Video Game / The Fire Rises (Mod)

By God we'll have our home again....

The Fire Rises is an upcoming Hearts of Iron IV Game Mod that is set in an alternate 2020 where the COVID-19 Pandemic is much stronger, leading to many more deaths and increased political unrest. The world's economies plunge into another recession, societies further radicalize and worst of all, political instability is on the rise. While many still hope that the world can go back to normal once the pandemic is over, the reality is far from that.

Despite his best efforts to avoid it, the aging Saudi monarch catches the virus and dies shortly thereafter. The crowning of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman causes a civil war, which in turn causes oil prices to skyrocket and creates even more headaches for the world.

The United States is now more divided than ever, with nationwide riots against police brutality (at a scale somehow worse than the 1992 LA riots) breaking out nation-wide. The aforementioned problems have only worsened the tense political situation in America, not helped by radical and terrorist groups seeing a surprising uptick in membership. With an election looming amidst a sea of anarchy and death, it's not looking good for the land of the free.

The rest of the world isn't doing any better, with the current events shaking the geopolitical status quo between the East and the West to its very core.

The fire has risen, and with it, the world burns...

The mod is currently in development, with a release sighted in the near-future. The mod has an offical discord, subreddit and YouTube channel.

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This Game Mod provides examples of:

• 20 Minutes into the Past: The mod is set in an alternate 2020.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: An AI-controlled fighting vehicle during the Russo-Ukrainian War ends up turning on its Russian masters and causing a friendly-fire incident before being put down. Bonus points for said fighting vehicle's designated name being Terminator.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's never made clear who's behind Bill DeBlasio 's assassination. The government can pin the blame on either the Patriot Front, Antifa or the Atomwaffen Division. Said groups make good points about why the other is responsible, but the worsening political climate means that nobody will admit to doing it.
• Authority in Name Only:
  • King Salman is technically the ruler of Saudi Arabia, but his declining health and advanced age means that his son (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) is the actual ruler of Saudi Arabia who makes all the important decisions and is reflected as such in-game.
  • The US President elected in the 2020 elections has little to no power in most of the 50 states thanks to the other candidate having their own inauguration and the chaos sweeping America. By the time the Second American Civil War starts, he only has de facto control of his strongholds.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: The war between Russia and NATO, now under the command of France and Germany following the collapse of the US. On one hand Russia is a revanchist state that can possibly be led by the autocratic United Russia Party, a Stalinist KPRF, or the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party seeking to forcibly re-impose its' rule on Eastern Europe regardless of what Eastern Europeans think. On the other hand, NATO and Ukraine, while democratic, can take underhanded means to fight Russia such as arm militias opposed to the Russian government that themselves have far-right and outright neo-Nazi viewpoints, and a post-NATO victory will see harsh reprisals against the Russian speakers in Ukraine^note through the devs promise that the player could influence the severity of the post-war reprisals to be more lenient or even harsher once Ukraine gets content.
• Black Market: The black market is the lifeline of the many warlords in the mod, allowing them to acquire badly-needed equipment despite the dire situation in their home country making normal trade impossible.
• Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: The various anarchist factions within the Divided States of America are all said to be violent extremists who want to tear down the old USA and start anew. The anarchist faction within the APLA in particular thinks that American society itself is the problem and fight with the other factions in the APLA because of this. Elements of the Anarchist faction even go as far as to subscribe to the theory of Sakaiism, which is the idea that the "white proletariat" are a inherently racist and reactionary class of settlers on land seized from Native Americans rather than a genuine working class.
• Chekhov's Gunman: An event chain prior to the Second American Civil War involves anti-virus creator and two-time Libertarian presidential candidate John McAfee getting arrested in Spain which can either result in him being extradited back to the US or him apparently committing suicide by hanging. While it may seem unimportant, McAfee later comes to prominence in the Association Of The Freed and can even be elected president following an AOF victory.
• Commie Nazis: Aleksandr Dugin, the architect of an ideology combining aspects of Soviet ideology with far-right Russian ultranationalism known as the "Fourth Political Theory", can potentially come to power in Russia, through the exact catalyst for his rise to power are yet unknown and he isn't slated to get content in the first release.
