Dear Tropico-Fans,

please use this thread to get your questions concerning the game out to the developers. We are collecting your questions till wednesday, 29th and forward them directly to Haemimont Games. All answers will be disclosed here.

Thanks and have fun!

First of all, thank you for this great opportunity. Now, onto the question:

In Tropico 1, it was much harder (and thus more fun) to play a ruthless dictator than a benevolent one. Unfortunately, this wasn't reflected by the scores. Will Tropico 3 cater more to those that want to oppress their population (by forcing them to live in shacks, denying them healthcare etc), whether by making it easier to run an oppressive regime or by introducing new scoring goals based on oppressiveness of the player's regime? Personally, I would prefer the latter approach.

I have two questions - will there be a "Sandbox" option available? I am not into playing campaigns - they are too prefabricated for my liking, and, will there be a option that would remove time limits?

I have some questions:
1) Will the political parts of Tropico1 carry over to Tropico3, and be more fleshed out?
2) How will international politics play a role in T3? For example, will the Cold War carry over from Tropico1 to Tropico3? Will there only be the USA and the USSR, or will there be more superpowers you can deal with?
3) Will you be able to invade other countries with an army, or be able defend your country from a Superpower Invasion?

Will there be a MacOS port?

How extensive will the modding tools be?

Are there currently any thoughts on expansions? I realize it's still a little early, but have they been considered?

Going along with Servant Corps's question about fending off invasion, is there any possibility of having interaction (military or otherwise, multiplayer or otherwise) with other islands? How about Central/South American/possibly even African countries? Will El Presidente be able to purchase properties/businesses/stocks in other countries? Will we be able to send our citizens to other countries for higher education? Will foreign dignitaries (aside from the Pope) ever visit our island?

Since music was such a big and impressive part of the game (more than graphics, which is rare), how will this aspect be handled in Tropico 3?

On what date will the game start? Will that date be modifiable? Will the game then continue on until/unless El Presidente dies/skips town/gets booted out of office?

Will there be assassinations in the game? Can El Presidente be assassinated?

Will espionage be a part of the game? Will there be several government agencies (examples from the US: FBI, CIA, NSA, Secret Service, Homeland Security, etc?) How much control will we have over the island's government and law enforcement agencies? What kinds of crimes will take place? How will illegal drugs and other illicit activities be handled? How about corruption?

Will there be a potential for organized crime to either develope on our island, or "move in" from foreign lands?

Can El Presidente get married/have children? If so, will this have a real effect on the game?

Will we be able to "zoom in" on a citizen other than El Presidente, and view the island from their perspective?

What kinds of new industries (aside from the ones already in Tropico 1) will we be seeing in the game? Will there be new things to mine? Different kinds of gems for instance? Maybe "advanced" metals such as titanium, or maybe radioactive metals such as uranium/plutonium/radium that the Superpowers might take a lot of interest in?

Will there be opportunities to create new/different kinds of tourism? eco-tourism for example? Maybe rainforests, or having a coral reef in the area, that could either attract divers and researchers to your island (or that could just be shamelessly exploited)? Maybe caves, such as the ones in Jamaica? Or hot springs, like on the Azores? Or anthropological areas?

Can foreign celebrities visit our island?

Has a lot of thought been given to the kinds of "moral choices" players will need to make as they run their islands? Will this be a fundamental part of the game, with real consequences? It seems as though this has been considered, but more detail on this would be appreciated.

I'm guessing that rebels will remain a part of the game, but with the second Tropico being based around pirates, and with pirates being in the headlines lately, will we be seeing any pirates/terrorists/cults and other militant factions in the game for us to have to deal with?
In other words, will there be any reason to have a military, if our people are content?

How robust can our military become? Will hiring mercenaries from other countries be an option? Can foreign military personnel (and things like landmines) potentially cause problems on our island?

How will foreign aid be handled?

Could there be rare/endangered animals/plants on our islands that we could either protect (possibly increasing tourism/foreign aid), or exploit (for pharmaceuticals or rare trade-goods)?

Working from the assumption that some parts of the development are reasonably firm, at least partly because they follow T1 closely --

Are you ready to publish picture galleries of:

1. People (units, generic name)
2. Buildings (uncategorized but w/ generic name)
3. Animals (units, generic name)
4. Vehicles (units, generic name)
   

For the new/upgraded "stuff" can you tell us about:

1. At least some hints on the new player interface which replaces the "wall"
2. What constitutes a road connection to a building
3. Do all roads come in one "flavor"
   

Thank you most kindly, CoconutKid

Along with CoconutKid's excellent road question, will there be the potential for railroads on the island? Partly, ofcourse, it would depend on the island's scale, but shorter tracks have a lot of uses in mining, for instance.

Also, how about natural disasters? I'm guessing hurricanes, earthquakes, possibly red tides, and volcanic activity. Are these confirmed? Are any others planned?

Could we-for instance-choose to start on a volcanic island, that could perhaps give a boost to agriculture due to the concentration of rich volcanic soil, but that would also put us at risk of an eruption?

