Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!

Review and Download (if available)

Sorry for this late post, but I just realized this game had no discusion link (it either disappeared during one of the transfers of the site, or was never created).

In any case, we had this game for a long time now, and finally you can talk about it! :D

haha, i was about send a msg asking Kosta about this.

A tip for the reviewer, Chimerica it´s any contry of Latinamerica (no just central),
The name Chimerica it´s cuz CHIle to MExico ameRICA. At least a friend told me and it isn´t very strange. Some pics and history are from sud America as well.
Anyway, a great game about recent history. :kosta:

Is it possible to finish the game without rebellion from either left or right wing of the army? I never managed to do it.

I think that the game lectures you, like Machiavelli that neutrality didn´t exist for long or it´s untrue.

The more near that i was to a real centre gov was by gotting quick elections but i lost them to Popular Stability... anyway, the Cristian Reform(i was candite for them) were second but before the change of power National Liberation make a revolt.

U can make a center left or center right gov and lose the elections but u need to defeat at leat a revolt

I prefer to be in the left.
:ok:

I finished the game successfully several times, but never without some active guerilla movement on the right or left. My best compromise was allowing the right wing to dictate international policy, while my domestic policies were handled by the left.

It´s good way to maintain USA economical aid.
It will by best serve if firtly in the game u take a exterior minister from National Liberation and take the Socialist aid. Then server by an exterior minister of popular stability, u resolve all international relations. Maybe it will be wise to take a minister fro cristian reform to maintain the status quo recibing both aids.

I played this game a LOT, then decided that I hated it!

The game progresses either
1: When an event occurs and you must react to it.
2: When you decide to enact policy.

In the first case, someone speaks to you, and you decide to either do as the person says, or do what your Minister in that area suggests. If you haven't appointed one, you have no option but to AGREE to what the person suggests. You are unable to suggest alternatives YOURSELF (like doing the complete opposite to what is being suggested, which I find extremely limiting).

In the second, you ask a minister about a policy area and they give an opinion and a suggestion. You can agree or disagree, OR call a meeting with your other ministers (who might have a different political leaning - left, right, centre), and take their suggestion instead.


I would have also liked a slider, or a place where I could set budget percentages. Instead of just increasing education spending by increasing the %, you have to meet with someone who wants you to increase education spending, and then agree with their proposal....

In the game, for example, I would have liked to import food and conduct land redistribution to small size food and export crop farmers, in response to the food price hike (one of the first problems you come across). Unfortunately, only left wingers will allow you to import food, and only the middle-road party will land redistribute to the smaller farmers.

Also, with regards to your newly-merged military, the right wing colonel keeps starting events where he keeps trying to arrest the left wing subcommandante. With a left wing defense minister, the advice is to let the subcommandante arrest the colonel, which starts an insurgency. With a right wing defense minister, the advice is to let the colonel arrest the subcommandante, which also results in an insurgency.

If I remember correctly, if you reject the advice and avoid the insurgency, you then run into problems with the death squads. Failing to do anything significant about the right wing "limpia" group results in the widow and the trade union leader getting murdered. (by significant I mean that you can order the arrest of the death squads and their leader, but the courts won't find them guilty - unless you specifically tell the courts to investigate properly).

However, doing that causes the colonel to immediately meet you and demand that the charges get dropped - which you can only refuse to do if you have a left wing defense minister (as the middle and right wingers advise you to not proceed), which results in a right wing insurgency....

I understand that democracy results in lots of people having opposing views, but Government is supposed to mean that someone decides which is overall more important, and then taking that decision - not blindly following what anyone suggests (like in this game!).

(also, I found Shadow President hard for much the same reasons).
(sigh - I found Tropico much easier to play)

The only way to avoid a army split and rebellino is to have no elections :wall: witch I don't like but follow anyway, even if it means having the DAMN DEATH SQUADS. too bad I can't make a few discreet phone calls to deal with Roberto Padilla :whistle:

ah well. latin america is quite the instable place :sniper:

Anyone tryed to make a right wing gov and persecute Padilla and co.?

Not possible

1)Right Wing forces you to declare ammesty if you try to have the court try them well

2)The Cornel leaves with him if you manage to get around that, leaving a communist sub-comandate. This doesn't allow you to have US military aid.

