Hi everyone!
Thank you for your patience while waiting for the update! We’ve decided to release one more smaller update before the major politics update we’re currently working on.
The changes to the political system forced us to rethink many of the connections and interactions between characters. Since blackmail is an inseparable part of politics, we decided to expand this side of the game as well.
1. Blackmail System Rework
Loyal Characters and Puppets
Previously, loyal characters and characters controlled through blackmail were treated as essentially the same thing. Starting with this update, they are now two separate character states:
Loyal characters have the maximum loyalty level of 5 out of 5.
Puppets are characters you have forced into submission using dirt on them.
Loyal characters will continue to work the same way they did before. They can support your laws, vote in your favor, lend you money, and carry out actions that less loyal characters would normally refuse.
Puppets can be just as useful as loyal allies, but there is one major difference.
A loyal character helps you willingly. A puppet obeys you out of fear.
After a successful blackmail attempt, the character’s loyalty toward you will drop to zero. They may follow your orders, but they certainly won’t be happy about it.
Dirt Strength
Every piece of dirt you uncover now has a strength level from 1 to 5.
This strength affects two things:
the chance that the blackmail attempt will succeed;
how long the character will remain under your control.
The stronger the dirt, the better your chances of forcing the character to do what you want, and the longer they will remain your puppet.
However, you won’t be able to uncover dirt on the same character forever. Each time you find something on them, the chance of finding more will decrease.
Reputation Matters
Even strong dirt does not guarantee success.
The target’s reputation now plays an important role. A character with an excellent reputation has much more to lose, which makes the threat of exposure far more dangerous to them.
A character with an already ruined reputation may barely care. Someone with nothing left to lose is much harder to control.
This is something you’ll need to consider before choosing your next puppet.
Fear Doesn’t Last Forever
Every favor performed by a puppet reduces the remaining strength of the dirt being used against them.
Over time, the character becomes less afraid of your threats and your control begins to weaken. Once the dirt’s strength reaches zero, the puppet will stop obeying you and become an open enemy.
Their inner circle will also learn about your manipulation, causing connected characters to lose loyalty toward you.
This means puppets cannot be used carelessly. Sometimes one final favor may not be worth the consequences that follow.
Releasing a Puppet
You can stop the blackmail at any time and release a puppet from your control.
Don’t expect their loyalty to immediately return to its previous level. Still, ending the blackmail voluntarily may help you avoid open hostility and more serious consequences.
Loyalty or Fear?
The new system creates several ways to use puppets effectively. We’ll leave those for you to discover.
But ordinary loyalty should not be underestimated.
A good friend can do almost as much for you as a frightened puppet, without the risk of betrayal, open hostility, or losing the loyalty of everyone around them.
The choice is now yours: spend time building a genuine relationship, or gain control quickly and deal with the consequences later.
2. What Else Is Included in This Update?
This update also includes a wide range of performance improvements and bug fixes.
🆕 New Features and Improvements
Updated state unemployment modifiers: “Employed Population” and “Population” now replace “Birth Rate/Death Rate”
Added lock and timer icons to negotiations while they are on cooldown
New fireplace flame animation
Blackmail system: blackmail strength, puppet system refactoring, and redesigned cards
Added filters to the politicians table (feedback-716)
Map tooltips now show the visit date, office, and filtering results
Characters matching active filters are now displayed on the map
All values are now displayed in the state satisfaction breakdown
Office sale value is now shown in the player’s assets
Reduced animation stuttering on the intro screen
🐞 Gameplay and UI Fixes
Fixed interface scaling issues after sleep mode or disconnecting monitors with different scaling settings
Fixed cursor size when using multiple monitors
Fixed filter regressions
Fixed available states in the character table (bugreport-817)
Fixed the Statistics and Finances tabs when switching to a company (bugreport-818/810)
Fixed the financing button when buying or selling an office
Fixed the number of player-owned companies after loading a save
Fixed loyalty values in the “Offer to Sell Shares” event
Fixed the bankruptcy warning condition
Fixed the amount of fame awarded
Fixed the state shown for participants in personal elections to the U.S. Congress
Fixed the number of votes required to pass a law (bugreport-793)
Fixed missing ellipsis in newspaper headlines (bugreport-785)
Security expenses are now included under “Other Expenses” in character assets
Restored career progression for politicians
Fixed tutorial text in achievements (bugreport-815)
💰 Economy and Finance
Fixed luxury item maintenance costs when using the Finance skill (bugreport-770)
Fixed loan repayments by characters (bugreport-783)
Fixed payments when switching between loans
Corporate client income is now displayed in bank finances
Fixed goodwill changes when publishing a media article (bugreport-774)
💥 Crashes and Stability
Fixed a crash caused by long recording sessions followed by another autosave (CrashGroup #57)
Fixed a crash on startup (Crashreport #7631)
Fixed a crash when loading saves created after January 1, 2000, involving state ID 65537
Fixed a crash when a deleted character was also selected as a candidate
Reduced delays when deleting companies and characters
💾 Saves and Database
Fixed autosave errors and added a warning when there is not enough storage space
⚡ Optimization
Improved the performance of holding supply calculations without changing their behavior
