The Political Machine 2008 v1.5 Update Now Available!

Get it on Impulse!

from PolMach Forums

Stardock has updated its popular PC strategy game, The Political Machine to include the new Vice Presidential candidates along with adding a host of compelling new features.

The Political Machine puts players in the role of a Presidential candidate on the campaign trail making speeches, buying ads, hiring spin doctors and consultants, raising money, and going on cable news shows.

The Political Machine v1.5 includes vastly enhanced multiplayer features including supporting match-making via the digital distribution platform, Impulse. It also includes features allowing players to print out bumper stickers and campaign pins from within the game. Players can create their own candidates, controlling everything about them in how they look, and then export them as an avatar for on-line use or use the new print shop to create a variety of physical media with their creations including campaign pins, bumper stickers, and more. The update adds the new vice presidential candidates, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin to be played as.

"This is the ultimate game for political junkies and a really fun way for anyone to learn about the election process," said Brad Wardell, Designer of the game. "Once you put yourself in the campaign manager's shoes, you really get to see how each campaign tactic ultimately affects the outcome of the vote. The whole point is to be fun but part of that means being reasonably accurate."

Real-world scenarios are mixed in with fantastical scenarios. Players can choose the US 2008 election, US 1860 election or play in fun and humorous fantasy campaigns including one that takes place on an alien world and one that takes place in "Europa". Players can also choose what TV shows to be a guest on and will face tough questions from the hosts of shows like Colvert Report and the O'Malley Factor.

"Political junkies will appreciate many of the political consultants and strategies employed in the game such as the use of smear merchants, spin doctors, intimidators, cheer leaders, movie stars, etc.," continued Wardell."Strategy gamers will appreciate the balanced game mechanics that allow players to research new campaign tactics that even novice political observers can see from the current election."

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Reply #1 from PolMach Forums Top

Update looks great...Palin's stats looks likes a dynamo. Should be a lot of fun to run her against Hillary. Only question would be Biden's lack of foreign policy cred on his issue stats and lack of charisma.

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Reply #3 from PolMach Forums Top

 I agree,, the AI does not pick a VP in quickplay...

Reply #5 from PolMach Forums Top

How about a link to the update?  Nowhere in this post does it do anything but talk about the update! 

Reply #6 from PolMach Forums Top

All updates can be acquired via Impulse. When the game runs, select 'Check for Updates' on the Launcher, go to the 'Updates' tab in Impulse, and double click Political Machine :)

Reply #7 from PolMach Forums Top

I never played it before ver 1.5 ,   did the AI pick a VP before ??

Reply #11 from PolMach Forums Top

We put out an update 1.50.05 to solve this (along with a few other issues).  Should be available on Impulse! Enjoy :)

Reply #12 from PolMach Forums Top

I agree with woodcojb. I seriously think Biden's charisma should be somewhat higher. Here's an article about him in the LA Times (and I find aricles describing his rallies now and from the primaries to be consistent with this):


"[Biden's] This kind of talk goes over big at a labor union hall in Akron. His half-hour speech tends to meander, but when he asks how many people know someone with a house in foreclosure, more than half of the hands in the room go up. And when he repeats his father's advice about falling down, gritting his teeth and commanding "Geeet up!" they do, leaping to their feet in cheers....

"His campaigning style recalls Bill Clinton's; he listens, and people feel permission to use the few seconds they have to talk about their shrinking Social Security checks, their stolen pensions, even their divorces.

"Later that night, at a rally at the College of Wooster, a liberal arts school in a conservative county not far from Canton, Biden is happily posing for pictures when a woman calls out, "I'm the mom of a U.S. soldier." She is Patty Groom, 47, with a 26-year-old son in the Army who just left for his second tour in Afghanistan. Her husband is laid off, her daughter is 9, and the paycheck Groom earns at the steel bearing plant isn't enough, so she has taken to charging the groceries.

""He said his son is going too," she recounted afterward, sitting down on the bleachers with tears in her eyes. "He put his forehead on my forehead and said, 'I promise you with everything in me that I will bring our troops home.' It was like nobody else was here.""

 

LATimes: "In-your-face time with Joe Biden"

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-biden23-2008sep23,0,4764573.story?page=2

Reply #13 from PolMach Forums Top

Query--

Possibly this has been answered elsewhere but I haven't seen it.  Will we ever see debates included as a part of the game in future updates for TPM 2008 or is that more on the table for TPM 2012?