Definitely happy to accept help wherever you’re willing, as you mentioned this is a huge project so I’m always appreciative of it! Regarding your other comment, I am always happy to get constructive feedback! At very worst, I can’t implement a suggestion because of time or coding complexities, but I always love hearing ideas so no worries there.
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That would be your margins, Mr. President. 1936 was a masterpiece.
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For anyone else, are you getting PAC funds from the fundraiser? I selected Moore for the fundraiser but didn’t get any additional funds. I did get the extra $10 million from giving the grants to Cassidy however. Unsure what’s going on my end.
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Did you veto the OPIOID Act?
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Yeah, I did the veto and got additional funding there alongside awarding Cassidy the construction grant since I didn’t the funding from the fundraiser itself.
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Hey Rob! I’ve been following since early 2023, great work so far its incredible to have seen the whole journey through the year and a half I’ve been lurking in here. Sadly I’m third worlder so I can’t contribute to the Patreon but I would like to throw my grain in the sand as a person going for a doctorate in economics (yeah those seem to exist, no clue who thought of them).
On the economics front, this is a very US thing, debt is actually a net positive for the US and the world economy at large. Everyone who has cash and wants solid backing trades in US debt in its many forms. If the US decided tomorrow to say cut all spending in half (apart from the immediate economic crash it would cause due to stock markets failing) and started buying debt back that would in fact be very negative for the world and the national economy. The way the US has converted its currency and itself in the center of the world necessitates for others to be able to buy its debt. China and Japan both hold about a trillion in debt and few people would actually want the federal government to buy back the debt from them. It is not a good business arrangement for anyone. I understand you have set the economy in People’s House to work in a certain way so here’s my recommendation that mostly works I think the way you have put forwards the deficit arrangement:
- Surplus are, so to speak, a no bueno. Not really possible to happen for a variety of reasons.
- Put the deficit in check not around direct effect in the stock market or whichever factor, but rather, the capacity of the federal government to spend money. The national debt presents an enormous expense through interest payments. That should be the main negative. More deficit through first term = less money / measures available later without raising taxes.
- However, you can have specific safety mechanisms. USA hitting 100% debt to GDP, which is set to happen relatively soon, could be spun to be a blow to the confidence of economic actors in the govt’s ability to handle itself, and may also harm consumer confidence depending on how the media talks about it.
- Naturally, an extreme deficit (though people prophesied doom with the current admin’s admittedly high spending rates and it didn’t lead to major negatives) would incur negative effects in the economy broadly. You would be siphoning money away from the economy, it may lead to higher interest rates, but the main damage would be to the federal budget itself. With these kinds of metrics its a lot more about how the media decides to report it and what people in power think than an organic, natural or inevitable consequence.
Whatever happens, I totally understand if this isn’t feasible, overall I’m really happy to have witnessed this journey through the years and wish you great luck, I’ll try to scrape some money to buy the game on release in Steam.
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This is a bizarre issue that I wasn’t previously aware of. I’ll go through the code and see if there’s something wrong with it later on.
Happy to have your support @Naro9995 and absolutely no worries about not becoming a Patron, I’m more than happy for you to have access to the full public beta in a week!
This is definitely a very interesting phenomenon I’ve been working to try and balance out as I sketch out the economic portion of the story for the very end of Book 1 and throughout Book 2 (where the economy and your budget will play a much bigger role). As you mention, it is difficult to simulate and there are some narrative and gameplay considerations to make, too.
A good bit of what you mentioned is the current plan, which I’ll also blur below in case people don’t want any spoilers about the economy system planned for Book 2.
A budget surplus (aside from bragging rights), won’t give too much of an economic boost. It is, as you mention, a near-impossibility to achieve, and as you also mentioned, it makes more sense for the government to spend money. To your point about interest payments on the national debt, this is going to be a huge concern in the story. While the story isn’t in any specific year, it is near-future and interest payments will become a sizable portion of the budget you start with.
An extreme deficit, as you mention, will lead to both an economic decline for the reasons you mentioned as well as a gameplay mechanic (to force the reader to make decisions about where to invest in).
I won’t have too much more information on the planned system until I get to working on Book 2 more, but that’s the rough plan. And again, thanks for the feedback and support!
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Sounds good brother. Since this is set in like 2050 afaik you have a solid twenty-five years of back-history to justify how a surplus is possible. Not gonna mention names but imagine the current democratic nominee wins, she does shockingly well, in 2028 she has a 55% hold in the senate and the house, and she puts some much needed taxes in to balance the budget. Maybe it can happen in 2036. I think you can justify the possibility of a surplus by saying in a thrown off line “yeah President Elias raised upper crust nominal taxes, fought loopholes and created a new income bracket taxed at 49.5%.” (Could say lower military and pentagon budget but that would be crazy to pass) It’s not possible ten years from now but if you create the narrative backing you can make is somewhat realistic. End of the day its a narrative tool to arrive to a desired objective so I won’t fret too much about it haha.