3)Leaves a right-wing insurgency.

Plain not possible :Titan:

Yep, tryed and failed. :cry:

By the way, the developer of the game tried to get a successor going, but the pubilsher was in the process of closing down and not paying its bills. The developers never could find anyone else to like the idea they had: a similar title placed in the MidEast. One publisher actually said nobody was interested in the area. :blink:

I exchanged some emails with the developer about a year ago. He's interested these days photo-manipulation, and no longer has any desire to work on the title's successors. Too bad.

EDIT: This title is still on my computer. :D

It´s weired. I can´t run it using dosbox, cause the graphics aren´t displayed correctly.

Vito, u must can run the game in win.

Borodin, that are really bad news it will be good if a new title over middle easr come out :cry:

This is another great one!! :ok:

This game is more like examination simulator for me (I'm educating in political science) than a game. I have to use all fo my skill to handle all situation and keep my government alive... the encouters in game, including state-coup, are alike to my country's political history (I'm living one of the third world in SEA).

This game will be more fun if we can make our own policies rather than depend on minister or any peoposal only...and can adjust the spending in each policiy. I alway become bakrupt soialist government when finish the game.

So sad that there are no more game like this game at this time... :(

Wow, I got forced out by the parliament... seems everyone ended up hating me. :angry: I had to give in to the US, they were supporting my rebels...

In DOSbox graphic is weird.
In WinXP it hangs on the intro screen.
Any sugestions?

Alister

Maybe change the machine settings? This is CGA, right?

set it to tandy in version 0.63
it works in 0.61 and the development version though.

You must set DOSBox to use tandy graphics.

Its sad to say but hidden agenda its about the history of our countries.

I've played Hidden Agenda a few times and enjoyed it. However, I have a few questions:

1) How could you survive as a right-wing dictator for long? When I tried going to the far right, I used all the dirty tricks (Guards included) and licked the a$$ of the USA, but then the masses revolted against me and killed me.

2) Is aid from "Socialist" countries worth anything? I requested Cuban aid for an entire game but still my Health system went banckrupt.

3) Is there a way to be a left-wing government without declaring a state of emergency near the end?

4) What are the factors that determine a successful coup against me? I know that there were coups I prevented, but what is the most efficient way to stay alive 'till the end?

1 and 4) For survive coup d´etat, u have to help your side to control the army and when revolts erups u havr to build an army.

2)Only with both incomes, capitalist and socialist, u can maintain helthcare and education butgets. Anyway the big hole in the economy its that socialism in agro reduce the income of grains and the army is the biggest expense.

3)During elections u say.... errr no.

:bye:

Still can't prevent the Revolution if I'm trying to run a far right government. I gave my support to the Army Colonel (General?) whenever possible, consulted with my Minister of Defence about "Control of the Army", even let the Guards do whatever they want, but still the masses rise up and kill me. Can't blame them, though, I was running an administration as bad as Farsante's...

That's because the left and right are equally strong. Try running a government that appeals to forces at both ends.

A few more questions:

1) Can you successfully eliminate corruption?

2) Is there a possibility of being so close to the Center that there would be no coup attempt at all? i.e. how populolist and opportunist could you be?

3) Can the USA be pleased in any way? The gringos don't seem to be satisfied with anything...

4) Is it possible to have both a wide-range (i.e. helps the poor) Infrastructure, Health Care and Education, or do you have to choose? (My most successful game so far had a Leftist government which had both Health and Infrastructure, but not Education).

1) Corruption cannot be eliminated, but it can be greatly reduced.

2) I think the left and right want to feel like they're a part of the government, and not just on the receiving end of well-intentioned policies, so you probably should put at least one member of each party in your government. I've had great success with a righwing foreign policy and a leftwing domestic one.

3) You can please the US with a rightwing foreign policy. I got the US to help out after in turn helping them out--such as with that anti-drug legislation in the UN.

4) If you do each a bit, then you won't succeed in any of them very much. But try it, and see. :)

Yes, there is a way to be a rigth gov even worst than Farsante and defeat any coup.

And secpndly, if u mange to keep USA´s aid and URSS´s and cuban´s aid u can maintain a helthcare progran, an education program and the land reform. But be carefull if any of both sides reduce the denvelope aid yyour country will be out of money!!!

