This is a Government Simulator with strong RP ties for Aurora C#. It started in 2020, continued in 2022, and is now continuing in 2026.
It is designed to work with the latest Libre Office, which is free to download here https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/
It has been reported that the new LibreOffice makes compatibility with OpenOffice easier, and the file currently appears to work with that software as well. While not suggested then, it may still be possible to use the file with OpenOffice.
I recommend reading the tutorial to understand its rules. If you are after a fancy simulator integrated into Aurora C# that does not require your intervention to function, please don’t use it, as you will be disappointed.
This file’s not a mod but a tool to be used along with Aurora C# and your RP abilities.
As started on the previous iteration of the file, I am writing an extensive tutorial of actions to perform before running an election. I trust that this, plus more information on the screen, will guide the player much better than before, making it all clear and easy to use and understand.
This new file has also been built keeping modders in mind, so all information will be easily accessible on the relevant tab, and editing or adding a few features should be easy for a person familiar with basic/advanced Excel skills. For instance, adding a new government form should be very easy to achieve providing the modders respect the structure on the DATA sheet.
Link to download here and at the end of the post: 271.5 KB file on MEGA
Known issues and fixes:
None
CHANGELOG
1.0 RELEASED 15/06/2025
1.1 RELEASED 14/03/2026
TUTORIAL
Important info before starting: The player should fill only the white cells. Editing and or writing on other cells may cause issues breaking the file. To leave the modding option on, I cannot lock the cells, so it is up to the user to abide by the recommended rules.
STARTING SETUP – RACE INFORMATION AND RACIAL TRAITS
This new file is now divided into 2 main worksheets: ELECT and GOVERN.
The first thing to do once the file is open is to set up the RACE INFORMATION and the BASE RACIAL TRAITS located in the ELECT worksheet. In case you do not know or remember, these values are available on Aurora C# under the Race Information window.
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Total Population – Total Population of your empire as per the Race Information window
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% of Race Population – Percentage of Race Population of your empire as per the Race Information window
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Government Form (current) – Current Government form of your Race. See the GOVERNMENTS section for more info
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Term Length – This is automated depending on the Government Form of your choice
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Legal Age – The age at which the population is allowed to vote
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Determination – Determination level of your Race as per the Race Information window
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Diplomacy – Diplomacy level of your Race as per the Race Information window
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Expansion – Expansion level of your Race as per the Race Information window
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Militancy – Militancy level of your Race as per the Race Information window
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Trade – Trade level of your Race as per the Race Information window
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Xenophobia – Xenophobia level of your Race as per the Race Information window
The racial traits determine the political landscape of your population and the ideals each voter has. There are 5 main ideas tied to 5 traits. The traits will change over time depending on the actions of your government. See LEGISLATION section for more info
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Determination – Federalists Modifier
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Diplomacy – Pacifists Modifier
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Expansion – Militarists Modifier
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Trade – Trade Modifier
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Xenophobia – Nationalists Modifier
A special trait is instead used to simulate how many people feel voting is important and how many will negatively react to unpopular laws and choices.
- Militancy – The higher the number, the more people will turn up to vote on election day or oppose legislations
STARTING SETUP – LEADERS
Another important part to set up is LEADERS, which are as well located located in the ELECT worksheet. To get the best out of this it is preferred to use real characters from your Aurora C# game. All available characters are listed under the Aurora C# Commanders window.
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Name – Name and Surname of your selected Character as per the Commander window
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Status – Determines if the Character is participating or not in the next election
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Background – Depending on the Character’s Job as per the Commander window
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Party – The Character’s party affiliation. Player choice
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Role – The Character’s current political role in the upcoming election
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Trait – Traits of your selected Character as per Aurora’s Commander window
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Points (Funds) – Promotion Points of your selected Character as per the Commander window.
To make every leader feel different, their traits and promotion points will actually impact how much people are supporting and voting for them. For instance, a Born Leader will generally attract more votes than one who yields to Others. Scientists and Civilian Leaders have their promotion points determined by their Admin Level multiplied by 1,000.
Special Rules
If the player would like to play without the traits activated, it is possible to set them all to None. If the player would like to play without the promotion points activated, it is possible to set them all to 0 (zero). If the player would like to play with less than 3 leaders, the status of the leader can be set to INACTIVE.
Once completed, it is time to move into the CONSTITUTION which is located in the GOVERN worksheet.
STARTING SETUP – CONSTITUTION
If the player is just starting and has selected a government of choice, it is time to align the constitution with the government’s ideals. The available choices are under the required section. A good indication that the player’s choices are correct is if there are no red warnings under Race Equality (like in the picture).
The constitution is divided into 2 branches: Primary and Secondary. The primary constitution can be changed only by one slot up or down. So for instance, if you open Civil Rights and they are set as Limited, during a constitutional reform, you will be able to choose only Full or Few. See the GOVERNING AND VOTING section for more info
The secondary constitution can be changed as the government wish without any limitation. So for instance, an Equal status on the Voting Rights could be moved to Elite directly if needed.
It is worth noting that leaders can now be either appointed or elected. Elected leaders will operate as they have done in all previous iterations of the file, including endorsements from other parties. Appointed leaders, on the other hand, will rely solely on the government’s relationships with its parties. This means that in an appointed system, a candidate will focus more on gaining support from a large and impactful party rather than just increasing their appeal and likability.
