This post was originally intended to be a reply to another thread in one of the Hacks forums. However, I thought that I'd put it here where it would catch more eyes and be of more use (and make more sense).

A handful of scattered posts mention the userstartup.cheat - but there doesn't seem to be a "What the heck is it?" post. So here's an overview for those who need it:


So, what the heck is it?

A userstartup.cheat file acts like an autoexec.cfg which may be more familiar to some gamers. It's where you can put custom settings that you want turned on each time you start the game, and where you can create aliases for commonly-used commands. The game reads the file on start-up and applies the commands contained within it.

But why?

If there's one thing we all know about our favourite in-game cheats... it's that they're long. And the game is just so fussy about typos!

Imagine how much easier it would be to type "s" than to type "boolProp snapObjectsToGrid false"

OK, sounds good. How do I get me one of those?

Easy, peasy. Use Notepad to create a plain text file in My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Config called "userstartup.cheat". **EDIT** Do NOT use Wordpad. Wordpad = Gremlins.

Great. Now what do I put in it?

There are two types of entries that you will likely put in here. Remember, one entry per line.

The first type are the settings that you want on all the time. Settings like TV volume, 45-degree angle-of-rotation etc. You enter them (one per line) in this file the same as you do in-game.

The second type are your aliases. These entries substitute Maxis' long cheat commands with your own substitutions.

The format is: alias textstring "cheat command" "short description" "long description"

For example, two of the lines in mine are:

alias snapc "boolProp snapObjectsToGrid false" "snap to grid = no" "snap to grid = no"
alias snapd "boolProp snapObjectsToGrid true" "snap to grid = yes" "snap to grid = yes"

So - to turn off Snap to Grid, I just type "snapc" in the little white window of wonder and hit Enter. To put it back, I type "snapd".

May I see an Example?

Sure, mine's attached in .txt format. It's a very simple example; there are others out there that are quite involved. Yours will likely grow as you think of ideas and uses for it.

The first two lines in mine are my global settings that I always have on: 45-degree angle-of-rotation and a nice, quiet TV.

Then 8 lines are dedicated to the cheats that I use in-game and like to turn on and off quickly.

Is there anything else?

Because the file lives in your "My Documents" folder - it allows you to have different custom settings for different user accounts. Handy if you'd like to remove the pixellation from your version, but leave it on when your kids play.

That's it, I hope it's useful. If I've made mistakes, please correct me.

-K.

infamy, thank you so much for this post. I can't wait to implement it.

True to your word! Thanks Infamy!

OK, I'm still being stupid..I understand it partway I guess, but what do I do for my 'censor' shortcut...heres what I got so far:

alias - "intprop censorgridsize 0" "censor off" "censor off"
alias + "intprop censorgridsize 8" "censor on" "censor on"

I must be missing something cuz it doesn't work...the 'censor off' bit I made up cuz I don't know what to actually put there...what am I suppose to put there?

OK - I've made my poor Sims pee a great number of times. I think it doesn't like the special characters. I had success with:

alias n "intprop censorgridsize 0" "censor off" "censor off"
alias c "intprop censorgridsize 8" "censor on" "censor on"

But not with your string.

I know that people oten use a "+" or "-" after a letter in their aliases, but perhaps they cannot stand on their own.

If anyone can shed more light on that, I'll edit the original post.

Thanks,

K.

Thanks yet again infamy for plugin' away at this with me... Unfortunatly my problems are not over yet.

I DLed your text file (just as it is). Udjusted the name so it's just called 'userStartup.cheat' (instead of MTS2_infamy_useStartup.txt) And placed it in the exact folder you suggested. Even without any alterations by me to the 'codeing' IN the file, it still doesn't work at all (not even the startup cheats you have in there). I have University and in my searches have found that I may need place it in the 'Config' folder spacificly FOR University (meaning I had to go thru the C: prompt *hard drive* and into 'program files', etc to get to it, not just 'My Documents') I did that as well to no availe. I'm about to give up and just stick with hand-typeing the cheats in. Oh well...

Well - I'm stumped. I have University and mine lives quietly in the config folder in My Documents. I'm on Windows XP and the full path is:

C:\Documents and Settings\Kate\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Config\userStartup.cheat

Works like a dream.

The only final straw that I have to grasp at is make sure that you're using Notepad, not Wordpad.

Wordpad has a nasty way of messing things up. Its best trick is tacking .txt on the end of files, so that you end up with userStartup.cheat.txt. If Windows is hiding your file extensions for common files - that .txt could be there without you knowing it.

Infamy thank you so much for this. I have been using a userStartup since about day two of installing Sims2 and have only added to it once when the EP came out.

My problem has been not knowing how create an alias. So I have been typing in most of my cheats. Thank you for saving me time and key strokes.

OMG!!!! Infamy!!! thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!

As a result of your 'stick-to-it-iveness' it now works!!! All I can take credit for is being the hand holding monkey.

I also added the censor shortcut you suggested and - IT WORKS!!

I even added my own boolprop cheat so all my pools would have better lighting effects and - IT WORKS!

Infamy.........Your the greatest!

How would the motherlode cheat work? Would it be like
alias m "motherlode"
as theres only one code for that cheat i thought it might be that?
Any light at all would be great.

And any other good cheat codes would be great.

Shadow, The format is: alias textstring "cheat command" "short description" "long description"

So it'll be
alias m "motherlode" "money" "money"

A list of cheat codes can be found here



Infamy, I've recreated this thread in our misc faq section, here.

I'm now going to close this thread. If you have any amendments, please PM me by clicking here