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[Valve] If you are an AMD customer and play CS2, DO NOT ENABLE ANTI-LAG/+; any tampering with CS code will result in a VAC ban

AMD's latest driver has made their "Anti-Lag/+" feature available for CS2, which is implemented by detouring engine dll functions.

If you are an AMD customer and play CS2, DO NOT ENABLE ANTI-LAG/+; any tampering with CS code will result in a VAC ban.

Once AMD ships an update we can do the work of identifying affected users and reversing their ban.



Update on the situation from AMD:

 
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Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
So what will happen if somebody is banned this way? thxbye?
I’ve gotta assume Valve will get this sorted out for anyone affected by it. They probably just want to mitigate the number of users affected.
 

John Bilbo

Member
So today before starting an allnighter on CS2 I turned the anti-lag setting on unknowingly of this information.

I have not received a ban yet. Valve can fuck the right off if I receive one.

Update:

Vg80ldX.png
 

Antwix

Member
-cheating still exists
-biggest thing, at least for me, big performance issues such as with scoping and molotovs. not limited to that though, micro stutters are quite frequent in random/general play.
-missing console commands that used to be there
-maps removed
-movement feels off for me. personal issue though? just doesn't feel as smooth in general.
-seems like something is off with the netcode or something. desync perhaps. doesn't feel as consistent.
-I've seen people spawn into walls during deathmatch play and I've seen a glitch where the bomb isn't where it should be. (different on others screens)
-I personally haven't had issues with matchmaking, but I've seen a ton of issues with it from high ping and region issues to outright failure.
-tedious/minor other little things like the buy menu and the fact there's no close on buy option. plus characters all look the same with no variety like before

I'm sure there's a ton more but hey, at least the maps have a bit more detail and the smokes look nice. It should still be in beta imo
 

John Bilbo

Member
-cheating still exists
-biggest thing, at least for me, big performance issues such as with scoping and molotovs. not limited to that though, micro stutters are quite frequent in random/general play.
-missing console commands that used to be there
-maps removed
-movement feels off for me. personal issue though? just doesn't feel as smooth in general.
-seems like something is off with the netcode or something. desync perhaps. doesn't feel as consistent.
-I've seen people spawn into walls during deathmatch play and I've seen a glitch where the bomb isn't where it should be. (different on others screens)
-I personally haven't had issues with matchmaking, but I've seen a ton of issues with it from high ping and region issues to outright failure.
-tedious/minor other little things like the buy menu and the fact there's no close on buy option. plus characters all look the same with no variety like before

I'm sure there's a ton more but hey, at least the maps have a bit more detail and the smokes look nice. It should still be in beta imo
I think considering all the downgrades I've noticed in the game it is in open beta now in all but name.
 

Dream-Knife

Banned
-cheating still exists
-biggest thing, at least for me, big performance issues such as with scoping and molotovs. not limited to that though, micro stutters are quite frequent in random/general play.
-missing console commands that used to be there
-maps removed
-movement feels off for me. personal issue though? just doesn't feel as smooth in general.
-seems like something is off with the netcode or something. desync perhaps. doesn't feel as consistent.
-I've seen people spawn into walls during deathmatch play and I've seen a glitch where the bomb isn't where it should be. (different on others screens)
-I personally haven't had issues with matchmaking, but I've seen a ton of issues with it from high ping and region issues to outright failure.
-tedious/minor other little things like the buy menu and the fact there's no close on buy option. plus characters all look the same with no variety like before

I'm sure there's a ton more but hey, at least the maps have a bit more detail and the smokes look nice. It should still be in beta imo
Yeah I've had some laggy performance when the servers were slammed. I don't get microstutters though. Performance in general has been great.

I'm sure more maps are coming.
 

Nvzman

Member
Yeah I've had some laggy performance when the servers were slammed. I don't get microstutters though. Performance in general has been great.

I'm sure more maps are coming.
I was gonna say, idgaf if CS2 might be missing some features ATM, CSGO was becoming almost unplayable with how many fucking microstutters and crashes I was getting, even on an NVME SSD with a 4080 and 13700k. CS2 runs BUTTER smooth for me, so I'll gladly take it.
 

Leonidas

Member
It's not just CS2, it's other games too.


Luckily this affects less than 1% of Steam users :messenger_smiling_with_eyes:

So enabling driver-level features gets you a ban? Hahaha wtf
It wouldn't have happened if AMD did proper testing. Users have been reporting these issues for weeks now...
 
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winjer

Gold Member
AMD is at fault here, is should not tamper with game files, that should be obvious.

And CS2 slaps, great upgrade of an already great game.

Wrong, drivers are constantly changing things in games.
From shaders, to AF and AA settings. Render queues. Sync formats. texture formats. Geometry. Etc.
A feature like AntiLag+ should have been whitelisted by the anti-cheat software.
This is just a false-positive and Valve should work with AMD to fix it as soon as possible.
 
It's not just CS2, it's other games too.


