ET Server Suggestion patch this hitbox priority bug in silent 0.9.0, rollback to 0.8.2

[the cake is a lie]

SUGGESTION
Patch the bug described below in silent 0.9.0 and roll back silent servers to version 0.8.2 until patched.

 

BUG DESCRIPTION
The head box is either completely or partially obstructed and cannot be hit in a variety of common game scenarios including:

-- Firing from close range while crouched or prone at a stationary, standing or walking target.
-- Firing while standing at a standing, stationary or walking target at mouth height or below.
-- Firing from lower ground at a standing or walking, stationary target.

-- Firing from the rear at a forward or backward moving target either running or crouched
-- Firing at a target that has just landed from a jump
-- Firing at a target standing up from a crouch
-- Firing at a target getting up from prone

 

In the screenshots below you can see that body shots are scored when a reasonable player would expect a headshot in some of the scenarios described above. The boxes and bullet traces are generated by using g_debugBullets 3 on a test server.

 

 

 

 

 

Below you can see the hitboxes as rendered by version 0.9.0 with g_debugHitboxes 1 on a test server. It appears as though any shot that passes through the red torso box is always scored as a body hit even if it would otherwise hit the head.

 

 

AFFECTED VERSIONS AND POSSIBLE ORIGIN
-- Silent 0.9.0 (with g_realbody 0)
-- Silent 0.5.1 and above (with g_realbody 1)

 

I have confirmed this bug is present on F|A server hc.clan-fa.com running silent 0.9.0 and using g_realbody 0. All other server running this version are likely to be affected.

 

The bug seems to originate with the introduction of the g_realbody cvar for a tighter body hitbox in silent 0.5.1 around March 2012. With g_realbody 1 the new torso box overlaps and covers the headbox from a variety of angles.

 

Bullets that pass through the torso box are always scored as body hits even if the bullet end point would otherwise be in the headbox and the bullet path does not intersect with the visible player model. It seems like the scoring order/priority during hit testing is wrong.

 

There are no issues of this type with headshot scoring on servers using g_realbody 0 up through release 0.8.2. The 0.9.0 release in late 2015 introduces the same bug regardless of g_realbody setting.

 

A line in the changelog for 0.9.0 hints at the cause: "The arm hit detection was not working correctly from the side shots. Fixed by adding additional temporary box for the torso." It appears that this extra box may not be as temporary as intended.

 

BUG LOCATION

I don't know how much silent has deviated from the ETpub code it was built on top of but the bug is likely to be in the file g_combat.c in the G_Damage function somewhere around line 2000. The fix may be as simple as changing the sequence of a few conditional statements in the code to check the head box before any of the body boxes when hit testing.

 

MITIGATIONS
-- Server operators should consider downgrading to silent 0.8.2 until a patch is released.
-- Players who are aware of the bug should not prone or crouch in close combat, should avoid fights from an elevation below the enemy, should aim high on the head, and should not attack targets from the rear when headshots are critical.

[MaTt0]

at least we found the problem. whats the ETA on this getting patched?

Edited April 12, 2022 by MaTt0

[the cake is a lie]

On 4/12/2022 at 7:17 PM, MaTt0 said:

at least we found the problem. whats the ETA on this getting patched?

 

I just got this cross-posted to the forum used by the silent mod dev team, so we might get a timeline soon.  Hopefully some of them are still active enough to fix it.

 

In the meantime you and other silent mod players should spread the word about this bug on the server to any players and admins that are not yet aware of it. The more players politely asking for it to be fixed, the more likely a patch or rollback to an older version is to happen.

[Haruhi Suzumiya]

After all the time I spent learning to where to aim to hit the headbox in any given situation lol

[MaTt0]

I'm also starting to notice depending on the day the hitboxes seem to be better than others. One day I feel all my shots hit, other days its miles off.

 

I'm wondering if it has to do w/ the real ping to the server changing in real time.

 

 

That could be way off, but It's hard to understand.

 

I really hope the silent dev's are around to give this a look if we can't get it to roll back. 

[MaTt0]

Was there any update on this? Last I heard they were trying to get ahold of the old Silent mod devs, and I think it wasn't possible to roll back to an older version. 

 

I feel it might be the end of the road for this one I'm afraid. It's just soo out dated that the old devs are long gone.

 

If we can get names or aliases, maybe we can search them on twitter or something idk. 

[daredevil]

Will check with Gao. I still have source code somewhere.. and need to reproduce the issue locally as well. 

[rambozo37]

I have the same problem but only in jaymod. When i play silent its like everything is back to normal. 

 

Weird 🤔

[MaTt0]

16 hours ago, daredevil said:

Will check with Gao. I still have source code somewhere.. and need to reproduce the issue locally as well. 

If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. ❤️ TY!