To Cheat Or Not To Cheat ?

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[CoconutKid]

Yes, the topic has been wacked and hacked to death. I happened across a 2001 thread about it on the Cafe Tropico forum about it. I posted the brief rant copied under the double line. I thought perhaps a few folks here would like to add their rant.

I have come to regard the "cheat" codes as only another part of the structure of gameplay. The developers and publishers had a vision of gameplay which they translated into an actual vehicle. That is much the same as the author of a book who presents information in a particular format. Some authors intend to tell a story in a way that requires starting on the first page and going in sequence to the last page; while others intend to provide information and don't care in what order it is absorbed.

A fiction mystery might be spoiled for many readers if they read the last chapter first, but some might find the story development more interesting when knowing the finish. Students are typically bored by having to study history as if it were a mystery to be discovered step-by-step while they are already living the last chapter.

Computer game publishers have fallen into the rut of repeating fixed formulae because it saves time in writing the software. I compare the formula games to 'Barbie' dolls -- same old dolls with new dresses to put on. It's actually just a how big is your wardrobe? game of collecting new games.

Scenarios are now (2011) Challenges; Events are now Missions; and scores are automatically posted to website "leaderboards" if the game didn't detect the use of cheats. Learning gameplay is as boring as reading a sophomore history text and taking a Friday quiz. Walkthroughs are the equivalents of "Spark Notes" or "Challenge X For Dummies."

Personally, I find most scenarios\challenges to be simplistic 'Readers Digest' one page vignettes in an endless tutorial.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=3808.0

[TomNobles]

Cheat codes are actually a part of a, and in some cases the only, test vehicle. As for a rant, I can't think of any. I find that in most games, I can play without using cheats. Nice post though.

[Virmin]

As is commonly the case I don't quite understand what you are saying CoconutKid. I'm not sure what point I am meant to take away from what you posted. Though this could very well be due to my own lack of comprehension as I do have a comprehension disability, if you will. Doesn't sound like a rant in any case though. Based on the first sentence I would gather that you are in favor of cheats.

I think for the most part I am in agreement with Tom in that cheats are usefull for testing purposes in some games. But I do find in some games, perhaps most games even, there is at least one feature of the game that I may feel the developer made a poor choice by making it annoyingly too hard or tedious and there for I feel completely justified in removing that feature or changing it such that I find is more balanced. But in many cases the opposite is also true, where for instance, I find a particular aspect of a game is too easy and so, if possible, I like to make it harder, again this is for the sake of making it more balanced in my mind. An example of this is games like Transport Tycoon and Locomotion where I find making money in the long run is to easy and so I like to have higher operating costs so that money has more meaning in the game. On the other hand an example where I feel cheating is ok is a game like Mount & Blade where to start out you level up rather quickly but as you progress it slows down severly. So what I like to do is make the experience needed to level up much less so I level up more often in the later game. I would also choose to make leveling up slower in the early game if I could but sadly you can only have one or the other so for the sake of late game enjoyment I go with the former.

[Strix]

As Tom says, cheat codes are vital for scenario writers to test things.
Also for someone "labbing" game behaviour to save time.
Also Instant Win useful if you have to reformat and reinstall so you can get back to where you were in a campaign.
Also enables someone to move on to next scenario if they get stuck. They can always come back later and try again when they have more experience.

As for using cheats as proper cheat, as Tom says, it is not necessary, and worse - takes all the fun out of the game.

But why should I worry about what someone else does, they paid for the game and can do what they like with it.
Anyone moaning about it is being self-righteous.

[CoconutKid]

... I'm not sure what point I am meant to take away from what you posted. ...

... But I do find in some games, perhaps most games even, there is at least one feature of the game that I may feel the developer made a poor choice by making it annoyingly too hard or tedious and there for I feel completely justified in removing that feature or changing it such that I find is more balanced. But in many cases the opposite is also true, where for instance, I find a particular aspect of a game is too easy and so, if possible, I like to make it harder, again this is for the sake of making it more balanced in my mind. ...

voilà

In many games, the developers have structured the scenarios or challenges so rigidly that gameplay without use of cheat(s) becomes drudgery. In addition, that rigid structure often denies the player some of the enjoyable features available. I could go on at length about this problem in the old Spring Break in which the rigid scenarios turned the game into an obstacle course which 98% of the players abandoned after they had played it through once. Those who abandoned the game after "finishing" it knew the tricks and walk-throughs, but nothing of the rich depth of extended game play. I am certain that they fully intended to issue a second "campaign" with freer gameplay; but they blew the chance because the marketing department saw only the loser (quick death) first "campaign."

Perhaps I could put it another way. What had been called a cheat because it was a coding artifact from the developers' "debugging program" - has become instead a desireable - albeit incomplete - tool to overcome the inadequacies of the current crop of game developers.

So it seems to me that there is no longer a clear, bright line that defines "cheats" in any useful sense. While I suppose it can't entirely happen, I don't wish to play against the developers attitudes about what I can or can not understand. I do wish to appreciate all the depth of their skills. So let me have the tools to "balance" gameplay for my enjoyment and stop beating me around the head and shoulders with the term cheat.

Back in the dawn of history when I played board wargames, the discussion was about "balance" (or rules) and not "cheats." I hope this additional comment helps make the obscure clearer. Perhaps it is a rant because it is interesting (important) to me but to few others.

