Is it cheating or an improvement to the game?

[delder92663]

A lot of us have custom configs that some may consider cheating. What special configs do you use?

Let's see if the community see's these configs as cheating or an improvement.

I always use tweakscale to make the science jr. Lab a little smaller. It just seems too big to me. I add extra landing gear or other equipment to counter the reduced weight.

Is this cheating?

[Docsprock]

Ive never used any mods or changed my config for this game. Is THAT cheating?

[Guest]

I can't really play this game without mods, is that cheating?

[Renegrade]

Ive never used any mods or changed my config for this game. Is THAT cheating?

Yes. Now go confess your pure-stock cheatyness in the KSP sins thread.

[Red Iron Crown]

No one cares unless you are entering a challenge that specifies stock parts. It's only cheating if it feels like cheating to you.

[KerBlammo]

I'm still a newbie to the game and the forum, but IMO there's no such thing as "cheating" in a game like this. Mods that enhance the game for some negate the entire point for others. YMMV.

[Randazzo]

No one cares unless you are entering a challenge that specifies stock parts. It's only cheating if it feels like cheating to you.

This guy is smart.

Other than that, the only rules that matter are your own. I personally won't use the debug menu cheats during missions solely because it defeats the purpose in my eyes, but I don't hesitate to use it when I've built a 500-ton behemoth that will never get off the surface otherwise. (Granted it's engines immediately overheat and explode once gravity is turned back on.. but I got a few minutes of fun! )

[katateochi]

What Red Iron Crown said, but with the additional point; if you're talking about manually editing .cfg files then that can become a real pain if you want to share the craft with others (and also you've basically got to redistribute parts of other mods, which in some cases you shouldn't do, depending on its licence.) But if you don't plan to share craft then tinker away! (if you're talking about TweakScale tweaks then doesn't get in the way of sharing so...see Red Iron Crown's point.)

[delder92663]

This guy is smart.

Other than that, the only rules that matter are your own. I personally won't use the debug menu cheats during missions solely because it defeats the purpose in my eyes, but I don't hesitate to use it when I've built a 500-ton behemoth that will never get off the surface otherwise. (Granted it's engines immediately overheat and explode once gravity is turned back on.. but I got a few minutes of fun! )

To me the only way to cheat is when you have a mission you're going on that's totally doable without the use of hyperedit or debug but you use it anyway.

I use plenty of cheats for testing purposes but when I'm ready to set sail for real Using these features lessens the in game enjoyment for me.

[Pecan]

The only 'extra' .cfg I have is one that adds MJ to all command pods and probe cores, just so I don't have to do it manually every time.

[Motokid600]

I have a MM config that puts MechJeb into all command parts. It bypasses the built in career progression so I get full MJ functionality from the start. So that's a little on the cheaty side, but it feels right, so..

[delder92663]

What Red Iron Crown said, but with the additional point; if you're talking about manually editing .cfg files then that can become a real pain if you want to share the craft with others (and also you've basically got to redistribute parts of other mods, which in some cases you shouldn't do, depending on its licence.) But if you don't plan to share craft then tinker away! (if you're talking about TweakScale tweaks then doesn't get in the way of sharing so...see Red Iron Crown's point.)

On rare occasion I'll create a copy of a decoupler and decrease the power or something like that but 99% of any modifications I make are with tweakscale.

For some reason it just kills me that the sci lab jr is so big when I'm building landers (especially for Tylo).

[worir4]

Every thing is cheating....

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/80698-Cheaters%21-Cheaters-everywhere%21

[delder92663]

The only 'extra' .cfg I have is one that adds MJ to all command pods and probe cores, just so I don't have to do it manually every time.

I used to always forget to add mechjeb. That's brilliant!

[TimePeriod]

I mod and change things to my own desire.

Its only cheating if its in a competition.

In a single player game(as of now) I doubt anyone would consider it cheating.

Examples:

Tail connector reduced to 0.1t

Small Gear bay reduced to 0.1t

etc etc. Parts with excessive mass/cost I reduce somewhat to make them more versatility and allow me a greater range of use.

Edited March 6, 2015 by TimePeriod

[Renegrade]

I'm still a newbie to the game and the forum, but IMO there's no such thing as "cheating" in a game like this. Mods that enhance the game for some negate the entire point for others. YMMV.

Cheating is always cheating. Circumventing the rules to gain advantage is always circumventing the rules to gain advantage. There's no ifs, ands, ors, or buts.