• Dark Horse Victory: Despite their extreme beliefs, the Atomwaffen Division at the onset of the civil war is fighting an uphill multi-front war against the much better equipped National Guard and the various criminal gangs, which makes their chances of being victorious in Florida very slim. The devs themselves have stated that the Atomwaffen Divison has a only minuscule chance of actually unifying Florida, let alone America.
• Deep South: There's a group of neoconfederates in Arkansas named the "League of the South" who unsurprisingly want to restore the old Confederacy in the midst of the civil war. Ironically, most of the southern states stay neutral in the Second American Civil War unless the Federal governments, League or Black Liberation Army come after them.
• Divided States of America: The chaotic aftermath of the 2020 election leads to the formation of two federal governments, The American Constitutional Government (Trump's government based in Denver) and the Union of America (Biden's government based in Washington D.C.). When the inevitable civil war breaks out, many states declare their neutrality and secede from the union. Many of said neutral states immediately collapse due to unrest, leading to extremist groups, criminal gangs and self-defense militias establishing their own petty states within the divided United States.
• Don't Go in the Woods: Invoked by the Hutaree Militia if they capitulate to the National Socialist Movement, wherein they retreat deep into the treacherous forests of Northern Michigan to continue their resistance against the Nazis.
• Dirty Communists: In general the "Totalitarian Socialist" ideology is this, with the ideology exemplifying specifically extreme authoritarian leftists such as Stalinists, Maoists, and Patriotic Socialists. Some specific examples include:
  • The APLA’s Jacobin faction seeks to impose a Soviet style Centrally Planned economic system on America combined with American Nationalism.
  • The Communist Party of the Russian Federation can come to power under its' dominant Stalinist and nationalist faction and restore the Soviet Union, along with a smaller scale Warsaw Pact, provided they win the war with NATO.
• Easily Forgiven: A victorious AOF in the Second American Civil War will start pardoning low-tier politicians from both the Demoratic and Republican parties. The three possible presidents (John McAfee, Jeremy Cohen and Gary Johnson) will pardon differing people.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • All the factions in the Saudi Civil War (the liberals who seek to reform and bring democracy to Saudi Arabia and the infamous Hezbollah included) declare a safe zone around the holy city of Mecca, not wishing it to be destroyed in the conflict.
  • Almost all of the factions in the Second American Civil War, even the far-right factions, agree to not use nukes in the conflict. The Atomwaffen Division however, has no such qualms.
• For Want Of A Nail: The coronavirus being slightly stronger than it was in OTL and the world being less prepared for the pandemic ends up having drastic consequences, up to and including a Second American Civil War.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Due to more people becoming radicalized as a result of political instablity, obscure left-wing and right-wing groups in the USA end up having a sudden surge in members and are more powerful in the alternate 2020. These include:
  • In our timeline, the various groups espousing American Patriotic Socialism (Center for Political Innovation, Students and Youth for a New America) are mostly fronts for Caleb Maupin's ideas and are disliked by the American far left for their cult-like behavior, sympathy for National Bolshevism, tendency to cozy up to the far-right and their unabashed pro-America viewpoints. In the mod, they are a vocal and sizable faction within the APLA as its Jacobin faction.
  • Elements of the Democratic Socialists of America go from seeking to reform American capitalism and the Democratic Party from within to taking up arms and seeking to bring about a revolution through force as the APLA's Neosocialist faction. Their leader, Julia Salazar, is herself a minor New York senator linked to the DSA in the real world who is put in the position of leading the Neosocialist faction.
  • On the far-right, the Atomwaffen Division goes from a small group of 30+ neo-Nazis in real life behind a string of horrific rapes and murders to an organization large enough to control a chunk of Florida at the onset of the Second American Civil War.
• Historical Villain Upgrade:
  • Caleb Maupin, while generally perceived to be extremely unpleasant by even Marxist-Leninist standards due to his ideology arguably resembling third positionism over authoritarian socialism, ultimately amounted to doing little more than working for pro-Russia propaganda outlets and setting up far-left nationalist factions that ultimately imploded when revelations about his grooming of minors were exposed by disenchanted ex-allies. Here, Maupin can become the totalitarian leader of the APLA if the Jacobins come out on top at the Worker's Congress and can exert totalitarian control over the newly Socialist America via total control of religious institutions and a mass surveillance system.
  • The Atomwaffen Division, which already adheres to an extremely horrific brand of neo-Nazism AND has already engaged in multiple rapes and murders, becomes strong enough to be a serious contender in the Second American Civil War to the point where they can potentially unify America as the worst possible unifier of the Second American Civil War.
