As our group considers the ethics of morally atrocious behavior such as aimbot and wallhacker programs to those looking to dominate, I ask what about other 'legal' means to gain an edge?

 

There are several things that can be done which could be considered 'gray area' cheats. In hardcore mode in some games, crosshairs are taken off and one has to use the iron sights or the scope to get a target. There is a soft hack for this; some gaming monitors such as the Asus allow for placing a crosshair overlay on the screen.

 

 

 

 

There is even a more of a basic hack for this, draw a dot or use a dot sticker on the screen. The screenshot above shows both an Asus overlay and a sticker dot. Hardcore mode crosshair removal defeated. I'm pretty sure in a competitive environment, neither of these cheats would be allowed.

 

So this brings me to the use of macros. There was a time when macros were absolutely not allowed and considered hacks. Remember bunny hopping scripts in CS:GO? VAC would auto-detect that and ban your ass. Bunny hopping could still be done but it was much harder. Well, some legal programs such as the Logitech Gaming Software and devices like the G700 mouse allow for macros and they can be used to definitely get an edge.

 

Let's turn our sights towards the A-10 Thunderbolt BF4 Jet. Most pilots use the laser guided rockets or the hydra rockets as a secondary weapon. The JDAM bomb, while powerful, is difficult to use. To use a JDAM, one has to open up a secondary window, line up the target to crosshairs on the map, drop the bomb, then close the window. This requires no less than three timed button presses and two separate buttons. Yea, it's no problem while cruising at a ceiling of 700 feet with no enemy on your six, but during complex maneuvers such as strafing and pulling up at the last second, attempting a JDAM airdrop is extremely difficult because there is very little time to the airdrop procedure successfully. Often, a pilot gets stuck in the secondary window and flies right into the ground not knowing his bearings.

 

There is a solution however. The JDAM airdrop procedure can be reduced to the press of a single button using a 'legal' macro. All one has to do is program the macro to open the window, wait a certain amount of time, fire the bomb, wait a certain amount of time, then close the window. The pilot no longer even has to look at that window, it really isn't necessary anyway. I admit, I used to do this. I could fly in, strafe some poor guys in a boat off the coasts of the Nansha Islands and as I leave them fairly damaged and pulling up the jet, drop a JDAM bomb, *BOOM*. Multikill. Happy RogueSteward.

 

Well, then I decided to make another macro. I wanted a macro that pressed the 'Mouse 1' button fast, like once every 100 milliseconds, and a toggle on top of that. Because, I could enable the toggle and at the beginning of every round, get the vehicle I wanted. After all, who can compete with a computer program pressing 'Mouse 1' ten times a second. Score for me again, RogueSteward always get the vehicle he wanted.

 

Certainly, macros would not be allowed in a competitive environment either. I wish I could show you a picture of my JDAM macro, or a picture of my 'Always Get Vehicle' macro which is exactly the name I gave to my mouse button, but I deleted them. They were truly a work of art. I tuned the timing between button presses in the JDAM macro to give me a definite edge and made the maneuver feel solid and easy. Every timing selection in that macro was carefully selected to make sure it always worked well. But I no longer have them. I decided to learn the JDAM drop the correct way. I began to feel that macro usage gave me too much of an edge. I really wasn't that good with the JDAM but my macro made me seem definitely better.

 

This leads to a moral question for our group. How do we stand on the usage of soft hacks? Macros are a legal gaming tool now if one isn't playing competitively. Punkbuster doesn't police them, VAC doesn't ban for them. We can't really snuff out macros either. It's not like we can ban the use of Logitech Gaming Software or ban Asus monitors. I saw Gator's new controller, Axle has the same one. There are 5 macro buttons on the top row. Drool? Personally, I don't have a problem with macros, but I bet some do and I totally understand why. It gives an unfair advantage. But so does drawing a dot on your screen.

I wouldnt care about people using their monitor overlays and taping strings across their screens because doing that makes you look a little special, but if people are using Macro's to press buttons faster than a human finger can, and fire a gun more consistently, I would be very upset

Its simple, I have a red Laser pointer mounted in the corner of my room, Its pointed right to the exact spot that a crosshair SHOULD be.... before that, I used two pieces of thread taped horizontally and Diagonal across my screen...... You can use a piece of tape with a dot on it too.....

 

But remember, there are people who pay an additional $19.95/month to play BF4

The only hacker I will respect is the one who builds their own program for the game.

 

Any other cheater is just a lemming, paying money to the hackers for using their programs. I bet all hackers don't even use their own hacks, but the cheaters do. They are smart and making money

I wouldnt care about people using their monitor overlays and taping strings across their screens because doing that makes you look a little special, but if people are using Macro's to press buttons faster than a human finger can, and fire a gun more consistently, I would be very upset

 

 

 

So how do we check for that? How many people have Logitech Gaming Software on their computers? Everyone who uses LGS can run a macro. Look at the controller below. There are 4 macro keys on the very top row. Does this controller as well as other macro enabled devices like the mouse become banned? Not only does this controller have four macro keys, they can be programmed on the fly.

