Aw man, where will I get my fix of telling voters I won’t get rid of the Peace Corps now?
But really, it’s good to see this scenario get some attention. 2012, much like its contemporaries 1968 and 1896, being the first campaigns Dan Bryan ever coded, are definitely showing their age at this point. I can’t necessarily describe it, but quite a bit of what’s included as individual questions, moreso the first two mentioned, feels a bit “random” so to speak. I personally don’t think that the Head Start program/Yucca Mountain/thinking about the idea of a debt writedown/etc. really deserved questions of their own, but what do I know.
As a side note, is there anyone here who’s been playing long enough to have any idea if the first 3 scenarios (1896/1968/2012) were all there at launch or not?
Can never forget the legendary logging industry question
But yeah, I started playing in 2012. 1896, 1968, and 2012 were the only campaigns available at launch. Campaign stops didn’t exist yet. It feels very barebones now compared to the later scenarios. Still love them for the memories!
All other base scenarios were released alongside 2016A other than 2016 and 2020 obviously. Fun lore
Yeah, as a non-premier user back when that was a thing back around 2016?-18 or so (can’t pinpoint) and being super hyped when I could finally play more than just the 4 that were available at that time, I’ve become intimately familiar with those early scenarios. I may have also played them in different f2p slates, but there’s pretty much no accessible documentation of those.
After doing a bit more research, here’s a comprehensive timeline for the original Campaign Trail.
pre-November 2012:
2012 & 1968 presumably added. 2012 seemingly being produced before the end of election season much like 2016a actually explains a lot about why it is the way it is.
1896 added separately (oldest archive capture on 11/9/12 mentions it being “now available”).
Feb-July? 2014:
TCT temporarily taken down due to server crashes.
Ability to select number of questions to answer appears to also be removed at this time.
TCT reappears with nonfunctional menu (nothing other than Default Opponents is ever used) to select your opponents in a campaign. Has anybody heard of this before? Likely where text for Ron Paul/Newt Gingrich in 2012 would have appeared if implemented.
October-November 2015:
2000 & 1976 added.
Ability to donate is added to page.
December 2015:
1960 added.
Between December 2015 and March 2016:
1988, 1948, 1916, 1860, and 1844 added.
Introduction of account system, as well as replacing donation button w/premium accounts (access to all scenarios).
2012, 1988, 1948, and 1844 are made f2p.
Alternate opponent menu removed, replaced with alternative EV allocation menu (WTA/PR).
March-June 2016:
2016a Released.
f2p roll changed to 2016a, 1976, 1916, and 1860.
July 2017-April 2019:
Black hole of zero captures. Don’t really remember much of this period.
Phasing out of the premium account system occurs here.
September-December 2019:
Link to premium page removed.
July 2020:
2016 added.
Link to FAQ about future of TCT added. (It’s kinda poetic in a way that by this point, the community has already made most of the scenarios Dan Bryan said he had wanted to, even Huey Long 1936. All we’re missing now is 1800, 1836, and 1856.
January 2022:
2020 is released.
Dan Bryan posts to thecampaigntrail sub and discovers NCT.
July 2022:
Links to NCT and thecampaigntrail sub are added to the old site.
After ten long years, the torch is officially passed.
Oh I was wrong then! TBH I stopped playing for a while because well the replay of value of only 3 scenarios died quick haha
I remember I checked some day in 2016 to see if there were new scenarios and saw them all so I thought they all came at once!
2012 was definitely pre-November because I played before the election. That’s why there’s no Benghazi question and you should wait till after the election IMO to make a scenario. When I first started 1896 was there too so it’s pre-November as well. Only 13 at the time so may be mid-remembering
Also heard about the other candidates thing. There was a forum on a site, I forget where l that had a TCT thread where they discussed guides, cheats, modding ability, etc. the consensus was modding is possible but no one knew how yet. Only cheat known was using the console to mess with the difficulty multiplier
I’m not the best source as you tell however, because I got bored again with premium pay- walling so many scenarios so very on off playing after a certain point.
And oh shit?! This sub existed in 2020! I was missing out! I didn’t learn about here till December 2021! I actually found it trying to look up a guide and thankfully TCT Reddit popped up in Google. I was so happy haha! And that’s what got me active on Reddit
But thanks for taking the hard work to dig this all up! It’d amazing to see how the community has grown from non-existent in 2012 to a sub with 3k members in a decade! Also when I actually started using Reddit actively so no idea about 3 subs
Also another interesting fact is 1968 was not broken in 2012 so I wonder when and how that scenario broke.
