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How-to: Gathering Evidence

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Hello fellow xG Members, tis I, Forest! Here to spread the good word on how to subdue rule breakers and other hooligans whose existence revolves around stirring up anarchy and chaos within our Servers. As many are well aware (or at the very least should be aware) Staff Members can't always be on every Server at any given moment. This results in moments of rampancy where rule breakers are running amok, freekilling poor defenseless reds/terrorists, giving multiple Free Days round after round, and the mic spamming.. Oh Lord the mic spamming! I'm here to tell you that things don't have to be this way. You can aid xG in its attempts to subdue these criminals. That's right, you too can help us without the use of fancy powers like slaying, muting or banning! How, you say? Well, allow me to enlighten you in several ways you can personally take down these rulebreakers. For the sake of organization (and ease), I'll break it down into steps for you to take.

 

Now, before we begin dispensing Justice, there are a few things we'll need.

 

First and foremost, we'll need to capture someone in the act of rule breaking. Now, there are various ways in which you can choose to capture evidence against a rule breaker. You can choose to capture it through video recording, voice recording, and by providing text proof (typically in the form of screenshots). I'll begin with text based evidence as it can be obtained without having to be ingame (depending on the rules being broken).

 

acdn1.iconfinder.com_data_icons_hawcons_32_699044_icon_55_document_text_128.png.987235779a1e65971dd805cca6138869.png 1. Text Based Evidence

 

There are a few ways in which you can obtain evidence toward rule breakers by way of text. This is typically reserved for people who are harassing or otherwise disrespecting players in any way. Keep in mind that you cannot copy and paste text for use as evidence as this is not a valid means of proof! There are a few ways in which you can obtain text evidence that will retain its integrity and validity.

 

1
A. Chat Logs

You can pull logs from a Server by going through the following steps:

1.1
Note the time in which the rule breaking occurred

1.2
Head to

1.3
Click on the
in which you wish to gather the chat logs

1.4
Click on the
tab marked under the Sections

1.5
Find the appropriate time in which the rule breaking occurred and screenshot the offending text (
*Note
: The chat logs are constantly updated so for ease it is best to screenshot the information rather than link the chat page)

1.6
Make your way to wherever you saved your screenshot and then simply attach the screenshot(s) you took to your post

1
B. Chat Logs

*Optional
: You can also choose to link the offending player's chat history by doing the following:

2.1
Take down the player's Steam ID

2.2
Follow steps
1.1 through 1.3
from above

2.3
Click on the
tab marked under the Sections

2.4
Input the Steam ID into the
bar and proceed to click Search Player

2.5
Click on the Player's name

2.6
Click on
located below their Statistics Summary (
*Note
: Because this chat log isn't updated at the same rate as a Server based one, you may choose to link this page instead)

2.7
Make your way to wherever you saved your screenshot and then simply attach the screenshot(s) you took to your post
-
or
-
copy and paste the link to the player's chat log page. Be sure to include at what time the incident occurred for convenience!

 

1
C. Chat Logs

Another alternative that doesn't require nearly as much effort as the above two is to simply screenshot while ingame. This particular strategy is welcomed, however it is a lot more clunky and disorganized to read due to the feed generating a lot of unrelated content. The only requirement for this is to be ingame and have Console (
~
) enabled. For the sake of clarity (and consistency) simply do the following:

3.1
While ingame, open Console (
~
) and scroll through the feed until you see the desired text.

3.2
Highlight the offending text (allows viewers to easily distinguish between related and unrelated text) and then proceed to screenshot it

3.3
Make your way to your game's folder and then simply attach the screenshot(s) you took to your post

 

acdn0.iconfinder.com_data_icons_various_icons_1_512_camcorder_389aeee20be158e4d1859e8a4f842a33.png.9cea52080efce289490b6d47cdab7d88.png 2. Recording Based Evidence

 

As with text based evidence, there are a couple ways in which you can obtain evidence toward rule breakers through recording. This form of evidence is typically used against rule breakers who are freekilling, actively harassing or mic spamming as well as other forms of rule breaking that are difficult to capture through screenshot or text.

