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Tropico: Tropico 5 is out! El Presidente's approval rating soars.

That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guyRegistered User regular
edited May 2014 in Games and Technology
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Steam Group
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/patropico5

Buy the game
http://store.steampowered.com/app/245620/

Return to the remote island nation of Tropico in the next instalment of the critically acclaimed and hugely popular ‘dictator sim’ series. Expand your Dynasty’s reign from the early colonial period to beyond the 21st Century, facing an all-new set of challenges, including advanced trading mechanics, technology and scientific research, exploration and for the first time in Tropico history – cooperative and competitive MULTIPLAYER for up to 4 players.
  • The Eras - Start your reign during colonial times, survive the World Wars and the Great Depression, be a dictator during the Cold War, and advance your country to modern times and beyond. From the 19th century to the 21st, each era carries its own challenges and opportunities.
  • The Dynasty - Each member of El Presidente’s extended family is present on the island and may be appointed as a ruler, a manager, an ambassador or a general. Invest in the members of your Dynasty to unlock new traits and turn them into your most valuable assets.
  • Research and Renovate - Advance your nation by discovering new buildings, technologies and resources. Renovate your old buildings to more efficient modern buildings.
  • Advanced trade system and trade fleet - Amass a global trade fleet and use your ships to secure trade routes to neighboring islands or world superpowers, both for export and import.
  • Explore your island - Discover what lies beyond the fog of war. Find valuable resource deposits and explore the ruins of ancient civilizations.
  • All new art - All artwork has been re-designed from scratch to provide Tropico 5 with a unique visual identity. Choose from over 100 buildings from each of the individual eras.
  • Cooperative and competitive multiplayer – Up to 4 players can build up their own cities and economies on any given island map. Players can choose to share resources, supplies and population or declare war on each other.

That_Guy on
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    DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    The first thing I tend to do on every map is build like 5-7 farms of different food types, then a few apartments. One clinic, church, and childhood museum, and then a fishing dock.

    I'll also often build up many mines or oil wells. Screw those environmentalists, I'll plop down a few gardens to make them happy.

    Building horticultural stations set on forestry will also gradually increase the beauty of a given area. I had one map with an oil deposit right on my tourist beach. I built a horticultural station right beside it to mask my oil drilling. The tourists were none the wiser.

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    That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    Tips Cont.
    Gay marriage is a GREAT way of maximizing your housing. It will make sure almost every open slot is filled.
    Sanitariums are a great alternative to Clinics, even though they take up a lot more room. You can actually make money on them.
    Keep your tourists as far away from the rest of the city as you can.
    Toursists HATE walking very far. They would rather spend their entire vacation in their hotel rooms than walk down to the beach. Metro Stations eliminate this problem.
    Put Metro stations next to every dock, port, airport and garage. Teamsters can take their wheelbarrows into the metro for deliveries. Tourists will the metro stations to get to attractions, and citizens will use them to get around the island. Figure out where your dock workers live and make sure there is a metro station really close to their homes.
    ALWAYS quick build the garage if it's in a remote location. Builders are stupid and will walk all the way back to civilization if there is not a staffed garage where they are going. I once had a dozen builders walking back from a build site. It took them a year to get to the nearest garage.

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    WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    The first thing I tend to do on every map is build like 5-7 farms of different food types, then a few apartments. One clinic, church, and childhood museum, and then a fishing dock.

    Since I got the Steam version with all the DLC in the recent sale, I throw down a couple of Plantations to start churning out the cash crops. And then maybe an extra farm for some non-corn food.

    For some reason Salt Mines don't piss off the Environmentalists and I don't know why. Then again, I don't know what's actually involved in salt mining.

    And speaking of factions, I have a hard time pissing off the Intellectuals. Because in order to have any kind of economy on the island you need a High School and a College and that's enough to keep the Intellectuals happy.

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    CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    Now you're making me want to skip ahead to the Modern Times campaign before I finish the vanilla. Also are any of the DLC missions worth playing? I got them all with the steam sale, and I did the superhero one but it was pretty underwhelming. And I don't like buying the cement factory because it feels like cheating :<
    That_Guy wrote: »
    ALWAYS quick build the garage if it's in a remote location. Builders are stupid and will walk all the way back to civilization if there is not a staffed garage where they are going. I once had a dozen builders walking back from a build site. It took them a year to get to the nearest garage.
    Yeah, I find myself screaming at the construction workers at least once every play session.

