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FIRST LOOK: Tropico's Political Edicts
An Exercise in Pure SpeculationAlthough political edicts will likely play a major role in Tropico's gameplay, not much has been written about them. Using what limited information was available in various game previews, and relying mostly on speculation and guesses, I have compiled a summary of the various edicts. In order for any of your edicts to be successful, you will need to have support from the various factions as well as leadership and persuasion skills. Each edict will have a monetary cost, so if there is no money in your coffers, you won't be able to pass any edicts.
Cast on individuals
Draft - Build your army through the draft. You must first form a people's army in order to have a draft. Also, don't expect all draftees to serve their country willingly. A few draftees may head to the hills to join the rebels.
Bribe - Bribe your citizens to make them do the things you want them to do. The success of a bribe will depend primarily on the character attributes of the individual you wish to bribe.
Brand heretic - A heretic is basically anyone who opposes your enlightened leadership.
Arrest - Throw troublesome citizens into jail. (Requires a police force and a jail)
Deport - If your jails are full, and you need to get rid of that pesky citizen who is challenging your leadership, ship him or her out of the country. Or as Phil might say, give them an inner-tube and a good push in the general direction of Florida.
Eliminate - Allows you to peg a troublesome citizen for "early retirement," an order to be carried out by a nearby soldier. On the upside, you clean your hands of the problems the citizen is causing. On the down side, if the island finds out, it won't be good for your public relations. And if other nearby citizens see it happen, it could cause more trouble than it eliminates.
Cast on a location:
Patrol - If you have an army, you can assign some of your soldiers to guard various buildings or areas of land from vicious rebels. Protect your palace - if you lose this you lose the game!
Investigate - If you suspect that there are rebels living in the wilderness then send some soldiers to investigate that area.
Prospect - This will allow you to find the excellent mining spots. You can mine for gold, iron or bauxite, but will need to prospect the location to know if these minerals are in the land. There are also eight types of crops in the game. Whether or not you need to prospect for the best farming locales is undetermined.
General policy:
Host international summit - Bring the world leaders to your country for a summit. To what end, I don't know…
Bust the unions - If the teamsters have gotten too powerful, you can break them up.
Announce air pollution standards - Tourists don't want to come to a smog-filled land. Environmentalists are worried about the rain forest. If your factories are causing too much pollution, announce standards. This could hurt profits from some of your industries and anger the unions.
US and/or USSR:
Denounce - If you have a pact with the US or USSR and you want to break that pact, issue the Denounce edict. This will sever all ties with the particular country. Expect sever repercussions from the country you denounce!
Form economic pact - Form an alliance with a particular country.
Praise - Probably a bit similar to bribe, only more politically correct. If a country is angry with you, why not praise them?
Share technology with - They give you theirs if you give them yours…
Form military alliance - Perhaps you can call upon one of the superpowers for military support or funding.
Tourism:
Run national tourism ad campaign - Spend dollars to get those tourists to your island! You will need to have the entertainment buildings to support tourists if you want to increase tourism.
Host Mardi Gras celebration - This will build the morale of your citizens as well as draw tourists to the island. Don't expect the church to be real happy with such a wild party as Mardi Gras, however. You may lose religious support if you host a Mardi Gras.
Host Olympics - Your economy will need to be booming in order to win the right to host the Olympics. You will need to have the arenas, the hotels for visitors and athletes and airports and docks for people to get to your island en masse.
Government stances:
Hold election - If you dare, you may run a democratic form of government. This may make the Tropicans happy to be able to choose their dictator, but if they aren't happy with you, don't expect to be in office for too long.
Form people's army - You can't defend your island without an army.
Declare martial law - Last ditch effort at saving your own skin!
Religion:
Hold inquisition - Ferret out those heretics, dissenters and others who oppose your leadership.
Have book-burning - The opposite of the literacy program. If your citizens are too smart, no one will want to take the blue-collar jobs. Perhaps a book burning will do the trick!
Request papal visit - Get the Pope to visit your island!
Miscellaneous:
Contraception ban - If your island's population is dwindling, you can introduce this ban to promote child births. You will need support from the church in order for this edict to be effective.
Literature program - Certain jobs will require certain levels of education. If none of the Tropicans are smart enough to be teachers or doctors, the quality of life on your island will suffer. A literacy program my help your Tropicans get the education they need to fill these programs.
Sensitivity training - ???
Prohibition - Too much public drunkenness? Enact a prohibition. But don't expect your tourists to be too happy with you.
There will likely be more edicts once the game is completed. At one point, Phil Steinmeyer said there could be as many as 60 edicts in the game.
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