[typicalgamer]

I've heard that Rockstar don't recommend saving the game with cheats activated.
Sometimes when I save I get the warning "One or more cheats have been activated. This may affect your save game. It is recommended that you do not save this game.", despite of the fact that I didn't use any cheat that modifies the behavior of the game and can be disabled(such as the one which makes cars drive on water). Nonetheless, when it happened, I ignored the warning and saved. I've also tried picking up the save icon immediately after loading(it's obvious that I didn't type any cheats between loading and walking into the cassette) and the warning was displayed. This doesn't always happen, but it is very weird.
All in all, my questions are:
1)What's causing the glitch(or whatever it is) described above?
2)Is it really dangerous to save the game with cheats activated on PC?
I do use cheats, but I doubt they are causing the problems I'm having with Vice City(freezes, crashes).

This post has been edited by typicalgamer on Thursday, Jun 21 2012, 20:25

[Carbonox]

I think the only truly game-breaking cheats are the ones that can't be toggled off (such as the one that replaces your gang with women who never shoot at anyone - I have experience ) as I don't remember any instance where "regular" cheats would have caused harm to my playing experience.

[Andreaz1]

1. The fact that you used cheats is what is giving you that warning message.

2. I've always been told that using cheats will prevent you from being able to get 100% game completion. However, the Chain Game rules claim that this side effect is only present in San Andreas. I'm not sure what is true.

[typicalgamer]

QUOTE (Andreaz1)

I've always been told that using cheats will prevent you from being able to get 100% game completion. However, the Chain Game rules claim that this side effect is only present in San Andreas. I'm not sure what is true.

I've already achieved 100% in San Andreas despite of the fact that I've cheated many times and saved with cheats turned on. I always save with cheats enabled in San Andreas and I've never had any important problems. There are only some minor bugs which are unlikely to be caused by cheating and that we can't discuss in this section.
Back to the topic. In Vice City, the crashes and freezes I'm experiencing can't be caused by cheating. I've already tried reinstalling the game and avoiding the use of cheats for a while but the freezes still occurred. There appears to be no link between cheats and freezes. Thus cheats aren't causing me any problems with Vice City, because the crashes and jams are the only problem I'm having with this game.
EDIT: I've just completed the Vigilante missions in a dishonest fashion: I hoped in a Rhino(which was cheat spawned) and started the Vigilante missions. I then parked it in the garage of the Vercetti Estate and got out. I backed away from the door to let it close. Then I typed the cheat which blows up all cars, eliminating the suspects. I then got back in the garage, re-entered the Rhino(it didn't explode because it was in the garage and the door of the garage was closed), got out, walked away from the garage and repeated the procedure until I completed 12 levels and got the message in the top left corner of the screen that my armor was upgraded. This trick also works in San Andreas.
The trouble is, before I completed the Vigilante missions this way, I had 25% game completion and the percentage didn't change after completing them. Then I did them once again, this time the classic way and without using cheats; nevertheless, the percentage remained the same.
Does this mean that cheats prevent you from reaching 100% in Vice City? If this is true, I'll have to start the game over.

This post has been edited by typicalgamer on Saturday, Jun 23 2012, 20:04

[gtareality]

just use cheats and go back to your loaded game if you saved the game with cheats it may effect your gameplay as it says in the game it means it will cause more crashes and bugs i wouldnt save with cheats i have ppl play gta and i tell em not to save the game with cheats i wouldnt

[RusLee]

I have beaten the game 100% with cheats. and have simply ignored the warning when saving. Thhe cheats i used were always, HEALTH CHEEAT, ARMOR CHEAT, VEHICLE CHEATS, WANTED LEVEL CHEAT ONLY.

[Nukey Shay]

QUOTE (typicalgamer @ Friday, Jun 22 2012, 09:33)

The trouble is, before I completed the Vigilante missions this way, I had 25% game completion and the percentage didn't change after completing them.

Yes, it did. Vice City does not show fractions of a percent...so it only looked like it didn't change.

IIRC, there are a total of 154 "mission points" (tasks that add toward 100%). Your displayed percentage completed is based on the amount of mission points you have in relation to how many there are. Since each one scores less than 1%, it often does not appear to change.

[typicalgamer]

QUOTE

Yes, it did. Vice City does not show fractions of a percent...so it only looked like it didn't change.

When I complete a storyline mission, my percentage increases by 1.
Nevertheless, if you assume that each objective of the game has 1%, their sum is larger than 100%.
This likely means that not all objectives have the same percentage.
Chances are the problem with the Vigilante missions(that I completed the easy way) wasn't really a problem.

This post has been edited by typicalgamer on Friday, Jun 29 2012, 10:25

[Nukey Shay]

Nope...nothing that complex. A "mission point" is not 1 percent. Everything in a checklist (like this one) counts as a single "mission point" (i.e. a specific requirement has been met)...with the exception of rampages (a single "mission point" awarded after all 35 have been completed) and hidden packages (1 "mission point" after every 10 collected). None of the GTA3-era titles award different percentage amounts for completion of differing tasks...although the number of tasks varies between titles. Similar tasks between titles are sometimes handled differently, too. "Paramedic" in GTA3 awards 2 "mission points", for example...since you get one for each unlockable at levels 8 (adrenaline) and 12 (infinite sprint). Unique Jumps in San Andreas award nothing.

A storyline mission's completion awards the same amount as any other required task...1 "mission point". So in GTA3 and V.C., often you'll see the percentage change, but sometimes you won't (fractions of 1% are not shown).

For a quick example...try this simple test:

When you begin a new game, stepping into the pink marker inside the hotel counts as a storyline mission completion (you've finished "In The Beginning..."). Checking your stats, you'll notice that it has not changed from 0%. If you then complete some other task (such as collecting 10 hidden packages), the percentage will finally show a change to 1%.

Start a new game and pick up 10 hidden packages to get a mission point (you can probably remember 10 locations without looking at a map). The percentage will not show a change once 10 have been collected. Then go visit the hotel to complete "In The Beginning...". The stat will now read 1%.

Notice that it didn't matter which was done first. The storyline mission completion did not show a percentage change in the first test, and did in the second.

Was it a different percentage in each test? No. The tasks were just "worth" less than 1% each...so it took another task completion to show the change.

This post has been edited by Nukey Shay on Saturday, Jun 30 2012, 05:57

[Spuds725]

Just another voice backing up the fraction of a % not being visible--- it will move up visibly for some things and not others... with rounding you will not see your completion move--- when you are at 99% you can have up to 3 things left to do...

I would not worry about this.

IMO-- no cheat will prevent the game from giving you 100%--- but some can corrupt the save if they do not turn off--- this list has not been compiled as far as I know.

I've read anecdotal accounts of the "giant tire" cheat messing up saves.

I've read of the peds riot cheat preventing 100% because it prevents you from completing certain tasks-- (pizzaboy, taxi, paramedic, etc)....

Spawn vehicle, health, blow up cars, fast gameplay are not permanently changing anything and are therefore considered safe... I'm sure there are others...

Perhaps a good experiment would be to take a save with everything done except one property to purchase and to then enter every cheat code and then purchase last property to see if it prevents 100%.

Probably a good idea to compile a list of "safe" and "unsafe" cheats....