn).
Are they doing everything possible? No, but it's not reasonable to expect that. It's simply not economically viable.

 

[Agent_L]

On the WINRT front, because these are ARM based processors, the current Windows Insider build of windows 10 has a very very early build of WOW for ARM (windows on windows), which basically means come June \ July possibly even august windows 10 will be able to run any app on ARM based processors regardless of what architecture they were built for a bit like how 32 bit apps still work on 64 bit processors.

They've had WinXP running on ARM over 10 years ago. They've had WinPhone8 but they've refused to adopt it to Windows Phone 7 devices. Finally, they did have Windows Phone 10 builds fully compatible and running on dual core devices like Lumia 920, yet they've chosen to simply not release it.

I seriously doubt old Surfaces will get the update even if it'd be technically possible. Because there is no reason for them to do so.

Besides that, people like @Kesh who updated on Windows Phone report that the game has become very unstable and crashes often. So even if one manages to get a supported OS on old hardware, it's highly likely that new improved graphics will make that hardware insufficient anyway.