The Tropico series.

[Gamerlord]

This the thread for the brilliant simulation series that is TROPICO!!!!

*Starts humming annoying intro music*

[Guancyto]

Just picked up Tropico 3.

It has much (much) prettier graphics, but it didn't really add as much to the original as Paradise Island did.

I like the election speeches, though, especially the part where you can blame the faction that likes you the least for all the island's problems. :smallamused:

[Gamerlord]

I don't have the graphics card for number 3 :smallfrown: .

[Guancyto]

Not really a big deal. Gameplay-wise, it's basically a second expansion to Tropico 1.

Which, by the way, is fantastic. The environmentalists may hate me, but the mass of factories is good for the coffers!

[Johnny Blade]

I don't have the graphics card for number 3 :smallfrown: .
Yeah, me neither. My OnBoard card would be better for this game than the one I actually use. :smallbiggrin:
Stupid Shader crap.


I feel like playing a bit of Tropico 2 again. Besides some fairly unique challenges, I need my piracy fix.



Anyone ever tried a militarist in Tropico 1? I never really got it to work. Sooner or later, the soldiers' wages, combined with a shaky economy due to unhappy civilians, would just make the whole thing collapse.

[Driderman]

The main thing I noticed about Tropico 3, other than the lovely new graphics, is that you can in fact run a militant regime without constant threat of a coup.
Also, the economy seems somewhat less shaky, at least I didn't have constant dips into negative, like I did in the first game, even though I was running a powerhouse economy.
I'm thinking teamsters and dockworkers with cars are a major contributor to this as they no longer have to spend eternity walking halfway around the island to do their job

[Guancyto]

Militarist is one of my favorite dictator schemes, but I always had to heavily stack +militarist modifiers. Coup, Generalissimo, Soldado de Fortuna, military education...

After that, just make sure to build a couple of army bases and modernize regularly. It's way, way tougher without Paradise Island since without that soldiers have the same medical care/housing as everyone else.

The one I could never get to work is a Communist paradise. You're always broke and the military hates living in tenements...

[Johnny Blade]

I got Communism to work by simply having no military. :smallbiggrin:

The Communists are actually fairly reasonable, compared to some of the other factions.

[Gamerlord]

Communist is by far the easiest faction to work with.

[Mewtarthio]

The downside is that America keeps threatening to invade. Granted, you can always join up with Russia, but that can turn around and bite you in the back if you try to pursue capitalism once you've got your infrastructure taken care of.

[Gamerlord]

Yeah, that is when trouble starts.

[DBear]

Ugh, Tropico 2 was a stinker. You wouldn't think Tropico + pirates could miss, but it did. So from what I've seen, Tropico 3 is just Tropico 1 with new graphics. Meh, I'll pass. Still playing Tropico 1.

[Lord Herman]

7 hours until Tropico 3 is available on Steam. Can't wait!

...well, I have Torchlight, so I can, in fact, wait. But I'm looking forward to playing Tropico 3.

[Guancyto]

Ugh, Tropico 2 was a stinker. You wouldn't think Tropico + pirates could miss, but it did. So from what I've seen, Tropico 3 is just Tropico 1 with new graphics. Meh, I'll pass. Still playing Tropico 1.

It would've been so much better if, y'know, you could have actually gone along with your ships on their battles. I could've even put up with that silly "low-level pirates hogging all the high-tier entertainment and hating it" garbage if I had gotten to see (or god forbid influence) the naval battles. :smallfrown:

And it is - kinda. If you already have Tropico 1 + xpac, 3 is entirely missable. If you haven't played the series before (or if your entry point was Tropico 2), it's definitely worth picking up.

Arranging 'convenient accidents' for my political rivals is a welcome addition, though.

[Johnny Blade]

I liked Tropico 2. It had some issues, but overall, it had enough unique features to make up for that.

Still prefer Tropico 1, though.