Political Arena News

[p]Political Arena creator Eliot Nelson here. [/p][p][/p][p]It’s been a week since Political Arena launched into Early Access and I wanted to take a moment from fixing bugs and building out the next updates to say "thank you" and...wow. [/p][p][/p][h3]Wow...Seriously, Wow[/h3][p]We’re stunned by the level of interest and support for our simulated political universe. Given how quiet our launch was and the very early state of the game, we were not expecting this level of interest. [/p][p][/p][p]I can't tell you how much this means to me and I promise to work as hard as I can to reward your early investment in our vision with a genre-defining game about the world's most important subject.[/p][p][/p][h3]Political Sim Fest[/h3][p]Steam’s Political Sim Fest launched yesterday. Of the more than 600 games participating in the promotion, we’re the 10th most popular as of this post going live. [/p][p][/p][p]What’s arguably most remarkable is that every game ahead of us is far more built out and established. Moreover, while there’s a ton of fun stuff to do in Political Arena, it is very much in its least sexy state – “Legislative cycle simulator for a single term of Congress” – doesn’t necessarily scream “curb value.” For decades I dreamed of a video game that captured the scope, depth and feel of U.S. politics on the ground -- it seems like I wasn't the only one. [/p][p][/p][h3]Thank You[/h3][p]To all of you who've put your faith in this game so early, we promise we'll work as hard as we can to reward your commitment with a game that will only grow more fun, immersive and community driven. [/p]

[h2]Having weird vote issues? Give this a try. [/h2][p]To switch to the unstable branch, right click on Political Arena in your Steam library, select "Betas" and choose "unstable" from the dropdown. No password required. [/p][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]Updated tracking of UI votes and UI vote queue. Previously a shared "CurrentVote" reference may have been improperly transitioned across votes, leading to tracking issues and passed votes being listed as failed, etc. [/p]
• [p]Fixed Event Window issue. The game's event queue was being dequeued twice when closing the vote window, potentially leading to race conditions [/p]
• [p]Capped the number of AI-generated votes per week. Committees and chambers now For most votes, the AI now only schedules them for AFTER their body's last vote on the calendar. [/p]
  • [p]Quality of life: too many votes can get repetitive. [/p]
  • [p]With too many votes, the value of getting your bill a vote loses its cache / no reason to spend PC to get a vote.
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[h3]PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS....ACTIVATE[/h3][p][/p][p]Created an unstable branch for people to try out experimental fixes and features. To access it, right click Political Arena in your library, bring up the properties window, go to betas and select “unstable”. No password required. Currently there is nothing there as of this update going live. Will likely be mostly used to see if fixes work for players having issues. [/p][p][/p][p]The bug form now accepts feedback and suggestions. Submissions are fed directly into the dev’s management software and Slack, so they will be seen! [/p][p][/p][p]Some votes weren’t being registered as the player cast them, owing to improper referencing of the player’s pre-calculated automated vote. [/p][p][/p][p]Improved how the vote window interacts with the game’s underlying architecture. Some players were having bizarre vote results (failing 80-20 in the Senate with the filibuster at 60, etc). This likely resulted in the system processing a previous vote while the ui was handling a new one.[/p][p]
Votes will be less clustered. NPC schedulers will now (usually) only schedule votes for after the last scheduled vote in their calendar. [/p][p][/p][p]Tightened senate vote result logic in the vote window. In some situations a bill would be said to be filibustered once it got to 41 nay votes (on default settings) but that prevented it from being declared outright rejected with 51+votes. [/p][p][/p][p]Tightened up how the game manages window states. Some players were unable to reopen certain windows and some windows weren’t closing. All window state logic is now funneled through a single handler. [/p][p][/p][p]You can no longer get around the max/min number of Republicans/Democrats by sliding above or below the handles in the game settings section. [/p]

[h2]Political Arena has launched in Early Access![/h2][p][/p][p]Our first release is all about the people, power and politics that drive Congress and the legislative process. Play as any senator or representative for a term of Congress and navigate a world of backroom dealing, down-to-the-wire votes, White House power jockeying and more. [/p][p][/p][p]If you’ve purchased a copy, please consider giving us a positive review. We’d never expect mindless enthusiasm, but even if you think the game shows promise and want to say so, it’d mean a lot. [/p][p][/p][p]We’ve also launched the first in a series of videos detailing Political Arena’s features. The first video, appropriately enough, takes a look at the politicians of Political Arena.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Already the game is filled with countless things to do, and no two playthroughs are remotely the same…
[/p][p]…try to legislate as an aisle-crossing maverick when your majority leader is hyperpartisan and vengeful…[/p][p][/p][p]……strategically decide where to allocate your limited staff budget and reap the skill boosts that a good staffer brings (or the penalties that a bad one does)...[/p][p][/p][p]……see what happens with no filibuster…[/p][p][/p][p]……engage in strategic brinksmanship and try to wring every last concession out of the other party during budget negotiations before the government shuts down. And if the government shuts down? Try to cut the best deal you can before public opinion turns against you. Just don’t say anything dumb in the press.  [/p][p][/p][p]If you’re interested in supporting Political Arena’s continued development, please consider giving it [/p][p][/p][p]This has been a long time coming. Many of you – with good reason – thought the game was dead. After our developer had to part ways with us several years back, we were forced to consolodate our focus into development, leaving us very little time for audience work. [/p][p][/p][p]We intend to grow Political Arena into a fully simulated political world, complete with legislating, campaigning, special interests, the press and more. Check out our roadmap on the store page for more info. [/p][p][/p][p]As both a journalist and gamer, I couldn’t be more excited to begin this next part of the Poltiical Arena journey and to have you along for it. [/p][p][/p][p]If you wish to follow Political Arena’s ongoing development, follow us on social media (Discord | X/Twitter | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube). [/p][p]
Onward![/p][p][/p][p]~Eliot
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[p]Politicos – [/p][p]Political Arena will be entering Steam Early Access on September 2nd!!![/p][p]In the meantime, Wishlist us on Steam, watch our release trailer and subscribe to our socials (Discord | X/Twitter | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube)![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]What's in Early Access?[/p][p]Our first Early Access release is all about the people, power and politics that drive Congress and the legislative process.[/p][p]Customize your own Representative or Senator and navigate a vibrant, drama-filled -- sometimes hilarious, sometimes maddening but always engrossing -- Washington.[/p][p]Already the game is filled with countless things to do, and no two playthroughs are remotely the same…[/p][p]…try to legislate as an aisle-crossing maverick when your majority leader is hyperpartisan and vengeful.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]…strategically decide where allocate your limited staff budget and reap the skill boosts that a good staffer brings (or the penalties that a bad one does).[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]…see what happens with no filibuster.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]…engage in strategic brinksmanship and try to wring every last concession out of the other party during budget negotiations before the government shuts down. And if the government shuts down? Try to cut the best deal you can before public opinion turns against you. Just don’t say anything dumb in the press.  [/p][p][/p][p]It’s up to you![/p][p]We’re eternally grateful for your support and patience: we couldn’t have gotten here without you.[/p][p]Onward![/p][p]Eliot[/p]