Gaming What happened to "Cheat Codes"?

[Alagara]

R2, L2, R1, L1, L2, R2, Square, Triangle, Circle, Triangle, L2, L1
edoMdaeHgiB
^^vv<><>BA

With god ray's, individual pores, and 4k UHD graphics it's no surprise goofy cheats fell to the wayside (imagine BOTW BigHead Beedle coming at you from the distance), but even the commonplace infinite ammo and god mode cheats are few and far between now. What are some examples of modern gaming implementation of cheat codes you've found? And what would you like to see in future games?

 

[Localhorst86]

A lot of games allow you to enter your credit card number and CVC code as a cheat code.

 

[hippy dave]

I have already committed to putting the Konami code in any games I release.

 

[WG481]

I have already committed to putting the Konami code in any games I release.

As you should.

 

[linuxares]

A lot of games allow you to enter your credit card number and CVC code as a cheat code.

This is actually the answer. They found a way to monetize it, so why give it away for free?

 

[godreborn]

I found the cheat code for unbuttoning @JuanBaNaNa 's shorts--a couple martinis.

 

[KennyAtom]

basically monetizing

why give away something for free, when you can force people to pay?

 

[AncientBoi]

I found the cheat code for unbuttoning @JuanBaNaNa 's shorts--a couple martinis.

[sits n watches, while eating popcorn]

 

[FAST6191]

As above then starting with probably the 360 (though PC some years before if we count MMOs) we did see some devs sell things as cheats -- in my case I first noticed it in Skate 2 I think it was where an unlock everything "DLC" was sold and I was doing news or something at the time.

I will however also note that trophments get in the way of things here as well -- remember seeing messages in GTA4 flash up and say you might not be able to get achievements if you save after this. Yet another reason I dislike such concepts.

 

[Deleted member 571007]

As above then starting with probably the 360 (though PC some years before if we count MMOs) we did see some devs sell things as cheats -- in my case I first noticed it in Skate 2 I think it was where an unlock everything "DLC" was sold and I was doing news or something at the time.

I will however also note that trophments get in the way of things here as well -- remember seeing messages in GTA4 flash up and say you might not be able to get achievements if you save after this. Yet another reason I dislike such concepts.

This is a thing that happens even with devs not associated with the actual game team themselves. Most commonly the only way to get cheats nowadays is to either A: make them yourself (Usually via means of RAM Editing) or B: To buy them from people either pulling a ton together or making them themselves.

A really easy example I can pull from is the Minecraft Modding community for the Wii U edition. Modding is a HUGE aspect as to why anyone still plays it, as such people began to realize they could sell their modding tools and cheats, whether they stole the contents or made them is debatable though.. ( Most contents were stolen which is why me and a few others crack their tools for free use ) While it's annoying; people have a right to profit off of their own work. I miss the days of hidden button combos though

 

[FAST6191]

I should have a look into all that, however the thought of paying anybody for cheats just rubs me the wrong way (not to mention I can eat my own dog food) and despite all else I might be I remember being tapped to install some minecraft mods on PC for a client's kid once... they (mod makers and those running websites*) made that way more annoying than it had any real reason to be.

*this was peak click this link to earn pennies if thousands view it from ads time so many were chained together...

 

[Deleted member 571007]

I should have a look into all that, however the thought of paying anybody for cheats just rubs me the wrong way (not to mention I can eat my own dog food) and despite all else I might be I remember being tapped to install some minecraft mods on PC for a client's kid once... they (mod makers and those running websites*) made that way more annoying than it had any real reason to be.

*this was peak click this link to earn pennies if thousands view it from ads time so many were chained together...

I agree, it doesn't help that most cheats that are sold were already free somewhere else in the first place. I've used this as an example in a couple of my other posts, but for Wii U specifically there's this thing floating around called PureClient, it's an in-game mod client that lets you turn on and off cheats in-game. Cool right? Well not really since literally every single one of it's contents I've been able to track down to their original creator, in addition to that there's not a SINGLE credit given.

For example there's a cheat called "Chest Stealer" it lets you open a chest and press one button to automatically take everything inside. Original creator of that code is Vylryna, did they credit them? Nope, in fact they went one step further and passed it off as their own original creation! It honestly just gets tiring seeing that as they're directly profiting off of other people. Ontop of that it isn't even a one time purchase. It's a weekly subscription if that wasn't enough they also have stuff inside that gives them your account information

Solution to that? Me and a friend completely patched over any server side checking, removed their API, and anything that gathers info, and proceeded to bridge instructions to allow it to be used for free Like I even told the creators, had they actually given credit to the original code authors, and not border-line exploited people we could have been more forgiving.

 

[JuanMena]

I found the cheat code for unbuttoning @JuanBaNaNa 's shorts--a couple martinis.

Cheaper if you get me 6 to 9 hamburgers, fries and soda.
No need to be fancy with Martinis.

 

[Alagara]

I agree, it doesn't help that most cheats that are sold were already free somewhere else in the first place. I've used this as an example in a couple of my other posts, but for Wii U specifically there's this thing floating around called PureClient, it's an in-game mod client that lets you turn on and off cheats in-game. Cool right? Well not really since literally every single one of it's contents I've been able to track down to their original creator, in addition to that there's not a SINGLE credit given.

For example there's a cheat called "Chest Stealer" it lets you open a chest and press one button to automatically take everything inside. Original creator of that code is Vylryna, did they credit them? Nope, in fact they went one step further and passed it off as their own original creation! It honestly just gets tiring seeing that as they're directly profiting off of other people. Ontop of that it isn't even a one time purchase. It's a weekly subscription if that wasn't enough they also have stuff inside that gives them your account information

Solution to that? Me and a friend completely patched over any server side checking, removed their API, and anything that gathers info, and proceeded to bridge instructions to allow it to be used for free Like I even told the creators, had they actually given credit to the original code authors, and not border-line exploited people we could have been more forgiving.

This sounds like some sort of vigilante coding and I love it.

 

[Deleted member 571007]

This sounds like some sort of vigilante coding and I love it.

Not far off actually, there are many people doing exactly what I described above. Me and a few others got together and created an actual cracking effort towards this, so far we've cracked 2 well known clients, Pure as stated above and another called MudahU. Currently we're working on 2 other ones though

 

[CoolMe]

Now all the cheat codes are bundled as "Pre-order bonuses", "Season Passes", "DLCs" & "Skins". And stripping the base game as much as they need.. specially in a multiplayer game, when the default/standard character looks fugly with that generic costume/attire (and a gimped weapon), and you're either forced to grind hours till you get something else, or you can just look through endless pile of fancy skins/weapons in their store that's conveniently located on the center,
Thus you can skip all the grinding and just pay 2.99$ per item something..

 

[CoolMe]

I will however also note that trophments get in the way of things here as well -- remember seeing messages in GTA4 flash up and say you might not be able to get achievements if you save after this. Yet another reason I dislike such concepts

Yea i remember that, i didn't use any cheats on my playthrough.. only when i want to go full on rampage (with autosaving off)..
San Andreas had a similar thing, not with achievements (such a thing didn't exist yet..) but with the optional vigilante challenges like the taxi, firefighter, paramedic etc. The rewards gained from doing these challenges were blocked if you have saved after doing any cheats, permanently altering your save. I remember exceeding the thresholds required to get the rewards for each of these challenges, but i didn't get any (because i was using cheats)..