Battle Against BattlEye and Modders (GTA Online)

Most of the players in GTA PC have probably started modding in GTA because they were griefed by other modders in the game. This is also the case for me. I started modding in GTA PC around the middle of 2023. It started with the mod menu called 2Take1. Then I bought a lot of other mods. For most people, modding on a game can be perceived as cheating. And it also depends on how the modding is done too. However, for me, I think modding as an alternative way to play the game. I’m also a bit of a technical person with an interest in software development. So it’s enlightening to play the game with external software that will reveals how the game functions and potentially gives me a control over the game. Yes, I’m always interested in having a control over the technological devices that I have.

However, the story is different now. Now, I’m used to do modding because they’ve brought in a hardened anti-cheat. Not that the company behind the game has developed this anti-cheat software. They contracted a company called BattlEye to do it. Of course, there is nothing wrong with working with a company rather than developing the software yourself. Security software also needs to be carefully maintained and monitored for potential threat models. So it’s a great move for Rockstar to contract with a company to do this.

So, after this update, modders have been trying to create anti-cheat bypass tools against BattlEye, but BattlEye’s response to their security is very quick. Within a few days, they released a new update that patched the problem. Also the anti-cheat tool may have managed to bypass some of the detections but there are many more detections for cheating, on the board. Most people tried to cheat after the update, using the techniques that were discovered, and even if they managed to cheat, then they were subsequently banned. So, clearly there is something that is being detected.

I have also became one of those who were banned from the game. Because I used the mod menu with the new anti-cheat bypass. I didn’t do anything major, just used a vehicle glitch so won’t be in need to grind in the game. I have grinded on GTA V before, 2 times. I can clearly say it’s not worth it. You just forget your progress after a few years and all that work gone into the game is for nothing. Anyway, they found out I was modding and banned me. I’m like “What the hell is it with game developers wanting us to be slaves to grinding in their game?”. There’s no way I’m grinding again in a game. There are much better things in life to grind for. So with the ban I got today, I was like, “OK, that’s it. I’m done playing GTA Online.”. Maybe this is the moment where I will remember the last time I played GTA Online and tell to my kids about it.

I have to have a game that I can play to get rid of the stress of work in a short period of time. So I thought about playing Minecraft instead. Going from a game that is completely destructive and crime-related to Minecraft is a sharp turn, I know. I probably won’t stick with it either. However, I did find out that my thin and lightweight laptop is capable of running Minecraft in 96 chunks though. It was probably one of the most surprising things I had today. I was complaining about my laptop unable even handle Windows Explorer windows. Look what it does. It has an i7-1355U and 32GB of RAM. There is definitely an improvement in the processing power/watt ratio. So we can have powerful CPUs in a thin and light machine.

As Minecraft is all about building and constructing things, it hasn’t really taken much stress off me. I need a game with vehemence. I will be looking for another game. I will be also keeping up with the progress of the GTA modding scene. It probably won’t be available for at least a few months. This time it hit on a hard rock.