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Forums -> General Forums -> Games Discussions -> A Question about Console Commands
Topic: A Question about Console Commands
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Hello everyone,

I would have probably placed this post under the Cheating section but each post there is about a suspected cheater and not a general question, so I've decided to post it here.

I've recently read that using console commands in the old-school isometric RPGs like Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale does not disable achievements (which is, in my opinion, idiotic like any other game that awards achievements upon in-game cheating).

Looking at the sticky post with the Achievement-Hunting Rules, I got more confused as to what is allowed (apparently by AStats) and what is not. Its description is very detailed, and yet it's sometimes ambiguous and illogical (like when you can change your system clock to get a time-specific achievement but you can't change your system clock to get a period-passed-specific achievement, or when you can enable a god mode or kill a specific NPC but can't use a command/cheat that directly/instantly awards an achievement – seems pretty confusing: if I were to kill Belhifet in Icewind Dale with a command to kill an NPC, I would have gotten the achievement legitimately but illegitimately at the same time because the achievement for killing him and/or completing the entire vanilla game would pop up. So these rules contradict themselves. Or getting experience through console commands: they don't instantly award you an achievement, but in a few seconds or minutes they do (depending on how many weapon and thief points you need to relocate).
Even to enable console commands (which are allowed according to Rule OK-1), you need to enter a line into to the .lua or .ini file (which probably violates Rule NA-3 (Do not modify game code).

What is your opinion on these rules? It seems like a hypocritical compromise that is wobbling on the adverbial three-legged stool. I believe every gamer has their own moral compass, and those who want to cheat through their achievements will do so regardless of a list of do’s and don’ts. And vice versa, if you simply don’t use cheats, you don’t need a list of which kind of cheating is allowed and which isn't.
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If people want to be competitive, they need to have agreed upon which moral compass to use, because different people will have different ones. And if people have different lines, some people would get an unfair advantage.

Regardless of where you draw the line, there is going to be edge cases and gray zone around that line.

Are console commands part of the game? Most argue that they are. But if you have to edit a LUA or ini file to get it, they are not (at least not in the shipped version, intended to be played version of the game).

For people that are not interested in the competitive aspects, it's obviously much easier - don't do anything in the gray zone.

The main (but not only) reason the rules are big and complex is to honor a lot of old astats rulings. Since "achievements are forever", it would be strange to say that those achievements are now considered cheating, when they were not at the time of being earned, and say that the people who got them in those ways that was once considered ok is no longer ok. Likewise, it would be strange to not let new achievement hunters gain those particular achievements in the same way. I wish things were different/simpler, but alas.

At least it's a step in the right direction that multiple sites could agree on the same rules, allowing users to transition freely between them.
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I know I am replying a little late but I thank you for your clarification. I really appreciate it.
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'primal_r' says


Are console commands part of the game? Most argue that they are. But if you have to edit a LUA or ini file to get it, they are not (at least not in the shipped version, intended to be played version of the game).





I have realised that this contradicts a rule I'd read before:

OK-18
Modifying certain standard settings via .ini files is allowed.
Certain games contain an Initialization file (.ini file) which may be the only way to configure standard in-game options such as: resolution, aspect ratio, v-sync, windowed/fullscreen mode, directx version, standard keybindings, etc. Some games (namely Source games) use .ini files which can mimic “Launch Options” under a Steam game’s properties view or can auto-launch standard console commands upon running the game - these are allowed. Modifying any .ini file value outside of these typical (in-game visual/audio settings / console commands / launch options / standard keybinds) type of situations is not allowed and will be considered as game file editing, unless a specific game-by-game rule exists below.
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'Marexai' says

[...] mimic “Launch Options” under a Steam game’s properties view or can auto-launch standard console commands upon running the game - these are allowed.
[...] unless a specific game-by-game rule exists below.




So this says nothing about Enabling of console commands to be acceptable. Just that on-startup-auto-launching existing console-commands, i.e. not have to write them manually on startup, and editing the file for superficial (audio/video/keybinds) reasons is ok.
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This helps with clarifying with fallout 3 windows live achievements
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