[ALL] Tropico 5

[christguz]

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The next installment in the city-building simulator Tropico 5 is coming to the PlayStation 4, publisher Kalypso Media confirmed in a press release.

Developed by Haemimont Studios, Tropico 5 will be the first in the series to release on a Sony platform, and "will take full advantage of the unique features of the PlayStation 4," Kalypso said.

"We are delighted to be able to work with Sony to bring Tropico 5 to PlayStation 4 and enter the next generation market.” Kalypso Media Managing Director Andrew Johnson said. “The PlayStation 4 version of Tropico 5 will expand the Tropico brand to the new generation hardware and to a new generation of gamers."

In addition to advanced trading mechanics, scientific research trees, and island exploration, Tropico 5 will also be the first game in the series to include cooperative and competitive multiplayer for up to four players.

The game puts you in the role of El Presidente, the dictator of a fictional banana republic named Tropico. It plays much like other construction and management sims, but allows you to rule with an iron fist by committing electoral fraud, instating martial law, and other corrupt activities.

Tropico 5 had already been announced for PC and Xbox 360, but not Xbox One. It's set to release this year.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/tropico-5-announced-for-ps4/1100-6417462/

[Guest]

A series I've wanted to try, so I'm definitely interested. Is the fourth worth getting at this point?

[Price]

You can get 4 for like $3 during a Steam Sale. Might as well try it for that price. Should be able to run on most PCs.

[1ke]

I found the series pretty damn fun once I got the hang of things. Delighted with this news, cuz I'm already leaning towards a ps4

[christguz]

Upgrades to Expect

To gather together a portion of whatever remains of the progressions, here’s a run-down of a percentage of the other stuff we were told about: El Presidente isn’t set to be an oddly age-less despot any longer. He will develop old, and he will kick the bucket.With fortunes, you’ll have seen sense to take a wife and have youngsters by them, and your kids will assume control from you. Envision Ck2, only set in a Caribbean banana republic, and you get the thought. You can likewise give significant government positions to relatives, when you wish.

Exchange has likewise been redone, as in you can have more dynamic impact in it. You’ll have your own particular exchange armadas, and you’ll need to give careful consideration to what everything is worth. Micro-administration of your distinct edifices and businesses has been streamlined a touch, and you can enlist “directors” to do a great deal of the work for you. There’s additionally set to be multiplayer in the amusement – intensely and cooperatively, with up to four players on the same island, and that is also the new research framework, which we envision ties into the game’s progression.

http://pressandupdate.com/featuring-the-tropico-5-for-ps4-upgrades-to-expect/

[padman59]

I'd be happy with a lot more diversity in their island designs. Rotating through the same handful of island layouts in 4's campaign was the only thing I really disliked about that game.

[christguz]

Tropico 5 Goes Time-Traveling

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For its fifth installment, Tropico is moving into the fourth dimension. Time is the most distinctive new part of Tropico 5, as now it moves through four different eras, from colonial to modern. By integrating its different time periods into multiple aspects of gameplay, Tropico 5 may be a far more dynamic experience than the conventional city-building offering. If developers Haemimont Games can pull it off, that's potentially exciting news both for the Tropico series and the city-builder genre.

I found two aspects of the era system extremely attractive. First, it's visually compelling. The different eras are represented by different architecture for the various buildings. So, as producer/designer Bisser Dyankov showed me around his modern era city, I could see the multi-colored “Cold War” era apartments and compare them colonial mansions or modern skyscrapers. The graphical engine has been revamped, so the buildings also look better than they did in previous Tropicos, but even if they didn't, the idea of different styles appeals. Just seeing where I'd have expanded over the course of a playthrough indicates that Tropico is recording an architectural history of my playthrough, which appeals greatly to the history nerd inside me.


Second, the different eras lead to dramatically different strategic decisions. I may like having the architectural record of my city, but what happens when it's more convenient to bulldoze those to construct more efficient new buildings? That's merely a mental choice, but Dyankov described a goal of having “organic growth and continuity” in which “a solution will only work for a limited time.” He described how the economy would change when moving through eras, where industries that made money in the colonial era might be superseded by later developments, like factories unavailable in the early eras producing goods later, or the importance of uranium in the Cold War era.

I can see the demand that I find new cash crops and economic systems reframing how I viewed each new scenario in Tropico 5, forcing me to view my city and island from a different perspective. One of the biggest problems I had with Tropico 4 was that, once I figured out the best method of exploiting what needed to be exploited on my island, I'd just do that and let any other problem slide until the timer ran out. That seems like it'll be less effective in Tropico 5. That's partially due to the eras alone, but also due to the philosophical focus on making the “sandbox mode” more important in Tropico 5. I played the fourth game's campaign scenarios and ignored the sandbox mode almost entirely, so I'll be interested to see if Tropico 5's eras help motivate me to just start a random new city.


A few other aspects of the era system seemed like they might add strategic depth. You can only progress to a different time period by completing a major mission. The only one discussed in detail during my demo was the mission to complete the colonial era by declaring independence. The core gameplay tension was that, playing as the colonial governor of an island, you had to maintain your position with the homeland by fulfilling a colonial mandate (via quests). Succeeding granted more time as governor, but in order to succeed you also had to take actions that might lower your population's revolutionary tendencies. At every point in the demo, Dyankov sounded like he and the team were designing the game in ways that didn't just sound historical or complex, but also made player choices more interesting and layered.

That's not the only area where Tropico 5 is changing from its previous incarnations. Although the developer and publisher were proud of Tropico 4, when they met with me they both indicated that they understood and acknowledged its reputation as not being very different from Tropico 3. Thus they wanted to do many things differently for the fifth iteration. The eras are part of that, but they're not the only components new to this title.
One of the big new developments is a much more robust military system. Whenever pirates or foreign powers attack, you'll have some basic tactical choices about which areas of your island to focus defenses and attacks on. This is combined with an exploration system, where you send troops out to see new parts of the island, which may also leave your holdings undefended. The developers stressed that they didn't want to turn Tropico into an RTS where combat tactics would win matches, but they did want to increase player control and complexity of battles.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/24/tropico-5-goes-time-traveling

[christguz]

Tropico 5 Gameplay Trailer 1

[Swarley]

Has anyone played this on PC yet?

[Guest]

I heard some favorable reviews, but I still have plenty of stuff I need to play before purchasing another game. I still have a lot to play around with on Civ V as well.