Like this Youtube comment said:

Well, it will hopfully work this time (load glitch), if it works, that alone is worth the purchase. From what Ive seen they've not only added new buildings, but lots of edicts and new mechanics, with the return of some old features. Im still trying to determine if that first person camera mode is a new mechanic, or just somthing in the trailer. I just like the gameplay, SimCity meets a strategy RPG.


If you like SimCity and easy, fun micro managing (doing things to your populous), and simply building and being creative with the architecture and scenery (Making giant parks, mazes, attractions and gardens with the tools and "beautification" scenery. Everything from statues of yourself, to War Memorials, to exotic trees). Then Id actually say dont rent 3, but rent 4 and see if its good. Like others have said, 3 is like 4, but with more additions and will hopfully work right this time.

The Demo to 3 is on live, download it and check it out. If you have a 360 that is.

I've never had any problems with 3, aside from svcking at being a capitalist. Damn rebels! However, I do have the PC version.

I tried to play the 3 demo, but my stupid old TV made the text too hard to read. I'll try to get it for PC, but how graphics intensive is it?

limited to PC on my end. But tropico 3 is only like 20 bucks on steam (including the expansion), so I think I'll just buy it, then If I like it get tropico 4 when the price goes down.

I did very much enjoy Tropico 3, and though Tropico 4 looks to be more of the same I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.


What terrible island population glitch?


I once had a two year old rebel take part in an attack. For somebody who shouldn't physically exist for another year, she was damn good with an assault rifle.

At another point I got some fleeing rebels to stop by giving a speech. Shame that my soldiers didn't consider them a threat any more.

On the 360 at least, if you got to a certain population, you couldn't load your island. Made free build mode almost pointless, and your were stuck with smaller islands becasue of it.


I figure the PC version has patches that the 360 doesnt, so I say go for it. 20 bucks for Tropico 3 plus the expansion is a lot of gameplay for not a lot of money.

Glad you made this thread - this game looks very interesting. How do the battles work? Do you have an army that fights against other armies, like Civilization?

There is pretty much no fighting in the game that you can control and you only need an army (4-20 men) to make sure rebels wont take over. Its more of a building game

You'e a tiny bananna republic, all you fight are dissidents. Make sure you don't piss off the USA or the USSR.

It's more about how you want to rule a third world country. The game takes place solely on the island you control. YOu can't really issue direct orders to people (except your army). For example, you can't tell a man to get a job in your new hotel. Instead, you'd have to raise the wages in the hotel to convince him to switch jobs. You control the economy, but you do not control the people directly. They have to be bribed, cajoled or threatened to get what you want.



Does Tropico 3 have a sandbox mode with randomised islands, like the first one does?



Also, are we allowed to talk about Tropico 2 or is that an abomination?

Yes. You can pick island size, elevation, vegetation, mineral deposits, etc. and it makes an island for you. And there are a bunch of difficulty options for the sandbox mode you can adjust.

Oh good, just like the first game. There's sometimes issues with sequels, where they won't let you have the same freedom as before, due to graphical restraints.

Aww, I was hoping they'd at least update the graphics a bit. Still, if it's anything like Tropico 3 it's good.

I played Tropico 3's demo, it runs pretty well. Basically more of the same (Tropico 1), but with nicer graphics. Which is all I asked for really.

I'll wait for a sale on steam.

There's also player made missions you can download for 3. I figure 4 will have this as well.


Sure, but what a disappointment. I loved the premise of 2, but it just fell short for me.

I played the St Helena mission in the demo, I started off as an authoritarian capitalist, but as my population kept falling due to poor healthcare and rioting, I regressed into my usual form of a vaguely socialist populist. I give them nice things and enough wages and subsidised housing that they let me get on with running the country. The mission ended while I was knocking down the tenements to put up clean apartments for everyone.

What sort of goverment do those here favour?

Depends on my RP. Everything from Maniac Totalitarian, to CIA Capitalist operative, to Marxist.


