As the release month draws to a close, we have another patch for you. And this one contains some much-requested features...
FAST MODE
Sometimes politicians just don't know when to shut up. We get it.
From now on, you can open the Settings at any time and toggle Fast Mode on. This will speed up animations, remove pauses and reduce delays all across the game.
Now your career can really crash and burn - at speed!
CANCELLING ACTIONS
Just like any good politician, you wanted to be able to commit to something and then gracelessly reverse your decision. Again, very reasonable.
So now you can! After playing a card or using a Tactic, if it results in a choice of some kind you will be able to back out at any time by clicking on the "X" in the top-right corner.
So get out there and start making some screeching U-turns!
FEEDBACK FORM
You've got things to say and (as is the theme of this post) you want to say them FAST.
Well, we've got a solution for you. If you open the Pause menu or press F2 at any point, you'll see a new button for our Feedback Form. Simply open that up, hammer down your opinions violently into your keyboard, and then click the button to fling it in our big, stupid faces.
It's cathartic AND constructive!
And finally (sort of)…Where there has been harmony, we are happy to bring -
DISCORD
Having studied MPs intensely, we know there is nothing they enjoy more than hearing the opinions of their constituents. So we decided that we too must provide a better way for you to give voice to your views. We ask only that you try and limit the personal abuse to within acceptable parameters. Think of us as politicians if that helps. Nobody would ever dream of being rude to them!
You can join here: https://discord.gg/tYFcwzXD9y
AND MORE…
But that's not all - there are also tonnes more balance changes and bug fixes, all listed below in a large and very interesting wall of text.
THE END OF THIS POST
So there we have it. We suspect the most exciting part of this will be Fast Mode, but let us know (perhaps even on Discord?) if you feel differently.
Once again, thanks for playing!
Features
Fast mode setting added in the Settings menu (accessible from the main menu, or via the Pause menu). Enabling Fast mode will activate the following:
Global: Popup animations are faster. Currencies skipping to their respective meters is removed. The animation when getting a new tactic, staff or item (element going to the player’s drawer) is removed. Tactic, staff and buff pings are now grouped when triggered at the same time.
Debate: Leader animations and pauses are faster during debates. Leaders sliding in-and-out when swapping during debates are faster. Roll modifiers triggers (e.g. Whipped, Rooted) are faster. The hold time before a turn starts is faster. Pings from end of turn actions are faster. The gain/loss animation for the Unity gauge is faster, and the flip animation will only trigger once, even if filled/depleted multiple times.
Dice MPs: The entry and exit animations are faster. The roll animation and animation for the roll results are faster. When multiple MPs are convinced at the same time, all stance additions or removals are updated at the same time, rather than one by one.
Shrieker: The Eye roll animation is faster. The scream animation at the end of a debate is faster.
Lobby: The dice votes fall simultaneously. Rewards are displayed faster after debate.
Office: Red box decisions are dealt and open faster. Probability results are displayed faster.
A new in-game feedback form is now available to report bugs, balancing issues and any other type of feedback. It can be accessed from the Main menu, or by pressing the F2 key anytime.
You can now back out of playing tactics, items and cards that have a targeting step if you get buyer's remorse. Click the X button in the top-right corner to cancel the action.
Note: Sucksworth's "Quick Thinking" Dominate option is excluded from this.
Balance
Gameplay
Adjusted the "Missing Funds" Red Box decision from 25k to 5k and prevented the "Gift Grift" Red Box decision from appearing in Term 0. This avoids a common Elder Statesmonster auto-loss scenario in Term 0.
Rotilda de Cay
Adjusted the "Drone On" card to increase its PC Exploit value from 1 to 2.
Opponents
Adjusted Lord Gorse's behaviour in his Term 3 debate; he will now remove party debuffs on himself and Rabid.
Staff members
Adjusted the "Spin Doctor" staff member to allow preventing Poll losses in debate or on return to office, instead of the first poll loss after being acquired.
Adjusted the "Rebel Ghost" staff member to increase its Unity drain from 8 to 20.
UI/UX & Visuals
Added an option to view your existing tactics, cards and staff members when being awarded new tactics, card upgrades and new staff members.
Adjusted the Skip option timing for the Election cutscene so it can be skipped sooner in the animation and allow the post-reward sequence to be skipped as well.
Adjusted the buff pings so they only trigger once, even if the effect is triggered multiple times within one action (“Paperpusher” staff member, Rotilda’s “Dig Deep”, “Rehash” and “Dead Drop” tactics).
Adjusted staff members and tactics affecting the number of cards drawn at the beginning of the turn, so they ping simultaneously (“Guru” and “Intern” staff members, Rotilda's “Adaptive” passive tactic).
