Custom Skins vs Skin Cheats

[Randy_M]

Hey ppl,

I don't really know what exactly is a skin cheat. But lately I've been messing around with some of the animated textures used as skins. I think they look cool...

I DON'T use the dark ones, cuz the last thing I want to do is win a match and have ppl say I'm cheating.

Problem is, as soon as ppl see a flickering skin they think it is some sort of skin cheat. So what is a real skin cheat and how can I show them that mine is not a cheat? (aside from the fact that I usually don't even finish in the top 3!!!) Am I missing something here???

I went back to a default skin last night cuz of this whining. And it was on a CHSP server too...

[8-4-7-2]

No matter how you turn it, it's still a skin cheat and not cool or funny at all. What for God's sake makes people think they need to boost their ego with lame stuff like this? What makes it cool? "Oh look, I can hack my ini files, and make some lame skin". It isn't even a skin. Calling it that, is a disgrace to all skilled artisists. What happened to skill in playing, or sticking out by attitude? No, today we need to stick out by cheating

In teamgames you don't see teamcolurs anymore, making it definatly cheating. And in DM, it's still distracting, even if you are as bright as a christmas tree and I can see you from on end of the map to the other, imho

CHSP has nothing to do with it. And this "whining" was absolutly justified

[Brute_Force]

Im sorry big guy but i disagree...you seem to missing the point.If some one uses a texture skin against me ,i dont do any whining watsoever,i like them and think they add a lil fresh looks to the game.All skins are merely textures placed on a model so wat's the diff.I dont think anyone feels cool bout hacking the ini files ,merely the only quik way to get a new skin.They are in no way a cheat...btw i dont use them but like them.Prob 80-90% of peeps d/l new skins..why???cus there bored with the current ones...not because they wanna cheat or feel cool...easier with texture skins than d/l twenty skins on 56k[you can bet on it]...i dont look at some guy an think ..is he boosting his ego???lmao..where did u get that idea?just chill an play the game for fun...well i hope its for fun??

[8-4-7-2]

Erm, you get the difference between a real skin and an ini hack?

I like real skins (which come with own textures), but what he meant was writing some lines in the ini so that you use textures from the game on the model. Then your skin can be all black or look like a rainbow.

[Randy_M]

OK, let's keep it civil!

If that's how most ppl look at it, even in a DM, then _I_won't_use_it_. Like I said before, I'm not looking for a cheat advantage.

Personally I think if everyone could use custom skins (the good ones done by talented skin artists...) it would make the game that much more interesting. I realize that it makes dark skin cheats and such too easy tho, so it's a tough call. I'd rather use one of the well done skins that are out there, but until I try Valhalla, it isn't an opion. Valhalla is a good example of why ppl DO want to use custom skins!

My ego doesn't depend on this game at all. I'll never have time to play enough to be a great player (career, family, etc). I just play for the fun of it. So ego boosting isn't the issue (for me). Just making the online players more visually interesting. Rather than being distracting, I think it adds to the game's appeal.

Bottom line judging from your response is that it is viewed as a cheat. So I'll play without it. That's why I posted. I really thought it wasn't a big deal. Now I see that it is.

[DeeperShade]

The thing with skin hacks is that they dont show any team recognition. In DM and FFA games, they arent too bad, but in team games, how am i meant to know which team your on?

Basically, it spoils the game and gives the ini meddler a tactical advantage :hmm:

[Randy_M]

I agree. I wouldn't play it in a team game, that would be stupid or a purposeful cheat.

[Ve7]

Originally posted by Randy_M
OK, let's keep it civil!

If that's how most ppl look at it, even in a DM, then _I_won't_use_it_. Like I said before, I'm not looking for a cheat advantage.

That's a cool attitude.

What I think you'll find is that most of the really good players use many visual cues etc and are very used to the way UT looks, so when you have a flashing/animated texture it can cause enough of a distraction/ difference to make a difference, and that's not really fair. PLus if the head is not distinguishable from the body it may make headshots harder for some people, again a legitimate complaint.

Add to that the fact that it's usually llama cheaters and cheater clans that have given ini hacks a bad name and you can see why you are automatically shunned for having a ini hacked skin.