Hi, I have a little question to the game:
Can I download it anywhere in a german version? My english is very bad, so it dont makes much fun to play it in english.

None that i know but look inside the underdogs, they got many german stuff

When I load up this game it shows shows some white squares moving around frantically. How do I fix this?

I'm using DosBox on XP.

Hei, I managed to make both revolutionary troops and conservative troops equally balanced. The key, I think, is by choosing Francisco F. Oberon as your defense minister. He's the one who said that he'll balance the army.

Therefore, whenever one side gets stronger, your defense minister will propose to balanced the other one.

And Liliana O. Lanza is useful as an External minister, to maintain peace with US while still hold a relationship with socialist country.

Both of them are from Christian Reform party.

I also managed to get an ending where the revolutionary troops rebelled and the conservative troops managed to destroy them. US really had their hands on it.

But, I couldn't make an ending with the revolutionary troops and the socialist countries on my side.

This is really hard. Its easy to be lefty or righty but be in the middle and got a good governement review its impossible. I never can mantain a balanced army. Tell, what did u chose about the US´s Mil Aid to balance army?

I can't say I ever achieved a balanced military force, in every time I won the game. I always ended up with either a strongly leftwing or rightwing military, as well as insurgencies in the countryside. It fed itself: the stronger the insurgency got, the larger the army you needed to meet it, whcih took money away from other activities and caused increasing unrest among civilians. But it could be handled, at least in the term you needed to complete the game. It was a fine balancing act.

Your best bet is to...

1)Accept economic aid for communist, and lick the US as$

2)Not hold elections

3)Don't exile the death squad.

4)Go to rationing ASAP

5) Split farms either to small farmers or co-ops, preferably both

6)Upgrade health and education both once, and concentrate infastructure on the poor and exports.

7)DON"T HAVE ELECTIONS. The gaem is programed to split the army and create a rebellion on either side of the spectrum when elections are called. :Titan:

Do anyone know where to get the Reference Manual for this game? I have the Player's Manual, but the Reference Manual is suppose to tell the history of Chimera, as well as give more detail about the 3 political parties.

If anyone knows where to get it, please tell me.

(And, a note: Is it true that there will be a civil war if elections are called? If so...why?)

Thanks to anyone that answers.

Found it inside the game, BTW Chimerica represent any latinoamerican country between CHIle and MExico. The situations of the game are very realistic for example the humans right activist is taken from the mothers of the dissapeared during the dictatorship in Argentina.

Where in the game? How do you access it?

read all the dossiers of the game :bleh:

National Liberation is Arnacho-Communist
Christian Reform is Liberal-Theologic (Moderated)
Popular Stability is Conservative

I love this game, and I was wondering something...

How do you lose elections?

Yes, it sounds incredibly strange, but let me explain. I have so much fun playing the game and I want to try out different sights. I heard people are able to lose elections, which really suprised me, as I thought the elections are mere rubber-stamping. So, yeah, please tell me how to lose.

Also, is there any other way to get overthrown, other than coups or losing elections?

It seems really impossible to hold off National Liberation the first few seasons without embracing leftist policies. Is there any way to last more than two years while maintaining a right wing government?

Here is a guaranteed way to win Hidden Agenda (I've tried it many times, it always works).

So warning: this post is kind of a spoiler! (You may not want to read the rest!)

1. When it comes to answering the initial reporters questions, always pick the FIRST choice.

2. Don't appoint any cabinet ministers!!!

3. Go directly to encounters (the telephone). Start in the upper left, and go straight across, left to right (like you're reading). For each encounter, always agree to whatever the person proposes.


And that's it! Keep on going through the encounters (always starting in the upper left each season) until the game ends. You'll always win.

And that kind of disappoints me- I wish the programmer would have put some sort of randomizer into the game. (I also wish the option to arrest opponents was there!)

Also, the programmer seems to have a leftist bias. Too easy to win when running hard left. Impossible, as far as I can see, to win when running hard right.

But it's still great to see a game the invites careful thinking, can be played without a 40 page rulebook, and requires no micromanagement. Sure wish more games were made like this one.

