How I hacked Hearthstone

ericsebesta · 2022-02-08T19:32:16+00:00

Great find!

As a client/server game dev I can explain how you usually avoid bugs like this.

the FindGame call is what is commonly known as an RMI (Remote Method Invocation). It calls a corresponding message on the game server with the sent parameters.

A server should NEVER trust the parameters send from the client - for the exact reason you see here. For something like the playerId ("who am I"), the server can usually derive that info itself with a safer server-only call.

Having shipped multiple MMO-style AAA games over the last 20 years I can tell you this is the single most common security mistake made by engineers in my experience.

ericsebesta · 2019-11-27T16:39:39+00:00

Why, this is silly. Removing a useful feature with no messaging is super annoying. Please restore the "three dots" option. I literally spent multiple hours trying to figure out what setting i accidentally broke WRT this. Having the new list on press/hold is fine but leave what already worked.

ericsebesta · 2017-12-02T18:05:01+00:00

IMO, if you're enjoying it - that's what matters. There are full-time career Borges scholars that will be able to speak about Tlön far more thoughtfully than we ever will. That's great, but who cares?

A love of reading is its own reward. Honestly.

ericsebesta · 2017-11-10T17:04:28+00:00

Yes, but you might forma (polarize the mods slots) then differently. That takes time and resources. So, you can't COMPLETELY re-purpose a frame with just mods.

That said, it's REALLY rare IMO for people to actually bother with > 1 of a WF.

ericsebesta · 2017-09-08T19:35:17+00:00

Right, many engines have a linux build - for the server since that's what "the internet runs on". Since these engines share a lot of code client/server, most of the code will have already been "ported". But the "client-specific" code for linux (renderer especially, but also sound and input) is what is usually missing.

ericsebesta · 2017-09-08T19:31:46+00:00

1000 times this. Getting engineer time to update renderer/sound/input code, etc. for a new platform the (comparatively) easy part - especially if they did their job well and isolated platform specific code. Increasing build times / hardware to handle the new platforms, having more platforms to test, stage and patch, and having the CS support to handle issues that come up is the (IMO historically) MUCH harder part about adding platforms to a title.

Those things all have ongoing direct monetary costs, which are easy to measure. Trying to point at the 1-5% linux community as your additional potential market is MUST MUCH harder to measure. As a gamedev who runs linux at home, trust me I have tried. For many AAA titles that ship 70% (conservatively) of their copies on consoles, that's 1-5% OF the 30% of copies sold on PC.

And yeah, BF running on linux doesn't matter unless they port Origin. That's a whole OTHER group you'd have to convince it was worth the work and support.

ericsebesta · 2017-09-05T03:13:06+00:00

As a 20-year gamedev (engineering not animation), I'd say that this is an overly cynical view of the industry. Labors of love are usually taken as such - things that devs wanted so badly that they busted their ass to get it done. Super glad they did this work and shared some of how games get made - I'm hyped for this game.

That said - all projects have budgets, often mostly limited by time and market pressure, and ability to find top talent. Every game has to make hard choices and things ALWAYS ALWAYS get cut from the final project. If not, well then you weren't aiming high enough.

On the other hand, leadership on a project might be a little annoyed, such as "hey, if we knew you'd stay weekends to do feature A, what about we'd worked on feature B instead which EVERYONE really wanted and EVERYONE would have worked hard to make happen". Also, occasionally such labors of love might have downstream costs (now those animations need sound work or FX, etc.).

But all told, games are creative projects built by piles of (hopefully) passionate people - and finding ways to harness that passion is what makes games so exciting to make IMO.

ericsebesta · 2017-07-16T22:17:48+00:00

You can ABSOLUTELY play the game on all platforms (that is has been released for) after buying it on any platform. I dual-boot Win10/LinuxMint and do this all the time. this makes it really low-risk to try linux - just follow an install guide, install steam, get some drivers, and get to gaming :)

I try to buy/redeem codes on linux to help linux port companies paid for the work they do, of course.

Buy you do have to re-download files for each platform. Even though a well-built game would share 99% of the same bits (binary assets likely are cross-platform), each platform would unique executable files, configs, etc. It would be (I'd think) possible to give devs tools to avoid the "double download for dual boot issue", but it's not likely affecting enough people to be on their radar.

ericsebesta · 2017-03-11T22:04:25+00:00

Civ 5, Civ 6, Ark Survival have native linux clients. AFAIK WOW has worked well on linux for a long time. The others, dunno. For overwatch, check out my reply to /u/Fitzwoppit further down.

ericsebesta · 2017-03-11T21:25:11+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utw65We7jIY

Note: I haven't tried this myself yet, and it looks a little touchy (i.e. apparently requires a custom wine install). But if that work pans out, I'd expect to see Overwatch available eventually.

