CHEATING at Mario Kart DS

Ok,

I have no other explanation. This is about the 5th time this has happened. Here's what happens:

I start a race with some dipstick who picks Mario and the Mario or Luigi Kart (usually). As we're racing, their (my last race I had two of these punks together) karts are CONSTANTLY jumping all over the screen. I don't mean sliding left and right (I THINK I understand "snaking"), I mean in fraction-of-a-second intervals their kart disappears and re-appears all over the screen.

The kicker is, they're not doing a power-slide, they don't have mushrooms, yet they are BLOWING ME AWAY at ridiculous speeds. I'm using one of the fastest Karts, by the way.

Has anybody else experienced this online? AND...

Can you tell us all how it's done? AND...

If you know how it's done, can we report "cheaters" to Nintendo and either get this bug worked outsomehow or have "cheaters" banned?

I don't mind losing, but being cheated just takes all the fun out of it - and there is NO WAY Mario is that fast, especially with this weird quantum-leaping thing the karts are doing all over the screen. I realize asking how it's done appears self-serving. I admit, I want to know so I can do it - but only if I run into some turd who is already doing it. Otherwise I'd be happy with a clean race. Man, I HATE getting cheated like this.

I only saw a cart warping around one time. Guy was all over the place. He'd be way behind that he'd somehow be up on me. Then he might be behind again. I THINK it was lag though.

Cheating is the major reason why I have resisted online play in any form up to this point.

It just infuriates me. Why spend that kind of sneaky effort on something that is supposed to be a fun pastime? I don't get it. Its not like there's a financial incentive.

Well, I haven't proven any cheating. However, I did read something online hinting towards the possibility that someone could use a Gameshark to cheat. I didn't even know there was a Gameshark for the DS yet. Could that be it?

it could be a combonation of really good snaking and lag. ive seen a few people that are really really, i mean really good at snaking, much better than a casual gamer like me will ever be. then with the lag, it might seem like they are jumping. its a possiblity, i havent heard of any other instances with cheating in mario kart. i sure hope they arent around because that would just ruin the whole thing.

[quote name='iheartmetal']it could be a combonation of really good snaking and lag. ive seen a few people that are really really, i mean really good at snaking, much better than a casual gamer like me will ever be. then with the lag, it might seem like they are jumping. its a possiblity, i havent heard of any other instances with cheating in mario kart. i sure hope they arent around because that would just ruin the whole thing.[/QUOTE]

You know, I had considered that but it HAS to be something else. Now, if you wanted to tell me that being incredibly good at snaking causes the character to move erratically that might make a little more sense - However, it's the combination of factors that compells me to think there is a direct link.

I mean, how is it that EVERY time this happens, the person is using Mario/Luigi/Peach - characters that I am guessing most "pros" wouldn't use and certainly wouldn't pick for their speed? In addition, the way the cart erratically jumps around (I know full well what snaking looks like) is always a giveaway. If I played SLOW or NORMAL racers whose kart jumps around like that, I would be tempted to say "Oh, this is normal. Some people with lag are good, some are bad". But it's not that way. The "signiture" is unmistakeable and the player it's happening to is ALWAYS blessed with miraculous speed.

I played one last time last night before going to bed and the "cheater" in my game used Princess. PRINCESS. Fell behind to 4th and was passing me in no time. One last "ingredient" to add to the mix. When these people get blown up, as in blown up by the blue shell (flipping in the air, complete stop) it literally takes them no time to get back to full speed. Soon as their kart lands they're back at full speed.

yeah this just sounds like typical lag to me; what you're describing has happened to me with lots of other games over the years, so because of the lag, you're probably not getting an accurate portrayal of what's actually going on in the game.

happened to me as well once. it's just lag. no cheating involved. calm down.

also, characters with good to great acceleration are going to handle the Blue Shells a lot better than those who don't. Luigi and Yoshi are great when it comes to that. Try playing Bowser or DK and getting hit with one.......yea acceleration isn't that great.

It's definitely NOT cheating... it is lag. And there's also a chance that whatever character/kart combo your opponent picked is faster- hence why they speed past you. But you can still them with red shells/blue shells though.

Yeah this really sounds like a case of lag. When i played WoW, i was lagging, everything was playing normal on my screen and i was flying on my friends screen. It was a RL friend on the phone so i know it was true. Point is, either he was really lagging, or you were.

You know if you time your push of the gas, you can do a turbo as you land on the ground.
Difficult to do but if mastered really helps a lot. Similar to the start turbo.

The reason they're always Mario, Luigi or Princess is because they're three of the fastest in the game.. well, Mario not so much, but still. Calm down, it's lag.

I really don't think it is lag at all. Really I don't

I'm in the lag group. I've had guys jump from behind me to in front of me and end up disconnecting, and not in an "on purpose" sort of way. Ethernet connections are not all equal.

