Tropico (series)

Last updated
Tropico
Tropico 4 logo.jpg
Logo for Tropico 4
Genre(s) City-building, construction and management simulation
Developer(s) PopTop Software
BreakAway Games
Frog City Software
Haemimont Games
Limbic Entertainment
Realmforge Studios
Publisher(s) Gathering of Developers
Feral Interactive
Kalypso Media
Platform(s)
First release Tropico
April 21, 2001
Latest release Tropico 6
March 29, 2019

Tropico is a city-building construction and management simulation video game series created by PopTop Software. The franchise was introduced in 2001 with Tropico . With the exception of Tropico 2: Pirate Cove , the games task players to assume control of "El Presidente", a ruler who runs an island-based banana republic. He must construct infrastructure, draft policies, forge diplomatic relationships with other nations in the world, and keep their citizens content.

Contents

Haemimont Games led the development of three Tropico games from 2009 to 2014. Limbic Entertainment developed Tropico 6 (2019). Franchise owner Kalypso Media subsequently assigned one of its internal developers, Realmforge Studios, to develop all future content for the franchise.

History

Gathering of Developers (2001-2003)

Tropico was developed by PopTop Software, the company behind Railroad Tycoon II . For the game's development, the team's size increased from six employees to ten, including seven artists and three programmers. The idea for the first Tropico is to create a city-building game and integrate political elements into it. [1] Elaborating on the concept of the game, PopTop's Franz Felsl said that the player's "job is social engineering as much as it is urban planning and industry building". [2] Publisher Gathering of Developers announced the game in April 2000. [3] A Dreamcast version of the game was announced but ultimately cancelled by the developer. [4] Tropico is a criticial success. Its depiction of serious political issues through tongue-in-cheek humour was praised. [5]

BreakAway Games developed the game's first expansion, Tropical Paradise, which was later bundled with the base game and released as Tropico: Mucho Macho Edition in June 2008. [6] [7] A sequel, Tropico 2: Pirate Cove , was released in 2003. Development of the game commenced in 2001. [8] PopTop Software decided to focus on the development of Railroad Tycoon III , development of the game was instead handled by Frog City Software. [9] [10] The game took a direct direction from the first game, instead tasking the player to oversee a pirate den during the 17th century. [11]

Kalypso Media (2008-present)

The series stayed dormant for years until Kalypso Media acquired the intellectual property rights from Take-Two Interactive. Tropico 3 was announced in November 2008, with Bulgarian company Haemimont Games leading its development. It is the first 3D Tropico game, and the first to be released for video game consoles. The premise of the game is more similar to the first game than Pirate Cove, featuring the return of "El Presidente". [12] Tropico 3 was released in October 2009. [13] Haemimont returned for the development of Tropico 4, which introduced new gameplay features such as a narrative campaign and natural disasters. [5] While Tropico 4 received generally positive reviews, it was frequently criticized for being too similar to its predecessor. [14] Its use of legacy code also resulted in glitches and software bugs. As a result, the team decided to not reuse any codes from previous games, and started from scratch, creating assets from the ground up for Tropico 5. The game also introduces a new era-based progression system. [15] It was a commercial success for Kalypso, reaching sales of "over six figures" during its launch period. [16] Kalypso also released Tropico Dictator Pack, which bundled the first four games together, in September 2014. [17]

German developer Limbic Entertainment led the development of the sixth game in the series. For the first time in the series, Tropico 6 was powered by Unreal Engine. Instead of settling only one island, the game tasks players to manage an archipelago. [18] [19] The game was released in 2019. In December 2020, Kalypso Media announced that it had fully acquired Realmforge Studios, most known for being the creators of the Dungeons series. It also announced that Realmforge Studios will be the developer of all future content for the franchise, starting with the "Caribbean Skies" DLC for Tropico 6. [20] Nine Worlds Studios, based in Munich, was also set up in 2021 by Kalypso Media to work on future Tropico games. [21]

Games

YearTitleDevelopersPlatform(s)
2001 Tropico PopTop Software Windows, Mac OS X
2003 Tropico 2: Pirate Cove Frog City Software Windows, Mac OS X
2009 Tropico 3 Haemimont Games Windows, Xbox 360
2011 Tropico 4 Haemimont GamesWindows, Xbox 360
2014 Tropico 5 Haemimont Games Linux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
2019 Tropico 6 Limbic Entertainment Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreamcast</span> Home video game console

The Dreamcast is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. The Dreamcast was Sega's final console; its 2001 discontinuation ended the company's eighteen years in the console market.

