Hello everyone!
We planned to release a major update before the end of December, which was supposed to include the political system and several other features, so, we thought it's right to focus all our efforts on this and not release minor updates.
However, the last 2 months have been difficult for our already small team — the coronavirus has not spared us and even completely paralyzed the work process at one time. Unfortunately, no one is immune to this. But rest assured — work is in full swing at the moment, and we don’t intend to stop!
Many features from the future update are already being actively tested, so, it's time to tell you more about the progress made. In the next update, the game will include:
1. Lawmaking
The entire political system in the game will be represented by 2 levels:
- - local, state-level, represented by the legislatures.
- - federal, represented by the US Congress with 2 chambers — the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Each law is supported by a certain party. For more realism, in addition to Democrats and Republicans, we also added a third faction — non-partisans.
Laws are adopted at all levels of government, respectively, you can influence all of them, having the required amount of “influence.”
There are several ways to influence the law:
- Directly lobbying specific politicians through negotiations, providing them with “financial assistance”;
- Use a new agent — Lobbyist;
- Through puppets — politicians on whom you have compromising evidence. They will vote the way you want;
- Through assistants who will first need to be hired, and then - to run for any post. If the assistant wins the election, he will receive a seat in parliament and will vote in a way that is beneficial to his boss.
All methods have their pros and cons... But, of course, we will not reveal all the cards!
Also, the governor's “veto” power is provided, which he can impose on the law, therefore it is no less important to establish good contacts with him than with individual congressmen.
2. Elections
It took us a lot of time to implement the parliamentary elections' procedure.
During the election campaign, you can give your assistant an additional advantage by “pumping” him with money. Or you can try to honestly win the election against your opponent through debate.
Success in a debate is influenced by many factors, ranging from the ability to the characteristics of each candidate. So, for example, if a candidate is religious, then it’s quite logical that it will be easier for him to attract the voices of religious than atheists.
The population groups to which the candidate belongs from his basic electorate.
Therefore, you need to be extremely careful in choosing not only your assistant, that will run for parliament but also his opponent, against whom he will need to be nominated.
Also, each candidate during the debate will be able to influence the sympathies of various social groups. You will learn more about this already in the game. Let's just say that we are trying to make sure that every candidate has a chance to win, even with a small base electorate.
3. Research
What else can assistants do?
Over the past 2 months, we have implemented a system for exploring the game world.
It seemed to us more logical than the player's complete knowledge of all companies and characters, “at the start.”
Indeed, in reality, if you come to some location, you will have to spend time to make inquiries and learn more about the companies that you plan to buy out. Not to mention the characters with whom you have to interact.
For this purpose, assistants were introduced (in addition to the possibility of their nomination to political posts). Moreover, you must have different assistants who will, “scan” the state.
Research requires spending influence, and the amount of influence required grows with each new research. Therefore, this strategic resource has become even more important in the game. It is now possible to increase influence also by nominating your assistants to political posts, who will pass it on to you in proportion to their loyalty.
4. Favors
Finally, we implemented the favors mechanic.
When you help fulfill someone's ambition, you can choose not only an agent but also a favor.
In this case, the one whom you helped becomes obligated to you. In the future, such a character will respond to your request, for example, if it is necessary to lobby for the law, or when voting at a meeting of shareholders.
It’s a diplomatic ploy that provides a greater variety of strategic options.
5. Rebalancing and adding all states!
In the upcoming update, ALL states will now be available, which will significantly expand the game world.
In parallel, we are constantly improving the balance. Of course, not without your help.
Therefore, we express our gratitude for your activity on our Discord and Steam. Our team is trying to view all your messages as often as possible and reply to them.
We very much hope that we will be able to cope with this huge volume of work as soon as possible. We continue to develop for your sake, seeing your support on social media, Discord, and Steam.
Thank you for your support. It’s inspiring! See you at the next news!