Overview
A brief run-through of whats new and different in Democracy 3:Africa for people who are already familiar with the original game.
Introduction
This is a brief guide to introduce players of Democracy 3 to the new game, explain to them what is new, what they should look out for, and what systems are in use in the game that they may not be familiar with. To experienced Democracy 3 players, the interface should feel extremely familiar, you should be able to pick up and play the game right away, but its worth finding out what has changed, and whats new to get the most out of Democracy 3:Africa.
New Voter Groups
You may notice that the voter groups in Democracy 3:Africa differ slightly from the original game, Some have moved ‘position’ to align them in what feels like a more logical layout, some are missing and some are new.
No More Commuting!
We got rid of the Commuter group. Because Africa is a less urbanized environment than the western countries in Democracy 3, we felt it no longer needed to be there, and to some extent it could be replaced by Motorist. Obviously not everyone uses public transport which brings us to…..
Urban!
Urban is a new voter group. The lives of people in cities differ enough from rural life in many African states that this seemed to be an essential change. We also renamed ‘Farmers’ to ‘Rural’, as this more correctly conveyed the idea that this voter group represented everyone in non-city communities, not just people who directly work in agriculture.
Women!
Women were never a distinct group in D3, but the different lives and experiences of women in some African states made it necessary for us to introduce Women as a distinct voter group. Do not forget that in Democracy 3:Africa, people are in a whole number of different voter groups *at the same time*, so we still have capitalist women, socialist women, liberal women and conservative women. We also have a whole bunch of new situations and policies that specifically affect women.
Elderly!
In Democracy 3 we called this group retired, but that implies a state pension in some ways, (or at least some sort of independently provided pension) and we felt this gave a false impression of assumed affluence for elderly people in a number of African states. The change is only the name, nothing else.
Leader Power & Democracy
In Democracy 3, Political capital came purely from your ministers. The more loyal they were, the more political capital you had, it was that simple. Also, Democracy was assumed, there was no suggestion that you would be able to change electoral terms, take control of the press or the judiciary. Such things were unthinkable. In Democracy 3:Africa, this has changed.
Democracy
In D3:Africa, Democracy is an actual variable that is measured. Some countries start off very democratic, others…less so. As the President, you can change this over time, either seizing more control by way of certain policies, or giving up power to the people.
Naturally there are consequences to such actions. A lack of democracy will give rise to anger in certain groups, and can lead to a civil uprising which is very bad news. A lack of democracy is very unpopular with foreign governments, who may be reluctant to send aid or invest in a country where there are perceived abuses of human rights. With all these downsides why would you ever restrict democracy in your country….
Leader Capital
When Democracy is low, you get an extra boost to your political capital, which you will see on the ministers screen when you click the political capital button at the top left of the main screen. This ‘bonus’ capital comes to you because you are more totalitarian, and have greater control over the process of government. When your country is in a real crisis, you may find it desirable to do away with some parts of democracy, if such concerns get in the way of you making rapid change.
Deffered Concerns (Liberalism)
When the streets are on fire and angry mobs are looting and throwing petrol bombs, nobody goes out there to campaign for higher arts subsidies. As a result, many of the concerns of the ‘liberal’ group’ in Democracyu3 seem laughable in the context of states with real serious problems of stability and violence. This has been introduced as a new mechanic in Democracy 3:Africa.
Stability is a new measure for your country, which shows how ‘safe’ the country is. Its a major concern for foreign investment (which again..is new to the game), after all nobody wants to build a great big new factory in a foreign country if its burned to the ground by an angry mob (or seized by rebels). Stability can be achieved through both gentle means (giving protesters what they want) or less gentle (sending machinegun armed police with tazers and drones and using torture and detention without trial).
While stability is low, membership of the Liberal group will be highly suppressed. As a result, you may feel that chaotic countries are unusually conservative, but this will change as you progress and solve your countries worst problems.
Urbanization & Infrastructure
Never a concern in Democracy 3, as it was considered the norm, but in Democracy 3:Africa, as your country modernizes and the economy improves, you will see a change in the new ‘economy type’ variable as you progress through agrarian to manufacturing to a service based economy. As this happens, its likely that urbanization will occur, which is not a problem unless it is too fast, which can lead to overcrowding and other issues. To compensate for all this, you will need to invest in road building and technology and other policies that boost infrastructure.
New Policies, Dilemmas, Events and Situations
Obviously we don’t want to spoil whats coming by telling you everything new in the game, but be assured there is a ton of new content you will not be familiar with. We recommend taking a look at GDP in your first game to notice that gender equality is a contributor here (women forbidden from work will not contribute to GDP, obviously)
We also recommend taking a look at all the new policies. Corruption is a problem is some countries and there are policies to deal with it, and we also have un-cancellable policies you will need to take a stand on, such as child labor, and the freedom of the press.
You will also encounter a number of new situations, both negative (HIV and Malaria are particularly bad ones, as is Civil Uprising) and Positive ones such as Residential; Credit facilities, Endangered Species and Natural Wonders.
