Tropico 4 Expands in March

[Jan 13, 2012, 12:18 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Kalypso announces Tropico 4: Modern Times, an upcoming expansion for Tropico 4, the island dictator simulation. This is expected in March, and will add a number of modern problems to the game: "The times are changing and the island nation of Tropico is evolving. The Internet, a New World Order, terrorists, global financial markets and space exploration are on the rise and pose new challenges to El Presidente and his regime in Tropico 4: Modern Times." Here's a trailer, and here's a feature list:

Make Tropico fit for the 21st century: Evolve the island from the Cold War era to modern times and even into the future
30 new buildings become available as time progresses, including condos, skyscrapers, organic ranches and biofarms. Replace obsolete buildings with these modern and inspiring designs.
Upgrade old buildings to new variants – modernized apartment buildings, banks, museums and much more
10 new edicts allow even more control over your citizens’ lives. Block or limit citizens’ Internet use, create a police state or be a “good guy” and launch the Festival of Love edict.
New single player campaign comprised of 12 comprehensive scenario missions. Protect Tropico from unseen and sinister forces.

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16.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 14, 2012, 02:25

nin

Didn't have much interest in T4 (I just got around to T3 last fall), but I like the idea of a modern expansion. Pretty neat idea, and I might check out the game, once it's bundled together on steam.




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

15.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 14, 2012, 02:03

eRe4s3r

Just because countries call themselves socialist does not mean they are - and secondly, Socialist and Social capitalism are 2 different things. Social Capitalism Is what is predominant in Europe. And China is not Socialist either. ^^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capitalism

14.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 21:37

Cornholio

USSR - Socialist Peoples Republic of China - Socialist In true communism no one has more than anyone else. No lower class, middle class or upper class. Basically everyone is poor. There is no 'state' either. Socialism is considered a stepping stone to communism assuming that the state would be dissolved and the power would be given to the masses. I'm not going any further because... you're right way off topic.

13.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 20:30

Quboid

Cornholio wrote on Jan 13, 2012, 18:35:
"the island dictator simulation"

Yeah... Control freaks apply. Dicatorship is what this game is about. Work for me pigs!

Also if it was a 'communism' simulation you wouldn't be the dictator, there wouldn't be one. In communism everything is owned and decided by the people as a whole because there are no leaders since everyone is on 'equal footing'.

Since everything is owned and controlled by the state it falls more in line with socialism. Where the state controls and regulates everything and you no longer have a choice. Not much difference from a dictatorship in actual practice really... one is for one a-hole and the other is for a group of a-holes.

This is getting dangerously off-topic, but socialism isn't where the state controls everything and you have no choice. That's communism. Real communism, you described the communist ideal but the reality is people like Stalin, Mao or Kim Il-Sung. Their regimes also had private enterprise to a small extent, more than Tropico has even playing as capitalist as possible.

Socialism is a large safety net in terms of social security, employee rights and medical care. This does mean a large amount of state control and regulation, but the state doesn't "control and regulate everything".




- Quboid

12.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 19:10

Mikus_Aurelius

LittleMe wrote on Jan 13, 2012, 17:49: Maybe their goal wasn't a challenging game so much as an entertaining interactive tropical city builder for people to express their inner control-freak? That's probably the case, in which case I'm not in the target audience (though I loved Tropico 1). It seems like a few more difficulty settings would let them satisfy both groups.

11.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 18:53

theyarecomingforyou

LittleMe wrote on Jan 13, 2012, 17:49:
Maybe their goal wasn't a challenging game so much as an entertaining interactive tropical city builder for people to express their inner control-freak?

That's pretty much exactly why I like it. I love building up the infrastructure and laying out my businesses exactly as I like. I was a massive fan of Transport Tycoon back in the day (didn't realise it's now 18yrs old) and it's really disappointing that no modern game has created that - Cities In Motion ticks some of the boxes but just isn't the same. OpenTTD updates it but doesn't really bring it up to modern standards.




Core i7 2600-K (4.6GHz) \| 12GB DDR3 \| GTX680 SLI (1215/1605) \| OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD \| Windows 8 Pro Hazro HZ30Wie 30" \| Saffire PRO 40 \| Razer Mamba \| Coolermaster RP1000W SteamID: theyarecomingforyou

10.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 18:42

jacobvandy

So what's the deal with the pricing? £19.99/€24.99 (so about $30) on PC and 1200 MSP ($15) on Xbox? Both are way too high, as I waited until the base game was $16, but that's pretty strange...

