What does the cheat code motherlode do, according to the edition?

Typed in the console, it instantly gives 50.000 simoleons, the game currency, in the edition's account.

Product

The Sims

What is The Sims in the Agency editorial?

The Sims is the life simulator game in which the player creates a Sim, a virtual person, and goes through the many challenges of life. In Issue.17, the author uses it to think about determination: the cheat code motherlode skips the hard part and, in the long term, ruins the experience of the game.

In short

In section 17.3 of Issue.17, the author says he always correlated the question of what makes the best and most inspiring athletes with the life simulator game The Sims. The edition describes the player's role: to create a Sim and go through the challenges of life virtually, study, work, build and decorate a house, get promoted, go for a swim. The author adds that The Sims has one of the most brilliant UX Writing in gaming. The catch, the edition says, is that players can open the console, type the cheat code motherlode and instantly get 50.000 simoleons, the game currency. Skipping the hard part feels rewarding at first but makes the game boring faster, because it skips the learning process.

Key facts

Why does Issue.17 talk about The Sims?: Because the author always correlated the question of what makes the best and most inspiring athletes with this life simulator game.
What does the cheat code motherlode do, according to the edition?: Typed in the console, it instantly gives 50.000 simoleons, the game currency, in the edition's account.
What does the author say about the game's writing?: That The Sims has one of the most brilliant UX Writing in gaming.

How does Issue.17 describe The Sims?

The edition calls The Sims a life simulator game. As the player, your role is to create a Sim, a virtual person, and go through the many different challenges of life virtually: study, work, build and decorate a house, improve your home appliances, get promoted in your job, go for a swim. In the same passage the author says the game has one of the most brilliant UX Writing in gaming.

What lesson does the edition take from the game?

Because it is a game, the edition says, it is very easy to open the console and type the cheat code motherlode to get simoleons instantly and go right to the buy mode. That feels rewarding at first, but in the long term it ruins the experience, which will probably get boring faster. The example, the author writes, is not about losing or winning but about skipping the learning process, which can carry unmeasurable debts for a journey.

Source editions

Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.

Also from these editions: concepts

Also from these editions: terms

Related terms

Consolenoun: A text-based command interface inside computer software where system operators and players enter manual code commands. In video games, opening the console allows users to modify internal variables and enter cheats.
Motherlodenoun: A principal geological vein of rich gold or silver ore, or metaphorically a massive source of sudden wealth and luck. In gaming culture, it famously represents the cheat command that awards instant money.
Simnoun: A virtual human character or simulated autonomous agent controlled by a player inside a life simulation game. A Sim possesses unique personality traits, biological needs, aspirations, and interpersonal relationships.
Simoleonnoun: An informal American slang term for a dollar, famously adopted as the fictional currency denomination within The Sims video game franchise. In simulation games, it is earned through jobs and spent on assets.