Zeppelin Hangar
OK, yeah, I never had a chance …
Honestly, reading through some of the details in that post does make it sound like a much greater advancement than the last.
That is, Tropico 3 was really very little more than a graphics/interface update with expanded options of the same mechanics.
Facebook and Twitter integration
Why do publishers/developers constantly add this feature? Does anyone want to post the progress they’re making in video games to their social media feeds?
“Viral marketing”
The mechanics of all the games are the same, but T3 was a pretty big leap forward in many areas. As you mentioned, the graphics and interface were vastly improved (as they should have been, since Tropico was released in 2001), new buildings, new personality traits, etc. But moreover, many people who played T3 probably didn’t play the original given the age of that game. Personally, I thought the game seemed familiar, but enough time had passed that it was like playing it for the first time all over again.
That’s not likely to be the case with Tropico 4. So while there are some decent advancements listed, I don’t really know if there’s enough to get me to bite on it until it’s on Sale on Steam for under $10. I’ll read reviews and follow any threads about the game, but there’s definitely going to have to be some good buzz before I fork over full price for Tropico 4 and there’s certainly not enough to make me want to pre-order.
I enjoyed Tropico 3. They had fun with the scenarios and in my opinion kept all that was great about Tropico, and focused in all the right places.
Yeah, there probably won’t be as-significant technical advancements - regarding engine, interface, etc. … But what they’ve described certainly constitute much greater mechanical advancements.
Really, mechanically 3 and 1 are nearly identical. The avatar might’ve been the most significant change - and after the beginning of the game I tend to ignore him.
I still have to take it for granted whether or not they can get these features to actually work properly - but as-described they sure sound like a much greater departure from gameplay.
Commodities trading? Importing? Political posts? Crime? Privatized buildings?
Again, provided those are discrete systems and not simply edicts with detailed bonuses. It sure sounds like they’re bringing in a little more economy sim.
It very much feels like an expansion to me from the demo, and apparently half the features I thought were new were included in the Tropico 3 expansions.
That sounds like a pretty cool feature I would like to see expanded - assuming it is more than simply a stronger version of the Bribe edict …
Again, going from the demo alone, it seems pretty simplistic. You need the ministers for certain edicts, and to get the ministers, you need the ministry building (and educated citizens).
I really hope there are more new mechanics that weren’t included in the demo (eg tourism), because it’s not worth paying anything like full price for as it stands.
Yeah - that’s essentially what I’d feared might be the case. Most unfortunate.
I’ll check out the demo this evening.
Yeah, this is pretty much me. I played through the demo last night, and while there are definitely a few new features, it is mostly just more of the same.
However, I adore city builder/sim games (and loved Tropico 3), and there just aren’t enough of them out there to keep that itch scratched, so it will most likely be a day one purchase for me.
It makes me sad that this genre just isn’t that popular anymore. What other IPs are still active in this genre? There’s Tropico, the Anno series, and Settlers (though for some reason, I have trouble getting into Settlers as much as the other two)… are there any others that I’m missing?
More of the same? Sold! Now where to preorder from…
Green Man Gaming, where you can get it for $27 with this code: 20PEC-TWEET-SAVER
Out today! Nobody’s talking about this? Buncha heathens, all of you. My review is up at the usual place if you want my take.
Where’s the usual place?
Tropico, of course.
El Presidente is writing his own reviews? Unpossible!
I write for Game Informer. Link to the review, since you asked. I don’t like to go dropping links to my own stuff around the forum, since I’m not here to advertise and don’t want to come off that way.
Stop advertising your work.
Thanks for the review. Unfortunately, my wishlist was “Tropico 3 with the humor and music of the first Tropico.” It sounds like I’ll skip this one.
:*(
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Yeah, it’s a lot more “Tropico 3 with a bunch of fixes and new awesome shit.” Which is pretty much what I wanted, so I’m not complaining.