Pleasing the people=IMPOSIBLE!!! :-(

[galio]

Why is it so d*** hard (almost imposible) to please the people

In EVERY scenario I've played, I lose the game because I can't please the workers!!

(I've been playing this game since it came out but havent won a single scenario!!! The "free mode" is the only mode I have a change of staying alive!  )

Does annybody have anny sugestions on how to do it?

Even in the "easy" scenarios it's d*** hard to get the people to vote for me! In the "moderate" i make it out of the FIRST election with 3-5 votes and in the next it's game over, how come?

How do you survive the second, third, forth... election in the scenarios?

[The King of Spain]

Make sure all you're people needs are being met as soon as pos. You can look at the overview section to see lots of pretty arrows pointing to people. If most of  those arows are green then that need is being met sufficently- if they are red then you need to do something about that. I don't mean to be patronising in case you already know this, but here is a list of the needs and how to meet them: (I've probably missed some)

Food- Build Corn farms

Housing- Build tenements, apartments, etc.. The better
the housing quality, the better this need will rise.

Religion- Build a church and then a cathedral later on.

Health care- Build a Clinic and then a hostpital.

Entertainment- I find a pub and then later perhaps a cafe and cinema is all that's required.

Crime- Build police stations and jails. You probably won't have to worry about this very early on.

Job satisfaction- Riase wages and make sure people have jobs of the appropreate skill.

Environment- Build fountains to make the place look nice and try to keep factoris away from living areas.

Liberty- Reduce the number of police and gaurds, issue certain edicts, make free press (i.e. BBC for the TV station and Radio Free Tropico for the Radio station), hold free elections.

A few tips:

1) Try to only arrest/eliminate people when it is absolutely nececery. (I almost never arrest people and nver shoot people)

2) The Mardi Gras, and if you are quite rich the Tax Cut, are excelent ways to give happiness a little boost.

3) Make sure people aren't starving!

4) Raise wages regularly.

5) Give people regular elections  


Or of cousre, if you realy find it impossible to keep the lads and lasses happy, you could always just be the type of Dictator that rules with an iron fist (lots of Soldiers, etc.. )!

[galio]

Thanks for the tips.

But the problem is not what to do but, how?

How do I get what I need before the people vote me out or throw me out?

[galio]

And please don't tell me that I nedd "2 tobacco farms..." etc.

I've tried that and it just is'nt efective enough.

In one scenario I need to relocate 100+ inhabitens in better housing, built a church, a bar, a clinic, and so on before the second election or out I go! HOW
And that scenario is "moderate" I think it's imposible!
I can only speculate on the "hard", they are "ton't even think about it" for me!!!

[Privateer0]

And please don't tell me that I nedd "2 tobacco farms..." etc.

I've tried that and it just is'nt efective enough.

OK, how about this: You need 3 tobacco farms No, seriously, if it's like a random game and you start off with four farms, switch three of them to tobacco, one of them to papaya and then build a fishing warf. The warf will provide you with an immediate food supply, while the papaya grove will be able to feed a LOT of people when it starts bearing fruit in about five years. The three tobacco farms will give you a decent income and once you get a school you will be able to put up cigar factories.

Another good early cash cow is tourism. Don't go too fancy, just build a cheap hotel and three attractions nearby. That'll provide a nice immediate income.

In one scenario I need to relocate 100+ inhabitens in better housing, built a church, a bar, a clinic, and so on before the second election or out I go! HOW

Get the Russian tech aid. With it you'll be able to put up 12 family tenements for $2000 a piece. Ten tenements (probably less than that unless all your people are single adults!) and everyone has decent housing. And the $10,000 to $20,000 price tag is not too bad. With three tobacco farms and a hotel, you will probably be making that in a year. Of course, make sure you've got enough construction workers to actually put it all up in time.

[galio]

I must be the unluckiest guy in the world, because I just tried that scenarion agin. This time I converted 5 outof 8 Farms to tobacco, built an additional 7 tobacco farms, 2 teamsters and 2 construction officies!

And guess what... I got voted out in the first election... why, Becaus I did not have enough money to build houses, a church and a clinic, within 6 yrs.

And that scenario is "moderate"!!!

So what am I doing wrong

[Privateer0]

This time I converted 5 outof 8 Farms to tobacco, built an additional 7 tobacco farms, 2 teamsters and 2 construction officies!

