Exploit in game may lead to cheating the leader board

[Xinlain]

Hey guys, yes I am new to the forum, etc..etc...

I have a slight concern, not sure how to take this, but recently I noticed in the videos players have been able to jump, then duck under the smallest cracks in the walls without being zapped by the shrink ray.

Any ideas what this is about? Was it really supposed to be part of the game? I figured out how to do it, but it makes me feel like I don't deserve to be on the top ten for there time trials.

I bring this up because it concerns me that players are able to beat a level beyond anything by using an exploit, thus reaching the top of the leader board, and ruining the game pretty much for anybody trying to compete for the top. I was up there for a good while until a few players came out of nowhere and used this to rush around a map in less then a few seconds almost...slicing the time it normaly takes to beat it when rushed without this exploit; In Half.

So i ask you this, is there any chance 3d Realms could fix this up? Because it's really bothersome that people can even be allowed to do this and get away with it. (No flaming please, i don't wish to see your true colors)

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Xinlain

Hey guys, yes I am new to the forum, etc..etc...

I have a slight concern, not sure how to take this, but recently I noticed in the videos players have been able to jump, then duck under the smallest cracks in the walls without being zapped by the shrink ray.

This is very old news. You have been able to do that in the PC version since year dot.

[Xinlain]

Originally Posted by Steve

This is very old news. You have been able to do that in the PC version since year dot.

Ouch, well do wish they could fix it for the idea of the leader board, easy fix would be to just add a kill trigger script when people try to enter it full grown.

[TerminX]

As Steve said, very old news. Anyone seriously trying to be competitive in time trials is going to have to learn to do this. The same applies to the various points at which the engine's collision detection lets you pass through overlapping walls into completely different areas. Abusing glitches has been a part of speedrunning in games since day one.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by TerminX

As Steve said, very old news. Anyone seriously trying to be competitive in time trials is going to have to learn to do this. The same applies to the various points at which the engine's collision detection lets you pass through overlapping walls into completely different areas. Abusing glitches has been a part of speedrunning in games since day one.

Those same things can kill you. In the Abyss, once you hop over this place



There's a stairwell of rocks that can kill you instantly if you hit at the wrong angle and are up against the wall.

[TerminX]

Indeed. For example, there's also something like that in the cockpit area of the ship at the beginning of Spaceport, and in the beginning of Freeway where part of the water near the start point is blocked by bars.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by TerminX

Indeed. For example, there's also something like that in the cockpit area of the ship at the beginning of Spaceport, and in the beginning of Freeway where part of the water near the start point is blocked by bars.

I think I remember the Freeway one, can't say I recall the Spaceport ship one, though.

[snake289]

People are cheating on the leaderboards anyways some people are using 2 Xboxes to get the 500 kill achievement.

[TerminX]

It's so easy to get 500 kills as it is, so if they want to do that they can go for it. They'll spend just as long doing it the cheap way, only they'll lose out on their enjoyment of the game by not getting them through actual competition.

[pjohnsonjr]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

Those same things can kill you. In the Abyss, once you hop over this place

There's a stairwell of rocks that can kill you instantly if you hit at the wrong angle and are up against the wall.

SO that's why back in the day I used to get flustered when I first got the game playing through that level (I'd die there on that stairwell).

[jam287]

There is also a glitch I guess in clip recording which can most evidently be seen by the top 30 or so time trials for the first level. I haven't tried it but what it looks like is if you get to the end of the level and hit X on the button but then die right after that the level still completes. This also means you can cut off a second or so from the level time and the clip that is uploaded by not having to wait for Duke to hit the button.

I guess it's not that big of a deal though.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by jam287

There is also a glitch I guess in clip recording which can most evidently be seen by the top 30 or so time trials for the first level. I haven't tried it but what it looks like is if you get to the end of the level and hit X on the button but then die right after that the level still completes. This also means you can cut off a second or so from the level time and the clip that is uploaded by not having to wait for Duke to hit the button.

I notced that about the speed runs on Hollywood that it was a full two seconds lower than what we thought the lowest score was. I'll have to experiment with that.

[jam287]

I've seen it on a few other levels as well. If that what getting the fastest time comes to then no biggie, just makes it that much more tedious.

What would be great though if the time trial leaderboards only counted if you completed the level from a new game. I was going through on a lot of levels and just doing a new game and trying to get the fastest time, but then I noticed people that started off with steroids and jetpacks were beating me (so I did the same on a few levels).

[Mr.Fibbles]

The point is to beat the game as quickly as possible. There are people who basically beat the entire 1st episode with just a pistol and they do it in under 10 minutes or under 5 minutes. That is pretty sweet. It is a challenge because you have to stay alive throughout.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Mr.Fibbles

The point is to beat the game as quickly as possible. There are people who basically beat the entire 1st episode with just a pistol and they do it in under 10 minutes or under 5 minutes. That is pretty sweet. It is a challenge because you have to stay alive throughout.

The problem with that on the XBLA version is that if you watch a clip, you will never see the person dying. The clips remove death from the clip replay, so you can't trust that.

[Logan XII]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

The problem with that on the XBLA version is that if you watch a clip, you will never see the person dying. The clips remove death from the clip replay, so you can't trust that.

I was gunna say about the 10 second Hollywood Holocaust clip looked too easy to do! lol

[Joe Siegler]

The 10 second runs no. I would wager he didn't die in those. The 45-60 second runs on Hollywood (of which I have one) where you get all 8 secrets? Oh yeah, I doubt any of those were done in a single run without dying. Not saying it's not possible, but having done that run myself many times, it's hard to do it without dying at least once.

[jam287]

A lot of the clips now that are number 1 on Time Trials (including some of my own) end with the player hitting X at the button (but you can't see this) and then blowing himself up or dying. Doing this cuts off at least a second from the end time which is very useful for getting number 1.

[johndough]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

Those same things can kill you. In the Abyss, once you hop over this place

http://www.3drealms.com/duke3d/image...5_18_small.jpg

There's a stairwell of rocks that can kill you instantly if you hit at the wrong angle and are up against the wall.

I've died on E1L2, down in the sewer, when I ran really fast along this wall.
When I hit the corner, I died.