Each of the 21 areas of law has five stages, and so there are four changes needed to get to L+ from C+.
yes, 21x4. 84, got that.
There are four different times of year when the laws can change. On each occasion, between one and eight of the categories of law are chosen, and a motion to make each category one step either more liberal or more conservative.
yes, 8 topics, not 6 like i wrote above (that was bogus and is what i just logged in to fix
and 4 times a year. damn, i've been playing so many violent games that i didn't pay attention enough to get these basic facts. +2 internets for you for actually reading the manual!
One of the occasions is the supreme court, with decisions solely based on the alignment of the justices. One of the occasions is important propositions, with results based solely on public opinion. The other two are congress, where a motion has to pass the house, the senate and the president (or only house and senate if it passes with at least a 2/3 majority in both).
- One of the occasions is the supreme court, with decisions solely based on the alignment of the justices.
- One of the occasions is important propositions, with results based solely on public opinion.
- The other two are congress, where a motion has to pass the house, the senate and the president
(or only house and senate if it passes with at least a 2/3 majority in both).
.. feb28-congress, may30-supremes, aug31-congress, oct31-propositions ..
ok.. 4 times a year, from 1 to 8 topics can shift. ... that is, in 1 year, 4 to 32 shifts may happen.
if we have 84 shifts to win, and all the shifts that happen go our way, we _could be out of here in 3 years with a liberal court... but the supremes will certainly turn their shifts against us, leaving only half that number available for real. thus ballpark +16 as ideal and +10/year as good..very good.
The only thing that happens in two year cycles is the elections, which determine the make up of congress, and have no direct effect on laws.
the meta frame is coming together for like this: starting in 99, an odd year, with what's most likely a stuck-up evil congress & evil supremes, i can get from -8..8 topics to shift my way. playing the lcs as an october'99 surprise to affect 8 topics by.. say.. broadcasting, might just make a good start.
in 2000 there in the next year there will be an election and everything hangs in the balance.
with a stuck-up evil congress & supremes one could hope for nothing but reversals until october.
in 2000, -8..+8 shifts. now it could be all c+ or one could have gotten lucky for up to 16 shifts.
in 2001, if i got insanely good and/or lucky and the entire congress had gone from right to left in 2000,
there could be 16 more shifts in place by nov1-2001
going into 2002, one could have affected 32 of the 84 shifts required for an elite ending. but that is not likely at all. in reality, having made 10 shifts by 2002 would be very good. still having 10 shifts on the books would also be good.
if the court stays evil one could get another 2..16 shifts by nov1 each year, meaning 6 or 7 years from 2001 could see the first winner. lets be optimistic and say 'the game can not be won before nov1-2007'. (and if you won in 2007 you would have had insane luck, getting all 8 possible issues each time) if you had normalish luck and simply got 8 shifts your way each year, then you'd be at 2012 for a very good early ending.
but hey its late, thanks vm for your input. i'll post fixes here if they appear below, but first i'll take it back into the game to see how close to 2012 i can retire!