Using cheats for non-cheating reasons

[Debaser]

I realize that a lot of people are wary of using cheats considering how it unbalances the game. I have thought of a few instances, though, where the CLUA console can be used for reasons of convenience and logic, and not for cheating.

For example, when I have a whole load of unidentified magical items, I will rest once and then conjure up the amount of identify scrolls i need to identify every single one. The idea is that if i have at least one mage in my party who has the spell Identify (not memorized, just has it in his/her spellbook), then throughout an 8 hour rest period the mage would have logically memorized the spell a few times and identified all the unknown items. It's easier to do it this way than to rest over and over again for the sake of memorizing multiple Identify spells.

Also, if i accidentally lose/misplace an item that i attained and that is vitally important to the game (say the book to re-enter Candlekeep for example) I have no qualms about CLUA'ing it up and just using that. After all, i ALREADY got it and it was just accidental that it got dropped or misplaced.

I don't consider either of these cheating, really. Any other ideas people have along the same line?

[SixOfSpades]

That's a little bit more cheaty than I play, but only a little. I would re-create an item if it vanished as a result of a bug, but not my own carelessness--unless, as you say, it's an absolutely vital item.

Sometimes at the start of the game, I'll give my Mage a stack of Clairvoyance scrolls--because when I clear a map, I don't like to have little bits of black Unexplored area left, and there are a few maps where you can't explore those, like the middle of the Friendly Arm map. So, right before I leave the map, I'll just pop a Clairvoyance to get rid of the black bits.

I also like to play with the animation avatars a bit--if I'm playing a female Fighter/Mage or Thief/Mage with a high Charisma, why not use the Sirene sprite-set?

[Wilbur]

YES, the little black parts drive me nuts! That's one of the best things about BG2. i never thought of that solution though, i spent a lot of time walking around sometimes, thanks.

[Debaser]

Yeah, the black parts on the maps is another thing that i forgot to mention. my MO in regards to that is not to conjure up clairvoyance scrolls (which is perfectly plausible, never thought of that) but i just use the ExploreArea(); code on the CLUA console. same thing, really.......i wouldn't consider that cheating either.

and changing the sprite/paper doll is DEFINITELY not cheating! sh*t, i think Bioware should have added a whole lot more customization options to BGI & II in regards to character appearance in the first place.