Tourism - Examined Comprehensively

[Coconut Kid]

It seems as if all the "stuff" about Tourism has not been gathered into one thread. Threads on one small issue go wobbling off all over the place and we forget what is in them.

How far did your tourists have to walk from their 'accomodations' to those sites?

Not far, just a few green squares away from most of the attractions. I usually place my hotels about 7-8 squares above the shoreline and build scienic and nature preserve between hotels and marina/beachsites. Entertainment and the other big structures and supports are usually placed about the hotels.

That sounds good. Some players have suggested that ALL attractions should be between the tourist arrival point and the 'accomodations'; but the Marina doesn't fit that well. Here it is well to recall the "construction zone system" of 25 tiles since it is probably general to pathfinding\travel in the game. I conclude that attractions should be within 25 tiles of their intended accommodations in order to a} be easily accessible and b} counted by the Almanac "site score" computation. Also, Tourists do benefit from roads.

Environment Score

You can use most/many of those squares for landscaping to improve the 'beauty' score (I like to use the free plants from the editor). Here is a link for further discussion:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=9134.msg185790#msg185790

Environment score is half pollution, half beauty. Since pollution goes away extremely slowly, if at all, it is best to keep pollution down from the very start. Environment does affect two things of concern however; tourism and housing. Everyone knows about how tourists hate to bathe next to a landfill and all, but I haven't seen much on the boards about how it affects housing. I did a little research and found out that surrounding environment does have a pretty good effect on housing quality. An environment of 50% and housing quality will be at the base. An environment of near 100% and housing quality will increase about 5. I'm guessing that if the environment is around 0, the housing Q will decrease 5. Basically every 10% from 50 you tack on or remove one housing quality point.

Here I need to point out that buildings have radiated effects that may include either pollution or beauty which counteract each other - further, the beauty radiated may a negative figure which probably acts as "pollution". The plants appear to use the beauty radiation, but we don't have the specific measures. The overlays help to understand the effects.

The environment of a hotel site (I don't have a precise definition of the area but I suspect that it is one or two of the 25 tile distance zones in the game.) is one of three items which make up the "Average Site Score"; and the raw score number is multiplied by 1.75 for that purpose.


Although I don't agree with everything in it, another helpful link:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=9134.msg186371#msg186371


Random note: The economic difficulty slider on the initial map "set-up" setting changes the maximum a tourist will pay per attaction, and the target occupancy rate for hotels. That is among other things of course.

More following.

[Coconut Kid]

Now that we have covered beautiful scenery and low pollution which are combined into the Environment Score, let's consider,

Crime Safety.

First, one has to understand a bit of the game mechanics. Almost all 'crime' is an effect which radiates from buildings. It is different for different buildings. Per building type, it varies in intensity and distance. So you don't have to speculate on what it is or how it comes about. It is simply there because buildings are there. It is suspected - but not established - that a few unit avatars such as Unemployed and Rebels also radiate small zones of crime as they move about.

The Tourist units (and Tropican citizens too) "sense" this criminal effect and have their happiness reduced.

To counter the crime effect, it is necessary to build buildings which radiate "Police Presence." After the Palace, the most effective of these is the Police Station with a 'zone' of 15 tiles. The 'Strategy Guide' suggests a ratio of one Police Station to four Hotels. The building must be fully staffed for a full effect. In addition to the building effect, the Policemen patrol an area (we don't know how large) around it where they radiate a 'personal police presence' effect. They do that only while they are "on duty" rather than sleeping or pursuing their other needs, so you will wish to have them living nearby.

Personally, I think it is quite a trick to cover the area of four hotels plus the area of their attractions (all having a crime effect) with only one Police Station. But some are needed, and perhaps they are best used near the most crime ridden attractions: Cabaret, Night Club, Casino, Pub, Sports Complex, & Marina.

It probably is not good to use the army buildings or the prison to get more 'Police Presence' in the tourist area. However, they do work in the "citizen's area." You may have to have a few Guard Stations around the tourist area if you have a "Rebel" problem.

