Making and Managing Cheats

Two lists on the Cheats tab

• Cheat table: community cheats found online for the running game, or a table file you imported. See Community Cheat Tables.
• Your cheats: the ones you make. Everything on this page is about these.

Kinds of cheat

New on the Your cheats card offers:

Kind	What it does
Patch	Replaces bytes of the game's code or data while switched on, and puts the originals back when switched off. One switch can change several places.
Value	Sets a value once, or holds it there (freeze). Can offer a list of named choices ("Easy", "Hard").
Code cheat (if this, then that)	Replaces one line of the game with new code that can make decisions. See Code Cheats and Scripts.
Shared code	Functions and variables that several code cheats use.
Function call	Calls one of the game's own functions.
Script	A small JavaScript program. See Code Cheats and Scripts.

Most cheats are not made from this menu but from where you found something: Disable it on an instruction in the Code tab makes a Patch; a row in Find can become a Value.

Where a cheat points

A cheat has to find its place again every time the game starts.

Location	Survives a restart	Survives a game update	Notes
Byte pattern	Yes	Usually	A signature of the code around the place. The default for patches.
Offset in the game's code	Yes	No	A fixed position in the game's executable, or in a named module it loads.
Pointer path	Yes	Sometimes	A chain of pointers from the executable to a value on the heap.
Raw address	No	No	Good until the game closes.

Make it survive restarts (the pointer finder) searches for pointer paths to a value. Paths can be saved and checked again after you restart the game; the ones that still lead to the value are the real ones.

Before a cheat is switched on

For a patch, the bytes in the game are compared with the "off" bytes saved in the cheat. If they differ, the cheat is for a different version of the game and is refused, with Apply anyway for when you know better.

Saving

Save on the Your cheats card:

• Save to PS5: stored on the console as /data/cheatspecter/cheats/<title id>-<version>.cspector. Loaded automatically whenever that game is running, from any device. Needs the CheatSpecter payload on the console.
• Save to this device…: downloads the same file, with your browser's save prompt.
• Export for GoldHEN / etaHEN: writes your simple patches as a community table in JSON, SHN or MC4. Only patches at a fixed place in the game's main program with known original bytes fit those formats; the message says how many were left out.

The file format is described in The cspector Format.

Organizing

• Groups: from a cheat's menu choose Put in a group…. A group folds away and has one switch for all its cheats.
• Hotkeys: set one in the cheat's editor, such as Ctrl+Shift+1. They work while the page is open and in front, on the device showing it. They do not work from the controller.
• Choices: a Value cheat can show a named list to pick from instead of one number.

Keeping a cheat on without the browser

Tick Keep on, even with this page closed in a cheat's editor and save to the PS5. The console then applies the cheat by itself every time that game starts.

• Works for patches and held values that are located by pattern, module offset or pointer path.
• Does not work for raw addresses, code cheats, function calls or scripts; the editor says why.
• The console checks the game's bytes before every patch, exactly as the page does, and leaves a cheat alone if it does not fit this version.
• Each kept cheat shows its state: on, waiting, does not fit, or refused, with the reason.

This feature is new in 0.4.0 and has been tested on a computer build of the payload against the simulated console, not yet on a real PS5.

After a game update

A patch is saved with a pattern of the code around it and a copy of that code. Save → Re-find my cheats after a game update… searches the updated game for each one and shows what it found before changing anything.

When something goes wrong

• Restore everything, at the top of the Cheats tab whenever anything is on or was changed, undoes every cheat and every value you typed in by hand.
• If the game closes or crashes, the app says so and lists what was on at the time.

See also Troubleshooting and Safety.