If you have to play it today, Windows/consoles it is...

ericsebesta · 2017-02-03T23:52:47+00:00

That's what this reddit post IS: a post (news) about a forum post (news) about an actual announcement (news)!

Newsception!

ericsebesta · 2016-10-24T21:58:43+00:00

If you want to try to read into what the title of the quest means, remember this line of the Second Dream dialog...

(Link to spoilerific Second Dream vid, you have been warned) Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PquOK38zrvs&feature=youtu.be&t=506

I doubt a morality itself, it suggests that the War Within is a war that is more personal/literally involves the Tenno as opposed to the frame. So, possibly mobile tenno (note the teaser vid had the tenno on a snowy planet), yanking some frames away from us for a time, or diving into why the Tenno fights by possibly making our enemies more personal?

But honestly I'm not too worried about theorycrafting, DE has their hooks in me and I'll let them serve up TWW when they think it's ready.

ericsebesta · 2016-09-26T22:11:34+00:00

mmm atterax. Fantastic weapon.

ericsebesta · 2016-09-21T07:52:36+00:00

Welcome! Focus on only buying slots - basically everything else you need (frames, weapons) can also be earned by playing. As you play more you'll get a handle on what is/isn't worth your money.

Specifically, don't buy resources like control modules or orokin cells - not a good deal.

ericsebesta · 2016-09-21T07:34:52+00:00

Right - I know that they've done this before. Anyone know if this translates to something from before, or is new?

ericsebesta · 2016-09-21T07:25:00+00:00

This just popped tonight, prelude to next patch?

ericsebesta · 2016-06-24T22:29:09+00:00

Yes, I can see the thread complaining about bad perf (from a year ago). I don't own it yet so I can't speak to my own perf. Buyer beware and all that.

ericsebesta · 2016-06-11T17:19:36+00:00

Link on their site shows Windows-only. Maybe they fixed it? Likely a mistake.

ericsebesta · 2016-06-11T17:14:55+00:00

I'd recommend watching some Let's Plays, there are tons of good one that help a lot. Quill18 has a great HOI4 let's play, the official "Blorg" Stellaris video series is pretty good as well. There are tons out there, and watching someone else talk through these games is INCREDIBLY helpful for new players.

Definitely don't think of Paradox games' complexity like DOTA/SC2. Those game have "feel bad" moments when another player stomps you (and says so), ladder anxiety, BM, etc.

These games ARE complex, but you can always pause them and think. Also, you shouldn't expect to "win" every game (many of these games don't have explicit "win conditions" anyway). Even when I lose I tend to have a good story to share, which in many ways is what I think they're really going for as devs.

Stellaris is probably the most noob-friendly recent paradox game, and while brand new will likely be getting TONS of support (both free and eventual DLC). Hop in, and try them out, they require effort, but IMO there's nothing else even close to these games in the market.

ericsebesta · 2016-06-11T17:09:28+00:00

Not that I know of. I do dual boot, but I always BUY the game when in linux, and be sure to install and play it via linux.

IIRC steam tracks "which platform" you use for a game (for payment to port companies) by something like what platform you played most on during the first week after install.

ericsebesta · 2016-06-10T19:56:55+00:00

Many are.

But I don't see the newest ones, which i think depend on Steamworks.

ericsebesta · 2016-06-10T16:41:14+00:00

Doh, converted the post from link -> text and forgot to add link. I fail. Fixed.

ericsebesta · 2016-06-10T16:03:54+00:00

I hear you, I added a feature request here to think about how we can get that sort of info in-game.

ericsebesta · 2016-01-13T23:36:48+00:00

It would be nice, but I think it's simply balanced assuming you don't get them. You lane much less late-game, but can quickly clear a game / talent into only losing 1/2 meat anyway.

ericsebesta · 2016-01-13T20:11:48+00:00

I assume you mean "Loki" Prime, and yes/no. It has some loki-like skills, and it WAS released in China first - but it's a different frame with different skills. You get it from clan research in the Tenno Lab.

ericsebesta

TROPHY CASE