10 — The Cheats build

Index · Maps · Tuning guide

The Cheats build is the edition of the game made for modders and mission designers. It plays exactly like the normal game and reads the same data, but adds key combinations for testing (instant research, instant production, free placement, switching sides), the map-making tools of 09 — Maps, and saving a game as a scenario. The main menu shows CHEATS after the version number.

Most cheats work in single player only.

1. Key combinations

Sides and research

Keys	Effect
Shift + 0 … 9	Play as the faction in slot 0 … 9 (the order of the Player blocks in the map). The faction you leave is taken over by the computer.
Shift + T	Instantly research every technology in the current faction's research queue (all research streams). Queue the technologies you want first, then press Shift + T.
Shift + click on the pause button (while only watching a game)	Take control of the first faction.

Units and production

Keys	Effect
Ctrl + click on a unit in the production panel	The unit is added already built: it appears at once among the units ready to deploy.
Ctrl held while deploying a unit	The unit can be placed anywhere — on any faction's territory, outside your own borders and on occupied ground.
Ctrl + T	Move the selected unit instantly to the point under the cursor. Its orders are cleared.

Territory

Keys	Effect
Ctrl + O	The region under the cursor passes to your faction.
Ctrl + P	Hold / release region ownership changes (while held, captured regions do not change owner).

Information

Keys	Effect
Shift (held)	Shows the map coordinates x, y under the cursor and copies them to the clipboard every two seconds — ready to paste into map, event or relocation files.
Shift + Alt (held)	The same, as a 3D point on the unit sphere (x, y, z), the form used by AffectedArea.
Shift + Ctrl (held) over a unit	Shows and copies the unit's UID (for event scripts).
Shift (held) while a technology's details are shown	Shows and copies the technology's ID.
Ctrl + 0 … 9, Alt + 0 … 8, Ctrl + −, Ctrl + +	Show the AI placement map for one point type, for checking a generated AI cache (09 §6). Ctrl + 0 … 9 = MissileSilo, CityDefence, Radar, OverHorizonRadar, Airbase, SubmarineAttack, SubmarineHide, CarrierAttack, MobileMissile, ObjectDefence; Alt + 0 … 8 (and Ctrl + −, Ctrl + +) continue with NavalBase, Orbit, Shore, CityControl, BorderDefence, MarinesLanding, AirborneTroopsLanding, TroopsTraining, Industry.
In the diplomacy screen	Details of every faction are shown, not only of allies.

Interface, saving and replays

Keys	Effect
Alt + T	Hide / show the whole interface (for screenshots and videos).
Shift held when confirming Save	Save as a scenario instead of a saved game (§2).
T while watching a replay	Let the replay run 1000 ticks further.
Ctrl + T while watching a replay	Stop the replay and continue the game from this moment, playing the first active faction.
R in the mask editor (EditSVG)	Detect the segment hierarchy and save (09 §3).

A multiplayer lobby can also be started with a single player, for testing multiplayer maps alone.

Automatic load: a file autoload.txt next to ICBM.CFG (the My Games folder) whose first line names a save (SAVE838, AUTO1, QUICK1, DATA, or a path to the save folder) makes the cheats build load that game straight from the main menu at startup. The file is deleted once read, so only that start is affected. An AI-only game watched as an observer then runs immediately instead of waiting for Shift + Space. (-LOAD <save> on the command line does the same, but Steam asks for a confirmation before passing arguments.)

2. Saving as a scenario

Holding Shift when confirming Save writes the game as a scenario: the same folder as a normal save (Documents/My Games/ICBM-Escalation/SAVES/SAVEn/), with world.txt and world.txt.remap.txt, but world.txt holds only what a new game needs:

• the map part (MAP …, masks, regions, Player blocks, cities, display settings) and every unit on the map, with the factions' technologies and stocks;
• no game clock, mod list, replay, AI plans, diplomacy history, pollution or score;
• regions keep their current owners (written to world.txt.remap.txt, read through Default AUTO_FROM_SAVE), but not the record of who occupied them;
• a commented-out ScenarioInfo template, and for every active faction an Events FromFile "Scenario/MY_SCENARIO_NAME/MISSION_N/Events/<faction>.txt" placeholder.

It is the starting point for both a mission map (see the Campaign & Scenario Structure reference) and a new map (09 §11).

3. Typical workflow: setting up a starting position

1. Start a single-player game on a standard map.
2. Research what each faction should have: queue the technologies and press Shift + T.
3. Build units with Ctrl + click in the production panel; deploy them (hold Ctrl to place them anywhere) and fine-tune positions with Ctrl + T.
4. Change borders with Ctrl + O if needed.
5. Switch to the next faction with Shift + 0 … 9 and repeat steps 2–4.
6. Save with Shift held (save as scenario).