[Coconut Kid]

There are three pages in the Economy Section of the Almanac which provide a lot of information on your tourist industry. You use the links to get to the second & third. They are updated annually, and show the year of the data.

Third Page is base information:

~ Tourism Hotel Sites ~
> Environment (Score x 1.75)
> Crime Safety (Crime Score adjusted by Police Presence)
> Tourist Attractions¹
(Including those in the 'Entertainment' group
when placed in proximity to a hotel)

} Global tourism adjustments
> US Relationship Adjustment
> Political Stability Adjustment
> Your Character
> Miscellaneous Adjustments
>> Total Global Adjustments

} Average Site Score

¹: This is the average of all attraction scores. Unfortunately, what attractions are included has not been defined, nor do we know if the average may be weighted for distance from accommodations. I opine that there is a distance relationship for attractions from an accommodation and it is based on a system like the "construction priority zones" of 25 tiles. Besides, it is best not to waste the Tourist's time with walking just to satisfy some esthetic or theoretical placement of buildings.

The manual seems to indicate that as a tourist visits an attraction, that counts as a 'hit' or 'score' assigned for the computation.
Each of those scores is based on:

• The base 'entertainment' value of the building
• An adjustment up (or down) based on the options setting different from the default
• An adjustment up as the building employee(s) gain in skill
• An adjustment down if a skilled employee is replaced with one new to the occupation
• An adjustment up or down based on the tourist's preferences (repeat visits are not good)

Minimum number of attractions per hotel recommended:

• Luxury = 5
• Regular = 4
• Cheap = 3

We can discuss which ones in another post. However, going above these numbers should be a matter of careful consideration or else one risks creating some real money loosers. If an attraction is not patronized, it's a double hit - no income & no score for the average.

[Coconut Kid]

The second page is important rating information:

~Tourism Rating ~
> Raw Hotel Quality¹
> Average Site Score (From Third Page)
> Site Impact on Raw Hotel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Trailing Tourism Rating
> Projected Tourism Rating
> Combined Tourism Rating

¹: Hotel Base Quality as adjusted by average skill of employees.

• Cheap Hotel = 65
• Hotel (& Bungalow) = 75
• Luxury Hotel (& Tourist Condominum) = 85
• Beach Villa = 90 (May be built anywhere)

.
Bungalows, Condos, and Villas probably should be grouped for efficiency. Possibly one design of the "tourist pod" could be one (or two) target\expensive attractions surrounded by these accommodations.

A couple more Almanac pages, and then we'll go into the attractions.

[Coconut Kid]

... A couple more Almanac pages, and then we'll go into the attractions.

I've talked about the Almanac pages, but in reverse order. I should have started with a description from the beginning on how to open the pages. Clicking on the Economy Tab of the Almanac opens a page with a list of income and expense items. In that list is an item, "Tourism & Entert." which is a link (the manual says Hyperlinks) -- Any item in the Almanac that is written in yellow text is really also a link to more detailed information about that item. This link takes you to the first page on 'Tourism'.

# of Tourists (for year reported)
Tourism Rating (link - second page)
Spending Per Tourist (average?)
Tourism Revenue (line 1 x line 3 or
actual accumulated?)
Dock/Airport Fees
Banking Fees
Local Entertainment (accurate?)
Wages (negative)
Maintenance (building, negative)
TOTAL (which carries over to previous page)

On the second page, Tourism Rating, the link to the third page is Average Site Score.
It appears to me that these three Almanac pages were conceptualized as if the player had only one hotel (tourist accommodation) with all the attractions clustered close to it. It would be quite a chore to deconstruct what happens when the player has placed a half-dozen accommodations spread over a large area. I speculate the figures then are averages of all the applicable tourist buildings.
Dock/Airport Fees (I suspect that these fees barely cover the overhead of the buildings needed.)

