I want to discuss a serious issue affecting our game: map hacking. Players are disabling the fog of war on the client side, giving them an unfair advantage by seeing the entire map and all units.
Impact on Player Experience
Map hacking ruins the strategic planning and surprise tactics that make Age of Empires IV fun. It frustrates honest players and damages the competitive balance.
Inconsistent and Non-Permanent Bans
Current bans for map hacking are inconsistent and not always permanent. This lack of consistency fails to deter hackers and undermines trust in the game’s enforcement.
Suggestions for Detecting and Banning Map Hackers
Immediate Detection and Ban:
Automatically ban players if any unit target attack something that should be invisible due to fog of war.
Client-Side Integrity Checks:
Regularly check the client side to ensure fog of war is intact. Investigate any discrepancies.
Community Reporting and Gameplay Review:
Improve the reporting system for suspicious behavior. Implement a review system similar to CS’s Overwatch, where players can review matches and vote on whether behavior is suspicious.
Tracking Gameplay Data:
Track data like map exploration percentage and visible units. If a player sees all units, trigger an investigation.
Transparent Ban Policy:
Create a clear ban policy with permanent bans for repeat offenders. Communicate this policy clearly.
Implementing these measures can create a fairer and more enjoyable gaming environment. Let’s keep Age of Empires IV fair for everyone.
Thank you for your attention. I hope the developers take swift action.
Out of curiosity:
I have read the complete recent patchnotes and haven’t found a line which addresses the hacking/cheating situation.
Any news from the Devs about this topic?
Any official effort to tackle this?
I can’t imagine getting back into aoe4 before the cheating situation is taken care of.
Even having a cheater once every 10 matches is more than enough for me to not ever feel like enjoying the game.
Just the pure thought of it puts me off massively.
I remember a day of playing 1v1 ranked where I had 3 cheaters in my history.
The matches seemed super suspicious, so I checked the replays and saw them maphacking.
Moving straight trough all sheep on the map, the a rus player going straight for deers and even attack-clicking on the wolves in fog of war, when he should not be able to do so technically because the wolves were not discovered.
I eventually won the matches but they were stressful as the enemies always knew what I was doing and where I was doing it.
april 2025: still the same. If i report ppl for map hacking: nothing happens. I keep rechecking them, they keep hacking, i keep reporting, all for nothing. I’m just a gold player, map hacking is really relevant at that level. It’s demotivating: some of the games i’m trashed and on replay: it’s clear map hacking. I loose my ladder points, the cheater goes to plat (somehow, they seem to be stuck there). Map hackers should be put in a league of their own (I understand the dev’s can’t loose all the hackers, but then: at least let them play each other)
I like your idea. Those who are convicted to be cheater shall have a hidden parameter, that make it more likely for them to match with enough others in ranked matches.