Once everything has been set, please ensure NO EVENTS or LEGISLATION are active and head back to the ELECT worksheet.
Please note: In the above picture, for instance, President Views should be unticked before proceeding.
STARTING SETUP – RACIAL TRAITS MOD FACTOR
The Racial Trait Modifier has been introduced to limit the rapid changes of the Racial Traits. Simply put, the higher the value, the lesser the impact of laws on dynamic value changes.
This can be used in various ways. I am starting it at 5, and with each election won by the same party, I increase it by 1 to simulate the radicalization of the population. So, it starts at 5, then goes to 4, 3, and so on. In the case of a government dissolution, I bump it up instantly to 1, emphasizing that radicals gain more power. After that, I reduce it back to 5 year after year and increase it again if no changes occur. You can use it as you see fit, but at least you now have a tool to control radicalisation that works in tandem with government dissolution.
FIRST ELECTION
For the first Election, usually at the start of the game, the player must complete the setup of the Elect worksheet by unticking any active party in the Custom Coalition section along with all the options in the Campaign section. Furthermore, all endorsements should be set to none, while the Stable Government check should be the only one ticked. All participating Characters to this first election should have their roles set as Running for Office and status as Active.
To run the election, the player must push F9 and visualise the green message and follow the instructions; otherwise, the player shall read the red message and act accordingly.
If elections are valid, just paste and special copy – unformatted text on the relative cell. It is very important to use unformatted text; otherwise, the file may get damaged. If elections are not valid, they may lead to the special Electoral Fraud rule, which will influence the amount of Nationalists, Federalists, and Militarists ideals.
Once copied into the relevant cells, the new data will generate updated government houses or powers, which will proceed to the election of the new government leader.
Once done, the player should set the winner of the election role as Ruler.
Rules and options vary depending on the government form adopted. See the GOVERNMENTS section for more info
In the above picture, for instance, we are using a Federation, and a clear majority within the regular coalitions could not be formed; therefore, the Player receives an alert asking to form a custom coalition. In this case, for RP, we can suppose that being a Federation, the Federalists will be part of the Coalition. As the Current President is a Martial Artist, we can assume that Militarists will be happy to support the candidate as well. Since Federalists cut off Nationalists and the Militarists cut off the Pacifists, we will have the Trade Party to join the coalition and reach the >50% threshold required to govern.
It is now time to head back to the GOVERN worksheet and align the constitution with the desired column and tick all the relative President Views. Once completed, the Player has the option to select a more granular Government system by selecting an Ideology.
By utilizing the Government Types in the database, the Player can now choose from existing government forms and define their ideologies. While this is purely for flavour, since it is linked to the database and racial traits, the ideology should provide deeper insights into the population’s orientation, enhancing role-playing depth. In summary, if the racial traits align with the parameters for a specific ideology, it will be displayed in the list; otherwise, it will be omitted.
It is now time to govern and select the Govern worksheet, where there player have the option to enact and void 1 legislation in exchange of 1 Sway Vote. See LEGISLATION section for more info
ELECTIONS
Every 1st of January of the election year, elections are due. Elections take place every number of years, depending on the government form selected.
Special Rules
If the player would like to play with Dynamic Racial Traits, the player shall update the BASE TRAITS with the value of the ACTUAL TRAITS.
Note that the actual trait value will still change after updating the base value. This is WAI, and the player shall update the value only once per election.
To run the election, the player must push F9 and visualize the green message and follow the instructions; otherwise, the player shall read the red message and act accordingly.
If elections are valid, just paste and special copy – unformatted text on the relative cell. It is very important to use unformatted text; otherwise, the file may get damaged. If elections are not valid, they may lead to the special Electoral Fraud rule, which will influence the amount of Nationalists, Federalists, and Militarists ideals.
Once copied into the relevant cells, the new data will generate updated government houses or powers, which will proceed to the election of the new government leader.
ELECTIONS – CAMPAIGN
Leaders are now much more in charge of their fate than in previous versions. By campaigning, each leader can attract more votes from a particular group or smear the reputation of other candidates.
To campaign Leaders have to spend funds/points. The player can make up their own for RP reasons or use the Promotion Points in Aurora C# with Scientists and Civilian Leaders having their promotion points determined by their Admin Level multiplied by 1,000.
Likeability now plays a major role. While this was a hidden feature in previous versions, it wasn’t possible to account for it or modify it. Now, it’s important to understand that some candidates will find it very difficult to win if their likability is too low compared to their opponents. Character traits will determine a candidate’s likability, along with the attack ad buffs active at the time of the election.
In the first round of the election, all candidates have the chance to secure 50.01% of the votes required to be appointed as leader. If this does not happen in the first round, the candidate rated third will be eliminated, allowing one of the remaining two candidates to reach a majority. This process involves persuading all undecided voters from the eliminated candidate to support the candidate with the highest likability.
Finally, once everything is concluded, the CUT leader has the option to endorse one of the candidates, potentially altering the election’s outcome and requesting a high price in return. This allows them to subtly or overtly push their own agenda from behind the scenes, as they could potentially withdraw their support anytime.
The RNG and endorsements will change each election dramatically, making the leader’s choices strategic and calculated.
There are then multiple ways for each candidate to win, depending on both their campaign abilities and the RNG seat generation. Campaign funds serve as promotion points, with different ads costing different points/funds to run during an election. Overall, a highly-rated character will have a better chance of winning against a poorly-rated one. Conversely, a well-funded, balanced character may have multiple paths to victory against a poorly-funded, well-rated character.