Luckily this affects less than 1% of Steam users :messenger_smiling_with_eyes:


It wouldn't have happened if AMD did proper testing. Users have been reporting these issues for weeks now...

Shots fired.
 

Noxxera

Member
This launch really has been a disaster. And for what? Some cool smoke effects?
Nope. My guess is better graphics engine, easier to update long-term, better server infrastructure, etc etc. Thats it really. Smoke effects is just one part of it. Sure maybe it should've been in beta longer. Game is pretty much CS:GO 2.0 or 1.5 so I dont get what ppl are bitching about.
 

SomeGit

Member
Wrong, drivers are constantly changing things in games.
From shaders, to AF and AA settings. Render queues. Sync formats. texture formats. Geometry. Etc.
A feature like AntiLag+ should have been whitelisted by the anti-cheat software.
This is just a false-positive and Valve should work with AMD to fix it as soon as possible.

But that's all driver level, this goes in a directly tampers with game, whitelisting this would be an easy entry point for cheaters.
 
Wrong, drivers are constantly changing things in games.
From shaders, to AF and AA settings. Render queues. Sync formats. texture formats. Geometry. Etc.
A feature like AntiLag+ should have been whitelisted by the anti-cheat software.
This is just a false-positive and Valve should work with AMD to fix it as soon as possible.
You are wrong. Tampering with or redirected DLL's is a huge no-no. Only AMD would think it's a good idea to implement a driver feature this way. Tampering with DLL's is a common cheat engine strategy, and it's also used by malware (read: viruses) too. This is an AMD total fuckup which is why Valve said they are waiting for AMD to update the driver before they do anything. Valve isn't going to modify VAC to ignore DLL tampering.
 
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winjer

Gold Member
But that's all driver level, this goes in a directly tampers with game, whitelisting this would be an easy entry point for cheaters.

Anti-lag+ is also a driver level feature, that probably re-arranges how frames are scheduled between CPU and GPU.
The issue is that the anti-virus doesn't understand this is a legitimate source and flags a false-positive.

There are cheats that are about changing how a game renders, as to see other players before they can see you.
So imagine that someone managed to tamper with shaders, they could make certain objects not render, giving some player an advantage.
But game drivers are constantly changing shaders to optimize for a given architecture.
 

winjer

Gold Member
You are wrong. Tampering with or redirected DLL's is a huge no-no. Only AMD would think it's a good idea to implement a driver feature this way. Tampering with DLL's is a common cheat engine strategy, and it's also used by malware (read: viruses) too. This is an AMD total fuckup which is why Valve said they are waiting for AMD to update the driver before they do anything. Valve isn't going to modify VAC to ignore DLL tampering.

The issue is not changing dlls. The issue is the vac knowing which sources are legitimate.
 
It's just a matter of verifying the source. Something valve and AMD can easily do.
Bro you understand that viruses can easily pretend to be a legit DLL and this is actually how malware works?



This problem is going to hit any anti-cheat software because they all detect DLL injection. It's used by actual cheat engines and malware

Let me be 100% clear about this. By behaving in this manner, AMD drivers are acting exactly like a virus. If you act like a virus, you're going to get flagged like a virus. How AMD thought this was a good idea and a good way to implement a driver feature is fucking baffling. Common AMD L though
 
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winjer

Gold Member
Bro you understand that viruses can easily pretend to be a legit DLL and this is actually how malware works?



This problem is going to hit any anti-cheat software because they all detect DLL injection. It's used by actual cheat engines and malware

Let me be 100% clear about this. By behaving in this manner, AMD drivers are acting exactly like a virus. If you act like a virus, you're going to get flagged like a virus. How AMD thought this was a good idea and a good way to implement a driver feature is fucking baffling. Common AMD L though


LOL, virus can use a ton of file types. From exe, dll, txt, lnk, bat, xml, and so many more.

The issue is not if a file is injected or not. It's the source.
That's why anti-virus and anti-cheats don't flag Geforce experience, despite it injecting graphical effects into games. Because it's white listed.
 
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LOL, virus can use a ton of file types. From exe, dll, txt, lnk, bat, xml, and so many more.

The issue is not if a file is injected or not. It's the source.
That's why anti-virus and anti-cheats don't flag Geforce experience, despite it injecting graphical effects into games. Because it's white listed.
LMAO you're really going to pretend what GFE does is even remotely similar to a DLL injection?

No one is going to whitelist a DLL injection. Did you notice the way Valve phrased that tweet? "We ain't gonna do shit until AMD stops doing DLL injection, then we'll start reversing bans from this." Do you know why no one is going to whitelist a DLL injection? Because the moment they do, all the cheat engines and viruses will immediately start spoofing AMD drivers. It is literally not going to happen.
 

winjer

Gold Member
LMAO you're really going to pretend what GFE does is even remotely similar to a DLL injection?