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    DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    The first thing I tend to do on every map is build like 5-7 farms of different food types, then a few apartments. One clinic, church, and childhood museum, and then a fishing dock.

    Since I got the Steam version with all the DLC in the recent sale, I throw down a couple of Plantations to start churning out the cash crops. And then maybe an extra farm for some non-corn food.

    For some reason Salt Mines don't piss off the Environmentalists and I don't know why. Then again, I don't know what's actually involved in salt mining.

    And speaking of factions, I have a hard time pissing off the Intellectuals. Because in order to have any kind of economy on the island you need a High School and a College and that's enough to keep the Intellectuals happy.

    Yeah, plantations are fantastic.

    Also, another trick that feels like cheating: Guard posts require generals, which requires an armory, and generals need college educations. Bunkers can hold several soldiers and require no generals to be built. So if you need a military early but don't want to hire foreign experts or wait years to build up a college educated work force, bunkers help get your army off the ground.

    As far as construction workers go: I generally fast build my apartments and anything under 5k. Then set things like power plants and golden statues (revolving gracefully) of myself on high priority build.

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    WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    Also, another trick that feels like cheating: Guard posts require generals, which requires an armory, and generals need college educations. Bunkers can hold several soldiers and require no generals to be built. So if you need a military early but don't want to hire foreign experts or wait years to build up a college educated work force, bunkers help get your army off the ground.

    Yeah, but the problem with that is that the Militarists start screaming that you don't have enough Generals, even though you don't need any because of the bunkers. It's kinda awkward.

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    DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    Also, another trick that feels like cheating: Guard posts require generals, which requires an armory, and generals need college educations. Bunkers can hold several soldiers and require no generals to be built. So if you need a military early but don't want to hire foreign experts or wait years to build up a college educated work force, bunkers help get your army off the ground.

    Yeah, but the problem with that is that the Militarists start screaming that you don't have enough Generals, even though you don't need any because of the bunkers. It's kinda awkward.

    Yeah, I still usually get around to armories and the like eventually. But the bunkers will help in case of rebels in the meantime.

    Edit: also I've had spicy music stuck in my head for like a week now. It's a good pain.

    Dissociater on
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    captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    Thread title: It's better than SimCity

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    captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    The first thing I tend to do on every map is build like 5-7 farms of different food types, then a few apartments. One clinic, church, and childhood museum, and then a fishing dock.

    Since I got the Steam version with all the DLC in the recent sale, I throw down a couple of Plantations to start churning out the cash crops. And then maybe an extra farm for some non-corn food.

    For some reason Salt Mines don't piss off the Environmentalists and I don't know why. Then again, I don't know what's actually involved in salt mining.

    And speaking of factions, I have a hard time pissing off the Intellectuals. Because in order to have any kind of economy on the island you need a High School and a College and that's enough to keep the Intellectuals happy.

    Yeah you're going to have to try to piss off Intellectuals. There are several edicts that make them mad, and a few traits.

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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    captaink wrote: »
    Thread title: It's more playable than SimCity

    There.

    On a related note, I wish I had my HDTV to play this on my Xbox.

    Also, did they fix the island generator to stop boring, flat discs of immense vegetation?

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    WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    captaink wrote: »
    The first thing I tend to do on every map is build like 5-7 farms of different food types, then a few apartments. One clinic, church, and childhood museum, and then a fishing dock.

    Since I got the Steam version with all the DLC in the recent sale, I throw down a couple of Plantations to start churning out the cash crops. And then maybe an extra farm for some non-corn food.

    For some reason Salt Mines don't piss off the Environmentalists and I don't know why. Then again, I don't know what's actually involved in salt mining.

    And speaking of factions, I have a hard time pissing off the Intellectuals. Because in order to have any kind of economy on the island you need a High School and a College and that's enough to keep the Intellectuals happy.

    Yeah you're going to have to try to piss off Intellectuals. There are several edicts that make them mad, and a few traits.

    And the edicts that do make them mad are mostly the silly religious and loyalist ones I don't want to enact anyway. Except maybe the contraception ban, I guess.

    I guess I'll just have to start outlawing elections. Even though winning them is so much fun and mostly painless anyway.

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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    If everybody has a job, a better-than-a-shack, and some shit to do, you win elections.

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    WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    If everybody has a job, a better-than-a-shack, and some shit to do, you win elections.

    If only most of the population has a job and a roof over their heads, you win elections.