 

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hmm interesting. I have that board and those macro keys just change my lighting. I will have to play with it.

hmm interesting.

 

 

 

Oh oh!!  :ohmy:

hmm interesting. I have that board and those macro keys just change my lighting. I will have to play with it.

 

 

 

Macros can be added under the multi key settings. 

 

http://www.everythingusb.com/media/logitech-g300-multi-key.jpg

 

I wouldnt care about people using their monitor overlays and taping strings across their screens because doing that makes you look a little special, but if people are using Macro's to press buttons faster than a human finger can, and fire a gun more consistently, I would be very upset

 

 

 

I'll tell you how LGS can be used to detune weapon kick. Most weapons have a certain amount of kick that increases over time. Most players compensate by tapping the fire button. However, one could gain a precise edge by using LGS to tap the fire button with optimal time intervals. Once again, something like this was definitely considered a cheat at one time. But now it's legal? To me, this isn't gray area at all, this is cheating. But those who have access to LGS can use these types of macros legally. 

Want another use for LGS? It can make semi-automatic weapons fully auto. Just like the anti-recoil suggestion that can be configured using a macro, it would seem like macros are certainly cheating except that DICE/EA actually endorse macro enabled products. http://www.razerzone.com/licensed-and-team-peripherals/battlefield-4

 

Sorry to say guys, but it appears like macros are the new norm and here to stay and as long as there is a legal advantage, I will be using it just like drawing a dot on my screen. So if I always get the vehicle, you know why. 

hmm interesting. I have that board and those macro keys just change my lighting. I will have to play with it.

 

 

 

Hopfoly that will help you see the people behind us when we are in the tank and I screaming "behind us" and your screaming "no one is behind us". I don't use macros because I don't like the look on the keyboards but I think my muse has the capability. The only thing I have on my mouse is knife and grenade, but that doesn't work since I upgraded to Windows 10. I find it kind of silly that some people need to put a dot on their screen or use an overlay. How can you not know where the center is? Good luck to whoever uses macros if that's the way that you can be good.

Hopfoly

 

 

 

Your Writing At It's Best   :wink:

 

I screaming "behind us"

 

 

 

I think my muse

 

 

 

Cough, Cough 

 

:tongue:

Want another use for LGS? It can make semi-automatic weapons fully auto. Just like the anti-recoil suggestion that can be configured using a macro, it would seem like macros are certainly cheating except that DICE/EA actually endorse macro enabled products. http://www.razerzone.com/licensed-and-team-peripherals/battlefield-4

 

Sorry to say guys, but it appears like macros are the new norm and here to stay and as long as there is a legal advantage, I will be using it just like drawing a dot on my screen. So if I always get the vehicle, you know why. 

 

 

 

Macros have been around for a long time, they really aren't the new norm, I used them for CHAT purposes back in CoD 4, and you don't really need a macro  to get a vehicle!

I think they are cool, but overboard for gaming as it's cheating the system, mechanically. Your fingers can't do what macros can do

 

 

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     All that effort to gain some kind of an advantage seems silly.  Neat, mind you, but silly.  If your that bad, or need your ego rubbed so hard that you need to search and create "advantages", find an easier game. Personally, I came to TAC because it was a constant storm of BF prowess that I was on the losing end of (HAX!! lol).....  At the beginning...   But I learned and got better.  Not Good.  Just better.  I figure at this point if I added laser pointers, macros to balance fire, vehicle grab macros, or dip dip potato chip hot keys I'd be looking to dominate.  And domination in a game is absolutely nothing but an ego rub.

     The best thing I ever did to improve my game was to 1: Play on these servers, regardless of how bad the ass-kicking was and 2: Get a giant monitor.  (See profile pic)  Experience and big screen is the limit of my soft hacks, and will stay that way..   I can barely control what I do in game as it is, couldn't imagine complicating it with even more buttons. 

Hi,

 

I have Logitech G510S keyboard and G700 mouse to play BF4...

 

I have on my mouse 12 or 13 buttons programmed as fire, jump, knife melee, nade, change rate of fire, scope, reload, camera in & out, primary and secondary guns, activate gadget 1, gadget 2 and parachute = I die more the time than my turn! lol

 

Keyboard is to see who's speak on TS only...

 

But, yes, I see lot of good players with macros and fast kill in 1 or 2 shots too. lol

 

Some players tell me that they have 2 or 3 monitors of 27" to see better in any vehicles!

 

Egidio.