 

2
A. Demos

Demos are a form of recording that are included in the Source Engine to record ingame without the stress of running 3rd party recording software. This allows users who would otherwise be unable to record by using a program such as Fraps to record easily.

4.1
Ensure that you have Console (
~
) enabled. This option will typically be located under the Advanced section in the Keyboard tab in your Options menu of whatever game you're on.

4.2
While ingame, open Console (
~
) and type in the following (where demotest is the name you would like to label the file as):

4.3
You should now be recording all gameplay in the current game you are running (IE. If you are running TF2, then you are now recording a demo for that session. It will not record any other instances of games running at the same time)

4.4
Once you have the desired amount of footage, open Console (
~
) and type in the following:

4.5
Your demo will have stopped recording and will be saved as
demotest.dem
in your game folder (For instance:
\Steam\SteamApps\common\team fortress 2\tf\
) along with all its associated files. At this point, it's as easy as locating the file and attaching it to a post.

 

 

Congratulations! You now have the necessary knowledge and tools to aid xG in taking down rule breakers. You no longer have to worry about a rule breaker getting away before a Staff Member can get on! Keep in mind that this is by no means a substitute for Staff Members; they are always needed and should be called on immediately should anything go wrong on the Servers. This is merely a.. Back up plan, that'll allow you to help out in your own way.

 

The best of luck to you all, go get em'!

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Simple script I use to start and stop demos at the press of a button:

 

Just copy this into your autoexec.cfg files that is in TF/cfg/ and press f4 to start and stop recording, I suggest binding another key like f5 to status(bind f5 status) as well and hit it after recording to get steam IDs in console in the demo.

If you do not have an autoexec file in that location, you can make one using notepad.

This script will allow up to 50 demos

NOTE: if you close and reopen TF2 the script will begin at 1 again, overwriting any previous demos, so rename or move any important ones before that happens.