Once the campaign is done, the player should set the winner of the election role as Ruler.
Rules and options vary depending on the government form adopted. See the GOVERNMENTS section for more info
Any outcome, such as leaders not reaching the minimum quorum required to govern, will result in a red alert with instructions on what to do prior moving forward. See the GOVERNMENTS section for more info
It is now time to go back and govern by selecting the Govern worksheet, where the player have the option to enact and void 1 legislation in exchange for 1 Sway Vote. See the GOVERNING AND VOTING section for more info
GOVERNING AND VOTING
Every government is subject to a voting system. Even a Totalitarian entity must deal with the small council or generals that supports him or her. The same goes for a Monarch and so on.
To vote is easy, and there are different kinds of votes:
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Diplomacy – Used for any diplomatic decision
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Industrial Commercial – Used to approve Industrial Commercial or Civilian projects
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Industrial Military – Used to approve Industrial Military projects
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Peace or Peace Ops – Used for any peaceful decisions, like making peace, trade deals or colonisation and mining operations
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Research Commercial – Used to approve Commercial or Civilian research projects
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Research Military – Used to approve Military research projects
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War or War Ops – Used for any military decisions, like declaring war, and any other military operation
Every time the player loses a vote, one of the Lost checkboxes should be ticked. Losing motions will decrease the level of support to the leader and government up to a point that a single more lost vote could result in the dissolution of the government.
So, what happens if the player receives the final warning and chooses not to take any further action? The player can indeed choose to do nothing, but this will still trigger an event called “Frozen Government.” While the consequences of government dissolution are severe, the “Frozen Government” event still results in a penalty for the next election due to the previous government’s partial inability to handle day-to-day operations. This penalty is less severe than government dissolution and does not cause any additional voters to turn up at the election.
It’s important to note that, regardless of the level of support, once the count reaches 39 motions lost, you will incur the Frozen government penalty, and the 40th loss will always result in the dissolution of the government.
Important: The player could decide to vote for every single operation or for packages. For instance, it is possible to vote for changing the percentage of a given construction or simply for a series of constructions independently of the percentage allocated. A vote could be held for a single military operation or for a bigger one that entails the conquest of an objective, and so on.
VOTE – REFORMS
There are also other votes available:
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Defend Constitution – Used to vote for a change to the constitution in favour of the current government’s ideals. See the CONSTITUTION section for more info
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Reform Constitution – Used to vote for a change to the constitution against the current government’s ideals. See the CONSTITUTION section for more info
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Reform Government – Used to change the government form
There is a limit to the number of times a reform can be put up for a vote. Every time a vote for such reform is called, the player shall tick the relative box. Once they are all depleted for the kind, no more votes are possible until the next term.
For balance reasons, losing a Reform vote does not add to the lost motion tally, as there are more steps required to get to that point, requiring a proper vote already.
Also, prior to voting for the government reform, the player shall choose the new government formation in the appropriate section.
If the government reform succeeds, a new election shall be held, and the new government elected shall be in power for the number of years indicated in the term length, starting from the 1st of January of the current year.
Important: It will not be possible to change the government form until the constitution matches that of the new government selected. The player shall then try first to reform the constitution and then the government.
VOTE – SWAY VOTE
Each Leader can use their political credit or support to change the outcome of a particular vote. Once the maximum number of Sways is reached or the Leader’s political credit is exhausted, no more vetoes are possible. Eventually, a Sway could be expressed to force a resolution that was approved to be rejected but also one that was rejected to be approved. This is particularly handy when the player faces situations where a 0% chance or a 100% chance are present for a given vote.
The Sway is a very powerful tool for Players; however, some government forms may not allow for the Leader to express veto rights. In other instances, while Leaders are allowed to sway votes, the government forms may not allow them to use Sways in support of reforms instead. See the GOVERNMENTS section for more info
EVENTS
Events are particular situations that could influence your racial ideals.
Currently, there are 13 available events:
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Artefacts Available – The player shall activate it if an artefact has been detected but not activated yet
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At War (Declared) – The player shall activate it if a war was declared by the player and is still ongoing
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At War (Attacked) – The player shall activate it if a war was declared against the player and is still ongoing
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Budget Deficit (Election) – The player shall activate it if the Expenditure in the Aurora C# Economics window under the Wealth / Trade tab is higher than the Income in the One Year filter before the election
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First Contact – The player shall activate it if, during the term, any new race is encountered
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In Science Agreements – The player shall activate it if, during the term, any new science agreement with an alien race has been reached
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In Survey Agreements – The player shall activate it if, during the term, any new survey agreement with an alien race has been reached
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In Trade Agreements – The player shall activate it if, during the term, any new trade agreement with an alien race has been reached
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Mineral Shortage – The player shall activate it if reckons that mineral shortage is influencing production and decisions. For instance, not producing fuel at refineries due to a lack of Sorium rather than overstocking of fuel
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Piracy Detected (Term) – The player shall activate it if any pirate activity is detected during the term
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Ruins Available – The player shall activate it if there are any available ruins not exploited yet
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Turmoil (Threat present) – The player shall activate it if, at the moment of elections, a threat is present. See UNEXPECTED EVENTS and REBELLIONS section for more info
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War Casualties (1 Year) – The player shall activate it if in the year before the election any lives were lost during a war
Important: All the war events are subject to the player. Spoiler races may not be considered to declare a war alert; however, bigger operations against planets with full-scale battles could be considered as mini-wars. The concept should be fluid and used carefully, as it may lead to extreme militaristic societies.
