To Cheat or Not to Cheat: That is the Question

[brandonwainscott 0]

I alllow cheating at times, and do not allow myself to do it at others. For example, in my capitol city which usually makes use of landmarks, I use the cheats that give me money making buildings such as the prison, Area 5.1, the Army Base, etc. Also I allow marinas in all my towns on the water and lighthouses, as I think it is stupid to require to much high wealth for these. There might be a few other exceptions, but mostly I like to go without cheats, even money. I do use the money cheat when I have accidently placed a landmark or on special occasions. How about you? When do you cheat if ever, or when do you not cheat, if never?

[Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ 273]

I've played the actual SimCity 4 so much now that I think of the game as artistic medium for the creation of realistic cities and nice looking areas. And because many of the STEX downloads are under or over valued I find that in order to get the perfection in my cities right I need to use money cheats, you don't deserve it, etc.

I find no issue with using cheats because I'm using the game for purposes which it wasn't intended for. I'm sure when Maxis developed the game they had absolutely no idea the incredible amount of content this community would create.

  Edited September 12, 2011 by Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ  

[Ion_Cannon 677]

I turn off crime to prevent my buildings looking icky, but still provide the neccessary police services so that is has no effect costwise. I also use pollution reducers and very very occasionally will plop buildings, generally though, no cheats.

[9988 428]

I always use cheats - because I don't really "play the game", I use game for artistic purposes, where not cheating is pointless.

[blade2k5 1,523]

Some call it cheating, I don't. I call it 'building my cities my way' and not what the games dictates.

[Jazzmaster 716]

I completely agree.

It's not cheating if you're building the cities your way. Besides, like many here, I'm trying to construct areas that look like they've been there for ages. Unfortunately with how the game grows things, it's almost impossible to grow a decent neighborhood, because some buildings grow all the time, and some almost never grow.

[Kifflom112 355]

I cheat lets face it. I do it for artistic value.

[De Ja Vu 117]

This question really annoys me...If you downloaded one single BAT from the STEX that has lets say double the landmark effect than all other in-game landmarks: that's cheating...At first everyones goal was to make a big profitable city without cheats but things have changed in 7 years...That has become way too easy and unappealing. The new challenge imo is to make a realistic, beautiful eyecandy cities and it doesn't matter how you do it! By using cheats or not. It's just faster to use cheats and I can't imagine how many years I would need to fully complete 1 large city tile without cheats.

The only cheat is use is Moolah. And I use it only once for each city so I don't have to worry about money problems...

  Edited September 13, 2011 by De Ja Vu  

[Terribletown USA 18]

I cheat now, I have cheated since shift F-U-N-D, I will cheat in the future, forever and ever, amen.

[Wheezy 23]

Cash Park, Radical Demand Mod, Industry 40x-er, You Don't Deserve It, and Buildingplop/Lotplop.

Every city.

[rweather5 22]

I hate cheating. I play the game for the challenge of creating a metropolis. There's no challenge to the game with cheats. The only cheats I use is tastyzots or zoneria, or other cheats that don't alter the game play.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Cheating is relative. Using the full command set in the game is another. The "extra cheats" dll just turns on a set of developer debugging commands that were already in the game. I use the moolah command so that I can play on hard without money problems, otherwise getting a city going would take untold hours of waiting for the treasury to refill.

I am also tired of all the micromanagement, so I use a couple of BAT lots I made that solve the power, water and pollution problem as well. The problem doesn't go away, it is just reduced, and you still have to lay water pipes. The power plant is clean and non-explosive and it uses pollutants and water for fuel. I never do things like that in a small way.

The result of my peccadilloes is that I can create nice regions without so much micromanagement, which no mayor in his right mind would tolerate.

And of course I use the NAM and friends.

What I don't do is use any of the mods that skew the game play. I don't use CAM because it makes an entirely new game. I don't use any of the this and that multipliers either. None of them are necessary and really apply only to the newer player who has discovered the joy of messing up the game. I do use various published bug fixes.

[GMT 389]

it basically depends on the game and what i want with it.

no-go in multiplayer tho, unless its a mutual agreement to use cheats hacks bla.

sometimes cheats even enhance gameplay positively (e.g. I just "cheated" myself a bigger backpack in Borderlands cuz you cant stash your equip anyplace else like in other rpg)

as for sim city, I can't do it without it, because I don't see it as a game, but as a virtual model railroad to go nuts in, aka sculpt a region to my likings, instead of actually "playing" a city.

plus, like someone said alrady, every gameplay-enhancing download coud be considered a cheat anyway, so everyone using the much needed NAM is a cheater... IF you take it at face value.

But who cares? I guess the number of ppl actually "playing" sim city is just too low to seriously discuss pros and cons of cheating in sim city.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

"Cheating" is in the eye of the beholder.

[E28 3]

Everybody plays it their way, and that's the beauty of Simcity. You can play it as a simulator and try and make money from taxes, or you can add mods and create beautiful cities with intricate transport networks, and have quaint cottages and farms in the countryside.

[steelersfanforlife 43]

I can't remember a time i haven't cheated in SC4.

[Mootilda 76]

I suppose that I cheat all of the time, since I almost always use You Don't Deserve It when I start a city.

[Dizastrow 4]

I actually have so little time to play that I cant afford to fuss around with water and power, and sometimes money.

[dazza262 133]

I abhor cheating. I think that that those who do cheat are morally corrupt and should be banned from Simtropolis indefinately !!!

Only Kidding

Each to their own. SC4 can be whatever you want it to be, and you take from it what you want.

Personally I don't cheat. I've tried a few cheats in the past, but found that I then quickly lost interest in the city I was working on.

[Cob92 360]

I don't use cheats, but then again I like the challenge of the game. The only gameplay mods I use are NAM and CAM, and trust me, they only delay the onset of the most difficult parts of the game. Once you have a metro area going you start to end up with traffic jams, commute times, giant piles of garbage and nowhere to put them, ever increasing power demands, downtown decay, and all the other challenges of a city. Cheats make it too easy, and SC4 is easy enough IMO.