Of course if you don't care [as many don't] that's your progative but you at least seem to have the right idea.

Some people don't understand the appeal of the ini hacked skins - claiming "You never see it anyway so what's the point." Well it's kind of boring to have like 500 screenies of winning shots but the same old skins :/ so I tried the brightest one I could once but people still bitched and I saw their point so I stoped. Blame UT for it's utter stupidity of skin usage but don't have an unfair advantage imo.

And what would you rather hear after you play particularly well? "GG wp" or "SKINCHEATING M0TARD LLAMA MOTHER****ER"

Easy innit, unless you're a teenager with a chip on your shoulder like most of the cheats seem to be.

GL HF.

[Swedix]

I agree with Deeper here.
As long as you don't use them in teamgame and don't make the skinns so you are almost invisible, I see no wrong to use them.
But it can also be a disadvantage with a flickering or multicolored skin. People will have you as target #1.

[Randy_M]

Pretty much sums it up. Even if some of the grey girl skins are harder to see, ppl still call a texture skin cheating.

As for not seeing it myself, I often pass my dead body and think, "cool skin" hehe :)

I played some rounds on a server, called "Haze St Killing" I think it was, and a guy had an all black skin. Very lame. But it's not the same IMO. I know some ppl consider things like a hammer jump keybind to be cheating since the user doesnt have to practice the timing, etc. So it's a matter of opinions and judgment...

[DeaJae]

i use the cow skin. i get a alot of critism from experienced (?) players saying "turn it off i can't hit that lame skin."
well then your not experienced then.
the hitboxes are the same, your minds can only see it looks different.

[CrazyCougar]

There is a mod in development to allow better skin support and more freedom to pick whatever model and skin you want... while still allowing those who don't want to see or download a skin the option of using the default skins.

There are supposed to be a few servers demo'ing this mod but it's been a bit since it when out for testing...

[The Lamb]

Valhalla Avatar is the name of that mod. See http://www.unreality.dk/usaar33/vafaq.htm for more information.

Personally, once I have determined which team a player using an ini hack is on, I always remember, and it causes no more trouble to me.
What annoys me about ini-hacking is that people call them 'custom skins'. No. An ini hack is a texture cheat, a custom skin is a piece of art dedicated to one model only. Confuse the two at your peril.

[-AEnubis-]

...that we are talkin' about DM only. Yea, it's gay in teamgames to not see the team color blah blah blah...

Originally posted by Swedix|PuF
But it can also be a disadvantage with a flickering or multicolored skin. People will have you as target #1.


This is my biggest reason for skins selection. Some where between that and a certain style. I currently play as Arkon Team Green because he's got the brightest pants, and the coolest look combination in my opinion (ha ha, I typed it out).

I used to use various different "skin cheats/hacks". My favs were the ASMD explosion (animated), and the Plasma Beam (not animated). The green bolt just looked really cool. The dark one with the animated blue explosion looked awesome too, though agreed that one was hard to see. Personally, I liked them.

It's not about an ego trip, that is one of the most lame "hacks" in existance. The mose difficult part was opening textures in UEd, and finding out which ones had the correct name format. No one did that thogh, they just went to wesites/forums and copy and paste.

What was cool for me (especially since I could find them myself) is using a skin you never see used by anyone else. Originality is king. With the skin I use, I've only seen someone w/ my exact skin combo a total of 3 times in my 3 years (or however long it's been out) playing this game. I've used the same skin since the demo, and only seen 3 other do the same, and each time, I was thinin' to myself, "that mutha ƒûckâ". I'd take the §hî† personally.

I stopped only because of CSHP. It stopping it made it lame to get stuck w/ the marine skin when it was blocked, and if anyone can change what skin you default to, I'd be the happiest man alive, 'cause then I could make my top secret super spy skin... and no one would complain. Speaking of which, here is a list of compaints (most of which I think are lame) that I've heard for the "skin cheats" in DM, 'cause I don't give a rats ⧧ about team games...


Can't easily distinguish a head.
Can't tell which way model is facing.
Can't tell how far away model is.
Can't see darker skins in shadows.
Animated skins are distracting.
Animated skins drop FPS.
Certain skin textures are camoflauge.


