Spongebob 2008

SpongeBob 2008 (or referred to as SpongeBob '08, SB08, or just simply the SpongeBob mod) is a mod created by; Diamondy, Lieutenant Dan Taylor, and Adeline with additional help from other recognizable TCT names like Astro and Danxv33. The mod features characters from the beloved cartoon series known as SpongeBob SquarePants running in the 2008 United States presidential election. The mod features SpongeBob SquarePants and Sandy Cheeks as the Democratic ticket, Squidward Tentacles and Eugene Krabs as the Republican ticket, Patrick Star and Dwayne Johnson as the Reform ticket, and Stephen Hillenburg running a write-in campaign. SpongeBob canonically wins with 322 electoral votes and 45.0% of the popular vote, to Squidward's 209 electoral votes and 32.9% of the popular vote. Additionally, Patrick wins 7 electoral votes in the states of Vermont and Maine, and 20.6% of the popular vote. The rest of the remaining popular vote is split between Stephen Hillenburg and other minor candidates like Ralph Nader.

Opening screen and features
The mod begins with a bright colorful SpongeBob theme, as the song "On the Beach" by Kapono Beamer plays along with it. When the player clicks the "Click Here to Begin!" button, the player is greeted with a brief description of the election and a credits button (which was borrowed from 2000N) and the credits include; a special thanks to Stephen Hillenburg, coders (only one being Diamondy), writers, playtesters, music credits, and a special note from Diamondy. When you click on the continue button, the music switches from On the Beach to the official SpongeBob theme song with a large soundtrack full of SpongeBob music, and a separate soundtrack including a lot of songs from the Billboard 100 in 2008. Some songs include; Viva La Vida, Paralyzer, Low, Poker Face, Chocolate Rain, Paper Planes, Disturbia, and I Kissed a Girl, among others.

Gameplay
The gameplay is very versatile on all playable sides, showcasing tons of replayability via endings and routes you can take your campaign. The mod showcases a lot of self-sabotage, funny advisor feedback, huge poll swings, alternate endings, and lots of SpongeBob joy. When you complete the mod, the closing theme of SpongeBob SquarePants will play, and the mod has another note from Diamondy in the further reading section. Also included in the further reading section is a Google Doc which goes over the mod creator and the events of SpongeBob 2008.

There are a bunch of routes you can take like; conservative SpongeBob, liberal Squidward, and Perot Patrick, among other fun strategies you can take to make some interesting electoral maps. It has been proven possible for Squidward to win New York and California, SpongeBob can win Mississippi and Arkansas, and Patrick can win outright, and many strategies have been formed by the community to get the most electoral votes possible.

Endings (SPOILERS)
There are tons of special endings in this fascinating mod, and the most notable endings go as follows;

Stephen Hillenburg Ending

The Stephen Hillenburg ending can be triggered as any candidate. In order for it to trigger, you must drop out as the candidate you play as and endorse Hillenburg on the 24th question. After you do so, Hillenburg will sweep every state and will be elected president. This ending includes a nice tribute to the late Hillenburg, as well going over a brief summary of his presidency.

Red Mist Ending

The Red Mist ending can be triggered if you lose every state as Squidward. After you lose every state and click on the "Final Results" button, the theme will turn from a bright joyful SpongeBob theme to a blood-red spooky theme. A few images from the Rest Mist video are present, as the ending screen image is the infamous Squidward bloodshot eyes screenshot. The ending song is a fanmade Red Mist song called "The Red Mist Is Coming (Squidward Suicide)" and it was made by DJElectricJes. The ending text showcases the creepypasta known as Squidward's Suicide (otherwise known as the Red Mist creepypasta). The ending text also showcases Squidward's descent into madness after he loses every state, and commits suicide- marking this mod as one of the few TCT mods where you can kill someone else or die as yourself (the only other mods where this can occur is; 1948 IW, 1844c, 1948N, 1936c Long, 1872, 2025NL, and 1930 Weimar).

SpongeBob 0 EV ending (doesn't have an official name)

Just like the Red Mist ending, this ending can occur if you lose every state, but as SpongeBob. As you go to the final results page, the theme will change into a spooky, cryptic version of the SpongeBob 2008 theme. The background turns into a dark version of SpongeBob's living room, and SpongeBob's image is him with no mouth and dried-out red eyes. The ending music is a soundtrack from the actual show, and it's called "Unease" and it was made by Dick Stephen Walter. This screen would turn out to be another cause of controversy later on, which will be discussed later.

