The goal of the challenge is to export total amounts of goods from every category on sheet in goals sections while staying true to all rules and events coming your way (see picture for reference):


Basically you can only export 100% inmade goods (with exceptions for imported electricity, fuel for vehicles and chemicals for own drinking water only). Hard map (prefferably from list bellow), everything on (including earthquakes), hardest money.

Aimed at experienced players looking for an extra challenge and some rulebook to play along.

It is 12 years after communist party came to absolute power. Since the "victorious february 1948" hundreds of people were driven out of the country or persecuted and/or executed in politicaly motivated puppet trials. The economy is not at great state. Soviet union is slowly getting better as a whole, but in your region it seems like nothing has really changed. And so that came to be that you have been elected as a head of regional comittee and it is your responsibility to achieve growth. Big brother (USSR) will be watching closely and you have to respect orders from Kremlin, but otherwise you have free hands, one would say.

Yeah, year 1960 has just started. Snows have melted and so has the church. Operation "cloisters" is just in full swing, pushing all nuns and monks from cloisters to "actual work". Churches will stay and be barely tolerated, but nothing new about them. Comrades from USSR said it clearly - the church does not belong to socialist future! Industry and innovations are the way to prosperous communism! There is one good thing about this all - if you will need educated people to help you start, there are sources. The only thing you need is a right-sized envelope delivered into the right helping hand...

Time to start, comrade. Goals don´t reach themselves and 5-year plans are running faster then you would imagine. And you need to make things work, because siberian gulags are always ready for new inhabitants!

Will you manage to steer your region to prosperity as a soviet satelite? Will you please the highest soviet in Kremlin while doing so? Go on, then! Plan awaits! Power to the people!

The "only" goal for this game is full self-sustainability and fulfilling ALL 40 of export goals category (total exports, not in one year). List of those goals are in table enclosed at the end of this part.

The trick is, all of the exports listed must be fullfilled by respecting all the rules throughout the challenge and mostly the rule #3 - you can ONLY export things that are 100% manufactured in an area of your republic, with the only exceptions being (imported) fuel and electricity (for obvious reasons). Besides that, nothing that has entered your republic via import OR partly consists of things imported to your republic is allowed to be exported for money. You can obviously use such things as building materials or sell it to people inside your republic (food, clothing, alcohol...), but you are not allowed to export it.

Here is the table of goals. There is no upper limit of a year to fullfill this. It is up to you. Last column of the table is for marking a date you accomplished that particular goal. Once all are done, mark the day and write into comments bellow the date you managed to end it.

There is no special map for this challenge. You can use more, but with these limitations:

- It must be a hard map. Scarce resources, less customs, at least 10% of map mountains + water (no great plains). Resource deposits in reasonable amount on 1-2 places only or with more deposits of lower quality and small size around the map. Coal can be slightly more as it is generally more available in the world (including Czechoslovakia).

Examples of such maps:
Northern Canada
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2010877395
Chernarus (no people and all relicts of industry need to be demolished and built again due to damage from the war)
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2391373074
Middle Earth (version 1 without cities and roads)
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2716888897
Moravskoslezsko (CZ/SK real life reagion and very beautiful map)
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3043268023
original Rasputin challenge map
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2493879740
Salmon Valley
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882508548
Matzes Island
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2989277704
Northern Wind
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2971273407
St. Bernard
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3251562010
Praha 1:1
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3352205597

On the map you also must respect existing rivers and such. You can divert them a bit if needed, but no disruptioning of rivers, damming, destroying lakes etc. Artificial islands are allowed as long as they do not block ship traffic in sees/wide rivers. Also do keep equivalence in soil/bedrock use - it is not ok to terraform a 150m high hill to a flatland 10m above sealevel without using such ground elsewhere. Try being realistic (though the game doesn´t track volumes of any kind of course).

Playing on realistic mode with everything (including day-night cycle) on. If you stream and do not like night because of it, seek out Charlie Pryors guide of how to make nights brighter for yourself.
Obviously you start with hard money (1,4m RUB/0,7m USD).
Vehicles locked based on years; for those loving retro you are allowed to have them set on "vehicles starting date" only so you can buy vehicles manufactured no more.
No loans are allowed, nobody trust you.
And you are obviously starting in year 1960.

