Brad's Suggestion thread » Forum Post by Frogboy

The reason why Stardock's AI's are good is that we're good at the games. I was a Civilization-style game master so I knew how to make a good AI in GalCiv.

But Political Machine has game mechancis unlike anythign I've ever played.

I was able to totally cream the AI on masochistic today so there's still large room for improvement.

But I also worry about cheese.

For instance, I don't like that operatives don't cost stamina to bring in. I believe that any hired gun that you bring into the game should cost 3 stamina. Otherwise you could have an end game run in which a dozen fixers and such suddenly zip in destabilizing the opponent's strategy.

I think that endorsements shouldn't do quite as much awareness (they do 5 points of awareness nationally, I think this shoudl only be 3).

I think newspapers are too wimpy now. I would really like to see newpspaer ads be much more common. Right now, why bother when TV ads and to a lesser extent radio ads are so powerful? Newspaper ads should be that tactical bang to the game.

Giving speeches is very powerful. Too powerful? What do you think?

I desperately would like to see alternative maps. Europe for instance, get Blair, Chirac, Schroeder in the game. Yea, I know it wouldn't be that "realistic" but it would be fun I think still.

There's a lot of graphical glitches. I've seen units sitting out in the ocean (pacific). I sometimes see them giant. THis needs to get fixed.

I had a hard lockup today when an endorsement dialog via the AI popped up.

Need more questions (that's my job) for the shows.

What do you think of these things?

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For political capital, you shouldn't be able to just raise all your political capital from the same state. If I'm really leading in a state, maybe I should get more than one point. If I'm losing in a state, I may get nothing. Should raising political capital have a cost besides stamina (such as lost awareness or standings in the polls)?

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I don't really know how to comment at this point because I'm realizing I really don't understand the mechanics of the game. You feel that speeches might be too powerful. My response to that is "What do speeches do?" What effect do they have gamewise? Why if I say that I favor jobs do I see 3 thumbs up? What does that mean? And if I say my opponent favors jobs I still see 3 thumbs up. Does that mean I gain support by regardless of who I say supports jobs? Same with ads. What are personal ratings and why would I want operatives to affect them? How do endorsements affect the game? How do I interpret my positions? I see what looks like a graph with a red arrow and sometimes a green line and sometimes a red line. What does this tell me? Is everything driven by Awareness? How does Awareness affect my State Approval and then National Polls? Are the ? in State Approval and National Polls undecided voters? Is the I in the Top Issues columns "Independent"? Why do all the states seem to have the same top issues? Why would you need to focus on any other issues? I'm getting very frustrated because I really don't know what I'm supposed to be doing.

As an addendum, my first few games of the latest beta were working fine, but now each game I start crashes on Turn 2. My opponent ends this turn, every game, by flying to Florida. As soon as he reaches Florida the game crashes. How do I use SmartException to get a crash report?

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One suggestion I have is to throw my voice behind those wanting to see a running mate join the campaign at some time. He should have the same abilities that the candidate does, perhaps to a lesser extent. I think there might be too much to do near the end of the campaign for just one person running around the country. But again, this comes from someone that has no real grasp of the game yet.

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If you're bad at the game, you can help your opponent. The game doesn't just make it a cookie cutter thing.

Let's use a divisive issue: Abortion.

You can make a speech saying your opponent favors abortion rights or is pro-life (against abortion rights). The game is perfectly willing to let you sabotage yourself.

Jeff, these are good questions that we'll need to make more clear in the manual.

Basically, you want to do things that help you and harm your opponent. But the game will let you do things that harm you and help your opponent, that's why you have to pay attention to the thumbs up/down.

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I understand what you are saying, Brad, but what does it mean on an issue such as More Jobs where I get 3 thumbs up regardless of whether I say I favor it or my opponent favors it. Why would the voters of a state stand behind me in both of these situations? It doesn't "feel" right. It almost seems like if I say "Opponent Favors" or "Opponent is Against' that the results should be to his ratings, not mine.

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And again, what exact effect does a Speech have? We know that an Ad affects Awareness, Fundraising raises funds (duh), building/increasing your HQ increases your income and Awareness. And what are Personal Ratings that are affected by your Operatives, and what effect do Endorsements have? I'm finding that it's getting harder to test this beta without having some firm background in the mechanics. If this stuff is all in the current online manual then I missed it. I will reread it to see. Am I the only one that has these questions?

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Ive said it before and i'll say it again, BRING

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Ive said it before and i'll say it again, BRING ON THE CHEATS!!!!!!!

GIVE US UNLIMEDED MONEY, UNLIMITED STAMINA GIVE US IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

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Frogboy,

Yeah I definitely see a problem with candidates sending Fixers after all the Al Frankens on week 41. Or even just sending out a bunch of Frankens or Spin Doctors on week 41. I think maybe the effects of Al Franken and the Spin Doctors should be more gradual instead of instantaneous? Say, Al Franken lowers opponents ratings by 5% per week, to a max of 15%, or something like that. And in the same way, the effects of REMOVING an operative would also be gradual in time. Hmm yeah, I also think it should cost a minimal amount of stamina to send operatives around.

