Tropico 3 Demo Released

[Rii]

I know a few folks have been looking forward to this; just a head's up: the 1.1GB demo can be downloaded here and lots of other places.

Maybe it's just that my PC specs are odd, but the default config left with me with a godawful mess of high output resolution, low texture detail and draw distance, no AA/AF, and shadows that were more of a distraction than anything else. Disabling shadows, lowering output resolution, setting texture detail and draw distance to maximum and enabling AA/AF produced a far more aesthetically pleasing game. It does the SupCom super-zoom thing too.

I've had a run through the tutorial and first campaign mission and overall impressions are positive. It's the original with a facelift, right down to that bug allowing a Priest to attend church whilst simultaneously delivering the sermon.

Oddly, despite the quantity of information available through the almanac, it feels rather lightweight. For example, why can't I break down a list of unemployed folks by their level of education? Also, despite how interesting it is to play with wages and policies, sometimes I wish I could just pick Joe School Teacher off the street and make him Joe Police Officer.

Definitely worth a look, both for fans of the original and anyone else who's dreamed of running a banana republic.

 

[Kelthaz]

I had never even heard of this game before. It looks pretty interesting though; I'll probably give it a look.

 

[Rii]

^ The original was released back in the dark ages, 2002 or so, and was fairly low-profile even at the time.

Incidentally this would have to be the first game I've heard of that's gone from announcement to demo without a single in-game screenshot having been released.

 

[bigdaddy]

I bought the first one, and didn't think there was enough to it to bother with a sequel nevermind a third.

 

[LutherSloan]

^ The original was released back in the dark ages, 2002 or so, and was fairly low-profile even at the time.

Incidentally this would have to be the first game I've heard of that's gone from announcement to demo without a single in-game screenshot having been released.

IGN has had a bunch of screenshots for a few months now.

 

[Rii]

^ The original was released back in the dark ages, 2002 or so, and was fairly low-profile even at the time.

Incidentally this would have to be the first game I've heard of that's gone from announcement to demo without a single in-game screenshot having been released.

IGN has had a bunch of screenshots for a few months now.

*targets LutherSloan for assassination*

Enough of your backtalk!