Well, first I just wanted to congratulate (somewhat late) the author for the public beta and submission. I’ve been tracking this wip since 2022, and it turned out to be my favorite since then. So thank you for your work @RFKramer !
I just have a question. I understand there have been some discussions during the wip to make it harder to pass bills like universal healthcare.
But checking the stats code, I couldn’t help but notice that, even if you’re a Democrat, and support Birchland’s healthcare reform (universal healthcare), your “billsupport” begins at -2.
Since your only opportunity to raise that before the vote at the House is by lobbying Congress, and the max you can increase it is by +3 (the US$ 500.000 choice), it is virtually impossible to pass it in the House, since you need 3 “billsupport” to pass it. Or am I missing something?
Nevertheless, congratulations for the beta, it is simply amazing! And sorry about any error in my english, I’m from Brazil, and english isn’t my first language.
Happy to hear it, and thank you for your interest!
I will have to double-check this, my intent was to make it almost impossible, but still doable. I’ll take a look at this myself and make sure it’s able to be done (with some difficulty) in the final version.
Quick question for the sequel to The People’s House (congrats btw on completing, been there since the start and it’s shaped up to be a banger ); Regarding possible conflicts we can embark upon for the U.S in our second term, are we going to be limited to just a Taiwan Straits Crisis or could we also see possible direct conflict in Russia-Ukraine as well seeing as we could further our support/influence in that region?
The main focus of Book 2 will definitely be China (though more like several crises back to back). As the story is written, the Russian invasion of Ukraine ends shortly before your character takes office (there actually have been a few things that I wrote in TPH that were fiction when I wrote them but ended up actually happening in the time I’ve been writing the story, I suppose we’ll see if Russia-Ukraine ends similarly).
There will definitely be some kind of focus on Eastern Europe–every trip abroad choice in Book 1 will have some kind of counterpart in the second book, though on a smaller scale. I haven’t yet decided how I will incorporate Russia, but it will likely be a goal of the U.S. to limit Russian support to China (something that will be easier to accomplish if you’ve already been on a major state visit).
EDIT: I did want to add on that the main reason why I’m limiting the foreign affairs focus to Asia in Book 2 is that Chapter 3, the foreign affairs one, was one of my least favorite in Book 1 (both to write and to read through). I felt that, because I offered four distinct and lengthy state visits, I wasn’t able to fit much unique content into each of them without feeling burnt out quickly because of the slow progress.
I hope to incorporate a few unique scenes in Book 2 for each state visit, but I definitely want to correct what I think a major error was in that chapter by putting my time into one, cohesive storyline where decisions will matter more.
Hey! Hoffman accomplished something! Although I kinda assume he was a fairly popular president who kinda got HWBush’d because of a weak economy and a strong opponent. But I do love the little lore tidbits!
Being an Attorney General doesn’t have any real impact on gameplay does it? In a run I chose to be a lawyer and Attorney General and when the topic of Investigation on Ahmadigate came, I was able to successfully testify to Congress, but when I chose to be a Lawyer and a Governer I’m pretty sure I had the same charisma stat(66%) as my previous run but my performance was dubbed as "effective but not definitive) So does the fact that that I was an AG in my first run have any effect and how much charisma is required to pass the check?
HW Bush was actually a main inspiration for Hoffman–he definitely was a fairly popular President who got brought down by the economy, which is why his announcement to seek a second non-consecutive term is worrying.
I think that the AG background gives a slight boost to charisma, though there are some other factors that determine what stat you have. Testifying before Congress (I believe) has the highest stat check in the entire story with you needing a value of 70% or higher to pass it. It is only the charisma stat that is calculated there though, so you must have had a higher stat than you remembered in that run where you passed it.
Hey can any one tell me about all the blue states we can win as Republicans and all the red states we can win as Democrats, I want to make sure my MC wins their home state.
I remember winning Oregon and Virginia as a Republican even without getting the landslide, so it’s possible to win deep red or deep blue states even without getting the landslide.
Yeah, there was a balance added in to make more sweeping legislation harder to get, but the intention was for it to be possible in all circumstances, I think that got pushed a little bit too far though because I’ve been running into the same issue
Can confirm here as well for a moderate/liberal Republican president. Went max lobbying on a progressive-moderate healthcare public option bill and still failed by one vote.
Edit 10/05/24: I’m having difficulty even passing centrist-moderate legislation as a centrist Republican w/ 57-70 Dem-Rep leadership support. Is anyone else having issues passing centrist or progressive legislation like I am despite their centrism and/or relatively strong support? For reference, I usually try to pass healthcare legislation.
To address some questions I got during my brief trip away:
I have no idea when TPH will be published, though I do still think that by the inauguration could be a possibility. I’ve submitted all files and my art to Choice of Games, and it is now in content review, I don’t have any updates from them yet, but it has only been a few days and the story is quite lengthy
I did make some legislation (notably healthcare, as was mentioned) more difficult to pass. For Republican characters, healthcare reform should be much harder.
Universal healthcare should be impossible for the GOP and very difficult for a Democrat. Even the centrist option (an expanded public option, I believe) should be very difficult for a Republican given the GOPs aversion to the Affordable Care Act. This may need some rebalancing, which I will be sure to adjust before publishing
Election Day in America
For my friends in the U.S., today is election day! If you haven’t voted already, please do so (assuming you are able to, that is)! While TPH can be a story about abuse of authority and how power can be a corrupting force, it can also be a story about using the power of the presidency (and the government as a whole) to make positive change. Who controls the White House and Congress will have huge repercussions on millions of people, and I strongly encourage you to use your vote and have your voice heard.
Your state likely also has hugely important ballot questions and referendums that will impact you far more directly than the national race. Regardless of who you vote for (or if you decide to write your own name in), voting is what makes our democracy work, and I hope that you decide to exercise that right today!
Does anyone know how to reach the charisma check for testifying before Congress? Not sure how to get my charisma high enough. Also, is the check 70% or is it something lower? I had 66 or 67% on m previous run.
); Regarding possible conflicts we can embark upon for the U.S in our second term, are we going to be limited to just a Taiwan Straits Crisis or could we also see possible direct conflict in Russia-Ukraine as well seeing as we could further our support/influence in that region?