Cheats
If you're like me, there are some games I could just never win as a kid. This guide will finally allow you to win! (albeit with a much lesser sense of satisfaction)
Download Cheats
As a preface cheats only work through libretro/retroarch so take note of the emulators you are using.
You first need to open the RGUI. There are two ways of accessing the RGUI:
- In the RetroPie menu of EmulationStation select Retroarch or
- Hotkey combination Hotkey+X to open the RGUI from within a game
If you haven't done so already, you'll need to enable the advanced settings by navigating to Settings >> User Interface >> Show Advanced Settings, then enabling the Online Updater in Settings >> User Interface >> Menu Item Visibility by turning ON the Show 'Online Updater' option.
Next, navigate to Online Updater >> Update Cheats and this will download a set of preconfigured cheat files for many games into /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/cheats
Enable Cheats
Now you can launch the game you want to finally win:
Open the RGUI with Hotkey combination Hotkey+X
Choose Quick Menu >> Cheats >> Load Cheat File
Navigate to your game title and select it
Then navigate to the cheat you want to enable and press left or right to toggle it on/off
Select Apply Cheat Changes
Then press B to go out of the cheat menu and resume your game.
Your cheats should now be enabled
Create Cheat Files
You can create .cht files in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/cheats/<system>/<rom_name>.cht
The following is a reference chart for the types of cheat codes for each system:
| Console | Cheat type | Example code |
|---|---|---|
| Famicom / NES | Action Replay | 02A2:01 |
| Famicom / NES | Game Genie | APEETPEY |
| Game Boy | Game Genie | FA1-B9C-4C1 |
| Game Boy (Color) | GameShark | 0101CEC1 |
| Game Boy Advance | GameShark v3 | CD93194F 089CE0B4 |
| Game Boy Advance | GameShark v1/v2 | A62B1D67 EB2D |
| Game Gear | Action Replay | 00D3-C280 |
| Mega Drive / Genesis | Action Replay | FFFE21:0032 |
| Mega Drive / Genesis | Game Genie | NN8A-AADN |
| N64 | GameShark | 8033B177 0015 |
| NDS | Action Replay | 22085A50 00000001 |
| Sega Master System | Action Replay | 00C0-2502 |
| Super Famicom / SNES | Action Replay | 7E1490:FF |
| Super Famicom / SNES | Game Genie | 14B4-6F07 |
Cheat Code Example
Filename: Addams Family, The - Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt (USA, Europe) (Game Genie).cht
cheats = 3
cheat0_desc = "Infinite Health"
cheat0_code = "009-15C"
cheat0_enable = false
cheat1_desc = "Start With 9 Lives"
cheat1_code = "092-17F"
cheat1_enable = false
cheat2_desc = "Infinite Lives"
cheat2_code = "004-27F"
cheat2_enable = false
Multiline Cheat Codes
The following is an example for a PSX game
Filename: Resident Evil 2.cht
cheats = 2
cheat0_desc = "Infinite Ammo Claire (1/2)"
cheat0_code = "800D49F5+0063"
cheat0_enable = "true"
cheat1_desc = "Infinite Ammo Claire (2/2)"
cheat1_code = "800D4A01+0063"
cheat1_enable = "true"
Mame Cheats
Mame has its own configurations for cheats. You can see a guide HERE