    Heck, I've routinely won elections even when my standing with the Religious faction (which does tend to be one of the bigger ones) is at 0%. I always get around to building churches pretty late because I've always got more useful stuff to build.

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    Captain CarrotCaptain Carrot Alexandria, VARegistered User regular
    I've never quite gotten the root mechanics behind tourism. I can make embarrassing amounts of money with it for a decade or two, and then gradually every building but cocktail things starts losing money, and places like the casino and mall never make any in the first place.

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    CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    And the edicts that do make them mad are mostly the silly religious and loyalist ones I don't want to enact anyway. Except maybe the contraception ban, I guess.
    I like the idea of the contraception ban, but I can't tell much of a difference in the birth rate when I turn it on so I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.
    If everybody has a job, a better-than-a-shack, and some shit to do, you win elections.
    And if all else fails, throw them a tax cut and it's fine (just like in America!).

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    DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    I've never quite gotten the root mechanics behind tourism. I can make embarrassing amounts of money with it for a decade or two, and then gradually every building but cocktail things starts losing money, and places like the casino and mall never make any in the first place.

    Not sure. Maybe check the beauty of the attractions? Check crime too. Try running some tourism edicts to bring in more tourists.

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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    I've never quite gotten the root mechanics behind tourism. I can make embarrassing amounts of money with it for a decade or two, and then gradually every building but cocktail things starts losing money, and places like the casino and mall never make any in the first place.

    Not sure. Maybe check the beauty of the attractions? Check crime too. Try running some tourism edicts to bring in more tourists.

    Might be an inherent bug. I had the same problem in 3. And my shit was built on the most beautiful spot. In the end, I don't do much with tourism unless the scenario calls for it. You can already make an ass load of cash with every other industry anyway.

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    WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    Tourism bridges the gap between ships arriving to export your good pretty nicely. You don't go into the red quite so quickly.

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    TheGerbilTheGerbil Registered User regular
    When I start a map I tend to build a salt mine surrounded by ranches. When you get some money and can make them produce smoked beef, you will be ROLLING in the cash.

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    CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    Doesn't the natural beauty of locations decrease as you build them up? That seems like a problem for long term growth, after that tourism mission I decided it wasn't worth the effort to bother with tourism at all.

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    That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    You can look at the tourism rating from the almanac. I have also found a lot of useful information by clicking on the individual tourists to check out what they think about the place. I never count on tourism for any REAL income. It's more a way to give women jobs that does not involve throwing down a bunch of pubs.

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    CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    That_Guy wrote: »
    You can look at the tourism rating from the almanac. I have also found a lot of useful information by clicking on the individual tourists to check out what they think about the place. I never count on tourism for any REAL income. It's more a way to give women jobs that does not involve throwing down a bunch of pubs.
    But I need women to work at my power plants and oil rigs because they're the only ones who can do it for some reason!

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    BotznoyBotznoy Registered User regular
    I swear to god you guys are playing a diffierent game.

    I just go booze baron every map and never have problems

    IZF2byN.jpg

    Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
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    That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    Botznoy wrote: »
    I swear to god you guys are playing a diffierent game.

    I just go booze baron every map and never have problems

    Producing booze and having pubs are 2 entirely different things. I produce the shit out of Rum. I just keep it away from my citizens and export it all.

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    RamiRami Registered User regular
    I actually like the religious faction in modern times because diamond cathedrals set to fundraising make a ton of free profit.

    Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
    sig.gif
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    ToyDToyD Registered User regular
    I was always a farmer subsidized by exports. I supplied the WORLD with some coffee and tobacco. I dabbled in tourism and industry, but always did a very minor job with them. Took me FOREVER to realize how to get construction shops and the delivery guys to work correctly and not suck.

    steam_sig.png
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    HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    This is a series I keep hearing quite a bit about and it sounds decent. My first impressions of seeing banners for it and such made me think it was some throw-away free-to-play-on-the-internet quality kind of game.

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    ToyDToyD Registered User regular
    Oh no. It's really enjoyable IMO. Played through the whole campaign. I really enjoyed the setting.

    steam_sig.png
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    DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    Tourism bridges the gap between ships arriving to export your good pretty nicely. You don't go into the red quite so quickly.

    That's pretty much what I use it for. Not to make money, but to simply stop me from losing too much money in maintenance between cargo ship visits.

    And also for fun.

    It's neat to have one side of my island be this densely populated slum filled with workers making expensive coffee and rum, and the other side being a beautiful tourist trap.

