Tutorial?

Do YOU have what it takes to run a country? Democracy starts with you in the role of President (or Prime Minister) of a modern country. Choose from twelve real countries, ranging from the United States to Australia. The object of the game is to stay in power as long as possible while pursuing policies that will turn your country into your definition of a utopia.
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PoorOldSpike
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Tutorial?

Post by PoorOldSpike »

Hi, is there a tutorial, I can't see any reference to one in the Manual?
I've had the game a couple of weeks but am at a dead end, I just don't know how to even begin playing it, like er...what do I do?
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Erik Rutins
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by Erik Rutins »

Spike,

I assume you did read the manual?

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- Erik
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PoorOldSpike
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by PoorOldSpike »

In the Manuals 'Table of Contents' and Index, there's no reference to a Tutorial or have I missed it?
I once downloaded a high-tech add-on for F-16 Fighting Falcon where the only way to get airborne was to press all the correct buttons in the cockpit in sequence, but there was no tutorial, so I never did manage to start the engine and get off the runway and had to eventually uninstall it.
Now with Deomcracy I'm experiencing an uncanny sense of deja vu..
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by Erik Rutins »

Spike,

We felt that the manual itself was all that was required. What are you finding to be the main stumbling block for you in figuring out the game once you've read through the manual?

Regards,

- Erik
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PoorOldSpike
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by PoorOldSpike »

Okay if I've got to wade through the manual page by page I suppose i'll have to, but a neat little tutorial would have helped; practically every game I know has got a tutorial.
No doubt the fact that I know absolutely nothing about economics and stuff is making it harder for me to get into the game than other people.
Matrix sent me the game to review, so here's my first observation- I wish it had a tutorial..:)
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MarkShot
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by MarkShot »

Spike,

Version 1.5 which I purchased directly does include a tutorial. Of course, I am not sure about the version you have from Matrix. Note: These screenshots are of Dem 1. I do have Dem 2 also. Both games are very refreshing conceptually and have a superb interface.

(screens follow)
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MarkShot
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by MarkShot »

The menu with the tutorial ...

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RE: Tutorial?

Post by MarkShot »

The start of the tutorial ...

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RE: Tutorial?

Post by MarkShot »

Here from a review I did of the game elsewhere in terms of interface concepts:
Screenshots in this thread below are of Democracy 1.

<link>

Pretty much once you understand one of these games, you can easily transition to the other. Democracy 2 is somewhat more sophisticated.

Perhaps, the biggest conceptual difference is that Democracy 1 engine forbids recursive relationships and Democracy 2 engine supports them.

Example Non-Recursive: A -> B -> C; C -> A (not allowed)

Example Recursive: A -> B - > C; C -> A (allowed)

Where X -> Y means that X has a causitive impact upon Y.

I decided to throw up some quick screens from Democracy 1 here in this thread. As you can tell, I really like the interface and game concept.

What is beautiful about the interface is that it very effectively captures the complex cause and effect relationships with in a sophisticated system of variables.

Lines indicate relationships.

Green indicates relationships that cause something to increase.

Red indicates relationships that cause something to decrease.

The flow (direction) of the staircase on the illustrates causitive action flowing from cause to effect.

The rate of flow indicates the magnitude that the relationship contributes to the particular variable.

A fantastically elegant and simply system. I am sure XYZ would appreciate this.

The game interface has four types of objects:

(1) DEMOGRAPHICS - Voting groups
(2) POLICIES - Things which you implement that impact SITUATIONS, DEMOGRAPHICS, and KEYDATA.
(3) SITUATIONS - Issues which arise that interelate to other objects.
(4) KEYDATA - Perpetual data that describes the world/political situation of interest.

In addition, there are EVENTS (stuff that just happens randomly are partly influenced by you) and DILEMMAS (critical decisions you must make).