It is definitely lag. There is most likely packet loss so the game can't keep up with where your opponent actually is. If they are snaking, it makes it look just that much worse since their cart is already moving side-to-side to begin with, hence the warping.

I've played on Rainbow Road where I would swear someone was cheating b/c I would see them fall OFF the course, only to have them warp ahead of me. The game thought they fell off the course since in the last packet of information it received, the kart was going straight. Once the kart's position is actually updated, it plops them back on the track and it looks like they have warped.

As far as the blue shell is concerned, you hit them with the shell, but because of lag their actual position on the course could be totally different than what you are seeing. So it seems like you hit them right ahead of you when actually they are a 1/4 lap ahead of you.

I have had some bad lag in several games and it make shooting items, and just racing in general a total crapshoot b/c you don't really know where the hell they actually are.

I hope you're all correct. My apologies to whoever thought I needed to calm down. I'm not throwing a fit over here, I just couldn't figure out what's going on.

I've considered getting my video camera and recording one of the races. The reason being, I understand your point about lag, but it still doesn't explain how someone who is NOT snaking is able to blow everybody else away like that. Though their karts are glitchy and jumping all over the place, you still get a pretty good taste of the path they're taking - and it looks NOTHING like snaking. So even if they are experiencing a lag it doesn't explain the miraculous speed to me, unless maybe the lag is causing them to get all mushrooms becaues the game thinks they're behind all the time? Makes no sense to me - but thanks for your feedback. I'm still not convinced but am open to the possibility that I'm off on my "cheating" assumption.

sounds like lag to me.

I dunno I was racing on the course where you are on a beach and go through a cave and someone who was way behind managed to get in front of everyone by a good distance out of nowhere when they were in last place.

I was seeing the samething but when I saw the guy disconnect I knew it could not be cheating.

All I know is a ran a near flawless race against a guy and he lapped all 3 players. Not lag he was finished before I hit the second lap. I had a star at one point and he was in the process of passing me (my second lap his third) and he made me look like I wasn't moving. He did this on all races with the exception of rainbow road.. his record 74-0.. I believe some of the issues are lag related..but there is some way other than snaking that can give you an insane boast and almost instant recovery.

[quote name='chosen1s']I hope you're all correct. My apologies to whoever thought I needed to calm down. I'm not throwing a fit over here, I just couldn't figure out what's going on.

I've considered getting my video camera and recording one of the races. The reason being, I understand your point about lag, but it still doesn't explain how someone who is NOT snaking is able to blow everybody else away like that. Though their karts are glitchy and jumping all over the place, you still get a pretty good taste of the path they're taking - and it looks NOTHING like snaking. So even if they are experiencing a lag it doesn't explain the miraculous speed to me, unless maybe the lag is causing them to get all mushrooms becaues the game thinks they're behind all the time? Makes no sense to me - but thanks for your feedback. I'm still not convinced but am open to the possibility that I'm off on my "cheating" assumption.[/QUOTE]

It would be cool to see a video of it, regardless.

[quote name='almasy82']All I know is a ran a near flawless race against a guy and he lapped all 3 players. Not lag he was finished before I hit the second lap. I had a star at one point and he was in the process of passing me (my second lap his third) and he made me look like I wasn't moving. He did this on all races with the exception of rainbow road.. his record 74-0.. I believe some of the issues are lag related..but there is some way other than snaking that can give you an insane boast and almost instant recovery.[/QUOTE]

Which courses were they? There are some big time shortcuts in courses like GBA Sky Garden, Delfino Square, Cheep Cheep Beach, and Yoshi Circuit.

i experience this alot in online Mario Kart for the DS and I have full connection speed/signal...its not lag...the guys are lapping people a third of the way around the first lap...its not lag...

[quote name='lebowsky']It is definitely lag. There is most likely packet loss so the game can't keep up with where your opponent actually is. If they are snaking, it makes it look just that much worse since their cart is already moving side-to-side to begin with, hence the warping.

I've played on Rainbow Road where I would swear someone was cheating b/c I would see them fall OFF the course, only to have them warp ahead of me. The game thought they fell off the course since in the last packet of information it received, the kart was going straight. Once the kart's position is actually updated, it plops them back on the track and it looks like they have warped.

As far as the blue shell is concerned, you hit them with the shell, but because of lag their actual position on the course could be totally different than what you are seeing. So it seems like you hit them right ahead of you when actually they are a 1/4 lap ahead of you.

I have had some bad lag in several games and it make shooting items, and just racing in general a total crapshoot b/c you don't really know where the hell they actually are.[/QUOTE]


ive had the same thing, where i look on the bottom screen and it looks like they arent even on the course, but thats just a flaw with lag. there isnt much you can do about it when youre racing random people.