Where Have All the Cheats Gone?
- Thread starter MikeWehner
- Start date
Very true.MikeWehner said:
It's one of the same things that ruin the fun of roleplaying games -- from pen/paper to MMOs. When players begin (perhaps naturally) comparing themselves to each other, we begin to standardize fun. "You must enjoy the game this way, so that we may compare and see who has enjoyed it better."
Poorly-implemented PvP systems in roleplaying games (read: nearly all current PvP systems) result in many players not being able to build the character they want. They have to do it the "right" way, or risk being marginalized. Even PvE has this problem, as you might not be accepted to a particular group if they demand a particular "build" or "spec" for your character type. And these can be as true in tabletop games as in MMOs or core-RPGs.
The loss of old-fashioned cheats is just another symptom of that same problem: We're trying to standardize the experience of gaming. We cater to a particular playstyle, rather than allowing for different ways. We cater to a particular type of reward or achievement, rather than allowing players to choose for themselves what the most rewarding part of the game may be. And, what's worse, those elements that speak to even a large minority are increasingly written off as "unnecessary." They get "streamlined" out, so that all that's left is content that appeals to the hyper-competitive masses.
It's not just about multiple paths to success. It's also about multiple meta-methods of enjoying the game. Maybe I just want to relive some fun moments of a beloved game, so I want to enter a cheat and skim it easily. Maybe it's a new game, and I want to experience the story first and then add the challenge back in later. Maybe my XBox died, and I don't want to have to unlock all the same stuff again on my new console. Maybe my friends and I don't want to have to play all the crappy characters/levels/songs just to unlock the good ones, so we can play the stuff we want tonight.
The kind of cheats I always liked best were not mere 'cheats' that made the game easier to beat, but rather the ones that induced all sorts of oddball behaviour that isn't supposed to be standard gameplay but could still be a huge amount of fun.
For instance, a lot of cheats in the earlier Grand Theft Auto games fall into that category, like the one that allowed you to jump so high you could leap from rooftop to rooftop, and the one that made your punches so strong they would send people flying down the street. And, of course, the cheats that gave everyone weapons and made them all attack each other. The city would erupt into a riot and you'd see grannies running around with flamethrowers.
Those are the kind of cheats I miss the most.
For instance, a lot of cheats in the earlier Grand Theft Auto games fall into that category, like the one that allowed you to jump so high you could leap from rooftop to rooftop, and the one that made your punches so strong they would send people flying down the street. And, of course, the cheats that gave everyone weapons and made them all attack each other. The city would erupt into a riot and you'd see grannies running around with flamethrowers.
Those are the kind of cheats I miss the most.
I still don't understand how hard it could be to lock achievements if you cheat. Hell,Valve has that in all their games.
...and Preorder Incentives.Casual Shinji said:
What's the point in preordering from Gamestop for the $1000 and the Grenade Launcher when you can just cheat and get them anyways. DLC found on the disc can just be cheated into the game.
Ultimately, DLC and Cheats are conflicting in goal. Given between the choice of money or no money, the companies will choose DLC.
I totally agree. Being able to play a game completely differently was one of the best things about widespread cheats. I remember Need for Speed 2 let you change your car into pieces of the environment. Racing around a track as a giant wooden log in NFS2 was one of my fondest memories of any racing game ever.MattyDienhoff said:The kind of cheats I always liked best were not mere 'cheats' that made the game easier to beat, but rather the ones that induced all sorts of oddball behaviour that isn't supposed to be standard gameplay but could still be a huge amount of fun.
For instance, a lot of cheats in the earlier Grand Theft Auto games fall into that category, like the one that allowed you to jump so high you could leap from rooftop to rooftop, and the one that made your punches so strong they would send people flying down the street. And, of course, the cheats that gave everyone weapons and made them all attack each other. The city would erupt into a riot and you'd see grannies running around with flamethrowers.
Those are the kind of cheats I miss the most.
