Tropico – S.1 – User Article

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Play dictator once – persecute political opponents, legislate at will and lead the people to a better future – or perdition. Welcome to the banana republic Tropico!

Somewhere in the idyllic Caribbean lies the sleepy island nation of Tropico. And there the post of head of state is vacant. A good opportunity to put our skills to the test! Important decisions are made right at the beginning – did we start a communist revolution, let ourselves be elected as socialists or took over the office from Pappi? What are our strengths? Are we industrious, educated or a financial genius? Or just very entertaining? Where there is light, there is also shadow – what are our quirks? Are we an alcoholic womanizer, do we not have our rectum under control or are we so terribly ugly that we are advised to go out on the street as little as possible so as not to frighten our poor people?

All beginnings are difficult

Depending on which characteristics we choose, the expectations of us will vary. The beginning is always the same: We already have our own presidential palace, there are a few farms, a construction company, a shipping company and a port. These are the foundations of our infrastructure and economy. From the beginning we have to watch our finances, because we can only build houses and pay people if we are in the black. There is no free market economy here, in principle we are dealing with a planned economy, which can work extremely well if you don’t make any mistakes. And fate doesn’t hit you in the pan.

First of all, we have to build up our economy. Farming and mining are ok to start with, but later we also need industry and tourism, which will bring money into the treasury. Simple products such as different types of fruit (bananas, papayas), meat, tobacco, coffee or gold can be exported directly. However, it makes more sense to build a factory that processes these products: the cigar factory produces the barf bars, and the goldsmith produces high-quality jewelry. Through exports we earn money that we urgently need because we also have a lot of expenses.

A hard worker loads export goods onto a ship.

We modernize Tropico

Gradually we earn enough money to devote ourselves to the infrastructure of Tropico. The island lacks everything that makes for a halfway modern state. So we are setting up a foreign ministry through which we can establish diplomatic relations, and an immigration authority that has an influence on whether and which people immigrate to our country. We also construct public buildings that serve social purposes. Hospitals, churches and schools keep the population happy and meet basic needs. Through educational institutions, Tropicans can be trained to become professionals who perform higher-level work. Alternatively, we can recruit specialists from abroad.

When they take office, people don’t have much to smile about, they live in simple corrugated iron shacks that they build themselves near their place of work if there isn’t enough living space. So let’s start building houses. This results in a win-win situation – we collect the rent and the people can move into a decent apartment. But entertainment shouldn’t be neglected either! Restaurants, bars and other facilities ensure a better mood among the population and later also among tourists.

Power plants provide electricity to our island, enabling the use of facilities that need juice. This includes radio and television stations, but also the factories already mentioned. In addition, better apartments can be built, which bring in more rent, but are therefore not affordable for everyone. The military also plays a role, guarding the presidential palace in the event of a revolt and defending buildings against rebel attacks. In order to be able to set up more guard posts, we need generals, for which we first need a command post.

Hotels give us a good income. An old temple and a colonial-era fort act as attractions – among the many other facilities that will hopefully appeal to tourists.

Only a happy people are peaceful people

Of course, we should also keep an eye on the mood of the people during our reign. Tropico simulates the population on a rather complex level. Every human being is (at least to some extent) an individual. This means that everyone has their own political opinions, different skills and needs. Also, every Tropican ages and eventually dies. In the course of their lives, each of them can have one or more jobs and become really good at them. You can marry and have children again. So you can follow the development of the families over generations if you feel like it.

Social facilities, enough entertainment and various enactments such as the legalization of same-sex marriage or the introduction of conscription may meet with approval from certain sections of the population, but anger other groups. So we have to make sure that people are as happy as possible. If they have no roof over their heads (corrugated iron huts don’t count) and are unemployed or underpaid, dissatisfaction increases. And that ensures that more and more citizens become rebels, attacking and destroying any building again and again if the army doesn’t arrive in time. If the general mood shifts, it can happen that large parts of the population spontaneously instigate a revolt. Each inhabitant then decides for themselves whether to join this or be loyal to us and help defend the Presidential Palace. It’s the same with a military coup. If the uprising can be put down, we continue, otherwise we can take a last look at the island from a rowing boat…

Elections can be held to appease the population. If we win the election (without manipulation), the populace is less inclined to reject us. But let’s be honest – democracy just doesn’t work and it’s no fun either. It’s easier to be a dictator on Tropico, as long as you manage to keep the population happy and get the economy on track. No easy task, see North Korea. And of course you shouldn’t take it too seriously. It is in no way comparable. No matter how good we are – Tropico is and will remain a banana republic, or an emerging country, depending.

In the case of elections, we are shown a projection in order to be able to estimate our chances. Fortunately, there is also electoral fraud. The main thing is that they don’t find the ballot boxes.

Politics plays a big role

Unlike in reality, the virtual citizens of Tropico are very interested in politics. Funnily enough, this even leads to the fact that even children already have political opinions. There are several groupings that people can associate with or reject. First of all, there are the classics – capitalism and communism. There are also religious, environmentalists, militarists and intellectuals. Every choice we make earns us points in these groups’ favor—or their contempt. The lack of a church on Tropico is cause for the religious to openly criticize you, while the intellectuals wish for a school. The capitalists whine when our economy is primarily based on mining and agriculture, while the communists hate it when there is not enough housing for the population.

Our country’s foreign relations are just as important. We can pursue a neutral policy, but we can also side with one side or the other. If we are on good terms with one of the two great powers USA and USSR, we will receive development aid, for example in the form of technical know-how or skilled workers. However, we shouldn’t overdo it, because if we come out as friends of the Kremlin, it can happen that the Americans just send a gunboat and put an early end to our legislative period… A treaty that allows us friendly major powers can help allowed to set up a military base on our island. But it is obvious that we should not anger this great power.

Really every inhabitant of Tropico has characteristics and thoughts of their own. Thus also infants and farm animals. And yes, it’s possible for a goat to be more intelligent than a worker tending it…