• A House Divided:
  • Despite being much more unified than in previous years, the Democrats are divided between three factions at the beginning of the civil war. Dire consequences are promised if Joe Biden cannot juggle said factions' loyalty and they turn against him.
  • The various other far-right dissident groups that were incorporated into the Patriot Front unsurprisingly don't get along, and often argue amongst themselves about the Front's ideals and goals.
  • The Association of the Freed is a ramshackle coalition between Right and Left Anarchists. While they're initially working together to survive the Second American Civil War, an AOF victory can result in the Left Anarchists forming opposition governments if things go wrong.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Joe Biden can end up winning the 2020 presidential election despite the overall chaotic atmosphere in America. This electoral win ends up meaning nothing however, as Trump will just establish his own government in Denver prior to the Second American Civil War breaking out.
  • Russia can launch an invasion of Ukraine just like in OTL, even if Russia is under a resurgent Soviet Union.
• Irony:
  • The Majority of the Deep South states who formed the Confederacy during the original American Civil War declare neutrality when the Second American Civl War breaks out and wait out the conflict.
  • The League of the South starts out in Arkansas, a Confederate state that only joined after the capture of Fort Sumter. The original capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, is under the control of Joe Biden and the military (who the League oppose).
  • The territory under the control of the National Socialist Movement is said to be in much better shape and less chaotic than the other factions in Michigan, despite many people's open contempt for them.
  • Ukraine will always be invaded by Russia no matter who comes to power. Even the communists, who seek to reclaim the Soviet Union's old breadbasket.
• King on His Deathbed: King Salman is already in poor health by the time the mod starts, and the coronavirus which the elderly king catches only accelerates his inevitable death.
• A Lighter Shade of Black:
  • The reformist faction in the National Socialist Movement is still racist and authoritarian, but are much more lenient on the NSM's racial hierarchy (advocating "alternatives" for the non-aryans rather than direct action) and are more focused on bringing back prosperity to the ruined America.
  • The National Socialist Movement and the Patriot Front (even if under the so-called hardline factions of the party) are much more sane and less extreme than the Atomwaffen Division. They will even attempt to stop the Atomwaffen Division following a National Front conference where the Division has high power, acknowledging that the future of an America under them is not a bright one.
• Land of One City: Enforced for Mecca at the start of the Saudi Civil War, as it relies on their neutrality, and thus on remaining unattached to political entities outside of itself, to protect both the city itself and the holy Kaaba from ruin.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste:
  • China and Russia take advantage of America’s collapse and the subsequent civil war by consolidating their power and attempting to take over Taiwan or Ukraine respectively.
  • Iran will attempt to take over the Gulf states in the midst of the Saudi Civil War, and will intervene if a similar civil war breaks out in Iraq.
  • The Jihadists can use the Saudi factions' willingness to turn Mecca into a neutral zone to their advantage, overthrowing the current government there and using the city as their base of operations in Saudi Arabia.
• Mob War:
  • A rather bizarre example of this is happening in Detroit, with the Detroit Highwaymen (a biker gang that happens to wear all black) fighting against the Black Mafia Family (an infamous group of Gangbangers that previously used their hip-hop business as a front) for control of Detroit.
  • The various criminal gangs in Florida are fighting against each other, leaving them vulnerable to either the National Guard or the Atomwaffen Division's attack.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Atomwaffen Division, which roughly translates to "Nuclear Weapons Division", is a group of neo-Nazis who are so hell-bent on destroying their enemies and killing non-whites and so extreme in their beliefs that even other neo-Nazi and far-right groups despise them and only collaborate with them out of necessity. The developers have even teased them ending the world in nuclear hellfire should they win the civil war and get their hands on nukes.
• Old Shame: The entire German nation is ashamed of their hyper-militaristic and opressive past. This anti-militarist attitude has caused a shortage of men in the army, but the looming crisis may convince the German people to think otherwise...
• Omnicidal Maniac: The Atomwaffen Division is unique among the other far-right unifiers in that they believe that the modern world as a whole has reached such a level of degeneracy and corruption that nuking the world and bringing about an apocalypse is the only way they can safeguard a homeland for the "Aryans".
• Plot-Triggering Death:
  • King Salman’s death due to the Coronavirus ends up inadvertently causing the ensuing civil war and oil prices to skyrocket, which have tremendous effects on the world.
