Editing 2024

{{History}}

This page traces the evolution of Chesapeake Studios and its games, with a particular focus on ''Oath of Office'', the U.S. government simulation that debuted in August 2024. It offers a chronological record of updates, new features, and important milestones through 2024.
===August===

*'''August 3rd: v1.0 - Initial Release'''
**Players take on various roles in the Executive Branch.
**Issues are presented daily.
**Reputation with interest groups is crucial.
**National statistics are impacted by players.
**Elections occur between the two longest-serving players.
**Social features allow alliances.

*'''August 5th: v1.1.0 - Service Secretaries'''
**New offices include [[Department of Defense|Secretary of the Navy]], [[Department of Defense|Secretary of the Army]], [[Department of Defense|Secretary of the Air Force]], etc.
**Expanded National Gallery of Art and Pentagon maps.
**Added issues, outfits, hairstyles, and a "reset camera" button.
**Issue GUI now specifies its type.
**Doors and hallways with "fade out" sections now prompt the Travel GUI.

*'''August 6th: v1.2.0 - Election Tracker'''
**Election Tracker GUI shows candidates and compares their reputation.
**Chairs in the [[Cabinet|Cabinet Room]] are locked to designated officials.
**Spectator chairs are added to the Cabinet Room.
**Bugs related to USECSTATE and USECTREAS are fixed.

*'''August 7th: v1.3 - Four More Years'''
**Presidents can now be re-elected twice.
**Error message displayed when players try to sit in unauthorized seats.
**Teleport destinations are locked based on office.
**Bug related to term/day loading is fixed.
**Added Roosevelt Room and White House Lobby maps.
**"An Officer and a Gentleman" expansion pack is introduced.

*'''August 7th: An Officer and a Gentleman (Expansion)'''
**Focuses on the White House Military Office.
**New roles include Military Aide to the President and Marine Sentry.

*'''August 9th: v1.4 - Civil Service'''
**Redesigned GUIs and fixed elections.
**Players unlock political roles by demonstrating social participation.
**Added civil service roles (advisory only) for any player.
**Added [[White House Chief of Staff|WHCOS]] office map.

*'''August 12th: v1.5 - Presidential Debates'''
**Social GUI displays featured social events.
**Presidential Debates occur during social hour on Day 4.
**Passive reputation impact from global statistics is capped.
**Added Presidential Debate Hall, Hay-Adams Ballroom, White House East Room, and Green Room maps.

*'''August 13th: v1.6 - Interior'''
**Losing an election reduces prestige by half.
**New [[Department of the Interior]] with Environment statistic.
**Environmentalists and Resource Industry interest groups added.
**Removed "Political Dynasties" names.
**Reduced civil service roles and server size.
**Added Main Interior Building map.

*'''August 16th: v2.0 - In the Line of Fire (Expansion Release)'''
**New [[Department of Homeland Security]] roles: Director of the Secret Service and Director of CISA.
**Added St. Elizabeths West Campus map.

*'''August 16th: In the Line of Fire (Premium)'''
**Expansion focuses on the Secret Service and other security agencies.
**Added Secret Service Agent role.

*'''August 16th: Other Changes'''
**Small/new servers run in "cabinet-only" mode.
**Moderation system implemented.
**"TP to Protectee" GUI added.
**Nuclear football]] and prop gun added.
**Cover added to Marine Sentry role.
**No longer possible to stand on the table in the Cabinet Room.
**Global statistics and opinion polls naturally trend towards neutral.
**WHCOS is now impacted by global statistics.
**ADC and other White House officers start the day in the Oval Office.
**Potentially fixed intro camera issue.
**"Urban" name set added.
**Added outfits, hairstyles, and faces.

*'''August 24th: v2.1 - Diplomatic Security'''
**Added Character Backstories.
**Election GUI now shows prestige.
**You can now fire 1 person per term.
**Cabinet can remove the President.
**All issues were re-written.
**New roles: Deputy Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury]], Deputy Secretary of Defense]], Deputy Secretary of the Interior]], and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.
**Added Situation Room, and Press Briefing Room maps (not yet functional).

*'''August 24th: In the Line of Fire (Premium)'''
**Added Diplomatic Security Service role.

*'''August 24th: Other Changes'''
**Red & green colors on issue impact now correspond to good and bad.
**Time passes slightly slower.
**Disabled collisions on nuclear football.
**Updated military aide and marine sentry uniforms.
**Added USSS pin for the Secret Service director.
**Only cabinet+ can stand on the stage at events.
**Fixed issue with buying gamepasses in-game.

