President Infinity next release sneak-peek v. 2.8.0, Windows

This update adds a new Surrogates Screen, Florida – 2018 – Senatorial, makes updates to the Editor, adds the ability to set credits for campaign creation, allows for Vice-Leaders to be optional, fixes a bug where computer players wouldn’t withdraw or endorse in the primaries, cleans up offers, and more.

You can download it by clicking the button below for Windows.

Download Now!

Note: Requires you already have the game installed.

Feedback welcome!

New since previous release

  • Surrogates > can add images, similar to candidates
  • Surrogates > Main Screen > name under portrait > if name too long, shows just last name
  • Main Screen > Activities > fixed bug where could continue using surrogate after used all Surrogate Points
  • new Create Surrogate Screen
  • Editor > Regions > Issues > Profiles > ‘Set All’ button visible regardless of region
  • fixed bug in function to determine where loss of support would go to after platform change
  • Editor > Regions > Map > can right click to set abbreviation coordinates
  • Editor > Regions > if edit id, checks if unique, if not, adds unique identifier (ex. “_2”)
  • Editor > Regions > Map > fixed tab ordering
  • Editor > Regions > if change region abbreviation and then go to map, abbreviation updated
  • Editor > Leaders > if edit id, check if unique, if not, adds unique identifier (ex. “_2”)
  • Editor > Regions > Map > can show all abbreviations
  • Editor > Issues > if edit id, checks if unique, if not, adds unique identifier (ex. “_2”)
  • Select Leader Screen > if only 1 leader, Change Leader button disabled
  • Editor > can set credits, button appears on Select Campaign Screen if set
  • Editor > Basics > More > can set Elected Leader Position (ex. “Prime Minister”), Institution (ex. “Parliament”), Appointed by (ex. “Governor General”)
  • added Florida – 2018 – Senatorial campaign
  • Editor > can set whether vice-leaders enabled
  • 2016 > Trump > Strategic 2 -> 3 primaries, 4 -> 5 general election
  • Strategy Screen > Primaries > fixed bug where player other than turn player’s selected by default
  • Editor > Regions > Parties > if editing %s but have Editor > Polling > Use Polls on, text indicates using polling
  • primaries > fixed bug where computer players wouldn’t withdraw or endorse other computer players
  • Players Info Screen > fixed bug if starting in primaries and get to only 1 leader left in party
  • Offers > fixed bug where didn’t get bonus to chance accept when offered VP slot
  • Offers > fixed some bugs with making offers that didn’t make sense (ex. offer to withdraw and offer them a VP slot)
  • Offers > improved computer players chance accept for some offers
  • Editor > Regions > Issues > added ‘Set All Issues’ button, to set all issues for a region to specified center

Goals for next releases – Autumn 2018 – Preview

This is a preview intended for feedback, in particular any features you think should be top priority. We are currently finishing up the Summer 2018 cycle of releases, with a new President Infinity and Congress Infinity to be released in a few weeks – this will be the next cycle after that.

All dates are estimates. All features are goals, not promises. List subject to revision.

President Infinity – September 15th

  1. Favorability (each voter has a numeric value rating each candidate, important for modeling > 2 candidate election dynamics or systems where candidates withdraw, such as primaries or two-round runoff systems such as France’s)
  2. Candidate attributes will use a 0-10 system, instead of 1-5 (allows for more distinctions between candidates)
  3. California Governor – 2018 official campaign added
  4. Map will have pop-up information when mouse-over, so don’t have to click on it to view %s
  5. Can modify size of windows (for displays with high resolutions)
  6. High DPI support (text for the game will show properly on monitors with high DPI, instead of being fuzzy from being scaled up by the operating system)

Note that United States – 2020 is planned for Winter 2018-2019 release, after the mid-terms. Networking is planned for after that, and applies for all products.

Congress Infinity – September 30th

  1. See President Infinity 1., 2., 4.-6.
  2. Updates to Senate 2018 and House 2018

Prime Minister Infinity – U.K. – October 15th

  1. See President Infinity 1., 2., 4.-6.
  2. Preferences added for Australia.

Prime Minister Infinity – Canada – October 30th (September 1st)

  1. Quebec 2018 official campaign added (will be released without game engine changes September 1st)
  2. See President Infinity 1., 2., 4.-6.
  3. Preferences added for Australia.

Feedback welcome!

Canada gets their Trump

With Doug Ford’s win for premiership of Ontario, Canada gets a Trump-like politician in a major position of leadership.

 

Just as Justin Trudeau’s election as Prime Minister echoes Barack Obama’s – Trudeau was young, charismatic, and inexperienced – Ford’s election follows a path similar to Trump’s. Trump’s path to victory was – while overall right of centre – along certain broadly populist positions, often to the left of his major opponent, and delivered with charisma. Ford focused on the economy and energy, two major focuses of Trump in the last Presidential election. Ford has a genuinely successful business background – like Trump – and even uses thumb’s up a lot, just as Trump does.

