The Political Machine is released

from JoeUser Forums
Stardock Entertainment is pleased to announce the availability of The Political Machine (published by Ubisoft). The Political Machine is a strategy game in which players take on the role of campaign manager for a US Presidential candidate. In it players compete against either the computer or against other players via the Internet in a contest to win the White House.

Candidates must campaign, raise money, take out advertisements, win endorsements, and even go on cable TV news shows such as The O''Maley Scenario, Hard Hitter, Barry King, Barbara Sawyer, and 60 Seconds to answer tough questions on the issues of the day. The game map uses real demographic information to accurately portray the political landscape of the United States.

Candidates also must contend with and make use of political activists and operatives such as Spin-Doctors, Smear Merchants, Scandal Mongers, Media Consultants, and more on their journey to the White House.

"Our goal is to create a game that is both fun to play for gamers as well as realistic enough for political junkies to appreciate the underlying depth and detail in the game''s political model," said Brad Wardell, Designer of The Political Machine.

Players can either use pre-made political candidates or design their own candidates. Pre-made candidates include real world politicians such as Bill Clinton, George Bush, and even historical candidates such Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and more.

The game also includes a fantasy mode in which players can tweak the map settings, as well as a campaign mode where players must work their way up a ladder of political opponents who get more difficult with each victory. Run your candidate against Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Thomas Jefferson and even George Washington on your way to ultimate mastery of the game.

Each game ends with victory for one of the candidates in the US electoral college. The game can be played against a computer controlled candidate or against another person playing over the Internet.

Users can learn more about the game on the game''s home page https://www.politicalmachine.com which also contains more information and screenshots on the game.

The Political Machine is now available at most retail outlets or online as part of Stardock''s TotalGaming.net service.
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34,796 views 35 replies
Reply #1 from PolMach Forums Top
This isn't true at all!

It isn't available at ANY retail outlets (the earliest retail SHIPPING date appears to be the 11th)!

It isn't available on Totalgaming.net (they list the 15th as the date)!
Reply #2 from PolMach Forums Top
I can't speak for individual stores having it in stock, but it's most definitely on TotalGaming.net.

I'm still updating webpages, so there might be some items I've missed.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from PolMach Forums Top
Perhaps I'm totally confused then.

I've been going to totalgaming.net all day to try and purchase the game and the page says the release is the 15th. I see no way to buy it.
Reply #4 from PolMach Forums Top
There is no way to download/purchase the game at either stardock.com or totalgaming.net.

Is it possible that all the mentions that the game will be available as a stand-alone 19.99 purchase are wrong and the only way to download is to pay the 89 subscription fee? That would certainly not be a good thing.
Reply #5 from PolMach Forums Top
I preordered the game and paid the premium price of $29.99 and I still have not received an email yet stating that my copy shipped.
Reply #6 from PolMach Forums Top
I preordered from EB, but am willing to pay the premium price to play the game this week (if EB didn't ship today, they won't ship until next Tuesday), but you can't. Totalgaming.net has no feature allowing you to download this game.

Why are they making it so hard for me to give them my money? Doesn't seem like a good business practice.
Reply #7 from PolMach Forums Top
As for the Gamestop and EBGames websites, this is actually normal practice.
I am one of the hard core gamers that purchase games the day of release.
They always show the shipping date up until the day it actually ships.
Then at the last minute, the date changes to the next day (or the in store date).
The game could possibly be shipping today (out of the distribution center) but the stores will not get the game until tomorrow at the earliest.
Because with even next day shipping they will not get the game until tomorrow (or the 11th as stated on the websites).

I am concerned because I preordered the game (and paid $29.99 as opposed to $19.99) and I still have not received an email stating my copy shipped.
If my copy doesnt ship until tomorrow, that means I will not get the game until Thursday (if it was sent overnight) and that would make it a day after people who walk into the store on Wednesday and pick it up for $19.99.

