[FAQ] How to use Cheats ? [ Edited ]

[DonroaAkashu]

Thank you @crinrict  for all the work you have and still do for the players of the sims games. 

I want to ask a question about this, and sorry for quoting, I don’t mean to be rude, there is just so much information in this post I think it would be best to clarify what I am referring to:

"Cheats are commonly used in the Sims games and as it's a single player game, you can do so at your heart's content. Some cheats are also used to fix issues. 

For PC/Mac there are no consequences for using them."

I would be very relieved to know that there really would be no consequences to using cheats, but I am uncertain of this. I would very much appreciate if you could refer to the source of this statement. I am guessing it is from a SimGuru in Slack, the common plattform for the Heroes and Champions and EA personnel.

And no matter how much I admire your strenghts, I strongly think that such valuable information should be disclosed by an official source, if actually, sorry to say so,  but, trustworthy.

If The Sims Team, or an EA official, states this, it would give me relief in my gameplay, as I'm sure it would be appreciated by many others.

As I understand it, you are, while appreciated by the CM's and The SimGurus, not employed by and therefore not a representative of EA.

I also want to add that getting a 'Maxis fave' on the Gallery is bordering on not being a single player game feature; and while EA AHQ rules states that cheating is not allowed; builds that use bb.moveobject on, are getting to be 'EA favourited', something I find contradictory. It would be good if that could be commented on as well, by official source of course. 

Thank you. 

[YahKaloni]

I have windows 10 and the ctrl shirt c is already a conman for a screenshot. It won’t pull up the * box to enter the cheat codes. Can someone please help.

[crinrict]

@YahKaloni Do you have an AMD graphics card ? If so, please follow instructions here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/PLEASE-READ-Issues-with-opening-cheat-console/m-p/8719...

If not, there's some more suggestions on the first post of this thread I've merged your post into.

[EA_Leeloo]

Hey everyone!  

I just wanted to take the opportunity and hop on this thread quickly to clear up any uncertainty about using cheats in The Sims 4. 

But first, I want to repeat what @DonroaAkashu said: thanks so much @Crin for everything you're doing for our Sims players. This post on "How to use Cheats" is just one of your many great resources for everyone who is unsure how to use cheats or who is having difficulties doing so.  

Now, on the main point: I understand that it might seem a bit odd - why would EA support cheating in a game, right?? But you can rest assured and keep those Simoleons coming because we actually do!

In fact, we even have an official ea.com blog article on that topic where you can find out more about cheats in The Sims 4. You can find it HERE. 

Regarding the Maxis Faves: while the general code of conduct (that is how you behave and interact on our platforms) is generally the same across all our boards (like the "Don't cheat."-rule), there are slightly adjusted rules for some games and, in this case, for the Maxis Faves process. If you want to read more on that, you can find the criteria for how Maxis Faves are chosen on our The Sims forum HERE.  

I hope this helps!

- Leeloo

[DonroaAkashu]

Thank you @EA_Leeloo , for answering. First off, I am glad you echoed my appreciation; the bug forum would certainly be different without @crinrict , perhaps it wouldn't exist at all. I have been told by @puzzlezaddict , who XP'd your post, that she, with the help of @Bluebellflora and @Holger1405 built this forum. I am sure EA is in debt for that.  

To your answer.

I have read that Maxis fave page you linked but not the one with the description of cheats; thank you for introducing something new.

My follow-up question is, what do EA mean by the phrasing:

"something we kinda, sorta, actually encourage."?

I have seen some posts in the bug section by SimGurus, about cheats not being supported, and supposedly therefore not prioritized for bug fixing. I have heard the same in Crinrict's Gaming World, Discord server for the so called 'helpers' on AHQ (not an official title, perhaps only used in the Discord). How am I to understand that? 

The explanation on how a Maxis 'fave' is done, states that moo is not enabled when downloading and that players are asked to make sure the routing works when having it in during building. That to me does not have the same meaning as the statement in the first post in this thread. 

Is there no gameplay or other consequences to cheating in game? 

Thank you again. 

[EA_Arcadia]

Yes, the users you mention have been instrumental in helping build the forum space, but ultimately the forum is here and successful due to everyone that visits, shares their knowledge, and enjoys the space. 

Sims is a game that is highly creative and encourages creativity, we don't want players hampered by say, not having enough cold hard green simoleons, if their goal is to create the most fantastic build in the game. Cheats allow this to occur and let everyone play the game the way they want to play, this is what we mean by we somewhat encourage people to use them. 

