Not only the so-called HappyMOD, RT. That's a simple model replacement or two - stuff like that has been going around FPS's for ages - esp. in games that allow on-connect model downloads like Quake2 / 3 (ie. the 100% all black model texture to hide in the shadows). Tribes was / is quite innovative in it's extensive client-side scripting capabilities. Users can modify the Heads Up Display to show custom huds - totalling their lifetime kills per weapon, who has what flag, objective status, a framerate system, etc. There are any number of HUD modifications and other scripts that allow the user to do things like "ski" (rapid jumping down slopes that produces high velocities in outdoor environments) or quick-toss every grenade in their arsenal automatically as fast as possible. These scripts are all created and distributed by the people who PLAY the game. Also, to emphasize somewhat, these scripts ONLY have access to a limited amount of data. A client side script can't grab info about your location or an enemy's location for example, thus an auto-aiming script is impossible. While these scripts have been a point of contention among some in the Tribes community (ie. someone who's using a script that tosses grenades as mentioned above has a decided advatage over someone who doesn't). However, the CAPABILITY for all players to run scripts of their preference exists (provided they know of their existance) - so it's not really cheating, right? That seems to be the general consensus of the community of players - these scripts are all perfectly legal because they don't do anything a person at the keyboard couldn't do manually (they make make it EASIER, but it could still be done non-scripted) - and they're equally available to everyone. However, as RollingThunder mentioned, before the latest patch, a variety of cheats were exploited which forced the development team (Dynamix) to write another (1.11) patch to address these issues. They include: 1) The so-called "HappyMOD". Replaces the flag in Capture the Flag missions with a giant 50-foot happy flower thing. Visible through buildings, so hiding with the flag is nigh impossible. It also replaces landmines with large red exclaimation points, so you'd have to be blind to avoid hitting them, and several other model replacements. 2) Certain skin replacements. Mines could be skinned bright red to make them more visible, deployable turrets bright red to lessen the chance of accidentally overlooking one, etc. Same idea as the "all-black textures" for Quake. 3) Scripting exploits. While the latest version was still 1.10.5, I authoured a script named AutoBeacon. This script placed what are called "target beacons" on key strategic emplacements and locations on all the maps, making it mindlessly easy to hit any target that was marked with 100% accuracy using the mortar (strongest weapon in the game, ballistic explosive device). Needless to say, this gives a player a DISTINCT and unfair advantage over a non-user of the script via abilities NOT normally present in the game (namely: spawning fake beacons on all strategic locations/items). This was accomplished by writing beacon objects directly to the game's SimSet (part of the game management structure). This effectively let a client spawn "client side beacons", which neither the server nor other players could see, destroy or detect. However, the thing most people fail to realize is that this script was NOT written with malicious intent. Originally, I refused to admit any hint that I was the authour of this script - there was too much heat behind it. Since the 1.11 patch, however, this has become a moot point. I'd like to offer some insight here. When I wrote this script with assistance from another individual (he did some of the concept work - namely writing to objects viewable by the objectTree ingame), I never intended for it to be distributed. As soon as it was working completely, I mailed it to a Dynamix Employee to let them know of the exploit, and possibly develop a fix for it. However, with more than one person having a copy, the script DID get distributed throughout the gaming community eventually - fortunately, the dev team had already patched the problem and quickly put out a patch. What I'm saying here is that not all cheats are written for the advancement of one selfish person. I can honestly admit that I never once used this script to gain a personal advantage over other players in a competitive environment. The intent was purely to see a) if it could be done, and when it turned out to actually WORK, b) to get it patched up as quickly and quietly as possible. Just a different side of the story, y'know:)
Would we really want a Microsoft OS targeting ballistic strikes for us? BSOD on the firing sequence, and we'd end up shelling some local retirement home!
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Not only the so-called HappyMOD, RT. That's a simple model replacement or two - stuff like that has been going around FPS's for ages - esp. in games that allow on-connect model downloads like Quake2 / 3 (ie. the 100% all black model texture to hide in the shadows). Tribes was / is quite innovative in it's extensive client-side scripting capabilities. Users can modify the Heads Up Display to show custom huds - totalling their lifetime kills per weapon, who has what flag, objective status, a framerate system, etc. There are any number of HUD modifications and other scripts that allow the user to do things like "ski" (rapid jumping down slopes that produces high velocities in outdoor environments) or quick-toss every grenade in their arsenal automatically as fast as possible. These scripts are all created and distributed by the people who PLAY the game. Also, to emphasize somewhat, these scripts ONLY have access to a limited amount of data. A client side script can't grab info about your location or an enemy's location for example, thus an auto-aiming script is impossible. While these scripts have been a point of contention among some in the Tribes community (ie. someone who's using a script that tosses grenades as mentioned above has a decided advatage over someone who doesn't). However, the CAPABILITY for all players to run scripts of their preference exists (provided they know of their existance) - so it's not really cheating, right? That seems to be the general consensus of the community of players - these scripts are all perfectly legal because they don't do anything a person at the keyboard couldn't do manually (they make make it EASIER, but it could still be done non-scripted) - and they're equally available to everyone. However, as RollingThunder mentioned, before the latest patch, a variety of cheats were exploited which forced the development team (Dynamix) to write another (1.11) patch to address these issues. They include: 1) The so-called "HappyMOD". Replaces the flag in Capture the Flag missions with a giant 50-foot happy flower thing. Visible through buildings, so hiding with the flag is nigh impossible. It also replaces landmines with large red exclaimation points, so you'd have to be blind to avoid hitting them, and several other model replacements. 2) Certain skin replacements. Mines could be skinned bright red to make them more visible, deployable turrets bright red to lessen the chance of accidentally overlooking one, etc. Same idea as the "all-black textures" for Quake. 3) Scripting exploits. While the latest version was still 1.10.5, I authoured a script named AutoBeacon. This script placed what are called "target beacons" on key strategic emplacements and locations on all the maps, making it mindlessly easy to hit any target that was marked with 100% accuracy using the mortar (strongest weapon in the game, ballistic explosive device). Needless to say, this gives a player a DISTINCT and unfair advantage over a non-user of the script via abilities NOT normally present in the game (namely: spawning fake beacons on all strategic locations/items). This was accomplished by writing beacon objects directly to the game's SimSet (part of the game management structure). This effectively let a client spawn "client side beacons", which neither the server nor other players could see, destroy or detect. However, the thing most people fail to realize is that this script was NOT written with malicious intent. Originally, I refused to admit any hint that I was the authour of this script - there was too much heat behind it. Since the 1.11 patch, however, this has become a moot point. I'd like to offer some insight here. When I wrote this script with assistance from another individual (he did some of the concept work - namely writing to objects viewable by the objectTree ingame), I never intended for it to be distributed. As soon as it was working completely, I mailed it to a Dynamix Employee to let them know of the exploit, and possibly develop a fix for it. However, with more than one person having a copy, the script DID get distributed throughout the gaming community eventually - fortunately, the dev team had already patched the problem and quickly put out a patch. What I'm saying here is that not all cheats are written for the advancement of one selfish person. I can honestly admit that I never once used this script to gain a personal advantage over other players in a competitive environment. The intent was purely to see a) if it could be done, and when it turned out to actually WORK, b) to get it patched up as quickly and quietly as possible. Just a different side of the story, y'know :)
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Would we really want a Microsoft OS targeting ballistic strikes for us? BSOD on the firing sequence, and we'd end up shelling some local retirement home!
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... also useful for small short-range artillery strikes! Simply insert shells into pipes and play!
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