You are not allowed to export ANYTHING not coming from 100% of your republic production (except imported fuel and electricity and chemicals used for cleaning of water). And that includes trash(!) with exception of trash made by your citizens in homes (as that, technically, is coming from imported products, at least at the game start). This allows you to export waste to customs.
HOWEVER
Once you start importing something for your factories (like cement for prefab factory), the trash from it you are not allowed to export. The same obviously goes for imported waste as well. You cannot import metal waste, recycle steel from it and export such steel (nor waste generated by the process).

You can, obviously, get steel this way and use it for your construction needs. It is a way. There is just no option to export it afterwards.

This rule also includes foreign workers and fertilisers. Grow your own cows and let them produce fertiliser for you!

There is a shortage of prefabs on international market. All you can get imported is at maximum 1 free storage (85t) at the start of the game. Nothing else can be imported from any customs. Everything on top of that you have to manufacture.

*Former challenges worked usually with "no prefabs import allowed" rule. As prefabs are currently needed for all types of trash collection points and container storages, most types of kindergardens and all sewage pipes as well, this rule was softened on its behalf. But it will force you to make your own pretty fast nevertheless.

ALL locomotives, vagons, trainsets, aircrafts, planes, helicopters and ships operating in your service must be domestic-made. Industrialisation is your goal so buying such machinery is a big no. We can do it, right, comrade? You can only buy road vehicles and cable-car cabins.

Just to be clear - tramways (trolleys for US friends) are a rail vehicle (no buy), trolleybus is a road vehicle (you can buy it).

And, of course, you can buy disassembled rail construction trains in customs. That is the only exception.

What would be a game about communism without planned economy! Starting in 1960, you need to plan your industry and advancements. In every 5-year sequence you need to start production of (at least) TWO exportable resources you haven´t made yet (if there are any left).

Beware! Raw resources/ore categories do not count (aka it is not enough to state "quarried stone + gravel till 1965").

How to do so? Place a free warehouse next to your customs. Rename it as 1960-1964 xxx + yyy and put your two picked industries there instead of xxx and yyy, for example "1960-1964 gravel + prefabs). By the end of 1964 you review your prediction. If the plan was fullfilled, you are ok. If no, you rename the warehouse "1960-1964 gravel, NO prefabs" and leave it there as reminder.

Then rename the first one (or place a second one if you had a failure), name it "1965-1969 xxx + yyy" and place new predictions. Repeat every 5 years :)

Production doesn´t need to be exported, so part of it can come from imported resources (like cement for prefabs). But it needs to start working to count (so workers, electricity and all). To underline your achievments write year of establishing to every industry that counts towards these plans (f.e. "1962 Gravel").

There is a special prize for perfect soviet manager!

Disclosure: If you will stream this, it is also good to vocalise it. If you won´t and play this as a single player, there is obviously no control over this or basically any of these listed rules. It is a roleplay of sort and all rules stated are based on "gentlemens agreement" about acting accordingly without a supervisor. It is a matter of personal honor, nothing more. Basically the only interesting thing for "outsiders" are in the end those years in names of factories. Once you will finish and write it bellow, I would be glad if I could get my hand on your save with finished republic to look at it and created a video presentation about it (if you won´t do it yourself). For that those years will be great. Besides that there is no additional control available even for me as an author :)

Soviet union - a land where tomorrow means yesterday. Or was it the other way around?
Anyway, soviet architects were kind enough to present us with drafts of all industrial, civilian and infrastructure buildings. Some would need further research to fully utilise, but we have them. And it is an honour to get along.

Yes, you fear right. No mods, vanilla only*. Including vanilla customs, of course.

Have you spotted the star? Good for you. You can use mods as there is a beauty in variety. But there is a catch (and not just one):
- first industry building running of every type must be vanilla. Second, third ... are up to you
- for using other types of residential buildings you first need to have built at least one of each vanilla ones from their respective category (noone forces you to place small brick housing if you want to go big ones only, but use those 12-14 vanilla ones before you start using mods).
- for ALL BUILDING MODS you are using you need to RESPECT VANILLA RATIOS. Modded warehouses need to be large accordingly to what they are supposed to hold, same with residential building sizes, factory sizes, ratios of their production per worker, resources used/produced etc.
- a strict BAN is placed upon production chains that are not present in vanilla game (biofuel from crops, bricks/coal from wood, wood heating plants, ...). Also combined factories are a big NO.
- a strict BAN is also placed upon tiny factories from early start collection and such. Modded factories need to be similar in size as vanilla one or larger (like robs chemical plants or fabric/clothing plants). It is believable that after placing vanilla one you would like to place another (and bigger) factory once you have enough means of production. Be my guest. But going significantly smaller compared to vanilla is not an option. Period.

