How Games Cheats Are Created
Cheating in games compromises fair competition and ruins the immersive experience for players. This article takes a look at some of the most popular games cheats such as aimbots, wallhacks, scripting, ghosting and speed hacks to explore their mechanics and impacts. In addition to dissecting the cheats we take a look at how they are created and the ongoing battle against them.
The first thing to understand about game cheats is that they are actually a lot like any other program. They have a front end design, a backend base of code typically your standard functions along with some algorithms and security features implemented into them. The difference is that unlike your average game plugin, game cheats exploit a vulnerability that developers either do not know about or in many cases do not care to fix, but which hackers are able to exploit.
Generally speaking, game cheats are created by hackers who develop them for their own personal reasons. Whether it be to make a game easier for themselves or their friends, give themselves the opportunity to test out new features before they are released or for some other reason.
While some cheats might be used to give players an unfair advantage, others are simply used for creative purposes such as changing a characters appearance, enabling a weapon to fire at an unlimited range or granting unlimited health. Some are also used to test out glitches that are not intended by the game developer.
As far as how they are created, the process is fairly straightforward and involves a lot of trial and error. The basic process involves determining how the game stores its data and where. This allows the hacker to identify sensitive locations in the games memory where they can make changes. Once the hacker has identified these areas they can then create hooks (in general programming a hook is a function that can be added to another code at runtime) that enable them to manipulate the game in the way that they want.
When a cheat is complete and ready to use, it is typically uploaded to a website where gamers can access it at their convenience. In some cases, the hacker might include a manual that guides players through the steps of using their cheat in the game. In most cases though, the user must be savvy enough to find the right combination of commands in order to activate their cheat in the game.
In the past, cheating in video games was accomplished via external hardware and software that allowed users to modify the game code before or during its execution. Early examples include Multiface for the ZX Spectrum, Datel’s Action Replay series and the Game Genie for the NES, Super NES, Game Boy and Game Gear consoles. More recently, disc-based cheat hardware has been replaced by programs such as GameShark and Code Breaker which modify the game code from a database.
In summary, if left unchecked, cheating can damage brand loyalty and cause gamers to switch to other titles. In fact, a recent study by Irdeto found that 76% of gamers will refuse to purchase additional content in games where cheating has been detected. As such, preventing cheating is a key challenge for both gaming manufacturers and gamers alike.