President Forever + Primaries comes with “historically accurate” candidates for the out-of-the-box scenario. You can modify these candidates or create new ones using the Candidate Editor. Note that the Candidate Editor will be released as an automatic update, and is not included in the initial game.
The strength of a candidate depends on several criteria:
- The candidate’s attributes.
- How established the candidate’s party is.
- How much money the candidate will start with.
- The candidate’s platform.
To change a candidate
- In the Select Candidate for this Party dialog box, click “Change Player”.
- Select the desired candidate from the list and click “OK”.
NOTE To add candidates to the list, use the Candidate Editor. Note that the Candidate Editor will be released as an automatic update, and is not included in the initial game.
The average attribute number is 3. The highest is 5 and the lowest is 1. So, if John McCain has a Leadership attribute of 4, this is above average and will give him some bonuses. If he has a Debating attribute of 2, then this is below average and will give him a penalty in debating.
- Leadership: Sets up your initial perceived leadership, which can give you a bonus or penalty if you campaign on the Leadership issue. For example, if you have a Leadership of 5, then you will gain +2 Power whenever you campaign on the Leadership issue, while if you have Leadership of 1 will have a penalty of –2 Power whenever you campaign on the Leadership issue.
- Integrity: Sets up your initial perceived integrity, which can give you a bonus or penalty if you campaign on the Integrity issue. (See Leadership above for an example.). A higher Integrity attribute slows an opponent’s scandal research on you.
- Experience: Sets up your initial perceived experience, which can give you a bonus or penalty if you campaign on the Experience issue. (See Leadership above for an example.) A higher Experience attribute reduces the chance that you will make a gaffe.
- Issue Familiarity: Sets up your initial perceived issue familiarity, which can give you a bonus or penalty if you campaign on the Experience issue. (See Leadership above for an example.) Issue familiarity also gives you a bonus/penalty in interviews and debates (a bonus if your issue familiarity is above 3, a penalty if below 3).
- How Well Known: Affects the chance that you activities will be covered by the national media, resulting in news stories.
- Charisma: Can give a bonus/penalty in debates, ads, and fundraising (a bonus if your charisma is above 3, a penalty if below 3).
- Stamina: A candidate receives Energy Points in a turn when there is no activity by the candidate, based on the candidate’s Stamina. For example, a candidate gains Energy Points (when resting) equivalent to the Stamina rating, plus 0-5 extra EPs (so, a candidate with 3 Stamina would gain 3 EP, plus an extra 0-5, every turn he rests).
- Debating: Gives a bonus/penalty in debates (a bonus if your debating skills are above 3, a penalty if below 3).
NOTE For the Leadership, Integrity, Experience, and Issue Familiarity attributes, you get pluses or minuses based on opponent’s attributes if you are attacking an opponent (while you get pluses or minuses based on your own attributes if you are boasting).
Established indicates how well the candidate is established on a national level. If the Established attribute is less than 5, a candidate receives penalties on virtually every activity.
Money is useful mainly for advertising. A player starts with a certain amount of money, and can fundraise a relatively small amount more during the game. The candidate automatically does background fundraising, the amount being determined by How Well Established the candidate is, the candidate’s standing in the polls, and the candidate’s momentum. Once a candidate enters the general election, if they are given a federal block grant, and can not fundraise any more.
- The center is determined by the particular region, and the plus/minuses are +1 if centrist, 0 if 1 off, -1 if 2 off, -2 is more than 2 off. Similar to the Leadership, Integrity, Experience, and Issue Familiarity attributes, pluses or minuses are based on and opponent’s issue position if you are attacking an opponent, while get pluses or minuses are based on your own position if boasting. The center is indicated by a white bar on the Platform screen’s issue spectrums.
- During the primaries, if you attack someone else in your own party, or boast, then the party regional center is what will matter. This is indicated by a grey cross bar on the Platform screen’s issue spectrums. If the party regional center and the normal regional center are the same, you will just see the normal regional center, indicated by a white cross bar.
For more information, see Setting Your Platform.