Tropico. You would think that ruling a Caribbean Paradise is an easy job. All you have to do is sit back in your comfy chair, while soaking some exotic drink, from time to time telling your army to prod the people to work more. It’s far more demanding than that, both in life and in Tropico 4. Tropico 4 is not just about making money, it is also about keeping your people happy, and that is by no means an easy task. Unhappy people mean Revolts and Rebels. A disgruntled Military means a Coup d’etat. A frustrated USA or USSR means invasion. You have to watch out for multiple things, that could mean the difference between your small island’s survival or ultimate downfall.
This short list of tips aims at providing you with some ideas to keep your nation prosperous and happy. It is by no means a full Guide, but if you are stuck, or need the extra push I do hope you will find it here. Looking for something more expansive? We now have a Tropico 4 Guide for Industrialists, as well as one for the Modern Capitalists!
The fate of your island, at your fingertips.
There are a few things to look at while ruling in Tropico 4. Your Industry/Economy, your People, Internal and International Affairs. Each of these areas will be, at least in part, covered.
1. Exploit the Land – Your island always has some resource that can be used, or even abused. If you have Gold, Iron or Bauxite you should dig it out. If you have Oil, pump it out. Very good land for farming? Place farms everywhere. Incredibly beautiful Island? Build Hotels and expand your Tourism. At the very start of the game you might be even forced to invest in basic material production, rather than finished goods. It is a start, so if you can build a mine to sell gold, do so. You will need the money. Do not be bothered by the Ecologists, at the start at least. Later on you will have to tone down your destructive tendencies or the people themselves will be unhappy as well.
2. Industry without fuel? – You lack natural resources, and you feel you need something bigger than Tourism? There is a simple solution. In Tropico 4 you can now Import goods from abroad, this includes raw materials for your factories. This means that if you ever ran out of Iron for your Weapons Factory you can import it. Although Imported materials cost money the finished goods you sell back will be worth much more. I sometimes ended up with every single possible factory, while not having most of the material producers, and I made a very handsome profit. Sometimes your island will simply not have a resource and then importing is the only solution. In first order focus on the Industry that you do not have to support through imports. Only once your economy is powerful can you both Import and Export freely. Just make sure you set your Port to “No Limit” in terms of amount of possible imports.
3. Bread and Games and Housing and More… – Your people are a picky bunch, but it is perfectly understandable. Would you want to be hungry, under payed, living in a shack, and without any form of entertainment or healthcare? Considering all this, would you be any happier that you could not pray for things to change, because there would be no church? Your people have many needs, and fulfilling all of them will be tough, but not impossible. You can import food, in case you have a shortage. You only need one Clinic at the Start to keep your people healthy (although you might need to Import Experts), there is plenty of cheap housing available, and if you have an agreement with the USSR you can build better housing, cheaper. Different faction leaders will often inform you when the situation in a specific area is critical. You will know when you are doing a good job when Overall Happiness is above 70%. At first it might sound impossible to achieve, but with a powerful economy? Anything is possible.
4. Dictatorship vs Democracy – To Vote, or not to Vote? Democratic Elections keep the people content, and they can also pump up your own Ego. If you manage to fulfill point 3 then you should have no problem winning any election. Problems start if you ever do not get above 70% of the vote. That essentially means you are failing in a big area. You can choose not to go through with elections, but make sure people have access to Media buildings, so that they have a high sense of Liberty (while living in a Dictatorship).
5. Criminals and Rebels – Rebels have been present in Tropico since Tropico 1. Criminals are a new addition. Rebels appears when your people are very unhappy with your government, and they choose to fight you, rather than protest against you. If their numbers are high enough they will attempt to target your key structures, and if your defenses are too weak, the Palace itself. Even when not attacking they can plant bombs, attempt assassinations and more. Criminals appear when there is unemployment. Criminals do not earn wages, but steal from Tropicans and Tourists alike. Both groups sabotage your island, and both can be dealt with in a number of ways. If you choose the Iron Hand method you can issue Edicts and Orders to kill off all Criminals and Rebels. The more peaceful approach is to offer Amnesties and build Prisons together with Police Stations. If the situation on your Island improved sufficiently with the Amnesty Edict the Rebels might abandon their cause and rejoin you. In turn a competent Police Force will arrest Criminals and lock them up in Prisons, where they will be rehabilitated. The simplest way to evade such problems? Stick to point 3, and expand your economy so that there are always some free jobs available.