For that matter, could an eruption have the potential to actually increase the size of our island? Or maybe create another island off our shore? Such new land might not be arable for a decade or two, but it'd be a nice little compensation for the devastation a volcano could cause.

Will there be a paper manual following the game? I loved the T1 manual, it's half the fun!

Will your civilians still have the needs system and political/faction makeups of the first game?

As far as a paper manual, I love great old-school paper manuals, but I'd personally like to have a virtual version that I can read through the game itself.

The problem with actual paper manuals is that they automatically force publishers to raise the price on the game itself, and on shipping. They also take more time to get printed, and by involving a printer, can affect shipping times, and cause other complications, so as nice as they can be, the smart money is to just digitize them.

A little bit less fun to read that way, I know, but that's partly assuaged by the convenience of having them right there, every time you open the game, and never having to worry about misplacing or damaging them.

It's also a lot easier to have translations of the manual in other languages, when it only exists on the computer, and multiple language-versions can be accessed by the click of a mouse. That seems like it could be really important for Tropico 3.

Not printing them also saves trees, which is a concern.

1. Will there be military tanks?
2. How will unions/organized labor be implemented into the game? Can they be banned from being formed? Are they formed at random, already in existance when a building of a certain type is built, or do they form as a result of poor conditions/pay/etc?
3. What vehicles will be used in the game, and who will be able to use them? (ie personal cars? business cars/trucks? presidential limo? etc)
4. Is diplomacy to be expanded apon?
5. What are the hardware requirements, and will the game run smoothly on older machines?
6. How will elections be handeled? Will there be campaigns? Debates? Political parties? ..and to what depth? If there are political parties, will these replace generalized citizen factions, or be in addition to factions?
7. What role will the superpower nations play in Tropico, beyond them invading if you displease them?
8. When will in-game screen shots be released, of actual gameplay w/screen layout?
9. Is the education system roughly the same as T1, or has it been expanded apon or changed?
10. What types of natural disasters will there be?
11. Is rainfall going to be the same as T1? Will there be changing wind direction(T1 had only 1 direction, varried direction adds realism)? What other effects will weather play, if any?
12. What role will the UN play?
13. Will there be more sandbox/random map options?
14. What new edicts will there be?
15. Will a players chosen backround/rise to power/etc have a greater role in T3?

1) Will we be able to see El Presidente walking round on the island?
I'd love to see him walking around, with private security following him. If he was popular, crowds could follow him and cheer, if unpopular, he could be mocked - police could arrest protesters.

2) Who will succeed El Presidente?
It'd be great if El Presidente had a lifespan just like everyone else. Can we appoint a successor or will El Presidente have a family and rule like the island as an absolute monachary - with his children succeeding him?

3) Will we still be able to customise/name people?
Call me crazy, but I love starting with a blank map - no immigration - and naming all of my citizens and watching my own little world grow. Sure it takes a few decades, but the population does slowly grow through natural causes!

4) Could we seperate politics from El Presidente?
It'd be great if we could have a few political parties that battled it out for elections every few years - elections that were seperate to presidential elections - the outcomes may influence how other nations deal with us etc...

Just some thoughts - can't wait!!

After having struggled to understand the early German language releases, I would very much appreciate if you could provide an English language clarification plus perhaps the current status on these significant changes and/or upgrades to T1.

1. Oil as a New Mineral Resource (on shore AND off shore?) Other Exploitable Minerals?
2. On Map El Presidente
3. El Presidente Character Selection
4. Elaboration of Foreign Relations (On-Island Foreign Counsulates?)
5. Secret Police (Please - men in black suits are not "secret"!)
6. How The Island Begins (Mission Generator for Random Map Creation?)
7. Factions Updated to Parties (Membership in only one? El Presidente's Party? Why does El Presidente allow organized parties?)
8. Organized Labor and Strikes
   

First off, thank god for Tropico 3, in any form.

Secondly, to remain mysteriously vague so that nothing is spoiled before the release:

Will the economy remain entirely command-oriented (a la T1) with the government setting wages, constructing buildings and providing all social services, or will there be any private sector activity at all?

That's a good question, Lou Bega's Hat.

My hope is that we'll have tools to make the economic market as free or as government-controlled as we choose to, with the possibility of trade embargoes (either by our government, or by other governments, against us), and also the presence of a black market, which El Presidente might involve himself in, ignore, or oppose, depending on his/our relation with various criminal factions.

Oil sounds very interesting, CoconutKid, and I hope we get other minerals as well (Natural gas to go along with the oil, ofcourse. Along with gold, bauxite, and iron from Tropico 1, nickel, silver, and alumina are all common in the Caribbean, and would be great to have in the game. Steel is a valuable Caribbean export, so maybe iron could be refined into steel before shipping it out? Gems could also be very nice to occasionally find, especially-or only-if our island is volcanic? Gem-quality coral and shell might also be exported, but not without an environmental cost.).

I have ONE QUESTION:

Can El Presidente be assassinated?

Can you leave out the (lightning) flashes from the game?

That was one of the most annoying things in GA:R for me and I know you're using the GA:R graphic engine for Tropico 3 as well.

