Can Testing Cheats really damage your game?

jamiehood

So, I've been playing the Sims Medieval for a little while. I haven't gotten very far yet, but I decided to use testing cheats, because there were times when I was sick of my sims needing to fill their needs when they were in the middle of a time sensitive activity that didn't have much time left. I just needed to do a few simple things now and then with the cheats, nothing much. But I hear stuff all over the internet, and in the commands file that I had to change, that Testing Cheats can really screw up or damage your game, make you lose your progress, or cause glitches. Now I'm really worried that I could permanently damage my game. Should I be worried, or am I fine?

JACKIEJOY

I haven't used cheats in this game except motherlode. But I hope someone answers this for you because I am curios about it too. So I guess this is a bump.

Sindocat

I have the cheats enabled, routinely, without issue. I use them to decorate my Town Square to look like less of a ghostland, and to put a "hunting lodge" in the form of a pavilion tent and amenities in the Forest approach as a sort of base-camp for patrols, adventures, hunts, and daily responsibilities there. No issues so far, though I do lose the furnishings if I take a quest that "redecorates" those areas.

There are probably ways in which the game can become bugged with cheats on that it can't otherwise, but it seems safe enough to me.

ciane

I don't know about the sims medieval game. I only know about sims 3. It's okay to turn on the cheat code and use it, but you need to turn it off right away after using it. Never save with a cheat code active. That is what messes up your game big time in Sims 3. For example, I use MOO to crowd objects together in my game. If I turn it on and move a lot a stuff, anything that the objects I'm moving have touched... might show solid for a window or door and you have grab them and let go again. The main problem is that the floor tile can disappear on the floor below or above. So you end up having to move everything off those tiles and replacing the tile above and below. For CFE, you'll often get extra floating tiles that you don't notice until later. Then you have sledge hammer them from either above or below (floor tile versus ceiling tile). Of course, CFE can really mess up elevation inside a house, so you really just turn it on and do what you need to do. Then you turn it right back off.

I don't know about what it might do for static needs. I do use resetsim to send stuck sims home and then they'll pop out of bed in the middle of the night and I have to tell them to go back to sleep.

Some cheats are probably less harmful than others; but for the most part, you should turn the code on, use it, and then turn it right back off.

Sindocat

Thing is, the cheat enable for TSM is not a console command - you have to edit the actual .ini file that saves game settings. I mean, one can edit it back, but is is less accessible. I have had no corruption from just leaving it on.

Kathykins

I've played TSM with testingcheats on for about 460 hours. I can't say I've noticed anything buggy (except the known bugs in the game, of course). I use it for maxing out friendships, primarily, because the friend requirements for quests is ridiculous and annoying.

@Sindocat I didn't know we could decorate the forest entrance and town square? Is that a shift-click option in those locations? Always felt those areas were lacking.

Sindocat

Yep! Shift+Click, and you get a "Buy here" option. Just be aware anything you place comes out of your active Hero's funds.

Forest Approach, arranged as a base-camp in the colors of my Knight.

Kathykins

Ohh that is nice! Thank you so much! Haven't really explored testingcheats that much. This will be fun as soon as I get my PC sorted, and game installed again

jamiehood

Ok, that's pretty good news!

Atreya33

I also play with the cheat on. If I could turn it on and off in-game, I would. But like someone else already mentioned, you have to edit a file to turn the testing cheats on.

So far I only had one bugged game where I skipped a few quest goals at the beginning of a quest. But that's about it. An older save worked for me, I always 'save as' when I begin a new quest. So I don't take short cuts in quests anymore.
I mostly use the cheats for decorating purposes, occasionally giving a hero a friend and to teleport my sims when I'm tired of losing time while walking through my kingdom. It's a shame our heroes don't have horses.

@Sindocat What happens to your basecamp at the forest when you start a quest that puts items there? I don't remember the name, but there is at least one quest that places items near the forest entrance.

Sindocat

When the area is reset for a quest, with some kind of camp (and there are two or three that do that) I do in fact lose everything l have placed there. If I expect to have a lot more to do out there in later quests, I'll take the time to redecorate.

Atreya33

Ok. I was worried it would mess up those quests but if the lot just resets, then maybe I'll add a few items to that lot. I like the idea of a camp at the edge of the forest. Your camp looks really nice.

Sindocat

I just played the "Bounty Hunt: Wild Boar" quest on my Knight, which is one that uses the Forest entrance with a special set-up. My king's hunting camp was erased, but it wasn't hard to re-build after. I like having facilities there. Both my Blacksmith and my Peteran Priest made use during "Evolution of Chinchilla". No bugs, no glitches - just redecoration when it got reset to a bare lot.