"Historical" Nic...

[el_malo]

Dave, will you be releasing your "historical" NIC scenario... any time soon?

[CafeDave]

Hey, how did you post in the news section?    Sorry, I moved it.  And yes, real soon.  I've played with it long enough that I know everything works.  I'll even try for tonight.  

[el_malo]

Hey, how did you post in the news sect

I just clicked on "new topic."   I guess the update created a new bug  .   I'm looking forward to NIC.

[CafeDave]

Okay, here it is attached to this post.  The map will be familiar to anyone who played the competition map.  But the clock is turned back to 1937 and many events have been added to give a complete history of the Somoza dynasty.  I think it will be quite difficult, but many did well on the competition, so if you use those tactics, it may be easy.  I have not actually won it yet, so will be interested to see who does.

This map is dedicated to MrP for his event suggestions and encouragement to do it.

[el_malo]

Thanks Dave...  

[el_malo]

AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH... I had an uprising start in June '60.   The scenario crashed to Desktop in Aug '60.  

Dave, I love the NIC scenario...I hope we will see more "historical" ones.

[CafeDave]

Thanks El Malo.  Sorry for your luck though.    Don't hold your breath on any more historical scenarios for a while until the novelty of Pirate Cove wears off.  Nice to see others still doing scenarios though.

[el_malo]

What is really weird, this was only my 2nd "crash"... ever.  

Actually, I was hoping other scenario developers would follow your example.   It is obvious that someone did their homework... the Events are dead-on.

[estio]

On behalf of a small minority that doesn't find T2 interesting - and in a place I don't think they'll see my gripe - Thanks for a new map for the good tropico game.

It is greatly appreciated during this time of need.

[Junta_Joe]

Whoa, this one is truly hard!

[el_malo]

I'm totally confused as to what is going on.   I have played the scenario three times... an received a "crash" each time.   It always occurs during an uprising.

With the exception of the crashes, it is the best scenario I've played for Tropico.   It really keeps one on their toes.

[Brf]

I have never made it through an uprising in any scenerio or random game. It always crashes to desktop.

[el_malo]

I've never really had a problem with other scenarios or random games.   I can only re-call one crash, before this started with NIC.   I guess it is time to do some experimenting.

[Brf]

Come to think of it....the only time I can remember an uprising was with the original Nic scenerio.

[el_malo]

the only time I can remember an uprising was with the original Nic scenerio

Come on Brf... you are not trying hard enough  .  

[Junta_Joe]

Well, I just got past the Bay of Pigs page.

That wasn't nice.

Send troops to certain doom for a few grand or tick off the US.

I figured the only way out was to send my lesser soldiers while the generals fought off the suddenly arriving scripted Sandanistas.  That timing is a killer!

And right about that time, a freighter decides to cross the middle of the island and get stuck near the ranch!

A couple reloads of the auto save didn't help.  The boat would be grazing with the cows in the middle of the map while the goods stack up.   So now I have to restart.  


Some strategy ideas are to get a single gold mine up fast for cash because you need to get a factory going real early to cash in on the US base.  A cannery seems best considering you already have pineapple, fish, and coffee already given at the start.  The goal is to get an early election going and a couple years where revenue comes from the cannery instead of raw goods.  You might even shut down the gold mine to be sure.  Getting the US base is a cash cow.  About $5 grand in the treasury every January and an extra grand in the Swiss account.  That alone could put $30 grand into the Swiss account if done early enough.  But you need to have factory income to please the capitalists and get your US relationship up.  The timing is critical as this comes at a time when elections are normally due and you need to place housing to win it.  But that will make the commies happy.  Which is bad.  Having an early election will offset this problem a few years.

[Junta_Joe]

Ok, I've played this through a couple of times.

It's a lot of fun, but, there's pretty much no chance of winning.

One million in industry is do-able with difficulty.  Expect about 4 or more factories as long as they are powered early and gold jewelry is part of the equation.

You will need a solid 400 plus population to get the million.  You need lots of teamsters and laborers.  At least 5 or six of each.  This is a big island.

