GotFrag- A very anticipated release of zblock 4.4 is just over the horizon. Two of Zblock 4.4's biggest updates are a fix for the infamous crouchpeak, and a fix that blocks out bunny hopping, something that if approved for use by leagues will shake things up in the North American CSS scene. You may be wondering why the zblock developers decided to make a command to block bunny hopping, I had the opportunity to speak with one of the developers who had this to say

"Bunny hopping is an illegal exploit that is banned from use in many leagues and lans here in Europe, we have had the opportunity to have many of the top teams test this version of zblock and they seem very pleased with the results."

RegnaM from Team VeryGames made this statement about zblock 4.4

"This is ridiculous! I've just discovered a new game. Actually, it feels different. Why? Simply because it's perfectly fixed."

AZK from x3o had this to say about zblock 4.4

"The new zblock makes source play like it was meant to, it will now be alot more about aim and strats"

Although not everyone is happy with the new updates, DaZed from Vitriolic.NA made this claim

"buggy as all hell, changes peoples movement patterns despite having the same movement patterns for years, can't double jump away like around corners, if you know what i mean by that. Makes the game less imaginative, dumbed down, noob friendly. The game is just too simple without bhopping imo."

The two new zblock commands are
zb_crouchfix and zb_bunnyfix

Lets break each of these down.
Zb_crouchfix (1=Fixed "default" 0=Disabled)

The problem
The problem with the crouch bug is that the server only has two states for a crouching player (standing/crouched) therefore the server is not aware of the player moving from a fully crouched position until they are fully standing.

The fix
The fix is to not allow ducking movement unless the player is fully standing.
Clearly this action causes a client/server view mismatch. With prediction on the client believes it can duck as often as it likes. But the server is saying otherwise. Typically this causes no problems at all. If the user is crouch bugging then they will notice a tiny glitch (like lag) in their view as a predicition error is fixed from the correct server view. The server won't let the player crouch until he is fully standing.

Zb_bunnyfix (1=Fixed "default" 0=Disabled)

The problem
There is a coding over-sight in the Source Engine. When a player jumps they have an additional velocity applied to their movement, the same when a player strafes. Repeated stafe jumping allows a player to gather a huge amount of momentum.

The fix
As the player jumps the second time whilst performing a bunny-hop their velocity on the horizontal (x/y plane) becomes clamped to their maximum client speed.


Below is an updated list on what version 4.4 has to offer.

- Added crouch-bug fix (zb_crouchfix)
- Added bunny-hop fix (zb_bunnyfix)
- Added fix for super-boosting (enabled by default, up for some feedback)
- Fixed a silent-run exploit
- zb_doorfix can only be enabled on tick 85-100 servers
- phys_timescale locked to 1.0 when zb_doorfix enabled
- phys_timescale removed from notify
- Added several auth-host aliases to the plugin
- zb_allowcashcalling now defaults to enabled
- Multiple-load issues should be fixed
- Removed fixes for old server-crash/spam commands which are now fixed by VALVe
- zb_dosprotect now disabled with zb_active 0
- Kicks Unconnected exploiters
- Added a spacer line before team-cash is announced, improves readability
- ent_fire blocked even with cheats enabled
- Blocked a new server crash/lag command
- net_graph 2 is now an illegal value on zBlock servers
- fps_max values below 60 are now illegal on zBlock servers (0 is fine)
- Cvar scanning intervals slightly reduced
- Few small code fixes (none were notable bugs)

zBlock 4.4 RC1 is now available for public beta testing. You can download it via rcon zb_update beta if you use zBlock 4.3. Auto-Updating from older versions will not work.