[z64555]

El Presidente, may I suggest building a road closer to the farm? Perhaps the workers do not like hauling the boxes of fruit several squares over?

Either that, or the workers that are tending the Papaya trees are not picking all of them for some reason...

[Gortef]

My avatar is propably annoyed by El Presidentes mad limo parking skills. El Presidente blocked the whole road when he came to the bar.

[CKid]

Reason CKad is so unhappy is because El Presidente got his name wrong. 

[Alex Heartnet]

Interestingly enough, I have learned more about communism from playing this game then what I have ever learned from history class.  Being told it doesn't work is one thing.  Actually seeing what it looks like in practice is quite another.

The various loading screen political quotes also tell a lot of things that US schools don't.

[Alex Heartnet]

They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America?
- Fidel Castro


At Z64555’s suggestion, a road has been built.  Hopefully this will help with the export business.



Looking at my treasury, I don’t have as much money coming in as I would like.  Quite clearly the little people need to help out!  With that in mind, I repeal the Free Housing edict, and make some changes to the island accordingly.



Starting today, it costs 1 peso to pay for the rent of a Tenement, 2 pesos to pay for a house.  Visiting the bar or the museum costs 3 pesos.  (Citizens can afford to pay 1/3 their family’s wages in rent, and can afford entertainment equal to their wages.)  Bunkhouses are still free.

The minimum wage on the island has been increased to 3.  High school educated workers get 6, college educated workers get 7.  Generals and soldiers currently get 11, while palace guards get 12.



Now, I need to get a college built so I don’t have to keep bringing in foreign specialists.  But in order to do that, I need a high school first.



I also need an immigration office, so I can attract more laborers.  Immigrants are sadly hard to come by on an island in a far away place.



…Oh, right, I was going to make you guys some more housing, wasn’t I?  Whoops.  Here you go.





While all this was happening, El Presidente has been hard at work talking to Russian Diplomats.



The construction of my oppressionist wind turbine is complete!  But, the power provided by it doesn’t reach the city yet.

There are two ways to extend the power supply.  Power transformers, or another oppressionist wind turbine.  That ridge up there is kinda a perfect spot for multiple wind turbines, as it is so high up.  A power transformer costs about half as much as a wind turbine. Any suggestions on which one I should go for?

Edit from the future:  Nevermind, power transformers extend the reach of power supplies far further then wind turbines do.



Don’t worry guys, our country won’t go bankrupt.  I’m not one of those Americano politicians whom only has to survive being in office for a short time.



Great, now even members of my own government insist that I need to bring more mouths to feed onto the island.



Dang CIA, constantly putting their shadowy figures in every pie they see.  In other news, construction of our high school is practically complete.





For his continued service to Tropico, Firespawn is awarded the Good Conduct metal.



Now that I have money to spend, I order one of the mines to be upgraded, and some statues to be built.





And, the rest of the year proceeds uneventfully.  In fact, it is starting to get downright bor






GUARDS!  The population is turning against me!  Do your job!

[TrashMan]

You should have built them a church...

[Alex Heartnet]

Actually building a church would mean that I have to acknowledge that there is a higher authority on the island then El Presidente.  There is no higher authority then El Presidente!

And besides, the money wasted on churches could go into other things instead, like building a gun factory.

[TrashMan]

Heh...Last time I played that game, I had a different approach.

I fostered religion as much as I could. There was a church on every corner. Turned practicly all the population religious. It was easy to keep them happy and under my control after that.

[Dragon]

Also, if you've got an anathema on you, the church is the last building you should build. In fact, if the relations are that bad and you do have a church, you might as well fire all the priests and lock the position, or even tear the thing down if you don't need it. In general, you either pander to the bible thumpers or keep them suppressed.

[Alex Heartnet]

Don't worry, I plan on outlawing the religious faction just so I will never have to hear from them again.  This will, of course, have the side effect of creating rebels, which is in fact exactly the sort of fun I want on a Let's Play.

I'm quite surprised that I still have yet to see any anti-government activity beyond the religious anathema, which I pretty much brought on myself.  Pretty sure I set the island's political stability to 'Very Dangerous' when I first created it.

