Where do I get ESL Aequitas?
You can always get the latest version here .

How does ESL Aequitas Work?
ESL Aequitas is an anti cheat tool that currently supports all steambased games (CS 1.6, CS:S, DoD, DoD:S, HL1DM, HL2DM, TF2 ). Further games as well as non-steam based games are planned for the future.

Aequitas tries to create nearly LAN conditions. Via the program the players can check what's going on the other players' computers. In order to do that Aequitas makes screenshots at irregular intervals that are then packed into a zip archive and uploaded as match media. Apart from that the zip archive contains all relevant config files of the game concerned. In addition to that Aequitas logs process information and the system configuration and sends the data to the ESL server. This data is automatically scanned for irregularities and will only be checked by admins with extra permissions in exceptional cases.

Everybody is now able to check his/her opponent's screenshots and configs for illegal things. ESL Aequitas is not an anti cheat tool that actively blocks cheats but a monitoring tool.
It is no substitute for tools like Cheating-Death, VAC or Punkbuster but an additional tool.

Can ESL Aequitas be used on any server?

Due to the fact that screenshots and config files are stored on the client side and the system information is immediately sent to the ESL, Aequitas does not have to be installed on the game server.

How do I use Aequitas?

See the Aeqitas guide

Can screenshots be manipulated ?
The files that are stored on the user's computer get encrypted file names that can be checked for manipulations by using the 'Check File' function. The data that is sent to the ESL is encrypted as well (compare 'Checking Aequitas Files').

Can ESL Aequitas be hacked?
ESL Aequitas comes with a comfortable autoupdate function which allows us to react fast and well-directed and to install updates in order to make life difficult for hackers.

How do you catch cheaters?
One the one hand the screenshots will convict them but on the other hand ESL Aequitas is able to detect cheats and system modifications. Firstly we will collect and compare data and then the users will be barred. This means that you never know whether a cheat is 'Aequitas proofed' or not.

Is ESL Aequitas compatible with VAC?
Yes, it is. As far as we know it is not detected as a cheat. The reason is that it does not modify the HL(2) engine, it is only a monitoring tool. You can keep on following the current ESL anticheat recommendation and use ESL Aequitas at the same time.

Does ESL Aequitas work with Windows 98/ME?
ESL Aequitas does not work with Win9x/Me.

I get the following error "MSVBVM60.DLL" ( ie. "C:WindowsSystem32MSVBVM60.DLL is no valid Windows file")!
In this case you have to reinstall Visual Basic Runtime which you can get from the Microsoft site:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7b9ba261-7a9c-43e7-9117-f673077ffb3c

I have problems with my FPS while using ESL Aequitas!

To make the size of the screenshots smaller we use JPEG compression. You can choose to use this JPEG conversion during or after the game. Of course having the compression happen after the game sounds better, but you have to think about the fact that Aequitas will then write BMP files to your hard drive during your game and these files can easily be 5MB and thus make your hard drive lag. It is advised to test if your CPU is strong enough to compress the BMP to JPEG during the game, as most modern CPUs should be able to easily do this without much problem. When your CPU can handle it your hard drive will only need to write a few KB and will not lag at all.

Who gets to see all the data?
We are the only ones who access this data and we will not make it accessible to third parties