UNEXPECTED EVENTS and REBELLIONS
When government popularity falls or the forces in power are not aligned with the current government’s ideals, severe events could happen. These go from a simple terrorist attack to a more serious leader assassination.
If the UNEXPECTED EVENTS are available, the player shall run at least 1 event per year and act accordingly to the result. This part is entirely RP, so it is up to the player to use it following the 1 per year rule or even extend it to 2 or 3 or more events per year.
LEGISLATION (changed in 1.1 - see relative section)
There are 32 different pieces of legislation available. Each one influences one or more ideals and racial traits. It is up to the player to discover what does what, as some may work only in combination with others or if used in a particular government, could lead to new parties or ideas.
A government may change one only at the start of each term in exchange of a Sway Vote.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR RACE
There is more information about the player’s race that can be found on the screen.
The VOTING POPULATION situated left of the red box in the above picture is a more detailed view of your voting platform. Some government forms allow only a restricted number of people to vote, increasing unrest. Unrest strengthens the opposition of your government through more support given by a surprising number of people who decided to turn up for a vote at the last minute. This is added to the already calculated RGN of the base election poll. Having too much opposition to your government can lead to severe consequences that vary from terroristic attacks to government reform with consequent loss of power.
You can see the unrest value in the Govern worksheet. Each level of unrest generates Activists and Radicals, who generally support their own party’s views and will most likely stick to it, leading to a stagnant and very unstable political landscape.
The LEADER CURRENT APPEAL is the likelihood that a leader would be voted for by the relative party members with the same ideals. This is good to know while ruling as a leader and could help with the RP decisions. It is reasonable to expect a leader highly supported by the military faction to favour a resolution that could advantage such a faction and so on. The player should also take into account the size of the party in question. A 20% of preference of a party counting 30 seats is higher than 50% of a party counting 5 seats. However, increasing the chances that such a party could get more seats may result in more votes. It is up to the player to decide the strategy.
The VOTE BY IDEALS is divided into 3 groups.
First, you can see the Poll by base value. This is the likelihood the party will get voted without any events or legislations influence. This is valuable later if the player is trying to understand why there aren’t enough militarists, for instance. Perhaps the base Expansion value is too low, and legislation to raise it over time may be needed.
Then you have the Poll Min, which will highlight the minimum amount of votes a party will get. In any case, the RNG will generate a number lower than that.
Lastly, you have the Poll Max, which will work as the Min but with the maximum number of votes possible.
GOVERNMENTS
There are currently 6 government forms available:
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Democracy
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Republic
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Federation
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Totalitarian
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Corporate
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Monarchy
Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages. Each prefers one ideal over another and favours only some legislation or events.
GOVERNMENTS – DEMOCRACY
Originating in Ancient Greece, democracy means ‘rule of the people. The term today refers to a political system in which the people or their elected representatives govern themselves, rather than being governed, so everyone has an equal say in the decisions affecting their lives. Everybody can vote to elect parliamentarians which number is defined by the number of eligible voters. Once elected, parliamentarians will reunite in a parliament with a capped seat amount of 5000 and a minimum of 100.
Each parliamentarian’s vote counts as one. After the motion is discussed, a vote takes place, and to be approved, a majority vote of the attending voters is required. As the parliamentarians represent the people, they are often busy or travelling to visit their pool of voters, making promises. For this reason, the number of undecided votes per motion is always higher than in any other government form.
The Parliament is led by the President which acts as head of the government and of the executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch. The President is usually elected by the Parliament, but there are forms of democracy that allow the President to be elected directly as well. To reform the constitution, all parliamentarians are required to vote with a majority set to 2/3 of the parliament.
Due to the nature of the legislative form, the President cannot exercise any Veto Right to any motion. However, only the President can present motions to any matter of the state for the parliament to discuss. Obviously, the action and pressures of bigger parliamentarians groups often lead to a prompt motion by the President.
GOVERNMENTS – REPUBLIC
The Republic is a government whose authority is based on citizen voters, which are represented by elected or nominated officials chosen in free elections to be part of the Senate. The amount of seats is determined by the number of eligible voters, and it is capped at 2,000 and a minimum of 50.
The most important figure of the Senate is the Chancellor which is elected directly from the Senate. After the election of the Chancellor, a majority is needed to rule, and only the coalition of powers with the 50%+1 seats in total are able to govern and present motions. To reform the constitution, the motion will have to be approved by 2/3 of the Senate.
If the coalitions presented before the election cannot win a majority, the Chancellor can select a custom majority to rule during the term.
To select a custom majority, the player shall flag the join coalition to all parties he wishes to involve until more than 50% of the Senate is reached.
GOVERNMENTS – FEDERATION
A Federation can be defined as a political organisation characterised by the union of small states, groups or parties, which are self-governed in internal affairs and are united under a central government. The division of power among the states and the central governing body is typically constitutionally entrenched.
A federal government having a constitutional structure that can be considered the opposite of a unitary state system. Because of that, these kinds of governments are usually very unstable. During elections, the number of seats is determined by the Federation’s strength and is uncapped, with a minimum of 25 representatives.