[Dragon]

Note, that's not the first Tropico. The people here are sheep. It takes a lot of time for one's happyness to drop to the point they become rebels.

[Alex Heartnet]

I have never actually played the first Tropico.  But in the scenario missions I usually play, I normally start seeing protests by year 3-4, so I am find this sheep-like population unusual.

[Dragon]

I guess that if you don't let them get used to luxury, they don't protest. When I played the oppressor, I've had few protests too. Low liberty might have something to do with it.
In general, Tropico 1 is lot harder. You'd be hard pressed to keep factions above 60%, though that's usually enough. Not to mention you have no cars nor garbage dumps, so urban planning is a lot more critical.

[Alex Heartnet]

According to the instruction manual, higher liberty also means more anti-government activity.  Being installed into power by the CIA/KGB helps a lot with lowering liberty, though.

[FireSpawn]

Thank you for your recognition of my loyal service and efforts, I shall not dissapoint you el Presidente!
And on that note, though your immortal soul is well on its path to perdition and eternally burnig flames of torment, I shall continue to serve you and our great island to the upmost of my abilities.

[NGTM-1R]

As a communist counterrevolutionary, this is going to be weird.

[Rodo]

Actually building a church would mean that I have to acknowledge that there is a higher authority on the island then El Presidente.  There is no higher authority then El Presidente!

Hahaha, nice

[z64555]

Interesting. A turbine that turns against the wind? Anybody with an adequate college degree would know that turbines that turn with the wind are far more stable, and can generate more electricity than opposing turbines.

These rebels are apparently not very educated...

[Alex Heartnet]

Interesting. A turbine that turns against the wind? Anybody with an adequate college degree would know that turbines that turn with the wind are far more stable, and can generate more electricity than opposing turbines.

These rebels are apparently not very educated...

And now, citizen, you see the general nonsense that is Rebel Radio.  Don't listen to her.  You are better off placing your faith in our glorious communist government anyway.

[Alex Heartnet]

There cannot be a crisis next week.  My schedule is already full.
- Henry Kissinger

It has come to the attention that some bizarre group known as ‘The Cult of Jesus” has infiltrated the island.  Measures will have to be taken once I can secure the needed funding.  But, I still have an island to run in the meantime.

With that in mind, I have established a Forced Literacy Program.  Read this book, or we will shove it down your throat.



Don’t toss beer bottles onto the streets, guys.  The soldiers don't like it.





We seem to have plenty of food available, but none of it actually reaches the docks.  With that in mind, I set one of my farms to produce coffee instead for export.  If need be, I can always switch it back or build another farm or ranch.



….And, here’s the freighter captain with the usual load of immigrants and high school educated specialists to speed up my education program.



HA HA HAA!  Screw you guys, I have money now!







The Cult of Jesus has been defeated!  No more will they poison the population with their….AHHH!  Why are they shooting at me?  GUARDS!









Retreat!  To the palace!  I have work to do.


Recent events have made it quite clear that the values of Tropicans have eroded over the years.  And El Presidente is the only one that can fix this problem.  With that in mind, I set to work writing and publishing a book.

(By the way Scotty, the size of your loyalist faction has just tripled because of my edict)



I hate critics.



Despite all of this, I still have a nation to run!  The town still has a housing problem, and I intend to fix it.

This is the housing of the future, guys.  There shall be no more complains about housing once I am done with the Construction Initiative.  And everyone will be able to afford living in here.





El Presidente gives a speech about the current state of the nation, the recent cultist actions, the Construction Initiative, and his new book.  He attracts a large crowd, as people step away from their daily tasks for a moment to listen to El Presidente.





And so ends another year, with another new problem that comes with it.





The military is still outnumbered, but the new equipment we just ordered, the general opinion among the military is that it is the rebels that are truly outgunned.

The militarists are complaining that their wages are less then 20 pesos, however.  I will have to look into fixing that for them.  And Trashman is still not happy – I will have to look into what he wants (or maybe just dispose of him, anyone want his job?)