I tired to do right wing enough to pay off my debts and afford health care, then do a 360 after being nominated...I lost to the liberals.

Remain in the right wing isnt hard, the only problem is that you must send all your money to army. Anyway is harder be on right but according to the history, all right wing goverments were under check and cant hold it without concesions.

A few observations:

1. Apparently being left-wing makes you survive better. I was more leftist in one game and managed to survive two Popular Stability uprisings plus one Christian Reform rebellion.

2. How are the elections different if you choose to go with either popular democratic organizations or with the tripartisan committee to draw out the constitution? Whenever I go with the National Liberation route, it tells me that both of the other parties split up, apparently Popular Stability is hit harder (a Popular Progress Party is mentioned)

3. I've never been able to get to the end of the three years by being more right-wing. I either die in an uprising or get voted out my Iglesias. Unfortunately, even if I make him a Minister he tends to leave my cabinet to run in the election.

4. This game must be remade. Must.

I find myself incapable of playing the game in a right-wing manner. I start out well, taking aid from the US and banning unions from striking, and then, before I know it, I'm funding healthcare and backing land reform. All of the successful games I've ver had, I took the root of land reform backed up by giving guns to peasants, then a draft. I also seemed to have a coup every year, which always fails. The leader of the old army always seems to head them up, and ends up getting killed. The only problem I have by the end is national debt, if I can find someway of spliting the farms quickly into communes and getting them producing export crops, I reckon I'd be sorted.

The economical problems only can be solved by getting aid from both URSS and US. It can be done by playing a leftwing goverment with neutral international politics with some accepting US request like the Mendieta´s extradition affair. The key is to speak both ambassadors early in game to get funds.

The download link doesn't work anymore.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Sep 11 2007, 11:18 PM) [snapback]310306[/snapback]</div>http://www.abandonia.com/forum/index...howtopic=16074 :rolleyes:

It works great on Ubuntu using Dosemu 1.22(/w free dos).

I need to find more of these kind of games.

We should add this link to the review, e.g.:

Jim Gasperini, the author of Hidden Agenda, is the official source for obtaining a game copy. In return he would like to get feedback, and that you donate to a Central American aid agency. Be nice and consider it, thanks. Further reading.

Has anyone managed to get re-elected, survived to the end of their term, and NOT racked up government debt?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Oct 6 2007, 03:31 PM) [snapback]314957[/snapback]</div>I think it's a given that you will increase debt, even if it's only at the expense of loans taken out against US and/or USSR assistance. The country is cash-strapped, the social support structure is non-existent, and everybody on all sides wants results. You can buy results, but you have to sink into debt before you can lift the place out of it.

I did it by going moderately socialist on internal matters, and moderately rightwing on international ones. The latter kept my own rightwingers more or less happy, and brought in US help. The social stuff went to infrastructure (though health care or education could also have been chosen just as well). My only real problem was the burgeoning war with the right wing guerillas, but there doesn't seem to be any way to prevent that. When the military tears itself apart you can either go with the left or rightwing sections, and the other moves into the jungle. I suppose you could sell yourself so solidly into either the US or USSR camp as to get fighting aid, but by then, you'd probably have so badly annoyed the other political side at home that they would have toppled you.

I actually managed to merge the two armies which was interesting, also i repelled the coup and got elected for another term! :brain:

Can you stay in power more than three years?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Nov 15 2007, 10:49 PM) [snapback]319314[/snapback]</div>No. Your career is summarized at the end of that time, including your stated goals, your actual achievements, the crises that occurred while you were in power, etc. You can always play again. ;)

I want to post my general experience with "Hidden Agenda", not to spoil the fun for anyone :) but to see if there is anything I missed... Newcomers are better advised to find their way by themselves.

1) I do not believe that "Chimerica" is just any Latin American country. Based on what happens in the game, you will end up with a "Nicaragua", a revolutionary government fighting a rightist insurgency supported by the US, or an "El Salvador", a rightist government supported by the US fighting against leftist insurgents.

