Tencent’s Battlefield-inspired shooter Delta Force launched yesterday as a free-to-play title. Early players are having a blast with it, and although the monetization scheme is an Orwellian nightmare, it’s still worth checking out if you love Battlefield-style gameplay and have been disappointed with DICE’s recent offerings. What’s odd, though, is the list of “risky” software Tencent warns against using.
Delta Force uses GTI Security, a real-time monitoring system that can ban players for a wide range of violations, and the devs released a full list of software that is either straight-up prohibited or just “not recommended.” Some of the software Tencent warns against is obvious — anything that you can use to cheat or exploit the game is a big no-no.
Obviously, emulation scripts, speed-hacks, and similar software is out, but so are virtual machines (something that could spell trouble for people trying to play Delta Force on a Hackintosh).
Some of the “not recommended” programs include remote access tools — and that would suggest that streaming the game from your home server is also going to raise eyebrows — as well as frame capture tools.
If you dive into a match using any of the prohibited items, it can result in a ban. It’s a bit fuzzier what happens if you use software that falls into a gray area, but it seems likely to result in in-game bugs.
Here’s the big one, though: USB drives are on the prohibited list. That’s an odd thing to include. Sure, they could potentially be used to circumvent certain anti-cheat detection, but what about players that use a connected drive for completely innocent reasons? External media is called that for a reason, so will gamers who use their machine as a Plex server need to disconnect any attached drives?
The decision raises a lot of questions, and Tencent has yet to give any answers. Here’s the full list of restricted hardware and software.
Prohibited while running Delta Force:
- Hardware
- DMA
- DMA bridges
- KMBox
- Fusers
- Screen splitters
- Synchronizers
- USB drives
- Hardware macros
- Development boards like Arduino, etc.
- Analysis Software
- Modifiers like Cheat Engine Ark
- Tools like YDARK, PCHunter, Huorong Sword
- Debugging tools like OllyDbg, WinDbg, x32dbg/x64dbg
- Analysis tools like API Monitor, Process Hacker, Process Monitor
- Speed-Hack Software
- Speed Wizard, Speed Gear, etc.
- Emulation Scripts
- Automated scripts capable of simulating keystrokes, such as AutoHotkey, Python, etc.
- Virtual Machines
- Virtual environments like VMWare, KVM, VirtualBox, etc.
Not recommended while running Delta Force:
- Remote Control and Desktop Sharing Software
- Remote access software like ToDesk, Sunlogin, TeamViewer, AnyDesk
- Streaming tools like NVStreamer, Sunshine, Parsec, Moonlight
- Frame Capture Tools
- Tools like RenderDoc, WinPix, Nvidia Nsight, Intel GPA, etc.