2 resons
3 words each
reason 1: higher develolement costs.
content requires time, and time is money.
and with technology being what it is it takes alot of time to make more content.
and the developers want you to see as much of the content to justify the develpoment cost.
cheats might not take time but they are not even remontely cost effective.
tl:dr?
they cannot afford to mess around making cheat codes anymore.
reason 2: big narrative push
developers want their games to have a thick meaty storys, mostly because they love us a big huggy bunch. producers want to make money, so with the "games are art" crowd pushing for an exploration of the human condition as opposed to just experiences, therefor they capitalise on the idea. cheats unfortunately put a hairline fracture through the narrative.
tl:dr again.
they want stroy more than cheats.
personally im behind the games are art sort who want games to unlock a better potential and all cheat codes were was faffing about.
yes cheats are fun.
but it's a short lived kind of fun when compared to being right in the thick of the game.
for a metaphor
i'de rather go to a party than a piss-up.
3 words each
reason 1: higher develolement costs.
content requires time, and time is money.
and with technology being what it is it takes alot of time to make more content.
and the developers want you to see as much of the content to justify the develpoment cost.
cheats might not take time but they are not even remontely cost effective.
tl:dr?
they cannot afford to mess around making cheat codes anymore.
reason 2: big narrative push
developers want their games to have a thick meaty storys, mostly because they love us a big huggy bunch. producers want to make money, so with the "games are art" crowd pushing for an exploration of the human condition as opposed to just experiences, therefor they capitalise on the idea. cheats unfortunately put a hairline fracture through the narrative.
tl:dr again.
they want stroy more than cheats.
personally im behind the games are art sort who want games to unlock a better potential and all cheat codes were was faffing about.
yes cheats are fun.
but it's a short lived kind of fun when compared to being right in the thick of the game.
for a metaphor
i'de rather go to a party than a piss-up.
There really is no good reason for games not to have cheats these days. Achievements or online multiplayer don't particularly make cheats that much more difficult to implement.
At the very least cheats don't even have to be gameplay-changing, there's absolutely no problem with having aeshetic cheats such as mirroring the world or changing the character's appearance.
Then with gameplay changing cheats you just have to use a few security measures to make sure that players can't alter the game and sneak cheats past the filter and use them to gain achievements or an advantage online.
At the very least cheats don't even have to be gameplay-changing, there's absolutely no problem with having aeshetic cheats such as mirroring the world or changing the character's appearance.
Then with gameplay changing cheats you just have to use a few security measures to make sure that players can't alter the game and sneak cheats past the filter and use them to gain achievements or an advantage online.
For us console folks, we use USB drives and save editors. Nigh infinite ammo for the Widow in ME2? Level bumps for the DA games? Ultra-rare weapons in Borderlands? Yes, please.Generic_Username said:
I'm Surfing on the right side of Cinnabar Island...
I remember the CLUAConsole cheats of Baldur's Gate 2. 10 years ago I couldn't get very far in the game without them. Spawning infinte Identify scrolls or an army of dopplegangers, getting a Holy Avenger for all of my paladins, teleporting straight to Hell, level capping 5 minutes in, or spawning a hostile Red Dragon in the middle of the Copper Coronet... The actual story of the game is great, but you could make your own (sometimes better!) stories with cheat mode. Those were the days.
I remember the CLUAConsole cheats of Baldur's Gate 2. 10 years ago I couldn't get very far in the game without them. Spawning infinte Identify scrolls or an army of dopplegangers, getting a Holy Avenger for all of my paladins, teleporting straight to Hell, level capping 5 minutes in, or spawning a hostile Red Dragon in the middle of the Copper Coronet... The actual story of the game is great, but you could make your own (sometimes better!) stories with cheat mode. Those were the days.
Cheat Codes are the appendix of gaming's anatomy. We've moved beyond the need of them. Seriously, using a Game Genie to get past the hardest bits in Zombies Ate My Neighbors was acceptable because the game was unbelievably difficult at certain areas. Bosses could take your entire collected arsenal to defeat and God help you if you didn't save enough Soda Can Grenades to best the Big Big Baby.
But seriously, who needs a cheat code to finish Gears of War? The game developers have gotten good at making games we can all enjoy and adding multiple difficulties to accomodate those who want more challenge or those who want an easy ride. As a result, there just isn't much of a call for a cheat code structure in 99 out of 100 games made these days.
So as much fun as it was adding in those fun little asides in days past, I think the industry has kind of grown out of it. The darker side of the removal of cheat codes is that they can sell you special features after the fact and call it "Special DLC". This is what you should be calling out, not the gamerscore. But that of course, is just my opinion.