The Dock is useful for Slob and mid-range spending Tourists.¹ Docks should be set for either freight or tourists as soon as a second one can be built if you are going for any tourists. It is unclear if a tourist only Dock requires one or no employee. However, it should never have more than one; whether he is present makes no difference.

The Airport serves only two purposes: 1} brings the better class tourists¹, and 2} unlocks the 'Trade Delegation' Edicts. If you build the Airport only for the 'Trade Delegations', do not staff it.

For both the Dock and the Airport, tourists will not come unless there is a staffed accommodation available.
¹: Although the Strategy Guide discusses three classes of tourists, the avatars do not represent such a clear distinction. There are actually only two classes of tourists with noteable variations in the amount of money each class has to spend.

There are two subsets of slob or cheap tourists: 1} the normal 'cheapskates' who come by boat and can get the business going early; and 2} the 'spring-breakers' who come by air coach and wish to drink, relax, and debauch.

There are two subsets of weathy tourists: 1} the normal upper class who prefer air travel, but may come by boat if they have a very restricted budget; and 2} the 'eco-tourist' who are the socially sensitive upper class who want to see the sights.

A little 'micro-management' can make money off any of these four groups. I have never seen anyone discuss it, but I suspect that there is a fairly direct correlation between the amount spent on the accomodation and the amount available for attractions. (It's a programming notion of mine.)

 

[Coconut Kid]

Let's be sure about the Airport. I think it's not true that the rich tourists - especially the Eco-Tourists - will not come by Yachts. I think they will come by yacht; but if given a choice between the yacht and the airplane, they will choose the airplane -- and you will make more money off of the fees. Of course, you will need it to pay for the engineers to run the airport. If you already have an Airport, you can probably also attract a few more "Springbreakers."

When you use the "Info Mode" and the ground overlay about tourism, there are three levels. The first and least critical shows a yacht, the next most critical shows a small airplane, and the most critical shows a large airplane. Those are the 'built-in' clues.

There are two subsets of weathy tourists: 1} the normal upper class who prefer air travel, but may come by boat if they have a very restricted budget; and 2} the 'eco-tourist' who are the socially sensitive upper class who want to see the sights.

That should be expanded to make clear that those 'sub-sets' are avatars. It would be more accurate to say that those sub-sets are also roughly divided into half, probably, based on the individual tourist's maximum spending per attraction (which tops out at $50).

I think that you can build a very profitable (even when using the "hotel bug-fix") tourist business without an airport. Indeed, the airport is very contra to environmental conditions desired by the highest class tourists. That is, the airport is even more polluting and ugly than the electric power plant. It has some counterbalance for tourists, but your citizens will see it for what it is -- an ugly place which does nothing for their on-island experience.

[Coconut Kid]

Let's get the dual use of some buildings by Tropican citizens and tourists covered first. Not all buildings recognized by Tourists as attractions are available to Citizens to satisfy their entertainment need. However, you may find a conflict between tourists and citizens develop over some of them. Buildings you intend for citizens for some reason start attracting tourists to walk long distances to them, crowding out your citizens. Probably manipulation of the bldg.dat file could eliminate this overlap.

Tropican citizens have a need for Entertainment which falls in five categories:

• bordello
• drinking
• eating out
• gambling
• sports event

Only drinking and eating out have two different buildings available to citizens. When the 'faithful assistant' prompts you to consider some entertainment in addition to the cheap Pub, you have only a few practical additions to choose from.

Frankly, I can't explain why citizens visit the four buildings added by PI which are available to them because the buildings are not coded to fit their desires. So in the meanwhile, four options not related to the standard "desires" codes are added for citizens.

Dealing with citizen only Entertainment is a topic of its own. In dealing with Tourists, it is necessary to remember that there can be confusion between the terms "entertainment" and "attractions."

[Coconut Kid]

Tourist Attractions !

