Doctor Suess Clan a interviewé le créateur de feu Punkbuster, le petit logiciel qui se voulait être le dernier rampart devant la recrudescence de tricheurs dans HL et ses mods. [–SUITE–]
Interview with Tony Ray, head of Punk Buster. Via email on September 25th, 2001.
1.. Now that you have decided to shut down Punk Buster, what games will you be focusing on in the near future?
Well, I didn’t shut down PunkBuster. I simply announced that I’ve suspended development on the Half-Life edition of PunkBuster at this time. I’m not yet able to comment on our next focus but I expect to be able to within a few days.
2.. You say that you feel you and Punk Buster made an impact on the Half-Life community. However, now that PB has been put to rest, do you think that HL will lose its popularity now that the cheaters cannot be stopped?
I’ve never been good at predicting the future … Half-Life is a great game, I love it and many of the mods built around it. However, if I’m to believe the mountains of email I’ve received lately, I do think that a good chunk of players will decide to spend their gaming time elsewhere as so many appear to have stuck it out with HL/CS only because PB was there to keep the playing field even.
3.. If Punk Buster becomes commercial software, how do you plan to release it to the public without charging for it?
We have always said our intention was to license our technology, once it was proven, to game developers / publishers who wanted to show their customers that they care about the community that forms around their online games. It just has never made sense to me to try to charge a small fee directly to a large number of players … the administrative task would be daunting.
4.. A patent has been applied for, and with no more updates for Punk Buster and HL, do you think cheating will become more of a factor in CS and other mods than it used to be?
As far as I know, except for this period when PB was in effect and required by all major leagues, every popular online game has declined steadily until death once the cheating starts. That’s very unfortunate. I don’t hate Half-Life nor CS … I especially like Gooseman and what he did for online gaming. However, there comes a time when you have to choose real support over no support. I know I could have tried to charge users directly or made PB into shareware to try to cover the cost of the enormous time required to keep PB going, but I’ve always said I didn’t want to do that and I meant it.
5.. Could a possible « light version » of Punk Buster be released in order to stop the unobvious cheats such as wall hacks, aim bots, spiked models, ECT?
At this point, I guess I wouldn’t rule out any possibilities but honestly, PB is about deterrent. I don’t think a crippled version would scare away punks from trying to cheat.
6.. This is quite a big blow to the HL community, and in the end, could be the end of Half-Life’s online gaming. Are you sad to see it go? Or do you believe that it is time to phase out the old, and move in the new?
I’m always sad to see a good thing destroyed by punks and selfish people. That’s why I tried to stand up for honest players a year ago when I did instead of just leaving for another game where there wasn’t (yet) blatant and widespread cheating.
7.. As a final question, I’m aware that you wish not to disclose the VALVe information at the time, but are Punk Buster and VALVe on good terms, or has there been a dispute that has halted the integration of PB and HL?
There is no dispute, nor change in my relationship with VALVe. I’m pretty sure that it will soon be obvious to everyone what the catalyst was for this decision.
