President Forever and other 270soft games Megathread
- Thread starter Tayya
- Start date
Fun game as George Wallace in '72, came close to winning the nomination a la Gumbo but no cigar. Won the South and a few states outside (including Oregon bizarrely and taking a decent chunk of NY's proportional delegates). But I couldn't stop Humphrey.
I recall someone on this forum, not sure of the thread, mentioning that the User Scenarios for President Forever 2004 (P4E4), are no longer available from usual page here:
http://campaigns.270soft.com/p4e4/
The game itself can be downloaded, but all scenarios listed are gone, and this is confirmed by the admin of the company's forum:
http://270soft.ipbhost.com/topic/15454-cant-download-older-scenarios/?tab=comments#comment-247258
Using an account, I searched the forum for a variety of terms related to file formats and P4E4, but all of the links I could find were to dead file-sharing sites, outside of two which connected to PM Forever scenarios I couldn't get to work (which is understandable).
As a reminder, the P4E4 download comes with four official general election scenarios (there are no primaries): 2004, 1992, 1980 and 1960. Right now, I'm wondering how much effort it would take to port over scenarios for the newer games or if original P4E4 scenarios can be pieced together from old screenshots in this thread and elsewhere.
Personally, I hadn't touched this version of the game in a long time, and the only custom scenario I had saved was a 2002 MA gubernatorial election campaign
http://campaigns.270soft.com/p4e4/
The game itself can be downloaded, but all scenarios listed are gone, and this is confirmed by the admin of the company's forum:
http://270soft.ipbhost.com/topic/15454-cant-download-older-scenarios/?tab=comments#comment-247258
Using an account, I searched the forum for a variety of terms related to file formats and P4E4, but all of the links I could find were to dead file-sharing sites, outside of two which connected to PM Forever scenarios I couldn't get to work (which is understandable).
As a reminder, the P4E4 download comes with four official general election scenarios (there are no primaries): 2004, 1992, 1980 and 1960. Right now, I'm wondering how much effort it would take to port over scenarios for the newer games or if original P4E4 scenarios can be pieced together from old screenshots in this thread and elsewhere.
Personally, I hadn't touched this version of the game in a long time, and the only custom scenario I had saved was a 2002 MA gubernatorial election campaign
“Massachusetts Gubernatorial” – 2002
(2005-7-1)
Author: Alex Williamson
Reviews
Description: “The twelve year hold on the governorship by the Republicans in this traditionally Democratic state is up for referendum. Will the mounting fiscal crisis return the Democrats to full power or will the voters choose four more years of Republican rule and divided government?”
(2005-7-1)
Author: Alex Williamson
Reviews
Description: “The twelve year hold on the governorship by the Republicans in this traditionally Democratic state is up for referendum. Will the mounting fiscal crisis return the Democrats to full power or will the voters choose four more years of Republican rule and divided government?”
It may have been me.
It's a shame, as the original version (probably due to its relative simplicity) has just about the widest variety of scenarios of any of the company's games. I have it on my PC still, and (off the top of my head) I have scenarios such as "Red Dawn 2008" and "Blue Dawn 2008" (each having a lean towards one of the parties with both scenarios having a ton of candidates) and one where the Anglosphere is united around 2004, thus featuring the likes of Paul Martin and Mark Latham.
President Forever 2008 also had a lot of interesting scenarios that were only posted to the 27soft forum around a decade ago with links that are now dead.
2004 Presidential Election
Joe Biden (D-DE)/Barack Obama (D-IL): 312 - 49.3% - 67,026,763
George W. Bush (R-TX)/Bill Frist (R-TN): 226 - 49.0% - 66,611,180
Ralph Nader (I-CT)/Peter Camejo (I-CA): 0 - 1.7% - 2,335,386
Battleground states:
Maine (Bush+0.4)
North Dakota (Biden+0.7)
Virginia (Bush+1.1)
South Carolina (Biden+1.3)
Maryland (Biden+1.7)
Wisconsin (Biden+2.5)
Connecticut (Biden+2.6)
Florida (Bush+3)
Oregon (Biden+3)
Washington (Biden+3.1)
Minnesota (Biden +3.3)
Ohio (Biden+3.7)
Michigan (Biden+4.6)
Joe Biden (D-DE)/Barack Obama (D-IL): 312 - 49.3% - 67,026,763
George W. Bush (R-TX)/Bill Frist (R-TN): 226 - 49.0% - 66,611,180
Ralph Nader (I-CT)/Peter Camejo (I-CA): 0 - 1.7% - 2,335,386
Battleground states:
Maine (Bush+0.4)
North Dakota (Biden+0.7)
Virginia (Bush+1.1)
South Carolina (Biden+1.3)
Maryland (Biden+1.7)
Wisconsin (Biden+2.5)
Connecticut (Biden+2.6)
Florida (Bush+3)
Oregon (Biden+3)
Washington (Biden+3.1)
Minnesota (Biden +3.3)
Ohio (Biden+3.7)
Michigan (Biden+4.6)
Rosa Luxemburg
Banned
Well I was playing a really good game as Wallace in '68 but it might have crashed and not saved. Idk yet. For context, among other states, I was winning Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New York
I've been following and playing these games for a long time now, since early 2005. There has definitely been a trade-off in that as more features have been added, it's become more difficult to design custom scenarios.