They come in nine types:

• Banking
  • Bank
• Bordello - dual
  • Cabaret
• Drinking - dual
  • Pub
  • Night Club
• Eating Out - dual
  • Restaurant
  • Gourmet Restaurant
• Gambling - dual
  • Casino
• Relaxation
  • Beach Site
  • Mini Golf
  • Movie Theater*
  • Pool
  • Spa
• Shopping
  • Duty Free Shop
  • Souvenir Shop
• Sightseeing
  • Archeological Site
  • Colonial Fort Artifact Dig
  • Colonial Fort Museum*
  • Conservatory*
  • El Presidente's Childhood Home*
  • Marina
  • Nature Preserve
  • Scenic Outlook
• Sporting Event - dual
  • Sports Complex
  • Tennis Court

.
Each tourist has a list of personal preferences for three of these types. They will rate their visit higher by the number of preferred types they have available to visit. One suspects that if they have relaxation high on their list (spring breakers); or sightseeing high on their list (eco-tourists) -- different buildings of that type may be more acceptable. However, the first priority is to maximize the number of 'types' available.

Again, I have to mention that BreakAway's logic in the four buildings made available to citizens, but not related to their desire codes, is hard to understand. The Movie Theater is especially difficult to understand as a tourist attraction.

As mentioned above, each hotel (or cluster of other accomodations) needs a minimum number of attractions. The minimum number should be considered essential for a "start-up" operation; but then assessment of your clients will indicate additional types to add. Possibly further study will indicate a maximum.

Let's start with a "Cheap Hotel" and propose a 'menu' of tourist only attractions, and a 'menu' of attractions where the 'slobs' will compete with citizens for space.

Cheap Hotel, associated exclusive attractions:

• Beach Site
• Scenic Outlook
• Souvenir Shop
  • If properly sited (probably near Port), it will justify one employee for T-shirt sales.
• Tennis Court
  • There is a pent-up desire for sporting events.

Where competition berween tourists & citizens may develop:

• Pub
  • You really need to provide at least a second one.
• Restaurant
  • If this is your first, expect citizens to show up.
• Cabaret
  • If you have one for ciitizens (army?), expect some tourists to show up.

.
Those are seven 'cost effective' attractions for the 20 tourists who fit in a 'cheap' hotel. You can start with three of them -- some shared with citizens. You have to learn about their preferences and how much money they will spend. Then you can decide whether or not to add a couple more to get more money from them.

 

[Coconut Kid]

Tourist Attractions ranked by Entertainment Quality.

• 35: Pub @ default (No Dress Code)
  • 40 @ Upscale Dress Code (also increases maintenance cost)
• 35: Souvenir Shop @ default (T-shirts)
  • 40 @ Arts and Crafts
• 40: Restaurant @ default (Cloth Napkins)
  • 35 @ Paper Placemats
  • 45 @ Linen Tablecloths
• 40: El Presidente's Childhood Home
  • NOT intended for Tourist use.
• 45: Colonial Fort Artifact Dig @ default (Display Room)
  • 50 @ Private Artifact Auction
• 45: Movie Theater
  • NOT intended for Tourist use.
• 50: Scenic Outlook @ default (Mineographed Handout)
  • 55 @ 4-Color Brochure
• 50: Beach Site @ default (No Dress Code)
  • 55 @ Upscale Dress Code
• 50: Conservatory @ default (Mimeographed Handout)
  • 55 @ 4-Color Brochure
• 55: Duty Free Shop @ default (Legal-Limit Sales)
  • 60 @ Unlimited Sales
• 55: Miniature Golf @ default (No Dress Code)
  • 60 @ Upscale Dress Code
• 55: Casino @ default (Black Jack)
  • 50 @ Nickel Slot Machines
  • 60 @ Baccarat
• 55: Colonial Fort Museum @ default (Mimeographed Handout)
  • 60 @ 4-Color Brochure
• 60: Nature Preserve @ default (Mineographed Handout)
  • 65 @ 4-Color Brochure
• 60: Pool @ default (No Dress Code)
  • 65 @ Upscale Dress Code
• 60: Cabaret @ default (No Dress Code)
  • 65 @ Upscale Dress Code  
• 60: Sports Complex @ default (No Booze Allowed)
  • 65 @ Drunk and Disorderly
• 70: Archeological Site @ default (Mimeographed Handout)
  • 75 @ 4-Color Brochure
• 70: Night Club @ default (No Dress Code)
  • 75 @ Upscale Dress Code
• 75: Tennis Court @ default (No Dress Code)
  • 80 @ Upscale Dress Code
• 80: Marina @ default (Boat Tours)
  • 85 @ Charter Fishing
• 80: Gourmet Restaurant @ default (Cloth Napkins)
  • 75 @ Paper Placemats
  • 85 @ Linen Tablecloths
• 90: Spa @ default (No Dress Code)
  • 95 @ Upscale Dress Code