Adjusted staff members drawing cards, so they ping simultaneously (“Elder” and “Speechwriter” staff members).
Adjusted currencies offered by Staff members, so they appear from the pinged Staff member instead.
Adjusted visuals on charge tactics so the completion effect is clearer.
Adjusted the length of the Shrieker’s tie-breaker animation.
Main menu lighting, text flares, paparazzi flashes and TV turning off during the Election cutscene are now affected by the "VFX flashes" accessibility setting.
Please note this is an ongoing adjustment and other VFXs are planned to be adjusted in following patches.
Bug fixes
General
Fixed an issue where the unlock conditions for the “Personal Time” pledge were incorrect.
Fixed an issue where the “The Buck Stops Over There” achievement could unlock if picking the “Accept responsibility” or “Coordinate with the Goblins” options in the “Make Do And Amend” story.
Gameplay
Fixed an issue where a scenario using the “Incite+” card, the “Needs Must” tactic and the enemy having Retort could cause a soft-lock.
Fixed an issue where a Tactic could remain equipped in the tactic slot locked by the “Assassination Attempt” crisis event.
Fixed an issue where the “All-expenses paid hotel” option in the “Personal Time” decision could not be selected.
Fixed an issue where the “Ignore it” option in the “Moronic Social Media Trend” decision would not award Political Capital.
Fixed an issue where the “Refuse the amendment” option in the “Make Do And Amend” story would result in negative consequences despite having selected the “Agree to consider it” option before.
Fixed an issue where the non-aligned options in the “The Great Hunting Debate” crisis story would not impact the rest of the story.
User Interface & Experience
Fixed an issue where superfluous tooltips could appear on the Unity meter of Chopper, Sucksworth and Rotilda when they are opponents.
Fixed an issue where the Shrieker would not properly reset to its idle state after an Eye roll resulted in a success.
Fixed an issue where the Shrieker’s first eye would not properly reset if the Shrieker’s Suspicion level was fully reset and you rolled a 1.
Fixed an issue where the “Financial Crisis” notification would still be present when returning to the office after the Term 3 manifesto bill.
Fixed an issue where the “Lost an MP” popup would not appear after selecting the “Chuck Him Out” option in the “Faction Fuss” story.
Fixed an issue where the debate result popup could shift when switching states.
Audio
Fixed an issue where the vote tally SFX would trigger when a voting Dead MP was animated, or when an Animated MP died.
Chopper Badstone
Fixed an issue where the “Carrying the Room” tactic would not trigger correctly when MPs were sent off by the Shrieker.
Fixed an issue where the “Carrying the Room” tactic would trigger when you had no MPs left.
Fixed an issue where stunned or unconscious dice MPs could be selected when using the “Shore Up Defence”, “Consult Writers”, “Hype Orc”, “Obscene Gesture” and “Dirty Work” tactics.
Viscount Sucksworth
Fixed an issue where enemy dice rolls could be affected by the “Top-Up” and “Fearsome Reputation” tactics.
Fixed an issue where stunned or unconscious dice MPs could be selected when using the “Biting Remark+” card, or the “Dig Up Dirt”, “Find A Vein”, “Drain the Tension”, “Loom”, “Donor”, “Lackey”, “Familiar”, “Support Act” and “Smooth Talk” tactics.
Rotilda de Cay
Fixed an issue where enemy dice rolls could be affected by Whipped MPs.
Fixed an issue where stunned or unconscious dice MPs could be selected when using the “Heckle”, “Helpful Question”, “Grave Accusation” and “Filibuster” tactics.
Opponents
Fixed an issue where animations were not displayed properly in the Term 3 Diswaily & Bonar debate.
Fixed an issue where passive tactics locked by Lankbury were not disabled.
Staff Members & Items
Fixed an issue where the “Official Biographer” Staff member would only award 2 Legacy, even when you levelled up multiple times at once.
Fixed an issue where the “Spin Doctor” Staff member effect and the “Elder Statesmonster” penalty triggered in the wrong order. The “Spin Doctor" Staff member effect should refresh before the difficulty penalty was applied.
Text & Localisation
Fixed an issue where the incorrect newspaper headline could appear after winning a debate against Split the Younger in Term 1.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect newspaper headline could appear after winning a debate against Puke & Dead Rod in Term 3.
Fixed an issue where the “Celebrity Headache” blurb had a superfluous word.
Fixed several text issues related to tactics, cards and effects, where the description was not matching the in-game behaviour.
Notes
For people running the game through Proton, either on Linux or Steam Deck, make sure you're running the latest Proton version; outdated Proton versions can lead to navigation issues in game, such as being unable to change or move tactics.