What are some ways that game developers prevent people from cheating?
Introduction
Game developers have a lot of tools at their disposal to prevent cheating. However, they also have to be realistic about the fact that there are always new ways to circumvent security systems. In this article we’ll go over some of the ways that developers can stop cheaters, as well as some techniques for detecting them and even incorporating them into your game design!
Use a server.
Some game developers use a server to detect malicious activity, such as cheating or hacking. A server is a computer that runs independently and can be accessed by people from all over the world. Servers have very powerful processing capabilities, so they are able to do many things at once.
By using a server, you can keep track of what players are doing in your game and make sure that they aren’t breaking any rules. You can also see if anyone is trying to trick your system by generating lots of fake data that looks like it came from real players but really didn’t come from them at all. This is called fraud detection (or anti-fraud) because it helps reduce the amount of fraud happening within an online community or application like yours
Be realistic about your security and the ways it can be circumvented.
When you’re thinking about ways to prevent cheating, it’s important to be realistic about your security and the ways it can be circumvented. The problem of hacking, fraud, and cybercrime has been around since before the internet was even invented; there are many people who have dedicated their lives to finding new ways of breaking into systems or accessing private information without authorization.
The same goes for other types of computer viruses and malware — they’re always going to exist because people want money or power or influence online. It’s not just about games: hackers can also use their skills for malicious purposes like identity theft or social engineering scams (when someone uses a fake identity in order to get information from others).
Pay attention to what players do, and how they do it.
To prevent cheating, you must pay attention to what players are doing and how they’re doing it.
- How do players interact with each other? Do they seem to be cooperating too well, for example? This could mean that one of them is playing the game for two people.
- How do players interact with the environment? If a player doesn’t seem to be able to die or get hurt easily, then he or she may have used cheat codes.
- How do players interact with the game’s code? You can check if they installed mods by looking at which files are being accessed during gameplay and comparing them to your list of approved add-ons and downloads.
If you can’t beat ’em, join ‘em.
As a game developer, you can’t prevent people from cheating. You can’t even always detect it when it happens. But an increasing number of game developers are finding that if you can’t beat ’em, join ‘em.
In other words, use the same tools as the cheaters to prevent cheating. If a player is using an external program to cheat in your game — for example, by automatically aiming at enemies or accessing information about other players’ locations — you might be able to use similar methods (like network analysis) to identify these actions and then punish them appropriately within your game rules.
developers have tools at their disposal to prevent cheating
- Use a server. Despite what you might have heard, there’s no such thing as bulletproof security. It’s true that game developers can put up barriers to cheating and hacking, but the only way to truly prevent users from modifying or duplicating your game is by not giving them access to the source code in the first place.
- Don’t obfuscate your code. You’re probably familiar with this strategy if you’ve been playing around with any popular apps like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro: You try to double-click on something and it tells you “that’s not how we do things here.” This makes sense; why would anyone want their private information exposed? That said, this tactic doesn’t always work in games — in fact, it usually backfires because players generally don’t want their progress made public knowledge (and rightly so). If someone wants to cheat in your game, they’ll find a way — and if people are buying cheats for real money anyway (we’ll get into that later), then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t look at how those cheats were created so they can create them themselves! After all — isn’t transparency fundamental to innovation?
Conclusion
The best way to protect against cheating is to make your game as secure as possible. You never know when someone might try to cheat, so you should always be prepared for it.