With vehicles goes similar restriction. Yes, you can use your national modded vehicle collections, I don´t care much. The only limit here is to stay true to vanilla values in terms of speed, vehicle value, carrying capacity, vehicle price and vehicle levels. If 10t open-hulls cost currently 18-22k rubles, one modded for 12k (due to inflation not working through) is not allowed. Nuclear excavators, tractors and such are obviously out of options as well.

Established in 1961 this institution in CSR was tasked with educating citizens from friendly countries of third world (and indoctrinate them in the process as much as possible). Part of those people stayed here in our country to marriage and similar issues. It has its limits and not great value for our country so it was canceled in 1974. But we will continue using it.

Comrades from USSR gave you their lists of verified "importable" persons. However, additional people must be processed by your own clerks and they will take their time.

First year you are inviting citizens you can use 1500 immigration "points". Every other year you can use only 300 points each and they are not cumulative (basically your aparatus will stop searching once they reach 300 points worth of people on their lists again). These immigration points you can trade for rights to invite citizens to your republic:
- 1 point for 3rd world worker
- 3 points for USSR worker with basic education
- 6 points for expert worker from USSR (university educated).

You pay for workers only. Children comes as a bonus for free and the same goes for random occurence of higher-then-guaranteed education present. If you get university educated one in bunch of basic educated workers or some already educated from 3rd world country, that is your bonus and you do not substract any additional points for such workers.

Things can go south multiple ways in this game. Some things you will be able to solve on your own. Some you won´t. Here are two things you can use to help you in dire need so you don´t have to restart your campaing (yet).

In 1953 comrades promised there is nothing coming and the next morning money on bank accounts were exchanged up to 50:1 ratio.
If your republic gets into serious problems, you can do your own money reform as well as a last resort. Once per campaign you can open the loan menu and "claim a money reform". Borrow the equivalent of hard starting money in RUB (currently 1,4m) for 5 years and that´s it. This "loan" cannot be paid back sooner nor it can be refinanced or prolonged. It is not supposed to be a loan at all, but an economic decision and it´s consequences.

You also cannot attempt another money reform. If you would try, a revolution would rise and your government would end. Starting again/loading a save is the only option here.

It is ok to admit that something things went wrong. By using this, you can withstand through 1 unfullfilled 5-year plan (point 6). You can even withstand a second failure if it doesn´t immediately follor the first one (= there is a gap of at least in one successfull plan between these two failures).

However, third failed plan is a definite end of your rule no matter what and the run ends for you.
Attemt no. n+1, comrade?

Following events cannot be scripted in game now (08/2023), so it is up to you to keep track of them. There is a picture with all rules and event at the end of this all, so you can keep that as a refference (just print it / rewrite it if you need to). There is no way of enforcing any of this, but you remember, gentlemens agreement, right?

The good thing is - you know these conditions upfront. I don´t care if you know them from Nostradamus, Rasputin or any other person, you can prepare for them. And you have to, because they are not always easy to cope with.

We are members of CMEA, The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (СЭВ, Совет Экономической Взаимопомощи in russian), usually shortened to "Comecon". This allows us to freely trade in rubles (at least import, because rule #3), but restrict us in terms of exports to NATO side.

We can therefore export to west only "advanced products" (mech.+el. components, electronics, plastics and explosives; see table of exports) and electricity. However, if we acquire a western vehicle license in this time and start manufacturing it (fully from own resources, of course), we can export those to west, too.

Story: In 60s there was not that tough socialism and attempts of reforming current aparatus to "socialism with human face" have been made. Kremlin didn´t like it at all. United armies of 5 "brother lands" invaded Czechoslovakia at night on 21st August 1968. Results? Thousands emigrated, more strict closure of our country (because foreign spies), end of semi-free travel to surrounding countries etc.

Effects: Till August 1968 you can have tourism as much as you like. After 21. August this ends. All hotels need to be closed EXCEPT ONE in your main city for delegations and visits from soviet union countries. No more western tourists since 09/1968.

Additional task: By the beginning of 1970 force at least 600 people to disappear from your republic (escapes and deaths). How you´ll make it is up to you, you have 16 months to accomplish so. If you won´t make it, add one free warehouse next to your border as a failure for rule #10 "Perestrojka".

Story: "socialism with human face" is gone and those responsible for it are mostly gone, too. Time to secure nothing like that will ever happen again! We need to make sure that on all important places are the right minded people. And that goes for media as well.

