Roadmap for The Political Machine

Where we go from here..

from PolMach Forums

This week we expect to release v1.02 of The Political Machine which improves support for Windows 98 systems and makes some gameplay tweaks with regards to the endorsement system (it'll be slightly harder for Republicans to get liberal endorsements and vice versa).

But what about after the election?  Stardock plans to continue to provide new updates to The Political Machine in various forms. One area we plan to try to update the game regularly are on the issues.  We don't want the game to get dated because of the issues. So we plan to keep updating the issues post-election.

We also plan to do an update after the election to make the game a bit less 2004 election centric so that players can play the game without it feeling like they're running the last election.

One way you can help us is to let us know which candidates you think we need to include for the 2008 election. What issues do you feel we should bump around a bit in this election? Let us know here.

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Reply #1 from PolMach Forums Top
Bill Frist, Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, Jeb Bush; Florida Governor, Rudy Guillani Former Mayor of New York City, George Pataki. Governor of New York. Newt Gingrich, Former Republican Speaker of the House. (can only see him in a VP slot).
John McCain, Senator from Arizona. John Ashcroft; Attorney General of the United States, Elizabeth Dole, Senator North Carolina, wife of Bob Dole. She was also the past president of the American Red Cross for a number of years before leaving that to run for the senate. Hayley Barbor, Gov of Mississippi and former Chairman for the GOP.
I don't believe Colin Powell is even a potential in this list. He's ready to retire. Nor do I think Don Rumsfield either. He's 71-72 now.

Bill Richardson, Gov of New Mexico and former UN ambassador under President Clinton,Hillary Clinton, Senator from NY. Charles Shumer; Senator from NY. Nancy Pelosi, Present House Minority leader. John Kerry (if not in 04) and Al Gore.

Topics of Interest; Missile defense, (US Missile Defense in Alaska comes online before end of year),Nuclear Proliferation, Nuclear Armed Iran, Homeland Security, Taiwan/China. Greater EU expansion/ EU economy/ EU Military and possible realignment of NATO in next 4 years.

That's all I can think of off the top at the moment.

Reply #2 from PolMach Forums Top
On the Republican side, I figure that Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney and even possibly John McCain will become priminant in 08. Also, Guillani and Hayworth appear to be strong VP candidates.

On the Democratic side, I would watch Tom Vilsak, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, and John Edwards if he doesn't become VP.

I think the War on Terror will still be a major issue in 2008. Perhaps the issue of the modernizing Chinese military will surface. If Fidel Castro's health starts failing, American intervention in Cuba would become very important.
Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from PolMach Forums Top
Khefell

I agree with you. The Chinese Military is on the move and that's not a good thing. I actually think that's an issue that ought to be brought into the forefront in the here and now since you mention it.

*More issue prominence on Securing the Southern Border since Terrorists are using the easy entry into the states to get in.

*Vladimir Putins stringent actions on freedoms in Russia should be a new issue.

*Pakistan is due to have new elections for the first time in 6 years since Prime Minister Musharaffs Coup in 1999 took power. A Fundamentalist taking power in Pakistan with Taliban/Al Quaeda favorability would dramactically be a setback for the United States and other countries as Pakistan is a recognized Nuclear power.

And like Khefell said, The War on Terror should also be put on high notice.

Reply #4 from PolMach Forums Top
I would like to address the issue of future updates (2nd paragraph of Frogboy's lead thread): changing the issues and topics that are of interest to the population. I understand your principle that you wish to keep the game fresh and topical. But in honesty, assuming a long shelf life for this game, I would like to see the ability to continue re-playing elections using the issues as they existed just before election 2004. Wouldn't it be rather easy to just have a pre-game setting that would allow a player to select either the Issues 2004 (ie as they exist now), or the Current Issues (as they exist in the lastest patch)? Why eliminate the current issues, just to change to a more current future national situation? Let's have both!
Reply #5 from PolMach Forums Top
These are additions to what is already there ...