The maintenance costs fluctuate with the options in all usual cases.
.
Recent information indicates that the options lock some people out according to social class (education level) with Slob Tourists = Uneducated and Snob Tourists = College.
With exceptions, the higher of two level options lock out the Uneducated Citizens and the Slob Tourists. With three level options, the highest level locks out all except College Citizens and probably all but the Snob Tourists; but the effect of the middle level is unclear for Tourists, while it locks out only Uneducated Citizens.
Of course, the initial cost / footprint / time for construction / and salaries + maintenance must also be considerations. But the player should have no illusions about the importance of the base Entertainment Quality of these buildings. If you are going after the rich tourists with luxury hotels and you don't provide a Spa, why are you in the business?

Check out this link:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=210.0

[Coconut Kid]

¹: Hotel Base Quality as adjusted by skill of employees. ...

• Cheap Hotel = 65
• Hotel (& Bungalow) = 75
• Luxury Hotel (& Tourist Condominum) = 85
• Beach Villa = 90 (May be built anywhere)

I'm really sorry, but I do not recall where I got those figures.

I find that the bldg.dat file "spread sheet" gives a rather different set:

• Cheap Hotel = 30
• Hotel = 50
• Bungalow = 60
• Luxury Hotel = 75
• Condominium (Tourist) = 85
• Beach (anywhere) Villa = 100

.
I'm also sorry that the Bank didn't make the Entertainment Quality listing. It has an Entertainment Quality of 60 which is unaffected by the options -- since an option makes it available to tourists, and the others have to do with the operation of the national treasury. In any case it probably isn't a good bet for the Slob Tourists. Then again, probably no one has checked that out.

What shall we look at next?

 

Anyone up for a Villa staffed with a Showgirl rather than a Maid?

[Coconut Kid]

First, one has to understand a bit of the game mechanics. Almost all 'crime' is an effect which radiates from buildings. It is different for different buildings. Per building type, it varies in intensity and distance. So you don't have to speculate on what it is or how it comes about. It is simply there because buildings are there.

From the build.dat file as listed on the published "spread sheet," there is another effect "radiated" from some buildings: Tourism Value. This has not been explained or studied so far as I have discovered. Here is a list of the effect from buildings not directly associated with tourists showing effect/range:

• Luxury House 5/6
• Airport 30/16 (counteracts pollution effect?)
• Palace 25/15
• Church 5/4
• Cathedral 20/10
• Statue 5/8
• Fountain 5/4
• Large Fountain 8/6
• Colonial Fort undeveloped 30/16
• Rum Distillery 5/6
• Cigar Factory 5/10

While it is hard to gage what that means, it does help a bit to explain the super effectiveness of large fountains in tourist areas.