Also, I still really like the idea of setting the endorsement prices according to the candidate's positions. What did you think of that?

I'm still experimenting with your other suggestions
Thanks
John

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Maybe just limit the number of operatives that can be hired in a single week to one. This would be an alternative approach to adding a stamina cost though a 3 point cost for hiring the operative would help.

I quite like the fact that speeches are powerful. I believe speeches should be the most powerful tool. It's only through speeches that people really know what the candidate stands for. They should be obligatory. It should be impossible to win a campaign without giving some speeches. At the moment it's quite easy to. Some more ideas ...

- remove the positive effect for visiting a state. That should just put you in the state. You then need to work to get the votes! Just flying around th ountry never leaving your plan should not increase support.
- add a 1 pt and 3 pt stamina campaign options. 1 pt could be a visit local hospital/school/etc and gives the same benefit just visiting a state currently gives. 3pt could be make speech to local supporters with mid level gains. 5pt campaign is still the full hog with effects beyond the current state.
- add national random events. Not just question marks but events which effect the candidates policies and the electorates priorities. For example, random event - 'school kid guns down teacher' - support for firearm ownership drops by 25% for 2 weeks and 10% permanently. Candidate speeches and advertisement on this topic has double effect for next two weeks.

I like many of the ideas you suggest but am quite willing to wait till much later in the year for alternative maps. I'd love to see UK or Europe maps (European elections happen in the UK next month) but focussing on the US election and getting the product right is the most important thing.

Paul.

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I thinik if we can tie it into stamina, then we can get a limit in.

It's not the hiring that I worry about, it's the use of them. For instance, internally in Multiplayer we've already done some slimey things to one another. Hold off a half dozen fixers for week 41 and zap.

If bringing in an operative cost 3 stamina points then it would limit that kind of thing.

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WHAT ABOUT THE CODES?????????
YOU CANT MAKE A GAME WITHOUT CODES!!!!!!!!!! IT WOULD BE UNETHICAL I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Firelord, calm down. We'll probably have some sort of cheat codes.

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Yeah, I agree with Solitair that speeches should be just as powerful as they are now. I can't really tell how effective newspaper ads actually are...

Also, I think instead of other maps, (or maybe in addition to?) I'd rather see other campaigns, like Nixon vs. Kennedy set in 1960, with 1960's electoral college and 1960's issues.

John

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Thanks Frogboy your my savior man

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Speaking of cheats, you can create a candidate with 10 points in every stat. Has anyone else figured it out? It doesn't involve editing any files; it's all done in-game.

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I'd like to have a few more points to work with to make "myself" in the game.

Also, there should be mouse-over pop-up help on everything in the game. I'd also lik eto see an option to make yourself an "independant". One that's middle-of-the-road on everything. That way I can go up against both Republicans and Democrats.

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I'd like to see a third party campaign. Play as an independent or 3rd or custom party, and over the course of a few elections try to increase your standing. You shouldn't be able to become president in the first run. Maybe just try to hit the points where you get more funding, automatic ballot access, etc.

As far as alternate maps, I'd like to see state governor elections. That'd be something different. If maps of states, with counties marked, were provided, mod tools could fill in the issues and such. It might not be perfect to simulate a state's politics with a prez simulator, but it'd be something different.

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cactoblasta

Join Date 04/2004

+48

How do you make a character with 10 points in every stat? Can it be done in Campaign? I get beaten every time by just about anyone when I play.

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There should be sub-issues to each main issue. A few examples would be a firearm serial # database, civil unions, cutting payroll taxes or sending more troops to Iraq. They could have the effect of turning off voters who have a strong opinion against thier effect on the main issue, but have the possibility of winning over moderates from both sides. Taking a sub-issue stance could also have an intergrity cost because opponents could spin it as waffling.

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Here's a suggestion. Contact me. I'm Nelson Hernandez, author of both versions of "President Elect" published in 1981 and 1987 through Strategic Simulations. Your game is shaping up to be the best successor I've seen. My compliments...

nhernandezsr@sbcglobal.net

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First, a tip of my hat to Mr. Hernandez, above. I played "President Elect" on my old Atari back in the '80s until I wore out the electrons. Excellent game! I admired especially its flexibility, allowing you to set up almost any election situation with a great range of candidates to choose from. Present company excepted, still a better election simulator than any of those which have followed. I wish I could run it on my current machine!

As for a suggestion for PM, I really hope AI-vs-AI play will be possible. Sometimes you want to experimentally pit one candidate versus another to see what happens, without having to manage (or mis-manage) either campaign. I posted this suggestions in another thread, but thought I should put it in this more appropriate one, so please pardon the repetition.

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I know this would be hard and take a long time but you should make a political career game where you have a character and you pick what elections to run for and you get older and your reputations can change.

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I'm not sure if this has been suggested but how about a sequel to the game. Where you are actually president. I have not bought the game so I don't know if this actually does happen. But I think it would be really cool if it did.

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