Many people speculated that Kevin O’Leary, who ran for leadership of the Conservative party in Canada (and eventually withdrew before the nomination voting), was Canada’s answer to Trump, but O’Leary wasn’t really an analog. He lacked the charisma, the genuinely successful business background (the only company O’Leary built crashed and burned soon after he sold it), and most importantly, the populist flair.

Time will tell whether Ford’s ascent to Premiership of Canada’s largest province paves the way for a federal run, but at least for the people of Ontario, they now have the Canadian equivalent of Trump. A nicer, saying ‘eh’ more often (and lacking the immigration issue, which is a federal responsibility) version of Trump.

To see the Ontario 2018 game and learn more about who was just elected, see here.

Prime Minister Infinity – Canada – Version 2.7.9

Prime Minister Infinity – Canada – v. 2.7.9 for Windows and Mac has been released!

This update includes

  • Ontario 2018 > added May 20th start date, new shifted %s for that start date
  • Platform Screen > fixed bug with issue position Power bonuses for secondary regions
  • Platform Screen > fixed bug where player issue positions (“Center-Right” and so on) would disappear
  • Ontario 2018 > Lib-NDP relations Bad -> Normal
  • Ontario 2018 > set ‘Scandals apply’ on various issues to false
  • Ontario 2018 > Schreiner > blurb “Shreiner” -> “Schreiner”
  • Ontario 2018 > Beaches-East York > removed highscore bonus if defeat PC candidate

If you are a Prime Minister Infinity – Canada owner, you are eligible for this upgrade.

This is a comprehensive update.

You can download this release by requesting a download e-mail at the link below.

To update:

http://270soft.com/updates-redownloads/

Version information:

http://270soft.com/updates-redownloads/prime-minister-infinity-canada-version-information

Prime Minister Infinity – U.K. – Version 2.7.8

Prime Minister Infinity – U.K. – v. 2.7.8 for Windows and Mac has been released!

This update includes

  • a new Surrogates screen (including Surrogate images if supported by a campaign)
  • enhances the Editor including more easily positioning abbreviations, fixes several bugs, allowing for setting individual seat issue centres and profiles, and more
  • adds search to the Research Screen
  • fixes a bug where computer players wouldn’t select opponents properly
  • allows for up to 100 highscores
  • and more

If you are a Prime Minister Infinity – U.K. owner, you are eligible for this upgrade.

This is a comprehensive update.

You can download this release by requesting a download e-mail at the link below.

To update:

http://270soft.com/updates-redownloads/

Version information:

https://270soft.com/updates-redownloads/prime-minister-infinity-u-k-version-information/

What’s new in this upgrade

  • Player Info Screen > Platform > fixed bug where % profile increase labels shown beyond number of issues
  • can view up to 100 highscores
  • Winner Screen > can see highscore next to rank
  • Research Screen > can select region by search
  • Strategy Screen > names of regions not on ballot are gray
  • save > fixed bug with save files that were too big
  • save > now only 1 save file associated with a save game, as opposed to 1 plus 1 for each candidate in the game
  • fixed bug if canceled load game where program would freeze
  • fixed bug > if used too many CPs and playing 7 days per turn, would subtract from leader’s EPs each day instead of once per turn
  • Strategy Screen > fixed bug where ordering by Platform Distance listed with some results out of order
  • Ads, Research, Endorsers, Theme, Notes, Player Info Screen > can press Esc to close screen
  • Main Screen > Activities > can press Esc to return to Main Screen
  • Spin Screen > can press Esc to return to Main Screen, including can Esc out of Interviews popup
  • Electoral Vote (Constituency) Screen > can press Esc to return to Strategy Screen or Main Screen
  • fixed bug > computer player wouldn’t focus on opponents
  • Main Map > if region selected on Main Map and click Research button, will automatically set region for Research Screen
  • Constituency Screen > if click Research button, will automatically set region for Research Screen
  • Sim > recognizes coalitions
  • Editor > Regions > Ballot > Set All > if universal political unit selected, description says will change for all regions
  • Surrogates > can add images, similar to candidates
  • Surrogates > Main Screen > name under portrait > if name too long, shows just last name
  • Main Screen > Activities > fixed bug where could continue using surrogate after used all Surrogate Points
  • new Create Surrogate Screen
  • Editor > can set issue centers for individual seats
  • Editor > Regions > Issues > Profiles > ‘Set All’ button visible regardless of region
  • Editor > Regions > Issues > can set issue profiles for individual seats
  • fixed bug in function to determine where loss of support would go to after platform change
  • Editor > Regions > fixed bug if tried to delete secondary region with just one tertiary region
  • Editor > Regions > Map > can right click to set abbreviation coordinates
  • Editor > Regions > if edit id, checks if unique, if not, adds unique identifier (ex. “_2”)
  • Editor > Regions > Map > fixed tab ordering
  • Editor > Regions > if change region abbreviation and then go to map, abbreviation updated
  • Editor > Leaders > if edit id, check if unique, if not, adds unique identifier (ex. “_2”)
  • Editor > Regions > Map > can show all abbreviations
  • Editor > Issues > if edit id, checks if unique, if not, adds unique identifier (ex. “_2”)
  • Select Leader Screen > if only 1 leader, Change Leader button disabled
  • Editor > can set credits, button appears on Select Campaign Screen if set
  • Editor > Basics > More > can set Elected Leader Position (ex. “Prime Minister”), Institution (ex. “Parliament”), Appointed by (ex. “Governor General”)