===September===

*'''September 3rd: v1.3''' - Re-reference to Four More Years update.
*'''September 3rd:''' Jack Jennings releases a statement on several updates planned through October.
*'''September 4th: v2.3 - Bless This Mess'''
**Aiguillette for [[Military Aide to the President]].
**Reporters have microphone props.
**Suggested social events for the mid-day.
**Added Navy Mess, VP's office, and Secret Service operations room maps.
**New roles: Navy Steward, Army Protective Services Battalion, Secret Service Uniformed Division, and Secret Service Counter Assault Team.

*'''September 6th: v2.4 - Four Eyes 🤓'''
**Expanded the Executive Residence.
**Ability to buy glasses at the LensMaster store.
**Equip glasses from the new Accessories menu.
**Re-added Director of the Secret Service.

*'''September 6th:''' Chesapeake Studios begins seeking a new developer.
*'''September 6th:''' ''The Abel Chinchilla Story'' releases.
*'''September 10th:''' The issue suggestion channel is removed from Discord and replaced with a Google form.
*'''September 10th:''' Jack Jennings announces a community watch party for the presidential debate.
*'''September 12th:''' ''Oath of Office Philippines'' enters testing, featuring the new working groups feature.
*'''September 13th: v2.5 - Get to Work'''
**Working Groups replace Office Hour for most officials.
**Added new outfits and issues.
**Meeting Rooms for the [[Department of Treasury]], [[Department of Homeland Security]], and [[Department of Defense]].
**Offices for Deputy Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Deputy Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, and Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
**Presidential Debate prioritizes paid news roles.
**Added IRS Commissioner, ASECINT Indian Affairs, and USCIS Director.

*'''September 13th:''' Jack Jennings announces the states included in ''Oath of Office''.
*'''September 19th:''' Testing begins for the "Advice and Consent" feature.
*'''September 20th: v3.0 - Advice and Consent (Expansion Release)'''
**Added bills and laws passed by the new [[Legislative Branch]].
**[[The Senate|Senate]] and [[The House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] hold daily sessions.
**President must sign or veto laws.
**Day is now 5 blocks long.
**Pop-up GUI asks if you want to run for President or be considered for VP.
**Newly elected President chooses a Vice President.
**New moderation system.
**President can fire an unlimited amount of White House Staff.
**Cabinet and sub-cabinet gain passive prestige.
**New roles: Vice President of the United States, Speaker of the House]], President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senators, Representatives Capitol Police protective agents, Vice President's protective detail, and the Legislative Director..
**Added the House Office Building, Senate Office Building, and Senate Floor maps.

*'''September 23rd:''' ''Oath of Office'' rules are updated.
*'''September 24th:''' Public impeachment update enters testing.
*'''September 26th:''' Nominations are added to the public impeachment update for testing.
*'''September 27th:''' Final pre-update testing takes place.
*'''September 27th: v3.1 - High Crimes and Misdemeanors'''
**President appoints cabinet officials and Vice President.
**Added ability to impeach the President and vacate offices of the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
**Added Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives roles.
**Gavel added.
**Added Simple and Concurrent Resolutions.

*'''September 28th: v3.1.7'''
**Various changes/bug fixes.
**Vacant Secretary roles are auto-filled.
**Fixed issue where impeachment was possible on day 1.
**Impeachment is now only possible once per presidency.

===October===

*'''October 3rd:''' Mod applications reopen.
*'''October 3rd:''' Press and social media update enters testing.
*'''October 4th:''' ''Oath of Office Brazil'' releases.
*'''October 4th: v3.2 - Meet the Press'''
**Added new Y (formerly known as Ritter) system for posting Reets.
**T.V. news roles can host television programs and invite guests.

*'''October 10th:''' Jack Jennings announces that the full economics update will be delayed.
*'''October 11th:''' The partial economics update enters testing.
*'''October 11th: v3.3 - Full Faith and Credit'''
**Added the [[Department of Commerce|Department of Commerce]] with 5 new freely-joinable roles.
**Added new Inflation and Unemployment statistics.
**Added the [[Federal Reserve|Federal Reserve Board of Governors]].

*'''October 15th:''' Chesapeake Studios announces a long-term public update plan.
*'''October 17th:''' The planned UI overhaul is delayed until further notice.
*'''October 21st:''' Chesapeake Studios/''Oath of Office'' merch releases.
*'''October 25th:''' Party leaders for the legislative branch enter public testing.
*'''October 25th: v4.0 - Party Politics'''
**Players can join political parties, randomly chosen for each server.
**Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore are now elected.
**Each party has a leader in the [[The Senate|Senate]] and the [[The House of Representatives|House]].

*'''October 29th:''' A generic mug and insulated bottle are added to the merch store.
*'''October 31st:''' The Electoral College enters public testing.

