OK, lemme see if I can answer/alleviate at least some of the questions. Excuse me if I jump around abit.
For starters, this software does NOT alter ANY files whatsoever.
The setup package may update a System file if yours is out of date, but that's it. And they are not my System files, they are Microsofts.
I don't know what to tell you if you had to run Cleaner.exe after installing this. Like I just said, it does NOT alter any files. Besides, is running Cleaner.exe a 'bad' thing?
It is only capable of writing 2 files. An INI file and a log file if you request it. Both of these files are located in the folder where you installed it.
It is IMPOSSIBLE for this program to write to anything else. The code isn't physically in it to do so.
Got some time on your hands and want to prove it?
Reset the Archive attribute on ALL your files and folders.
Then go ahead and run the software.
Now, do a search on your hard drive for any file that has it's Archive bit set, which happens anytime a file gets written to or changed.
I think you'll see that I'm right.
The first time the software is run you'll get a Usage Agreement, that tells you exactly what it's going to do.
For those that haven't got that far, this is what it says.
The Privacy Statement that comes with it states,
Bottom line.
This software WILL scan your AA folder. This software WILL scan your memory.
This software will NOT alter any files on your hard drive.
This software does NOT collect any information not pertaining to said software or your AA game.
There are currently only 2 real hacks for AA.
One involves altering certain AA files, and the other more popular one is EH.
As far as false positives, there has been 0.
It's a simple concept really. Your AA files are either altered, or they're not.
You either have EH running, or you don't.
There is no grey area to allow for a false positive.
This software has detected the above 100% of the time.
As far as this software being hacked, of course it can. Any software can be hacked.
The thing is, unless this 'hack' is used exlusively by a small number of people, I will catch wind of it and counter it.
I'm sure someone is going to hack it, just because they can.
But I'm pretty sure that most hackers/crackers are more interested in cheating on Public servers, and could give 2 squats about the .5% that the TWL makes up.
The current version doesn't have an 'auto-update' feature yet. My next update to it will. Updates will be made as work-arounds or hacks are found, and whenever I feel like it.
Someone in here said that it's not really BIG news to the general AA community. They are correct.
It is BIG news to TWL members only.
I do not get paid by anyone to worry about the Public servers. That's what the official Devs are for.
But I do play on the TWL and I am concerned only with doing what I can to help insure that my matches are as cheat-free as possible.
See, in reality all these programs that I've written for AA, where written for MY use, because they were something I needed.
It just so happened that I saw that other people had similiar needs so I decieded to make them available for Public use, AT NO CHARGE.
Concerning my integrity, I really don't see how it could be that big of an issue unless you are new to the AA scene.
If I was out to "spy" on anybody, I think we would have heard something by now from one of the people who made up my over 20,000 downloads since last July.
I do see where some people might get a little funny about installing a third-party app, and to you I can only offer my reputation that has been built over the last 10 months.
I also don't hide behind an online alias.
I have never tried to hide myself.
My name is Earl McNelly and I live in NJ.
I am a professional, certified, Full Life-Cycle developer who's roots start at writing assembly code for 8086 processors.
I am an independant consultant who has client references longer than your arm.
I would be more than happy to give a copy of my resume'.
Why would anybody even worry about this when PB is coming out?
Well, I had started on this a long time before the PB announcement.
After they announced it I couldn't find any information on whether PB could be used on Private servers, which most of our TWL matches are played on, so I continued with it.
If it turns out that we will be able to run PB on Private servers, cool. But if not then at least I wouldn't have to pick back up on a project that was dormant for a couple months.
As far as the Devs signing off on this, hell, that would be cool with me. But that's going to be highly unlikely for a couple of reasons. One, they just contracted another company to do the same thing. Two, I doubt they would sign off on something that's only going to be used on TWL servers. Remember, this software is NOT for Public servers.
As far as the language it's written in, it's Visual Basic 6 Enterprise Edition.
If I hear one more person say that, "well, it's only a BASIC program", I'm going to scream.
Unless you can tell me the differences between a compiled VB program, and say a compiled C program, please refrain from making uneducated statements.
VB is no easier to hack than C.
Years ago this was an issue. The whole C vs VB thing. Oh C is faster, C is stabler, C is this, C is that.
These statements just don't hold water anymore.
And what are you gonna say when more and more .NET applications are developed? Where ALL the languages use the same runtime.
