Anyone know anything about the criminals in the game?

I was playing the demo & a few of my citizens turned into criminals. I got an onscreen message when it happened. They literally change jobs from whatever they were before to "criminal."

They walk around your island & you can still click on them & see all their info & everything. They arent mentioned anywhere in the campaign mission or the tutorials tho so I really dont know anything else about them. I shot one & threw a couple more in jail. I guess if you let them run around freely they just increase crime on your island?

I actually think its a neat concept that they put into the game if it works the way I'm thinking it does. I guess maybe they turn into criminals before they go full on rebel or something. This actually makes the Off to Florida edict worth using now. Because Im assuming once they go criminal they will never go back to being a regular citizen so you either have to keep your prisons full with them or ship 'em off to Florida. :-)

It's one of the many small things we added that don't make for a great bullet point feature on the box but we think Tropico fans will enjoy.

(10-08-2011 09:44 AM)Timo Wrote:  It's one of the many small things we added that don't make for a great bullet point feature on the box but we think Tropico fans will enjoy.

Hahhaha yea I guess you are right. I cant really see that as a bullet feature on the box:

- Criminals now run free on your island!!



But I, as a longtime Tropico player, do find it to be a nice touch. It definitely makes it easier to justify building a prison. In Tropico 3 it was just a place to put your political dissidents if you were trying to roleplay an iron-fisted dictator. Now even if you are playing nice you can build a prison to lock the criminals up in.

And if you are playing mean I guess you can just kill the criminals or use your secret police to bump them off.

Any other information on how the criminals work? Or will we have to wait til the manual is released?

I feel that the demo is good. But would it not be better if the Police arrested criminals automatically on sight? I feel I do the job of the police.

Would be great if they could. I think the firemen extinguish flames automatically why not make the police arrest automatically when they see criminals?

(10-08-2011 01:21 PM)Snotrus Wrote:  Would be great if they could. I think the firemen extinguish flames automatically why not make the police arrest automatically when they see criminals?

I think they do, depending on their training and job skill, of course.

I think someone of my criminals got stuck in jail without me even doing anything.

So whats the downside to having criminals?

The upside is free labor.

(10-08-2011 02:39 PM)Snotrus Wrote:  The upside is free labor.

lol Very true. I'm guessing that it would be possible to 'reform' them so that they can be let back into society. That way you won't have to ship to Florida and damage your relations with the US as often.

(10-08-2011 03:50 PM)Club Tropicana Wrote:  

(10-08-2011 02:39 PM)Snotrus Wrote:  The upside is free labor.

lol Very true. I'm guessing that it would be possible to 'reform' them so that they can be let back into society. That way you won't have to ship to Florida and damage your relations with the US as often.

I'm interested to find out if that works or not. I'll try throwing one in jail tonight & see if they are still a criminal when they finally get released. My guess is that once they are a criminal they will always be a criminal, but maybe they can be reformed.

I presume they will piss off tourists a lot with their swindling and reducing the quality of certain structures since they are going around ruining the lives of people.

That said, now prisons are required to keep them in check and reform will ensure they stay out of trouble.

(12-08-2011 04:00 AM)gyrobot Wrote:  That said, now prisons are required to keep them in check and reform will ensure they stay out of trouble.

I went back to playing Absolute Power so I didnt get to test the reform thing out in the T4 demo tonight. Anyone try it yet? I'm still not convinced that they can be reformed....

lol, I just saw a doctor get robed by a criminal. Does this have any direct effect on the doctor?

I hope the abstract 'crime' effect (from Tenements etc.) influences appearance of criminals somehow, or it will be odd to have 2 unrelated manifestations of criminal element.

On the other hand I wouldn't want good placement of police stations to entirely stop criminals appearing. Having interesting game elements that don't appear once you get better at the game is dissapointing.

For example rebels attacking in T3; I really enjoyed these incidents when I first started playing but they don't seem to occur now that I have a clue as to meeting citizen/faction needs. And I don't feel that intentionally playing badly to see an attack would be enjoyable.

---

Oh and thought this was funny, this is one cool criminal (note the 'arrest warrant' floating over his head).

(12-08-2011 12:07 PM)Tacit_Exit Wrote:  I hope the abstract 'crime' effect (from Tenements etc.) influences appearance of criminals somehow, or it will be odd to have 2 unrelated manifestations of criminal element.

On the other hand I wouldn't want good placement of police stations to entirely stop criminals appearing. Having interesting game elements that don't appear once you get better at the game is dissapointing.

For example rebels attacking in T3; I really enjoyed these incidents when I first started playing but they don't seem to occur now that I have a clue as to meeting citizen/faction needs. And I don't feel that intentionally playing badly to see an attack would be enjoyable.

---

Oh and thought this was funny, this is one cool criminal (note the 'arrest warrant' floating over his head).

There are some scenerios in T3 where those rebel attacks are scripted, but you are right in that if you keep a high enough happiness rating you should be rebellion attack free. I guess it depends on the scenerio, I'm sure each one has its own hidden "difficulty sliders" like the sandbox allows you to adjust.

I love these added criminals. This finally gives the Prison a purpose!

I'm not too sure about reforming them either, but I definitely enjoyed hunting them down, locking them up and using their convict labour.

Locking them up is pretty easy though: ALMANAC -> LISTS -> PEOPLE: JOBS -> CRIMINALS -> (select individual criminals & throw on the cuffs!)

Can anybody confirm if they come out of Prison reformed if you have that as your set policy?

