Dear War Thunder Community,
I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to report an issue about the use of exploits with the Xbox Game Bar extension as a rangefinder in War Thunder. It has come to my attention that some players are using it to gain unfair adventage over other players.
Description of Exploit: The exploit involves the use of the Xbox Game Bar extension as a rangefinder tool, allowing users to accurately measure the distance to enemy targets with ease. While rangefinders are a legitimate gameplay mechanic in War Thunder there shouldn’t be a 3rd party software to do it for you.
Evidence:
For the past few days there has been a TikTok account @shim1337_off TikTok
That has been posting videos related to the “exploit” and has uploaded a video where they told their viewers how to download the said extention for XBox game bar.
1st TikTok (Talking about the exploit even tho they know it has been brought up on forums once before and it is a contoversial topic)
2nd TikTok (Showing how to use and download the extention for XBox game bar)
( I cant upload 2nd video in MP4 format since it is too big for forum (its around 6MB and forums limit is 4MB, I dont want to cut the video shorter since i dont want to compromise the authenticity of it)
They also mentioned that the only way to download that extention is via their Telegram channel Telegram
Earlier reports:
This “issue” has been brought up before on War Thunder Forum ( End of January 2023) but it doesent seem it got a lot of attention.
Conclusion:
Point of this post is not to point a finger at @shim1337_off but to bring attention to this problem and solve it quickly because it is ruining the gameplay expirience for other players. Some might argue this isnt a cheat but intended feature but anything that is 3rd party besides custom mods that can be downloaded via War Thunder Live shoud result in bannable offense.
Best regards,
SKIPPER_902
Did you use chatgpt or nah?
1 Like
Only as an idea for the template for the report. This is my first time reporting anything like this so I used any help I coud get my hands on.
i can’t even get game bar to work and they are doing this with it
2 Likes
Sometime I use drone with my bmp-3 and shot high explosive shells from the base, I calculate the distance and make correction until I hit something. Sometime it takes 5-6 shots until I get “hit” But if this is real, what the **ck bro :D
2 Likes
This is making how people triangulate targets by drone into a low-skill (pretty much) cheat, this is not good if its easy to do. game bar doesn’t even work on my rig so no idea if it would be. I hope this is patched out
Drone triangulation actually takes skill and is one of the purposes of a drone on real-life battlefields, if you can range a target without external software you deserve it
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i have a similar tool for PC i use called SmallMeasur, only difference is that it measures pixels, not a problem though, the conversion for me on my screen is 1 m = 3.73 pixels so i can just punch it into my calculator and “BOOM” i got my range to target. its a small autohotkey exe. gonna rewrite it at some point to just do the conversion for me and display range to target in meters you can find it here.
personally i think that this is something that should be built into the came and could use the crews range finding skill.
using the drone to triangulate is not possible due to the fact that you will never have a perfect right angle triangle, thee Pythagorean theorem formula is only useful for right angle triangles , The Law of Sines can be used to solve oblique triangles, which are non-right triangles. According to the Law of Sines, the ratio of the measurement of one of the angles to the length of its opposite side equals the other two ratios of angle measure to opposite side .
i asked chat gpt to show me how its possible here is our conversation, the reason i share it is to demonstrate how impractical it is to try and do the math associated with finding the unknown side of a triangle while trying to operate a heavy vehicle while engaging in in a fire fight.
https://chat.openai.com/share/9e4cf0be-1332-4bcc-89ec-c9115a59ffdb
I feel like this could still fall under the realm of exploits and/or cheating… I mean it being outside software being used in the game to gain an upper hand. But idk if it is or not. I just choose not to fight BVR in ground battles, I prefer to see my target when I shoot at them 😂
i would disagree as it doesn’t interact with or alter the game client in any way. for it to be considered an cheating tool. it would need to alter the code or directly interact with the program. all it does is measure the distance between two pixels. previously i used a small ruler, by your logic anyone who uses a ruler to measure their screen is also somehow “cheating”.
I said “this could fall under the realm of exploits and/or cheating”, I did not say it is cheating, but said it could be considered as that. I also said, I didn’t know if that was technically cheating or not.
Isn’t this whole thread about exploiting the game? Using software to gain an upper hand of your enemies? Software that isn’t written into the game code, so therefore is external help, to gain an edge over an opponent? So therefor could that not be considered an exploit?
Also would you not count this as an exploit??? At this point your not even doing the math yourself, you just hit a key binding and you have the range. I feel like it’s a lot less work to just use the in game range finder already found in game…
it is very much doable with some map knowledge and a drone.
y’all use the rangefinder? lol I just yeet it :p
the reason i feel its unlikely to be considered an exploit / hack / cheat is that the TOS states that to be consider such it would need to modify or interact with the game UI or code.
6.1.3. Installation or usage of unauthorized modifications to the Game client, using cheats or other software or devices that modify a Game process and/or original images produced by the Game (including the modification of a Game interface) to obtain an advantage in a Game without explicit authorization from Gaijin.
also ill reiterate that the difference between a ruler and an on screen ruler is only that it is on screen as opposed to held on the screen.
everyone who plays on x box has access to the game bar, everyone who plays on pc has access to SmallMeasur, any one who plays has access to a ruler. ultimately its up to GAIJIN to make the choice, we can only debate it. any player who uses either of these tools still has to ultimately aim and shoot without any outside influence assisting them or making any modifications or iteractions to or with the client.
you are right though, using these tools could be considered such by either GAIJIN or any player but only one opinion really maters to me.
imo i would like to see indirect fire/artillery mechanics/gameplay expanded on in some way so as to be able to use uav to relay range to target perhaps even allow you to fire your tank guns at a target while using the uav to aim similar to commander fire control.
Yeah I ended up looking at the rules too.
Yeah, that’s all I was saying. And your right, everyone has access to this. And everyone has access to rulers.
I would also LOVE this. I think it could be a whole update, kinda like the drone age one
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I’ll be honest, using the drone and commanders view to range and shoot IS possible. Respectfully i think you’ve been under a dark rock. Theres more yt and tiktok shorts to count of people using the drone to calculate. usually takes PRACTICE but its possible. i’ve seen people do it with the AVRE too believe it or not. Sturmtiger too.