But seriously, who needs a cheat code to finish Gears of War? The game developers have gotten good at making games we can all enjoy and adding multiple difficulties to accomodate those who want more challenge or those who want an easy ride. As a result, there just isn't much of a call for a cheat code structure in 99 out of 100 games made these days.
So as much fun as it was adding in those fun little asides in days past, I think the industry has kind of grown out of it. The darker side of the removal of cheat codes is that they can sell you special features after the fact and call it "Special DLC". This is what you should be calling out, not the gamerscore. But that of course, is just my opinion.
If there's one thing I miss with the departure of game cheats it's the void created by the absence of gaming's patron saint of cheat codes
Darksiders and Prototype have cheats... Well, one cheat each... And it's to get items that you would get early on anyway... GTA still holds strong with only a few achievements disabled when you cheat, and even then its as simple as saving after you cheat and restart and the achievements are enabled again with all the extra guns, health, and armor (And helicopter if you are a sicko and parked it in the yellow lines.)
As mentioned above in this thread the cheat codes we know of were developement tools.
Don't want to play 15 levels to test a boss fight? Use the codes to skip levels to that point , add some upgrades while at it to simulate progress to that point.
Repeat 145 times to find that odd glitch that makes game crash...
Today the development tools are much more advanced and testing games does not require cheat codes in the same manner. Access to ingame console commands during testing probably replaced much of the codes.
Don't want to play 15 levels to test a boss fight? Use the codes to skip levels to that point , add some upgrades while at it to simulate progress to that point.
Repeat 145 times to find that odd glitch that makes game crash...
Today the development tools are much more advanced and testing games does not require cheat codes in the same manner. Access to ingame console commands during testing probably replaced much of the codes.
I remember my Media Studies for my practical module telling me about how he used to play this football-type game either on the PC or the NES (I think it was the latter) and how he'd mod it so he could turn the footballs into grenades. This way, whenever the players went to kick it, they blew up.
His words (including hand gestures): "You'd run over to the grenade, kick it, then your wee player explodes. PEW!". Bless him.
I think Ratchet & Clank have cheats which you can unlock but they're no good to me by the time I do unlock 'em.
x
His words (including hand gestures): "You'd run over to the grenade, kick it, then your wee player explodes. PEW!". Bless him.
I think Ratchet & Clank have cheats which you can unlock but they're no good to me by the time I do unlock 'em.
x
I really want proper cheats in my games. Out of new games only Duke Nukem Forever has real, proper cheats (god mode BTW disables trophies).
I sometimes replay Blood on PC. Eventually it pisses me off and then I type "Lara Croft" and start firing bouncing endless napalm balls in all directions. I wish more games did that now...
I mean, you can't go wrong with a lot of napalm.
Oh, and some older cheats were delicious. Shadow Warrior anyone? Purely cosmetic cheat... That replaced your missiles with white exploding rabbits? I believe Postal 2 stole the idea later (cats instead of machinegun bullets).
I sometimes replay Blood on PC. Eventually it pisses me off and then I type "Lara Croft" and start firing bouncing endless napalm balls in all directions. I wish more games did that now...
I mean, you can't go wrong with a lot of napalm.
Oh, and some older cheats were delicious. Shadow Warrior anyone? Purely cosmetic cheat... That replaced your missiles with white exploding rabbits? I believe Postal 2 stole the idea later (cats instead of machinegun bullets).
Don't miss em, don't need them. I think they made my gaming sessions cheaper and dull. God-mode makes for good times.....for 5 minutes.
I like the challenge that comes from beating a game legit. Should the game be so hopelessly broken and useless that it would necessitate the use of cheats then fine. Though that raises the question of why am i playing the game in the first place.
I like the challenge that comes from beating a game legit. Should the game be so hopelessly broken and useless that it would necessitate the use of cheats then fine. Though that raises the question of why am i playing the game in the first place.
I always loved cheats and never cared for gamer points or how many trophies I had to impress my internet friends I don't know or care about. The fact of the matter is cheats always made me play through a game a second, third, fourth, etc. amount of times while I never liked playing through the same experience over and over achievement hunting.