Let me preface this by saying that I am a drooling submoronic knuckledragging halfwit. The answer to my question is apparently so obvious that game sites don’t even bother to explain; they just tell you what the cheat codes are, with maybe a couple of too technical (for me) pointers on entering them. Also, I failed to find the answer with Google. You have my permission to smirk, point and laugh, as long as you answer my question! And remember my level of idiocy–it has to be explained in steps any pre-linguistic child could follow. Thank you in advance to any who have information on this.
Depends on the game. Sometimes, you just type them in while you’re playing. Others may have secret popup windows where you enter the code. Still others may take them wherever you may normally enter text (putting in a cheat code in place of your character’s name may unlock some attribute, for example).
I was afraid someone was going to say that. I don’t play games where you enter text as you go, so it would have to be a popup window or something I do before running the game. Is there a site that tells how to do it for each game, in a way that I can understand?
(Are you smirking yet?)
Well, unless the site says otherwise, you just type in the code as it appears. For example, in Contra (IIRC), you had to press the Nintendo controller D-pad and buttons in the right combination as the start screen appeared. If you heard a noise before the screen loaded, you did it right, else you did it wrong. Any guide would say this explicitly.
With 99% of PC games though, you type in the code whenever you like. For example, in GTA Vice City, the code for 100% armour is ‘precious protection’. Now, if you type that in the radio station will change with each ‘r’ and so on, but you get the armour when you finish nevertheless.
Give us an example game & code - I’m sure someone here has the game and has used the code before.
Google on the name of the game, and browse the results. Keep an eye out for FAQ or cheats. Most sites that offer cheat codes will also tell you how to initiate it.
For what it’s worth, I don’t believe in cheating until I’ve beaten the game for real.
Moved to CS.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
What game is this? If you don’t understand the instructions, we could probably help translate the jargon out of it.
Also, check gamefaqs.com. Their walkthroughs generally give very detailed directions for practically everything.
Well, it’s Halo: Combat Evolved. All the cheats I find specify that they are only for the custom edition. My copy doesn’t say “Custom Edition;” maybe that’s why it doesn’t work. Anyhow, the websites say select Properties from the shortcut, enter " -console -devmode" at the end of the target line, and go from there. But Windows won’t let me click “OK” after I enter that at the end of the target line; it says that it is not a valid path or whatever.
I guess I agree. I have never used cheat codes before. But I have found that I don’t always enjoy encountering badguys, because they kill me and I use up all my ammo. Since part of the fun is killing lots of badguys, I feel like I’m missing out!
most of the time you press the tilda key (~) and a console comes up, try typing the codes in from there
Tragically, that didn’t work.
Are you sure you’re entering the “-console -devmode” stuff right? It should be at the very end of the Target field, past anything already there. Don’t add any quotes and don’t put them inside the existing quotes. The entire line should look something like:
“your\path o\halo.exe” -console -devmode
Then try the Tilde.
Doh! I was putting it inside the quotes.
Just to refresh your memory:
Hey, I’ve been gaming for a decade and I still can’t remember where the quotes go. I have to experiment every single time I use them (including this time). They’re totally counter-intuitive 
Oh, and so… did it work? 
Well, it worked. Thanks! But I haven’t entered any codes yet, because lo I was mildly chastised by This Year’s Model. :o
GameFaqs usually has very detailed directions for entering codes. If it isn’t obvious on the “Cheats” section for the particular game, check out the biggest FAQ on the game - usually the writer will stick in a section on how to enter them.
How did I skip sturmhauke’s reply yet use almost the exact same phrasing? Get out of my mind!
Well, it didn’t work all the way. I did what Reply said, hit tilda, got the console, entered a cheat (hey! I had run out of ammo! What was I supposed to do?), and it said “such-and-such cannot be executed at this time,” or something like that. Maybe I’m a hopeless case. I did it just like I was supposed to, with the correct spaces and everything.
Not only do I like that word but I love the shape of the symbol.
Tilllllllllllllda, my new word for the day.
Tillllllllllllllllllllllda 