2) This not your average developed world democracy, where everbody is entitled to form his or her own opinion and then choose the appropriate political party, which will be elected in a transparent way and rule according to law and constitution (well, this doesn't work all the time either).
This is a small country of the Americas, torn almost to the point of civil war between a revolutionary movement dedicated to communism, marxism, working class solidarity etc. and which has been instrumental in overthrowing a blood thirsty dictator; and an elite of land-owners, military officers and state functionaries which had only abandoned the dictatorship at the last moment to protect their own interests.
These guys will do anything to get their hands on power.

3) The only way to observe popular preferences is through elections. In the game mechanics, calling for elections means civil war, with you taking the side whose policies you supported mostly before. If you end up with a rightist government facing a marxist revolution, the elections will be a sham. If you end up with a left of centre coalition, then the elections will be mostly free (judging from the newspaper clippings) and there is no way in my knowledge to win them if you are not the National Liberaation candinate.
The people of Chimerica are programmed to be leftist, and in this way the game is biased, yet arguably close to the political situation in the countries' mentioned at the time.

4) If I read the political situation correctly, then both extreme parties' behaviour makes sense: National Liberation feel it expresses the "will of the nation" and will resolve to violence to guarantee your policies won't stray to far from its programme. In the same way, Popular Stability feeels it is an embattled minority and will try to thin the ranks of the marxists (or any form of opposition, in that matter) through the use of LIMPIA and death squads targeting the land reform.
The Centre has a limited role to play in this polarised coutry.

5) There are certain important policies you must decide upon on the game, like impose rationing, selling or giving the Farsante estates or your intenational relations. But the game's key policy and this which makes you leftist, rightist or centrist, is land reform, if you decide on a radical reform, a moderate\restricted one or none at all.

6) Be too radical in the beginning and you will end up with a military coup, which you will lose. I have not seen any direct relation between the side of the army you favour or the military assistance it receives. There is only one thing you can do to survive coups and that is proceeding with land reform:
At some point, land reformers are targeted by army death squads and their leader goes into hiding. Now, if you have a leftist ministry of agriculture (or defense?) you can arm the peasantry: apart from securing the land reform, rightist coups against you will fail.
On the other hand, if you do not do nothing, land reform will collapse by itself and you will be secure from leftist coups. Or at least that is the idea: in general playing as a rightist is much more difficult than the Left.

7) If land reform is the place where you choose sides, peace and stability of Chimerica (that is, not plunging into civil war) hangs from what you do with LIMPIA. Pushing for the imprisonment of Padilla means a rightist insurgecy no matter what your policies are (and if your policies are too right, you are left without death squad protection from National Liberation coups). Calling for elections will also result into a split in the army, with the game defining you as right- or left-of centre and the other side taking to the mountains.

From 1-7, my games have had one of the following conclusions:

1) Radical Land reform
1.1 Did not call elections, despite US and Church pressures, CHimerica rlatively peaceful, apart from LIMPIA, not much to do in the last season or two
1.2 At some point I either ordered Padilla arrested or called for elections and had to fight an violent insurgency supported by the Americans
1.2.1 fight the insurgents all the way (i.e. draft the population and denounce US imperialism) the country was left in ruins, bankrupt and USSR embassy advised me not to stray too far from the Western hemisphere political norms
1.2.1.1 Try to stem back the tide by agreeing with the US ambassador for a mre nuisanced policy: the national liberation parliament removes me from power
1.2.2 do not call a draft, financial collapse is slower but does indeed occur due to the cost of the insurgency to the economy
If your policies make you a NAtional Liberation candinate, you win what international observers (again, see the newspapers) recognise as relatively free and fair, but still get denounced by the Reagan administration.
In general, you get the feeling of sticking out for the People, defying the US imperialists and their stooges and becoming a revolutiionary super star in the likes of Fidel Casgtro and Hugo Chaves :) On the other hand, US embargo, terrorism and maybe your planned economy policies deal a heavy blow to Chimerican economy

2) Moderate Land Reform
2.1 Do not call elections, despite US and Church pressures, CHimerica rlatively peaceful, apart from LIMPIA, not much to do in the last season or two
2.2 At some point either arrest Padilla or call elections. In the first case you will end up in a situation like that described above. In the second one, you will be judged by your general policies, to see if you are more to the rght or to the left
2.2.1 like above, but I've never won the election against National Liberation
2.2.2 you end up as a titular president with titular centrist inisters, while the army and LIMPIA fights a left wing insurgency by eliinating all opposition, from the National Liberation leader to the country's moderate archbishop. You still win the election, but what luck you will have later is left unclear...

