Markets, elections and a faster world

Dev diary by the Lakeside Games team, 9 October 2026.

TL;DR

• •New: Direct supply contracts, rebuilt presidential campaigns, weekly contests and an expanded Discord casino.
• •Fixed: 1991 incomes and budgets, campaign estimates, founding controls and the mobile sign-out label.
• •Still broken: Sovereign financing needs more qualification; earlier missed bond payments are not proven recovered.

The story

Companies sought suppliers in Discord; candidates lacked a clear county picture; prices and maps waited for the hour. We worked on those gaps together.

This diary covers the full 1.13 period, including its follow-ups. Screenshots use demonstration data. Full records are linked below.

If you run a company

The Market and Supply Exchange. Trading came together across stocks, bonds, funds, sectors, commodities, supply deals and currencies. Offers show volume, term, country, credit rating and market-relative price. Companies can take part or all; computer-run suppliers offer spare capacity and accept discounts up to 10 percent. Contracts provide supply priority and a price adjustment. Exchange comparisons and founding controls returned; old links open the matching view. The equity pool's half-spread fell from two percent to one.

Products and media. Companies gained named manufactured lines and media titles. Development events ask for decisions over about three days; a hit lifts applicable revenue by 10 to 20 percent for another three days. Newsroom alignment can make political advertising up to 15 percent cheaper and more persuasive in aligned states. Editorial influence on state opinion depends on the world enabling that feature.

Competition and company identities. Shortages attract computer-run entrants. Existing plants can place smaller expansions while preserving cash reserves. Vehicle makers became manufacturing companies on a vehicles line; entertainment businesses became media companies on an entertainment line. Conversion preserves plants, workers, balances and holdings. Manufacturing plants can retool into vehicle assembly.

Fund investing. Trade actions moved beneath the header, and long holdings lists became pages. CEOs can invest company cash, with holdings valued on the balance sheet. Redemptions need unreserved fund cash; otherwise units stay invested.

Company management and research. Ownership charts, earnings, freight and plant costs became clearer. Expansion shows capacity, demand and financing. Parent CEOs can inspect subsidiary books; spin-offs receive earlier-decade technology. Parents beyond three subsidiaries take a value discount, capped at 50 percent from nine. Closures leave records. Research regained branching paths, illustrations and clear prerequisites, funding gaps and track commitments.

Margins, freight and power. Home-country and own-type bonuses were halved; service payroll rose to roughly 35 to 45 percent of revenue. Freight bills are capped at 15 percent of goods value; logistics avoids sprawl penalties. Shortage prices reach producers and input costs up to twice base price. Power plants use less machinery and more steel; 1991 productivity rises about 30 percent over a game year. Free era technology no longer inflates valuation, and trivial cash deficits no longer trigger profitable companies' insolvency clocks.

If you run for office

The presidential page. We rebuilt it around a full-screen electoral map, county zoom, in-page state views, phone layouts and a road-to-270 strip. Campaign presence appears alongside results. Completed general-election campaigns can replay week by week when their history was recorded.

Campaigns and primaries. Field offices and county targeting made campaigns local across race types. Primaries gained regional variation, momentum, county results and primary-night presentation. Income previews separate current and next-upgrade effects using race size, currency and era prices. Historical actions check their displayed price; advertising again applies immediate favorability.

Party formation. New parties gained registration-pool views and NPP controls during a party-free world's first 240 hours. Signup, relocation and mergers respect regional presence. In-page confirmations restored party leaving in apps, and chairs can upload logos again.

Party and chamber work. Capacity grows with membership. The country ceiling is six times its region count, with a country minimum of 25: 306 in the US and 72 in the UK. The sixth local slot needs 50 percent organization; member requirements and costs apply. Voter leans and broader turnout targeting became visible. Independent candidates keep their races when joining parties; withdrawal stays final. House deadlocks can continue through contingent ballots, whips and an acting president. Court nominations gained Senate whips; chambers gained seals, portraits and nomination links. Japan's proportional seats and the Soviet Congress were corrected, alongside first-bill achievements and referral counts.

If you run a country or follow the economy

The 1991 foundations. Incomes were repaired for Nigeria, China, Turkey and seven Western European countries. Brazil, Germany, China and Nigeria keep their opening spending; Russian regional grants fit its envelope and Ireland's budget fits receipts after debt service. Company sizes follow GDP; household and government demand share supply limits. Bills show frozen annual costs, retained obligations, transition costs and modeled metric effects, with missing forecasts labelled. Population stocks filled 87 uncovered regions. The optional newer electorate model connects voter ages, turnout and campaign contact to verified world data.

Rates, debt and state enterprises. Central banks can hike three percentage points when inflation is five points above target; idle government-controlled rates can follow standing advice after a quarter. Fiscal close raises a nearly reached debt ceiling to 110 percent of debt. Unfunded maturities can roll over; auctions leave gaps unsold and stop placing at maturity. Annual deficits above three percent of GDP now bias computer governments toward legislative restraint. State enterprises grow into shortages using available Treasury cash. Reforming planned economies gained computer-sponsored privatization bills.

The clock. Prices update every 15 minutes. Elections, FX, inflation and growth take half their hourly movement at half past, then the rest on the hour. Earnings, campaign spending and race closure remain hourly. Prices have their own countdown; refreshing views retain selections. Checkpoints record completed, skipped or interrupted outcomes.

Settlement. Batched payments and durable receipts improved crash recovery. State-enterprise transfers, coupons and grants no longer stop corporation processing. Turns run separately from the website; timed-out phases finish before the next starts. Fund rebalancing spreads across the day, with bounded redemption batches and actual bond holdings displayed. Savings show the verified holder's rate, or label it unknown.

If you follow contests or play in Discord

Weekly contests cover corporate growth, National Influence, approval, referrals, sponsored bills, personal wealth growth and party membership growth. Most prize pools split 50, 30 and 20 percent across the podium; approval remains winner takes all. Linked entries and results news accompany synchronized weekly rounds.

The Discord casino added slots, roulette, crash, craps, high-low, races, lottery and poker alongside blackjack. The shared bank backs stakes up to 12.5 percent and payouts up to 25 percent; uncovered wins return stakes.

Returning on a phone, app or new account

We added Modern or Classic appearance, repaired phone headers, avatar frames and narrow politician lists, and restored bottom version links in the new profile panel and drawer. The profile redesign itself predates 1.13.

Settings gained email changes and granted vouchers for policy shifts without action, infamy or influence costs. The resumable 1991 tour explains founding and deadlines. iOS race entry and Android Discord sign-in work in-app; maintenance permits account recovery. Sign-in errors explain blocked signup. Reports confirm platform and page, with copyable failure references.

Corrections

We got estimates wrong and omitted interface controls. Dates below distinguish verified staging from unknown historical deployment; missing credits are labelled.

Still broken

Sovereign financing awaits testing in a copy of the live world and recovery review. Earlier missed bond payments are not proven recovered. Replay needs stored race history; editorial influence needs world activation. The latest shortage/fiscal follow-up is undergoing its sandbox soak; long-run balance remains unproven.

What is next

Persistent party organization, qualified financing and closer campaign, media and corporate links are possibilities. None has confirmed 1.14 scope or a release date.

Version 1.13.0. Published 9 October 2026. By the Lakeside Games team.

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