The game has been updated to version 0.235. [u]NOTES[/u] With any update, there is a rare chance of files getting corrupted. This can cause a black/white empty screen when starting the game. If you experience this problem, you can visit this forum post for instructions on how to fix it: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1184770/discussions/2/3085508296772338528/ If you experience any other problems, you can post a new discussion in the bug reports forum, by navigating to the community hub, clicking the Discussions tab, and clicking the Bug Reports link on the right side of the screen. If you want to continue playing a previous version of the game, you can right click on the game in your Steam library, click properties, then click betas and select the version you want to play. (The most recent version was version 0.228). [u]ADDITIONS[/u] -Summary of main additions: politician endorsements during presidential primaries, option to select politicians/protégés as cabinet members, option to gain endorsements by promising a cabinet position to any politician who agrees to endorse you (during presidential primaries), death/retirement of politicians, option for governors (including the player) to fill any vacancies due to death/retirement, option to run as an independent after losing a party primary (does not apply to presidential elections). -Added simple inauguration events – text based events. -Pressing F11 now toggles full screen mode. -It is now possible to select current politicians and protégés for cabinet positions. -Adjusted the process for selecting cabinet members so that it now begins immediately after winning an election. They can be selected any time between week 46 and week 52. -If a cabinet member is not reappointed after an election, there is a chance that they will run for political office in a future election. -If the player, as a member of the executive branch, does not run for reelection, or loses their reelection, they will be prompted about whether they want their cabinet members to become protégés at the end of their term. If they say yes, all cabinet members will become protégés. If they say no, some cabinet members may choose to run for political office. -Added career histories for cabinet members, so they are no longer completely generic applicants. Their career history influences their experience level. -It is now possible for politicians to die (or retire) while in office (in the middle of a term). If this happens, the governor of their state will select a replacement. It is possible that the governor will select the player as the replacement. -If the player is a governor (or their protégé is a governor), the player will have the opportunity to fill any vacancies that occur in their state. -The death rate for politicians can be changed in the advanced options menu –> politicians tab. It is also possible to turn off politician deaths. -If the president-elect or vice-president-elect are a senator or representative at the time they win their election, the governor of their state will select a replacement to fill the vacant seat. -When a vacancy is filled, it will trigger a special election, which will either happen at the beginning or end of the year. There is no campaign process. There will be a primary and three weeks later there will be a general election. The winner immediately fills the seat. -Politician endorsements during presidential primaries can influence the outcome of the primaries. If a politician from a state endorses a candidate, that candidate will receive more votes during that state's primary. -If the player is running for president, the player can enter negotiates with politicians in an attempt to win their endorsement. The player can promise a cabinet position in exchange for the endorsement. Various conditions determine whether a politician is willing to negotiate. If the player is unlikely to win, or is too dissimiliar from the politician, the politician will be unwilling to endorse the player under any conditions, and thus will not appear in the player's list of endorsement opportunities. The player can see endorsement opportunities by going to the Campaign -> Endorse -> Endorsers tab. -The player is more likely to be endorsed during presidential primaries if the player has set election difficulty to easy or very easy. -Added advanced options to set whether NPC endorsements are allowed, and to adjust various endorsement mechanics, such as frequency and impact of endorsements. These can be found in the advanced options, under the elections -> general tab. -When presidential candidates withdraw from the campaign, there is a chance that they will endorse one of the remaining candidates, which may increase the number of votes that candidate receives in upcoming primaries. If the withdrawn candidate does not have any delegates, they will only increase voter support in their home state. If they did have delegates, they will increase voter support for the endorsed candidate in all states, relative to the number of delegates they earned. -Added “View Politician Details” button to the presidential general election page. It is part of the table that shows electoral votes by state. -Added one beard type. -If you retire and play as one of your character’s children, your new character’s spouse (if they have one) will become a protégé. -Presidents continue to exist after leaving office, but currently do not have any impact on the game. -If you run for president, all of your proteges will automatically endorse you (if they are a governor or a member of congress (house and senate)). -If you endorse a presidential candidate (during the primaries), your proteges will automatically endorse the same candidate, increasing your relationship with the candidate. -If the player withdraws from a presidential primary, the player will be prompted about endorsing one of the remaining candidates. -Added an option for the player to run as an independent if they lose their party’s primary. This only occurs if the option to allow third parties is set to true. (This does not apply for presidential elections). -Updated saving/loading advanced option presets so that they now save/load some additional variables: allow-third parties, dynamic policy rates, maximum and minimum policy ranges, conversion impact ratios, persistent politician rates, politician death rates, and minimum retirement age. If you want any of your current/old presets to include these variables, you will want to load the preset, adjust these variables, and