Cheat Research

[qurlix 20]

Hey all! Recently I've been working on an Omnibus article, but I realized I didn't have all the info I need, so you know what I did? I came here! That's right, I need your help in figuring out some things.

In case you are wondering, the article is on cheats, something that no one has the complete info on. No one even has near complete info on it. I searched the internet high and low, and what did I find? Almost nothing! (though I did find a handful of sites that quoted my exact words on cheats from two years ago ) So now I'm setting out to right the wrongs of the reference world, but as I said before, I need your assistance... But why delay? Let's begin!

For all responses please state what version of the game you have (ie SC4, Rush Hour, or Deluxe and which Patch[es] you have)

Test 1: Set your system date to December 25th. Enter a blank city and make some huge mountains. Go into mayor mode. Is there snow? Run the simulation for 1 year. Is there snow at any point?

Test 2: How many and which of the following button combinations will open the cheat window in your game? Ctrl+X, Alt+X, Ctrl+Alt+X, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+X

I think 2 is enough for now. Thanks in advance!

-qurlix

[qurlix 20]

I'm not just pulling your leg with the snow thing. I've removed all plugins, and this is what I get:

It gradually melts during summer and comes back in winter.

-qurlix

[Micah 16]

Originally posted by: qurlix

I'm not just pulling your leg with the snow thing. I've removed all plugins, and this is what I get:

It gradually melts during summer and comes back in winter.

-qurlixquote>

Wait a minute... you just lowed the land in the first picture and then raised it in the second photo. Are you trying to trick us?

[qurlix 20]

No, seriously. I have no plugins installed, and yet SimCity provides me with snow! I'm 95% sure that it happens to everyone on Dec. 25th, but it could've been because of a cheat I entered...that's why I wanted other people to check. The snow changes levels throughout the year (it's completely gone in July).

Maybe more people would have read this in General Discussion...

-qurlix

[Andreas Roth 604]

The snow is an easter (or better: Christmas) egg that appears every december 25th (computer clock, not game time). It's not a cheat, and as far as I know, it can't be triggered with a cheat code.

[Simen 1]

that IS cool! lmfao, maxis didnt do a bad job! How in gods name did anyone in their right mind find out about this tho

[vester_DK 477]

Well It just showes up and Christmas day.

[qurlix 20]

Ok, that settles that. I thought it was only an Easter Egg, but I read on many sites that it was caused by a cheat code (some said "snow" which didn't register in the box, but others said it was the still mysterious "effect").

Now, the real mystery, what does effect do? My theory is it either toggles in-game effects on or off if followed by another word, or possibly it gives samples of the in-game effects. I found only two sites out of the several thousand that gave results for what it does, but I found none of these end results to actually occur.

I did find one crucial piece of evidence: it is the only known cheat code to work in region view.

-qurlix

[Andreas Roth 604]

Maybe you could contact GoaSkin; he once said that he had a look into the EXE with a decompiler to find out some things. He also mentioned that he found some strings that were related to cheats, but I'm not sure if he ever found out any details.

[hamsterTK 93]

Maybe it doesnt do anything, like maybe it was meant to do something but maxis didnt get around to it.

[qurlix 20]

Well, I suppose. Good news...I just discovered like a million new cheat codes. (actually only 20 something) Ok, they are more "commands" than codes, but they work in the cheat box and cause things in the game. Some of them require arguments, however, and the only thing I can do is enter values and try to figure it out (grrr...what a pain).

If anyone knows how to work SetDebugLevel, please say so! I guess I'll go PM GoaSkin about it all.

-qurlix

[qurlix 20]

Just because I'm a nice guy...

These are the new cheats I've confirmed to work 100%.

SetMayorName [name] - Same as "HelloMyNameIs"; changes mayor name

SetCityName [name] - Same as "WhereRUFrom"; changes city name

SimSpeedPause - Pauses game

SimSpeedSlow - Turtle speed

SimSpeedMedium - Rhino speed

SimSpeedFast - Cheetah speed

PlaceNetwork [type] [x1] [y1] [x2] [y2] - Draws network of type (0-11) from x1,y1 to x2,y2

Zoom[x] - Sets zoom where x is from 0-5 (ie Zoom4)

There are many I still have to decypher. I'm not going to bother too much with any more cheats that do things you can do normally. There are some that look like hidden functions...

-qurlix

[JayStimson 211]

I would suspect there are lots of them. When I worked for an application software company (for years) we had a ton of "cheat codes/commands) we used for debugging a customers installation or to change modes while testing updates so we didn't have to exit, change a parameter, and then re-enter. It'll be interesting to see what you find.

[Swamper77 90]

A few times I have messed with the "terrainquery" cheat and noticed it listed the cell numbers as I hovered over each tile of the landscape. It listed the northwest corner as 0,0 and the value of the bottom right corner seems to vary with each city size (which makes sense). If you know the cell numbers, you could probably draw the networks without using the mouse.