Once the representatives are elected, they will join one of the House of Representatives’ coalitions based on the population priorities. The coalitions with the majority of members usually lead the government policies with motions approved through a classic 50%+1 majority of the votes. The same applies to all reforms.
If no coalitions in the House can win a majority, the President can select a custom majority to rule during the term only if such President is elected, not appointed. In case of an appointed President, the player shall form a government considering the majority of seats.
In example, if the pacifists represent the majority of seats, they will be in charge of forming a government with parties aligned closer to their goals rather than the military, for instance.
To select a custom majority, the player shall flag the join coalition to all parties he wishes to involve until more than 50% of the Senate is reached.
GOVERNMENTS – OLIGARCHY
Oligarchy is from the Greek term for “rule of the few.” It is a form of the power structure in which power effectively rests with a faction of persons or families. The people that form the ruling group are usually a group of distinguished people in terms of wealth or power who pass their influence from one generation to the next. This Elite group is the only one able to vote for the election of the Senate, with a number of seats determined by the number of eligible voters.
An Oligarchy can exist till the majority supports its ideals. If this support ends, then a revolution may take place to replace the current government with a new, more democratic one.
There are 3 Oligarchies available:
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Monarchy
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Corporate
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Totalitarian
In the Monarchy a person, the Monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. In most cases, the succession of monarchies is hereditary (Birthright), often building dynastic periods; elective and self-proclaimed monarchies are possible. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary and can expand across the domains of the executive, legislative and judicial.
In the corporate oligarchy, the government runs primarily like a business, involving a board of directors and executives, in which all aspects of society are privatised by a single or a small group of companies. The ultimate goal of this state is to increase the wealth of its shareholders, and the government acknowledges its status as a corporation. Utilities, including hospitals, schools, the military, and the police force, would be privatised. Social welfare is carried out by corporations in the form of pensions and benefits to employees, instead of the state.
In Totalitarianism, the concept is to prohibit opposition parties, restrict individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercise an extremely high degree of control over public and private life. Political power has often been held by autocrats who employ all-encompassing campaigns in which propaganda is broadcast by state-controlled mass media along with extensive political repression, a complete lack of democracy, widespread personality cultism, absolute control over the economy, massive censorship, and mass surveillance.
Other aspects include the use of labour camps, fraudulent elections (if they take place), and possible possession of weapons of mass destruction.
Link for download here: 271.5 KB file on MEGA
Development Diary Version 1.0 [Government Simulator 2025]
Update 13/09/24
A Quick Look at the First Major Change
You now have two tabs: one for elections and one for governance.
This update simplifies the process by separating election and governance functions, while also expanding the UI for governance. There are many more options available now, with a few events still needing refinement.
My thought process was that, since elections are infrequent but governance is ongoing, the governance section should be clearer and easier to use.
Below is the UI for the GOVERN tab. The ELECT tab is still in development and resembles the previous version, without many of the new GOVERN elements that have been ported to the updated sheet. Now, everything is click-and-select, eliminating the need for typing.
I am also nearing the completion of another major requested feature and hope to share some news early next week.
Update 16/09/24
Introducing the First Major New Feature: Unrest
In the past, I encountered challenges introducing a meaningful unrest level without disrupting existing calculations and the need to use potential unrest levels in the game.
The main issues were twofold: First, societal polarization due to one party gaining dominance to the point where it was nearly impossible to remove them from power without a forced intervention (for role-playing reasons) by the player. Second, the mechanics would either generate constant unrest and instability or none at all.
So, What’s Changed? A Lot…
The first major change is that when a government loses power, all race attributes will be reset to the median level of 50. This adjustment addresses the issue of polarization. Additionally, when using the sway vote (previously veto powers) or having their motion rejected, the government will now lose legitimacy or political power. If this power falls below 50%, the government will be disbanded.
This event will trigger two effects: First, more voters will turn out for the election to express their dissent over the government’s inability to govern effectively. Second, these voters will primarily be opposition supporters, with each government type assigned a “foe.” For instance, a Totalitarian government might face a more libertarian force being elected, with sufficient power to potentially change laws and the constitution, leading to a change in government type within one or two legislative sessions.
Below is an example of the maximum polling expected when the event is not triggered:
And here is an example when the event is triggered:
The minimum polls will also show an increase, resulting in more opposition members being elected regardless of the RNG roll.
With this now fully functional, I can finally introduce more meaningful leaders, which was another major requested change. I will discuss these in the coming days, as the code rewrite is complete but not yet tested.
The goal, once everything is finalized, is to have leaders and governments behave organically, with real consequences if they fail to achieve their objectives or when a leader with different ideals takes charge. This aspect will still involve role-playing, but players will now have a clear and meaningful path by aligning with the hearts and minds of their characters. Unrest and political disagreements should naturally occur, eliminating the need for players to artificially create them.
Update 17/09/24
Before introducing the leaders, we need to cover one final component of the government and unrest overhaul: Government Stability.
With stability and the clear-cut aspects addressed, it’s important to examine the more ambiguous areas.
So, what happens if the player receives the final warning and chooses not to take any further action? The player can indeed choose to do nothing, but this will still trigger an event called “Frozen Government.” While the consequences of government dissolution are severe, the “Frozen Government” event still results in a penalty for the next election due to the previous government’s partial inability to handle day-to-day operations. This penalty is less severe than government dissolution and does not cause any additional voters to turn up at the election.
