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I ask because I'm pretty sure the last time I used cheat codes for anything was GTA SA years ago.

Ok, technically during the L4D2 Cold Stream beta I used the dev console to make a few pipe bombs because the finale was impossible but I remember only ever using cheats for fun things like infinite ammo/health etc so I could wreck shit up with friends. But I haven't used anything like that since before the 360 came out. I was worried it may interfere with achievements and then I just kinda grew out of using them altogether.

Do any of you still use them?

...

Wow...no.

I mean, I might resort to checking a walkthrough if I'm stuck on a puzzle, or getting wiped by a boss fight, but the last time...*wracks brain*...I honestly can't remember; it might have been in re-playing a game to see the stuff I missed, but yeah I *used* have GameFAQS up almost constantly 'back in tha day', but NOW? At least not for a few years.

Huh.

Probably GTA IV, as it was the only way to have fun in that game. Do most video games even still have cheat codes anymore?

I'll cheat if I can't get past a section and I want to progress the story - say invincibility for single player shooters - but I won't go as far as instant max level, all items, jump straight to the end type cheats

Because, y'know, that would be cheating.

Besides most of the time I'm more interested in the story than the challenge.

Exactly, as I said, I might have used godmode or noclip on a replay to check out the 'road not taken' and whatnot that I missed on my proper playthrough, but...I can't recall the last time I did that...

Master Gunner wrote:Do most video games even still have cheat codes anymore?

That was the passing thought that made me make this thread. As far as I know most games that have cheats are unlocked by getting collectables and such, and you can turn the cheats off/on via the pause menu but I haven't even heard of button combination codes for, say, God mode for years now.

Games from studios tend to have standard codes, for example Bethesda games normally have a console command "tgm" to switch on invincibility, or valve will have sv_cheats 1 to enable cheat codes.

Most of the time this kills achievements but again that doesn't really matter that much to me.

I only ever use cheats if the game bugs out and prevents me from continuing the game (Quest objects don't appear. Game crashes and I lose all my inventory etc.)

Hmm...I wonder if the rise of Achievements (which are typically unobtainable if one cheats) might be a 'dis-incentive' to gamers using 'debug codes'?


And I WILL say that I would be more likely to use 'noclip' than any sort of invincibility or unlimited ammo, etc. due to my bad reflexes and the preponderance of 'Donkey Kong' jumping puzzles in games 'back then'...I'm looking RIGHT AT YOU, Lucasarts....razzin-frazzin-Nar-Shadda-in-EVERY-frazzin-game...

funny thing about that. When I played Skyrim the game bugged out on me, telling me to kill a guy who was already dead. So I tried some debug codes in the hopes of solving the problem. I misunderstood what the code would do and it marked ALL quests in the entire game as completed; making the achivements rain over me. I felt really bad about it and looked up on steam for a way to reset all my achivements in the game.

I use cheats in Age of Mythology if the computer will destroy me and I am a sore loser. I use the random God Powers because at least it's more fun.

I use console commands in Torchlight 2 to respecc because seriously, why can't you have it in-game for gold? and re-distributing stats so I can play a different specc and not be hampered by my 563787568367 Dexterity.

Use it in Skyrim to give myself Mod Armours who are annoying to find. Nothing game breaking.

I may use a walkthrough on a tough section on rare occasions, but I don't cheat with cheat codes until I've beaten the game once. And when I do it then, I'm usually just using noclip and godmode to fly around and either look for anything hidden I might have missed (and figure out how to get there when playing normally) or checking out the graphics on the distant objects that you normally can't get to.

Or maybe I just feel like blowing crap up, but I usually go to Garry's Mod for that.

I don't use cheats often. While I do like cheats (and not glitches or things along thos lines), there's only one cheat I think should be basically required in most games and especially fighters. The unlock all cheat. At least for games that are meant to have local multiplayer aspects. The fact some companies now SELL those unlocks just pisses me off. :/

I guess like most the last 'true' cheats I used were in GTAIV.

Beyond that, I'll check wikis/FAQs/walkthroughs if I get significantly stuck. Games should be fun, not annoying.

I only use them when I want to try something new in a game, or I just want to see how much I can break a game, and sometimes it's just boredom.

For instance, I sometimes use a console to make my KotoR character have 50 strength, intelligence etc just so I can kill the Rancor or something like that.

In other cases, like the Sims 2, I hate how the ageing system works, as I find it too short, so I often turn ageing off until I want a kid and make that grow up, then I turn it back on again.

The other example is when I'm playing a game like Crusader Kings II, and I just want it so that I can try something new without having to spend hours creating the right structure to do it and then the AI just buses it up.

I very rarely cheat on the first play through of a game, it tends to be when I play it for the second time that I cheat.

Although the case is that a lot of games don't have cheats these days, short of debug consoles.

I turn off ageing too in Sims 2. Makes my interest last longer.

Unfortunately I hate the 'need friends to get promoted' mechanic. That kills off my interest eventually. If there was a cheat to prevent friendships decaying that'd be great.

...or even let Sims' friendships properly emulate real-life: I'd been close friends with one chap since before our teens, and for maybe a decade, we'd drifted apart.

And then, three years ago, we met up during the holidays and it was like we'd never had that loss of contact; we're on opposite sides of the planet eleven months of the year, but we keep in regular email contact - passing jokes back and forth, and we get together and do stuff every xmastime.

So Maxis? Why d'your Sims seem so 'forgetful' compared to humans?

To be fair, in the Sims3 that is kinda corrected. Friends you don't keep in contact with become Distant Friends, which is mean you only need a little interaction to be good friends again.

I don't really use cheats. The only game I can remember using cheats is in sim city when I just want to build like crazy.

I use bug exploits like the W-Item glitch in FF7 and unpossible Pokemon glitches (I've caught Mew and missingno.). I still occasionally use "there is no cow level" in StarCraft when I run into a map that I really hate.

I remember using cheat codes in Warcraft 2 wayyy back in the day. I didn't even realize games still HAD cheat codes.

Only games I used to cheat on were Sims (to just spam money, because I was an impatient little child) and Age of Mythology. I played through AoM I think 6 times overall, about twice properly and four times just blowing up everything to varying degrees. In AoM's case, cheating and not cheating both seemed satisfying in different ways, because God Powers wer SO GODDAMN FUN to use.

Since then, nothing much; I don't play a vast amount of games, and for anything a bit more intimate it just feels... wrong, really. All the fun is in building up and developing with the character, experiencing as they do, so it just feels a bit weird to 'spam win' as a friend of mine calls it

I can't think of a recent example of a game where I entered a code. However, I will frequently consult GameFAQs and other sources for help. My general policy though is that if the gameplay ever gets in the way of the fun, then cheating is fair game for the sake of progression. Gameplay should never supersede fun. Never.

wartjr2373 wrote: My general policy though is that if the gameplay ever gets in the way of the fun, then cheating is fair game for the sake of progression. Gameplay should never supersede fun. Never.

(the above should be printed out and taped to the wall of every game designer/programmer/etc. EVER.)

I can't tell if you agree or disagree with my statement.

EDIT: Master Gunner assures me that you agree with me. The "I'm with Stupid" emoticon is what threw me. Carry on.