I have question about domes of the blue colored church - in South America I've didn't seen, they would build something like that, and only one other building that looks a little bit similarly I could find is a buddhist temple and it wasn't build in South America. Is the blue church a buddhist temple?

1. It is not a church.
2. Here is the real-life reference:
http://www.studylanguages.org/images/sal...bahia2.jpg

Hi, I'd like to start by thanking you for making Tropico 3.
Tropico is still one of my favorite games, I even played it last night!

My questions:
1. Will this Tropico be presented tongue in cheek like the last one? Tropico was great because it was funny. I would be careful of making it too much of a "banana republic simulator" with real life economic models and geopolitical balances of power. While these things are important, I'd like to maintain the fun and funny atmosphere that was so charming about the first tropico. El Presidente has better things to do than negotiate interest rates with the IMF on the next ten year loan....right? While this sounds fun from a nerdy perspective, (I admit, it does sound fun...) please keep it cheeky. Don't be afraid to stereotype characters like you did in the first one. I guess what I'm trying to say is keep it fun and in the spirit of the original. That said...don't be afraid to innovate either!


2. Please tell me that there will be excellent music! I swear I am IN LOVE with the first Tropico soundtrack. I love it and I will always love it until I die! The music truly made you feel like El Presidente and immersed you in the atmosphere. The music truly made this game. Spare no expense!

3. When is it coming out?

Thank you very much for making a sequel to one of my favorite games of all time! You have a very high standard to meet. Just remember to have fun when you make this game. Your enthusiasm and spirit of fun will come out in the final product.

Thanks!

Sorry for missunderstanding. Next time I should search better.. Thank you for answer!
One more else question
Problematic situation in the original Tropico appeared being indebted to the World's Bank. If the same time some twister also destroyed player's docks, it was the end of the game, because player has no other chance to get some money. And if twister didn't, the chances also wasn't great.
My opinion is, that this problematic situation in the new game should be repaired. To make it, I offer to give player possibility, being indebted, to sell, for example, his own tobacco factory, to the World's Bank or some other company. Making it, player will get some part of price of the building and taxes each month - 20% from total income or something like that. He also will not be able to change anything in working process of the factory anymore. Thereto this possibility will better mark the cold war theme and players everlasting choice between States and Soviets, giving possibility to choose as well a liberal model of economics. This kind of possibility will enlarge players chances to create his own unrepeatable concept of ruling the Tropico island - thing, that Tropico always was all about! What do you think?

stereo_tips Wrote:... Problematic situation in the original Tropico appeared being indebted to the World's Bank. If the same time some twister also destroyed player's docks, it was the end of the game, because player has no other chance to get some money. And if twister didn't, the chances also wasn't great. ...

It seems a bit OT to explain the detail of T1 game play; however, I must kindly suggest that what you describe is not really acurate. One of the last patches fixed the 'destruction of the dock' problem with hurricanes.

I suggest that an elaborate fix is not necessary.

Thanks for all the excellent questions so far, I will forward them to Haemimont in the following days and expect to get a reply starting next week.

Unfortunately, there are holidays in Bulgaria from the first to the sixth of May (don't ask - I'm not sure anyone in the world can explain it). After they are over, we will be return the answers.

Lyubo_Haemimont Wrote:there are holidays in Bulgaria from the first to the sixth of May (don't ask - I'm not sure anyone in the world can explain it). After they are over, we will be return the answers.

It must certainly be a calendar thing. You poor folks live in a time warp between the east and west "Christian" churches, plus the Muslum faith. All of them have their own calendars constructed around their own religous days.

Some time or other, one of them (or the secular Communists) were in charge and decreed those days as a holiday due to holyness or just a spring break. Everyone has forgotten the reason, but who cares?

Just so long as you come back to work on the seventh.

I understand about Labor Day (the 1st) and St. George's Day (the 6th), which is also Army Day, but a two day holiday (the 4th & 5th) called Bridge Public Day eludes me.

The idea is that the holidays should not split the working week so they are combined. We will work 2 Saturdays to make up for these two days. It is a silly idea for many different reasons, but there is little we can do about it. Why we do not work on these two days eludes me as well, but it's national policy these days to combine holidays whenever it is possible. According to people in charge it is good for tourism...

Lyubo_Haemimont Wrote:The idea is that the holidays should not split the working week so they are combined. We will work 2 Saturdays to make up for these two days. It is a silly idea for many different reasons, but there is little we can do about it. Why we do not work on these two days eludes me as well, but it's national policy these days to combine holidays whenever it is possible. According to people in charge it is good for tourism...

Ah, bureaucrats doing their thing

Thanks.

I would be interested in the type of vehicles, ships and aircraft available. would the type of vehicles available depend on which superpower el presidente got in bed with ?

Will personal presidential vehicles be available like limmos, helicopters and aircraft ?

It also dawned on me that nearly all dictators seem to like designing their own uniforms. Will el Presidente have the option of of designing is own military uniform complete with loads of gold braid and a chestfull of medals ?

It would be fun to create a uniform to match the persona.