The Political Machine 2008 is coming

Aka. Bruce Geryk’s chance to escape Tom’s gulag.

More at http://www.politicalmachine.com.

Okay anyway, the Stardock announced The Political Machine 2008 today.

Basically you run for President of the United states with either a pre-made candidate (Obama, Clinton, McCain, etc.) or you can create your own.

The candidate creation stuff is really cool. You have total control over how they look visually - the pre-canned candidates are all made using the built in candidate creation editor.

Political campaigns are well suited for strategy games. You’ve got a map with territories you must conquer. Different territories are worth different amounts of points (electoral votes). You have a number of special units you can make use of (spin doctors, smear merchants, cheer leaders, celebrities, etc.) and you can build various types of bases, research, and while most games come with a “campaign”, this game actually IS a campaign. :)

Here are some screenshots:

Some of you played the 2004 edition. This time around, the game has a full 3D engine (it’s our first test case of the engine we’re making for the fantasy strategy game we’re working on) and includes lots of different scenarios (not just USA) and has a research tree for getting new capabilities (like finding out dirt on your opponents – did they make a gaffe in Bosnia? Do they have a pastor that’s caused trouble for them? Maybe a lobbyist that was a bit too friendly?).

Anyway, a public beta will be available in April. Final game out this June. The US scenario does use real live census data for extra accuracy.

Is that a halfmoon and a star under Obama? Laying on the political propaganda a bit thick, aren’t we, Brad? ;)

It looks like the NBC “Now You Know” logo.

I’m looking forward to this. I bought The Corporate Machine (twice, actually,) and the original Political Machine, and I’m quite looking forward to this edition. You still need beta testers? =)

I’ll give it a try.

Man, you’re really hoping Colbert sees those screenies aren’t you? That’ll land you a seat on his show. “A video game? About me?!”

Can’t wait. Thanks for the update Brad!

Looks fun. I’ll check out the beta when it’s live.

How about a new Corporate Machine while you’re at it? :)

Will it have ObamaGirl (or the caricature equivalent)? Cause you know, you’d sell a lot more copies with some senseless retarded boobage.

Is this just simulating the General? That’ll be a shame if so. It should really let you play out a party nomination fight, too, with unlockable achievements if you manage to make a party eat itself during the process.

Looks pretty cool, I liked the original but I couldn’t find anyone for multiplayer. What are some of the new scenarios?

the screenshots being lined up like that makes me want a ds version.

I’m with pfreak. I love Political Machine, but this would be a great DS title I think. I’m sure Brad could find a way to use that top screen better than a lot of titles out there.

Troy

Yes. Though it’ll mostly be floating boobs. ;)

Seriously, there is a unit called the Cheer Leader which will be modeled after her.

I agree with you but I kind of blew it. Until recently, I had never used a hand held game machine. It’s a long story but when I had kids, I decided to keep the hand helds out of the house but when my son was in the hospital, I broke down and bought one and my opinion of them changed quite a bit - but too late for this edition.

We have a US civil war scnenario. A quasi-European scenario (only two parties so it’s not terribly realistic in that sense). A future North American scenario. And a scenario that takes place on the home planet of the Drengin Empire. Strangely, the candidates act pretty much the same regardless of the scenario…

The single player game is being quite a bit expanded from the 2004 edition though. We pretty much thought everyone would play on-line but never could find people to play. Learned some hard lessons in that.

So this time there’s a tech tree and everything. Much more involved games than the 2004 edition IMO.

Wait, let me get this straight: Because you’re a conscientious parent, we have to suffer by not having handheld versions of cool games? Sheesh. Remind me to glare at your kids if I ever meet them.

-Tom

I’ve got the tokens all saved up for this one. Will there be any way to use my tokens to both purchase one for myself and send a copy to my brother. That would give me a built in multiplayer partner.

Are you using any of the lessons learned about online play from Sins? Such as friends list, in game chat, etc?

About tech trees, is it going to be tech that unlocks new units or clout options, or will it enhance certain actions such as improved fund raising?

I liked the concept behind the 2004 version, but I found the excecution on par with an indie game, you see at GDC contest.

What are the top improvements from the previous game I really couldn’t find a extensive list.

I asked about the ablity to buy individual tokens for Sins but never got answer, so let me try again.
How many tokens will this be? Will there any discount for previous owners. (Ya I know it is only $20…)

I really thought Totalgaming was supposed to be a psuedo-subscription model where we help pre fund development and make sure that more bucks get to the studios, and bypass the channel and the publisher.

It really hasn’t been working out that way for me.

Finally, I asked in previous thread is there any way to purchase individual tokens?