v1.6.17 — The Living World Update

National Destinies — every one of the 200 nations now has a historical arc with milestone chains, previewed at country select and tracked in World Standing. Fulfilling your destiny is the campaign's crowning moment, with cinematic full-screen beats for milestones, flashpoint ignitions, and pandemic arrivals.

Every country runs a real budget — AI states now carry debt and fiscal stress that war, sanctions, and military overspend push up, and a strained treasury stays their hand. Resource rents, tourism, and trade-hub fees now flow into your revenue; spy networks and nuclear arsenals cost real upkeep; corruption visibly leaks from the budget.

A living diplomatic world — AI nations sign defence accords, trade deals, sanctions, and ruptures with each other every month, visible in the world feed. Defence pacts are now binding: attack a defended nation and its allies can enter the war against you. Tariffs draw counter-tariffs, exposed spies trigger sanctions, and old grievances slowly heal when relations warm.

Consequences that compound — casualties drain manpower and weigh on the home front, pandemics cross borders, debt crises abroad hit your exporters, capital flees instability, and inequality and poverty now drag growth.

Know before you act — coups, assassinations, cyber attacks, and proxy operations show their expected outcome, exposure risk, and fallout before you commit. Sanctions preview retaliation risk, treaties show their break cost, and a new Recurring Obligations ledger lists every standing monthly bill.

Over 3× faster turns — month processing optimized engine-wide, plus stability hardening verified across 50-year campaigns.