Effect and task: Since the beginning of school year 1970/1971 (September 1970) every teacher and student on any university has to have loyalty of at least 50%. If this will take down your republic, you are replaced for your incompetence and campaign ends for you with your republic.

Story: The Party want´s higher birth rates to increase population growth! Series of reforms and helping hands have been introduced by this point in CSSR history. Practical effects were low as natural wave of WW2 and post-WW2 kids started their families before these came into place anyway, but the Party used its massive PR possibilites to publicly praise themselves for huge success anyway, so this term caught up and is used even today when referring to generation born in 1970´s.

Effect and task: Do the same! By the end of 1973 you have to have at least one working orphanage (beware of criminality!) and at least start (or have already finished) research of "higher birth rates" at medical university. Not having any of these is counted as an instant endgame, having only one of these two is counted as a failure for Perestrojka; add your free warehouse to customs and mark it accordingly.

Keep in mind that while 1968 and 1973 are in different 5-year periods, those two are consecutive and you are not allowed to have failures at two consecutive 5-year periods. So if you fail in both of these, your try ends here nevertheless.

Story: In 1977 many artists, singers and known people reacted to repressions and restrictions by creating, signing and spreading this document. Many of them were prosecuted afterwards, some even tortured and few of them even died in prison or while interrogated. Though the regime has never been able to silence them all, they also were only a "first swallow that doesn´t make a spring". For most of them it meant long stays in prison, though, with sentences being mostly in 3-5 years long range for criminal conspiracy, subversion, crimes against state etc.

Task: Since 1977 is minimum time served in prison set for 5/6/7 years for small/medium/serious crime. Let them feel your power. Orders from Kremlin directly.

Story: In 80´s there has been increasing critique of dysfunction of planned economy and regime oppresions. Also soviet reforms of "Perestrojka" and "Glasnost" opened eyes to many people, as problems were larger and deeper then most have ever imagined. This eventually led to things known as "the Velvet Revolution" in Czechoslovakia.

Communists basically stepped out from power without a fight after series of diplomatic a political negotiations. In return - none of them were persecuted for being a communist, their party was not banned (and could still keep their name as well and did so till this very day as the only one in former Eastern block!) and could compete in democratic elections with newly formed parties. What is most important - Kremlin has no more direct power over your country anymore (but also won´t help you anymore).

With revolutionary changes came to be one important thing - end of "exit permits" and in the beginning od December 1989, Austria as first western country canceled duty for visa for CZ/SK citizens. Thus, just before Christmas, came for most citizens a first change in 20 years to witness on their own eyes how "far" have we gone from "corrupted west". It was a cruel sober up and cold shower in one.

Effects:
- since 12/1989 you can open your republic for tourists once more (end of 1968 restriction)
- you have again freedom in sentence-length in your republic
- you can start trading with western countries everything from raw materials to nuclear products

- You still need to keep your 50% loyalty rule to stay in power
- You still declare 5-years plan to prove everyone around that it CAN and WILL work i your country

Story: In 1991 came a true end of CMEA and last trades in it came to halt. Diplomatic meetings about new form of Soviet union ended without results and countries went their separate way. Former soviet union states are not in a good shape, though; in fact, many trades were economically questionable at best even before 1989 and occured just to achieve balance between nations and regions. Trades are now replaced with liabilities that noone wants to settle anymore.

Effects: End of goods trades in RUB since 01/1991. All your partners (and you alike) are switching to universaly internationaly recognizable currency - and that is USD. All future exports and export goals need to be accomplished by sending goods to NATO borders.

With USSR borders you can only
- trade electricity (to achieve stable continental network)
- develop tourism
- sell second-hand vehicles (5+ years old)
- buy road vehicles and vehicles blueprints

Game successfuly ends in the moment you managed to fullfill the last export from the table at the beginning while following rules and event effects/tasks all the way.

Anyone finishing this challenge is more then welcome to state so bellow, add ingame date to description and share a link to video-tour of his republic. If it wouldn´t be possible, sharing a save-file with me is also an option and I will try to record a video tour of the republic based on story shared alongside it and place it on YT.

You also add to your comment bellow which titles you can claim for yourself:
WORKERS MEDAL = finishing the whole challenge (claimed by all)
HERO OF SOCIALISTIC WORKFORCE = managed to complete all 5-year plans without any failure
ORDER OF A RED STAR = managed to complete all above without the need for money reform


Composed by user and player Sirius Czech, owner of a small EN YT channel "comrade Sirius" on 08/2023. Yes, in few days it will be 55 years from Warsaw pact invasion of my home country.
Rules revisited in 02/2024 due to game development and added things like ground-movement equilibrium, new maps and restricting prefabs to 85t total (not per year).

