Bring back Cheat Mode!

[Dell19]

Its already possible to edit PBEM saves to cheat...

 

[sealman]

My problem is that once this is in the code base, some unscrupulous player will find a way to abuse it for competitive games. If it isn't in the code base at all it's that much harder.

There are models out in the industry that help curb abuse. I am not sure how it works since I am not a programs. There is a baseball simulation (Out of the Park Baseball) that runs multi-player leagues (I enjoy the sim but do not take part in the multi-player aspect). There are many ways to cheat during each individual game, the simplest is restarting when your team is losing. Without going into too much detail, the game recognizes when someone does not complete a game correctly and will not allow those results to be included into the mulitplayer model. Again, I am not sure how this is done, but it is supposed to work.


The simplest thing for civers to do, once it is discovered that another player is a cheater is not to include him/her in any multiplayer games. People are gonna cheat with or without the cheat codes. There should be, and I believe is, an honor code system among most of the fequent hall of famers and GOTMers follow it. I for one have never submitted my scores for inclusion into the hall of fame because I play a slightly modded game. I don't consider this a cheat, but I am sure that some purists do.

 

[Talesin]

I think it should be broutght back in single player but not in multiplayer. I ahve only played 3 multi games and they were great fun. Cheats on Multi player would ruin a game. On single player I don't mind it at all in fact I would encourage it to a certain extent.

 

[Dell19]

Depending on the cheats available then it could even be optional for mp games as well although it should be off by default and its unlikely that it would ever really be used.

 

[Garbarsardar.jr]

If rcoutme proposal
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=1877326#post1877326
is implemented i bet you we'll want a cheat mode...lol

 

[warpstorm]

If it was too annoying to try to win, I wouldn't play. If I have to cheat to win then what's the point of playing?

 

[Garbarsardar.jr]

I think you misunderstood me
I do want rcoutme's proposal to be implemented so that a cheat mode will be useless...

 

[warpstorm]

It's an interesting mechanism he proposed (and an entertaining read), but very easy to exploit

I still don't see where his article has anything to do with cheat modes. It seems like you are spamming the threads with links to it. Firaxis reads the threads (trust me, they do). So do the mods.

 

[Garbarsardar.jr]

I think that a good idea with such influence on the gameplay relates to everything.
I think that it deserves to be promoted even if it does not have an impressive title like Armageddon....or Giant Death...
I think that there is a distinction between spamming and being interested in assisting the improvement of the game.
I think that this answer is much more guilty of spamming than an 1 line link
I am sorry that I offended you(if I did)

 

[Gogf]

NO NO NO! Cheating is bad!

 

[Milan's Warrior]

If it was too annoying to try to win, I wouldn't play. If I have to cheat to win then what's the point of playing?

I already cheat. I love Civ3, but it takes too long for me, so I cheat using the Editor before starting the game. It's a much harder way to cheat, and requires a lot of premeditation, but I managed to create a new balance in the game that allows me to win faster (but not so fast that the game gets pointless).

I would love to see the cheat back

 

[kulgan]

I find cheats or helps beneficial in so much as I find them useful for trying new things that would otherwise take along game to get to. For example if I wanted to see how my edited units behave in an emporer level game, then a few cheats to speed things up in some way or allow me to start with certain things to improve the game as I would like to play it, then the variables are there for me to try out. When your cheating yourself, your not fooling anyone but yourself, if you think you legitimately completed the game. Put them in.

A few suggestions for cheats I would use maybe,

remove movement restrictions,
allow trade with countries without a harbour or connected road,
autoupgrade units for free,
choose the technology you want to start with,
have a fixed rate of 2 turns for each discovery,
No revolt/corruption/disease/disarsters,
Money from cousin vinnie,

I am sure that there would be more. However I think that the final credit should show you as a (Cheater) for that game.

 

[warpstorm]

Kulgan, what you describe in your first paragraph isn't cheating, but rather debugging. It is needed for scenario and rules modding and is in the game now.

 

[hclass]

Looking at the poll result, I think most of those who love the "Cheat mode" has given up the game and this forums...

 

[Dell19]

Its 60% to 40% which is reasonably close...

 

[hclass]

Hi warpstorm,
"If I have to cheat to win then what's the point of playing?"

Not everyone cheat to win, most of us cheat to have fun!
Take "Reveal map" as example , I can always win without revealing map, but I prefer to start my single player game with the map revealed. I have more fun playing that way. So "cheating" like the one offered in Civ2, is a mean for user to play the way they want. I don't really care about wining and the score, what I want is more fun in the process of playing...

 

[Matrix Fan]

I'd say no because cheats ruin the game and plus if you use cheats you don't get to play the whole game and you won't experience the games potionalnal. But i would agree to have cheats if you have completed the game fully then i would use cheats but i would have to play the game.

 

[Commander Bello]

I never used the cheat mode in Civ 2, but I voted Yes. It seems to me that "honesty" has nothing to do with this, and "cheat mode" is a misnomer: its really a powerful tool for testing mods. If you want to play the game without "cheating" (as I do) than simply do so: the presence of this tool would in no way force anyone to use it. If the name "cheat mode" bothers you, maybe they could call it "Modify this game." And as I recall, if you turned on "cheat mode" in Civ 2, you became ineligible for the high score list. Presumably, in Civ 4, you also couldn't use this feature in the middle of multiplayer games.

Besides, even if someone wanted to use this to "cheat" rather than to test a mod, why should I care? Nobody appointed me to be Honesty Police. I say put it in: I'll never use it (unless I somehow get a lot more free time and decide to try to make my own mod) but I think it should be there for the modders' sakes. No offense meant to anyone, but I fail to see how the presence of this tool "ruins" the game for anyone: unless someone cheats at multiplayer, how does what anyone else does with their game affect my game experience at all?

Very well said.

Sorry guys, but sometimes I wonder how many of the posters concern the behaviour or others in their games. That's just not your business.
If somebody likes to have 10,000 ICBMs at the third turn of his game, fine. Where is the problem? How am I concerned with that?

Just rename the "cheat mode" to "testing mode", and everyone will cheer and call this the best idea ever.
Make the game track all saves and make it put in a marker in said saves after entering the testing mode, and the HOF issue is solved.

If somebody really wants to "cheat" - that is, getting a better score than he could have gotten without - he will find a way.

 

[Brutha2]

Why do you want a cheat mode? It just ruins the game. If you can't win, play on chieftain.

 

[LLXerxes]

Cheats are always fun, but they ruin the game!