The New Campaign Trail

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There's a new site for the Campaign Trail game after the old site's certificate security expired. No one knew if it would come back so a new site was made.

https://newcampaigntrail.github.io/newcampaigntrail/www.americanhistoryusa.com/campaign-trail/index.html

Played an Obama 2012 game on Easy, messed around and got this result where MN votes to the right of IA, WI, MI and PA.....

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They've also incorporated some new things like a 1964 mod and a "Very Easy" difficulty for most if not all years.

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Considering the old version is unlikely to be adding anything new anytime soon, I think this GitHub version has a lot of potential.

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No option for 2020 yet

The modders have already made one apparently and just need to make the questions and it has a good chance of being added. 1980 as well.

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The original creator of the game DIDN'T make this, a modder did. The game's reddit is quite an amazing community with the ability to do great stuff for the game. Which is why I have a lot of optimism for this new site going forward.

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Seems like a 1996 mod is being worked on and could potentially be added to the base game if it receives enough support.

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Got this playing 2004 mod as Bush.

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Went back to the 2004 mod. Played as Kerry and lost 276-262. Winning Ohio but losing Wisconsin and the election.

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1996 mod: Won this 431-107 as Dole on Very Easy:

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Seems like a 1996 mod is being worked on and could potentially be added to the base game if it receives enough support.

How do the mods work? I don't see the 1996 mod at all, and when I click on one and try to load it, it doesn't do anything.

Okay. So first, Here's the link to the 1996 mod. https://www.reddit.com/r/thecampaigntrail/comments/o14bcg/improved_1996_mod/

You have to click "Mod Loader" And it'll put 2 code sets. You have to put code 1 into "Code Set 1" and code 2 into "Code Set 2". In order to make it easier. It's 2 long Google Docs documents but you can click Edit and then select all. You can then copy the codes into their proper places and when you click here to begin, you should see the 1996 mod is ready to play. You have to do this every time you want to play the mod. When you begin to play It'll be on a normal version but you just have to bring up the map and exit out and you'll be as Clinton or Dole. (Note, When you play as Dole it'll still show you as playing as Clinton but you are in fact playing Dole so don't worry)

There are 1980, 2004 and 2020 mods available and more are being worked on.

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2020 mod:

https://www.reddit.com/r/thecampaigntrail/comments/nw44fl/2020_mod_update/

I didn't make the post but the post is from the dude who made the mod.

If you want to play the mod you must click on the first code, edit the document, select all, copy, and paste it into the Mod Loader and paste into Code Set 1. Biden isn't playable yet but you then have to paste the code of the running mate you want, do the same steps but paste that code into Code Set 2. You must put all of this in before you click to begin. Then, 2020 should be up and ready to play. You have to do this every time you want to play the 2020 mod.

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Biden 2020 mod is now a thing.

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First map as Biden/Whitmer, somehow won SC, IA, OH, but not TX or AK:

Ohio's streak continues!

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New 2020 mod was released by a guy named Snoo and there's a lot of new content and a lot of tweaks. 
https://www.reddit.com/r/thecampaigntrail/comments/o82szh/snoo_2020b_mod/

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2008 mod:

You can only play Obama right now but McCain will be playable soon the mod maker said.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thecampaigntrail/comments/ob8e09/now_playing_in_theatres_the_2008_presidential/

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Looks like 1932 mod is about to come out. They said that it's possible to narrowly win as Hoover on Easy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thecampaigntrail/comments/ogedol/1932_mod_development_update_the_mod_is_almost_out/

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Snoo, the creator of the most popular 2020 mod right now has just released 1984. You can only play as Reagan and have the option to either self-sabotage or try to win Minnesota.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thecampaigntrail/comments/ohn30l/1984_mod_reagan/

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1984 Mondale released. Got this absurdly unrealistic map with Bill Clinton as my VP on my first try, albeit on Very Easy mode (which I figured should be the only way to win but maybe not):

History literally flipped upside down!

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My favorite mods so far are 1980, 1996 and 2004.

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There is now a campaign available for every single election from 1960 through 2020 by the way. (Although 1972, 1992, and 2008 currently only have the Democratic candidate playable.) Pretty impressive work in a pretty short span of time. I was very pleasantly surprised to see this was a thing as I thought I was one of the few people on Earth who was a fan of the original game, and had lost hope it would ever be expanded to its full potential. But turns out a whole community of people who know how to code had the same niche interest, which is pretty awesome.

Many of the early 20th century elections (including basically all the ones that were remotely competitive and/or interesting, except 1912) are also there. And even several 19th century elections are there plus 1796. Right now almost all that’s missing which I’d really like to see are the Andrew Jackson elections, 1864, and the Reconstruction elections (especially 1876). Plus 1912, which is maybe at the top of my wishlist now. That and 1824 could be especially interesting due to the fact that they had more than two strong candidates, but that might make it more difficult to mod. 1800 could also be interesting but maybe even more difficult to simulate.

Since they’re expanding to things like GA-GOV, more close statewide elections like KY-GOV 2019 and FL-SEN and TX-SEN 2018 would also be cool. Some historical nailbiters like KY-SEN 1984 would also be cool.

I have a good feeling that most elections will be playable through mods by this time next year. There was also talk of a national US Senate 2020 mod but that unfortunately seems to be cancelled. I wonder if they'll even make mods of international elections.

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I'll just say how to play mods.

Step 1: Don't open the game. A lot of people probably make this mistake. They open the game, try to load a mod and it doesn't work. You have to load a mod before you open the game itself.

Step 2: Go to Mod loader, scroll down and find a mod you like. There's a number to choose from. You also have to pick specific candidates and running mates.

Step 3: Open the game, You should see it works and you can have fun. Just make sure to pick the candidate and running mate you picked in the mod loader or else the game won't play properly.

There are other mods that aren't available such as 2008 Obama. If you want to play mods like that you'll have to go to The Campaign Trail's subreddit and look up the mod there. Once you do, You'll see something that says Code 1 and if you click it, it'll send you to this long string of text, to make it easier, by clicking on Edit you can choose select all. Do that and then copy and paste that into Code Set 1, Next, you'll find codes for the candidates and their running mates. Click on the one you want and it'll send you to another Google Docs string of text. Do the same you did for Code 1 except copy and paste into Code Set 2. After that, you should be good.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thecampaigntrail/hot/

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Played as Perot earlier today and narrowly won, unfortunately I forgot the map.

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Here's my 2016 game as Clinton/Manchin, really surprising result.

TRENDS ARE REAL DAMNIT!

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Finally won on Normal as Bush in 1992. Here is the map:



With just 39.8% of the popular vote, I think that would be the lowest share of the popular vote for an elected president since like 1824. Although I still won it, exactly 1 point ahead of Clinton.

Nice to see third party states I gotta say.

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You know, I just have to say...

It truly is impressive what the Campaign Trail subreddit and Discord communities have done with the game over the past six months from making a whole new site after the old site's security certificate expired to making brand new, fully fleshed out mods. To be honest, I thought this game was dead in the water six months ago but the game's community have managed to bring a LOT of life back into this game and it seems as like that isn't stopping soon.