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    BotznoyBotznoy Registered User regular
    Its a pretty great city builder game. With quite a bit of entertaining writing

    IZF2byN.jpg

    Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
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    ToyDToyD Registered User regular
    More docks also help bridge the ship gap. Occasionally they'll stack up on top of the other, but as long as your goods are flowing, 2-3 docks can be pretty nice.

    steam_sig.png
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    WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    ToyD wrote: »
    I was always a farmer subsidized by exports. I supplied the WORLD with some coffee and tobacco. I dabbled in tourism and industry, but always did a very minor job with them. Took me FOREVER to realize how to get construction shops and the delivery guys to work correctly and not suck.

    Farms just aren't profitable enough in the long run if you plan expanding your island and population.

    I use farms (well... plantations) to get the basic income going, then build factories that use the raw goods my farms are producing anyway, then expand into Chemical factory (which helps to improve healthcare, preventing your citizens from dying and keeping the Communists happy) until I finally build factories I need to import the raw material for.

    Also a couple of ranches here and there, because why not. They're cheap as hell.


    Anyway, about foreign powers. What does China do anyway? The US and the USSR give you yearly development aid (until you've got 50,000 in the treasury), the EU gives financial aid after natural disasters and the Middle East sends you some fine camels (and randomly gives you 30,000 from time to time). What's the big benefit of getting cozy with China?

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    That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    ToyD wrote: »
    I was always a farmer subsidized by exports. I supplied the WORLD with some coffee and tobacco. I dabbled in tourism and industry, but always did a very minor job with them. Took me FOREVER to realize how to get construction shops and the delivery guys to work correctly and not suck.

    Farms just aren't profitable enough in the long run if you plan expanding your island and population.

    I use farms (well... plantations) to get the basic income going, then build factories that use the raw goods my farms are producing anyway, then expand into Chemical factory (which helps to improve healthcare, preventing your citizens from dying and keeping the Communists happy) until I finally build factories I need to import the raw material for.

    Also a couple of ranches here and there, because why not. They're cheap as hell.


    Anyway, about foreign powers. What does China do anyway? The US and the USSR give you yearly development aid (until you've got 50,000 in the treasury), the EU gives financial aid after natural disasters and the Middle East sends you some fine camels (and randomly gives you 30,000 from time to time). What's the big benefit of getting cozy with China?

    Increased price of Canned Goods
    Decreased cost for Luxury Goods
    The ability to ask for development aid (the 100 free workers has really come in handy mid game when I start running low on workers for my massive industrial complex.

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    tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    Henroid wrote: »
    This is a series I keep hearing quite a bit about and it sounds decent. My first impressions of seeing banners for it and such made me think it was some throw-away free-to-play-on-the-internet quality kind of game.

    Tropico 1 & 3 are some of the most fun I have had with sim games. So fun.

    steam_sig.png
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    WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    tsmvengy wrote: »
    Henroid wrote: »
    This is a series I keep hearing quite a bit about and it sounds decent. My first impressions of seeing banners for it and such made me think it was some throw-away free-to-play-on-the-internet quality kind of game.

    Tropico 1 & 3 are some of the most fun I have had with sim games. So fun.

    Tropico 4 is pretty much an update of Tropico 3, so much so that I'd have trouble recommending it to someone who's already played 3. On the other hand, it's just big enough of an update that going back to 3 would be practically unthinkable.

    It's a bit... paradoxical.

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    SanderJKSanderJK Crocodylus Pontifex Sinterklasicus Madrid, 3000 ADRegistered User regular
    edited March 2013
    There is one amazingly easy way to make money with tourism:
    Build as few and as expensive attractions as possible, and have hotels on 100%.

    The ultimate of this is the Cruiseship Opener, where you take all touristy traits, nuke your island, and build a cruiseship, tourist dock, hotel, garage in your first few months. You won't believe how rich you'll be.

    I think what happens is that a) Tourists get stuck in traffic which means no income and b) they aren't picky at all and will go where-ever. So if you have a beach that pays $5, they may do that instead of the cruiseship. But given no choice, they'll dump all of their cash on the big shiny boat.

    The shopping mall is a known trap mostly due to it's excessive import cost (which can crowd out other parts of your economy by it's sheer volume). It can be slightly profitable if you choose the female only version.

    Another amazing building is the Blimp with the 'El Presidente visit' option set. 6k and it greatly enhances large parts of your city at a time.

