Do you guys use SM mode?

[Antmf (OP)]

Or is it considered cheating to a certain extent? I am a noob and been watching youtube video's and some did use others did not? What is recommended for a noob? Thanks.   .   .

[Erik L]

I use it all of the time since I mess with mineral amounts, research items and such all of the time. So it's easier to just have it on than try to remember to turn it on or off.

[Nathan_]

It is an admin tool that can be used for cheating, not an explicit cheat in and of itself. Ultimately it is up to you to decide what to do with it, I'd say that as long as you aren't giving yourself techs(barring the free starting techs for a TN start), free production, or doing ship refits on the fly constantly then you are ok.

[Five]

It is in all how you use it. Depending on how I RP it I usually use it when starting a game to set things up the way i want. Stuff like adding a ruin on Mars or something to make it a RP element. I have also had games were i didn't want to research designs so after i got a new tech i could design the parts and do the instant research on that part, i have read that alot of people do this. It is almost always on for me though as after i set up my game i typically just leave it on.

-Five

[Ted B Schuler II]

When I play a Conventional start I often SM in more minerals.  This is especially true if I have more than 1 player Race on Sol as a homeworld just does not have the minerals to support many conventional empires at once.

[MarcAFK]

I use it constantly for research, particularly when designing drone fleets to test my ordnance in, (wolf 359 may have no planets, but my war games have filled it with wreckage, thankfully it's a dead end or I might have yo worry about 'salvagers' especially those ones with lots of legs, fine body hair, and like to be dressed in gold before having their photo taken(points to anyone who has the foggiest idea wtf I'm talking about)).

[joeclark77]

It's also nice for trying out things like missile engines, to find out if they should be 0.01 MSP bigger or smaller.  Give them names that end in "prototype", then once you find the winning mix you can delete them and re-research them normally.

[Theodidactus]

legs, fine body hair, and like to be dressed in gold before having their photo taken(points to anyone who has the foggiest idea wtf I'm talking about)).

I have never understood what you were talking about at any point. Sorry 

[MarcAFK]

The race picture for a certain type of spoiler always seemed to be a flea in older be versions.

[Theodidactus]

ohhhhhhhhh...

[Starmantle]

My first few games, I used the SM functions liberally.  It's a crutch.

Now, I still use it to set the stage at the start of the game (too much at times) and to get me out of trouble when there's a legitimate bug.

I am a little challenged by the fact I could basically "cheat" at any moment if I wanted to. 

I counteract that by writing a story as I go.  Keeping track of everything and slowing down the game's progression to really optimize strategy and opportunity for story and internal strife. 

In that context, I somehow find it much easier to resist retreating to SM mode.  And experience helps too. 

[Theodidactus]

Aurora is mostly about making a cool story. SM mode is always permissible if it makes the story work. For example, if you didn't realize that your ship only has 3 days of fuel, and you send it on a great mission to intercept the alien menace, I think it's permissible to work around that.

[Xeluc]

I use SM for when I make a stupid mistake in ship design. My view is to only use SM when you do something that you shortly later feel is stupid. Building a cargo vessel without a cargo handler for example; Or a deep space explorer that I forgot to put a jump engine on. It's important to me that I don't use sm to actually change the course of things though. It's like a second chance.

[Paul M]

To refit a PDC it is a requirement unfortunately.  I've also used it to get around an odd buggy situation or another mostly I leave it off.

The game's randomness also means you may need to use it for minerals...and for conventional starts it is pretty much a requirement.  It would be a good idea to have the game do that automatically (double or triple the amount found on the home world) when it comes down to it.

[Alfapiomega]

and for conventional starts it is pretty much a requirement.  It would be a good idea to have the game do that automatically (double or triple the amount found on the home world) when it comes down to it.

No, it's not.