And guess what... I got voted out in the first election... why, Becaus I did not have enough money

That's TWELVE tobacco farms?! And you didn't have enough money?!

How'd you do that?

Were all the farms and teamsters properly staffed? What kind of wages do you pay? What did your yearly financial numbers look like? I mean how much tobacco was sold, what kind of overhead did you have, etc.

[Brf]

Which scenerio were you playing? In some scenerios you will not win elections....

[belbincolne]

Of course you could just try the current competition. That'll really kill you

I'm usually fairly good at keeping people happy but so far after perhaps six trys I've only not been thrown out before the finish once - and I don't know how I did that

As Brf says different scenarios have different outcomes so perhaps you should just refuse elections in whatever one you're playing - course that usually results in the army or your peons revolting but life's like that

[galio]

To Privateer0:

Yes, they all where properly staffed. Minimum wage was set at $10 for all buildings with minimum wage. For the other numbers, I can't really remember.
---------------
To Brf:

The scenario: Turista Paradiso (TPI, I think.)
---------------
To Brf & belbincolne:

In this scenario you must win the election, I'v tried "refusing" the election but then I got overthrown by my army or by pesents, can't really remember. All that I remember is that all my palace guards had the "rebel" icon over their heads. (And the where getting maximum pay ($50)!!!)
---------------
So, I ask agin:

How do you plese the pepole so you stay in office?

[belbincolne]

Afraid I can't help - my notes say I won at 3rd attempt but don't say how but, like you, my problem was winning elections.  Again, all I can say is go play Coming Home (the current competition) after which Turisto Paradiso will be a peice of cake

[Coffeebean]

Hi galio and welcome to the Cafe.
I couldn't remember playing this one so I went and had a look at it. You're right, it is difficult.
I haven't got far into it yet (I kept getting the row boat at the first election) but I've now got passed that first one.
I reckon you have to go all out for pleasing your peons from the start.
I changed all but 3 farms to more lucrative/quick crops. With my first 15,000 I planned 2 construction offices (there are a lot of unemployed folk and you need to build fast), a clinic, and 2 appartments. The gift of 25,000 I used to build a church, hire priests, 2 more appartments and a tenement. I scraped through the election and am now waiting for funds to build my tourist mecca.

[Brf]

I havent played that particular one, but with high democracy expectations, you are correct you will need to have the elections.

The lower 4 farms are not suited for tobacco... you should use the "eye" to see what crops fit best in each area.

If you are paying the uneducated $10, that is way too much. I never pay more than $6 at the beginning to the uneducated, and then when the election is announced, you give everyone a  $1 raise.

You should be watching both the Happiness and Respect pages, and fixing any problems you notice.

[galio]

Thank you guys for all your help!   I really apriciate it!

I passed the first election with flying colours(76-43)!

But now comes the second eledtion and.... well take a look at the map (Turista Paradiso Map.jpg).

If annyone can tell me what I have'nt done but shuld have done, or have done but shuldn't have done. Please do so!!!

[galio]

Here are some graphs to help you in helping me.

[Brf]

To start with, I see you have an armory already. Those generals (I dont know how many you have) are pretty expensive. You usually dont need an armory until you have over 200 people. The extra generals will lower your liberty too.

You should have built at least one cigar factory by now.  Your capitalists will not stand for living off of farms. Cigar factories will make you alot of cash too.

We cannot see your tourist section, but you will need more than 1 hotel and 2 beach sites. Your low tourist rating suggests that your beach sites are set to the lower dress-code. Set them up to the higher rating, so you will attract richer tourists.  You should have another dock for yachts until you can afford an airport.

You didnt show your repect page, but I imagine your intellectuals are pretty upset that there is no highschool yet.

[Privateer0]

Alright! That's more like it.

Here are my thoughts.

1. You have too many roads built and too many palms planted along them. Those are things which are nice to have, but aren't absolutely needed, if you know what I mean. Remember, every square of road costs $100 and every tree costs some money too. It may not seem like much, but it adds up quickly. Up there you easily have over 50 road squares. Had you not built them, you wouldn't be in debt at that point.

2. It's a bit hard to tell, but I think your revenues from tobacco should be higher. Check to make sure you don't have any bottlenecks on the teamster side, or at the docks. Also check to see the land is suitable for tobacco and the farms have full employment. I know, you probably did most, if not all of it, but I'm just checking.

