Articles on different versions of Geo-Political Simulator

DESCRIPTION

Game Description

WORLD SIMULATION

Power & Revolution, Geopolitical Simulator 4, is a simulation of our current world, recreating its features in-depth and across a number of domains: economic, political, military, social, financial, environmental, energetic, transportation...

All countries of the world are represented with their own features. The calculation and scenario engines include more than 100,000 data, 15,000 texts and 10 hours of recorded dialogue. A detailed and animated 3D world map helps to support the players, with all the borders, regions and important and strategic locations of the world (follow the link for details : HERE).

The game combines management stages of economics, commerce, wargames, construction, espionage, simulation, and political influence and manipulation.

Players can opt for the management of just one country or several simultaneously and design collaborative strategies to change the world's destiny. There are game settings across multiple domains: degree of activity of terrorist organizations, probabilities of natural disasters, reactivity of populations, outbreak of wars. More than twenty contextual scenarios with current events from today's world are integrated.

Players can choose to play as a head of state or as a leader of the political opposition.

BECOME A HEAD OF STATE

-Several hundred actions and legislations

As head of state or government (president, king or queen, prime minister...) of one or several countries chosen at the beginning from the 175 available, players have several hundred actions and legislations at their disposal and distributed across various thematic menus. Here are some general and detailed examples: nominate members of your government, modify a tax (nearly 30 taxes are available), establish minimum wages, business sector grants (more than 130 integrated sectors), regulation of powers of political parties, parliament, syndicates, religious institutions or associations, privatization or nationalization operations, modify the retirement age, add or remove military service, regulation of the exploitation of natural gas, alternate conduct in large urban centres, number of vacation days for school children...

-Management of state budget

The head of state player decides amounts and distribution of the state budget across all public ministries. This player determines the personnel and the salaries in the major administrative positions (teachers, medical personnel, police...) and directs spending by setting priorities among multiple budgetary pillars, for example: geriatric services, fight against cancer, support services for handicapped persons, youth employment aid, police IT, security services for the head of state, counter-spy services, student housing, agricultural research, live performance festivals, war on drugs, recycling, video games.

-Great builder

Players are the main contractors of their country. They can set up different construction sites across the map, such as nuclear plants, wind turbines, military bases, pipelines, off-shore oil rigs, high-speed train lines, airports, ports, highways, etc.

-Commander of armies and security forces

At the head of their armies, the head of state directs military operations and can give general or precise orders to each of their units. Faced with an uprising in a city, players can manoeuvre their police brigades on the city map and ensure the protection of important locations. They can declare a state of emergency, martial law or call in the national guard.

-Super communicator

At any moment, players can be heard in the media, give a televised address to calm the fervour of protesters, to promote the passing of a law, to make an official statement like a declaration of war or opening of the Olympic games. Players can also deliver an influential speech at the UN or simply make an appearance at a public place to promote their image.

-Business person

The heads of state can directly promote the development of their country by signing economic and commercial contracts with other countries in all sectors of activity, including agricultural, industrial, energy, or services. Following bilateral agreements, leaders can launch construction projects for high-speed train lines or pipelines across several countries. They can attempt to merge global economic organizations, participate in their serious decisions or even create new ones.

-An informed head of state

Of course the secret services play a predominant role in running a state. They have an arsenal of espionage and "special" operations that players can utilize, but at their own risk and peril, because if these actions are discovered it can unleash a scandal. They can investigate an adverse political party, dismantle terrorist organizations, sabotage foreign infrastructure, assassinate an opponent, send satellites or drones to spy on armed forces, etc.

-An attentive leader

During the whole game, the head of state players must always keep an eye on their popularity level, which is evidently essential during elections, in order to stay in power for as long as possible. Maintaining state accounts and the budget deficit is also an important factor for your longevity.

BECOME AN OPPOSITION LEADER

The opposition can be legal or illegal and can hold an army or not.

-Political party leader

The political parties of each country of the world are transcribed in the game with their political tendencies, parliamentary representation and electoral results. Players choose their character and attempt to take power. With the party's budget, players have multiple actions available to them: They can launch funding campaigns to increase revenue, finance violent cells likely to intervene in street clashes, purchase polls to help make the best decisions, dish out bribes, hire detectives to obtain information on influential figures... As a leader, you make the party's major decisions: give voting instructions in relation to government bills, send militants to protest in the streets, incite groups, syndicates or associations to oppose power through protest actions (strike, sit-in, blockades...), criticize the head of state's actions in the media...

-Elections candidate

The most traditional method of reaching the top seat of state is to win democratic elections. An elections campaign is long and requires a lot of attention: the candidate must design the best platform to win loyalty, go from meeting to meeting while maximizing stops on the tour in accordance with local results, manage the campaign budget, attempt to win over influential figures, participate in televised debates capable of shifting the balance at the last minute. The game includes a specific scenario dedicated to the "2016 American presidential elections".

-A plan in the shadows

The opposition can also win power by discrediting the current head of state in hopes that s/he will be removed and that new elections will be held. Opposition can also attach themselves to people in proximity to power in order to attempt a military or criminal coup. At the head of the uprisings, they give instructions and manipulate the insurgents, hooligans, or armed extremists on the ground. Finally, they can opt for illegality and engage in armed combat.

-Leader of an illegal organization

At the head of a terrorist organization (or several) on their own soil, players attempt to take power by force, to normalize or to obtain independence of controlled regions. Your action possibilities are great: recruitment operations, hire professional mercenaries, purchase weapons on the black market, agreements with countries, sister political parties or other terrorist organizations in order to receive financing, fighters or war equipment, request UN interventions via friendly nations, infiltrate power circles by coup attempts or political assassinations, secure networks against enemy secret services, launch peaceful protests, trigger insurrections through political manipulation, start civil wars, command and direct armed rebels...