Anyways, I'm getting off track here.
Because it was written in VB6 doesn't mean that some "script-kiddy" can access your port 1715 and take control of your system any more than if it was written in C.
This system uses encryption for all data transfer.
Does this software have bugs?
I'm sure it does. Just like any software with more complexity than Notepad.
They will be squashed as they are found.
The only thing that I can say with 100% confidence is that if this thing says you altered a file, you did.
If this thing says you are running EH, you are.
Until someone can show that this thing said your AA files were altered or they were using EH when they weren't, these statements stand.
What does it do if it finds something?
Nothing, it just reports it to the server and won't let you join the server.
If the conflict is over a file, it will display a list showing you the file(s) in question and why they are flagged.
It does this in case you may have installed something into your AA folder. And not necassarily a cheat.
Remove the extra file in question and you'll be fine.
If it says you have an altered AA file, run Cleaner.exe and you'll be fine.
If you run EH, hehe, well don't and you'll be fine.
There is nothing to stop you from just not using the client and joining the server directly.
But you will not show up in the Playerlist or logs.
While the client is running, it will not allow you to start AA on your own. It will allow only an AA instance that it started itself. Any other AA instance will be forcibly terminated.
The requirements for this software is very small.
Yes, you will see a memory and CPU increase while the program is initially scanning, but when it's finished it's basically idle.
Figure while "idle" it'll probably use somewhere between 7-11 MB of RAM, and only spiking your CPU to about 4% every so often.
Open up 1 single browser window and you've doubled the resources required by this software.
It uses, and I'll even go high on this number, about 2-5 Kb once a minute. That is not sustained.
So you 56K'rs out there need not fret.
Well guys, I hope I've answered some questions.
And please, everyone, don't flame someone for asking legitimate questions or expressing legitimate concerns.
Thanks.
For starters, this software does NOT alter ANY files whatsoever.
The setup package may update a System file if yours is out of date, but that's it. And they are not my System files, they are Microsofts.
I don't know what to tell you if you had to run Cleaner.exe after installing this. Like I just said, it does NOT alter any files. Besides, is running Cleaner.exe a 'bad' thing?
It is only capable of writing 2 files. An INI file and a log file if you request it. Both of these files are located in the folder where you installed it.
It is IMPOSSIBLE for this program to write to anything else. The code isn't physically in it to do so.
Got some time on your hands and want to prove it?
Reset the Archive attribute on ALL your files and folders.
Then go ahead and run the software.
Now, do a search on your hard drive for any file that has it's Archive bit set, which happens anytime a file gets written to or changed.
I think you'll see that I'm right.
The first time the software is run you'll get a Usage Agreement, that tells you exactly what it's going to do.
For those that haven't got that far, this is what it says.
Usage Agreement
By clicking I Agree, you agree to the following.
1.) To allow this software to scan* your memory for known America's Army cheats.
2.) To allow this software to scan* your America's Army folders and files for the purpose of detecting known cheats.
3.) To allow this software to forcibly terminate any instance of Americas Army that it didn't explicitly start.
4.) To allow this software to report any found discrepancies to the CD Server including your IP.
* Scan - in this softwares context means to enumerate in memory processes, modules attached to processes and files located physically on your hard drive for the purpose of detecting known cheats or file alterations.
The Privacy Statement that comes with it states,
Privacy Statement
This software does NOT collect or transmit any information whatsoever from any place on your computer that does not explicitly pertain to this software or America's Army Operations.
This software does NOT write to any file outside of it's installation folder.
Basically, this software is NOT Spyware.
Bottom line.
This software WILL scan your AA folder. This software WILL scan your memory.
This software will NOT alter any files on your hard drive.
This software does NOT collect any information not pertaining to said software or your AA game.
There are currently only 2 real hacks for AA.
One involves altering certain AA files, and the other more popular one is EH.
As far as false positives, there has been 0.
It's a simple concept really. Your AA files are either altered, or they're not.
You either have EH running, or you don't.
There is no grey area to allow for a false positive.
This software has detected the above 100% of the time.
As far as this software being hacked, of course it can. Any software can be hacked.
The thing is, unless this 'hack' is used exlusively by a small number of people, I will catch wind of it and counter it.
I'm sure someone is going to hack it, just because they can.
