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Its Called Tropico!
Enter a virtual island on your Macintosh where the world, and lives, of the native Tropicans are yours to control. As El Presidente, you set the islands political and economic policies. Vent your fury or celebrate your greatness! Over a period of up to 70 years, youll make every decision on your way to (hopefully) creating your own utopia.
You have a tenuous control over the island at first, explains MacSoft product manager Al Schilling. To maintain control, you have to do the standard things to keep people happy: they want food and good housing, they want good jobs, and they want it to be safe. Unique Strategy Games For those of you who enjoyed PopTops Railroad Tycoon II, the good news is that both games share the same philosophical approach. Were interested in doing unique strategy games, says PopTops Franz Felsl, so the similarity in gameplay is there. However, Tropicos engine is a next-gen design from the Railroad Tycoon II engine, so the look has some similarities. Since PopTop also wants to make mostly non-violent games, both are mostly about economics and building things instead of destroying them. You designate your background as El Presidente, as well as how you inherited the mantle of power. Both of these factors will set the parameters of the game, which offers many paths to a (hopefully) successful conclusion. |
Note: Tropico is no longer available from MacSoft, however you may still be able to find it at your local retail store.
Farms, housing, human services, entertainment, and overall infrastructure are all issues that you must take into account. Looking closely, you may see influences of some of your favorite board games, including Junta and Hidden Agenda, as well as your favorite videogames, such as Railroad Tycoon, Sim City and RollerCoaster Tycoon. Gameplay movie (3.3MB) A Resource Challenge Generally, you have few resources when you start and prioritizing is a must (the island is different every time you play). Creating a tourist paradise is tempting but not easy when hotels, nightclubs, pubs, casinos, housing and electric needs must all be taken into account. Oh, and did we mention Churches? Thats correct, the spiritual needs of your people also have to be considered. When discussing the first moves of the game, Felsl indicates that housing is his primary focus. On a general random map, he says, it is best to get your people out of shacks as soon as possible. They are the single most destructive force when it comes to your peoples happiness. A Caribbean paradise in the making.
The other thing Im quick to do, he adds, is cut back the number of teamsters till I have more industry. Im a big fan of mines when I can get them, but thats just a personal preference. |
Read The Successful El Presidentes Guide to Tropico. |