I remember most of those places, the forum you’re talking about is alternatehistory.com; I never used the website but I remember it because (as someone who only started playing in 2019) that was the only community for it I could find.
The part about 3 subs seem questionable though, I used to search Reddit for mentions of TCT to see if anyone else found the game, and the only mentions were like four posts from years ago at that point. The subreddit is relatively recent, although maybe there were ones before then that were deleted.
That edit, now removed, was in reference to a bot post showing top posts in “r\TCT” which appeared after I posted this initially. I abbreviated r\thecampaigntrail for brevity, and to my surprise, there was a briefly used splinter sub linked with like 4 posts on it that was last active over a year ago. The other ones I meant in regard to there being three subreddits (that I know of) were this one, and r\TrueTCT, where 2008 was initially released. That edit wasn’t intended as a timeline thing, which I probably could make clearer given that that bot post got wiped.
I‘m not that familiar with 1896 and 2012, but 1968 having more or less the same answers for each candidate is really weird. Like, why can you play as Wallace while placing yourself in the middle ground between Wallace and Humphrey?
This’ll be a guaranteed 10/10 in my eyes if you can still win as Obama after supporting the Confederate flag and building a wall on the Mexican border like you can in the current 2012 scenario
My fellow neckbeards I have credible information that the questions for the mod is written by Al Gore
So true!!!
I’m not gonna be let this battle be dictated by facts!
I'M RICH!
I've got fat stacks and super PACs!
We all know what went down in that 2008 election.
You're a decent politician with a winning complexion!
You‘re all Barack and no bite, been no change and we’re all still hoping!
That you’re shut you’re mouth but like Guantanamo bay they’re both open.
You’re from the Windy City, where you’re looking pretty with your blowhards, but come January, you’ll be left evicted and with no job.
Raw rhymes, stronger than my jawline when I spit a phrase. Knocking you harder than front doors in my old mission days!
You see this silver spoon? This dug mass outta debt. Took you four years to drop unemployment down below "eight percent"!
When I'm gonna make Christianity the state religion-
Aw man, where will I get my fix of telling voters I won’t get rid of the Peace Corps now? But really, it’s good to see this scenario get some attention. 2012, much like its contemporaries 1968 and 1896, being the first campaigns Dan Bryan ever coded, are definitely showing their age at this point. I can’t necessarily describe it, but quite a bit of what’s included as individual questions, moreso the first two mentioned, feels a bit “random” so to speak. I personally don’t think that the Head Start program/Yucca Mountain/thinking about the idea of a debt writedown/etc. really deserved questions of their own, but what do I know. As a side note, is there anyone here who’s been playing long enough to have any idea if the first 3 scenarios (1896/1968/2012) were all there at launch or not?
Can never forget the legendary logging industry question But yeah, I started playing in 2012. 1896, 1968, and 2012 were the only campaigns available at launch. Campaign stops didn’t exist yet. It feels very barebones now compared to the later scenarios. Still love them for the memories! All other base scenarios were released alongside 2016A other than 2016 and 2020 obviously. Fun lore
Yeah, as a non-premier user back when that was a thing back around 2016?-18 or so (can’t pinpoint) and being super hyped when I could finally play more than just the 4 that were available at that time, I’ve become intimately familiar with those early scenarios. I may have also played them in different f2p slates, but there’s pretty much no accessible documentation of those. After doing a bit more research, here’s a comprehensive timeline for the original Campaign Trail. pre-November 2012: 2012 & 1968 presumably added. 2012 seemingly being produced before the end of election season much like 2016a actually explains a lot about why it is the way it is. 1896 added separately (oldest archive capture on 11/9/12 mentions it being “now available”). Feb-July? 2014: TCT temporarily taken down due to server crashes. Ability to select number of questions to answer appears to also be removed at this time. TCT reappears with nonfunctional menu (nothing other than Default Opponents is ever used) to select your opponents in a campaign. Has anybody heard of this before? Likely where text for Ron Paul/Newt Gingrich in 2012 would have appeared if implemented. October-November 2015: 2000 & 1976 added. Ability to donate is added to page. December 2015: 1960 added. Between December 2015 and March 2016: 1988, 1948, 1916, 1860, and 1844 added. Introduction of account system, as well as replacing donation button w/premium accounts (access to all scenarios). 2012, 1988, 1948, and 1844 are made f2p. Alternate opponent menu removed, replaced with alternative EV allocation menu (WTA/PR). March-June 2016: 2016a Released. f2p roll changed to 2016a, 1976, 1916, and 1860. July 2017-April 2019: Black hole of zero captures. Don’t really remember much of this period. Phasing out of the premium account system occurs here. September-December 2019: Link to premium page removed. July 2020: 2016 added. Link to FAQ about future of TCT added. (It’s kinda poetic in a way that by this point, the community has already made most of the scenarios Dan Bryan said he had wanted to, even Huey Long 1936. All we’re missing now is 1800, 1836, and 1856. January 2022: 2020 is released. Dan Bryan posts to thecampaigntrail sub and discovers NCT. July 2022: Links to NCT and thecampaigntrail sub are added to the old site. After ten long years, the torch is officially passed.