All I can think of right now. The only one of these that is not hella lame, is the can't tell which way a model is facing one. But even that one most of the time doesn't make much matter, you know when he fires his next shot... and the camoflauge one, Female, WarMachine Team 255 (no team) on any map w/ the cryptic texture set is silly. I can't see that skin on Codex, Bishop, Gothic, or liandri well, and that is a legit skin. I bitch about that more then these "cheats". But what can you do?

[Ve7]

W00t! Another idiot cheat stopped by CSHP.

If you can't see why each of those points may be valid then you're either stupid or arrogant.

And I'm sure it's very hard to play well when you're wearing a black skin and hiding in a shadow but who cares about those tryng to play fairly eh?

[IntRed]

the thread name is all wrong
custom skins can't be compared with skin cheats
custom skins are well complete skins, check out utmachine at the hosted sites here at pu, they have a good collection of skins
skin cheats are like you stated cheats, and shouldn't be used in any game, even though its bright or flashy, etc etc
its lame, since skins like that confuse players.
so don't use them!

[CrazyCougar]

I just received a copy of VALHALLA AVATAR BETA 2! Released on the 25th of August. I should have it up and running on my server tonight for testing.

Just a snipit from Usaar's site:
Features include:

-Support for all voicepacks, skins, and an overwhelming majority of player
models.

-Cheat protection (especially skin cheats) that are more reliable than Epic's.

-Clients can see what models other players intend to use (and whether it is
installed on their computer).

-Gestures (taunts) may be disabled server AND client side.

-Less information is replicated and thus lag should be decreased (although it will
probably not be noticable).

This version is publically available. Please go to the Valhalla Avatar download
section. If you have java disabled, simply click here.

Note that it will only run on dedicated servers. For a list of servers that have VA,
http://www.unreality.dk/usaar33/vaserver.htm

[Twisted Metal]

Originally posted by DeeperShade
The thing with skin hacks is that they dont show any team recognition. In DM and FFA games, they arent too bad, but in team games, how am i meant to know which team your on?

Basically, it spoils the game and gives the ini meddler a tactical advantage :hmm:

How did you get your status to glow?

[CrazyCougar]

Just use the font tags]COLOR=green[like this]/COLOR[like this

[Twisted Metal]

Originally posted by CrazyCougar|PuF
Just use the font tags]COLOR=green[like this]/COLOR[like this

That doesn't work for the user status.

[8-4-7-2]

You need to ask an admin to set it for you, because the 40 characters aren't enough for the tags

[-AEnubis-]

Originally posted by [TDO]Ve7
If you can't see why each of those points may be valid then you're either stupid or arrogant.

My arrogance is justified by my talent and intelect.

Originally posted by [TDO]Ve7
And I'm sure it's very hard to play well when you're wearing a black skin and hiding in a shadow but who cares about those tryng to play fairly eh?

Uh...

Originally posted by $MP$-AEnubis
This is my biggest reason for skins selection.

Being the noticability of the skin, as stated early could be a disadvantage if you bright flashy ⧧ was everyones easiest target.

Originally posted by $MP$-AEnubis
My favs were the ASMD explosion (animated), and the Plasma Beam (not animated). The green bolt just looked really cool. The dark one with the animated blue explosion looked awesome too, though agreed that one was hard to see.

It being hard to see was the reason I stopped using it and went to the plama bolt one. Have you ever not been able to see plasma being fired in the shadows?

I don't hide. People hide from me.

[Morety]

I for one want to see more custom skins. I used to play on Unreal with some excellent looking skins, and one of my longtime complaints has been that UT doesn't make it easy to check out custom skins.

They can add a great dimension to a game, and give each player individuality.

(A hack is not a custom skin.)

I can hardly wait to check out servers with this valhalla setup.

Team games could still use custom skins as long as the team members have the same colours/markings etc.

[CrazyCougar]

With the Valhalla Mod one team could use their own skins while the other team could just set them to a default skin(perhaps something with a big red target on them...)... :D

If you don't want to see the custom skin or you don't have it won't affect your game.