Now for the list of buildings directly associated with tourists:

• No Effect
  • Cheap Hotel
  • Hotel
  • Bungalow
  • Condominum (tourist)
  • Spa
  • Pool
  • Cabaret
• Luxury Hotel 10/8
• Beach Villa 7/6
• Archeological Site 40/16
• Colonial Fort artifact dig 30/16
• Souvenir Shop 10/8
• Duty Free Shop 12/10
• Scenic Outlook 5/10
• Nature Preserve 6/8
• Beach Site 5/8
• Marina 10/12
• Miniature Golf 4/6
• Tennis Court 5/6
• Pub 20/8
• Restaurant 15/8
• Gourmet Restaurant 20/8
• Night Club 20/10
• Casino 50/14
• Sports Complex 20/16
• Movie Theater 6/4 (this building should not have a rating)
• El Presidente Childhood Home 20/6 (this building should not have a rating)
• Colonial Fort museum 35/16
• Conservatory 12/12

.
I think these lists show that the developers did not balance out this effect as well as they might have.

In any case, you can consider this information in your gameplay.

[Coconut Kid]

I'm a bit surprised that no one (especially the hard core) has come up with a question. I see that there are readers.

 

[Coconut Kid]

Relaxation and Sightseeing.

Tourist Type	Slob	Spring Breaker  |	Ecologist	Rich (Snob)	unsuited
Relaxation	Beach Site Pool	Beach Site Pool	Beach Site Spa	Spa Miniature Golf	Movie Theater
Sightseeing	Scenic Outlook	Scenic Outlook	Conservatory Nature Preserve	Conservatory Marina	Childhood Home

The Archaeoligical Site and the Colonial Fort Museum or Artifact Dig are are dependent on random placement when the map is generated (or the scriptor places it with the editor). If you can develop a tourist area close to them, probably all the tourist types will use them for sightseeing. But be warned that the tourists will not walk far to use them - especially if other 'sightseeing' buildings are available closer to their accommodations. Check the relative base value vs distance from hotel; someday we may discover the actual ratio - but meanwhile use the construction priority system as an analogy.

[Coconut Kid]

I extensively edited this post based on new information and a clearer understanding of the bldg.dat file. The major change has to do with realizing that entertainment\attraction buildings can be made exclusive to either citizens or tourists and need not overlap. This is my "updated" idea of a rationalized system made by editing the building file. I have made "some of" the changes, but I have not run extensive tests. The changes appear to work from brief tests.

Listing the buildings by Entertainment Type with notes:
>>00 Banking Tourist only under only one option.
Bank 90
>>01 Bordello Tourist & Tropican (male only guests)
Cabaret* 90 - tourist only
Bungalow #2 (or B) [aka "crib"] 50 - citizen only
>>02 Drinking Tourist & Tropican
Nightclub* 90 - tourist only
Pub 50 (Tropicans may satisfy "food need" at back door) - citizen only
>>04 Eating Out Tourist & Tropican
Gourmet Restaurant* 90 - tourist only
Restaurant 50 (Tropicans may satisfy "food need" at back door) - citizen only
>>05 Gambling Tourist & Tropican
Casino* 90 - tourist only
Movie Theater 50 (staffed with Pit Boss) - citizen only
>>07 Relaxation Tourist only
Spa* 90
Miniature Golf 70  
Beach Site 50
Pool 50
>>08 Shopping Tourist only
Duty Free Shop* 90
Souvenir Shop 70
>>09 Sightseeing Tourist only
Marina* 90
Conservatory* 90
Archaeological Site** 90
Nature Preserve 70 (staffed with Teacher)
Colonial Fort Artifact Dig** 70 (staffed with Teachers)
Colonial Fort Museum** 50 (staffed with Attendants)
Scenic Outlook 50
>>0A Sporting Event Tourist & Tropican
Sports Complex* 90 - both
Tennis Court 70 (staffed with Athletes) - tourist only
El Presidente Home 50 (staffed with Athletes) - citizen only

* electricity required
** building is part of starting map; that is, the player has no control over its placement

Paradise Island added four buildings which entertain Tropicans in addition to Tourists. They have no relationship to the five (5) Tropican preferences (bordello, drinking, eating out, gambling, or sports event). I have converted: Movie Theater (without electricity requirement) to "gambling" (lottery combined with propaganda); El Presidente Home to "Sporting Event" (Chicken Races); the Colonial Fort Museum and the Conservatory become Tourist only attractions.