Which begs the next problem.  You will need over 100 soldiers, generals, and cops.  This drain on the economy is heavy.  My best island had five army bases, a couple armories, the dungeon, and outposts sprouting like weeds.  Carrying this many for the whole game means you lose elections or cancel them.  You simply can't cancel them without having the US all over you.  Elections were real expensive as every edict possible and solid pay boosts are needed to win.  Ramping the numbers up at the end is the only way.  This is hard as you will need to import soldiers like crazy.  Reducing the 20% requirement to 15% or 10% will still be very difficult but realistic.

But nothing compares to the $200k swiss requirement.  A full stocked bank will only put $700 in your account every year if you make over $100k in net profits.  Banking will not make a dent.  The special deals help somewhat, but, only a grand or two a year.  The only way to fill the swiss account is with building.  Unless you want to turn the island into a cathedral factory, this won't fill the bill.

Just to survive until the end, I went with a Rapido game finally on the 3rd try.  Nothing I did could get the $200k.  I had 6 cathedrals to match my 5 army bases.  I had fountains everywhere.  I still only managed $150k in the swiss account.

Unless you modify the special deals, that $200k won't be met.

This would be my recommendation for a rediculously hard level game:

1) One million in industry revenues.
2) $100,000 in the Swiss account.
3) 15% National Guard.

[Brf]

But nothing compares to the $200k swiss requirement.  A full stocked bank will only put $700 in your account every year if you make over $100k in net profits.  Banking will not make a dent.  The special deals help somewhat, but, only a grand or two a year.  The only way to fill the swiss account is with building.  Unless you want to turn the island into a cathedral factory, this won't fill the bill.

Unless you modify the special deals, that $200k won't be met.

Try it with The Stork  

[Junta_Joe]

In a scenario with a personnel requirement, Brf?

That could be a disaster.

[Brf]

Likely....thats why the big grin  

I am currently testing a new version of Snake Island. This one is not as convoluted, and doesnt appear to have any stuck immigrants or ships, although I did notice a few people walking out into the water at one spot...I finally gave in and put a beach there and that seemed to fix that problem.

In one test game, I lost my general early on and didnt have the cash to hire another...I could see something disasterous like that happening with The Stork.

[Junta_Joe]

So Dave, will you consider dialing back the scenario objectives?

[CafeDave]

Okay Junta_Joe.  I will consider that.  I wanted to make it a challenge, that's why I wanted a stretch goal.    People seemed to do quite well on the original competition but I think it was by keeping the military down.  That percentage requirement is a killer.

Which properties did you aquire in the war?  That can add lots of money through a game.  I confess that I originally had those set to the full profits, but it transferred so much money your treasury went bust at the expense of the Swiss bank.  I guess I didn't turn down the Swiss requirement to suit.

Thanks for the input everyone.

[Junta_Joe]

I did the ranches and the shrimping for direct swiss investment every time.

I did every possible setting for the gold.

On the gimmees, I split the cash as I tended to be broke quite often.

As I said, banking gives pretty much zip.

In my Tropico experience, swiss bankers aren't worth the trouble.

One bank going full blast for 40 years will put up 20 to 30 grand.  The sheer expense of building, housing, paying, and maintenance on those bankers will cost a lot more than that.  One would be better served to just build more with the Permit edict.  I see this as a general Tropico game flaw.

Maybe 3 banks, Permit edict, and stuff everything possible in the scenario in the swiss account would make the 200 grand.  But that would surely sink the rest of the goals.

I'm no slouch at the game, Dave, and I think only very blatant cheating would win this.

How about this?

Try my suggested goal settings yourself and run it a couple times and look at how it goes.

[CafeDave]

I have updated it to $100k Swiss and 15% ratio.  Also changed scoring to 10x Swiss to give incentive to keep it up.  Give it a try and let me know if it works.   Thanks!

[Junta_Joe]

I'll run it tommorow and post the results.

I'll tuck away all the money I can, budget permitting.