Slowing down a clock in a web-based application

Started by NWI_Irish96, April 12, 2021, 10:49:00 AM

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NWI_Irish96

I know there are some pretty tech-savvy people on here, so I thought this would be a good place to ask the question.

I've been competing against a friend at a web-based puzzle game where your score depends on the amount of time it takes to complete.

After a fair amount of time where I was consistently beating his scores, he suddenly started beating mine by an unbelievable factor. My suspicion is that he's found a way to slow down the clock on the game (having the clock count up one second every 2 seconds as opposed to one second every second).

Is there some kink of hack that makes this possible? I don't really want to waste my time trying to top his scores if this it's possible to manipulate the clock.
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Scott5114

Web applications can be run server-side, which means code runs on a server, or client-side, which means the code is downloaded by the browser and executed by the browser. Pretty much anything time-based needs to be run client-side (because the server can only update information when the page is refreshed, so to get an accurate clock the page would have to refresh constantly). Because the code is downloaded, parsed, and run by the browser, anyone who knows how can modify that code to do whatever they want before it runs, including, perhaps, changing the clock duration or speed.

Easier than modifying the JavaScript code would be to play the game honestly, then right-click the final score, select "Inspect Element", and change the score to say ten billion points or whatever, then send a screenshot of the changed version.
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NWI_Irish96

Perhaps I need to explain this better. I use my web browser to go to a website to play a game. When I start the game, a clock appears on the screen that starts counting up from zero. I make moves as quickly as possible, and the game ends either when I have completed the game or can't make any more moves. If I've completed the game, I receive a score based on the amount of time elapsed, and that score is put into a high score list. The popup box containing the high score list doesn't allow me do do "Inspect Element" on it.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

bm7

It might be possible to use Cheat Engine to slow down the browser and therefore the game, although that would depend on the game using its own clock. If it updates based on the computer's time instead, you might be able to change your computer's clock to change the time in the game. You should also be able to use either cheat engine or the browser's console to manually set the amount of time.

kphoger

I used to use MoSlo in order to play an old boot-legged breakout game from the 1980s (used to have it on 5¼-inch floppy) on a Pentium computer (P3 maybe?).  However, it required a whole-number percentage by which to slow down DOS, and I'm pretty sure modern computers are fast enough that even 1% wouldn't cut it.

(I realize this probably wouldn't produce the results you're talking about, but–well, I guess I like to hear myself type.)
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