Some parts were inspired or "borrowed" from previous challenges (Cosmonaut, Rasputin, ...). Those were interesting ideas, but sadly none of those challenges are viable in their original form for a long time - for example, none of them even reflects the existence of realistic mode, let alone updates that came after that.

However, the story part is completely new for this campaign.

Augustin "Gustáv" Husák?
This challenge was named after the longest (and last communist) ruling president and general secretary of Highest Comittee of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (ÚV KSČ). He did many things wrong and many things right, his story is remarkable. He helped communist to rise to power in 1948. He was even later imprisoned by his own party members in 1954 and sentenced to death despite not admitting any wrongdoing (even after tortures). His only luck at that time was it came to be after Stalin´s death and so it never came to execution.

In 1960 came huge amnestia, he returned to the party and was even one of strongest voices that were pro-reform of communist rule during 1968. After leading delegation to Moscow, he did his 180° and came as anti-reformist and (thus) even stronger (due to backup from Kremlin). In 1969 he became a first secretary, in 1971 formally a general secretary of communist Party. When seriously ill president Ludvík svoboda stepped out of power in 1975, Gustáv Husák was elected as president as well and stayed there for long 14 years.

In 1987 he stepped down from general secretary office due to health problems, but stayed as president till 1989, where he was siding with those who didn´t want to use violance against massive civilian protests. On 10th of December 1989 he named first after-revolutionary cabinet (parliament) and abdicated. 19 days after that, on 29.12.1989, new times has started with electing Václav Havel as first Czechoslovak democratic president after 40+years.

If all the above seems still too easy, nothing limits you to make it even harder for you. Not every point of this will be doable on every map, so pick whichever you want (from none to all) to make it spicy the way you like it:
1) Build realistic housing spacing, so no 15 prefabs dug into each other where majority of flats wouldn´t even have a daylight all day long.
2) Buld realistic rail curves and stations (rails on the back to "run arounds" instead of tight curves etc.).
3) Do not import any prefabs before making your own (extremely annoying, but doable).
4) Since 1991, do not import ANY vehicles at all - your production solely.
5) Accomodate "4% for arts" act like IRL. Get some workshop decorations doing nothing (in terms of loyalty boosts etc.) and decorate every plaza, every small square between prefabs and houses with something. Vanilla monuments are usable for this as well, of course.
6) Use proper road hierarchy, where highways > arteries > local main roads > connecting roads > small streets pattern exists.
7) Refrain from cheesing fuel mechanics and other mechanics as well (though sometimes it is hard to tell what is and what is not a cheesing)
8) Don´t export any waste at all throughout the whole game

If you have ideas for more, just let me know in the comments. Till then, enjoy your game!




and the table for printout again, just so you do not have to look for it around

Bellow are finishers of the campaign, of who I know so far:
12.08.2024 = date of the finished episode released
Player: Illyria
map: Middle Earth
Ingame date: 25. May 2023
WORKERS MEDAL = finishing the whole challenge (claimed by all) ..... YES
HERO OF SOCIALISTIC WORKFORCE = complete all 5-year plans without any failure ... YES
ORDER OF A RED STAR = no money reform ... YES
Link to his YT channel and the episode
https://youtu.be/MEBEVSlBaPo?si=SmyBMDXLzH9ufSTO&t=3958

11.09.2024 = date of the finished challenge presentation
Player: hekynen
map: Moravskoslezsko
Ingame date: 18. August 2088
WORKERS MEDAL = finishing the whole challenge (claimed by all) ..... YES
HERO OF SOCIALISTIC WORKFORCE = complete all 5-year plans without any failure ... YES
ORDER OF A RED STAR = no money reform ... YES
Link to my YT channel with presentation and his commentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgaIrf-s4Cg&ab_channel=SiriusCzech

20.04.2025 = date of the finished challenge presentation
Player: Zdeněk Kmín
map: Moravskoslezsko
Ingame date: winter 1993/1994
WORKERS MEDAL = finishing the whole challenge (claimed by all) ..... YES
HERO OF SOCIALISTIC WORKFORCE = complete all 5-year plans without any failure ... YES
ORDER OF A RED STAR = no money reform ... YES
Link to my YT channel with presentation and his commentary
https://youtu.be/o3ALznx9MX0