I know I paid $29.99 to get the extras and the editing tools but you would think they would at least make an effort to get the game to the preorders sooner than everyone else.
Especially since we paid more.
Reply #8 from PolMach Forums Top
jscott,
apparently, we non-subscribers will be able to d/l the by the end of the week.
Reply #9 from PolMach Forums Top
There are terms to our contracts that we have to abide by.

When the CD orders are charged, you'll be able to download the game via Stardock Central before you even get the retail CD in the mail. As you'll get your serial number electronically first.

And https://www.stardock.com/support will be able to resend that serial to you in the future.

In terms of electronic orders, that you can download right this minute, that's with the TotalGaming.net subscriptions. Or for a few pre-orders who've had access to the beta since before June.

Or as I said, once the CD pre-orders charge, they'll be able to download as well. (re: reply #8)
Reply #10 from PolMach Forums Top
Moltar,

If that's true, it doesn't make much sense. This certainly is not a good way to bring new people to the stardock concept of direct downloading of games.
Reply #13 from PolMach Forums Top
There are contractual considerations, not technical ones.
Reply #14 from PolMach Forums Top

When the CD orders are charged, you'll be able to download the game via Stardock Central before you even get the retail CD in the mail. As you'll get your serial number electronically first.


So the question is:

When are the CD orders going to be charged?
Reply #15 from PolMach Forums Top
When exactly will the people without a totalgaming.net subscription be able to download the game ?
Reply #16 from PolMach Forums Top
As soon as I know for certain, you'll know. Give or take the couple of minutes it takes me to get back to the website.
Reply #17 from PolMach Forums Top
What about those who pre-ordered the game?
Reply #18 from PolMach Forums Top
Actually, I got the demo, but I can't play it. I get the error: "Failed to Initialize Display" even with drivers 61.77 (newest, released 7/27/04) for my GeForce FX 5950 Ultra.

Any ideas?
Reply #19 from PolMach Forums Top
I have also not recieved an e-mail from stardock and I paid 29.99 for the extras AND to get it sooner than the ones who did not pre-order it. When will you send me an e-mail and when will you ship it to me?
Reply #20 from PolMach Forums Top
Actually, I got the demo, but I can't play it. I get the error: "Failed to Initialize Display" even with drivers 61.77 (newest, released 7/27/04) for my GeForce FX 5950 Ultra.


if you haven't already got it, try downloading the new direct x V9.0: Link
Reply #21 from PolMach Forums Top
Actually, I got the demo, but I can't play it. I get the error: "Failed to Initialize Display" even with drivers 61.77 (newest, released 7/27/04) for my GeForce FX 5950 Ultra.


Where did you get the demo?

I figure if I'm not getting the game for several days, I can at least play around with the demo.
Reply #22 from PolMach Forums Top
would someone please address the pre-ordering situation?
Reply #23 from PolMach Forums Top
We are trying to address the CD pre-orders as quickly as possible.

We are on the same footing with retailers this time around. As soon as I know more, you'll know more.

We are working with a very large publisher, without which we would not be able to have such a retail presence in the upcoming months. And that, like in this instance, tends to mean some things are out of our direct control.

Please be patient. We've got 2 weeks until we see what happens with ilovebees.com. And I don't know what else is coming out before then.

Though I personally hope Fable is still Sept14.
Reply #24 from PolMach Forums Top
Also, please do not pass the demo link around just yet. Ubisoft will probably be officially hosting that. And we'll update the downloads page when available.

We needed the link up to make things all visible for our existing customers. And I would rather its something proper than a link that 404's or something.
Reply #25 from PolMach Forums Top
Nakor,

I appreciate your responses, but your posts are just confusing to me.

I understand that you can't post the download for a certain period of time relating to the actual shipment of the game. So did the game NOT ship today as its stated?

Is there any clue on when retailers or even the people who ordered directly will get the game? Any chance on tomorrow? Is it more likely next week at this point?