IMO, the main shortcomings are:
IMO, the main shortcomings are:
- The default scenarios tend to have the undecided/persuadable percentages too high and give a little too much "juice" to momentum, thus the sometimes implausible results.
- The engines for systems other than first-past-the-post haven't been updated in quite a while, so there's a somewhat limited range of countries and historical periods that the newest versions of the games can accommodate.
- The fluctuations on election night went from too small in the late aughts/early 2010s to too big in the newest versions, to the point that it's sometimes barely even worth watching the returns until they're 100% complete.
- For American presidential elections, sometimes the general election percentages will be all out of whack by the time the primaries finish, such that I sometimes just end up closing the scenario and starting a general election-only round with whoever just won the nominations.
Yes, hence the 2004 version has the widest range of scenarios of any, given that it doesn't even include primaries. It has a significant flaw in common with the current version, however, in that is often produces wacky results.
2000
Paul Wellstone (D-MN)/Blanche Lincoln (D-AR): 352 electoral votes - 51.0% - 68,993,623 votes
George W. Bush (R-TX)/Condolezza Rice (R-CA): 186 electoral votes - 44.2% - 59,838,299 votes
Donald Trump (RF-NY)/Richard Lamm (RF-CO): 0 electoral votes - 2.6% - 3,520,110 votes
Ralph Nader (G-CT)/Winona Laduke (G-MN): 0 electoral votes - 2.2% - 2,952,602 votes
Battleground States
Florida (Bush+1.2)
Maryland (Wellstone+1.4)
New Hampshire (Wellstone+2.4)
Arizona (Wellstone+2.6)
Tennessee (Wellstone+3.2) (Trump got 12.5%)
Michigan (Wellstone+3.3)
Virginia (Wellstone+3.3)
Arkansas (Wellstone+4.1)
Mississippi (Bush+4.4)
Montana (Bush+4.5)
Colorado (Wellstone+4.8)
Hawaii (Wellstone+5)
Paul Wellstone (D-MN)/Blanche Lincoln (D-AR): 352 electoral votes - 51.0% - 68,993,623 votes
George W. Bush (R-TX)/Condolezza Rice (R-CA): 186 electoral votes - 44.2% - 59,838,299 votes
Donald Trump (RF-NY)/Richard Lamm (RF-CO): 0 electoral votes - 2.6% - 3,520,110 votes
Ralph Nader (G-CT)/Winona Laduke (G-MN): 0 electoral votes - 2.2% - 2,952,602 votes
Battleground States
Florida (Bush+1.2)
Maryland (Wellstone+1.4)
New Hampshire (Wellstone+2.4)
Arizona (Wellstone+2.6)
Tennessee (Wellstone+3.2) (Trump got 12.5%)
Michigan (Wellstone+3.3)
Virginia (Wellstone+3.3)
Arkansas (Wellstone+4.1)
Mississippi (Bush+4.4)
Montana (Bush+4.5)
Colorado (Wellstone+4.8)
Hawaii (Wellstone+5)
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Okay so - I'm playing as Ed Brooke and was able to squeak by victories in PA and NY, but was still third in percentage behind Nixon and Rocky. Because I had a solid delegate lead of Rocky, I offered him VP position, which he accepted, giving me an opportunity in states I was far behind Nixon. Won Romney's endorsement, and was able to win key races in Texas, Michigan, and especially Alabama (delegates are not divided). Ended the primary still behind Nixon. Reagan, who remained in the race until the end, would play kingmaker. Knowing he'd probably endorse Nixon because Brooke is liberal, I offered him everything and a cabinet position and he somehow accepted (48% chance of this).