No one is going to whitelist a DLL injection. Did you notice the way Valve phrased that tweet? "We ain't gonna do shit until AMD stops doing DLL injection, then we'll start reversing bans from this." Do you know why no one is going to whitelist a DLL injection? Because the moment they do, all the cheat engines and viruses will immediately start spoofing AMD drivers. It is literally not going to happen.

It's exactly like a dll injection. It's basically reshade on steroids.
 

SomeGit

Member
It's exactly like a dll injection. It's basically reshade on steroids.

Reshade works by pretending to be an DX/OGL driver, and then sends the modified render commands to the actual driver.
GFE doesn't need to touch game code to modify the render, it's the driver so it dictates what is actually sent to the GPU but it never actually goes back and messes up with in-game functions like AMD is doing with Antilag plus.

Again, whatever changes AMD does at driver level would be fine, going in actually modifying in-game code is the reason VAC is flagging this, and there is not way in hell Valve will whitelist this.
 

winjer

Gold Member
Reshade works by pretending to be an DX/OGL driver, and then sends the modified render commands to the actual driver.
GFE doesn't need to touch game code to modify the render, it's the driver so it dictates what is actually sent to the GPU but it never actually goes back and messes up with in-game functions like AMD is doing with Antilag plus.

Again, whatever changes AMD does at driver level would be fine, going in actually modifying in-game code is the reason VAC is flagging this, and there is not way in hell Valve will whitelist this.

GFE actually has code from Reshade. It's injecting code straight into the game.
Not very different from what AntiLag+ is doing.
The issue is not how it's being injected. It's who, whether it's a legitimate source or not.
But if the anti-cheat engine can't distinguish from a legitimate source, then it does a false positive.
 
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SomeGit

Member
GFE actually has code from Reshade. It's injecting code straight into the game.
Not very different from what AntiLag+ is doing.
The issue is not how it's being injected. It's who, whether it's a legitimate source or not.
But if the anti-cheat engine can't distinguish from a legitimate source, then it does a false positive.

What code is it injecting into the game engine, if you don't mind pointing out?
 

winjer

Gold Member
But that's done after the game passes the finished frame to the "driver", none of that is modifying game engine code...

What does it matter at what point in the rendering pipeline it is injected.
It's still an injection of code. And it has access to all sorts of info from the game internal rendering.
 
AMD has already pulled this driver. They know they fucked up.

Directly modifying game code is a huge no-no. There is no way to get around this, so I wonder if AMD is going to just disable Anti-Lag+ in online multiplayer games which use anti-cheat software, which is basically all the big ones.

Reshade works by pretending to be an DX/OGL driver, and then sends the modified render commands to the actual driver.
GFE doesn't need to touch game code to modify the render, it's the driver so it dictates what is actually sent to the GPU but it never actually goes back and messes up with in-game functions like AMD is doing with Antilag plus.

Again, whatever changes AMD does at driver level would be fine, going in actually modifying in-game code is the reason VAC is flagging this, and there is not way in hell Valve will whitelist this.
Correct. Valve has already indicated as such, they will NOT be doing anything on their end to facilitate or whitelist anything that is doing a DLL injection.

I fully expect everyone else who does anti-cheat to react the same way. Games which use EAC (lots of them), whatever Apex Legends and Valorant does, etc. etc.
 
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SomeGit

Member
What does it matter at what point in the rendering pipeline it is injected.
It's still an injection of code. And it has access to all sorts of info from the game internal rendering.

They don't have access to "all sorts of info" they have access to the render commands that any DX driver would then pass to the GPU. Which is why it's not injecting any code and that's why it matters, VAC will not flag GFE because all those changes happen AFTER the engine passed the finished frame, given that CS2 is a DX 11 game it's https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/dxgi/nf-dxgi-idxgiswapchain-present, it does not inject anything. Reshade does need to inject itself, because Reshade need to receive that data, but GFE doesn't because GFE IS the driver.
 
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winjer

Gold Member
They don't have access to "all sorts of info" they have access to the render commands that any DX driver would then pass to the GPU. Which is why it's not injecting any code and that's why it matters, VAC will not flag GFE because all those changes happen AFTER the engine passed the finished frame, given that CS2 is a DX 11 game it's https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/dxgi/nf-dxgi-idxgiswapchain-present.

How do you think cheats that delete certain objects to expose other players work.
Or show where other players are and render them in an outline.
 

SomeGit

Member
How do you think cheats that delete certain objects to expose other players work.
Or show where other players are and render them in an outline.

They can be done the same thing Reshade does, pretend to be the driver to receive the finished frame data.
But again, you want to guess what doesn't need to pretend to be a driver? The actual driver itself. It's the reason GFE is not banned but Reshade is.
 

winjer

Gold Member
They can be done the same thing Reshade does, pretend to be the driver to receive the finished frame data.
But again, you want to guess what doesn't need to pretend to be a driver? The actual driver itself. It's the reason GFE is not banned but Reshade is.

Did you know that GFE freestyle was banned in certain games. For example, Tarkov.
 
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