-Warlord

Players can hold a real warring army at the beginning of the game or develop one over time, which can be deployed in contested areas. Players control all military manoeuvres, on the overall map of the country but also locally during each city capture. Even though these armies are often less powerful, they are difficult to locate when they remain in their area of origin and when they frequently change position. If players manage to topple the presidential palace in the capital or obtain independence in regions under presidential control, they then become a new global leader.

REALISTIC WARGAMES

-Wars between nations

For the military aspect, the game integrates an extremely realistic wargame with great detail and the potential for different types of units according to the country and the precise location of their military bases. The player, as army commander, can direct each unit independently, give general orders or plan a series of orders. Thanks to the mini-map, players can have an extensive overview of their different fronts. Players also have the option to delegate the military operations to an army commander, controlled by the artificial intelligence.

-Civil wars and terrorists

Current civil wars are reproduced in the game with precision.
The world map includes all conflict locations with the finest details: front lines, occupied territories, besieged cities, localized military units, international military bases, personnel and material of terrorist groups...

Numerous scenarios allow the player to play as different protagonists in the conflicts: "War in Syria and Iraq", "Mess in Ukraine", "Libya Chaos", "Terror in Nigeria", "Yemeni Puzzle", "Threats in Somalia", "Revolutions! ", "Separatism"...

-Battles in the cities

During civil or military clashes in the cities, wargame stages take place on maps detailed with the main buildings, squares and intersections (specific maps for major capitals). Various elements can be controlled by the player: protesters, hooligans, armed extremists, rocket launchers... if the player is playing as the opposition; but there are also anti-riot police, police vans, helicopters, snipers, armoured vehicles... if the player is playing as the established power. The battle sequence can evolve in relation to the occupation of iconic places (for example, major squares with barricades) or the seizure of buildings (parliament, television studio, bank, headquarters...). The population reacts to the sequence of events: first civilian casualties, televised actions, order to fire at will or bombard, liberation of prisoners...

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Each factor of the world reacts in accordance to your own settings and interests.

-Lobbies and major figures

All actions of the player have repercussions and the lobbies, social groups, and important national and international figures will intervene if their artificial intelligence deems necessary So they are directly part of their own approval or discontent, but they are also capable of more radical and harmful actions for the player's popularity rating: press interviews, resignations, protests, strikes, unrest, road blocks, war...

-Dialogues and meetings

To prevent tensions, players can meet any important figure in meetings and attempt to win them over, negotiate (an agreement with a syndicate, an economic contract, or a strategic alliance with a head of state, for example an interest rate with an international lender). Players can also try to corrupt other figures or make them sing.

The dialogues that take place depend on the characters of these persons, their empathy towards the player and the defence of their interests.
All major figures are represented by a 3D face and express themselves orally. All scenarios, interventions and dialogues make for more than 15,000 texts and 10 hours of recorded dialogue.

-Parliament

Each law proposition must be voted on in Parliament where democratic regimes prevail, or by the people if a referendum process exists in the country. Whether the law is passed depends on the votes of the different political parties represented in Parliament, which also match reality.

-International organizations

The international organizations (more than 50 organizations integrated) are also represented and interact with the heads of state. For example, the European Union, G7, or OPEC hold regular summits in order to vote on major orientations; in the UN, it is possible to denounce a nation to obtain the authorization to intervene militarily.

The countries' votes are the result of a complex calculation aligned with different protagonists and the evaluation of the proposition in relation to the political regimes of these countries.

Players can also create their own organization by defining the type (free trade zone, monetary union, political/military organization, exporting countries), the budget, the geographic area, its constitution (voting system, head of state meetings, shared political tendencies...).

-Power & Revolution

At the head of a state, players find themselves faced with opponents whose reactions are weighed at every stage: decision to send armed elements into riots, peaceful protest in authoritarian regimes, alliance with the army, mobilizing paramilitaries on the ground, occupation of cities, etc.

At the head of a political party or an illegal organization, players must consider the decisions of the head of state: legislation proposed in parliament, military intervention in times of unrest, attempts to infiltrate the network, targeted bombing, defence of major buildings and especially the head of state's residence, etc.

MULTIPLE INFORMATION SOURCES

In addition to reports from department secretaries, the player has several sources of information: a daily newspaper that relates the planet’s major events, a discovery tree that shows technological advances and opportunities for research sectors, an evaluation of signed contracts, polls that the player can request from his or her national statistical agency, and different thematic maps, including maps showing economic and strategic alignment with all the other countries in the world. Lastly, a professor of geopolitics can provide ongoing assistance to the player throughout the game. He can explain the game’s major functional principles for politics, economy, strategy, and espionage, alert the player to problems that need to be solved in his or her country and the actions that can be taken, and provide the player with some political tips and tricks.

In addition, the game includes a Quiz to test the player’s knowledge with over 3000 questions.

The GPS project

In development since 2004, Geopolitical Simulator, a.k.a. G.P.S., strives to be ambitious and one of a kind, constantly evolving, with a team of dedicated specialists and developers. Its objective is to offer a simulation of today's world whose comprehensiveness is constantly being improved—notably with data that is regularly updated—and to develop new scenarios that reflect world events and geopolitical upheavals.
G.P.S. is a software from the French company Eversim, a company specialized in the development of network simulation games in a persistent world. This company was founded in February 2004 by the former heads of the video game editor Silmarils, which launched 30-odd products between 1987 and 2003.
For further information, you can look at their website: http://www.eversim.com

The tools developed by Eversim are used as serious gaming by several organizations (NATO for example) as a training and teaching tool for politics and diplomacy, as well as for simulating crisis situations.

Below is a video that shows a special version of GPS being used by NATO for training future diplomats, within a simulation session of a geopolitical crisis.