Game description :

Rulers of Nations is a geopolitical simulator of the current world. Players play heads of state or governments (presidents, kings, prime ministers . . . ) of the countries that they choose at the beginning of the game. They can take initiatives in several areas—economic, social, military, domestic and foreign policy, environment, culture, etc.
All the countries of the world are represented, with their variables and their own modes of functioning.
The game includes phases for economic management, trade, wargame, construction, espionage, simulation, and political manipulation.

Two game modes are available :

• Global competition, mode that can be played solo or with multiple players, which sets 16 great nations against each other (played by artificial intelligence or other human players). In this mode, no holds are barred in the race to become the greatest nation in the world. The players can choose their secret objectives that will increase their score once they are reached. Online player rankings, as well as a list of matches currently playing are available on this site.
• World simulation, where the player leads one of the 170 proposed nations. There are about 20 contextual scenarios in tune with current events such as "Get out of the world crisis", "Afghanistan: The new Vietnam?", and "Terrorist threats at the 2012 Olympic Games in London!".

The enduring objective of the player-head of state is to remain popular, especially during elections, so that he can stay in power as long as possible. Keeping the state accounts and the budget deficit in order is also an important key to longevity.

The player can intervene in the management menus and on the map, during meetings, and via responses to various alerts and requests.

• The ministers' management menus: hundreds of actions and legislation options are available. Examples: distributing the budget among different budget lines, changing the VAT rate, extending retirement age, creating a new tax, limiting the powers of political parties, increasing minimum wage, changing the mandate of the head of state.

Each bill must be voted on by Parliament—for democratic regimes of course—and depends on the votes of the different political parties present (which reflect reality).
The player can also take action without the endorsement of Parliament, for appointing ministers to government posts, visiting hospitals, going on television, setting the electoral campaign, and ordering secret service investigations for example. These play an important role in the game. They also make it possible to get to know the military forces of a country, spy on a political party, start scandals, have an opponent assassinated, and carry out sabotage operations.

• actions on the map: The map is portrayed in 3D in relief, and shows the country borders, cities, and the world's key places. The map can be displayed flat or as a globe, in full screen or zoomed to a very high level of detail. The player can lead military campaigns there by making precise manoeuvers on each unit. A wargame interface and minimap are dedicated to this game phase. You can also give general orders to your army chief, who will then take care of military action. Clicking on an area of the map also gives access to contextual management menus in this area. You can construct a nuclear plant, close an embassy, and create a cultural event in a region for example.

• meetings: The player can manage his or her agenda and set meetings with important figures from his or her country (about 300, including heads of political parties, trade unionists, artists, and religious and military figures), or from abroad (heads of state, heads of organizations, international stars. . . ). All these figures are portrayed with a 3D face and speak (over 6h of dialog). During these meetings, the player can be led to suggest commercial contracts and strategic alliances with another country, negotiate with unions, and try to manipulate political or popular personalities.

• requests and alerts: All throughout the match, the personalities can intervene to give their advice, inform the player of various events, and suggest requests that the player will have to respond to (for example a vote at a UN session, accepting a minister's resignation request, the possibility of getting in touch with a mole of a foreign government). Depending on the actions that the player takes, the IA reactions, and calculations of the environmental engine, many events could happen—strikes, conflicts, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters for example. The player can choose from several solutions to face them (negotiation, calling up on allied countries, moving troops, infiltrating secret agents, setting up refugee camps . . . ). To be even better informed of the main world events, the player can read the weekly newspaper.

• Rulers of Nations also has a Tutorial and a Quiz game to test your knowledge with over 3,000 questions.

Differences with and improvements to the 2009 version of the Geo-Political Simulator :

Rulers of Nations, Geopolitical Simulator 2, includes several new functions and improvements:

• The Competition game mode playable solo or with several other players on a network (up to 16 players): In this mode, the players choose a character among the 16 great leaders of today's world. Their ranking is established based on their results in the following domains: popularity, military conquest, budget deficit, alignment with other countries in the world.
  This game mode is not as realistic as the Simulation mode, and it encourages risk-taking.
  The IAs of the heads of state managed by the computer have been specifically developed for this.
  Also included: real-time player rankings online, a list of available online matches, the possibility of choosing secret objectives for each of the players, chat.
• New scenarios incorporating the current geopolitical context in the Simulation mode. For example: "Get out of the world crisis: Who will the winners be?", "Afghanistan: The new Vietnam?", and "Terrorist threats at the 2012 Olympic Games in London!", "Iran, the new nuclear power?".
• Updated geopolitical and economic data as of September 30, 2010: economic indicators, demographics, growth, new heads of state . . .
• 3D faces: All the characters are now portrayed with their faces in 3D. All of them express themselves orally during meetings. The main characters have their own voices. The game has over 6 hours of dialog in all.
• Interactive real-time tutorial: To help the player start off smoothly and understand the game, an interactive advisor supports the player through the first actions and the obtention of the initial objectives.
• Specific interface for and improvements to the wargame, with troop management through icons, activable minimap scanner, over 40 types of 3D units of differing technology quality, freight aircraft for troop transport, micromanagement of spy satellites. The different degrees of quality of the arms are incorporated into the combat damage calculations. The players can also purchase (secretly or otherwise) more modern arms from other countries. Technology research will make it possible to obtain new weapons that will not have existed at the beginning of the match in 2011 (quality levels 4 and 5)
• Possibility to construct offshore stations, land and sea wind farms, and solar farms. The suitability of areas for these operations is taken into consideration in the analysis for selecting an installation site.
• Management of refugees in the event of war or natural disaster (population migration, construction of camps, humanitarian aid).
• New actions such as annexing conquered territories, regional independence, changing the capital.
• Various improvements: a new more intuitive interface, videos integrated in the menus, TV news bulletins, 3D effects on the map (notably for military combat), new background music . . .
• "Test your knowledge" game quiz with over 3,000 questions on politics and general knowledge, with different options (difficulty level, choice of themes, solo or multiplayer mode, internet player ranking . . . )

Many algorithms have been fine-tuned and reworked to make the simulation more balanced and realistic.

The GPS Project

In development since 2004, Geopolitical Simulator, a.k.a. G.P.S., strives to be ambitious and one of a kind, constantly evolving, with a team of dedicated specialists and developers. Its objective is to offer a simulation of today's world whose comprehensiveness is constantly being improved—notably with data that is regularly updated—and to develop new scenarios that reflect world events and geopolitical upheavals.
G.P.S. is a software from the French company Eversim, a company specialized in the development of network simulation games in a persistent world. This company was founded in February 2004 by the former heads of the video game editor Silmarils, which launched 30-odd products between 1987 and 2003.
For further information, you can look at their website: http://www.eversim.com

The tools developed by Eversim are used as serious gaming by several organizations (NATO for example) as a training and teaching tool for politics and diplomacy, as well as for simulating crisis situations.