Below, you’ll find an outline of all three stages.
Please note that there are minor issues and incomplete functions in the UI as this is based on a previous test version. These issues have been addressed, so future screens will display the fully functional leaders. The events are still pending, as they are minor adjustments not crucial for balancing or testing purposes, and I am still unsure if I will be introducing them or not.
Update 23/09/24
Here is the completed “ELECT” sheet. All functions have been implemented and included:
Some of the new features are the Racial Trait Modifier and the Campaign tab.
The Racial Trait Modifier has been introduced to limit the rapid changes of the Racial Traits. Simply put, the higher the value, the lesser the impact of laws on dynamic value changes.
This can be used in various ways. I am starting it at 5, and with each election won by the same party, I increase it by 1 to simulate the radicalization of the population. So, it starts at 5, then goes to 4, 3, and so on. In the case of a government dissolution, I bump it up instantly to 1, emphasizing that radicals gain more power. After that, I reduce it back to 5 year after year and increase it again if no changes occur. You can use it as you see fit, but at least you now have a tool to control radicalization that works in tandem with government dissolution.
Changes at Level 1
Changes at Level 5
Now, onto the campaign. Leaders are now much more in charge of their fate than in previous versions. By campaigning, each leader can attract more votes from a particular group or smear the reputation of other candidates. Interestingly, while the attack ads are very powerful (I’ll explain why later), targeting a specific group instead of another could strengthen another candidate rather than gather more votes due to the different percentages of preferences during recalculations.
Likeability now plays a major role. While this was a hidden feature in previous versions, it wasn’t possible to account for it or modify it. Now, it’s important to understand that some candidates will find it very difficult to win if their likeability is too low compared to their opponents. Character traits will determine a candidate’s likeability, along with the attack ad buffs active at the time of the election. As mentioned, this was already a significant hidden component, and I am now releasing the relevant information to clarify how it works.
In the first round of the election, all candidates have the chance to secure 50.01% of the votes required to be appointed as leader. If this does not happen in the first round, the candidate rated third will be eliminated, allowing one of the remaining two candidates to reach a majority. This process involves persuading all undecided voters from the eliminated candidate to support the candidate with the highest likeability.
In the attached screenshot, there are multiple ways for each candidate to win, depending on both their campaign abilities and the RNG seat generation. Campaign funds serve as promotion points, with attack ads costing 10,000 points and standard ads costing 5,000 points. Overall, a highly-rated character will have a better chance of winning against a poorly-rated one. Conversely, a well-funded, balanced character may have multiple paths to victory against a poorly-funded, well-rated character.
I’m conducting some additional testing to prevent everyone from relying solely on attack ads. This process may involve adding an extra attack ad, creating a basic and a higher-level version, or modifying how they currently function. The attack ad not only diminishes opponents’ standing but also slightly increases the attacker’s likeability. I might consider splitting these effects.
The concept is established, and I’m confident I’ll find a way to make this less overpowered over time. Moreover, I’m extremely pleased with the strategic layer now in place. With the right role-playing, an elected leader can behave very differently from another, and now they all have a shot at getting elected.
Update 24/09/24
After some testing, I have balanced and modified the system, and I must admit I’m thrilled with the changes.
First, I added the basic likeability factor to the mix and then split the likeability adjustments after ADs. I revised most of the buffers and changed the ADs, also separating the attacks and the popularity boosts for individuals.
Now, you receive a small likeability boost when performing party group ADs, a major likeability boost for personal ADs, and a significant debuff for the target of attack ADs. These attacks are now designed to target only one leader at a time.
Finally, once everything is concluded, the CUT leader has the option to endorse one of the candidates, potentially altering the election’s outcome and requesting a high price in return. This allows them to subtly or overtly push their own agenda from behind the scenes, as they could potentially withdraw their support anytime.
The RNG and endorsements will change each election dramatically, making the leader’s choices strategic and calculated. I’ve included two different election screenshots to illustrate how the RNG not only affects the outcome but also the potential for a losing leader to endorse another, effectively securing victory for the endorsed candidate.
First Roll
Second Roll
What’s exciting is that the percentages during settings change according to the current government structure, meaning you won’t fully grasp the impact of your ADs until the election is run. This requires you to strategically target specific groups, boost your reputation, and avoid wasting resources on attacks. Your only guide at this stage will be the polling expectations of both the leaders and the population. Would you aim for 50% of the expected 40% of pacifists in the first round, or would you prefer to reach a broader audience? Perhaps you could focus solely on Democrats and liberals, leaving out conservatives who might not vote for you anyway. Alternatively, you could try to build a personality cult and secure a majority of seats by just barely meeting the first cut threshold.
This opens up many possibilities for organic role-playing actions, which is what I’ve always aimed for since starting this project nearly four years ago.
Update 25/09/24
A Quick Update on Balancing and Bug Fixing.
Yesterday was another full day of testing and balancing. I discovered a significant bug while recoding some formulas, which explained why I couldn’t achieve the balance I was aiming for. This led to a minor change: status and role are now separated, allowing leaders to be classified as either “Active” or “Inactive.” This change overrides the “None” function, which can now be assigned to a leader who lacks a specific background. Over time, I hope to expand the background function, especially since likeability and leader skills significantly impact elections.