EDIT: Just tried the PlaceNetwork one you listed a few minutes before the Edit time below. The command works in God Mode as well as in Mayor Mode. It is unfortunately limited to the single tile networks of the game (Road, street, rail, etc.). This limitation excludes the Dirt Road Network or ANT. The command will also draw bridges and tunnels. It will choose the first style of bridge for each network (AKA the Level Bridges). Of course, you will still have to pay for them in Mayor Mode.

I also found another functioning cheat. In the console, type "showtime" and press enter. A little box will show up with the real-world time. Click the little "x" to close it.

-Swamper77

[Andreas Roth 604]

Originally posted by: Swamper77

I also found another functioning cheat. In the console, type "showtime" and press enter. A little box will show up with the real-world time. Click the little "x" to close it.quote>

Hey, that's cool. Not that I don't have another clock around my PC, but I always liked the real-world clock in SC3000 that showed up when you clicked on the UI in the lower right (or left?) corner.

Actually, that makes me wonder: Since we can use cheat codes that work like the in-game menu buttons, would it be possible to modify the UI so it executes (other) cheat codes, i. e. when clicking on a new button that is added somewhere?

[Daeley 46]

now this is pretty sweet... if only I could find a way to execute cheat functions...
might I ask where you found these cheats?

edit... my 1337th post lol...

super edit:
I did a bit of research myself and here's what I came up with so far:

RiskyMoney add 10.000

[Swamper77 90]

After reading around on the net, I found the purposes for the following two cheats:

- Flora

- WatchMeMove

WatchMeMove adds sims to the current city. I don't know how to use it exactly because the site I saw the description on was sketchy on the details.

Flora prevents parks from degrading when the budget for the parks is set to 0. The cheat only affects parks that are placed after the cheat is triggered. Any that are placed before it will still turn black.

I'm still trying to figure out the RenderProp (RP) cheat....

-Swamper77

[qurlix 20]

Swamper77: I got ground highway to work correctly. I don't remember what it's type code is off hand, though. I know that for some odd reason "2" doesn't register as a network type and the game won't accept the code. Pretty much anything outside the bounds 0-11 registers as road.

"showtime"? That's one I've never heard. Thanks!

Daeley: Be careful with "RiskyMoney"...there's a chance (1 in 8, I believe) that an earthquake will occur.

As for the humongus list, yeah I found that list in the EXE, too. At first it's really exciting, but then you realize it would be easier to click the buttons than to type in the code for a normal function.

"SetSeaLevel" works for numbers 0-200. "ListCommands" as well as any code starting with "get" sends output to the command/debug window. See the end of this post.

Swamper77: (2nd Post) Huh. I don't know if I trust those definitions. "flora off" removes all flora from a city. "watchmemove" allows you to calibrate various things about My Sims, such as adding them as you said, but I don't yet know the complete arguments it needs.

"renderprop" works in two ways. Either renderprop [name of a prop] [0 or 1] to turn props on or off or renderprop [binary city property] [true or false] to change city parameters. I've only found one or two binary city parameters, though.

To All:

I've found that the codes "placeBuilding" and "placeFlora" work (don't know arguments, though.) "placeLot" does not.

Contrary to popular belief, "FPS" is not a code to display the framerate but rather to set it. By entering "FPS [number]" you are setting the ideal framerate at [number]. The game will then get as close as it can to this value. To see this, try "FPS 1" and notice the game animations are all flickery.

The most important search right now is for the mysterious display window. GoaSkin recently informed me about it, and I also have found evidence of it's existence. It is a window that displays various game info as toggled by other cheat commands that "get" information. I have reason to believe it is opened by a cheat code. What that cheat code is, I have no idea. The only found cheat that sounds like it could do this is "SetDebugLevel", but most likely that is not it. (Though figuring out "setdebuglevel" would be nice either way)

-qurlix

[Daeley 46]

well I can just say there MUST be some sort of output SC4 isn't showing... I've known this for quite a while actually, as there's a whole lot of debug prints in the LUA code as well that don't seem to go anywhere... My best guess is that it's some sort of outputstream that's not the standard io output... but where is it then

oh and if anyone can figure out what zoneria does, that would be nice...

[Andreas Roth 604]

As far as I know, "zoneria" hides the (color of) undeveloped zones, so the underlaying terrain texture shows through.

[Daeley 46]

this one is interesting:

GZWinMessageBox text

creates a message box with text in it and an ok button... however the text seems to be formattable... for example entering 
GZWinMessageBox > sometext

gives a box like this:
-----------------------------
|sometext
|
|          >
|
|           [OK]
-----------------------------
 

edit:
It seems the format is as follows
GZWinMessageBox text title options

where options is a number 0-5 indicating the buttons... for example 0 is ok button, 1 is ok+cancel, 2 is yes+no, etc. 