I played through the demo again today & threw all my criminals in my prison set to re-educate.

I had one in there for several years (around 7-8 yrs) & they were never even released from prison, much less reformed. The game ended & they were still in prison.

Another thing I would like to see maybe patched into the game would be the ability to let people out of prison anytime you want by right clicking them. If El Presidente is all powerful why cant he commute sentences as well as putting people there in the first place? I dont understand why this was never implemented in 3, nor why it isnt in 4?

Can anyone think of a useful reason why we cant let prisoners out once they are in prison?

I have studied the Prison building and there is about 18-24 cells. (Many windows and building is large) So why do it only have space for 8 people? Instead of having to build 3 prisons why not increase its capacity and workers to 6?

(13-08-2011 03:18 PM)Snotrus Wrote:  I have studied the Prison building and there is about 18-24 cells. (Many windows and building is large) So why do it only have space for 8 people? Instead of having to build 3 prisons why not increase its capacity and workers to 6?

I'm in total agreement here. The prison could stand to be a little bigger. It looks like a pretty big building & takes up a lot of real estate so I dont see why it cant hold more people.

Or at the very least they should make it so that you can issue the Off to Florida edict as many times as you want. Right now it looks like it only let me issue it once. Then my prison got full again & I had to either let the criminals run free or build more prisons. Or as I said before let us commute sentences to at least swap out prisoners.

Timo was right tho, I did see one policeman who had pretty decent skill capture a criminal on his own & take her to prison. I didnt have to click the little handcuffs.

So if you dont build a prison, what do the police do? Would they just automatically shoot criminals or just ignore them? In the demo i only noticed one person become a criminal, and never thought to observe them. Also, I had 2 police stations as i had two small towns spaced apart. This made the all the 'high crime' zones vanish completley, does that mean no one will become a criminal?

I'm not sure. I also am wondering what makes people become criminals.

Is it just because they live/work in a high crime area? Or is it something that they do instead of turning into a rebel? Maybe its like one step down from becoming a rebel?

Its cheaper to just eliminate the criminals.
Pft, like Im going to waste any more money then I have too on the lazy weasels.
Get a job or get a grave.

(14-08-2011 05:56 PM)rj66 Wrote:  Its cheaper to just eliminate the criminals.
Pft, like Im going to waste any more money then I have too on the lazy weasels.
Get a job or get a grave.

Are people more like to turn rebel when you kill criminals? Or does the game treat them differently when you kill them?

(14-08-2011 07:12 PM)ArmaDeFuego Wrote:  Are people more like to turn rebel when you kill criminals? Or does the game treat them differently when you kill them?

I was wondering something similar, but about arresting them, not shooting them. In a game i just played i wanted to experiment with the criminals a little more. Which lead me to question when you select a criminal to issue an arrest order, do their family members still lose respect for El Presidente?? Ordinary citizens would as thats what it says when you hover over the option, but does it still count for criminals? and should we just let the police take care of them??

Policemen only arrest criminals if they catch them actually committing a crime (and even then some criminals may escape). These arrests will not have any negative repercussions.

If you arrest them manually, however, there will be the normal consequences for an arrest since you only arrested them because of who they are

(15-08-2011 09:55 AM)Lyubo_Haemimont Wrote:  Policemen only arrest criminals if they catch them actually committing a crime (and even then some criminals may escape). These arrests will not have any negative repercussions.

If you arrest them manually, however, there will be the normal consequences for an arrest since you only arrested them because of who they are

Haha, fair point. It would seem its more in-depth than i expected. i assumed the criminals would be picked up randomly. Didn't expect them to be actually commiting crimes etc. Sounds pretty awesome, thanks for clearing that up

(12-08-2011 10:15 AM)Kobo Wrote:  lol, I just saw a doctor get robed by a criminal. Does this have any direct effect on the doctor?

He became richer by a negative amount

Oh, i just remembered another question. I'm just wondering whether people in prison are supposed to keep their homes? I suppose it makes sense really but i noticed that the four or five people i threw in jail had made a small bundle of shacks for them to live in, despite being locked up.

I wonder, do the criminal ever kill anyone? That would give the criminal element even more impact, as well as the importance for police.

I read in another thread that Tropicans become Criminals based on mainly unemployment and poor housing.

I support a slightly larger prison too, with the ability to reform Criminals as well as commute their sentences or even just have them released after a set period of time.

I guess life in Tropico is pretty tough when even the pettiest crime leads to a life sentence! Haha

(15-08-2011 05:38 PM)Maximo Wrote:  I read in another thread that Tropicans become Criminals based on mainly unemployment and poor housing.

I support a slightly larger prison too, with the ability to reform Criminals as well as commute their sentences or even just have them released after a set period of time.

I guess life in Tropico is pretty tough when even the pettiest crime leads to a life sentence! Haha

Reforming criminals is laughable. It is a career choose. They are going to chat with their family, neighbors and bend the wills of youth toward supporting their ideals. Oh yeah, them criminals move up into better housing as their "income" increases, which Im fairly confident increases with their new found job skills. Instead of the random act out of desperation that you'll get coming from poorer neighborhoods; criminals are a mobile force that actively take crime to the upper class neighborhoods as they take up residence there.

What on Tropico makes you think you can reform them back into sheepish citizens?

Go ahead and prove me wrong by building prison after prison and waiting for the cops to happenstance onto a fresh crime scene or waste your funds on arrestring them.
Better to prevent criminals in the first place and if failing that elimnating them is the cheaper option.