Once that was in place, I also revisited a feature I was considering for the previous version: activism.
Currently, the population system relies on demographics and other factors to identify its makeup. One major issue is that the population is flat, and ideals affect the base population uniformly. As a balancing tool, I’ve always believed that activism (and possibly radicalization later) would be effective in ensuring that minority ideals retain a small but meaningful level of support. For instance, in an excessively pacifist environment, a military minority could become radicalized first and activists later, thereby ensuring the military party receives a small number of votes, regardless of the RNG. This balancing tool will be applied only to ideals that have consistently fallen behind in representation year after year, even though radicalization and activism can also affect majority groups in real life.
The main reason for this approach is that implementing a two-way system would require more tools than I currently have available on a simple calculation sheet. Factors like real-time economy, crime, education, and political environment all play significant roles in radicalization and activism. Without objective data from Aurora 4X on these factors, any system I create would feel artificial and disconnected from the player’s experience. While some aspects of this might hold true for the overall framework, much of the data is derived from the game itself: leader character and personality, promotion points, racial traits, and events are all tied to uncontrollable elements from the database and influenced by Aurora’s RNG, not mine.
So, what’s in store for the future? Once I’m close to release, I plan to play another Aurora: A Political Story - 2024. This will allow me to move beyond quick experiments based on previous solo games and fast-forward through 20 or 30 elections without actual game time under my belly. This approach will ultimately help refine the final balance and address any lingering bugs in the new features.
Thankfully, over the past year and a half, this file has gone through seven iterations, and I’m confident that all the old features are now well balanced and largely bug-free while also backed by several gameplay hours.
In terms of functions, aside from radicalization, I feel there’s still something missing to effectively integrate all the new features, though I’m not quite sure what that is yet. While I continue to ponder this, I want to share my plans for implementing radicalization. There are two paths forward: I can either add activism to the unrest pool and make activists a percentage of the radicals or create an entirely new mechanic. Currently, I am experimenting with the former approach to work within the existing formulas and concepts, but the effects are still failing to blend together. The challenge with a new mechanic is that it would be a massive addition, potentially rendering all the balancing done so far redundant, a risk I am not sure it’s worth taking at this stage.
Update 26/09/24
Just another bug squashing day.
I caught a big one and also fixed the 2nd and 3rd place leader ex aequo visual bug that afflicted the file since early conception. I think these are one of those minor fixes that everyone knows that are there and simply always slip through the cracks
Update 27/09/24
New Major Feature: Visible Unrest
After a final day of balancing and bug fixing, along with the completion of the UI and the addition of the Unrest feature, I finally feel that the missing element has been found. A fully functional and visible Unrest factor has now been implemented. While unrest has always been present and functioning in the background, I have decided to separate it from threats and attacks, making it its own entity more closely related to policies and the political climate. The goal is to introduce an additional stability (or instability) factor, presenting players with significant challenges regarding policy implementation and constitutional changes.
Currently, unrest is linked exclusively to police, justice, and activism. However, I have already begun working on radicalization and activist reactions to policy implementations.
These factors will have a lesser impact, as they already provide their own benefits to the voting population. Nevertheless, they will still contribute to a small percentage of activism, leading to a rise in unrest levels. Some popular policies may even act in the opposite direction by easing government scrutiny in the eyes of the public (for instance, Civilian Pensions).
The system operates as a closed loop, as I am now fully aware of how overpowered the buffs can become after numerous policies are implemented. So, what does this closed loop entail?
Simply put, policies will contribute to existing radicalization rather than increase the overall value that drives radicalization. This means that if a policy reduces 1% of activism among the liberal radicalized population and that population is already at 0%, it will remain at zero. However, if a policy impacts 1% of the radical militarist population, causing them to become activists, then the buffer will decrease the radical population by 1%. For example, if 1% of a radicalized population of 100,000 becomes activists, that amounts to 1,000 radicals, which will then be reduced by 1%, leaving 990 radicals.
Below some screenshots of where the unrest is now visible, along with the effective Activist Population counter.
Update 30/09/24
New Flavor Feature: Ideology
By utilizing the Government Types in the database, I have allowed players to choose from existing government forms and define their ideologies. This is purely for flavor; however, since it is linked to the database and racial traits, it should provide deeper insights into the population’s orientation, enhancing role-playing depth. In summary, if the racial traits align with the parameters for a specific ideology, it will be displayed in the list; otherwise, it will be omitted.
I do not plan to make this parameter influential at any level, but I will work on refining it over time to ensure it aligns with potential combinations, avoiding disjointed results and descriptions.
Additionally, I have made progress on balancing over the weekend, and the integration of policies into the activism system has been implemented.
I feel we are very close to the AAR test play, which will serve as a teaser prior to release and will allow me to further balance the file.
Update 01/10/24
I have made a minor update to the ideology slider by adding a small area that highlights how many types of ideologies are available at any given time. The idea is to give players, especially at the start and during the game, an understanding of what kinds of government could be accepted by the base population. In the example below, for instance, I have 4 out of 4 available ideologies for Federation and only 2 out of 7 Republic ideologies. Interestingly, a Federal Republic is not one of the 2, which suggests that our population would likely prefer a Federation over a Republic entirely, without even accepting a blend of the Federation type of government with the Republic kind.
Another minor change was the addition of a few Republics as the original DB had only 2: Republic and Meritocracy.