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 18:35

Cornholio

"the island dictator simulation" Yeah... Control freaks apply. Dicatorship is what this game is about. Work for me pigs! Also if it was a 'communism' simulation you wouldn't be the dictator, there wouldn't be one. In communism everything is owned and decided by the people as a whole because there are no leaders since everyone is on 'equal footing'. Since everything is owned and controlled by the state it falls more in line with socialism. Where the state controls and regulates everything and you no longer have a choice. Not much difference from a dictatorship in actual practice really... one is for one a-hole and the other is for a group of a-holes.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 17:49

LittleMe

Maybe their goal wasn't a challenging game so much as an entertaining interactive tropical city builder for people to express their inner control-freak?




Political freedom can only be preceded by economic freedom which is preceded by monetary freedom.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 14:40

Quboid

This is something that struck me about Tropico 3 (I assume T4 is the same): for a game about East versus West politics and directly communism versus capitalism, it is completely and utterly communist. Even completely appeasing the capitalists, it is more communist than any real nation. Everything is owned by the state, everyone works for the state, everything is decided by the state.

There is democracy but I never lost an election and never even had to fix one. Genuine democracy shouldn't be incompatible with communism anyway, although it invariably has proven to be. In Tropico, every election looks like it was rigged.

Also, the same game plays out every time; you slowly expand when affordable until some point where you break through, usually about when you get oil wells or nuclear power, at which point you expand as fast as your builders can build. I think the social structure doesn't work quite as deeply as intended, which leads to largely-ignorable rebels and the repetitive way games play out.




- Quboid

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 14:31

eRe4s3r

But Tropico is a "dictator simulation" so that was my point. You ever heard of a dictator whose export companies were nationalized or who didn't put at least 75% of export profits directly into a swiss bank account? ^^ Maybe we have too few proper dictators left (who actually run a nation that produces anything of value) to make good examples nowadays, but if I were dictator I'd firstly privatize all businesses, new owner = me. Lower wages, and import food. (Paid for by taxes ,p) With no food industry nobody will ever demonstrate against taxes... ^^

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 14:28

theyarecomingforyou

Mikus_Aurelius wrote on Jan 13, 2012, 14:20:
I'd also argue that the timing of payment is much less of an issue than the fact that 5 miners can comfortably support an island of 200 people (and don't let me get started on oil workers). Industries simply produce too much, or the foreign market overpays for them.

The mining is overly-generous, though maps low in natural resources - ones without mines, salt-mines, oil and limiting farming - provide more of a challenge. Personally I focus more on balancing the interests of factions than simply winning a map, as in simple terms the game is hard to lose. Some of the edicts are also overpowered, particularly the tax-cut one. And natural disasters are pretty meaningless when the game typically gives you foreign aid to match the damage done.

Despite the problems I still find it a very engaging game and play it a lot more than Anno, for instance. Hopefully with the add-on we'll see a patch to address some balance issues.




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Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 14:20

Mikus_Aurelius

Tropico industries are nationalized by default, so of course the government gets the export money. I'd also argue that the timing of payment is much less of an issue than the fact that 5 miners can comfortably support an island of 200 people (and don't let me get started on oil workers). Industries simply produce too much, or the foreign market overpays for them.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 13:57

eRe4s3r

The reason the game is so easy is because the exports system delays your income always by 1 ship, that means you are planning your expenditure with the PREVIOUS ships income, even though you increased profitability in-between, that means with each ship you have more money and spend less money than you could. Its also pretty unrealistic, exports should go fully into your own pocket, and only money for the "official state" is by taxes and consumption of your own goods (that you did not export). The entire economy in Tropico is broken-by-design ;(

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 13:46

Mikus_Aurelius

I'm still waiting for the expansion that makes this game anything but a joke, strategically. The 300k in the bank mentioned above happens every map, even with the economy settings at their most difficult. I also never lost an election in a dozen plays with political stability on its most difficult, and believe me, I am an expert in neglecting my people. Kalypso needs to hire a coder from Poptop for a weekend to add another few difficulty levels or fix the glaring imbalances in their game.

Re: Tropico 4 Expands in March

Jan 13, 2012, 13:24

theyarecomingforyou

Awesome news!

Tropico 4, despite the average reviews, is an incredibly replayable and highly engaging game. I was a bit disappointed that the campaign mode repeated the same maps, even with the same resource placement, but the storyline keeps it entertaining and you never seem to end up building the same island twice - plus the campaign isn't even required playing. The problem I find is that it doesn't seem to allow you to expand quickly, even if you have the resources - even with hospitals and clinics set to obstetrics, immigration to open and a ban on contraception I still struggle with 100% employment. Despite having 300,000 in the bank I can't do anything, other than buying in specialists at ever increasing prices.

If you have an interest in strategy games or simulations - like Civilization, Anno, Sim City, etc - then I highly recommend it.




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