Testing cheats

Testing cheats, also known as boolProp testingCheatsEnabled, testingCheatsEnabled, or testingCheats, is a debugging cheat available in several games in The Sims series, beginning with The Sims 2. This cheat allows the player to interact with objects and Sims in a manner that is not usually permitted under normal gameplay conditions. The cheat is generally among the most useful and powerful cheats in the game, but can cause game corruption or errors if misused. Testing cheats can be activated by opening up the cheat console (with ) and typing  ,  , or  . Turning them off is as simple as typing the name of the cheat again, followed by the word false instead of true.

This cheat is often erroneously called "boolProp", which means "Boolean property" or "true/false". In The Sims 2, there are several cheats that start with "boolProp".

The Sims 2
Once the cheat has been enabled, clicking on any Sim or object while holding down the key will cause a menu with debugging options to pop up. These can range from making certain Sims selectable and unselectable, making Sims grow up instantly (or killing them by Old Age, if the option is used on an Elder), changing a Sim's aspiration or spawning several cheat objects. Players can instantly fulfill any wants and fears a Sim currently has by Ctrl+clicking on the want/fear icon. All objects have the option Force Error, which can be used to reset objects (clearing any interactions queued on them) or delete them (although not permanently in the case of Sims and Pets); this can be used to correct some issues, such as stuck objects and Sims.

Players can also use testingcheatsenabled to control Sims that are not part of the household with the Make Selectable option, or they can temporarily remove household members with the Make Unselectable option. This option allows the player to control newborn babies, who are not normally controllable. Several NPCs, such as the Grim Reaper or the Therapist, lack this option and therefore cannot be controlled by the player.

If the player is in Create a Sim mode while the cheat is active, they can press SHIFT+N to enter CAS debugging mode, which allows the player to give Sims clothing and hairstyles that would normally be unavailable (such as NPC and job-exclusive clothes). Pressing SHIFT+M will disable CAS debugging mode.

If the cheat is enabled before a player loads a lot, they will be able to simply drag up and down motives, relationships, skills, hobbies, and personality points using the mouse. The game's version number will also be displayed on the top-right corner of the screen.

The Sims 3
The cheat is significantly less powerful than in The Sims 2, although it still has a number of useful options. Shift+clicking on objects no longer provides an option to force an error on them, although there is an option to delete the selected object. Shift+clicking on Sims does not provide an option to make them selectable, although it can be used to send Sims back to Create a Sim to be modified. Players can also drag motives up and down using the mouse, although the cheat does not need to be enabled before a household is loaded for this to work. Some cheats in The Sims 3 require testingcheatsenabled true before they can be activated, such as,  , and   cheats. Buydebug is used to buy most objects that are not normally obtainable in the buy mode, such as collectible spawners, reward objects, or crafted objects.

Activating cheat in The Sims Medieval
Testingcheatsenabled cannot be used by default in The Sims Medieval. Instead, activating it requires the player to modify the command.ini file in *\The Sims Medieval\GameData\Shared\NonPackaged\Ini (the default location is in C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims Medieval\GameData\Shared\NonPackaged\Ini) and change TestingCheatsEnabled=0 to TestingCheatsEnabled=1.

Dangers of using the cheat
It is a common misconception that enabling the cheat for long periods of time or saving the game while it is active will cause game crashes and data corruption. However, it is not the cheat itself that causes corruption, but rather the player's mishandling of its power.

By default, game errors, with the exception of a few, are automatically handled by the game. If testingcheatsenabled is active, all errors experienced in the game will throw an object error dialog, where the player will be given the option to Cancel, Reset, or Delete the object. This may not harm the game if the correct option is chosen, but it can become annoying after a while.

Using "Force Error" on a Sim while they are doing an interaction which has visual effects will cause those effects to be stuck with the Sim. For example, the blue glow effects from drinking the Elixir of Life, the electrocution effect from a failed use of The Eclectic and Enigmatic Energizer, the fireworks from two Sims doing WooHoo in the bed, the love hearts from two Sims having their first kiss together, or the bat from a vampire flying will be stuck indefinitely, though the effects may be removed when the Sim interacts with the objects again. Another example is when forcing an error on a burning object will cause the fire effect to get stuck indefinitely. The fire is just an effect, hence it will not harm its surroundings, but players may find it annoying.

The biggest danger of the cheat comes from its various debugging tools, as misuse of the tools can damage the game. Game corruption will occur if the cheat is used to kill off or add certain NPCs (e.g. NPCs that are treated as objects by the game) to the household. Refer to Game guide:Which NPCs are safe to play as? for a list of potentially dangerous NPCs.