then save the preset again (maybe with a new save-name, in case something goes wrong). [u]FIXES[/u] -Fixed an issue where pop-up messages would have the same message if multiple pop-ups occurred at the same time. -May have fixed an issue where duplicate/clone candidates could appear in elections. -Fixed an issue where Alaska would not update correctly when loading advanced option presets. -Fixed an issue where governor elections could have unrealistic results. -May have fixed an issue where the portraits of custom presidential candidates would not appear. -Likely fixed an issue where the player would start the presidential primary campaign with delegates, if they had run in a previous presidential election campaign. -Fixed an issue where some candidates would have duplicate traits. -Fixed an issue where proteges used as primary challenger threats during conditional endorsements (against senate candidates in a different state) could become the senator of the protégé’s home state, rather than senator of the candidate’s state. This would create a condition where one state would have three senators while the other had one. -Fixed an issue where going from the presidential election tab to the senate election tab could cause the senate election menu to be blank (under certain circumstances). -Fixed an issue where newer policy positions were not included in the main “Effect on Public Opinion” section of the Campaign tab Overview Menu. -Fixed an issue where the effect of marketing for Single Payer Health Care did not appear in the “Effect on Public Opinion” sub-section for health policies. -Fixed an issue where city drug use was based on the national poverty rate instead of being based on the city poverty rate. -Likely fixed an issue where the below poverty rate for non-player states would not update relative to the national poverty rate. This could create a situation where the national poverty rate was 0%, but all of the states still had a poverty rate of around 12%. This could have caused issues when adjusting the advanced options, and it may have had other impacts on various metrics. If you notice anything abnormal about the poverty metrics after this update, please report it in the bug reports forum. -Fixed an issue where poll result timelines would display incorrectly if two candidates had the same last name. -Likely fixed an issue where independent polls would not take into account name recognition (for presidential primaries that involved the player). This could create results where the player did better in the poll than they did in the actual election results (if their name recognition in the state was less than 100%). There may be sudden jumps in a support for a candidate in certain polls – this generally occurs if one candidate starts campaigning in a state before the other candidates. -May have fixed an issue where the districts tab would show that a candidate was not running for reelection, even if they were running for reelection. -Fixed an issue where independent polls could be inaccurate for governor elections in the player’s home state – if the player customized the candidates after the election campaign had already begun. [u]ADJUSTMENTS[/u] -It is now possible for republicans to be identified as fiscally liberal (rare). -Adjusted the calculations that determine how republicans are identified in terms of social ideology. It is now possible for them to be identified as socially liberal (rare). The adjustments do not change the policies that candidates support, they just change how republicans are categorized based on social ideology. -Adjusted the face algorithms so that NPC faces are more likely to look “realistic”. -Adjusted mouth calculations so it is less likely that a candidate’s mouth and nose will overlap. -Adjusted facial hair calculations so it is less likely that a candidate’s facial hair and mouth will overlap. -Update calculations for staff facial features so that they look more “realistic”. -Adjusted presidential withdrawals. Previously, no one would withdraw on week 9. Now, there is a chance that some candidates could withdraw. This may make elections more interesting in that, if a candidate withdraws on week 9, and they have delegates, they could give a significant advantage to whomever they endorse going into Super Tuesday. -Adjusted how NPCs select running mates during presidential elections. Policy agreement now plays a bigger role in the selection process. -Fundraising from volunteers now uses the player’s new approval rating (the more realistic one) rather than the previous approval rating. -Changed Louisiana so that it now has non-partisan primaries, as this more realistically represents its election system. -Changed democratic primaries in Hawaii so that they are now open primaries. (Republican primaries were already open primaries). -There are no longer pop-ups after winning the presidential nomination for your party. Instead, there will be messages and events listed in the Office Schedule. These messages will still give away the fact that you won the nomination (before you have a chance to watch the primary results), but if you are in the campaign menu when you click the next turn, you should have a chance to watch the primary results from there before seeing the winner. -Removed news related to appropriation bills from the national news menu – it created clutter and is not particularly news worthy. News about appropriation bills can still be found in the Office -> Legislation -> News section. -Adjusted various text inputs so that they no longer use auto-fill. -Adjusted the amendment process so that if the vote is tied, the amendment does not become part of the legislation. -Made a slight adjustment to the presidential primary withdrawal process so that withdrawal is no longer based solely on delegate count. It now also takes into account approval rating and endorsements. This fixes an issue where a candidate with 0 delegates and many endorsements would withdraw before a candidate with 0 delegates and no endorsements. -Adjusted the presidential primary withdrawal system: it is now possible for more than one candidate to withdraw per week; there is more variability in the max number of candidates who will remain in the race at specific week numbers (for example, previously there was a limit of 5 candidates in the race after week 6, now it can range from between 3 and 7 candidates). -Updated independent polls so they take into account the election difficulty when calculating results for presidential primaries.