[CoconutKid]

...  But why should I worry about what someone else does, they paid for the game and can do what they like with it.
Anyone moaning about it is being self-righteous.

Well, unless you care about what the marketing department which is carefully monitoring the company website with its "Leader Boards" for the published challenges\scenarios thinks. They demand that some cheats get locked out, but are confounded by other artificial score inflations.

[Virmin]

So it seems to me that there is no longer a clear, bright line that defines "cheats" in any useful sense. While I suppose it can't entirely happen, I don't wish to play against the developers attitudes about what I can or can not understand. I do wish to appreciate all the depth of their skills. So let me have the tools to "balance" gameplay for my enjoyment and stop beating me around the head and shoulders with the term cheat.

Back in the dawn of history when I played board wargames, the discussion was about "balance" (or rules) and not "cheats." I hope this additional comment helps make the obscure clearer. Perhaps it is a rant because it is interesting (important) to me but to few others.

Yes, I completely agree with you. And about the board games, thats a particularly good point. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the term "house rules" when it comes to card games and board games. And what is house rules but a way of restructuring the rules of the game such that it becomes more enjoyable for those people. Having no rules is never the objective as the rules are what make a game fun in the first place. But what rules make it most enjoyable  is a matter of opinion.

[Face]

For the most part i will only look up a games codes, when i get to a point in a game where a board/scenario/mission takes me an hour+ to lose, and i have tried several times to prevail. thats not fun. as noted some time that seems to be a part of the game. struggling in a game is not why I play games. Don;t get my wrong i love and enjoy a good challenge. but when it gets to be tedious and/or very repetitive, it is time to speed up the process.

I played Dungeon Siege for Xbox when it first came out, and the endless button mashing was simply a waste of time. In Multiplayer, as long as all players didn't die at the same time, you would always respawn at the edge of the screen.  Fast Forward a few codes later(Mostly the cash cheat developer option), being able to guaranteed get the best available gear in each shop we got to, it became a little more fun. IE best weapons to kill the seemingly endless hordes of enemies that you encounter.

[TomNobles]

Just to clarify, there is a difference between "cheats" and "cheat codes". Unlike other cheating methods (trainers, etc.), cheat codes are implemented by the game developers themselves, as a tool to playtest certain aspects of the game without difficulty.

[CoconutKid]

I think I have internalized the concept of what the developers do vs other stuff -- even though I am carelessly imprecise in my terminology.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Cheating in video games -- Notice, This article is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheating_in_video_games

Cheating in video games involves a video game player using non-standard methods for creating an advantage beyond normal gameplay, usually to make the game easier, or may also create unusual effects which do not necessarily make the game easier to play ... Cheats may be activated from within the game itself (a cheat code implemented by the original game developers); or created by third-party software (a game trainer) or hardware (a cheat cartridge).

The article gives a fairly complete inventory of the various aspects of "cheating," especially the historical aspects.

It seems to me that there is a newer and not so widely discussed aspect of what the developers include as "cheat codes." In some games, the developers have left parts or all of the coding "open" to modification by players who have developed moderate skills at coding. Such 'mods' are technically cheats if the definition from Wikipedia is accurate. They introduce non-standard effects into gameplay. To see a discussion of how this has a practical use, look at this thread:
http://www.citybuildergames.com/index.php/topic,2607.0.html

Magazines such as CRASH regularly featured lists of such POKE instructions for games. In order to find them a software cracker had to interpret the machine code and locate the critical point where the number of lives is decreased, impacts detected, etc. Sometimes the term POKE was used with this specific meaning.
Cheating was exploited by technology-oriented players due to the difficulty of early cheats. However, a cheat industry emerged as gaming systems evolved, through the packaging and selling of cheating as a product. Cheat-enablers such as cheat books, game guides, cheat cartridges helped form a cheat industry and cemented cheating as part of gaming culture. However, cheating was not universally accepted in early gaming; gaming magazine Amiga Power condemned cheaters, taking the stance that cheating was not part of their philosophy of fairness. They also applied this in reverse; games should also not be allowed to cheat the player.
Later, cheating grew more popular with magazines, websites, and even a television show, Cheat!, dedicated to listing cheats and walkthroughs for consoles and computer systems. POKE cheats were replaced by trainers and cheat codes. Generally, the majority of cheat codes on modern day systems are implemented not by gamers, but by game developers. Some say that as many people do not have the time to complete a video game on their own, cheats are needed to make a game more accessible and appealing to a casual gamer. With the rise in popularity of gaming, cheating using external software and hardware raised a number of copyright legal issues related to modifying game code.
Many modern games have removed cheat codes entirely, save for uses to unlock certain secret bonuses. The usage of real-time achievement tracking made it unfair for any one player to cheat. In online multiplayer games, cheating is frowned upon and disallowed, often leading to a ban. However, certain games may unlock single-player cheats if the player fulfills a certain condition. Yet other games, such as those using the Source engine, allow developer consoles to be used to activate a wide variety of cheats in single-player or by server administrators.

So are the folks writing the "trainers" for the "cheat industry" merely puss-pockets on the face of society; or are they legitimate entrepreneurs who capitalize on the inadequacies of the developers\publishers? Perhaps they are like the customizing shops for automobile owners?