To cheat...or not to cheat

[King Jan III Sobieski]

I'm sure this has been posted before, but since I'm a noob to the forum, I'll ask anyway...

What's everyone's feelings about cheat codes? Do they detract from game play, or add to it? In what way(s)?

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Now, if you wish to be a slacker (or don't have time), you can, but I highly advise it.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

I, myself, dislike cheating - I find most cheats ruin the game for me - it gives the player an unnatural edge over the already disadvantaged AI. Some cheats, however, do exactly the opposite and provide the AI an advantage instead. These cheats, on the other hand, I often use to liven up the game once I have reached the stage where steamrolling the map is all too easy due to an unrealistically huge treasury.

[Andres]

I never cheat.

Imho, cheating takes away the fun and ruins the whole game experience.

[Weebeast]

In a competitive human-human game I don't cheat like say...Day of Defeat (play it regulary every Friday, my Steam name is Firebird if you're interested playing with me). I'm too old for that. I don't see the merit. I know what I can and can't do.

I like basically any kinds of trainers/cheat codes. For example, I love this -ian extension though and used it most of the time I played MTW campaign. I'm no longer playing a game but more of like directing a movie. It takes more time to do but yeah the fun is so invaluable that I'm eager to invest more time.

[Bijo]

I'm sure this has been posted before, but since I'm a noob to the forum, I'll ask anyway...

What's everyone's feelings about cheat codes? Do they detract from game play, or add to it? In what way(s)?

I never use cheats unless playing has become annoying in some way.

Cheats can -- depending on the circumstances -- add or detract from gameplay. But this term is a bit vaguely defined to me.


And welcome by the way. May your stay be joyous.

[TinCow]

It depends on the 'cheat'. I use toggle_fow regularly to see how other nations are developing and add_money to prop up those factions which are struggling, particularly if they are at war with me. Used in this way, 'cheats' are informative and can actually make the game harder, rather than easier.

[Caius]

I dont use cheats, but I have to admit i used cheats in AoE II

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Yea, I used to use Cheats in AOE2/AOE3,and Quest for Glory, but that about it..

[Martok]

I don't use cheat codes as a rule, but I do make exceptions from time to time. The most notable exception would be the ".unfreeze." code in MTW, which I occasionally use if I'm in danger of losing the game because I have no heirs to take over from my aging faction leader. (And when I mean I have no heirs, I mean including royal uncles that might fight each other for the throne -- I'd rather have to fight a civil war and lose half my territories in the process before I resort to using cheat codes.) I truly do limit my use of cheat codes to cases of extreme necessity only, but I will use them.

[Bijo]

Come to think of it... I don't use cheats at all (and I hardly play games too). At best I would seek a walkthrough befitting necessity and rid myself therefrom as soon as possible to continue enjoying the game.

And for a series like TW I would not even look for a walkthrough for it would never be necessary (in most cases).

[macsen rufus]

Normally I don't use cheats, but as I've been working on mods recently, I tend to run in -ian mode now, and do lots of faction switching for testing purposes and I use the worksundays and deadringer etc when I can't spend too much time working my way through to upgrades etc.

Outside testing though, all I ever do is the odd matteosartori.....

.... oh alright, I admit that when I've been in a tight spot I have switched factions so that I can send nubile foreign princesses to my heirs

[KidFury]

I'm sure this has been posted before, but since I'm a noob to the forum, I'll ask anyway...

What's everyone's feelings about cheat codes? Do they detract from game play, or add to it? In what way(s)?

Cheat codes have ruined way too many games for me to ever use them anymore.

The only time I have used them without losing interest in a game was to go through the starcraft campaign so I could experience all the units before going online.

In RTW, the only cheat I avail myself of is the reload button when something bad happens (loss of an assassin or a general stupidly forgotten on the field of battle suddenly decides to do a suicide charge.) Even then, I feel guilty for the rest of the turn. I also never save on anything except the quicksave so If a campaign goes bad I can only restart from one turn back or less...

[Stuperman]

It depends on the 'cheat'. I use toggle_fow regularly to see how other nations are developing and add_money to prop up those factions which are struggling, particularly if they are at war with me. Used in this way, 'cheats' are informative and can actually make the game harder, rather than easier.

I do the same, toggle_fow is my friend.

[AntiochusIII]

I cheat like a sailor swearing...and ended up ruining countless games with them. I'm so addicted I even found my way through when there's no simple path to cheating. Now I can't back off from the ruinous habit or I'll suffer withdrawals.

Take from my lesson, Young Padawan, and limit your cheating to the occasional pack!

[King Jan III Sobieski]

Now, if you wish to be a slacker (or don't have time), you can, but I highly advise it.

What's the matter with being a slacker? j/k. Thanks for the input everybody; very interesting.