>///START DEMO RECORDER SCRIPT///
alias demo1 "record demo1; alias demo demo2"
alias demo2 "stop; alias demo demo3"
alias demo3 "record demo2; alias demo demo4"
alias demo4 "stop; alias demo demo5"
alias demo5 "record demo3; alias demo demo6"
alias demo6 "stop; alias demo demo7"
alias demo7 "record demo4; alias demo demo8"
alias demo8 "stop; alias demo demo9"
alias demo9 "record demo5; alias demo demo10"
alias demo10 "stop; alias demo demo11"
alias demo11 "record demo6; alias demo demo12"
alias demo12 "stop; alias demo demo13"
alias demo13 "record demo7; alias demo demo14"
alias demo14 "stop; alias demo demo15"
alias demo15 "record demo8; alias demo demo16"
alias demo16 "stop; alias demo demo17"
alias demo17 "record demo9; alias demo demo18"
alias demo18 "stop; alias demo demo19"
alias demo19 "record demo10; alias demo demo20"
alias demo20 "stop; alias demo demo21"
alias demo21 "record demo11; alias demo demo22"
alias demo22 "stop; alias demo demo23"
alias demo23 "record demo12; alias demo demo24"
alias demo24 "stop; alias demo demo25"
alias demo25 "record demo13; alias demo demo26"
alias demo26 "stop; alias demo demo27"
alias demo27 "record demo14; alias demo demo28"
alias demo28 "stop; alias demo demo29"
alias demo29 "record demo15; alias demo demo30"
alias demo30 "stop; alias demo demo31"
alias demo31 "record demo16; alias demo demo32"
alias demo32 "stop; alias demo demo33"
alias demo33 "record demo17; alias demo demo34"
alias demo34 "stop; alias demo demo35"
alias demo35 "record demo18; alias demo demo36"
alias demo36 "stop; alias demo demo37"
alias demo37 "record demo19; alias demo demo38"
alias demo38 "stop; alias demo demo39"
alias demo39 "record demo20; alias demo demo40"
alias demo40 "stop; alias demo demo41"
alias demo41 "record demo21; alias demo demo42"
alias demo42 "stop; alias demo demo43"
alias demo43 "record demo22; alias demo demo44"
alias demo44 "stop; alias demo demo45"
alias demo45 "record demo23; alias demo demo46"
alias demo46 "stop; alias demo demo47"
alias demo47 "record demo24; alias demo demo48"
alias demo48 "stop; alias demo demo49"
alias demo49 "record demo25; alias demo demo50"
alias demo50 "stop; alias demo demo51"
alias demo51 "record demo26; alias demo demo52"
alias demo52 "stop; alias demo demo53"
alias demo53 "record demo27; alias demo demo54"
alias demo54 "stop; alias demo demo55"
alias demo55 "record demo28; alias demo demo56"
alias demo56 "stop; alias demo demo57"
alias demo57 "record demo29; alias demo demo58"
alias demo58 "stop; alias demo demo59"
alias demo59 "record demo30; alias demo demo60"
alias demo60 "stop; alias demo demo61"
alias demo61 "record demo31; alias demo demo62"
alias demo62 "stop; alias demo demo63"
alias demo63 "record demo32; alias demo demo64"
alias demo64 "stop; alias demo demo65"
alias demo65 "record demo33; alias demo demo66"
alias demo66 "stop; alias demo demo67"
alias demo67 "record demo34; alias demo demo68"
alias demo68 "stop; alias demo demo69"
alias demo69 "record demo35; alias demo demo70"
alias demo70 "stop; alias demo demo71"
alias demo71 "record demo36; alias demo demo72"
alias demo72 "stop; alias demo demo73"
alias demo73 "record demo37; alias demo demo74"
alias demo74 "stop; alias demo demo75"
alias demo75 "record demo38; alias demo demo76"
alias demo76 "stop; alias demo demo77"
alias demo77 "record demo39; alias demo demo78"
alias demo78 "stop; alias demo demo79"
alias demo79 "record demo40; alias demo demo80"
alias demo80 "stop; alias demo demo81"
alias demo81 "record demo41; alias demo demo82"
alias demo82 "stop; alias demo demo83"
alias demo83 "record demo42; alias demo demo84"
alias demo84 "stop; alias demo demo85"
alias demo85 "record demo43; alias demo demo86"
alias demo86 "stop; alias demo demo87"
alias demo87 "record demo44; alias demo demo88"
alias demo88 "stop; alias demo demo89"
alias demo89 "record demo45; alias demo demo90"
alias demo90 "stop; alias demo demo91"
alias demo91 "record demo46; alias demo demo92"
alias demo92 "stop; alias demo demo93"
alias demo93 "record demo47; alias demo demo94"
alias demo94 "stop; alias demo demo95"
alias demo95 "record demo48; alias demo demo96"
alias demo96 "stop; alias demo demo97"
alias demo97 "record demo49; alias demo demo98"
alias demo98 "stop; alias demo demo99"
alias demo99 "record demo50; alias demo demo100"
alias demo100 "stop; alias demo demo1"
alias demo "demo1"
bind f4 "demo"
///END DEMO RECORDER SCRIPT///

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Or if you can't figure out how to use the record feature for your game, I'm pretty sure Nvidia has shadowplay and AMD has Raptr(?). You can record/cache the last five minutes of gameplay and save it.

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Or if you can't figure out how to use the record feature for your game, I'm pretty sure Nvidia has shadowplay and AMD has Raptr(?). You can record/cache the last five minutes of gameplay and save it.

My shadowplay causes all my games to crash when opening on Windows 10 :(

 

Also if someone does something like mass free kill and you weren't recording, hit f6 and it'll save a replay of the entire round... doesn't always work tho :(

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There are other various ways people can capture evidence, but I was just demonstrating the simplest way; those of which could be done by (almost) anyone with little to no outside programs/software. I may edit the OP (ássuming I still can) to include steps for screenshots as well, just to complete the whole "super user friendly" procedure. The intention of the thread was to both ássist Divisions in cracking down on rule breakers as well as to provide an organized/basic list of steps to obtain evidence that, as mentioned earlier, anyone could follow.

 

Though I'm thinking of requesting that the title of this thread be altered to better reflect its contents. Maybe something along the lines of "How-To Gather Evidence"? With that said, should this thread remain in the General section, or should it be under Ban Request (possibly other sections such as Member Protest/Report Abuse/etc)?

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