===November===

*'''November 1st: v4.1 - 270 to Win'''
**Added a dynamic [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] map.
**Interest groups have different strengths in each state.
**Debate is now Day 3; an election rally is on Day 4.
**Orchestra is now an alternative social event.
**Caucus Meeting now in Day 2 for Congress.
**Congressional bills now impact Inflation.
**Negative/positive impact-over-time from global statistics now depends on the President's party.
**Fixed office labels in Congress and gavels.
**Impact from issues now occurs at the end of Block 4.

*'''November 2nd:''' White House Roleplay is banned from Roblox.
*'''November 2nd:''' A new thumbnail by Lyntown is announced.
*'''November 3rd:''' Jack Jennings announces no major updates this week due to vacation.
*'''November 8th:''' Chesapeake Studios strengthens moderation.
*'''November 10th:''' Chesapeake Studios announces a job opening for a builder.
*'''November 11th:''' ''Mortality'', an upcoming game, is announced.
*'''November 12th:''' Two new states are added: Superior and Orleans.
**Private servers become free; roleplay servers are limited in donation amounts.
**''Command Authority'' is announced for a December 6th release.
*'''November 15th:''' The issues rewrite is removed from the update released that day.
*'''November 15th: v4.2 - Election Day'''
**Players vote on Election Day for D.C.'s electoral college votes.
**Added two new states: Superior and Orleans.
**Several new hairs and outfits.
**Added  to the [[The House of Representatives]].
**Players are informed how their Party Leader wants them to vote.
**"Morning Shows" and "Evening Shows" now exist for T.V. news.
**New African American nameset.
**Fixed bug with "Yes We Can" badge.
**Improved balancing for each state.

*'''November 22nd:''' Testing opens for a major lag reduction update.
*'''November 22nd: v4.3 - LAG FIX'''
**Major lag reduction.
**Fixed bug where the [[Federal Reserve]] gained too much prestige.
**Nomination GUI now shows secondary office.
**News "invite" GUI now shows the actual office held by players.
**Added barriers to the Roosevelt Room.
**Congressional leadership conference now rotates.
**Added a notification noise at the start of blocks.
**No longer a limit on the number of people you can fire.
**Added "party fatigue."
**Added more women hairs.
**Paid roles are no longer shown to first-time players.

*'''November 26th:''' Culain joins Chesapeake Studios.
*'''November 28th:''' Testing begins for running mates and campaign managers.
*'''November 29th: v4.4 - Campaign Trail'''
**New expansion "Party Politics" unlocks Party Chairpersons and Party Strategists.
**Presidential Candidates are locked in on Day 3.
**Can appoint a Running Mate and a Campaign Chair.
**Streamlined all Security Roles.
**Expanded the White House staff.
**Senior White House Staff must now be appointed.
**Fixed an issue where firing White House Staff counted against your daily terminations limit.
**Added new Party Headquarters location and party logos.
**Added "Party Base" interest groups.
**Primary Elections are now based on a combination of Prestige and reputation with the party's 3 base interest groups.

*'''November 29th: v4.4 - Campaign Trail (Continued)'''
**"It's the economy, stupid" and "Meet the Press" badge probably work now.

*'''November 29th:''' An important announcement on the "In the Line of Fire" gamepass details upcoming price reductions and changes.

===December===

*'''December 5th:''' Chesapeake Studios seeks contributors for scenario writing.
*'''December 6th:''' ''Command Authority'' Alpha releases.
**Testing opens (feature unspecified).
*'''December 6th: v4.5 - VP Debates and Stuff'''
**New mid-day social block.
**Party Convention on day 3.
**VP Debates on day 4.
**Campaign Ad credits are now spent per block.
**[[White House Chief of Staff|WHCOS]] now manages the White House Staff.
**Other minor changes and bug fixes.
*'''December 10th:''' New ''Oath of Office'' rule is implemented regarding toxicity and harassment.
*'''December 15th:''' ''Command Authority'' is delayed indefinitely.
*'''December 20th: v5.0 - Equal Justice Under Law'''
**New [[Department of Justice]].
**Serve as a Judge or Justice of the Supreme Court.
**Court cases decided by judges and argued by other players.
**Various fixes.
*'''December 21st:''' Testing opens for various features.
*'''December 23rd:''' The ''Oath of Office'' Christmas update is canceled.
*'''December 26th:''' The 1st Annual Oath of Office Awards voting opens.
*'''December 28th:''' The 1st Annual Oath of Office Awards voting closes.
*'''December 30th:''' The 1st Annual Oath of Office Awards event begins


Honorable Mentions to jmapoligist, CannonObilvion, and Random Guy!