In saying that, as with everything, some *ahem* workarounds are officially supported, while others not so much. Some have minimal use and therefore are not prioritized for being fixed over say an issue that is impacting the community on a wider scale. That is the case with bug reports regardless of games, the most important are prioritized for resolution over others. 

In Sims, you're only impacting your own gameplay experience by using cheats, so no, there is no punishments in place for people utilizing them. The "Don't Cheat" rule often refers to using means to gain an unfair advantage over another user, since all users have access to the same "cheats" in Sims, this is not a cheat in the conventional sense of the term. Go ahead and motherlode up, kaching your way to that new rosebud or whatever you need in game. 

[DonroaAkashu]

Thank you for answering, @EA_Arcadia. I understand your point, although I do not agree. After having to listen to your instruments trying to control posters' different ways of posting at AHQ, done in crinrict's Gaming World; I have come to realize that since I am not a system administrator/hacker, or have the knowledge equal to that, it is better to leave the posting at AHQ to those that are. I don't think it is much of a loss; but I think you as representatives of EA need to think about this effect of letting players not controlled by EA in some form of contract manage a forum; because I am not the only one being discouraged from posting. The latest example I have seen is in this thread:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/17658378#Comment_17658378

I understand you want some kind of premier system, although I would find posting itself the value; but perhaps you need to think through how it is managed, and what impression it gives the rest of the player base. If I compare AHQ to The Sims Forum, there are noticibly less regular posters in the first one, and I wonder if it has to do with this. Perhaps you could look into it.

Now to your answer.
I think I need to clarify my question; english is not my first language and I keep getting misunderstood. So bear with me:

There are two things here:

One is that testing cheats in my understanding are meant for use during development, and after that released to the players for various reasons. And I'm sorry for saying this, but after reading the bug forum for a year it is obvious that EA doesn't playtest the new features in any great extent; and I would therefore assume that cheats are tested even less. I have a long-running save that I play, and would not like anything to happen to it; and make sure to test all the new features in a pack and read up on the bug reports, before adding a pack, or playing and saving the game after a patch. I think this having one precious save is common among simmers. And so my question is:

Can EA promise, that is, state with such assurity, that there are no consequences to using cheats?

And by this I mean no consequences of the nature of breaking, corrupting, messing up, making weird or in any way changing my save to something I would not like.

The other is that you have rules about cheating, and yes, they are mainly for the multiplayer games and The Sims isn't one – for the exception of the Gallery, that is a common feature, open to use by all players, and effecting all players that use it. And while EA probably have many different reasons for 'faving' lots; the reciever, the player base in this case, will add other meaning to the grace. From reading the Official Sims Forum, and the comments on the Gallery, and seeing how the fave is treated and wished for and strived for and congratulated when achieved; it is obvious, to me at least, that it is some kind of game within the game, and some kind of competition attached to it. It is very clear by looking at a build if moo was used or not; and I understand why it is popular; you can do so much more, and the building process becomes more intuitive than with the large collision area attached to objects when not. When EA accept moo being used in builds they sanction you are by that saying that the game is not enough; and by extension that it is better to cheat, than trying to do something within the limits of the game, - that is, folllowing the rules; not because it is wrong to break them, but because that is what a game is.

I would be thankful if you clarified this.

[EA_Arcadia]

@DonroaAkashu 

Since we're getting a little off topic, after this response I ask that you please move further queries on this off topic section to either a new thread or drop myself or @EA_Leeloo a private message and we can clarify your concerns there. 

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Off Topic:

EA, the AHQ CMs, and AHQ, do not have "instruments". Each user here on AHQ is welcome to reply to threads and share information that they feel best fit the topic of the thread. The CMs only intervene if it is in breach of the established Answers HQ rules. While our Heroes and Champions do have a few extra perks as listed on the program information, this is for the benefit of the Community at large. We also do not control, monitor, or administrate any external community avenue community member have set up (such as Crinrict's Discord), anyone is welcome to make additional communities that fit their interests.

These users are not under any contract or employment with EA or EA Subsidiary, the administration and functionality of Answers HQ and other EA Forums is handled by official EA Staff who can be denoted by their roles and (typically) having "EA_" in their usernames. I would also like to note, the example you linked I believe is your own account given this other post from it indicates the same username as you have here. As the administrator of said program I constantly monitor sentiment on its working and users, making adjustments where needed.

