GTA Vice City: Scripting

[InsomPsycho]

I can edit the script in main.scm so that I can:

spawn cars
teleport
human jetpack
have unlimited health

etc.

What exactly would fall under the "legal scripting" category?

[l2ebel]

um thatd go under modding cause its not available to everyone without the tools to decompile/edit/compile the game script.

i think the rules goes something like "its not allowed if you cant change it ingame, menus, console etc."

there:

Many PC games allow you to use scripts or macros to automate certain actions. Internal scripts that are built into a game are allowed, but external ones like AutoHotkey are not. (In the past, external scripts were not explicitly banned from SDA, so they are still allowed for several games under a grandfather clause.) Runs that use scripts and runs that don't use scripts are separate categories. Of course, a run without scripts that is faster than a run with scripts will obsolete that run.

[ExplodingCabbage]

Of course, even console commands that aren't technically cheat codes can be used to change fundamental game variables like the strength of gravity in many games, so even the "it has to be changed in game" rule isn't strong enough. Equally there are cases where the only way to change certain controls is to modify a .ini file (e.g. the Infinity Engine games, I think) OUTSIDE the game and that is generally allowed. I think all that can be reliably said is that changes to the controls will always be allowed, and anything that can be changed in the game menus that isn't labelled as a cheat or special mode is almost certainly allowed, but beyond that a degree of common sense has to be applied.

Clearly, teleporting or having unlimited health via editing game files or using console commands is 'cheating' and not legal; there isn't really an objective way to judge these things though, so just ask yourself whether a reasonable and informed person would think what you were doing was legit or not. If there's something you want to do by editing main.scm that you think might actually be allowed and you're not sure about, post it and it can be debated.

[DJS (lambdaN)]

Teleport not allowed except its Death (like die and begin closer to a mission).

Spawn cars = not allowed cause, well, its cheating really.

jetpack = flying around should be allowed but idk.

unlimited health = cheat.

[ExplodingCabbage]

jetpack = flying around should be allowed but idk.

He's not talking about the Dodo or any normal in-game method of flight, he's talking about hacking the game so he can fly on foot. This clearly isn't allowed.

[DJS (lambdaN)]

well really its just a faster dodo

[InsomPsycho]

actually this "jetpack mode" is almost a teleport equivalent. You move the player around, up and down, insanely fast.

Okay, so all of those are considered cheating. Fair enough.

Um...


* The ability to right a car that has flipped over
* The ability to cause your previous car to teleport back to you
* The ability to respawn on land if you fall in the water

^ Probably considered cheating

* The ability to remove the automatic cinematic camera and slow-mo from unique stunt jumps
* The ability to change the graphics of basically everything in the game
* The ability to remove non-solid foliage to make it easier to see
* The ability to remove the loading screen between islands
* The ability to edit collision files so that they are more realistic
* The ability to change the text file to help with a 100% checklist, for example

^ Not sure.

[ExplodingCabbage]

I'd say messing with that file at all shouldn't be allowed.

[Warepire]

i'd consider all of mentioned edits cheating besides "The ability to remove the loading screen between islands"

[l2ebel]

modding stuff to gain an advantage doesnt work in a competitive environment.. could as well make every car go 1000mph

removing loading screens is unneeded since they are ignored when timing the run.

allowed for gta is:

-using any player skin and using the custom mp3 radio station since theyre both features of the game
-abusing the replay feature for glitches
-changing any game options, including draw distance, disabling trails etc


not sure about the frame limiter cause many things in the games are linked to the framerate (sloppy coding), such as having more peds spawn which would speed up rampages or doing shotgun-grenade boosts in gta3 to launch yourself onto rooftops..

Basically everyone sticks to having the frame limiter on but that is an unwritten rule.

[bmn]

Scripting as mentioned in the rules refers to input scripting (i.e. having one button press perform a potentially complicated set of mouse movements and/or button presses), and not any other type of scripting.

Game code modification (not counting modifications that count as their own game, as often seen in FPS games) of almost any type won't be accepted by SDA for obvious reasons.

@l2ebel: As far as I know, the MP3 Player is also not allowed, and the only reason the GTA (Vice City? I forget) run in question was kept was that the rule on custom soundtracks was decided on later because of that run, and it would have been somewhat cruel to disallow the entire run on aesthetics that have nothing to do with the gameplay.

[InsomPsycho]

why isn't mp3 player allowed? that's odd.

[ridd3r.]

why isn't mp3 player allowed? that's odd.

Not sure if it is or not but I would expect it is not allowed because of copyright issues as you don't have the rights to the song and it would be broadcast.