Finally, I have been considering changing the word “ideology,” as the current data could refer to a specific form of government. However, I am still not fully convinced, since the kind and form of government are already identified by the general statute, which is why I initially chose “ideology.” I’ll see how it develops, as this is currently unimportant and not related to any calculation or mechanic. For now, I’m inclined to leave it as is.
Update 08/10/24
I’ve reached V11 of the updated Government Sim, and I’m feeling ready to post an AAR. I’ve already prepared it, so all the groundwork for creating a new system, factions, ships, and more has been completed. Now, I just need to hit play!
On the development front, I’ve focused on identifying disconnected functions and formulas, tracking down a bug or two, and balancing the file. The most significant change is the reduction in the number of “points” required to run ADs, which has been lowered to help administrators and scientists who rely solely on their level to collect points. The original system—outlined in the main post with the rules—requires 1000 promotion points per level. Unfortunately, civilian leaders will have a considerable advantage at the beginning of each game, but this should balance out quickly once military personnel start receiving service medals and conditional ribbons.
Update 04/11/24
Good news and bad news. The bad news is that I have started a campaign, collected the material, and gotten ready to post. However…
Here comes the good news: I have decided to change a fundamental aspect of the leaders’ election. Now that they are more impactful and effectively “alive,” it is important to distinguish the election system from an appointment system. So, the following is now part of the constitutional decisions:
In short, leaders can now be either appointed or elected. Elected leaders will operate as they do now, including endorsements from other parties. Appointed leaders, on the other hand, will rely solely on the government’s relationships with its parties. This means that in an appointed system, a candidate will focus more on gaining support from a large and impactful party rather than just increasing their appeal and likability.
A few updates ago, I mentioned that I felt something was still missing, and I believe I have finally completed my search. I am now happy to move forward.
Eventually, there will be a complete overhaul of the population system, as I have managed to put the raw data where it belongs. This will allow me to start stratifying the populations and move away from simplistic categories like pacifist, military, and so on.
I plan to categorize the population with three or four major ideals and then add a spectrum to each. For instance, if one of the ideals is Republican, there may be some individuals who are more in favour of war than others. Generally speaking, this will still be a minority within the group; however, it will impact voting behaviours and preferences for leaders. Ideally, a population group might vote for a party aligned with their ideals while choosing a different leader than the one put forward by their representatives due to differences in views.
While this may seem challenging to accomplish, I believe I am at a good point.
By looking at data and real-world samples, there is a correlation between age and voting behaviour: individuals under 30 tend to be more libertarian, while those over 40 are generally more conservative. Additionally, different voting patterns can also be observed across genders. All this data is already being tracked by the file, so it’s primarily a matter of creating a sample that works with the existing formulas. This shouldn’t be too difficult if I add a separate sheet to the file and link all population data to it.
What I am trying to establish now is whether I want to spend more time implementing this before starting a final testing campaign.
1.1 Release Changelog [Government Simulator 2026]
In version 1.1 there are fundamental changes to the control over the Term Length and the Max terms in power by a Character. These should be enacted as CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS and should be voted on as such.
Based on the form of government selected, a recommended section is also provided to either simplify the initial setup or help understand how many reforms may be required when changing government in order to reach the optimal structure. These should be considered suggestions only. For instance, the current corporate recommended setup is a 5-year term for a single mandate; however, some boards may operate with a rotational chair, with one mandate and a maximum of one term, and so on.
As usual, it is up to the player to decide the configuration that best suits their game. All fields can be edited to fit your narrative before starting.
Another major change is the new LEGISLATION section. This now operates very similar as the constitution, with a set of laws and laws standing rather than simply on and off we had before.
Here is the new tab, some laws have been enacted some others are still not defined.
Now, if we move on to the abortion section, for instance, we see that there are different options available. Each section has maluses and bonuses proportioned to the level of the law. This should allow for more organic changes of the societies over time and also some granularity that was previously lacking.
Finally, several playthroughs and testing have helped squash new bugs, particularly settings that, for some reason, were resulting in weird calculations, and further balancing.
So, what’s next? I’m not entirely sure. I feel like the file has finally reached the state I always wanted for the Republic, Federation, and Democracy systems in particular. At the same time, I think the current structure can also work reasonably well for monarchies and totalitarian regimes.
That leaves the Corporate system. I have always wanted to expand this section with a proper board composed of characters. In some ways, I would also like to move the share calculations away from the general population and make the top 1% more prominent in the process. Elements of this idea are already present, and it wouldn’t be particularly difficult to integrate them further.
Another concept I’ve been considering is giving corporations a “power rating” based on the number of shares released. This could allow a larger portion of the population to access shares and potentially grant certain benefits in exchange for increased stability. At the same time, it could create a downward spiral effect if mismanaged, ultimately leading to the dissolution or failure of the corporation itself.
For now, though, I’ve taken a bit of a break from Aurora. I’ve been playing more War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition and AGEod Wars of Napoleon while waiting for X4: Foundations version 9.0 to exit beta, which, once that happens, will probably take a good chunk of my free time. By then, version 2.8 of Aurora may be close to release, and perhaps I’ll start a new campaign and continue refining the file.
No worries, though, I’m still actively monitoring the forums and Reddit, so I’ll be around to provide support if anything unusual happens with your files.
Link for download here: 271.5 KB file on MEGA