  • The killing of an unarmed black protestor named Quinton Evans during the nationwide US riots against police brutality leads to a chain of events that culminates in a Second American Civil War.
  • The sudden death of Vladimir Putin from Covid-19 ends up temporarily halting their plans to capitalize on the USA's collapse, resulting in an election being hastily called to decide Russia's new leader. Said election will decide what path the Russian nation will take.
• Post-Soviet Reunion: If the communist Zyuganov is elected as president of Russia, then he and the Communist party will attempt one. While Belarus willingly joins the revived Soviet Union, the other former Warsaw Pact states have to be defeated in a war with NATO to integrate them into the Union.
• The Remnant: The collapsed state governments in California, Michigan, Vermont and Florida have various remnant states that have the National Guard on their side. Unfortunately, the remnants are usually capitulated by the unifiers in their quest to reunite said states.
• Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: Downplayed for the Patriot Front. While Rousseau's faction and majority of the Front are undoubtedly a group of far-right militarists (who are classified in-game as Fascist), there is a growing number of factions within the Front who wish to steer the Front away from this path.
• Shocking Defeat Legacy:
  • NATO being defeated in a war with either Russia or the Soviet Union will have a massive effect on local politics, with even a potential Military Coup in Germany and the dissolving of Parliament by Charles III in the UK being teased by the devs.
  • The same goes for Russia (who in turn lose the Caucasus and their foothold in the Donbass), who are teased to have more content after they lose to NATO.
• Starter Villain:
  • The Patriot Front, the National Socialist Movement and the Atomwaffen Division have to deal with the other factions in their respective starting states before they can pursue their ambitions of reunifying America.
  • From the Russian perspective, Ukraine is their first obstacle to either reforming the Soviet Union (if Zyuganov was elected president) or establishing Russian dominance in Eastern Europe (if either Medvedev or Zhirinovsky was elected president).
• Succession Crisis:
  • Downplayed. King Salman has an official successor in Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, but the numerous princes that belong to the House of Saud attempt to seize power upon MBS' ascension to the throne and form the Royal Arabian Coalition in a bid to overthrow him.
  • Vladimir Putin's death from Covid-19 throws the Russian political scene into chaos, and an election is called to decide Russia's new leader.
• Team Switzerland: Various US States (like the ones in the Deep South) will declare their neutrality at the onset of the Second American Civil War, not wanting to get involved with either Biden or Trump.
• Timed Mission: The revived Soviet Union is initially given a deadline of 300 days to fight NATO and reclaim as much of the former Soviet borders and Warsaw Pact as possible before a white peace is made with NATO. Taking important enemy cities like Kiev and Warsaw will extend the deadline, and conversely losing both allied and Soviet-controlled cities will reduce the deadline.
• Triumphant Reprise:
  • The music for the Second American Civil War super-event is a booming instrumental cover of the beginning of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", a popular song that originated during the first American Civil War.
  • The super-event for the restoration of the Soviet Union is an instrumental of the Soviet Union's national anthem overlaid with cheering and sounds of Soviet military equipment.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: The Anarchist faction of the APLA seek to create a wholly new sociality of total equality.....by completely tearing down modern American society and culture, which they deem to inherently reactionary.
• Violence is the Only Option:
  • The Second American Civil War is inevitable no matter what.
  • Despite the fact that the party contains a fair number of individuals nostalgic for the GDR, there is no way for Germany led by Die Linke to try and placate the Soviets in attempt to avoid the NATO war.
• We ARE Struggling Together:
  • The only things that the different factions within APLA seem to agree upon is that racism against minorities must be stopped, the high inequality must be solved and American Capitalism should be discarded entirely. Aside from that, the APLA’s factions cannot agree on their basic tenets and are only held together by vague promises of Socialism.
  • The reformists and the hardliners within the National Socialist Movement constantly fight for power within their small state, and Burt Colucci will have to sooner or later choose between one of them.
• We Hardly Knew Ye:
  • King Salman dies a few months into the mod from Covid-19, which leads to a Saudi Civil War that has horrific effects on the world's economies.
  • Vladimir Putin lasts longer than the Saudi monarch, but not by much, and quickly dies just before he could capitalize on the Saudi and American collapses.
• World Gone Mad: The world of The Fire Rises is absolutely bonkers, with a Second American Civil War involving fringe far-left and far-right groups breaking out while the Soviet Union is being reformed just being the tip of the iceberg.

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