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Traits.PM2issues.xml

Media Bias

<Tag>_MEDIABIAS</Tag>
        <Display>Media Bias</Display>
        <Image>mediabias.pcx</Image>
        <Icon>gfx\Icons\Stat_MediaBias.png</Icon>
        <Description>This issue determines how much the press likes your candidate which can sway independent voters.</Description>
        <Default_Party_Importance PartyID="Left">40</Default_Party_Importance>
        <Default_Party_Position PartyID="Left">0</Default_Party_Position>
        <Default_Party_Importance PartyID="Right">-10</Default_Party_Importance>
        <Default_Party_Position PartyID="Right">0</Default_Party_Position>
        <Default_Party_Importance PartyID="Indy">12</Default_Party_Importance>
        <Default_Party_Position PartyID="Indy">0</Default_Party_Position>

 

The Media Bias for the republicans is -10, should this be a negative number?  All other numbers in the file are positive. Is that number a general issues shift to the right type modifier?  Seems anomolyous.  Most Neg numbers are for the party positions sliders. Can someone explain?

Traits/Minority Appeal:

The demographics by state appear to be innacurate, for example the hispanic vote in California is underweighted (based on 2004 turnout data).  Is Minority appeal weighted to compensate, were more recent figures used as source data, or should the figures in a mod be adjusted accordingly?

English/Endorsement files

Also, in the endorsements file:  the number in the values tag.  Do those directly modify the candidates position on the issue, and are they affected by the issue importance modifier in the MainIssues file?

MainIssues.PM2Issues.xml

Party Position.  This appears to work as a multiplier.  Independents are often close to the middle on positions, does the position factor change during gameplay directly as a result of advertising or is it only the total impact which is adjusted?

Competence: At least one candidate is rated in this category.  (Ron Paul).  Is this an error, a hidden rating, or a method of replacing another stat without incurring the benefits of that stat.

 

[Edited for additional questions]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5,079 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from PolMach Forums Top

Media Bias:  Still haven't figured that one out

Additional Stats:  Compassion, Competence (assuming these are stats and not an issue score?).  Some other stats listed in one of the files, are these active?

Endorsements:  Got this one now.  Directly modifies candidate stat (usually with a 3x-4x multiplier) not sure if this is tied to the issue importance or based on the previous position of the stat and the party represented by the endorsement.

Endorsements Note:  Endorsements can be set to independent as a party affiliation (making them party neutral).   Some interesting possibilities here.  Doubling the starting cost for an endorsement seems to work reasonably well for a 41 week game, makes them worth pursuing but not necessarily creating an early landslide.

MainIssues.PMissuesXML:  Clearly multiplies the issue importance by the Issue stance.  Speeches and adds appear to increase the issue importance. The zero point on the axis is potentially problematic.  Rather than identifying which positions the independents care about (near center axis) would be nice to be able to actually shift these to a slight degree through media manipulation/advertising and so forth.   Currently it seems that the most common result is to simply magnify the issue.   Still expirimenting.

Issue Movement:  Some expiriments with extreme ratings/endorsements can create a situation where the party actually changes its platform.   Interestingly, the opposite party also flips when this occours.  Independents appear to flip to the party with the greatest state bias (unconfirmed because I didn't take good notes and have since forgotten, will test further.)   I currently have a scenario set up where the parties all start with neutral ratings with minimal interest in each platfrom and the independents have a higher importance level on issues than the party.  Game in progress, candidates appear to automatically polarize.  Have the file set up in a spreadsheet to quickly make bulk changes, expiriments will continue.   Hopefully will be able to calibrate a system which will allow greater movement in issue strength. Will report on this when I understand it better. A platform editor would be really cool. 

 

The Media Bias in Party_Importance, discussed in previous post.  Is the negative number correct?   All other uses of this statement show a positive number.  Is it a bug, or possibly a typo on my part?

 

Reply #2 from PolMach Forums Top

Thanks Solar Standard, maybe we could work on a mod together?

Sins of a Solar Empire II