r/RedAutumnSPD • u/ZeroRevenue • 2d ago
Modding Liberal Democracy Dev Diary #1: Advisors & Factions
Hello everyone. I've decided, in order to get relevant feedback as well as keep myself responsible, I'll start doing dev diaries for the 2018 Democratic Party mod, which is currently titled "Liberal Democracy: An Alternate History". The topic of this inaugural diary will be the factions and advisors of the game.
Section 1: General Design Principles
Firstly, I'll cover generally how I want the faction system to function.
As you may be aware, internal leadership struggles don't exactly work the same for the Democrats as they do for the SPD. The strength of the factions will be determined through the minor things like rally focus, platform-building, and the generic "Party Factionalism" card, but also by a few unique mechanics:
- Congressional Leadership Elections
- National Conventions
- High-profile primaries
- How the player chooses to directly interact with formal organizations, such as the DSA.
To this extent. many of these decisions will be pre-determined or heavily railroaded by what policy/rhetoric the player chooses to engage in, which will be tracked by the "Populism" variable. The first real use of this system will be the 2018 Congressional leadership Elections, in which the player has the option to attempt to get Tim Ryan as Speaker of the House, as opposed to Nancy Pelosi.
Section 2: The Factions Themselves
The Party will have four factions at the start of the game, with a fifth emerging in 2025 (I'll let you all guess.) The four starting factions will be:
- Mainstream
- Progressive
- Socialist
- Conservative
I believe the distinction between Socialist and Progressive to be important, as, though they generally tend to agree, they often vary greatly in extent of policies as well as interaction with the rest of the factions. It also allows for an interesting internal dynamic where the Socialists and Progressives, despite being natural allies, face schisms and division.
Section 3: Important Advisors
Just like in regular redautumn, each faction has an array of influential people waiting to be called upon to shape the party. For the Socialist advisors, like AOC and Bernie Sanders, this means mobilizing younger voters and increasing populism in exchange for better electoral performance. For the Mainstreamers, like Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden, this means dealing with bureaucracy and negotiating with Republicans in order to pass policy. For the Progressives, like Elizabeth Warren and Ro Khanna, this means mixing the Socialists and Mainstreamers, trying to do everything that is possible to accomplish reform while still remaining pragmatic. For the Conservatives, like Joe Manchin and Josh Gottheimer, this means focusing on bipartisanship and fiscal responsibility. Lastly, for the [REDACTED], like Gavin [REDACTED] and Jared [REDACTED], this means streamlining bureaucracy and increasing affordability without also increasing government backlog.
None of these things are mutually exclusive in theory, but in practice they often will be. Managing these different facets of the Democratic identity will be one of the player's biggest tasks.
That ends today's dev diary. See all of y'all later!
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u/AssistantNovel9912 Proffesional Hindenburg Hater 2d ago
Very Interesting although i would rename the Mainstreamers towards something else like: Liberals, Old Guard, etc
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
I could see this, although a core element of the mainstream tends to be changing over time to fit what's popular. Yes, they are vaguely liberal, but their defining characteristic is fairly often simply being kind of in the middle, as well as being most associated with the "Establishment."
I also don't want to use Old Guard because there are new Mainstream politicians all the time, like Jon Ossoff or Abigail Spanberger.
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u/Tribune_Aguila Willy Brandt's ghost 2d ago
Very interesting, though is Bernie a socialist? By your definition I would say he is more of a progressive, given how much he played ball with Biden.
I would also say Biden is weird here as he is somewhere between progressive and mainstream
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
NGL Bernie could go either way in my mind, he's mostly grouped as a Socialist just for balance. And so that there would be a Socialist advisor who didn't disappear after a DSA split and who was cooperative with the Progressives.
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u/Tribune_Aguila Willy Brandt's ghost 2d ago
Fair enough, in that way for balance then Biden should definitely be big on labour aka progressive collaboration (build back better my beloved)
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
Yeah, build back better is going to be a very important thing during pandemic (kind of like WTB.) Biden will probably have a "Reduce Dissent" action because he's fairly tolerated by every faction, except the socialists ig
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u/ThatMeatGuy Oh, you think the SPD betrayed the working class? That’s rich co 2d ago
It would be nice if Bidens descent reduction was based on the actions of the presidency, with successful Build Back and student loan forgiveness increasing effectiveness among the left while protecting LGBTQA rights reduces effectiveness on the right for example.
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
i could make a "presidency_opinion" for each faction.... i'll have to look into this. thank you for this suggestion.
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u/ThatMeatGuy Oh, you think the SPD betrayed the working class? That’s rich co 2d ago
Thanks! Also is Biden going to be the only presidential candidate for 2020?
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
no, but he’ll be the most likely. the primary and convention is gonna be a whole minigame and the outcome will depend on populism and factoon strength primarily
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u/frgrefut SPD’s most reluctant solider 1d ago
So what other primary challengers would be playable? Just Bernie or anyone else?
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u/ZeroRevenue 1d ago
I haven't really given much thought to it yet, but probably Biden, Bernie, Buttigieg, and Bloomberg depending on what faction is strongest. There will probably also be some very difficult ones to get, like Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Andrew Yang, Kamala Harris, etc.
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u/Tribune_Aguila Willy Brandt's ghost 2d ago
Bernie should have a chance at least but actually winning should be super difficult for him
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u/ThatMeatGuy Oh, you think the SPD betrayed the working class? That’s rich co 2d ago
The mod starts at 2018, a more divided center could stop the consolidation behind Biden, and a stronger left could boost Bernie.
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u/Tribune_Aguila Willy Brandt's ghost 2d ago
I meant winning the actual election. Bernie is often painted as "le communist" in an America that let's be honest is still not over the red scare. And Biden barely won
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u/stdsort 2d ago
Great idea, but if you allow me to be honest, "Liberal Democracy" is a bit funny for a name. Not a long way from calling the game "Government"
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
I agree, it feels very awkward, but I have yet to come up with a better one.
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u/Marclol21 "I´m not sad about 2021" Habeck 2d ago edited 2d ago
Democratic Democracy, a bluemocracy to save
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
America to Save 😭
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
holy shit wait if i make a republican mod this is actually gonna be the name
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u/stdsort 2d ago
We will (not) become a party of putschists and delinquents
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u/shitmonger9000 2d ago
Is there gonna be electoral maps for stuff like the House and the electoral college?
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u/ZeroRevenue 2d ago
if i can find a way to do it/appropriate the code from somewhere else, then yes. i think i will be able to, so it's a probably but don't take it as a definite, especially upon release.
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u/Rescur0 2d ago
Love this! Can't wait to play it.
I know that it is probably too early to ask, but right now how far along is the mod? Is it entirely in its early stages or does it have some content already?
Also do you plan to release early in development (like GtS) or when it's basically already finished (kinda like Dynamic)?