PSP's new 15 BPS rule

[7lash]

Chicago,
I think that the replacement chip approach may meet objection from manufacturers. A lot of time and money is spent by the manufacturers developing software that squeezes every last ounce of performance from their guns. To replace that software with a third party chip is potentially crippling to the gun and at the very least will change the 'feel' of the gun, which is very important to most players - imagine being given a new gun at the start of each tournament.

John,
If the switch itself bounces like crazy then surely that is detectable.

The object of the exercise is to come up with a way of detecting designer cheats, i.e. software cheats. The solution does not have to be a 'one stop shop' as there will still be chrono marshalls to check for the more traditional cheats.

 

[Chicago]

That's why the chip is replacable - the player only NEEDS to use it for the particular event that it's required, and can then swap it out for whatever chip they like. These chips are less than $10 each, so once you've got a board that can handle chip switches, it's an inexpensive proposition to do so.

Plus, I'm not sure what you mean by "cripple" the gun. A trigger is pulled, and a solenoid is actuated for a given length of time to fire it. This is not exactly rocket science. If your marker won't display the temperature in a tournament, well, I think we'll all just have to live. If you mean they're going to argue that their markers will shoot slower, I'd like to know how the board is making people pull the trigger faster?

I've always put claims like "Buy our board, you'll shoot faster!" in the same category of "Our gun shoots further!" The only way it does either is if you cheat (add shots, shoot above 300 fps).

 

[manike]

Originally posted by Chicago
Plus, I'm not sure what you mean by "cripple" the gun. A trigger is pulled, and a solenoid is actuated for a given length of time to fire it. This is not exactly rocket science.

It's not that simple. There is a lot that goes into making code work well with a certain type of gun design. Almost all code is tweaked to work with the gun. Different guns require different settings.

You also need to adjust the settings to make it work right.

Also by the nature of it being easy to swap chips, and the fact they look so alike, unless you came up with a tamper proof system of telling what chip is in the gun... it would be just as easy to swap in a cheater chip as it is to swap in the tourny chip...

 

[Chicago]

One other thought....

The manufacturers don't have to support it any more than they have to support the new 15 bps rule in PSP. If they don't people will just have to buy after-market boards. So if you're willing to make people buy aftermarket boards for 15 bps, there's no reason not to require an aftermarket boad that accepts the mandated chip.

Putting a board like that in the gun stock would just be an additional feature.

 

[Chicago]

Originally posted by manike
It's not that simple. There is a lot that goes into making code work well with a certain type of gun design. Almost all code is tweaked to work with the gun. Different guns require different settings.

You also need to adjust the settings to make it work right.

What's hard about this? There are already aftermarket boards for pretty much all markers. I'm not saying the code on these chips has to be crippled, it just needs to be league-approved. There's nothing saying a manufacturer can't provde code to be approved, or that an after-market chip maker could not do the same thing.

Also by the nature of it being easy to swap chips, and the fact they look so alike, unless you came up with a tamper proof system of telling what chip is in the gun... it would be just as easy to swap in a cheater chip as it is to swap in the tourny chip...

Ineed easy to swap one in, but the key difference is we can now TELL that a cheater chip is in there. Just pop the chip out and scan it. If it's not one of the aproved chips, it's illegal, and you ban the player for a year or three or whatever. Stiff penalties will work when you can actually reliably detect when someone is cheating.

You could also mark approved chips with a logo. You'd still have to check them, but you could also have stricter penalties for having a cheater chip with the mark (lifetime ban) and legally pursue anyone who sold chips with the mark without permission.

 

[TJ Lambini]

Oooh, Geek War between Mr Chicago (named after his favorite band) and Manike, named after, er, Curtis Mantronix, if you're dyslexic.

 

[Steve Morris]

Originally posted by TJ Lambini
Mr Chicago (named after his favorite band)

Hey, Chicago wasn't always so bad, especially in their early years, just got stuck in syrup. Terry Kath was one of the best rock guitarists ever. (Talk about a threadjack.)

EDIT ADDED: Worse than a threadjack, it's practically time travel. Most of the forum is going; who? When? TFP

 

[TJ Lambini]

Originally posted by Steve Morris
Kath was one of the best rock guitarists ever.

I feel a banning comin on...

 

[Steve Morris]

Originally posted by Steve Morris
EDIT ADDED: Worse than a threadjack, it's practically time travel. Most of the forum is going; who? When? TFP

And the big topic on Speak Your Brains is what? The Death Sentence.

 

[TJ Lambini]

Originally posted by Steve Morris
And the big topic on Speak Your Brains is what? The Death Sentence.

I'll change it to 'Terry Kath - death, or just broken fingers'.