Hi, I'd like to learn what was the initial reason for including Cheat codes in release ver.? I personally like cheat codes. I think sometimes it's fun. But maybe it shouldn't be in every game? I'm designing a RTS game with a global Leaderboard, and I thought about enabling secret cheats (as I said, I think it's fun :-) ). How would that effect the player? Will it make the player quit because the game is too easy now and not interesting or challenging anymore? Would the other players feel it's unfair and won't want to play the game? What if I won't reward the player with points, will there be any point(:-)) to the cheat? I think it can be used as a learning tool to master the game. Appreciate feedback, Cheers!

Cheats can add replay value to a game by allowing you to go back and do things differently, or just get some cathartic enjoyment out of cheating. It doesn't work for every game, though. I remember in a roguelike I played, the game's difficulty was determined by your level, and if you cheated yourself to retarded levels you'd find yourself facing so many powerful monsters that the dungeon would literally be pulverized by their attacks, so you'd be walking down a hallway and fifteen magic explosions would hollow out the mountain, and then a wizard would conjure ten perfect copies of you and they'd rear you a new one. Fun times.

If you include them, don't have them accessed by a secret code or enabled by a change to a game file, but include them in the game itself, so the player can unlock them and use them after earning them. Make sure that "cheated" games don't count for leaderboard or further unlocks, and it'll be fine.

They're usually in the game for debug and testing purposes. It's usually much easier to just disable them or require a special code to enable them than it is to go through all the code and remove them.

Cheers,

Bob

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Original post by Scourage They're usually in the game for debug and testing purposes. It's usually much easier to just disable them or require a special code to enable them than it is to go through all the code and remove them.

That is a sign of poor implementation. At the very least, the cheats could be #ifdef'd from the beginning, so they can be excluded entirely from distribution builds.

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Original post by swiftcoder That is a sign of poor implementation. At the very least, the cheats could be #ifdef'd from the beginning, so they can be excluded entirely from distribution builds.

I certainly agree with that for multi-player games. However, for single-player games, a cheat code doesn't hurt at all. After all, nobody really forces you to research and enter the cheat code. It's your own decision whether you want to cheat, and you're only cheating yourself.

On the other hand, the mere existence of cheat codes will give you an audience in the thousands of game cheat websites and communities, which is basically free mass advertisement for your game. Also, you may get a more positive reception if people can skip over something that's beyond their skill, rather than being stuck and frustrated.
Screenshots of the new level 28 after that so far "impossible to kill boss" in level 27 due to a (newly discovered) cheat code is something that will give people something to talk about in forums, too... which again is free mass advertising. Everyone will want to get there too, and they'll tell their friends about it.

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Original post by swiftcoder Quote: Original post by Scourage They're usually in the game for debug and testing purposes. It's usually much easier to just disable them or require a special code to enable them than it is to go through all the code and remove them. That is a sign of poor implementation. At the very least, the cheats could be #ifdef'd from the beginning, so they can be excluded entirely from distribution builds.

Whether or not removing them from the code is the issue, their reason for existing is often just as Scorage stated: so that it is easier to debug and test the game. Once the game is done, it's often decided to leave cheats in there because they could be fun for someone who wants to use them.

For testing purposes it is better to leave cheat codes in. It is possible to introduce bugs in the code buy having conditional compiling. Release version needs proper testing and without cheat codes it is harder to test.

It was standard practice for a mobile gaming company I used to work for. The final version of the game needed to be tested on each supported handset in every language supported. And without cheats it would take forever for the testers.

I've also worked at a gaming company where we developed with cheatcodes/debug interfaces, but built a release version for showing of to publishers. That version crashed during demo, as the release version without cheatcodes/debug interfaces had never been properly tested.

But if it is imporant not to let the players cheat, it might be worth disabling cheats on release. But then a greater effort in testing is needed.

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Original post by dudeman21 Whether or not removing them from the code is the issue, their reason for existing is often just as Scorage stated: so that it is easier to debug and test the game. Once the game is done, it's often decided to leave cheats in there because they could be fun for someone who wants to use them.

Ja, I don't disagree with you. I was merely pointing out that 'it's too hard' is not a good rationale for much of anything.

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Original post by swiftcoder I was merely pointing out that 'it's too hard' is not a good rationale for much of anything.

Personally I think "it's too hard" is an excellent rationale! :)

This is a little off-topic, but I wanted to chime in how much I dislike games that acknowledge cheat codes. What I mean by this, are games such as the old Tony Hawk franchise which had a menu item called "Cheat Codes" in the options menu. I have seen other games like this as well. For players who try to ignore cheat codes on at least their first play-through, it can be annoying to have them waved in your face.