The game has been update to Version 0.267 [u]MAIN FEATURES[/u] - Added more events. - Added a Custom Event Tool. - Created a 2023 start year. [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 0.253). CUSTOM EVENT CONTEST As a way to promote the Custom Event Tool, and help add more content to the game, I have created a friendly, just-for-fun Custom Event Contest. If you are interested in participating, scroll down to the bottom of this page to learn more. [u]ADDITIONS (Events)[/u] -Added community/seasonal events. This includes things like attending a parade or visiting an apple orchard, opportunities for the player to interact with the community throughout the year (during different seasons and holidays). These type of events exist to create atmosphere and world building. -Added campaign events, which help to create the experience of being part of a campaign. -Added a State of the Union event. -Added scandal and corruption events. Currently, these are limited to NPCs (Non-Playable Characters). Occasionally, NPCs will be involved in scandals, which could influence their careers or elections. The types and frequency of events can be adjusted in the advanced options (In the Nations tab, under the election and redistricting options). It is also possible to specify whether protégés and favorited politicians are eligible for scandal events. [u]ADDITIONS (2023 Start Year)[/u] -Added a 2023 start year (it is the default start year). This changes congressional district demographics to match current districts. It makes some adjustments to state laws (where applicable). It makes adjustments to state populations. State House and State Senate districts have not been changed. -In the 2023 start year, the game will attempt to create at least 50 democratic senators. And it will attempt to create a democratic president. It will also attempt to start with a congressional republican majority of 219 representatives. This is only applicable to the 2023 start year. This can be changed in the advanced options, see below. -Added advanced options that allow the player to specify party majorities for the house and senate at the start of the game. This includes setting how many members the majority party will have at the start of the game. The game will attempt to reach this number, but it is not guaranteed. It depends on party demographics whether it is possible for the desired number to be reached. These options can be adjusted in the Advanced Options > Politicians Tab. It is also possible to turn off this option (so that the game does not try to adjust party majorities at the start of the game). [u]ADDITIONS (Custom Event Tool)[/u] -Added a Custom Event Tool – it can be found by clicking the Tools button on the Main Menu. The tool allows you to create, import, and export custom events. You can use this tool to help customize your experience of the game, by adding all sorts of custom events. There is a Documentation button at the top of screen once you get into the Create Custom Event Menu; it helps explain how the tool works. At the bottom of the documentation, there are several tutorials. [u]ADDITIONS (General)[/u] -Added Hard and Very Hard election difficulties. -Added the presidential party color to the background of the congressional summary graphs, so it is easy to see which party held the presidency over the course of the congressional timeline. -Updated city/state legislature timeline graphs to display the party color of the mayor/governor in the background of the graph. -Added an option to select a new running mate if your current running mate is the vice-president. This option is only available after you have secured the presidential nomination – which usually happens on week 6 of the election year (if you are the president). If the option is available, there will be a “Replace” button that can be found next to the Vice-President’s profile picture or in the Elections tab (where the presidential nominees are listed). This option will also be available if your protégé is the presidential nominee and their vice president is their running mate. -Added histories for governors and senators of all states. That means that you can see a history of every governor and every senator who has served in any state. Previously it was limited to the player’s home state. To view these histories, go to the Politicians > Federal > U.S. Senate > Summary tab (or governor equivalent), click on a state, and then click the History button next to the Details button. For senate, it will say something like “View Class 1 History”. -In the endorse multiple menu, added an option to endorse incumbents (who belong to the player’s political party). -Added the possibility that NPC incumbents will run as an independent if they lose their party’s primary. There is an advanced option to specify how frequently this happens, although an incumbent will not run as an independent if both major parties are represented in the general election. -Added the possibility of presidents dying of old age in the middle of their term. The “Allow Politician Deaths” and the “Allow Death Events” options must both be true for this to have any effect. By default, they are set to true. The “Allow Politician Deaths” option can be found in the Politicians tab of Advanced Options. The “Allow Death Events” can be found in the Nation tab, under the title “Event Variables”. This event is rare: the president must be over 65 years old, it cannot be a presidential election year, and the likelihood of happening per year is 14/1,000. -Added an advanced option to change the political party of the starting president. This is contingent on party demographics. The game essentially increases the chances of one candidate winning over the other, but if the party demographics are too unfavorable, this option may have no effect. -Added events where politicians in competitive districts will sometimes ask you to make their districts more favorable during the redistricting process. The district will be considered “more favorable” if the politician’s party has an advantage of +4% relative to the opposition party. If you succeed, it will increase your relationship score with the politician. There are no negative effects for failing to improve the district (in some instances, it is not possible to improve certain districts). -Added event histories for characters. Characters now have an “Events” tab that will show all notable events in their careers. Currently, notable events are limited to scandals. [u]ADJUSTMENTS[/u] -Updated party demographics for OH, IA, TX, FL, MI, NC, NV, and VA. -Removed presidential endorsement news from the national news tab (it took up too much space and distracted from more significant news). Presidential endorsement news can still be found in the Elections -> President tab. -Changed the policy preset mechanism so that, if you select the socially conservative ideology preset, your character will oppose increasing the minimum wage and will oppose an assault weapons ban. Initially, the conservative preset supported both of these policies because a small majority of all republicans support them. But, conservative ideology and republican ideology are not identical. It is probably more appropriate for conservatives to oppose these policies. -Added term limits for North Dakota Governor, State House, and State Senate. This is based on the results of a recent ballot initiative that changed North Dakota’s constitution. [u]FIXES[/u] -Fixed an issue where there would be remaining voters during the redistricting process, even though there was nowhere to place the voters, preventing the player from leaving the redistricting menu. -Fixed an issue where independent poll summaries would stop showing data for candidates who had withdrawn from the election. -Fixed an issue where player schedule events would not display correctly. Specifically, portraits would not appear next to the text of the event. -Likely fixed an issue where independent polls for the presidential primary would incorrectly place the player data on the graph if the player joined the campaign after week 18. -Fixed an issue where city sales tax revenues would be incorrect (significantly lower) if certain other policies were true. -May have fixed an issue where politicians running for governor could be selected to run in a special election, creating a situation where the same candidate held two positions. -May have reduced the likelihood of duplicate candidates running in elections at the same time. -May have fixed and issue where the same candidate would run in multiple special elections (specifically senate elections), creating the possibility that the same candidate could hold multiple positions at the same time. -Likely fixed an issue with custom elections where the player could not select to run a current governor in a senate election if there were no house members in the state that shared the governor’s political party. -Fixed an issue where Alaska counties would display incorrectly during elections (after loading or if using an advanced option preset). -Likely fixed an issue where loading an advanced option preset would cause Arkansas to have 34 state senate districts instead of 35. This would cause the game to create 34 state senators in Arkansas. When loading a saved game, the game would load the correct 35 districts, but this mismatch between state senators and state senate districts could cause the game to freeze during elections. [u]Custom Event Contest [/u] (Deadline: March 1st 2024): if you are interested in learning more about the custom event contest, click this link (it will take you to a forum post that discusses the details of the contest): https://steamcommunity.com/app/1184770/discussions/1/4364620643959956688/