There have been other endings TCTers have come across, but these are the ones that generated the most attention.

August 2022
On August 23rd, 2022, a new TCT community member (and future Admin on the official TCT Discord server) by the name of Diamondy submitted a poll asking the Reddit which SpongeBob characters they would vote for in a fictional United States presidential election, and this poll included the aforementioned characters in the mod. This poll would gain a lot of traction gaining over 40 upvotes and nearly 400 total votes, with Squidward Tentacles winning the poll overall. SpongeBob finished second with Patrick coming close in third. The post had over 50 comments on it, however, a common theme that would become a major criticism of the mod would be the fact that Squidward was a Republican, and many people were asking questions as to why he wasn't a Democrat- citing the SpongeBob episode "Squid on Strike" which includes Squidward going on strike and having similar tones to that of Bernie Sanders. Diamondy addresses the points stating that Squidward is not a "traditional Republican" later on in the mod's development, but at the time he said he had no idea where to put Squidward on the political spectrum.

Diamondy would then post the mod announcement of SpongeBob 2008 alongside a banner just 2 hours after the initial poll post on the Reddit, asking them whom they would vote for if they lived in the SpongeBob 2008 timeline. The mod announcement post featured the banner to the mod, alongside a release date sometime in December 2022 - March 2023 (which would later be delayed due to events that will be mentioned soon), a potential sequel, and other miscellaneous topics relating to the mod. This post would gain 50 upvotes, alongside 38 comments, most of the commenters being excited for the mod, with some asking questions and making suggestions. Future writer Lieutenant Dan Taylor posted the mod announcement just one day before Diamondy became active in the Discord server, saying he loves the mod idea.

On August 24th, 2022, Diamondy would then post the starting margins to the mod alongside the map colors, and then he would post the official mod theme 5 hours later, both posts garnering around 50 upvotes combined. During this time, Diamondy would officially begin talking in the official TCT Discord server around 7:30 PM EST, and he talk to people about SpongeBob 2008. Around 11:30 PM EST, he would begin asking people if they want to help with SpongeBob 2008, and that's when he met his lead writer Lieutenant Dan Taylor. Lt. Dan would decide to help Diamondy write the mod, and eventually the conversation would go to DMs where they discussed things about the mod. Lt. Dan would write up running mates, descriptions, and other things related to the Code 1 of the mod. He would then suggest different pictures for the candidates, as the ones that Diamondy picked out weren't the highest quality. Diamondy would then show off parts of the mod to Astro and Jake Dionysos, who mostly approved of it. Diamondy would eventually ask Jake if he wanted to help with advisor feedback, and Jake accepted- however, this would prove not to last long as Jake would be busy with other projects like Viva Kennedy and Midnight.

September 2022
In the meantime, Lieutenant Dan Taylor would write the questions for SpongeBob without feedback for about 3 weeks and SpongeBob's writing (without advisor feedback) would be complete in early September 2022, and as Squidward's side was being written- something catastrophic happened to Diamondy's PC.

On September 16th, 2022, around 6:50 AM CST, Diamondy would reboot his Windows 11 machine as it needed an update. It got stuck on the 100% screen for about 10 minutes, and Diamondy would then attempt a restart. This didn't go over well, as the PC got stuck in a boot loop where it couldn't get into the main operating system, and his PC was announced as broken at 7:16 PM CST. The repair environment was seemingly broken, as none of the recovery options worked- and the command prompt was completely broken. Diamondy would then announce to the server that his PC is broken, and he cannot work on SpongeBob 2008 anymore until it was fixed. Diamondy would then go on to ask many members what to do with his PC, and he was asking for tips from; Raygun, Lieutenant Dan Taylor, Astro, Jake, and some others. Diamondy couldn't figure it out, and he had to go without a PC for about a month. Lieutenant Dan Taylor would continue to write for SpongeBob 2008 but would take a mini break until Diamondy's PC was fixed.

