do cheat codes break the game?

Does heavy amount of cheats used for the following purposes

Hybrid creation
Skills
Traits
Make happy
And a restaurant (move objects)

make the game unstable and lagging?

My sims started going all jittery, in fact all animations turned jittery and I wasn't able to split households anymore either. I also use MCCC, but I doubt it was causing all this problem.

System: I have a MacBook Air 2020. I'm sharing the system details just in case it's relevant to the problem that I'm facing.

PS: I just created one base hybrid and copied it over 4-5 times to create sufficient hybrids that I needed for my story.

xochiquetzl_xkvn
4 years ago
I have hybrids, because they kept getting born naturally and I got tired of cheating one occult type off of them. (I have a spellcaster who's married to a family-oriented mermaid and they love children, okay?)
In my "just a player, don't work for EA, hybrids are unsupported" opinion, hybrids don't break your save file. The most common issue is that mermaid hybrids start walking around on their tails and swimming through the floor. If you have Iced Cream's Hybrid Stabilizer (available on modthesims, as mentioned below), this doesn't happen. Other potential issues include that the spellcaster charge UI isn't visible with vampire/spellcaster hybrids without the mod and therefore they're more likely to die of spellcaster overload because you can't see that they're getting overcharged until they start sparking. Again, not supported, don't work for EA, play hybrids at your own risk.
(The trait thing is 100% true; I replaced the Kleptomaniac trait on a Sim and she was perpetually tense from not stealing anyway.)
Sadly, in my experience, I would suspect your restaurant and home. I recently ran a bunch of career rewards/personal inventory stuff through the recycler and my laggy, awful frame rate save improved a lot.

16 Replies

Sindocat
4 years ago
The in-game base "testingcheats on" seems itself to be stable, and has not introduced problems over the lifespan of my saves.

But to address your specific questions:

Hybrids are not supported. Cheats to allow them do therefore also open the door to possible glitches or long-term instability.

I have not cheated to raise skills, but I haven't heard of any issues.

Traits can be glitchy. What I have run into is my sims still exhibiting behaviors / moodlets from traits I have replaced. I think the "Retraiting Potion" satisfaction reward is safer.

"Make Happy" - either through shift+clicking a sim, or raising motives for the household from the mailbox, is stable. I use it when I am getting back to a household I play rotationally, to synch needs. It hasn't ever been an issue.

Move Objects is fine... though it is possible to place things where there is no valid path to use them, so there can be some back and forth and playtesting to assure that your build functions as intended. It CAN be glitchy on lots downloaded and placed from the Gallery. It seems to work fine on lots built in and local to your save file.
varunk314
4 years ago
@Sindocat Thanks for replying, your answer has been very helpful and informative.
When you say "long-term instability" in regards to hybrids, may I ask if you refer to instability in a game save or in the entire The Sims game post hybrid sims creation and usage.
xochiquetzl_xkvn
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
I have hybrids, because they kept getting born naturally and I got tired of cheating one occult type off of them. (I have a spellcaster who's married to a family-oriented mermaid and they love children, okay?)
In my "just a player, don't work for EA, hybrids are unsupported" opinion, hybrids don't break your save file. The most common issue is that mermaid hybrids start walking around on their tails and swimming through the floor. If you have Iced Cream's Hybrid Stabilizer (available on modthesims, as mentioned below), this doesn't happen. Other potential issues include that the spellcaster charge UI isn't visible with vampire/spellcaster hybrids without the mod and therefore they're more likely to die of spellcaster overload because you can't see that they're getting overcharged until they start sparking. Again, not supported, don't work for EA, play hybrids at your own risk.
(The trait thing is 100% true; I replaced the Kleptomaniac trait on a Sim and she was perpetually tense from not stealing anyway.)
Sadly, in my experience, I would suspect your restaurant and home. I recently ran a bunch of career rewards/personal inventory stuff through the recycler and my laggy, awful frame rate save improved a lot.
Sindocat
4 years ago
My understanding is that it only affects that save. But I cannot speak from experience, as I keep my occults apart. I have one save where I play with mermaids, one with spell casters, and don't mix them.
It sounds as though the hybrid stabilizer mid mentioned might be a good choice.
xochiquetzl_xkvn
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
A lot of my favorite saves have different types of occults as roommates or spouses. I don't know why I enjoy that sort of thing so much, but I do! (Potion of Plentiful Needs works beautifully on vampires, by the way.)
Also ()*@#@^ aliens keep abducting my male vampires and impregnating them! LOL! And of course we're going to keep our adorable babies, because we're family-oriented occults around here.
I digress. Try your Sims on a less cluttered lot, alas. So many adorable gallery homes and restaurants might be too much for your computer.
daikoyu
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
Cheats
Most cheats which harmed you game are removed. (Self the really helpful destroy cheat!) I cheats skills traits and make happy if I test things or if I create a family for my master save.
Traits
@Sindocat is right here, its glitchy in vanilla littleMsSam have a bug Fix for this (Bug Fixes -> Trait Buff Fixes) In Vanilla don’t change your traits, self with potion it can glitch out.
Hybrids
I would recommend using the mod All-in-One Occult Hybrid Stabilizer (ModTheSims). Vanilla Hybrids don’t break your game, but they are really glitchy if they have two occults form. The Mod helps a lot with this issue. In my vanilla game I remove one occult state via flip a coin prozess.
Restaurants
Depends, if you only decorate the walls with this cheat, it should not harm your restaurant. Just have these simple Rule-Set: Not more as 5-6 Tables, 2x Kitchen, No Showkitchen (Fridge,stove). I don’t use Bars anymore because me guest used it most the time not and with bars you have one sim there which just stand there. Vanillla Game create only max 20 Visitors (if I remember this correct). Restaurants are generally very wonky, they work great (if the cook does not bug out) if you build these right.
Performance
You don’t need to quit to use moveobjects but maybe have a little less clutter. Most gallery popular houses/lots have to much clutter and its help a lot if you just remove the landscaping or as @xochiquetzl_xkvn recommend just remove some items from your inventor.
varunk314
4 years ago
@xochiquetzl_xkvn Thanks for your reply. For the home, I use a prebuilt one, the big penthouse in san moshino. As for the restaurant, I loaded the one from local library (given default by the game), I don't remember it's name though.

As for the hybrids, the reason I used them is to stop my spell caster couple from ageing. Is there another way to stop only one couple from my active household from ageing while the rest of the sims in the game ages normally?
varunk314
4 years ago
@daikoyu Thanks for sharing this valuable information.
xochiquetzl_xkvn
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
@varunk314
There's a mod that was originally by Scarlet and is maintained by LittleMsSam that makes Potion of Immortality ~~actually work~~ stop aging. That's what I use. Before I started using that, I would use MC Command Center to add the No Age and Immortal flags to any Sims I wanted to keep around. (I still do that for pets.) It's under MC Command Center -> Sim Flags -> MC Command Center. You can set them to never age (so they can still die from accidents) or as Immortal (or both).
(Tragically, Potion of Immortality is bugged. Your Sim continues to age but it cancels "elder demise" unless you're not actively playing the household,and then they die. So, in a vanilla game, guzzle Potion of Rejuvenation and/or never play rotationally?)
I know both those lots well. Hmm. They should be fine...
varunk314
4 years ago
@xochiquetzl_xkvn thanks, I just started using MCCC, but didn't knew it can help with ageing as well.