Buildings.....

[Mr.P]

Do you think that a building will have a limited area and number of people it can serve? For example, I guess you can't just have one hospital because, firstly, it may be too far from some Tropicans, and secondly, can only treat so many of your people.

Am I right in thinking this, or will it not be feasible to have several buildings, this relates more to the "service" industries like hospitals, secret police-headquarters( ), ports etc

[Luke]

yeah i think even this game will have tropicans that will BlTCH and moan about the places being so far of. well i mean this is any island so i mean having 1 hospital might not be so bad.

i mean so far you can have like 500tropicans i hope like a 3rd of your population isnt in the hospital or even half of the pop.

see what i mean.

your old wise dictator, Luke

[Kendahlj]

Good question!  I expect that certain buildings will have certain limitations, like a hospital.  You will probably need to build numerous hospitals on your island. (Or you may get by with one hospital and numerous health clinics.)  As for mines and farms, I think that you can deplete resources so you will probably have to build more than one, although not immediately. Probably depends on the size of your island too.  If you have a large island, you will have more than one city and will probably need same buildings in each city.

On a related topic regarding buildings, I posed the question of whether the game will react like Caesar III, in respect that if a citizen "walks by" a building, he is rejuvenated (for lack of a better word)?  For example, if the citizen's religion bar is low, will it increase simply by walking by a church or cathedral?  The word from Poptop Franz is that "rejuvenation" only applies to some buildings but more specifically only works when that building has workers.  So, it's based on the building and not simply all buildings work this way.  In the case of churches, they have radius effect but the people actually will go IN to the building when they feel then need to have their spirits attended to
 
Pretty interesting .... I just can't wait for the game!  Only a few more weeks before we can fire up the demo!!

[Fightinghellfish]

The island being a third-world country, I suspect that Tropicans would be happy with even one hospital.

I think heath clinics that are upgradeable to hospitals would be a good idea. That way you can have immediate health care early in the game when funds and population are low (do you really need a hospital with 100 beds for a population of 50?!?!) and as the game progresses, you can add bits and pieces onto the clinic such as a surgical wing, a children's wing, a mental health wing (which if I'm a dictator is the most important thing to have).

Sooner or later you'd have a full-fledged hospital when you need it.

[Luke]

i agree with the fish! he had put up some great points about the health conditions of the people and questions about the island needing clinics and hospitals.

your happy dicky, Luke

[Mr.P]

I never thought of "walk by" effects, but you're right Kendahl, there certainly seems a need for it. Churches are a good example and casino's, secret police-headquarters might detract from a Tropicans "Freedom/Liberty" bar, if there is one.

This certainly highlights PopTop's comments about placement of buildings being important. You hardly want you repressive state apparatus in the centre of town, but rather markets, parks, churches and all the other bits and pieces to keep a Tropican happy. (Just make sure your army barracks are close to your Palace!)

I'm getting excited about using the military, but I'm wondering how easy they are going to be to control. If you're a left-wing poet who becomes President, do you have less chance of controlling the army as opossed to, say, the ex-police chief? It would seem sensible.

Greg, you've got a good point about upgrading buildings to better class ones. Afterall, your small satellite towns may grow into big cities, and you hardly want to have to demolish your health centres to replace them with a hospitals, but rather expand them as you suggest. Good one, we can't have your mental wards empty now!

Did we ever hear about orphans and whether they would just be homeless, wandering the streets, or looked after by the state?

PopTop, help us mere mortals!!

[Wooly]

Well, you will almost surely need more than one church.  Unless everyone in town walks by your single church every day then somebody will be unhappy.  

  --Wooly

[Mr.P]

Guys, I don't know how to balance it. Wooly makes a good point about unhappy Tropicans. Well I wonder what happens if you give Tropicans a miserable existance; if you then act benevolent are they happy? Afterall, things are improving. Or do they have a "Set" target of happiness and will rebel if you don't satisfy it? (I want to give them all little as I can; all the more for my Swiss bank account! )

[Luke]

i am very displeased with you Mr. P
what are you thinking about

check this out the more input you give the better output you going to get. i know you want to save money but think about it

give them what the need and they will build it.

so its better to give then to receive my bratha!

[Mr.P]

Let me firstly plead complete innocence, I do not want to limit the Tropicans freedom and then give them a little happiness. I was just wondering, purely from a point of historical accuracy if it were possible

[Coconut Kid]

... On a related topic regarding buildings, I posed the question of whether the game will react like Caesar III, in respect that if a citizen "walks by" a building, he is rejuvenated (for lack of a better word)? For example, if the citizen's religion bar is low, will it increase simply by walking by a church or cathedral? The word from Poptop Franz is that "rejuvenation" only applies to some buildings but more specifically only works when that building has workers. So, it's based on the building and not simply all buildings work this way. In the case of churches, they have radius effect but the people actually will go IN to the building when they feel then need to have their spirits attended to. ...

Fascinating -- after all this time there are additional details that are still not really clear. Rejuvenation = recharge of bar\gage.

Citizens have two sets of gages (Kendahlj uses the term bar): one set is for needs showing a timed elapse, and the second set is for levels of subsets of happiness showing current status.

The first set of needs gages controls the cycle of the citizen's life activity modes. When one of the needs become urgent as evidenced by the emptiness (red), the citizen enters a mode centered on recharging the gage by entering an appropriate building.

The second set of happiness gages are merely visuals to assist the player in understand the citizen. Five of the gages are linked to the needs gages in that when the needs gage is recharged, the corresponding happiness gage is set to match the 'Service Quality' of the building used. All of the happiness gages are more or less effected by the ambient auras of the land, buildings and other citizens nearby.

So, in the example given, the citizen has to go into the church to recharge his religious needs gage, but can reflect an increase in his religious happiness meter when walking by a church.


Very late, but for Mr.P -- Liberty is a happiness sub-factor which is increased and decreased by buildings, people and activities. So the player doesn't just punch it up or down and treat "happiness" as something separate. Every action the player takes has several paradoxical effects.