60 Second Preview of…
Tropico
The Specs
Tropico is a primarily a game of building with political overtones.
From hotels and golf courses to sugar plantations and mines, Tropico
provides over 100 structures to build. You choose how to shape Tropico's
economy by the kinds of buildings you construct, choosing to emphasize
industry, mining, agriculture, or tourism. Tropico goes beyond that,
though, with an island of individual citizens who each are strving
for happiness. These complex citizens can be made happy or unhappy
by a wide variety of variables, such as the quality of their housing,
their jobs, and so on. It's your job as the leader of this small
island to figure out how to make them content because if
you don't the army, church, rebels, or one of the many other factions
may attempt a coup. Tropico will come with a variety of scenarios
to play and will also include a random scenario generator. In addition,
Tropico will use a new and improved version of the Railroad Tycoon
2 engine and will play at resolutions as high as 1600x1280.
The Speculation
Mark's Comments: You get to be your own version of
a lighthearted Castro or Noriega in a bright, colorful game with
AI-driven citizens who are affected by dozens of variables. Do you
invest in housing or factories, mines or hotels to attract the tourist
trade? Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Tropico will require players
to take a more intimate approach than the typical Sim City approach.
Like all good strategy games, Tropico will require the player to
juggle many different conflicting goals. Like a Phil Steinmeyer
game, you can expect Tropico to be intelligent.
Tom's Comments: Woo-hoo!
Roller Coaster Tycoon in a banana republic! Sim Junta! Railroad
Tycoon II with politics! Caesar/Pharoah in the contemporary Third
World! Since the game is going for a lighter touch, it looks like
they're soft pedaling some of the less savory aspects like the drug
trade, political oppression, and golf courses. But I love the milieu,
I love the look, I love the development studio, and I love Phil
Steinmeyer's ongoing developer's diary in Computer Games Magazine.
Wringing resources from Carribbean islands is uncharted territory
in computer gaming, but I can think of very few companies I trust
to take me there like I do PopTop.
Publisher: Gathering of Developers
Developer: PopTop Software
Genre: Strategy
Release Date: Q1 2001
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