trainers , god modes , edless res' or coin ... pitfalls

[Prime_8]

trainers , god modes , edless res' or coin ...  pitfalls

i am often getting or even making trainers for games i like.

i sometimes like to go back a play a game i a particular way only possible with a ' cheat ' on .

the most common is god mode . LOL .

sideffect .. if some point in a scifi game you must die ...   well problem is evident .. lol

grrr ....  have to remember to add self kill as a option . lol

[T_M_C]

Yup.

It's often a way to add replay value to a game.

Cheats enable you to experience the game in another way.

Back in the day, one route to learning game programming was hacking other peoples games to find out how they did things.

I spent many an hour pouring over disassemblies of various games trying to figure things out.

It's also a bit ironic that most games need cheats and walkthroughs in order for the players to see all the content.

It's a personal hate of mine where games are too difficult to complete.  This was espeically true for the old 8 bit games but is still relevent today.

Whats the point of the dev's spending endless amounts of time and money creating game content that most users will never see because the game is too difficult.

Multiple difficlty levels goes someway to addressing this issue but the temptation for players to play on easy can often ruin a game too.

Finding that sweet spot of difficulty where players need to invest a certain amount of time on the game in order to develop the skills and or knowledge required for progress is a black art unto itself.

TMC

[fog]

As I'm almost exclusively a console & handheld gamer it's many years since I've used and trainers of god modes.  Probably back in the Amiga days would have been the last time.

I agree with Masked about difficulty levels being a must.  Even then some "easy" settings are still way too hard for some players.  Deus Ex had an "I just want to enjoy the story" difficulty setting and still the boss battles were stupidly hard.

I'm also a fan of dynamic difficulty although it's tricky to get right.  eg. In DUOtris if the blocks were getting too high then you were more likely to get good powerups and never any bad ones and in Echoes it threw out more health and weapon powerups depending on the circumstances.

If someone has failed at the same point several times then what's the harm in making it slightly easier for them next time?  Make the enemies slightly easier to kill or drop a few more ammo pickups.  Even if the player is totally unaware of it I'm sure it will make the game more enjoyable to them.

[Prime_8]

yeah , i hate stuff that unreachable , it becomes a accessabillity issue . i have nerve damage .
some games i simply need a split second longer .

but some are just more fun . you know cheats can work 2 ways , i have made games more fun by limmiting stuff like inventory . lol

but at the heart of it all. it has to be fun .

[fog]

yeah , i hate stuff that unreachable , it becomes a accessabillity issue .

Agreed that can be annoying, however there is something satisfying about unlocking stuff as you progress and I an think of a load of games I've played simply because of that pull.

[Prime_8]

yeah , i try a few times .. and if i just can't get it ... well i'll open cheat engine and start hacking .. and well that is a game in itself for those who like to hack at ASM. lol
code injections and nulling out things  , or making a exe that watches memeory locations in the game app and can freez , only allow inc or dec , or makes it same as some other ..  and can be bound to hot key .

the pit fall is breaking a game , by playing as god mode , when a scripted sequence is supposed to be triggerd by near death or death .
LOL