Update 0.260723: New Blackmail System — Developer Diary
Hi everyone! Thank you for your patience while waiting for the update! We’ve decided to release one more smaller update before the major politics update we’re currently working on. The changes to the political system forced us to rethink many of the connections and interactions b
Hi everyone!
Thank you for your patience while waiting for the update!
We’ve decided to release one more smaller update before the major politics update we’re currently working on.
The changes to the political system forced us to rethink many of the connections and interactions between characters. Since blackmail is an inseparable part of politics, we decided to expand this side of the game as well.
1. Blackmail System Rework
Loyal Characters and Puppets
Previously, loyal characters and characters controlled through blackmail were treated as essentially the same thing. Starting with this update, they are now two separate character states:
Loyal characters have the maximum loyalty level of 5 out of 5.
Puppets are characters you have forced into submission using dirt on them.
Loyal characters will continue to work the same way they did before. They can support your laws, vote in your favor, lend you money, and carry out actions that less loyal characters would normally refuse.
Puppets can be just as useful as loyal allies, but there is one major difference.
A loyal character helps you willingly. A puppet obeys you out of fear.
After a successful blackmail attempt, the character’s loyalty toward you will drop to zero. They may follow your orders, but they certainly won’t be happy about it.
Dirt Strength
Every piece of dirt you uncover now has a strength level from 1 to 5.
This strength affects two things:
the chance that the blackmail attempt will succeed;
how long the character will remain under your control.
The stronger the dirt, the better your chances of forcing the character to do what you want, and the longer they will remain your puppet.
However, you won’t be able to uncover dirt on the same character forever. Each time you find something on them, the chance of finding more will decrease.
Reputation Matters
Even strong dirt does not guarantee success.
The target’s reputation now plays an important role. A character with an excellent reputation has much more to lose, which makes the threat of exposure far more dangerous to them.
A character with an already ruined reputation may barely care. Someone with nothing left to lose is much harder to control.
This is something you’ll need to consider before choosing your next puppet.
Fear Doesn’t Last Forever
Every favor performed by a puppet reduces the remaining strength of the dirt being used against them.
Over time, the character becomes less afraid of your threats and your control begins to weaken. Once the dirt’s strength reaches zero, the puppet will stop obeying you and become an open enemy.
Their inner circle will also learn about your manipulation, causing connected characters to lose loyalty toward you.
This means puppets cannot be used carelessly. Sometimes one final favor may not be worth the consequences that follow.
Releasing a Puppet
You can stop the blackmail at any time and release a puppet from your control.
Don’t expect their loyalty to immediately return to its previous level. Still, ending the blackmail voluntarily may help you avoid open hostility and more serious consequences.
Loyalty or Fear?
The new system creates several ways to use puppets effectively. We’ll leave those for you to discover.
But ordinary loyalty should not be underestimated.
A good friend can do almost as much for you as a frightened puppet, without the risk of betrayal, open hostility, or losing the loyalty of everyone around them.
The choice is now yours: spend time building a genuine relationship, or gain control quickly and deal with the consequences later.
2. What Else Is Included in This Update?
This update also includes a wide range of performance improvements and bug fixes.
🆕 New Features and Improvements
Updated state unemployment modifiers: “Employed Population” and “Population” now replace “Birth Rate/Death Rate”
Added lock and timer icons to negotiations while they are on cooldown
New fireplace flame animation
Blackmail system: blackmail strength, puppet system refactoring, and redesigned cards
Added filters to the politicians table (feedback-716)
Map tooltips now show the visit date, office, and filtering results
Characters matching active filters are now displayed on the map
All values are now displayed in the state satisfaction breakdown
Office sale value is now shown in the player’s assets
Reduced animation stuttering on the intro screen
🐞 Gameplay and UI Fixes
Fixed interface scaling issues after sleep mode or disconnecting monitors with different scaling settings
Fixed cursor size when using multiple monitors
Fixed filter regressions
Fixed available states in the character table (bugreport-817)
Fixed the Statistics and Finances tabs when switching to a company (bugreport-818/810)
Fixed the financing button when buying or selling an office
Fixed the number of player-owned companies after loading a save
Fixed loyalty values in the “Offer to Sell Shares” event
Fixed the bankruptcy warning condition
Fixed the amount of fame awarded
Fixed the state shown for participants in personal elections to the U.S. Congress
Fixed the number of votes required to pass a law (bugreport-793)
Fixed missing ellipsis in newspaper headlines (bugreport-785)
Security expenses are now included under “Other Expenses” in character assets
Restored career progression for politicians
Fixed tutorial text in achievements (bugreport-815)
💰 Economy and Finance
Fixed luxury item maintenance costs when using the Finance skill (bugreport-770)
Fixed loan repayments by characters (bugreport-783)
Fixed payments when switching between loans
Corporate client income is now displayed in bank finances
Fixed goodwill changes when publishing a media article (bugreport-774)
💥 Crashes and Stability
Fixed a crash caused by long recording sessions followed by another autosave (CrashGroup #57)
Fixed a crash on startup (Crashreport #7631)
Fixed a crash when loading saves created after January 1, 2000, involving state ID 65537
Fixed a crash when a deleted character was also selected as a candidate
Reduced delays when deleting companies and characters
💾 Saves and Database
Fixed autosave errors and added a warning when there is not enough storage space
⚡ Optimization
Improved the performance of holding supply calculations without changing their behavior
Now companies and characters can be added to favorites. This will make it possible to quickly return to them without having to search for them by state.
The favorites menu appears when you hover over a new shortcut on the left side of the screen.
You can interact with characters and companies using the menu, as in other windows.
You can also quickly go to the information about the character or to the company window by clicking on the desired line.
Now you will not lose the very shareholder who was recently ready to sell a huge stake in a promising company for a song, but you did not have enough funds.
Buttons have been added to the company window that allow you to switch between all your companies. A list of all your companies has also been added to quickly navigate to the one you need.
This list, as well as the structure of companies, will simplify navigation through your financial empire.
A new button on the main panel leads to a new window that allows you to view all the connections of the companies that you own.
Here you can also visually see the financial flows between your companies and quickly switch to one of them if desired.
This interface is just the basis for vertical holdings, which will be released later this year, and so far it no longer has any functionality.
The form will allow you to report an error at any time without leaving the game and attach a screenshot of the current screen and/or save the game to it, according to your choice. Or just send a suggestion to improve the game, why not?
Please note that submitting the form requires an Internet connection, and the time to send the save strongly depends on the speed of your connection and consumes some traffic.
At the moment, I can only share what has been precisely decided to be implemented - a system for nominating candidates from parties, a mechanism for pre-election candidates, as well as a modern voting system based on indirect elections of the President of the United States through the electoral college will be introduced.
In addition to the elections themselves, the system of removing the president before the end of his term - impeachment - will also be worked out.
The question still remains for us, what should we as players receive as a bonus for winning the presidential race? Just the ability to veto the laws of the US Congress? Or something else? Share your ideas and suggestions on our Discord channel 
Contractor offers will be constantly updated - and you will be able to regularly find the best opportunities to expand your companies. Or, as before, transfer everything to the CEO, and deal with other issues.
Having your own bank, as before, will open up opportunities for you to finance your own companies at meager rates without seeking the approval of third-party banks. But, importantly, now you can finance your companies even outside of your bank's state. 