So the GE will be:
Ed Brooke/Nelson Rockefeller vs. RFK/??? vs. George Wallace/Curtis LeMay
1968
Ed Brooke (R-MA)/Nelson Rockefeller (R-NY): 403 electoral votes - 49.0% - 37,459,691 votes
Robert Kennedy (D-NY)/Terry Sanford (D-NC): 90 electoral votes - 39.4% - 30,113,360 votes
George Wallace (AIP-AL)/Curtis LeMay (AIP-CA): 45 electoral votes - 11.6% - 8,900,867 votes
Battleground States:
New Hampshire (Brooke+1.0)
California (Kennedy+1.0)
Illinois (Brooke+1.0)
New Jersey (Kennedy+1.4)
New York (Brooke+1.7)
Louisiana (Wallace+2.7)
Minnesota (Kennedy+3.1)
Connecticut (Kennedy+4.3)
Massachusetts (Brooke+4.4)
Washington (Brooke+4.5)
Arkansas (Wallace+4.9)
Ed Brooke (R-MA)/Nelson Rockefeller (R-NY): 403 electoral votes - 49.0% - 37,459,691 votes
Robert Kennedy (D-NY)/Terry Sanford (D-NC): 90 electoral votes - 39.4% - 30,113,360 votes
George Wallace (AIP-AL)/Curtis LeMay (AIP-CA): 45 electoral votes - 11.6% - 8,900,867 votes
Battleground States:
New Hampshire (Brooke+1.0)
California (Kennedy+1.0)
Illinois (Brooke+1.0)
New Jersey (Kennedy+1.4)
New York (Brooke+1.7)
Louisiana (Wallace+2.7)
Minnesota (Kennedy+3.1)
Connecticut (Kennedy+4.3)
Massachusetts (Brooke+4.4)
Washington (Brooke+4.5)
Arkansas (Wallace+4.9)
1992
George H.W. Bush (R-TX)/Dan Quayle (R-IN): 260 electoral votes - 39.4% - 55,429,183 votes
Bill Clinton (D-AR)/Mario Cuomo (D-NY): 140 electoral votes - 34.3% - 48,223,258 votes
Ross Perot (I-TX)/James Stockdale (I-CA): 138 electoral votes - 26.3% - 37,008,738 votes
Battleground States
Minnesota (Perot+451 votes)
Illinois (Clinton+0.4)
Missouri (Perot+0.6)
New York (Clinton+1.2)
California (Perot+1.4)
Connecticut (Perot+1.6)
Delaware (Clinton+1.8)
Maryland (Clinton+1.9)
Georgia (Clinton+1.9)
New Jersey (Clinton+2.0)
Montana (Perot+2.0)
North Dakota (Bush+2.1)
Nebraska (Bush+2.3)
Louisiana (Bush+2.5)
Colorado (Bush+2.7)
South Dakota (Bush+2.9)
North Carolina (Bush+3.1)
Iowa (Clinton+3.5)
Vermont (Perot+4.5)
Washington (Bush+4.9)
Oregon (Clinton+5.0)
Bill Clinton was elected through Congress, although I imagine Perot would play kingmaker irl due to his electors being able to switch to one of the two major parties. Also, Bush would have won if he got 452 more votes.
George H.W. Bush (R-TX)/Dan Quayle (R-IN): 260 electoral votes - 39.4% - 55,429,183 votes
Bill Clinton (D-AR)/Mario Cuomo (D-NY): 140 electoral votes - 34.3% - 48,223,258 votes
Ross Perot (I-TX)/James Stockdale (I-CA): 138 electoral votes - 26.3% - 37,008,738 votes
Battleground States
Minnesota (Perot+451 votes)
Illinois (Clinton+0.4)
Missouri (Perot+0.6)
New York (Clinton+1.2)
California (Perot+1.4)
Connecticut (Perot+1.6)
Delaware (Clinton+1.8)
Maryland (Clinton+1.9)
Georgia (Clinton+1.9)
New Jersey (Clinton+2.0)
Montana (Perot+2.0)
North Dakota (Bush+2.1)
Nebraska (Bush+2.3)
Louisiana (Bush+2.5)
Colorado (Bush+2.7)
South Dakota (Bush+2.9)
North Carolina (Bush+3.1)
Iowa (Clinton+3.5)
Vermont (Perot+4.5)
Washington (Bush+4.9)
Oregon (Clinton+5.0)
Bill Clinton was elected through Congress, although I imagine Perot would play kingmaker irl due to his electors being able to switch to one of the two major parties. Also, Bush would have won if he got 452 more votes.