Creating a sustainable financial model for the Infinity games – adding subscriptions

A huge amount of work has been put into updating the Infinity games (President, Congress, Prime Minister U.K. and Canada), but it isn’t sustainable without a better financial model to support that development. A better model will give a stable financial basis so we can continue to invest in the Infinity games and expand our investment beyond what we are doing now.

So, I am announcing we will be moving to a base product + subscription model. What does this mean for you?

For someone buying a game new, they get the game + 1 year of updates and customer support. After that, a person can choose to purchase a yearly subscription for $8. (If the subscription isn’t renewed, a person can renew later on but for an initial rate of $12, then $8 after that.)

The subscription covers updates and support for all the games you own, so if you own all 4, you get updates to all 4 for $8 a year.

If you already own the game, you will be grandfathered in for updates and customer support for a certain amount of time. You will be grandfathered for from 1 year if you just purchased to a minimum of 3 months for anyone who purchased more than 9 months ago.

This is effective May 27th, so anyone who purchased 9 or more months ago will have their updates and customer service period expire on August 27th, 2018. For everyone else, the date is 1 year from their original purchase date.

You can tell when your current updates + customer service will need to be renewed here (and clicking to get a redownload e-mail). You will be e-mailed before the renewal time to let you know, if you haven’t already added a subscription.

You can also add 1 year to your subscription term beforehand here so you don’t have to worry about it. (This will add 1 year after the point it is set to expire, so the new expiry date will become September 1st, 2019 if it’s set to expire September 1st, 2018).

Game development will move to an official release for each major product every 3 months or so. This is an estimate. So on a subscription, you can expect 4 official updates per year per product. The goals for upcoming releases will be stated clearly on the web-site, but these are goals and subject to revision.

Anthony Burgoyne, Lead Designer, 270soft

Q&A

Q. I already own the game. Does this mean I have to purchase it again?

A. No. If you are an owner, you only have to purchase a subscription ($8 per year) to continue receiving updates and customer service after your current term expires (August 27th, 2018 or later, depending on when you originally purchased).

Q. Will I be able to keep playing the game if I don’t get or renew a subscription?

A. Yes. You can keep playing the latest version available before your subscription expired.

Q. Can I unsubscribe?

A. Yes. At any time, if you added an auto-renewing subscription and don’t want your subscription to renew, simply contact us and we will cancel the subscription renewal for you.

Q. Are you promising 4 updates per year for each product?

A. No, but the goal is 4 updates for each of the Infinity games per year, roughly once every 3 months.

Q. I thought I would get updates until the end of the products’ life-times when I originally purchased. Isn’t this unfair?

A. The option here is between switching to a subscription model for the Infinity games, or to stop updating the games. Since the intent of subscriptions is to allow 270soft to significantly change the games, this new policy effectively starts new products that are more sustainable.

Q. Are you on Patreon?

A. No. Adding extra features for something like Patreon means more time spent not making the games better. If you want to support us more, the best way to do that is to give feedback, help with creating campaigns, and let other people know about the games!

Q. Will this change be able to cover improvements desired by the community, such as full-screen support and possibly mobile apps on iOS and Android down the road?

A. Yes, that’s a big part of doing this – to be able to continue updating the games. Full-screen support is something that might happen – mobile phones is more problematic, as it would probably require a complete redo of the user interface, but iOS and Android tablets are possible.

Prime Minister Infinity – Canada – Version 2.7.8

Prime Minister Infinity – Canada – v. 2.7.8 for Windows and Mac has been released!

This update includes

  • Ontario 2018 > added None of the Above Party
  • Ontario 2018 > added Trillium Party
  • Editor > can set credits for campaign creation, button appears on Select Campaign Screen if set
  • Editor > Basics > More > can set Elected Leader Position (ex. “Prime Minister”), Institution (ex. “Parliament”), Appointed by (ex. “Governor General”)
  • Mac > fixes bug with Editor > Regions Screen

If you are a Prime Minister Infinity – Canada owner, you are eligible for this upgrade.

This is a comprehensive update.

You can download this release by requesting a download e-mail at the link below.

To update:

http://270soft.com/updates-redownloads/

Version information:

http://270soft.com/updates-redownloads/prime-minister-infinity-canada-version-information