I like this game, but hard to understand in the beginning because the lack of tutorials.

1: Where is the timeline editor? I see it in the manual and it is promoted on the cover.

2: I can't seem to visit others islands, even through the highscore list/leaderboards.

3: Shacks are popping up everywhere and I have enough housing and free spaces in it, and they all have work, but they won't move in.

4: What can I do against pollution?

5: Some people keep complaining about stuff like faith/fun, but I have places where they can go and the buildings are not full and all workspaces are filled but they won't go there even when it is close. What can I do about it?

6(just like 5): My soldiers turn against me, because of their needs but they live in my army base and there are buildings where they can go to satisfy their needs but they won't go.

7: What is a good building order to start. Like how many farms, logging camps/clinic and churches.

8: I also find it hard to understand what capitalists/nationalists and other factions are and how to meet their requirements.

9: People keep protesting but when I look at 'thoughts' it all says satisfying ***, but their happiness is still low and there are no complaints in their 'thoughts'

3. As long as they can afford it, try demolishing the shacks.
4. Issue an edict, upgrade factories. Decorations don't seem to have much impact. Try and keep your polluting buildings away from your other stuff.
5. I had that problem on my very first game but doesn't seem to happen now. As long as they live close or have a couple of garages to use, they should go.
6. Up their pay.
7. I would change one of the farms to something like tobacco, then depending on cash something like mine/logging camp, garage, ranch, tenement ....
9. Just make them happier, better housing, better education, better entertainment, better pay.

P.S. I'm no expert, just my opinion

Thanks for your answers to some of my questions, it helped.
But now I came up with another question.

With the Farm you can choose which product, but how can you see how much profit you get with each product? Same question with mining.

(01-12-2009 12:39 PM)NoFearz Wrote:  Thanks for your answers to some of my questions, it helped.
But now I came up with another question.

With the Farm you can choose which product, but how can you see how much profit you get with each product? Same question with mining.

Tap RB and you'll see the financial info, including exports.

I don't have the 360 version, so I am not sure how relevant this is, but here are some tips for the PC version:

Make sure you build Garages. I usually build one for the town center first, then one at the dock, and if I have mines or housing at a remote location, I build one there too. They might not be moving in because it is too far to walk home from work.

Make sure your housing and entertainment venues are priced low enough for your Tropicans to afford. Housing must be 1/3 of the income of the individual or married couple. You can put the price of entertainment at the same price of the wage. So, if you want everyone to be able to go to the Archeological Museum, for example, you would need to bring the price down to the lowest wage.

This is usually my starting strategy:
No Education Jobs: $6
High School Jobs: $12
College Jobs: $20

Tenement Rent: $2 (single, uneducated)
Apartment Rent: $4 or $6 (married and/or high school workers/college workers)
House and Condominium Rent: $8 or $10 (Usually by the time I am building these, I've raised the College-level wages to $25 so the condos and houses are for married and/or college-level workers.)

I usually raise the wages and rents as the game progresses. If you issue the Social Security edict, then the elderly, students, and unemployed move in if the rent is low enough. It pays them 2/3 of the average wage when they retire. (Sometimes it seems as if it pays according to their education level. Once, I noticed when I had my Tenements set at $3 (minimum wage $9), the unemployed could not move in, but could at $1.) If there is no Social Security, these groups live in shacks.

I try to keep my rent higher in the beginning to fill housing with married couples rather than single when housing is limited. If I have lots of empty spaces, then I lower it to allow singles to move in.

Pollution: Be sure to apply the "Anti-Litter Ordinance" and "Pollution Standards" Edicts as soon as possible. To further cut down on pollution, I build the pipes addon for the Lumber Mill and I don't add the fan for the Furniture Factory. There really isn't much you can do with the other industrial buildings except to group them near the dock to keep the pollution as localized to one side of the island as possible. Decorations might help too, but I don't use them much.

Military: Make sure their wages are a bit higher than everyone elses. I usually set my soldiers at $18 or $20 and my generals at $25.