Note that I use only three basic levels of service quality (for the default option) (i.e. 50, 70, 90) rather than the original many . This should make the internal adjustments (e.g. paper place mats, cloth napkins, linen table cloths) more noticeable and put the guest choices more into play. Besides, there is now more clarity about the "lock-out" feature of the options. They really do segregate the patrons by social class.

[El-Bueno]

nice job putting all this together,

you mentioned that airports have a bad affect on environment rating of the area, so then it would figure not to build them next to the hotels, but at the same time its not ideal to have tourists walk far to your resort after they land, any recommendations on how far the airport should be from the hotels?

And is there any way to demolish an airport, like will buldign a second airport allow me to demolish the first one?

Also I have wondered if docks and construction offices have any affect on environment rating and thus tourism quality of an area.

[Coconut Kid]

Hotels close to Airports.

I have not tried it, but I suspect that if you can afford it (or use the editor), a road from the unloading point to the hotel would help overcome distance (it can be built under the terminal, etc.). Additionally, a 'screen' of plantings along the edge of the Airport would probably help.

The Airport is somewhat of a contradiction. The radiated factors (value\range in tiles) are:
>> Tourism Value 30\16
>> Beauty -30\?
>> Pollution 35\25
So the Tourism + is canceled by the Beauty negative and the Pollution is awful. I speculate that the accommodations need\should not be closer than 16 tiles, but would work best at no further than 25 tiles.

Bulldozing an Airport

I wonder what version you are playing. I'll check it later, but I think v1.53 allows 'bulldozing' an Airport without restriction. But the specific answer is, NO. If the construction bulldozer doesn't work, building another one won't help.

Also

Dock radiates: Crime 15 x 10 ; Pollution 20 x 15 ; Beauty minus 8
Construction Office radiates: Pollution 3 x 10 ; Beauty minus 2

[Coconut Kid]

O.K. I checked it.

Once built, an Airport is permanent.

Building another doesn't unlock anything.

Perhaps the 'editor' Z Tool would work, but I don't think that is important.

[dierighty]

How long do tourists stay? If I can get them to stay longer than I make more money off of room rates and tourist attraction fees.

[Coconut Kid]

I'll have to look for that. I don't recall a definitive answer on length of stay.

In any case, I guess that there is only one hotel fee. But there is a slimey trick on that.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=9134.msg185788#msg185788

[Rebel-Yell]

Thats a really nice summary of tourism facts, which gave me some new insights (e.g. that the PI entertainment buildings actually don't help to solve your citiziens needs). There is one thing about the Marina I remember, which perhaps could not hurt in this context - you have to follow certain rules when placing it (or was it just the method of trial and error?) or it might get not accepted by tourists, something connected to the waters in front of it.

I really like the changes you have made to the tourism sector via the building file, your ideas make a lot more sense than the original settings.
I guess posting that file isn't allowed, as it is a core part of the program and goes beyond scripting, right?

[Coconut Kid]

... There is one thing about the Marina I remember, which perhaps could not hurt in this context - you have to follow certain rules when placing it (or was it just the method of trial and error?) or it might get not accepted by tourists, something connected to the waters in front of it.

I really like the changes you have made to the tourism sector via the building file, ... I guess posting that file isn't allowed, ..., right?

I vaguely remember a discussion about the Marina as you say. I can't remember the details. I wonder if it had to do with having enough sea room for the boats to work? It seems likely that there is some sort of predefined path for the boat unit animation. Without enough room for that, possibly the building is "disabled" ; which would mean that the tourists would ignore it.


So far as I know, there has never been a formal statement about posting modified building files, either approving or prohibiting. The file is not part of the core engine code. In fact, I seem to recall that Cafe Dave posted one modified file which reduced the number of "hammer wacks" for all buildings. Also, his scenario about a Mediterranean island changed a lot of subsidiary codes without cracking the core engine code.