But I'm pretty sure that most hackers/crackers are more interested in cheating on Public servers, and could give 2 squats about the .5% that the TWL makes up.
The current version doesn't have an 'auto-update' feature yet. My next update to it will. Updates will be made as work-arounds or hacks are found, and whenever I feel like it.
Someone in here said that it's not really BIG news to the general AA community. They are correct.
It is BIG news to TWL members only.
I do not get paid by anyone to worry about the Public servers. That's what the official Devs are for.
But I do play on the TWL and I am concerned only with doing what I can to help insure that my matches are as cheat-free as possible.
See, in reality all these programs that I've written for AA, where written for MY use, because they were something I needed.
It just so happened that I saw that other people had similiar needs so I decieded to make them available for Public use, AT NO CHARGE.
Concerning my integrity, I really don't see how it could be that big of an issue unless you are new to the AA scene.
If I was out to "spy" on anybody, I think we would have heard something by now from one of the people who made up my over 20,000 downloads since last July.
I do see where some people might get a little funny about installing a third-party app, and to you I can only offer my reputation that has been built over the last 10 months.
I also don't hide behind an online alias.
I have never tried to hide myself.
My name is Earl McNelly and I live in NJ.
I am a professional, certified, Full Life-Cycle developer who's roots start at writing assembly code for 8086 processors.
I am an independant consultant who has client references longer than your arm.
I would be more than happy to give a copy of my resume'.
Why would anybody even worry about this when PB is coming out?
Well, I had started on this a long time before the PB announcement.
After they announced it I couldn't find any information on whether PB could be used on Private servers, which most of our TWL matches are played on, so I continued with it.
If it turns out that we will be able to run PB on Private servers, cool. But if not then at least I wouldn't have to pick back up on a project that was dormant for a couple months.
As far as the Devs signing off on this, hell, that would be cool with me. But that's going to be highly unlikely for a couple of reasons. One, they just contracted another company to do the same thing. Two, I doubt they would sign off on something that's only going to be used on TWL servers. Remember, this software is NOT for Public servers.
As far as the language it's written in, it's Visual Basic 6 Enterprise Edition.
If I hear one more person say that, "well, it's only a BASIC program", I'm going to scream.
Unless you can tell me the differences between a compiled VB program, and say a compiled C program, please refrain from making uneducated statements.
VB is no easier to hack than C.
Years ago this was an issue. The whole C vs VB thing. Oh C is faster, C is stabler, C is this, C is that.
These statements just don't hold water anymore.
And what are you gonna say when more and more .NET applications are developed? Where ALL the languages use the same runtime.
Anyways, I'm getting off track here.
Because it was written in VB6 doesn't mean that some "script-kiddy" can access your port 1715 and take control of your system any more than if it was written in C.
This system uses encryption for all data transfer.
Does this software have bugs?
I'm sure it does. Just like any software with more complexity than Notepad.
They will be squashed as they are found.
The only thing that I can say with 100% confidence is that if this thing says you altered a file, you did.
If this thing says you are running EH, you are.
Until someone can show that this thing said your AA files were altered or they were using EH when they weren't, these statements stand.
What does it do if it finds something?
Nothing, it just reports it to the server and won't let you join the server.
If the conflict is over a file, it will display a list showing you the file(s) in question and why they are flagged.
It does this in case you may have installed something into your AA folder. And not necassarily a cheat.
Remove the extra file in question and you'll be fine.
If it says you have an altered AA file, run Cleaner.exe and you'll be fine.
If you run EH, hehe, well don't and you'll be fine.
There is nothing to stop you from just not using the client and joining the server directly.
But you will not show up in the Playerlist or logs.
While the client is running, it will not allow you to start AA on your own. It will allow only an AA instance that it started itself. Any other AA instance will be forcibly terminated.
The requirements for this software is very small.
Yes, you will see a memory and CPU increase while the program is initially scanning, but when it's finished it's basically idle.
Figure while "idle" it'll probably use somewhere between 7-11 MB of RAM, and only spiking your CPU to about 4% every so often.
Open up 1 single browser window and you've doubled the resources required by this software.
It uses, and I'll even go high on this number, about 2-5 Kb once a minute. That is not sustained.
So you 56K'rs out there need not fret.
Well guys, I hope I've answered some questions.
And please, everyone, don't flame someone for asking legitimate questions or expressing legitimate concerns.
Thanks.