Democrats: Joe Biden, Norman Y. Mineta (which party? then Dem, now Rep? or still Dem?), Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinsten, Howard Dean, Al Sharpton, Martin Sheen (or some other Dem Hollywood type), Charles Shumer

Republicans: Jeb Bush, George P. Bush (too young?), Collin Powell, John McCain
Reply #6 from PolMach Forums Top
Definitely add Howard Dean, John McCain, and Barack Obama!

Jeb Bush, Pataki, and Rudy Giuliani will no doubt run in 2008.

Some more Democrats to add would be Bob Graham, and maybe Feinstein, Feingold, and Evan Beigh.

Some more Republicans would be Elizabeth Dole and Colin Powell (I don't think he'll run, but it might be fun to run him).

All those guys are in the political spot light now and you should add those. Here are some guys you might add that aren't current, but not historical either:

Dan Quayle and Pat Buchanon will probably not run again, but it might be interesting to play with them.
Same with Madeleine Albright and Ann Richards.
And Bob Dole.

And, in case anyone wants to play with more Democratc 2004 primary candidates, Carol Mosely Braun, Dennis Kucinich, and Joe Lieberman could be added.


I think the new candidates along with some of the candidates already in the game that might run or be picked for VP should form a new ladder for each party. And, you should be able to pick which ladder you want to play with and maybe even create your own.
Reply #7 from PolMach Forums Top
"(it'll be slightly harder for Republicans to get liberal endorsements and vice versa)"

Oh, and I think that when dealing with the endorsements, people should remember how Howard Dean has support from the NRA. And Arnold is prochoice. And McCain is... well, I don't know, but he's gotta been enorsed by some non-Republican group
Reply #8 from PolMach Forums Top
I'd like to see first, Howard Dean, and some more historical candidates, such as Michael Dukakis, Bob Dole, JFK, Dwight Eisenhower, and Dan Quayle (and maybe Adlai Stevenson). Plus, opposing capital punishment has got to win over votes with SOMEBODY. And perhaps a few fun characters, like Homer Simpson, Peter Griffon or Hank Hill.

DEFINITELY Howard Dean and John McCain.
Reply #9 from PolMach Forums Top
I have a few other issues I would like to see addressed sometime in the future... possibly not for the very next issue, but sometime.

First, before I get into them, I would like to say what a great job The Political Machine Staff is doing... I see all these hostile posts and I can't believe what I'm reading. The fact that you're issuing updates at all is far more than I see other game staff doing.

Second, here is the biggest issue I see--the presidential debates (I'm watching one right now) have been left entirely out of the election process. These are huge parts of the process in my opinion, especially with the independant voters. There are also Vice Presidential debates, and these would help another problem that I see: The Vice President really doesn't do anything. At the most, he's a political operative, and he/she needs to play a bigger role. It needs to swing voters based on the Vice President's qualifications.

There's another issue I'd eventually like to see addressed, but I'm not sure how you would perform it--third party candidates should play a role eventually, however I know it's going to be a tough issue and I'm not going to hold my breath.

The last "big" change I'd like to see is the Incumbent factor. This is another big issue, and I'd also like to see that as an option in the Fantasy play section--even if it just boosts your awareness.

Finally, for the issues that I think will be big--the biggest one I see coming up has got to be the Draft. The War on Terror is obviously going to be huge still.

Thanks for your attention.
Reply #11 from PolMach Forums Top
Here's another thing that might be interesting as well: the candidate's family. The First Lady and Mrs. Kerry are out campaigning for their husbands, why not in the game as well? It also would be interesting in the Fantasy component to be able to customise your candidate more by choosing if they are married or what size family they have. Also, I know that "family values" are big issues for some voters, so maybe having a family would sway some votes as well.

How you could use your candidate's family in the game would be a bit of an issue. If they were just normal operatives or a bit more would have to be worked out. Still, something to consider.
Reply #12 from PolMach Forums Top
The debate idea is a great idea. It could be handled similarly to the news shows on there, just more expansive...covering perhaps 6-10 issues.
Reply #13 from PolMach Forums Top
I really like the primary and third party ideas.
Reply #14 from PolMach Forums Top
When will this candidate update be made and available for download?

