After reading a few things about the nemesis hook I finally got around to take a look at it. For those who don’t know: The nemesis hook is a dll-file which, when launched with TFC, will enable the player to make certain tweakings to the game. The features of the recent version are: Disabling underwater fog, flagstatus and -timer, speed-o-meter, winamp controls, switching between crosshairs, clock, disabling messagemode 1 and bunnyhop fix.
The hook has been discussed quite controversially before (here, for instance), but after giving it a try myself I felt like adding my 2 cents to the discussion.
Some of the features, like the integrated clock and the winamp control, are of no actual consequence to the game. Speed-o-meter and switching crosshairs are no big deal either. Quite frankly I don’t understand which use the speed-o-meter serves, except perhaps to give a spy a reference when being disguised as a slower class. But then again a spy might alter his speed to match his disguise’s speed in the first place. Or am I missing anything here ...?
Speaking of: I have no idea what the bunnyhop fix does. The description talks of ’blocky movements’ on servers with BH enabled. But since I don’t bunnyhop and loathe BH (by principle, mind me, not because I couldn’t) I will probably never find out.
The ’disabling MM1’ feature is not a bad idea, either. In most cases one doesn’t miss anything worth mentioning on MM1. On the other hand I suspect too many people will just disable MM1 right away, and that, IMO, would be a mistake. There might always be some questions between the teams (e.g. suggesting an O vs. D game when there are only few people) or somebody asking questions, and heck, personally I like when people are exchanging ’gg’ at the end of a game. So disabling MM1 should only serve as an emergency brake, but not as a default setting.
While all the aforementioned features are rather harmless the most controversial are the remaining two: Flagstatus and -timer and disabling underwater fog.
Personally I love the concept of the flagstatus and -timer being displayed on the HUD. The flagstatus is rather banal, since it could be requested by the corresponding command anyway. But having it on your HUD all the time gives the game a lot more transparence. The flagtimer on the other hand is something which could not have been duplicated by the game itself. So actually I would have to reject it because of that. BUT then again I think this is a great feature which adds a new level to the game. Both, flagstatus and flagtimer, introduce a far more controlled and transparent approach on tactic and strategy, and IMO could do a lot to give the game a new twist it could definitely need. I think it shifts the game to a sharper gameplay, removing some of the rather casual elements.
People always complain the game was getting old. Here would be a chance to give the game a new edge without changing anything of the game’s balance or mechanics.
But of course this would only be true if everybody had the possibility of using such a feature. And since not everybody, for various reasons, would be using nemesis (and in the following you will see why I could not recommend it wholeheartedly) it would require Valve to integrate such a feature by themselves (the more as nemesis would trigger anticheat protection). And I’m afraid that’s not likely to happen.
So it’s time for the big downside of nemesis, altogether with a big flaming towards his creator:
The ability to disable the underwater fog is a cheat. Period.
I don’t care if certain cards don’t display the fog on D3D. The question if those people are cheating or not is a different discussion, and it’s completely besides the point. The underwater fog is a feature on some maps which has been created on purpose. It was used by the mapmaker in his attempt to create an obstacle of sorts. Removing the underwater fog altogether means to tamper with the basic design of the map. And it serves as an unfair advantage to those making use of it. Some people fail to understand why clear water constitutes as an unfair advantage over somebody with underwater fog. But they might think the same about a wallhack. To a certain degree the effect is quite similar: You see something you are not supposed to see. And in some aspect it’s even worse than a wallhack because you can already attack the enemy.
- Rock: Unterwater without fog
- Well: Underwater without fog
And puuhleease don’t start with that crap of ’leveling the field’ with those people who don’t have the fog in D3D. There is no ’leveling the field’ when it comes to cheats. There is only a degrading to the same level of the scum using cheats. Again, the problem with fog on D3D is a different - and complicated - matter, and I won’t call those people ’cheaters’ ... at least not per se. But if you’re graphic card DOES display fog on your regular setting and you disable the fog - for example with nemesis - then I call you a cheater.
So in conclusion: As much as I like the flagstatus & -timer feature, which adds to the game, the underwater fog cheat sadly leaves a foul aftertaste.
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