6. People are picky – You are bound to notice that certain buildings will be very popular amongst certain people. On the other end of the spectrum there will be buildings that will be left empty, no matter how attractive they might seem. Tourists tend to turn around an Empty Casino into a profit making monstrosity, but the problem remains that it is very hard for a Casino to earn money. Certain buildings simply appear to be unpopular, and people will visit them if there is no other choice. On one hand you might refuse to invest in buildings that do not make a profit, but on the other upkeeping them is usually not that expensive, and it is better to have a wider choice for your Tourists and People than not.
7. Power to the People! – Despite what this sub-heading might suggest I am relating to the need of electricity. Eventually you will want to invest in efficiency or quality upgrades in your Factories and other buildings. These might need electricity, and some more complex buildings will need a steady energy supply anyway. There is a number of different types of Power Plants you can invest in. You have a choice between Ecological power sources (Windmills and Solar Power), Dirty (Coal Power Plant) and Nuclear. Overall though, I found that in terms of costs and overall efficiency the Windmills and Solar Power Plants are your prime choice for a number of reasons: they do not need fuel, they do not need workers and they do not produce pollution. When I tried running a Nuclear Power Plant the cost of Uranium was unbearable for my economy, and instead I invested in far cheaper, yet no less efficient, windmills. Just make sure to place them on higher ground. In the best possible case a Windmill can produce over 40 MW, which is enough to power a few factories with ease (without upgrades) while costing only 6,000 dollars.
8. Urgh… Politics – Unfortunately, you cannot ignore your nation’s internal affairs, nor the Cold War. Why should you? Keeping your factions happy is easy, because they will ask you to complete easy tasks that will maximize their respect for you thus making your People happy, minimalising the chance of any problems they might otherwise cause. The same goes for other Minor and Greater International Powers. Staying on their good side will bring in plenty of benefits, and their quests are usually undemanding and sometimes even highly beneficial to your economy. In the end, you can keep everybody happy, unlike in real life, which means World Peace, or at least prosperity for Tropico.
9. Short Controlled Boosts – Your Edicts are a way to increase your popularity with the People, but also to improve your Tourism and Exports. Some Edicts will be sought after by some factions, while other edicts will result in one faction being unhappy. For example, the Same Sex Marriage Edict will make the Intellectuals Happy, while the Religious faction will be unhappy. Considering the fact that you just need a High School and College, with some Media buildings to make the Intellectuals happy, why bother? Of course, if you plan on managing your Island in a specific way you will reach for those stranger edicts, but if you aim at just being successful you will only use the ones you know are beneficial (even if a bit expensive).
10. Roads and Garages – Whether a Tourist Paradise or Industrial Center, you will need plenty of roads connecting your attractions and industrial sectors, as well as Garages. Many buildings have small garages of their own, allowing Teamsters and workers to arrive and leave by car, without the need to travel long distances on foot. Other buildings, like Farms and Oil Refineries do not have Garages of their own, and you have to place a separate Garage nearby. Garages are inexpensive and cheap to upkeep, while their benefits are big. If you do not want your Economy to clog up you will end up having numerous garages and roads leading to every corner of your island, unless you prefer walking for miles on end to and from work.
Your success in Tropico 4 depends on your ability to exploit a situation economically, while also being capable of investing in your labor force, thus ensuring your economy keeps running. Everything revolves around making sure you have money. Whether you plan on making a Communist or Capitalist paradise, Military Dictatorship, or Religious Center, you need money. Without money all your other plans simply fall apart. Once you have a strong enough economy you can design your island in any way you want. So, just like mentioned in point 1, exploit the island at the beginning. Obtain any resources you can sell them or turn them into finished goods, then sell them. It is simply uneconomic to leave all that gold for whoever comes to rule the island after you!