3. Oh my Holy Goodness! You've got an Armory and even a Guard Tower. My guess is, you have full employment at the Palace and most of the slots full in those military buildings. They're money wasters unless you use them, and you aren't, otherwise we wouldn't be here talking about elections, if you know what I mean. Leave just one general at the Armory and a couple of soldiers at the palace to keep the militarist faction from going berserk, but otherwise don't spend money on the military unless you're going to oppress your people. They just cost money and hurt liberty.

4. Are those shacks? Actually shacks. Oh dear! No wonder your people hate you. I would too, if I had to live in a cardboard box under your rule. I know you can't afford to give everyone an Apartment Flat, so don't try. Build Tenements if you have to, but make sure that nobody, and I mean nobody lives in makeshift boxes of scrap if you plan on winning elections. Not only do people like better living in decent housing, but you'll gain respect with a lot of them because it's a central issue for the Communist faction.

5. You didn't post the food report screenshot, but I can bet a lot of your people go to bed hungry. You just can't properly feed almost 200 people from three corn farms and one wharf. Well, maybe you can, but judging by your people's abysmal food satisfaction you don't. Come on, this is 1963, not 1953. Corn? How'd you feel if you had to eat just corn?   What I would've done is built one or two Banana or Papaya plantations early and by now they'd be cranking out high quality food like there's no tomorrow. 55 is low, quite low. If you feed them sufficient quantities of banans or papayas it should be around 70.

Hope this helps you win.

[Privateer0]

Oh, man! I just noticed your construction offices. You have FIVE of them. That's probably half your workforce sitting there doing nothing at all because you don't have money to build anything.

[galio]

The scenario starts with this:

95 people living in shacks, 1 construction office, 1 bar, 1 teamster's office, 1 market, 8 farms, a palace, a sh*t-load of roads and palms.

The goal:

In just 50 years you'r supposed to gain an average of 50 turists per year.

Sounds easy, huh?

But wait... you had 95 people living in shacks, and they are not happy... Now all hell breaks lose, you'll have to settel their needs before you can even think of building your turist-mecca! Or out you go after each election, if you suvived the previous one!

And thats what i'm struggeling with!

110% of my income goes to the people!

And the fraighters only seem to show up when I have a bank balance of betwin -2000 and -8000, and when my dockworkers finish loading its at betwin +2000 and +7500. So I can't afford anything over 7000!

I don't have the money to build anything they need! Or want.  

And the imigrants just keep pouring in so they demand more and more... and so on!!!

[galio]

Anny suggestions on what to do?

[Brf]

I just tried this one...and it is a nasty. I got the hotel and beach sites up and going.... and the cigar factory. My first big load of cigars was sold just before the first election.... too late to build the highschool and finish more than two apartments.

The scenerio starts with all those roads and trees and shacks... and a dozen college educated males, who are all very unhappy that they dont have high paying jobs.

I lost the first election with over 20K rotting in the bank... just short of what I needed for tax-cut, which might have saved the election for me.

Incidently, this scenerio uses the Special UN elections, which means you cannot cheat in the elections.

[Severous]

What does yours look like Brf ?

Maybe you dont try to please all of the people.?  

Can you pick leaders/factions and concentrate on those that cost least to keep happy?

The office that affects emmigration - can that be set to something to slow down the influx of workers..and just maybe encourge the unhappy ones to depart?  Well at least until you have a viable money earning infrustructure in place.

Have you heard of slippery slopes...well you may be too far down one    

Good luck...im routing for you...and now Brf

P.S. I like pictures.  

[Privateer0]

I wanted to try it out as well, but didn't get too far yet. The first thing I always do is check the island's natural resources, like farmland, minerals, etc. Right off the bat I saw something important.

Tobacco fertility is poor there, so tobacco may not be the best idea on that island. Have a look at the pictures.

[Privateer0]

On the other hand, at least four of the farms above the town are prime sugar grounds, so a distillery might be a good idea.

Pineapples grow well almost everywhere on that island, so I don't see any point in having corn farms, except that one right by the ocean where nothing else grows.

[Privateer0]

Unfortunately the farms suitable for bananas and papaya are the same farms suitable for sugar, so it's probably better to leave them in cash-crop and later booze material mode. However, there is a remote farm at the left of the screen which is reasonably suited for papayas and has a lot of room around it to make a big grove. I'd definitely switch it to papaya grove - it'll provide a lot of food later.

PS if someone knows how to attach more than one picture to the post, please tell me.