Looks like the Date got moved up to the 26th! :celebration:


http://games.on.net/article/13315/Viva_El_Presidente__Tropico_4_Dated_for_August_26 and the http://www.worldoftropico.com/us/index.php.

I know, but which do you most enjoy doing? I inevitably come across as a benevolent ruler, unless you're a capitalist, in which case I might seme a bit oppressive. But they don't mind as long as I have decent industry and expensive houses. This usually stops me from instituting full pay equality, but I do at least charge the richer ones more. I can't stand elections though, but I usually have the full support of the communist and religious, and that's usually enough.



The only time I did try to play a full marxist, it was a nightmare trying to keep people in the necessary jobs, especially when they were paid the same and had equal housing. That was mostly why I went to an agrarian policy, and while it did kill half the population, those who were able to work in farms adjusted well to the rural communal lifestyle. With subsistence economics and no need to worry about exports or any pay disparities (there were two jobs - farmer and barmaid) the people's utopia was much easier to achieve.

I like a Capitalist economic approach, but a socialist approach to my population. Or at least the idea of socialism (equality for all etc.) But I like all styles really, just depends on the type of ruler I want to be and the type of island. paranoid Fascists are always fun. "Hey lets have the Pope visit, then burn down all of the churches and torture the priests when he gets here!" That type of debauchery is fun as the ruthless dictator.

I agree its hard to go full Marxist when people are constantly switching jobs, lowering their overall effectiveness every few months.

On side note, Tropico 4 won best looking strategy game at E3. I did not know this.

See, I feel bad if I'm too aloof or insane. I know some players don't build free housing, because there is no ecomomic imperative for letting people live rent free early on, but I feel it's an embarrassment to the nation if our elderly have to live in shacks because there's no money for housing. I rarely charge money for tenements, because I want them to have at least somewhere for ever person to live. Later, I'll even have free houses and apartments, if the budget stretches to it. A mighty nation is one that looks after the weak.


Is there ever much competition for that one?


I think the problem with stategy games is that they never get much exposure, so you have to know what you're looking for. It doesn't help that because of the number of civ clones that are made, even the best strategy game looks like shovelware without more info than the box can provide. I think it's criminal that games like Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis and Tropico and Gal Civ get all this critical acclaim, and then every journalist turns around and never mentions them again.

I'll try to micromanage my populous so the most loyal get the best jobs and housing etc. I'll deport the dissidents. I'll RP the good ruler too, but I just switch it up, since it adds diversity to a game that kind of plays the same until mid game. I mean all islands pretty much start out the same until you get to a certain point. You source of income will change, but the order of buildings is pretty much the same (ruler dependent of course).


Yeah consoles definitely need more Strategy games. And the genre in general needs more exposure. I mean some of my fav games are strat. Masters of Orion, AOE, Total War, Civ, etc.

I find it gets most interesting in late game, when you have lots of tourist attractions, and you're trying to balance the massive cost of running hotels and airports and sports centres, against the value of your exports and the net profit of tourism in the long run. Tourism creates a strange boom in low education jobs towards the end, and this usually means many more immigrants. Trying to manage the housing gets harder then, because you end up with massive out of town apartment complexes.

It's hard to even bother with ideology at that stage, you're just trying to make sure everything runs smoothly.

yeah thats when the "Oh [censored], Im in the red" moments happen. 10 years ago you had a billion dollars, and now your borrowing from super powers, lol. I actually like making islands that have no tourists and are just diversified money making machines (also the opposite. Super Tourists traps). I had this one island that was almost nothing but farming. Had like 50 farms on the island and made more money than I'd ever seen in the game. I had like 10 Cigar factories and I was still exporting raw tobacco.

I can never understand why the capitalists love progress for progress's sake. Who cares if we're not using new technlolgy to build factories, when our agricultural exports make us completely rich!


That said, I usually do make cigars and lumber mills to supplement the cash crops. If you can have a steady stream of stuff going to the docks, then you'll continue to see a net increase even if some months you'll drop by tens of thousands.


Fishing can be a relatively inexpensive way to increase food production to free up farms for export goods as well.