October 2022
In the early hours of October 22, 2022, Diamondy's PC would be back to working- however, his PC would have to be completely wiped and his backup hard drive only saved data from before April 2022. SpongeBob 2008 would be one of the many things erased, as it wasn't backed up. Diamondy would be upset about this, but he decided he wasn't giving up. Diamondy would make another Reddit post about what happened, and it would get around 21 upvotes. Diamondy would then get back to where he was in the coding process before the crash happened (and he also switched to Google Docs for coding, as he was coding on Sublime text before this), as Lieutenant Dan Taylor would continue to write for the mod.

November 2022
Diamondy would then create his own modding team Discord on November 5th, 2022, and he invited; Lt. Dan, Jake, and Taz to it. They would discuss things related to the mod and its development, although Jake and Taz weren't present most of the time. Squidward's writing would then be completed on November 25th, 2022, albeit without advisor feedback.

December 2022
Diamondy and Lieutenant Dan Taylor would take a break for a little while, until Lieutenant Dan Taylor would invite Adeline to work on the mod and would invite her to the modding Discord server on December 30th, 2022. Patrick's writing would start on this day, and SpongeBob's advisor feedback would be completed on December 31st, 2022, just 9 hours before the start of the new year.

January 2023
As the new year of 2023 began, things went a bit slower from here, as Adeline slowly stopped working on the mod as she wrote SpongeBob's 0 EV ending and the first of Squidward's advisor feedback. On January 7th, 2023, Patrick's writing would be finished, but without feedback. Diamondy would then post an announcement with all of the descriptions and running mates on the Reddit, gaining around 85 upvotes and 24 comments, with them being mostly supportive. Almost 24 hours later, someone on Twitter by the name of DarthLord_2000 would post about the mod, asking Twitter users whom they would vote for. The Tweet would gain almost 3,000 views alongside 40 likes and a few replies and Quote Tweets. Most of them said they would support Squidward, with Patrick and SpongeBob nearly being tied. The same day, Lieutenant Dan Taylor had the opportunity to talk to Carolyn Lawrence via a Discord Meet and Greet, and he sent her the key documents to the mod. There was a possibility she could've shouted out the mod, but it never went through. On January 19th, 2023, SpongeBob's and Sandy's endings were complete and SpongeBob's side would be completely written on January 22nd, 2023.

March 2023
Diamondy would be burnt out from modding, but he would slowly code answer effects and endings. He would make a few Reddit posts updating people about the mod, and on March 3rd, 2023, SpongeBob/Sandy would be completely coded in- just 10 minutes before Astro's next Twitch stream. Astro would then showcase the mod and the audience would begin to love it, and inside of the mod code was a secret message for Astro. Diamondy told him to click on it beforehand, and the answer read; "You know, there's this six year old from Michigan that deserves our attention more. It's fun to make fun of little children". Astro would click on it, and the advisor feedback read; "That six year old will become your wife, Astro, as she will become President, with you never being elected to School Board, let alone the Presidency. Get dunked on, nerd". Astro would feel a bit of sarcastic betrayal, and some people in Astro's audience would joke around about every copy of SpongeBob 2008 being personalized. Astro ended up losing his first run, but overall he approved of the mod. The Twitch chat would be very supportive of the mod, with few being opposed to it. After this run, Astro would go on to showcase primary candidates for Powell 2000.

April 2023
After the initial Twitch showcase, Diamondy would take a small break from modding, but quickly finished SpongeBob/Larry as Lieutenant Dan Taylor completed writing for Squidward's side in early March 2023, and SpongeBob/Mermaid Man and SpongeBob/Gary would be finished soon after, marking SpongeBob's side as complete on March 18th, 2023. He made another Reddit post about this, and it garnered 45 upvotes. During this time, some playtesters were invited to play SpongeBob's side such as TomBox, Rubix, Ratsputin, and Outfox. They all gave great feedback, expressing some improvements that could be made- alongside support for the mod. Nearly a month later, Squidward's side would be completed on April 15th, 2023, with playtesters for Squidward's side would be invited to playtest by the names of; Fuecoco, Rickroll, JFNixon, Senator Cringe, Neo, and Coke Lives Matter. They would give good and extensive feedback about the mod, with Diamondy and Lieutenant Dan Taylor taking into account their positive feedback. Astro would also stream Squidward/Krabs on March 31st, 2023 during The Acceptance Speech (commonly referred to as the mod awards), and the chat would like Squidward's side. SpongeBob '08 would also be nominated for the "Most Anticipated Mod" award, alongside; Viva Kennedy '72, Midnight '68, 2000 Powell, 1924b, and Abyss '76. Viva Kennedy '72 ultimately ended up winning, but Diamondy appreciated that his mod was nominated at all. The day after Squidward's side was complete, all of the endings for Patrick would be completely written.