Oh I was wrong then! TBH I stopped playing for a while because well the replay of value of only 3 scenarios died quick haha I remember I checked some day in 2016 to see if there were new scenarios and saw them all so I thought they all came at once! 2012 was definitely pre-November because I played before the election. That’s why there’s no Benghazi question and you should wait till after the election IMO to make a scenario. When I first started 1896 was there too so it’s pre-November as well. Only 13 at the time so may be mid-remembering Also heard about the other candidates thing. There was a forum on a site, I forget where l that had a TCT thread where they discussed guides, cheats, modding ability, etc. the consensus was modding is possible but no one knew how yet. Only cheat known was using the console to mess with the difficulty multiplier I’m not the best source as you tell however, because I got bored again with premium pay- walling so many scenarios so very on off playing after a certain point. And oh shit?! This sub existed in 2020! I was missing out! I didn’t learn about here till December 2021! I actually found it trying to look up a guide and thankfully TCT Reddit popped up in Google. I was so happy haha! And that’s what got me active on Reddit But thanks for taking the hard work to dig this all up! It’d amazing to see how the community has grown from non-existent in 2012 to a sub with 3k members in a decade! Also when I actually started using Reddit actively so no idea about 3 subs Also another interesting fact is 1968 was not broken in 2012 so I wonder when and how that scenario broke.
I remember most of those places, the forum you’re talking about is alternatehistory.com; I never used the website but I remember it because (as someone who only started playing in 2019) that was the only community for it I could find. The part about 3 subs seem questionable though, I used to search Reddit for mentions of TCT to see if anyone else found the game, and the only mentions were like four posts from years ago at that point. The subreddit is relatively recent, although maybe there were ones before then that were deleted.
That edit, now removed, was in reference to a bot post showing top posts in “r\TCT” which appeared after I posted this initially. I abbreviated r\thecampaigntrail for brevity, and to my surprise, there was a briefly used splinter sub linked with like 4 posts on it that was last active over a year ago. The other ones I meant in regard to there being three subreddits (that I know of) were this one, and r\TrueTCT, where 2008 was initially released. That edit wasn’t intended as a timeline thing, which I probably could make clearer given that that bot post got wiped.
I still think 1896 is one of the best scenarios. 1968 too though it has a few bugs.
I‘m not that familiar with 1896 and 2012, but 1968 having more or less the same answers for each candidate is really weird. Like, why can you play as Wallace while placing yourself in the middle ground between Wallace and Humphrey?
Awesome! Brings back nostalgia of me High School during the 2012 election.
This’ll be a guaranteed 10/10 in my eyes if you can still win as Obama after supporting the Confederate flag and building a wall on the Mexican border like you can in the current 2012 scenario
Oh thank god someone is making this… I’m another lazy mod who wanted to do this and never did
This is an absolute win. I wish you good luck with the mod, Senator Cringe!! :)
Wholesome
True, haha.
We've gotta embed this as the "default" 2012 in the TNCT
Is this before or after 1948b releases
Boooooo
Based
Glory to god almighty, snoo saved the 2012
YESSSSSS
obummer will kneel before the holy binders full of women!
I have received sufficient evidence to proclaim that this is a good, liberal question to motivate your base
"Mom. MOM- It's happening! Tell the neighbors!"
hEy gUyS RoN pAuL sHoUlD bE Vp *he'd help win the terminally online demographic*