The only valid rebuttal is that it 'causes no harm'. In single player games, this is very often true, but not always. For instance...is your learning harmed? THAT is the only point where "YMMV". Sometimes judicious cheating will enhance your experience, other times, ruin it.

(As an example, FAR is cheating with respects to stock air; however I've found it's enriched my learning of aerodynamics a lot more than stock ever would have)

[PB666]

What Red Iron Crown said, but with the additional point; if you're talking about manually editing .cfg files then that can become a real pain if you want to share the craft with others (and also you've basically got to redistribute parts of other mods, which in some cases you shouldn't do, depending on its licence.) But if you don't plan to share craft then tinker away! (if you're talking about TweakScale tweaks then doesn't get in the way of sharing so...see Red Iron Crown's point.)

The whole point of cfg's is to make crafts in new interesting kinds of ways (there is no right answer), you can ask me for my *.cfg, but if you need me to hold your hand for a craft file, you're playing the wrong game.

[delder92663]

Cheating is always cheating. Circumventing the rules to gain advantage is always circumventing the rules to gain advantage. There's no ifs, ands, ors, or buts.

The only valid rebuttal is that it 'causes no harm'. In single player games, this is very often true, but not always. For instance...is your learning harmed? THAT is the only point where "YMMV". Sometimes judicious cheating will enhance your experience, other times, ruin it.

(As an example, FAR is cheating with respects to stock air; however I've found it's enriched my learning of aerodynamics a lot more than stock ever would have)

MechJeb dis the same for me on docking, ascent and landing. Now I can do it manually. I can do most things faster than mechjeb now so I don't use it for navigating anymore. If I did, I wouldn't consider it cheating because all real world craft have on board navigation. I'm sure the same could be said for FAR.

[Slam_Jones]

The main idea of "cheating" is that it gives one party and unfair advantage over another.

As this is (so far) strictly a single-player game, I don't consider anything to really be cheating. It's simply choosing to use the product in a way that brings the most enjoyment from it.

Kinda like playing Solitaire with real cards. I can play it by the rules, or I can bend a few to make the game easier for myself. I don't consider it cheating since no party is being disadvantaged by it. It's simply how I choose to enjoy the game.

[Robotengineer]

We need a 'Is this cheating?' thread. If you feel bad about it and think it's cheating, don't do it. Why ask us what is and is not cheating in a game without direct rules?

[Joonatan1998]

I wonder how the community will change when multiplayer is added.

Will the general opinion on "cheating" change?

I think it depends mostly on if we get large public servers or small private servers only.

Will we see anti-cheat plugins like minecraft has?

In singleplayer games, I think cheating is if you change the rules after you have started a game.

[Flixxbeatz]

oh here we go again with "is *insert stuff here* cheating?".

It's a single player game, therefore no one cares about stuff you do aside from yourself. EXCEPT when participating to challenges, where you must abide within a specific set of rules.

[TimePeriod]

Its funny when you think about it this way:

Increasing the part mass, reducing the ISP, increasing the part costs etc is considered to be increasing the difficulty.

Reducing the part mass, increasing the ISP, decreasing the part cost etc will get you branded 'cheater-unholy-madman'.

Yet, in both cases it is 'cheating' as you are changing parts of the game. To increase or to lower difficulty.

In the end, both cases are totally irrelevant as this is a single-player game and as such, abides to no rules unless YOU agree to abide by those rules.

Thats how simple it is.

[Herbin]

Altering thingin game to anything other than default constitutes cheating imo

[delder92663]

Its funny when you think about it this way:

Increasing the part mass, reducing the ISP, increasing the part costs etc is considered to be increasing the difficulty.

Reducing the part mass, increasing the ISP, decreasing the part cost etc will get you branded 'cheater-unholy-madman'.

Yet, in both cases it is 'cheating' as you are changing parts of the game. To increase or to lower difficulty.

In the end, both cases are totally irrelevant as this is a single-player game and as such, abides to no rules unless YOU agree to abide by those rules.

Thats how simple it is.

Very true. It really is like setting a difficulty level. I appreciate the current level of difficulty so if I make something smaller I add something unnecessary to add weight that will fit with the asthetics of the craft. Probably not a 1 to 1 swap but it keeps the difficulty of the game where I like it.

- - - Updated - - -

Altering thingin game to anything other than default constitutes cheating imo

I could share that opinion when 1.0 comes out. Currently I feel so much is missing, I just can't play it stock. I couldn't imagine playing without deadly re-entry and additional space plane parts.

Out of curiosity have you completed career mode stock? Just wondering how it went. Been thinking about starting a vanilla career mode game.