The main focus of the game is this:

(1) Find the largest demographics that are slightly opposed to you. Determine their issues and nudge group to support you.
(2) Go back to #1 and repeat while trying not lose the support you have.

Tricks:

(1) If want to do something, but have minimal negative impact (like increase revenues) then spread over a large body of DEMOGRAPHICs. For example, introduce many new taxes, but at a very low rate.
(2) If you want to do something and have a big impact, then pick a single policy and choose a large position with the slider.

There you have the game in a nutshell.
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PoorOldSpike
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by PoorOldSpike »

Ah, so version 1.5 has a tutorial, thanks for that info, I didn't even know there was a 1.5..:)
Matrix let me have v1.0 and that's the only one I've got.
I see there's a 'Trueupdate' feature with it but when I click it nothing happens, the message comes up- "Error, unable to determine installed version"
No use me learning 1.0 now then because its old hat..
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by Erik Rutins »

Spike,
ORIGINAL: Poor Old Spike
Okay if I've got to wade through the manual page by page I suppose i'll have to, but a neat little tutorial would have helped; practically every game I know has got a tutorial.
No doubt the fact that I know absolutely nothing about economics and stuff is making it harder for me to get into the game than other people.
Matrix sent me the game to review, so here's my first observation- I wish it had a tutorial..:)

It does have a tutorial, it's on the main menu (as shown above) when you start a New Game.

I asked you whether you had read the manual yet because it's a pretty simple game to understand. With a 24 page manual (that includes the front and back covers and our boilerplate, I don't see how you could say that it needs to be "waded through". This is really a straightforward title and the manual is a breeze to read.
Ah, so version 1.5 has a tutorial, thanks for that info, I didn't even know there was a 1.5..:)
Matrix let me have v1.0 and that's the only one I've got.

v1.5 is the same as v1.0. The developer renamed our release to v1.0 but it's the same as the v1.5 version they sell directly. If you look at the same screen you see when starting a new game, you'll see the tutorial right there as well.
I see there's a 'Trueupdate' feature with it but when I click it nothing happens, the message comes up- "Error, unable to determine installed version" No use me learning 1.0 now then because its old hat..

I just did a test install here. The True Update feature worked fine for me, telling me "you already have the latest version installed" which is correct. Our Democracy release is the final most updated version of that game, equal to their v1.5 release and there have been no new updates since its release. If True Update is failing for you, chances are something else is interfering with it on your system, but in any case there's no newer version than what you have.

Regards,

- Erik
Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC


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PoorOldSpike
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by PoorOldSpike »

Right, having established 1.0 and 1.5 are the same, we're making some progress..:)
And I've just realised I did look at the Tutorial a week or two ago but it still left me puzzled, so what I should perhaps have said is that I wish the tut was in the "step-by-step turn-by-turn" style for deadheads like me..
But i'll go and have a serious stab at getting into the game, send out search parties if i'm not back later..

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MarkShot
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by MarkShot »

Hey, Erik,

Are you over at Origins today? I think it starts today, yes?

PS1: You answered in another thread regarding the difference between Dem2 and Dem1 being that Dem2 only uses fantasy countries. While that is strictly correct, there is actualy a mods page for Dem2. Pretty much all the countries in Dem1 were ported over to Dem2 as mods:

http://www.positech.co.uk/democracy2/modlist.html

PS2: There hasn't seemed to be much enthusiasm about this game here at Matrix, but I think it is a great offering. So, many games (like from Paradox for example) have political aspects, but at heart they are really war games of conquest (like Victoria). However, Dem1/2 are truely about politics and relationships. Also, they are highly moddable.
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Erik Rutins
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RE: Tutorial?

Post by Erik Rutins »

ORIGINAL: MarkShot
Are you over at Origins today? I think it starts today, yes?

Flying out tomorrow, setup is Wednesday and the convention officially opens on Thursday and runs through Sunday. I'll be away for a week, back in the office next Tuesday.

Regards,

- Erik
Erik Rutins
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