    SanderJK on
    Steam: SanderJK Origin: SanderJK
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    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    tsmvengy wrote: »
    Henroid wrote: »
    This is a series I keep hearing quite a bit about and it sounds decent. My first impressions of seeing banners for it and such made me think it was some throw-away free-to-play-on-the-internet quality kind of game.

    Tropico 1 & 3 are some of the most fun I have had with sim games. So fun.

    Tropico 4 is pretty much an update of Tropico 3, so much so that I'd have trouble recommending it to someone who's already played 3. On the other hand, it's just big enough of an update that going back to 3 would be practically unthinkable.

    It's a bit... paradoxical.

    I want to move on to 4 because after doing everything in 3 (and no DLC on the 360) I've been looking for more shit to do.

    I'd have kept playing 3, except randomly generated islands had no character and campaign islands were too small (and you end up 'playing' the mission associated with it anyway). That's why I want to know if they fixed the island generator. Did they?

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    That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    tsmvengy wrote: »
    Henroid wrote: »
    This is a series I keep hearing quite a bit about and it sounds decent. My first impressions of seeing banners for it and such made me think it was some throw-away free-to-play-on-the-internet quality kind of game.

    Tropico 1 & 3 are some of the most fun I have had with sim games. So fun.

    Tropico 4 is pretty much an update of Tropico 3, so much so that I'd have trouble recommending it to someone who's already played 3. On the other hand, it's just big enough of an update that going back to 3 would be practically unthinkable.

    It's a bit... paradoxical.

    I want to move on to 4 because after doing everything in 3 (and no DLC on the 360) I've been looking for more shit to do.

    I'd have kept playing 3, except randomly generated islands had no character and campaign islands were too small (and you end up 'playing' the mission associated with it anyway). That's why I want to know if they fixed the island generator. Did they?

    You can custom build maps in the editor. Is that what you are asking?

  • Options
    Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    That_Guy wrote: »
    tsmvengy wrote: »
    Henroid wrote: »
    This is a series I keep hearing quite a bit about and it sounds decent. My first impressions of seeing banners for it and such made me think it was some throw-away free-to-play-on-the-internet quality kind of game.

    Tropico 1 & 3 are some of the most fun I have had with sim games. So fun.

    Tropico 4 is pretty much an update of Tropico 3, so much so that I'd have trouble recommending it to someone who's already played 3. On the other hand, it's just big enough of an update that going back to 3 would be practically unthinkable.

    It's a bit... paradoxical.

    I want to move on to 4 because after doing everything in 3 (and no DLC on the 360) I've been looking for more shit to do.

    I'd have kept playing 3, except randomly generated islands had no character and campaign islands were too small (and you end up 'playing' the mission associated with it anyway). That's why I want to know if they fixed the island generator. Did they?

    You can custom build maps in the editor. Is that what you are asking?

    I don't know. In 1, the generator would create islands with 'character'. As in they'd have bays and odd shapes and such (all within the confines of whatever else you told it to do, of course). In 3, They were just circular discs with a massive amount of vegetation (even if you tried to tone it down) and maybe some blocks of 'mountains'.

    Are you saying players can actually modify landforms in Tropico 4 ala SimCity?

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    That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    That_Guy wrote: »
    tsmvengy wrote: »
    Henroid wrote: »
    This is a series I keep hearing quite a bit about and it sounds decent. My first impressions of seeing banners for it and such made me think it was some throw-away free-to-play-on-the-internet quality kind of game.

    Tropico 1 & 3 are some of the most fun I have had with sim games. So fun.

    Tropico 4 is pretty much an update of Tropico 3, so much so that I'd have trouble recommending it to someone who's already played 3. On the other hand, it's just big enough of an update that going back to 3 would be practically unthinkable.

    It's a bit... paradoxical.

    I want to move on to 4 because after doing everything in 3 (and no DLC on the 360) I've been looking for more shit to do.

    I'd have kept playing 3, except randomly generated islands had no character and campaign islands were too small (and you end up 'playing' the mission associated with it anyway). That's why I want to know if they fixed the island generator. Did they?

    You can custom build maps in the editor. Is that what you are asking?

    I don't know. In 1, the generator would create islands with 'character'. As in they'd have bays and odd shapes and such (all within the confines of whatever else you told it to do, of course). In 3, They were just circular discs with a massive amount of vegetation (even if you tried to tone it down) and maybe some blocks of 'mountains'.

    Are you saying players can actually modify landforms in Tropico 4 ala SimCity?

    Yup. There is a full on map and custom challenge editor. You can create your own story missions in just the way you want to play them, if you want.

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