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Back on topic regarding cheats:

Thanks for rephrasing your concern, it does appear we had a disconnect in understanding.

I can't speak to the testing process of new patches/packs/etc as that is handled by certain teams within the Maxis studio however do believe that their team does great work and eradicates many bugs before release. Most games (both from EA and other publishers) despite thorough testing get released with bugs and need subsequent patches to fix them, its unrealistic to expect a game/dlc to be 100% bug free on launch.

The game does contain specific codes/cheats for dev use that the community consequently have found out and utilize. We stand by this being okay since it is only impacting your own game play - these however are the unsupported cheats mentioned in my prior reply. When using these "cheats", we cannot guarantee the safety of your game files, as they were not intended to be used outside the developer environment. HOWEVER, "cheats" that are written into, and publicly released with the intention of being used by the wider community, are tested to be released with reasonable assurance that they're not going cause harm to any players game files - INTENTIONALLY.

As mentioned above, its near impossible to present a 100% perfectly bug free patch/game/dlc and in some instances there may be unforeseen interactions between content that causes issues. It seems like you have a great system to protect your favorite game file and it never hurts to keep an additional save of your main content for any game you're playing.

Maxis Faves/Gallery is a great community initiative and you are right, many people consider it a badge of honor to be featured and as such a competitive environment has developed around it. Currently, there are no rules against MOO however submissions are tested without the feature enabled (noted here, point 2), as so long as the team finds no issues with the files they remain eligible, using MOO however is not required to be considered. 

One of the great things about Sims is that it is accessible for players of all ages and skill sets. The base game does have more limited features to keep that accessibility for less in-depth users (such as first time Simmers or maybe younger audiences), with the optional increasing abilities through these "cheat" modifications. I can speak personally that if someone tried to explain how to place objects in the MOO controls to my 13 year old self playing Sims for the first time, I would have gotten quickly frustrated and stopped playing. However after playing for awhile and then looking for ways to enhance my building skills, enabling MOO would be a natural next step.

A core part of Sims is letting players play the way they want to, the base game is enough for some users, others want more options - Choice and accessibility is the goal. Regardless of how you choose to play the game (short of actually hacking the client), you remain eligible to be included.

[DonroaAkashu]

Thank you for that, @EA_Arcadia , and for clarifying about the cheats. I don't expect any game to be bug free, but on the other hand I would not expect a game company of any kind to state so assuredly that no consequences can come from using cheats in their games; so thank you for clarifying what I suspected - that you cannot promise this, as no one can.

And with all respect to @crinrict , I think that the phrasing in the first post is misleading and too blunt in that regard. Since she is sanctioned by EA and intrumental in the managing of this forum it matters what she says and does. I think it needs to be clarified what is actually meant, since not everyone in this forum reads to the end of the threads; although I see you have some, being grateful for your message. 

I have only played the game a year and do not know which cheats of the ones you are talking about are which, so to speak; and I think for the common visitor of this forum, it would also be good to list them. I could probably find a list myself now that I know what to look for; but it is better that it is a clear message, from EA, which cheats are less likely to mess up our saves; and which ones were not intended for player use from the beginning. Preferably in the the first post for everyone to see.

You are right, those that know how to use moo, and without creating issues for the player downloading the build, have more leeway and greater room for creating fantastic builds, unattainable when playing by the rules, so to speak. My point about EA sanctioning builds using this cheat, was to point to the normalizing factor this has in using cheats; and since the 'fave' is regarded as a prize, it also has the effect of sending a message that using cheats is an easier way of getting that favour.

I find it unfair gamewise, and since I do not care for moo myself I would prefer seeing more of those on the Gallery. I of course know you cannot now say or do anything about it, but I want you to register my opinion about it - I am not the only one preferring builds with no moo on the Gallery.
If EA had a rule for the builds that are eligible to be favoured and that it would exclude cheats, it would hopefully lead to more builds on the gallery that works. Not just the few lots that EA marks as such.

Thank you for listening.

[viichar]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.68.154.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All of them
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Attempt to open cheat console with ctrl+shift+c
What happens when the bug occurs? cheat console will not open
What do you expect to see? the cheat console pop up
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. Snowy Escape Installed

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The cheat console will not open when pressing ctrl+shift+c, this only began happening after I installed snowy escape, and was fine after the patch before the EP released. Any workaround or solutions are appreciated.