3) No Land reform
While the Right's best bet is to proclaim land reform to keep the peasants happy, then use death squads to de facto block its implementation, refusing land reform will probably lead to a decisive leftist coup. I only managed to do it once, and then could not repeat it. I remember I had to be completely leftist in other fields, like pro-Soviet foreign relations, social rights and I even ordered Padilla arrested in the last meeting every season to forestall the end of season coups, knowing I could release him in the next season.

I've got a major problem:

The boxes where you are supposed to select options have absolutely NO text in them. I can't tell what I'm selecting at ALL.

I actually have no idea how to use DOSBox, and thus ran just the game application. Is there anything I'm doing completely wrong?

Yes, you are not using DOSBox.

I have begun a small "Let's Play" of Hidden Agenda that seeks to explore all the potential ways to "win" the game. If you want to take a look, or even better, suggest to me new ways to try and beat the game, go right ahead.

It's called Let's Horribly Break Hidden Agenda.

Ahhh. Splendid.
I never really got into the game, although I find it absolutely unique. Thanks for sharing your insights.

PS: There is a MANUAL for the game?? How could I possibly get it?

Step 1. Click your heels three times and beg Paco to add it for you. There is currently quite a back log.

Step 2. If you get past step one I will scan it.

Here we go:

"Click"
"Click"
"Click"
/my heels are turning blue/

@Paco
Do you hear my cry?
Could I have a manual uploaded for this unequaled, hidden gem of a game?

hehe fine.

now i have Geezer work for me. :mischief:

:paco: Geezer :whip:

Geezer?

"Click", "click" (in case more heel clicking is necessary).

Its coming.

Should be done this weekend. (June 27)

Thanks a lot.
I'm looking forward to understanding the game better.

Thanks for uploading the Reference Manual. It did help me to understand the game's history a bit more, even though some of the guesses I made turned out to be completely wrong (I always assumed there was a 'unholy alliance' between Leonard Flores and Farsante). Oh well.

Perfect. Many thanks to Geezer!

I cannot believe I once tried to play the game without these informations...

:2thumbs:

I downloaded this game along with Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator, and it's amazing how the two seem related to the other. However, Hidden Agenda is definitely meatier, customizable and more interactive, but significantly more difficult than Conflict. I can't seem to figure out how to do things correctly so that everyone is at least relatively happy and the economy isn't in the toilet. This game kicked my ass 7 more times before I gave up. :ouch:

It's sad, really, because I got really into it.

For what it's worth, my suggestion is to make your foreign policy conservative, and your domestic policy liberal. Suck up to the US. That's worked for me, though I know there are other strategies that will do as well.

I only played once. I tried to be centrist, and when I thought I had stabilized things enough I called elections, then the death squads from the Farsante appeared out of nowhere and assassinated every leftist candidate. These were powerless to defend themselves, because I had cracked down on the leftist guerrillas much harder simply because they were very active while the Farsante death squads had been apparently sleeping, until I called elections.

I think this game pushes you into cultivating one of the violent sides and bind your fortune to theirs and end up a dictator. The initial status quo heavily favors the right, although with your all-mighty powers as provisional president you can end up as Fidel Castro and crush them if you want. I suppose there must be a happy ending when you manage to hold some frigging elections, but it must be very hard and I gave up.

Holding elections just mean the leftists and the rightists start killing each other for the chance to rig them. The election events are nice, but usually, if you want a semi-prosperous country, just don't bother holding them. There's no way a fair election could be held in Chimerica, so why bother?

You are right though that the game wants you to align with one of the violent sides; the developer has stated that the current arrangement at the start of the game, where the Army is divided, would only be temporary and it's up to you to decide what to do.

Also, a few days ago, I refused to implement the State of Emergency, thereby encouraging the 'reactos' to strike and occupy one city. I was forced to form a power-sharing agreement, since I was afraid that the human rights violations in the State of Emergency would spook European nations. This game is depressing. :(

So, put the conservatives in the External Affairs and Defense offices and the liberals elsewhere?

How did your play through go?