Just a rough estimate. I know it might be a while, I'm just kind of anxious to get new people and portaits without making them myselves
Reply #15 from PolMach Forums Top
Hey,
I'm so glad that you guys are thinkinng about updating the game, I love it!. I used to play a game similar to this called "President Forever"

Link

That game doesn't even compare to how great this one is, but there are just a few elements from this game that I would like to see added to future versions of the Political Machine. First, how about some debates?!?! Also, I think that the money situation should be different, the FEC gives 75,000,000 to the Dem and GOP candidates and they are limited to spending that money (after they accept their nominations). Also, can you had conventions and primary races?!?! Also, what about adding foot soldiers who can stump around the country for their candidates, you know like how John McCain and Bill Clinton are helping Bush and Kerry? And Finally, can there be a more diverse pool of questions for when candidates go on talk shoes? And how about having the ability to sping news??! Third Party candidates?!?!?

Now as far as adding Candidates!!
Democratic: Howard Dean, John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama???, FDR!
Republican: John McCain, Jeb Bush, Rudy Guiliani, Arnold!!!!!!!!!!!!????? Colin Powell

Ralph Nader? David Cobb? Michael Badnarik?
Reply #18 from PolMach Forums Top
As a registered Patriot, I'd like to see the inclusion of several different parties. I'd also like to see the ability to select those parties when creating canidates. As well as an Issues balance page at start up. Similar to the current canidate creation page. On the issues the player would start with 100 pts and say 20 issues. The player then could use a slide bar to show thier stance on each issue.

I think a primary would be a great idea. I also applaud the notion of debates. If you add debates you should add the canidates strength in oration.

I'd like to see the game get a little more academic, and lose the alien conspiracy issue.
Reply #19 from PolMach Forums Top
Ooh, I really like that issue-point-buy idea Cappy has.

How about mixing it with a "Party Creator"? Like the candidate creator, but enables the player to create his or her own political party; when doing so, the player gets to choose the main issues (through a point-buy system) that the party is particularly strong on.

Couple this with the idea to point-buy issues for individual candidates, and that would be a lot of fun (as well as rather more realistic).

Also, adding a debate feature would be excellent.
Reply #20 from PolMach Forums Top
I've been playing with the 1.02 version with the endorsement update, and since it's mentioned at the beginning of this thread, I'd like to comment on it. Some parts of it are a little annoying. I admit the restrictions on the Christian Federation and the Labor Unions are probably good ideas in my view, but I could come up with arguments for most of the others:

Arnold is pro-choice.
Dean has sided with environmentalists as much as businesses as Gov.
And why is it that Republicans all (in this update) destoy civil rights and Democrats stink in foreigh policy?

After that, let me say this. You guys did an awesome job on this game. It's extremely addictive and I love the fact that you guys are willing to continue to update it and have this message board. I read how you did it in 6 months, and that's amazing. I recognize the idea to reform the endorsements as a good idea, but I just think the actual numbers involved should be reconsidered. Keep up the good work.
Reply #21 from PolMach Forums Top

I agree that it would be nice if the endorsements were more based on the views of the candidate rather than the party but I think we would have more complaints if we went the other way.

With regards to updates, the big thing we're waiting for is the election. We want to see how close our current model is and then tweak it based on the flood of data we'll get when the eleciton comes. Then we can add in more candidates, make a few other tweaks and release a v1.1.

Reply #23 from PolMach Forums Top
I have to agre with some up there the dems need a Howard Dean, and Barack Obama, the GOP McCain and Jeb
Reply #24 from PolMach Forums Top
Agreed. The debates were such a big part of this election. I'd love to see the candidates go head to head. Primaries, third party and definately Al Sharpton!
Reply #25 from PolMach Forums Top
Perhaps also a greater emphasis on the "moral" issues that seemed to decide the election (abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc). Working in the term "flip flop" is must. Importantly, I'd like to see more ways to personally attack an opponent, possibly with attacks that apply to only certain characters. The 2004 election was unbelieveably negative. Instead of simply having the option to say "My opponent supports/does not support (insert issue)", have more personal attacks, ie. Kerry is a flip flopper, has a bad senate record, too liberal OR Bush is a liar, run by big business, to unilateral, etc. Personal attacks were a huge part of this election, and I'd love a way to get the mud slinging in Political Machine!!!