1.2.0
v1.2 - The "Update" Update
Installation
Using Windows 10? Click here to install
If you don't wish to install it, or are on an older version of Windows, you can download the portable version instead: 32-bit | 64-bit
The portable versions require the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable: 32-bit | 64-bit
Questions? Check out the Getting Started guide, or join the Discord.
After 6 months of (on and off) development, hopefully it will have been worth the wait.
There are 5 bits of news to go over as part of this update, the installer/updater, Steam Web API integration, Discord integration, the end of Windows 7 support, and the new release system.
The Updater and Installer
While this may seem boring, the existing "install" process has been a significant source of support requests. For those that don't want an installed version, the .zip archive (from now on referred to as the "portable" version) will still be available. Both the installed version and the portable version support 1-click self-updating. It's our hope that with these changes, one of the major pain points of using this tool will be resolved.
The Tooltip
When you move your mouse over players on the scoreboard, you will now see a tooltip that shows additional information about them. This information is pulled from their Steam profile via the Steam Web API, allowing you to easily check for common red flags of cheater accounts. This feature does require your Steam API key.
A note about the Steam API and account security
Recently there have been rumors circulating about scammers being able to take over Steam accounts by using the Steam Web API. This is simply not possible. The Steam Web API provides read-only¹ access to the Steam Community, from the perspective of the user who generated the key. In other words, if you have a friend with a profile set to friends-only, your Steam API key could be used to view their profile. You can read all about the Steam Web API here https://steamcommunity.com/dev and here https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_Web_API.¹ The only non-read-only actions the Steam Web API provides are cancelling an outgoing trade offer or declining an incoming trade offer. Needless to say, neither endpoint is used by this tool. This can be verified by looking at the source code.
Discord Rich Presence
This was very easy to add so it was kind of just thrown in. As of right now it shows the current map, whether the user is playing casual or competitive, the class of the player, and party status of the player. It can be disabled in settings or by building from source using a special flag. For more information on building from source, check out https://github.com/PazerOP/tf2_bot_detector/wiki/Compiling.
The End of Windows 7 Support
In an effort to use current best practices for Windows development the installer and updater required the usage of the WinRT API. Unfortunately this API is not available on Windows 7. The work required to support a Windows 7 version and a Windows 10 version, including alternate code paths, testing, and user support is simply not something that the single developer (@PazerOP) is able to support.
Windows 7 has reached "End Of Life" (EOL), which means Microsoft is no longer providing security or feature updates for it. New security vulnerabilities discovered in the OS will not be patched, bugs will never be fixed, and it is strongly recommended to upgrade to Windows 10 as soon as possible. According to the Steam Hardware Survey, Windows 7 now accounts for less than 4% of all PCs running Steam, and is on a steady decline.
Release Themes
As TF2BD has grown it has become apparent that the current development style is not particularly effective for productivity, timely releases, and feature consistency. Who would have guessed that selecting a few commonly wanted and/or easy to implement features would result in a less than perfect development cycle. So, in the spirit of Valve itself, the project has decided to move to a themed release style. Each new release will have features that are all related and be named in a fashion similar to major TF2 updates. The next few releases have been decided upon based on community feedback and will be worked on in the following order. The Tag Update, The Chat Update, The Linux Update, The Demo Update, and The UI Update. You will be able to track the progress made on these updates on GitHub by looking at the projects tab (once issues are properly sorted).
Supporters
A big part of why I enjoy working on this project is the wonderful and positive community that has come together in the TF2BD Discord. The continued interest and feedback from users of this software means a lot to me, so let me say thank you.
Finally, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has supported me and given TF2 bot detector a try since I released it. We had a bit of a rough start, but I think things have really come together since then.
I'd also like to thank @ClusterConsultant for being a tremendous help in managing this project's GitHub presence, as well as coordinating and developing https://botdetector.tf with moeb and others.
Some shoutouts for those who have been kind enough to throw a few bucks my way via GitHub Sponsors sometime between now and v1.1:
Happy bot kicking!