Does SRCDS support Serverside Screenshots?

[[ROX] UniSoL]

Does SRCDS support the server taking screenshots of the client's video card frame buffer?

I have searched hard and long for info on this without finding any relevant information on the subject. Almost every other online FPS game supports serverside screenshots. They let you see exactly what the client sees, not just what the server thinks they should see. Everything shows up including all hacks.

If so, what is the command to invoke a screenshot?

[Stealth]

iI pretty sure not many, if any other multiplayer games allow this by default.
Generally some kind of anticheat software needs to be on the server and client side such as punkbuster

[[ROX] UniSoL]

Stealth Wrote:iI pretty sure not many, if any other multiplayer games allow this by default.
Generally some kind of anticheat software needs to be on the server and client side such as punkbuster

Yep, I suppose you are correct. I never thought of that. Punkbuster is what does that function on SOF2 and BFV. Thanks for the answer.

Did VAC support Server Screenshots?

[Stealth]

For VAC to take screenshots it would have to be built into srcds since there is no possibly way to tell the client to take a screenshot and have it uploaded to the server straight away. A third party client (or hook) is required such as Cheating Death which presumably will support Source at one point or another.

So for VAC taking screenshots, AFAIK it doesnt.

[[ROX] UniSoL]

That is a real shame since serverside screenshots can be the final piece of evidence to prove one's guilt or innocence. Has anyone heard a timeline when VAC will be enabled for Source?

Myself for one do not buy the head in the sand notion that no one is cheating yet. I will find it amussing when VAC finaly get's activated and Valve runs another 20,000 accounts thruough the ban process.

[Stealth]

Screenshots can also be faked

[[ROX] UniSoL]

Stealth Wrote:Screenshots can also be faked

How can they be faked if they are coming from the video card's frame buffer? What is in the frame buffer is exactly the next frame to be shown on the screen.

[Stealth]

Server requests screenshot > Client receives request > Hook (Cheat) intercepts and sends a fake image > Screenshot sent to server

[profhotbottom]

i have videos of ppl cheating on my server... if anyone wants to see them lemme know ill put em up. cheating is there and very evident. somthing needs to be done... ppl are cheating even though the steam eua says that their steam account will be deleted if caught cheating. since there is no way to 'officially' prove ppl are cheating then its a double standard.

hopefully valve will release somthing soon, im getting tired of typing rcon banid 0 id.

[[ROX] UniSoL]

Over at the steam forums, there was a thread about VAC and a bunch of people ranting about it.

Terry, a Valve employee, said it was coming soon and will catch a bunch of people by suprise. I can't wait to see the headlines "Valve suspended 15,000 Steam accounts due to online cheating." Valve has suprised us many times before. I can only hope that since VAC took this long to implement that it will be very good at it's purpose.


I have had 4 speed hackers on our server in the 2 1/2 weeks it's been up. Speedhackers are the only ones that are easily spotted and easily confirmed. I for one will not accuse someone of cheating without being 100 percent sure. False accusations are very lame.

I also hear a ton of BS about crap like "I was spectating that guy and he wasn't even aiming at the guy and he killed him." When are people going to realize that spectating doesn't work like that. You have the lag x 2 and of course you are not going to see exactly what is being seen by the player you are spectating, it's the servers interpretation with your lag added into the mix.

[Stealth]

troof, but the majority wins. If people want suspected cheaters gone then thats good enough for me.