Cheats and in-game editor?

[12agnar0k]

have cheats, don't have cheats, I'm not really bothered

although

(I'm pretty sure steam will vac ban you for having any sort of cheats on your computer when you play games on steam so you might be able to play civ multiplayer after downloading un-official cheats, but you won't be playing l4d or counterstrike nemore.)

Fairly sure, Vac servers need to be played on and scan you before that happens,

@Greg, fair enough, but they might be utilised at some point for all I know, in the future multiplayer modes that haven't been created yet. But yes, as for release, no Vac secured servers will be used as you confirmed already.

 

[PieceOfMind]

You have an interesting way of interpreting a confirmation of civ5 not using VAC. Remember civ5 is being shipped with multiplayer. The future additions (PBEM and pitboss) are even less likely to need the "assistance" of VAC. Especially hotseat .

 

[12agnar0k]

Well even though its confirmed not to be used I am not ruling it out, if Frixasis/2kGames aren't providing the servers to run our games but instead Steam is, then Steam is the one that chooses whether or not VAC runs on thier servers.

 

[SGRaaize]

The few times I've tried any cheats in Civ games, I've found that it completely destroys my motivation to continue the game. The challenge is gone and thus the pleasure of gaming is gone.

I don't agree with this
In almost every game, I always tend to have 2 save files, one where I try to go from bottom to the top without cheats and others where I just dominate everything cheating
They're both fun

 

[mjs0]

Well even though its confirmed not to be used I am not ruling it out, if Frixasis/2kGames aren't providing the servers to run our games but instead Steam is, then Steam is the one that chooses whether or not VAC runs on thier servers.

I was under the impression that VAC servers were designed to run with particular game engines. Since Firaxis built their own game engine how would Valve have a VAC that supports it?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

VAC is part of Steamworks. Its quite possible to integrate it into any other engine besides Source.

 

[Souron]

VAC would hinder modding. So even without the above confirmation, it would be against the interest of selling the product to have VAC.

If a program such as VAC did find some inconsistent changes to the executable, the most likely cause is not malicious cheating, but a poorly written mod. Generally mods are supposed to override files, not change the main executable, though.

 

[mjs0]

VAC is part of Steamworks. Its quite possible to integrate it into any other engine besides Source.

Right...but Firaxis have said they haven't implemented VAC, so my point was in reference to this claim:

Well even though its confirmed not to be used I am not ruling it out, if Frixasis/2kGames aren't providing the servers to run our games but instead Steam is, then Steam is the one that chooses whether or not VAC runs on thier servers.

Surely without Firaxis coding the integration to their new engine the claim that Steam can turn on VAC independently seems far-fetched.

 

[PieceOfMind]

It's even more far fetched than getting a version of the game not tied to Steam, IMO. Be realistic here.

Then again, I wonder what they actually are doing to prevent online cheating. Did what they do with civ4 depend on gamespy a bit?

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

Cheats make video games pointless. If you don't want at least somewhat of a challenge then don't play.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Cheats make video games pointless. If you don't want at least somewhat of a challenge then don't play.

If all the enjoyment of video games came from simply the challenge, then we'd never progress past games like Chess and Go. That's right - I'm telling you that different people enjoy games differently, and cheating is just one way to do so. Back in the 90s, on consoles cheats were mainstream and certainly not a dirty word. One of the most popular websites was called cheat code central (http://www.cheatcc.com/).
Things like Paintball mode in Goldeneye on the N64 were "cheats".

Nowadays cheating is more often referring to cheating in MP, gaining an unfair advantage. This is something that worldbuilder definitely is not. IMO it is ridiculous to tell anyone it's pointless that they use worldbuilder in single player.

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

If all the enjoyment of video games came from simply the challenge, then we'd never progress past games like Chess and Go. That's right - I'm telling you that different people enjoy games differently, and cheating is just one way to do so. Back in the 90s, on consoles cheats were mainstream and certainly not a dirty word. One of the most popular websites was called cheat code central (http://www.cheatcc.com/).
Things like Paintball mode in Goldeneye on the N64 were "cheats".

Nowadays cheating is more often referring to cheating in MP, gaining an unfair advantage. This is something that worldbuilder definitely is not. IMO it is ridiculous to tell anyone it's pointless that they use worldbuilder in single player.

I don't consider Worldbuilder to inherently be a cheat, as I believe they included it for basic modding purposes. However, the OP mentions the ability in Civ4 to simply click yourself a massive stockpile of gold or culture. Why would you possibly play a game if you're just going to sit there and press the same button over and over again to put yourself on top, then roll over the competition?

If someone considers that entertainment then they've spent far too much time indoors.

 

[PieceOfMind]

I don't consider Worldbuilder to inherently be a cheat, as I believe they included it for basic modding purposes. However, the OP mentions the ability in Civ4 to simply click yourself a massive stockpile of gold or culture. Why would you possibly play a game if you're just going to sit there and press the same button over and over again to put yourself on top, then roll over the competition?

If someone considers that entertainment then they've spent far too much time indoors.

Sorry but I'm not going to argue this (any further anyway) because it's completely pointless. Why would anyone do something pointless?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

VAC would hinder modding. So even without the above confirmation, it would be against the interest of selling the product to have VAC.

If a program such as VAC did find some inconsistent changes to the executable, the most likely cause is not malicious cheating, but a poorly written mod. Generally mods are supposed to override files, not change the main executable, though.

No, a good implementation of VAC does nothing to hinder modding. See any Source engine game or mod.

 

[brianshapiro]

Cheating can allow you to experiment, thats all. Sometimes its fun to do a sandbox game...

I think people here could probably see the value in a game like SimCity. Unfortunately, unlike SimCity, Civ is very predictable, so I'm not sure I care about a cheat mode inclusion.

 

[Blanchflower]

I don't agree with this
In almost every game, I always tend to have 2 save files, one where I try to go from bottom to the top without cheats and others where I just dominate everything cheating
They're both fun

I also enjoy playing games this way as well!