Starting Out: Different players have different strategies. This is my strategy for most games: I build one Garage and a Diplomatic Ministry (High Priority for builders). (If you are low on funds, skip the Diplomatic Ministry and invest in mines or cash crops, but try to build it as soon as possible since it allows for Humanitarian Aid, lower housing cost, and raises relations = foreign money and less chance for invasion.) If I have very few educated workers (but at least 1 high school female) and enough cash, I might invest in an immigration office. I look at export prices and check my mining and oil resources and ground quality for different crops. If I have some good iron and bauxite deposits, I start building mines, 2 or 3 per deposit, depending on funds. Mines bring more immediate revenue. With gold mines, I try to hold off and save it until I can build a jewelry factory and have one or two educated workers to work there to get the most bang out of it. I usually keep the corn farms already there growing corn to make sure Tropicans have enough food. I build a few farms (2 or 3 of the same type): pineapple (food and export), tobacco (export only), or coffee bean (export only), often dependent on ground quality for each crop. It is good to keep in mind that Cigar Factories are cheaper to buy than Canneries and Hand-rolled cigars are often priced around the same as freeze-dried coffee. You can diversify as the game progresses. You may want to buy a pub starting off to give them a bit of entertainment while you save up for a clinic and church. (Humanitarian Aid can supplement healthcare if you have no college-level men to start with.) If I have about $500-$1000 left after purchasing some mines and farms, I issue the Social Security edict and Anti-Litter Ordinance.

Don't forget that if you choose Diplomatic as one of your quailties you get the Diplomatic Ministry free. I always choose this. As soon as I start a game I position it and set the build priority to low so that the builders can work on it when they've got nothing better to do.

Questions 1,2 and 8 are still standing

1. ?? Never heard or seen of this feature, although the manual is quite meaty.
2. Not sure this is a feature on the 360.
8. Capitalists and US like lots of cash from exports. Nationalists don't like an open door policy. Religious like churches and cathedrals. Intellectuals like schools and colleges and the intelligent people well looked after. Russians like the poor people well looked after. Miltary like a good army.
This is the way I see it anyway, seems to make sense to me.

No Fearz:

Re your question 1 - I asked the same question, only to be told that it's not present on the 360 version by a member here, though to my knowledge this person is nothing to do with Kalypso. This despite it being advertised on the box and in every media/retail info I've seen for the game.

I can't find any way of accessing it, any information about it whatsoever and am getting quite hacked off. If something is ON THE BOX then it should be in the game.

It'd be nice to have some kind of official word from Kalypso on this, but my guess is fat chance, as I've not seen many responses from Kalypso on these forums.

If anyone *does* know, an answer would be nice - or at least an explanation as to why Kalypso advertise aspects of the game that don't exist.

Anyone? An answer would be nice?

@ Orpheus

You have been there, so prepare for a very cold snap.

(05-12-2009 10:20 PM)CoconutKid Wrote:  @ Orpheus

You have been there, so prepare for a very cold snap.

True, but the OP hasn't, and I'd still like an answer as to why Kalypso advertise parts of their game that don't exist!

EDIT: I get the impression I'm asking some kind of 'inappropriate' question. Maybe PC owners feel superior in some wierd, replacement of childhood inadequacy way to console owners, but the fact of the matter is it says it on the damn box:

'A timeline editor allows you to create your own historical events'

That's from the box art of the XBOX version sitting right in front of me. I think I could be forgiven, given that it's on the box, to expect that the timeline editor be present. If I'd bought Modern Warfare 2 (crap example, I know) and discovered it didn't have any guns in it, I'd be justifiably annoyed. Same applies here - box says something, game does not deliver.

I could moan about the 'random' island generator that only generates square islands while I'm at it, but I find this more annoying - not to mention the unhelpful responses I keep getting. I'm not having a go at anyone, I just want to know how the company justifies advertising aspects of the game that aren't included in the console version on the box art of said console version. An answer, even if it's 'oh, that was an oversight', or 'actually, it is in there, just extremely well hidden' would be fine. Not 'consoles often don't have the editor functions of a pc game' or words to that effect. I know that already - but if it says they're there on the console version, then they should be. End of story.

A sensible, coherent answer would really be appreciated at this point.

I agree, i am a MASSIVE fan of xbox and have one.

And these game developers are giving PC owners more
than console owners.
like Operation flashpoint: Dragon Rising, why didnt they xbox
a map editor! They gave PC a map editor!

They say it has a timeline editor, so it should have
a timeline editor, unless there just trying to
get ca$h out of us...