Can’t wait for the demo next week. Hope I’m not overstepping, but if you need any help with econ stuff lmk. The US economy is a dragon-sized phenomena that is sometimes very difficult to parse, and a lot of people in the field think economics start and end with supply and demand and the stock market.
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It’s takes place in the 2030s since were the 50th President
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Happy to accept as much advice and suggestions as you’d like to supply when the time comes, a lot of great ideas come from readers with suggestions so always happy to take what’s offered!
There is some flexibility here, TPH diverges from reality in around 2021ish since that’s when I started writing. In theory, the story could be set as early as the 2030s or into early 2050 since the story never specifies which Presidents got second terms. The only insight on Presidents 47-49 I offer is Hoffman (#49), who only got one term as your character defeats them. Whether or not Joe Biden gets a second term in this universe and whether or not #47 and #48 served one or two terms is also up-in-the-air.
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Are you ever going to mention #47 and #48 Presidents in game
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Ngl I think it should only be in there if the story needs if for some reason
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I doubt I will since I (mainly) don’t see a huge reason to. It’s mentioned in a few places that #48 was George Reynolds and a Republican but beyond that, I don’t think their backgrounds are hugely important.
Including more information about them would (I think) require me to specify how long they served and their achievements. If I were to do that, you’d be able to figure out exactly what year the story takes place in (something I’ve worked hard to avoid) and it would also close off certain policy changes for the player to achieve as President’s 47-49 would have presumably done something in office.
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It’s actually not that hard to work out a (likely) timeline for this. Assuming that the 47th President takes office in the 2020s, that puts us as #50 in the 2030s-40s.
In Chapter 4, we get this note on the midterms: “We have all Class I Senate seats up for election.” Class I is the cycle from this year every six years onwards - putting these Senate elections in 2030, 2036, 2042, etc. 2036 and 2048 are not midterm years; this narrows down the possible midterm years to 2030 (too early), 2054 (too late) and 2042 (fits about right). Ergo, the midterms likely happen in 2042, meaning we take office in 2041 and the re-election effort is for 2044.
I don’t know if this was intentional, @RFKramer - it looks like you didn’t have a specific date in mind. Also, I hope I’m not ruining anything with this deduction. TBH, 2040 feels right, so I’m pretty glad if this remains the same.
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I was waiting for somebody to pick up on my mention of the Senate Class 
This was definitely intentional and certainly doesn’t ruin anything, glad you picked up on it!
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Alright great TPH is set in the 2040s
Also congrats on 100k views
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Full Public Beta is Now Live!
After about three years of work, it’s here: the full public beta of the People’s House Book 1! It is roughly 400,000 words and contains six different endings with a whole lot of choices in between. The public demo is now linked in the first post, which has been edited with all new information.
Before getting into anything else, I also wanted to make clear that my Patreon will no longer be receiving unique content. From this point until publishing, all updates will be posted regularly to the public beta version, and all others will be deleted as they become obsolete. Still, I’ll be keeping it up for those who’d like to continue to donate, and for when I start working on Book 2 and future projects.
If you accidentally renewed your Patreon subscription for September and would like a refund, please just send me a message on Patreon and I’ll be more than happy to refund the money to you – no questions asked!
Now, onto the public beta!
Public Beta Information
As required of Hosted Games, this thread will be open for (at least) a month to gather feedback from you all. In its current state, TPH is about 99% finished and there are no other major additions planned, aside from a few additional achievements.
I am also in the process of working with an illustrator to get some art created for the story. I’m hoping to be able to reveal to you all the chapter headers and other illustrations in a month or so time, but this timeline may shift depending on the artist’s availability and whether or not changes need to be made!
As I’ve said in previous posts, this is only Book 1 of what is planned to be two books. Book 1 will bring you through the entirety of your character’s first term and will end with the next Presidential Election (whether or not you run in it, and whether or not you win it, will depend entirely on your choices).
How To Help Me With Your Feedback
Any sort of feedback is helpful, whether it’s typos, grammar issues, confusing scenes, or decisions/reactions that just don’t make sense to you as a reader. My only ask is that you please be specific! If you really loved a certain portion, tell me why! If you really connected to a character or struggled to connect with another, that’s also helpful feedback. If you notice grammar issues, please copy and paste or screenshot the text so I’m able to easily locate and fix them. For higher-level feedback about characters, scene pacing, and broader decisions, just be as descriptive as you can.
Lastly, I’ll ask that please refrain from asking me questions about Book 2 for the time being. There are various points throughout Book 1 where major plot points and other elements of Book 2 are hinted at, and for now, that’s all I’m going to offer. I’d love to hear your thoughts, speculation, and ideas in this thread, but 100% of my energy is going into Book 1 so I can get it as refined and ready for publishing as possible. TLDR: I’d love to hear your thoughts about Book 2, but don’t expect my responses to any questions just yet 
As always, I’m hugely thankful for the support of all of you on the thread who’ve read my demo, left kind messages and suggestions, and have stuck with me as I’ve pushed through this monumental project. I’m looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions, and to seeing TPH published in a few months time!
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WOOOOOOOOO! HE DID IT! Congrats mate, I never thought we’d see a presidential game finished.
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