My problem is that I did not change just the entertainment stuff I discussed; I changed a ton of stuff. So I hesitate to post it because too many folks wouldn't understand it and/or it won't play well. (I would be overwhelmed by having to compose the "read me" file.)

             

[Rebel-Yell]

I stumbled across the thread about the Marina placement while searching for Trophack...

http://tropico.strategyplanet.gamespy.com/cafe/index.php?topic=10611.msg205022#msg205022

It was about the great jumps in the EQ rating of a Marina, depending on placement. Coastline form is suspected as cause and some evidence has been shown for this, but yet no final conclusion on how it exactly impacts the rating has been drawn.

[dierighty]

I discovered some information about the length of time a tourist stays on the island.
They stay between 750 to 600 days.

[dierighty]

This vacation length is fixed and nothing effects it. It is determined only once when the Tourist goes ashore from the ship. Based on this vacation length a departure date is determined, and the Tourist remembers their departure date.

This departure date is "set in stone". If Mount Tropico erupted and burned everything on the island, the Tourist would remain. This is why that slimeay tourism cheat works. You raise the Hotel room rate and the Tourists will continue to pay it and not leave.

So it turns out if you have a hex editor and a save game file, you can change this departure date. Here is how you do it. First write down the name of the tourist who's departure date you would like to change. Then
open your save game in the hex editor and search for the tourist's name you have just written down. Remember the offset(also known as address) of the first byte of your tourist's name in the save game file.
We will use this offset to calculate another offset. The offset of the departure date for your tourist.
Take this offset and add 0x28A (I have displayed this number in hexadecimal). You now have calculated the offset of the Tourist's departure date. Adjust your hex editor to view the bytes at this offset. The first two bytes at this offset represent the year of when your Tourist will leave the island and return to their native country. Change them to a desired departure year.

Now let me show you an example. So I'm playing Tropico la la la...Let me change the departure date of...oh I don't know...how about that big fat slob tourist? Let's see his name is "Casey Percy".

So I save the game and open the save game file in a hex editor. Then I search for "Casey Percy". The hex editor shows me that the first byte of "Casey Percy" is at offset 0x000B8820. So I take this offset and I add 0x28A to it and I get 0x000B8AAA. So I adjust the hex editor to view the bytes at 0x000B8AAA. The first two bytes at this offset I see are "A4 07" ... these bytes represent a number( intel processors are little indian so the number is stored least significant bit first, so backwards from what we humans like) this number
"A4 07" is really 0x07A4 which in decimal is 1956. This is the year the Tourist will leave Tropico. So lets change the bytes "A4 07" to "A4 08" which is 0x08A4 or the year 2212. I want to make sure my Tourist stays a long long time. I then save my changes and load the save game file in Tropico and my Tourist will be staying well into the next century!

[Coconut Kid]

I'm staying as long as my trust fund holds out !

@ dierighty, I'm rolling on the floor laughing outragiously!

I have been wondering how to suggest that Tropico should have some "Beach Bums" who come and stay with no visible means of support (Rastifarians or 'Trustifarians' as the ski bums are called hereabouts).

Thank you for the very detailed instructions on how to turn an ordinary tourist into a beach bum.

I'll ask to take it one step further. Do you think what you have described will work under this circumstance:
A scripter has created a map for a scenario called "El Presidente and his Trustifarians" with the story-line, "Can El Presidente on a small, isolated island live well off of some beach bums while keeping his native born people happy?"

The key element is the initial population of the island using the editor. The kernel of the key is placing 13 'Spring Breaker' Tourists and perhaps three or four Eco-Tourists and a Slob for color. Of course, they have to have staffed accomodations or it may crash - that's not hard to overcome. A couple of attractions also couldn't hurt.

Do you see any reason why these newly placed (rather than just landed) tourists can't be "reset" as you have described?

CK, loving every minute of this idea.

 

Seriously, the fixed 750 to 600 days period of a stay is very helpful in reinforcing the need to concentrate the attractions near the accomodations --- walking time is dead time, income is the key.