Cheating in single player games

[gbpxl]

I look at maps, hints and such not as "cheating" because you still need the skill to actually pull off what you are trying to accomplish. That'd be like getting hints from a friend or teacher how to do something better or how you can defeat an opponent better ("he favors his right side-punch him there").

Now devices that artificially give you the upper hand and you are competing with others, THAT'S cheating.

yeah I agree with this. but man for a game like King's Quest, if you know all the commands, it takes a lot away from the challenge of the game. Some games take minimal skill, just problem solving

[YoshiM]

yeah I agree with this. but man for a game like King's Quest, if you know all the commands, it takes a lot away from the challenge of the game. Some games take minimal skill, just problem solving

When it came to games like King's Quest or their like (the early versions), it seemed like it was really a guessing game on what commands to use. If you didn't use the exact verbage the game recognized, you were up the creek. You had to try and put your mind into the developer's brain to figure out their "language" and word-object association.

Graphic icons made it better BUT then you had to figure out the proper item combinations to get ahead. What was that game where you had to combine syrup (or something sticky) with cat hair (or something like that) to make a mustache for a disguise? And sometimes logic didn't work-in CoCo game "The Interbank Incident" there was a manhole cover that acted like you could manipulate it. However every logical tool you'd use would not open it.

[nebrazca88]

Is there something inherently wrong with cheating at single player games? As long as you're not BSing people and telling them you did it the old fashioned way, who cares?

These days I cheat at single player games constantly. Time is limited and I can't sit around grinding for hours.

Over the past few weeks I've beaten Ys, Ys III and Light Crusader. In all three instances I gave myself max gold to start off and if I got stuck for more than 15 minutes or so I hit up a walkthrough. I found it immensely enjoyable and got to see virtually all of the content in all three games in less time than it would have taken me to beat just one of them.

Next up is Crusader Of Centy and Traysia and I can guarantee you I'll be cheating.

[SpaceHarrier]

Sometimes I feel the need to tattle on myself when talking about beating old arcade games, like Sunset Riders, by referencing the fact that I "quarter fed" my way through it.

How about re-released retro games that contain official emulation overlays with the ability to create save states, like 3DS eShop games or the NES/SNES Classic Mini? The original games didn't allow you to restart/retry from literally any point, but now official Nintendo products give you this feature.

Or using an officially licensed turbo controller, like the NES Advantage?

[nebrazca88]

Or using an officially licensed turbo controller, like the NES Advantage?

I see your location is The Fantasy Zone and my favorite way to play Fantasy Zone is with a Genesis 3 controller and turbo on. To me it's still cheating even if the controller is licensed, same with save states. I use them on the Everdrive all the time knowing full well I'm cheating, at least in my mind.

[YoshiM]

Sometimes I feel the need to tattle on myself when talking about beating old arcade games, like Sunset Riders, by referencing the fact that I "quarter fed" my way through it.

How about re-released retro games that contain official emulation overlays with the ability to create save states, like 3DS eShop games or the NES/SNES Classic Mini? The original games didn't allow you to restart/retry from literally any point, but now official Nintendo products give you this feature.

Or using an officially licensed turbo controller, like the NES Advantage?

I guess it's in the eye of the beholder and how nit picky they are. Personally I'd rather do the save state thing than a hack that gives a bunch of lives/coin, invulnerability, etc. Saves states is how I finally beat Super Mario 3 after thirty years.

[gbpxl]

game how you wanna game, its a free country BUT if someone brags about beating X game and they used save states, I think the gaming Gods strongly frown upon NOT disclosing that information. There's a huge difference between beating a game without the use of it and with the use of it and I dont think I need to explain to anyone here why that is because we are all familiar with how it de-incentivizes actually using skill. if there's no threat of having to start allllll the way back at level 1, I can keep trying to get past this enemy without actually killing him.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

One of the ways of "cheating" that I have no problem with using is hidden level select codes. I remember back when Mickey Mania came out for the SNES. I was working my way through that and one day my wife asked me if I was going to try some more of my game before we went out that evening. I told her that I wasn't because we were leaving in an hour and it would take most of that to work my way back up to where I died off the last time I was playing. It was more trouble than it was worth if I have to play 30 - 45 minutes to even get back to where I left off, so a level select code is fine with me.