[qurlix 20]

I probably should have posted this before... These are the known pre-existing cheats. They are all verified.

weaknesspays - Gives you 1000 simoleans

stopwatch - Stops / starts the 24 hour clock

whattimeizit [number] - Sets the time of day, where "number" is hour 1-24

hellomynameis [name] - Changes your mayor name to "name"

whererufrom [name] - Changes your city name to "name"

you don't deserve it - Unlocks all the rewards

sizeof [number] - Changes magnification level

fightthepower - Causes buildings to no longer require power

howdryiam - Causes buildings to no longer require water

zoneria - Hides / shows empty zones

tastyzots - Toggles zots (zone "need" symbols: power, water, job, road)

recorder - Shows animation recorder

animationRecorder - same as "recorder"

gol - Shows random "Game of Life" algoritm on map

dollyllama - Turns advisors into llamas

terrainquery [off] - Adds terrain coordinates to cursor in query mode

riskymoney - Gives you money at a slight chance of an earthquake

renderprop [property name] [0|1] [true|false] - Activates/deactivates a prop or changes a property value

fps [number] - Sets ideal framerate to "number"

flora off - Hides all flora

SetSeaLevel [number] - Changes the sea level to height of "number", from 0-200

Thanks a lot for the window code...I'm going to look into using it to access variables I need to know. That is, if it will read variables...(please tell me it does!)

I'll just go and find out myself.

-qurlix

[Daeley 46]

look what I found:


clicking call stack or variable crashes the game though...

[qurlix 20]

So, uh, where did you find that? Does it ever display anything during the course of the game? Like after running ListCommands?

[Daeley 46]

well it's an UI file (IID cba9ef16). I copied it to a custom plugin, gave it IID 0 and then in the game used the command GZWinCreateWindow, which displays it. It doesn't have any function this way though, as I said clicking "variables" or "call stack" open up another dialog, and then the game crashes. I'm sort of hoping there a command in the likes of GZWinOpenDebugWindow or something but I haven't found anything so far. I also think there's probably more to the SetDebugLevel command that's related to this...

btw... I haven't found the format for GZWinCreateWindow yet... so far I've only gotten it to display an UI if that UI has IID 0. I was hoping you could give the IID or TGI as argument, but nothing worked so far...


edit: oh and here's another one:
ExecuteScript scriptname.lua
executes the lua script, if there is one.

[qurlix 20]

Oh...I found the section you were getting these cheats from...I must've looked it over. This block looks like some more interesting debug-type stuff. "ViewWebBrowser", eh? I wonder if we could make a button that executes that and brings you to Simtrop? Off to explore my newly extended list of cheats. <strong> -qurlix</strong> <strong>Edit:  </strong>Ok...it works suprisingly well, typing in "<em>ViewWebBrowser http://www.simtropolis.com</em>" brings you right here!  I tried <em>GZWinShowWindow</em> several ways but it crashes every time.  <em>PlaceZone [zonetype, x1, y1, x2 ,y2]</em> works nicely, especially since it allows you to zone military, seaport, and a host of additional zones.  (Though that is in no way useful <img src="https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/2.gif" alt="" /> )  Most of these codes seem to just aggravate me since they just "get" stuff that we can't see.  I'm tempted to try some of the more dangerous codes, but not knowing arguments makes <em>WriteRegistry</em> a bad idea for a mediocre programmer such as myself.  What does <em>Assert</em> do?  Asserts itself?<br><br> Whoa!  Is this new editor 100% tested?

[deKoven 0]

What does Assert do?  Asserts itself?

Whoa!  Is this new editor 100% tested?quote>

Some languages have an "Assert" in them. It's sort of like a breakpoint or a branching code. If the "Assertion" works then one path is taken and if it doesn't then a different path is used. It's also used to "prove" a logic system. One "Asserts" an item and if the item is true then the programmer knows that that bit of code is working correctly.

(Note to self; Egad, this is a horrible description but the best I could do without my lang book around!) 

[qurlix 20]

Like a "try...catch" sort of logic? Well, I'm personally wondering how that would've been useful as an input, there isn't evidence of any other conditional commands...

[SC4Noobie 5]

Qurlix- I just tested the snow thing. I GOT snow!!! I have no plugins, date is Dec 25, and have SC4 Deluxe! THIS IS SO COOL!! BTW the picture date(in game date) was OCT 13. Oh and the snow did melt and then gain again

Hieght calc 21.zip

Hieght calc.zip

[Constantina 5]

Originally posted by: Andreas Roth The snow is an easter (or better: Christmas) egg that appears every december 25th (computer clock, not game time). It's not a cheat, and as far as I know, it can't be triggered with a cheat code.quote>

I don't really like the easter egg as in some countries, it doesn't snow at all. Is there a way to disable the easter egg?