Recently discovered the cheat engine and am using the cheat.dat file
All I want to know is how to pre-enable a cheat, and am looking for some clear instructions. I've read pugsy's info and find it is not specific enough to help someone new to cheats.
Here's the info from the cheat read-me file section 6 with my comments added in red------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION 6 How to Pre-Enable cheats
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Enable: (01100100 -------- -1------ --------) 0x64004000
what the heck is this line telling me? Enables a cheat on startup. Put the index of the cheat you want to enable in
the address field.
What enables a cheat on startup? Seems to imply you type Pre-Enable: (01100100 -------- -1------ --------) 0x64004000 someplace with the correct numbers and it works. And whats the index of the cheat and where is the address field? Example, to activate the eleventh cheat in the cheat list, add this cheat to
the file:
:gamename:64004000:0000000A:00000000:00000000:
ok so if I add this code does it pre-enable or just activate a cheat? And where exactly am I suppsed to add this cheat..."to the file" is not helpful IMO. Actual Example:
For the game Marble Madness, add this to the end of your cheat file it must be
the end of the cheat file or it won't work!
Fine, so I assume this means the absolute last line of the cheat.dat file? Here are lines from the very end of the cheat.dat file and perhaps you'll see why I am confused:;
;******************************************************************************
;* Pre-Enabled Cheat Section *
;******************************************************************************
;
; Put the cheats you want pre-enabled in this section
; Don't forget to make a copy though so if you replace this cheat file you
; won't lose them - though it's possible that the cheat order may change so
; you may want to check them
;
;******************************************************************************
;* NEW CHEATS *
;* *
;* Don't forget if you find any new cheats yourself then please post them on *
;* The Cheat Forums at:- http://cheat.retrogames.com/forums/ *
;* *
;* If you have any problems signing up or logging into the cheat forums email *
;* me and I'll help you out *
;* *
;* pugsyATgmxDOTnet *
;* *
;* PLEASE NEVER EMAIL ME ANY CHEATS UNLESS I'VE SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR THEM *
;* TO BE EMAILED TO ME. USE THE CHEAT FORUMS TO POST ANY NEW CHEATS. *
;* *
;****************************************************************************** So whats with the comments about "Put the cheats you want pre-enabled in this section" ? Where in this section? I thought I was supposed to add the cheat "to the end of your cheat file it must be
the end of the cheat file or it won't work!" Not trying to be unkind here but which is it?
Now we continue with the instructions from the read-me file::marble:64004000:00000004:00000000:00000000:
:marble:64004000:00000007:00000000:00000000:
If you've done it correctly the above two lines will automatically enable
cheat lines 5 and 8 for that game which at the time of writing will give
Infinite Time for both players.
"automatically enable" or "to active a cheat"- am I to assume this is the same as "pre-enable" would be better to just say so IMO so how about saying "If you've done this correftly the above two lines will PRE-ENABLE cheat lines 5 and 8...."NOTE: The cheat lines are counted in hexadecimal not in decimal and the first
cheat line is 0, the 9th is 08, 11th is 0A etc. You should ignore all
other cheats in a linked list or linked cheat other than the first cheat.
All other cheats including comment cheats should be counted though
what is a linked list or linked cheat? how about showing an example for clarification? And comment cheats? what are those???This section is to place your own pre-enabling cheats. Included is a semi-full
list of example pre-enabling cheats for the game with the shortname "gamename".
Just remember if you're pre-enabling cheats that you will need to copy any
pre-enabling cheats you have made to future cheat files, if you just copy over
the new cheat.dat file you will lose any pre-enabling cheats you have made.
Also bear in mind that the cheat order in the cheat file can be changed between
updates due to new cheats being added, buggy cheats being removed or the cheats
just being re-arranged. Of course if the mamedevs change the shortname you will
have to compensate for that too. All things considered unless you know what you
are doing just stick to enabling cheats manually when you play the game.
REMEMBER THOUGH IF YOU PRE-ENABLE CHEATS FOR SOME GAMES IT WILL CAUSE THE GAME
TO FAIL IT'S RAM/ROM CHECKING AND THE GAME MAY NOT START. IN THESE CASES CHECK
TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY CHEATS TO BYPASS THESE CHECKS AND IF THERE ARE THEN
PRE-ENABLE THOSE CHEATS. OTHERWISE YOU CAN TEMPORARILY TURN OFF ALL CHEATS
USING F6, RESET THE GAME AND THEN PRESS F6 AGAIN TO TURN ON ALL YOUR
PRE-ENABLED CHEATS.
:gamename:64004000:000000:00000000:00000000:Pre-Enable the 001st cheat in the list:Do NOT count linked cheats or cheats in a linked list!!
:gamename:64004000:000001:00000000:00000000:Pre-Enable the 002nd cheat in the list:Do NOT count linked cheats or cheats in a linked list!!
:gamename:64004000:000002:00000000:00000000:Pre-Enable the 003rd cheat in the list:Do NOT count linked cheats or cheats in a linked list!!
In my example I wanted to turn on infinite ammo cheat for players 1 and 2 in Lethal Enforcers II (romname=le2)
so I placed these codes at the very end of the cheat.dat file (the very last two lines):
:le2:64004000:000002:00000000:00000000:Pre-Enable the 003rd cheat in the list:Do NOT count linked cheats or cheats in a linked list!!
:le2:64004000:000007:00000000:00000000:Pre-Enable the 008th cheat in the list:Do NOT count linked cheats or cheats in a linked list!!
This does not work which caused me to think I must have misunderstood the instructions and I must have to place them somewhere else in the file.
Anyone able to set me straight on this?
Thanks