Cheats

Cheats

The Built-in Emulator supports both catalog cheats fetched from a shared database and custom cheats you discover yourself via memory scanning. Cheats live per-game and per-variant (region/version).

Supported platforms

Cheats work on platforms with a fixed memory layout -- NES, SNES, Game Boy / Color / Advance, Genesis / Master System, PC Engine, Atari, Neo Geo Pocket, WonderSwan, Virtual Boy, Lynx, N64, PS1.

They are not available on platforms that use dynamic memory allocation: GameCube, Wii, PS2, PSP, PS Vita, Dreamcast, Saturn, NDS, DSi, 3DS, 3DO, Jaguar, Jaguar CD. On these systems the Cheats entry in the in-game menu is hidden.

Fetching cheats

The first time you launch a supported game while online (and with the cheat database configured), Argosy fetches cheats from the server for that game. After that, cheats are cached locally and work offline. Cheats are fetched once per game; a resync happens if you clear the game's data.

Variants

Many games exist in multiple versions (USA vs. Japan, rev 1 vs. rev 2). Cheats are scoped to a variant. If the database has cheats for more than one variant of a game, you select which variant matches your ROM from the cheats screen. Switching variant swaps the available cheat list.

Enabling cheats

Open the in-game menu, then Cheats. Toggle individual cheats on or off. Enabled cheats apply immediately.

Custom cheats (memory scanner)

The cheats screen has a Memory Scanner entry that opens a search tool:

• Pick a scan value type (8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit; signed / unsigned).
• Seed a first scan with the current value of what you want to track (e.g. your current coin count).
• Narrow results after every in-game change -- scan for "greater than previous," "less than previous," "equal to N," etc.
• When you have one or a few candidate addresses, lock a value and save it as a named cheat for the game.

Custom cheats live alongside catalog cheats and can be toggled from the same screen.

Restrictions

• RetroAchievements hardcore mode -- cheats are blocked. Enabled cheats are silently not applied, and toggling a cheat on marks the session as tainted so you know an unlock from that point on is invalid.
• Netplay -- entering a netplay session automatically disables all cheats to keep host and guest states in sync.