New File Integrity Check

:thumbup:

Good news, back the to the question, will the new IC eventually allow a mod to be checked as well?

There are no plans to disallow mods.

However, there will be some changes in modding methods, to make them more refined and structured than the current "just change the game files" fashion.

 

Old method of IC just can't reliably work, because its underlying assumptions were wrong.

Great to hear. Im not against such changes :thumbup:

there are GOOD mods and Bad mods. and there needs to be a integ check to filter out the "BAD" mods.

What I want to be able to integrity check is a player in one of my missions joining an su-25T slot, and arming the plane with 8 kh-41p missiles...

Good to know about the new modding method.

Why must run a modded client in a IC enabled server? Clean client check is very important for those online competitions.

A cheater can use AIM-54 on Su-27 and make everyone know he is cheating. But he may also just modified his aircraft's weight a little lighter or gun round a little more powerful, getting some advantage without knowing by others.

I think the pure client checking is a must have function.

It would be for the server owners to decide what mods he wants to allow for his missions, whether it be a texture/sound mod, additional objects within the massion. Then the clients need to be able to match what that server/mission allows.

Yes, clients should always be IC checked versus what the server owners choose to run. Not every mod is designed as a cheat. In fact the MAJORITY of mods expand what DCS has given us. Those of us that run servers, particularly competitive ones, want the IC system, but it needs the flexibility of desirable mods.

Thanks Coff, but I am still not seeing an answer to my question. Are they going to allow mods to be incorporated into the new IC system at servers discretion(at any point in the future)

?

(They being ED)

Ok, thanks for the answer, that's all I was wondering.

The old IC method will not return because it was trivial to hack it around. May be it was not a common knowledge, but the method was fundamentally flawed.

 

Not that the new method completely replaces the old one as of now. There's still much work to do. But this will be work in the right direction.

:thumbup:

(They being ED)

Ok, thanks for the answer, that's all I was wondering.

So, I understand it is already tested on 2.0?

Limited testing, yes. I have a mission that uses 1 added object to the DCS files, a custom race cone. No DCS files were changed. I was able to start a MP session with IC turned on and then had friends try to connect. Whether they had the mod or running clean installs, they were unable to join. Once I removed the mod back to a completely clean install, then others with clean installs could join the IC enabled session.

So far, that's the limit of my testing.

Can do, will be later today though.

Issue corrected, thank you.

Does this affect single player as well or is it only an issue when trying to join multiplayer servers?

Ah, ok, I was unaware that MOD folder would work in saved games. Thank you very much.

DCS includes manifests, which contain hash/size information about core game files. Modules, located in the game install folder are required to have manifests. If case of any manifest check failure, the client is marked as non-IC-compliant and he can't enter servers requiring the IC. Currently, only a selection of files is checked. Sound/texture modifications are not checked yet.

 

Modules, located in the 'Saved Games' folder are not expected to have manifests, yet.

 

The big plan is that:

1) the installed game files are not allowed to be modified.

2) all modification to the game can only be done via user-created 'modules'. Be it sound, texture, model, or unit modfication or a mix of such.

3) each user module will be required to have a manifest, created by the publicly available official tool (most likely, shipped with the game).

 

This will make the modifications to the game identifiable and controllable - that is, server owners will be able to control which exact versions of user-mods are allowed to be used by their clients.

 

And of course, all this implies a published documentation on how to use all this features.

That said, let's assume I'm a Single Player user and I use a bunch of SP modules, that either edit .lua files or add textures. Will this integrity check prevent me from running the game althogether, forcing even SP mods to have a manifest, or is it only a check that happens when connecting to MP servers?