[Plebian#10]

I could understand and agree to using cheat codes if the AI handed me my rear end every time I played, however IMHO the AI wins the moment you use a cheat code to get ahead. I never cheat - even if the game gets a little boring at times.

[Gimli]

The only times I really liked the cheat codes were for AOE (the "Big Daddy" Cars and the ICBM troopers and the like) and in AOE 2 where it was just fun to have as much resources as I wanted (after having beat the game without cheats of course!) I think that they can add a dimension of fun to the gameplay after you have already beaten the game. Other than that, I try to avoid them...

[pockettank]

Normally I don't use cheats, but as I've been working on mods recently, I tend to run in -ian mode now, and do lots of faction switching for testing purposes and I use the worksundays and deadringer etc when I can't spend too much time working my way through to upgrades etc.

Outside testing though, all I ever do is the odd matteosartori.....

.... oh alright, I admit that when I've been in a tight spot I have switched factions so that I can send nubile foreign princesses to my heirs

what exactly is -ian mode?

[venex]

The only cheat that really affects the gameplay that I use is toggle_fow:
I think it's pretty ridiculous to have characters (and more important: to recruit these characters!) travel all over the map just to know how the other factions are doing...especially since your given all this diplomatic information just like that...

And this is an exception to my "usual behavior", I usually only use cheats that are fun to see, In example: give_trait_feck#

[macsen rufus]

what exactly is -ian mode?

It's a debugging mode left in from game development (like most of the so-called "cheats" - what makes a game easier to test and develop provides an exploit when left in for players to find.) You use it by amending the target line in your shortcut, so that "C:/ProgFiles/MTW.exe" is changed to "C:/ProgFiles/MTW.exe" -ian

This allows you to switch factions by using ctrl 1-0 and shift 1-0 (as you can probably guess this only allows you to switch between 20 factions - ctrl-1 is the rebel faction). The map can be revealed simply by typing "G" instead of .matteosartori. (much easier ). Oh and the battlemap camera is totally unlocked so you can get a satellite view if you like (more useful for editing battlemaps than anything, really). There are other "God mode" commands, but that's pretty much all I use - it's mostly for testing purposes (ie when you've put in twenty new factions worth of names you don't want to play 20 campaigns to see if they all translate properly....)

I think that most people who use -ian tend to use it to play as the rebels

[Rotc_Railey15]

Hey guys. Im new so....

DO any of you know how to use the force diplomacy cheat??? Im playing as Seleciud Empire and I want to turn Parthia into a client kingdom. Ive entered the cheat exactly how it has been posted on sites

force_diplomacy accept/decline/off

But it wont work....

[Warmaster Horus]

It won't work because it doesn't work. It's always been like that to my knowledge.

There's a force diplomacy mod but only for XGM and EB.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi Rotc_Railey15,
I'm sorry to say that the "force diplomacy" cheat, unfortunately, never has worked correctly. There is a script which can enable you to force a faction to submit to your demands, but, unfortunately, it's EB only. Sorry.

BTW, Warmaster Horus beat me to it.

[Rotc_Railey15]

Oh. Ah well. Thanks. I was wondering why it didnt work. The only cheat im using is bestbuy and toggle_fow only if I really need to see whats going on in the world.

[danfda]

I never use cheats unless playing has become annoying in some way.

Cheats can -- depending on the circumstances -- add or detract from gameplay. But this term is a bit vaguely defined to me.


And welcome by the way. May your stay be joyous.

Same. Sometimes I do when I am annoyed, but like most of you all, I just do the toggle_fow commands to see the whole map. Other than that, the cheats are really unnecessary.

I do cheat in Neverwinter Nights to give my characters a bazillion Xp so I can play with leveling...and occasionally in fps games if I want to rush through levels...but other than that, noper-oo.

[The Darkhorn]

I guess I agree with Martok. The only one I have used occassionally (MTW:VI) is: .unfreeze. so that I don't lose a game in 1442 like I did once with no heirs.



I have tested many of the others, but they somehow leave me feeling unsatisfied.

[TruePraetorian]

i will admit i do cheat, but only if i have beaten the campaign mode about 1,000 times to add some sort of lysterine like freshness, or when im playin with some buddies and the programed AI doesnt have the necesary scripts, like accepting territories for free, etc. otherwise i HIGHLY dissaprove of them, they ruin the game ...

[TruePraetorian]

Oh. Ah well. Thanks. I was wondering why it didnt work. The only cheat im using is bestbuy and toggle_fow only if I really need to see whats going on in the world.

And to help, if you really want that client kingdom, get 1,000,000 denarii with the add_money cheat and give them it, they almost always accept (give them map information, too).

Hope this helped

[tynnmahn]

I use auto_win if I know for sure that I would win and don't feel like taking the time to fight on the battle map. It is generally better to take the time to fight the battle because you usually get a more decisive win though.

Also, the force diplomacy comes in handy sometimes because the ai is so retarded.