Tropico 5

[Rezulm]

Just came out a few days ago.  Any one else giving it a go?

The controls are kinda wonky after playing Banished and other games that all use WASD and similar "feel" overall, to each other.

[solarscreen]

Haven't played before but tempted!

[slink]

I looked over the original game when it was published, but wasn't interested in playing at being Cuba.  Since then, it has become a Steam game, and thus even less interesting to me.   

[Demonocracy]

I played Tropico and Tropico 2 (though I didn't care for the second game at all).  It was a fun game, and I'd probably try out Tropico 5 at some point if I wasn't too deep into Banished.  : )

[Kaldir]

I tried to get intested in this game, as it has some interesting gameplay, but I really dislike the tropical dictator atmosphere and I can't play it for more than 15 minutes.

[Rezulm]

I'm also quickly bored, though it has a lot of good points.  It just doesn't keep me interested.  Can't quite put my finger on why.  If you never tried a Tropico game before, get 4 on bargain basement prices ($5 or less).  I think Banished, Gnomoria, and Rimworld have punched Tropico into submission in the current era of games.

[salamander]

I haven't played any of the Tropico's, but I just watched one of the videos.  It looks like Command & Conquer with more city building.  Or, did I not watch enough of the video?

[rkelly17]

I started playing Tropico when the first one came out. You don't have to be Cuba or a dictator; your Presidente is made up from a selections of characteristics and you can choose the option of frequent elections if you want. I took a miss on the pirates one--was that 2?--just stupid. I have played 4 quite a lot but have not looked seriously at 5. At one level it is like Banished with politics and much more trade. You have to sell stuff abroad or create a big tourist industry to survive. You also have to either keep the people happy or repress them badly. I've never tried the latter route, so can't comment on it. You also have to keep both the United States and Soviet Union (it does start in 1950) happy enough with you that they don't invade and depose you. The problem I've had is that the developers seem always to be sorely tempted to "jump the shark" and veer over into the stupid. Sometimes they resist the temptation and sometimes they don't.

[Rezulm]

I haven't played any of the Tropico's, but I just watched one of the videos.  It looks like Command & Conquer with more city building.  Or, did I not watch enough of the video?

Its actually more like SimCity with a tiny bit of conflict/war.

[Rezulm]

I started playing Tropico when the first one came out. You don't have to be Cuba or a dictator; your Presidente is made up from a selections of characteristics and you can choose the option of frequent elections if you want. I took a miss on the pirates one--was that 2?--just stupid. I have played 4 quite a lot but have not looked seriously at 5. At one level it is like Banished with politics and much more trade. You have to sell stuff abroad or create a big tourist industry to survive. You also have to either keep the people happy or repress them badly. I've never tried the latter route, so can't comment on it. You also have to keep both the United States and Soviet Union (it does start in 1950) happy enough with you that they don't invade and depose you. The problem I've had is that the developers seem always to be sorely tempted to "jump the shark" and veer over into the stupid. Sometimes they resist the temptation and sometimes they don't.

And well said rkelly.  Some of the images they have for the "advisors" are just weird too.  And you can't zoom in close enough to your citizens anymore to actually observe them walking around. 

There's lots of good changes in 5 and lots of not so good.  I played I think tropico 1 most.   Then the ones after that had some weirdness.  Tropico 3 and 4 were like expansions.  So didn't play them until they were really cheap.  This one seems like a new and different game, just not sure what to think of it. 

I think if I could just do some simple immersion stuff that is lacking like zoom in just a bit farther when I want to observe the street level stuff....  or camera follow on a particular person (which i enjoyed about banished and past tropicos)... I'd be liking it much more.  Or if the controls were just a bit more normal for this era of gaming....  simple stuff.

[rkelly17]

@Rezulm, the loss of the street level zoom is a serious disappointment. Part of the fun of Tropico 4 was getting down on the street and watching the 50s cars and pedestrians go by. It was also fun to have El Presidente make a speech from the balcony and join the crowd in one of the versions (I forget which one).

A game I would like to see would combine Civilization and Sim City. You build up your empire for awhile, then put that part on hold and build up your capital (or some other) city for awhile. I think the back and forth could be fun, though some serious programming. Or maybe Railroad Tycoon and Sim City.

I'd also like to see a Sim City and Cities in Motion combo. Really that would be Sim City with better public transit options or Cities in Motion with better city-building.

[Boris_amj]

Tropico 3 Gold Edition is on offer on GoG.

Is it worth getting, you reckon ?

Or should I wait for 4 or even 5 (when the price goes down to a non-ripoff level, I mean)

[rkelly17]

Tropico 3 is more like 4 than it is like 1 or 2. I have a vague memory of it being a bit untoward with the graphics card I had at that time (an old AMD before it was AMD), but that might be wrong.

[Rezulm]

#4 was on discount about 3 or 4 weeks ago so not sure when it'll come around again.  It was like $5 I think. 

Its too bad because I got a free copy of 4 when I bought 5, but already gave it away to a friend who probably won't play it much. (cause I already own a copy)  If I'd known at the time that you were trying to get it...  dang.

[nmid]

Necro-ing a thread, I guess... Sorry :p

(Copying from my other reply)
Tried Tropico 4 too and I might have liked it if I had played it out a bit with a bit of patience, but I didn't like the slow pace of the start and I didn't like the UI of the game.... Played 30 mins and quit it.
Might try out Tropico 5 instead, but I really need to get myself a decent graphics card before I give up on a lot of these games !!