May 2023
Patrick would be completely coded in on May 2nd, 2023- and it took 251 days (approximately) to be completed. AstroHuncho would be invited to playtest the mod, and he liked the mod. Diamondy and Lt. Dan decided to release the mod at around 1:18 PM EST, just a day after SpongeBob's 24th anniversary.

Reddit reaction
The Reddit post would be posted and SpongeBob '08 would be officially released, and it was swarmed with attention, garnering around 132 upvotes and 42 comments. Most commenters would be extremely supportive of the mod, and the mod would prove to be a major success. In fact, one post showcasing an ending screen for the Stephen Hillenburg ending (which will be showcased later and would also become the subject of controversy) gained around 112 upvotes and 15 comments, most of them being reminiscent of the late Stephen Hillenburg.

Broken mod loader launch and bugs
People would begin to note bugs that Diamondy didn't catch before, as Tom (creator of 1948Red) pointed out to Diamondy that an ending for Patrick was bugged, and Diamondy started to freak out. Certain endings would be found to be bugged, and Diamondy had a hard time fixing them. Diamondy eventually fixed the bugs, and the endings worked- however, he would begin to face another challenge. He gave the codes to Astro, and the codes seemingly didn't work on the mod loader. When the user would attempt to play the mod through the mod loader, it didn't load and the base Dan Bryan scenarios showed up. Slowly the mod started to work, as Code 1 worked, and then Squidward and Patrick- but then something happened and it glitched things out. AngryGandhi would attempt to fix this by himself, and he was a major help according to Diamondy. This would go on for several hours until Diamondy eventually found a fix and the mod finally worked on the loader.

Reception
The mod would be exceptionally received well, often being called one of the best mods and being compared to community classics like 1972d, 1972, 1864, and Viva Kennedy- and the community would often refer to SpongeBob '08 as one of the best mod jokes, shaping up the genre. Many modders like Tom, AstroHuncho, Jake, Taz, JFNixon, Snoo, and others being supportive of the mod.

Controversies
Despite the mod being mostly harmless, it came with a fair share of controversies. First one was people making fun of the mod for being "childish", and some people were upset that Squidward was (once again) the Republican nominee. These criticisms were flooded by the overwhelmingly positive support of the mod on both the Reddit and Discord, however, the Twitter was a different story.

Tex (the creator of 1964) called SpongeBob 2008 the worst mod ever, showcasing a picture of the SpongeBob 0 EV ending, but they stated that "To give 'SpongeBob 2008' credit, it exceeds 2000N in many ways." Diamondy has stated that he doesn't care what Tex thinks about his mod, since he respects Tex for their service to the community and contributions made.

Another infamous TCT Twitter user by the name of Ettingermentum posted about the mod, including a screenshot of a Reddit post about the Hillenburg ending and which reads "Oh shit like. They are actually children." This post would garner around 5,000 views and 60 likes (at least from the screenshot shown, taken from Duplicator). TCT Twitter's response to the mod overall was muted (also according to Duplicator), but overall the mod had a positive reception, despite its small controversies.

Legacy and potential SpongeBob 2008 sequel
SpongeBob 2008, despite being seen as a silly joke mod, it would shape up TCT modding overall, mostly in the joke mod section of the community. According to one Reddit poll posted by Tom, about half of the respondents to the poll (333 votes) said SpongeBob 2008 was a great mod. Many posts on the Reddit relating to the mod were pretty positive, and as mentioned before, guides were created, and many screenshots were showcased of people playing the game. Some particular posts were asking for a sequel, and one poll had most respondents saying yes to a SpongeBob 2008 sequel. Diamondy has also hinted towards a possible SpongeBob 2008 sequel, with announcements coming within the following weeks in June. As of June 6th, 2023, no formal SpongeBob 2012 announcement has been made, although Diamondy and Lieutenant Dan Taylor have been expressing interest in working on it.