<i>Sonic Adventure 2</i> 2001 video game

Sonic Adventure 2 is a 2001 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It is a direct sequel to Sonic Adventure (1998) and a part of the larger Sonic the Hedgehog series. The plot centers on Sonic, Tails and Knuckles as they attempt to save the world from Shadow the Hedgehog, Doctor Eggman and Rouge the Bat. The stories are divided into three gameplay styles: fast-paced platforming for Sonic and Shadow, multidirectional shooting for Tails and Eggman and action-adventure exploration for Knuckles and Rouge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">THQ</span> American video game company

THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initially working in the toy business, it expanded into the video game business through several acquisitions before shifting its focus away from toys entirely. THQ continued its trend of acquiring companies throughout the 2000s.

<i>Tropico</i> (video game) 2001 simulation video game

Tropico is a construction and management simulation video game developed by PopTop Software and published by Gathering of Developers in April 2001. Feral Interactive has developed and published a number of the games in the series for Mac OS X. The games see the player taking the role of "El Presidente", who rules a fictional Caribbean island country named Tropico during the Cold War era and beyond.

<i>Tropico 2: Pirate Cove</i> 2003 video game

Tropico 2: Pirate Cove is a city-building game developed by Frog City Software and published by Gathering of Developers in April 2003. It is the sequel to Tropico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gathering of Developers</span> American video game publisher

Gathering of Developers, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in New York City. Founded by Mike Wilson and associates in January 1998 and originally based in Dallas, the company was acquired by Take-Two Interactive in May 2000. Between May 2000 and March 2001, Gathering of Developers also operated a division, On Deck Interactive, which acted as their mass market label. In August 2001, Take-Two Interactive closed Gathering of Developers' Dallas headquarters and moved the label in-house, to New York City. The label was shut down in September 2004, with all assets consumed by Global Star Software.

2001 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Madden NFL 2002, NBA Live 2002, NBA 2K2, WWF Smackdown! Just Bring It, Capcom vs. SNK 2,Dead or Alive 3, Final Fantasy X, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, Grand Theft Auto III, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Myst III: Exile, Crazy Taxi 2, SSX Tricky, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Sonic Adventure 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, and Virtua Fighter 4. New intellectual properties include Ace Attorney, Advance Wars,Animal Crossing, Burnout, Gothic, Black & White, Devil May Cry, Fatal Frame, Ghost Recon,Halo, Jak and Daxter, Max Payne, Oni, Onimusha: Warlords, Operation Flashpoint, Pikmin, Pro Evolution Soccer, Red Faction, Serious Sam, and Tropico.

<i>Resident Evil – Code: Veronica</i> 2000 video game

Resident Evil – Code: Veronica is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom and originally released for the Dreamcast in 2000. It is the fourth main installment in the Resident Evil series and the first to debut on a separate platform from the PlayStation. The story takes place three months after the events of Resident Evil 2 (1998) and the concurrent destruction of Raccoon City as seen in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999). It follows Claire Redfield and her brother Chris Redfield in their efforts to survive a viral outbreak at a remote prison island in the Southern Ocean and a research facility in Antarctica. The game retains the traditional survival horror controls and gameplay of previous installments; however, unlike the pre-rendered backgrounds of previous games, Code: Veronica uses real-time 3D environments and dynamic camera movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frontier Developments</span> British video game studio (founded 1994)

Frontier Developments plc. is a British video game developer founded by David Braben in January 1994 and based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. Frontier develops amusement park management simulators Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo, and has produced several games in David Braben's Elite series, including Elite Dangerous. The company takes its name from the earliest titles in the Elite series with which it was involved, a port of Frontier: Elite II and development of Frontier: First Encounters. In 2013, the company was listed on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange. It published third-party games under the Frontier Foundry label between 2019 and 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frog City Software</span> American video game developer

Frog City Software, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Francisco, California. The company was founded in 1994 by Rachel Bernstein, Bill Spieth and Ted Spieth, acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2003, became part of the 2K label in 2005, and was closed down in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PopTop Software</span> American video game developer

PopTop Software Inc. was an American video game developer based in Fenton, Missouri. The company was founded in 1993 by Phil Steinmeyer, acquired by Take-Two Interactive in July 2000, became part of the 2K label in January 2005, and was closed down in March 2006. It was known for its construction and management simulation games.

<i>Half-Life</i> (series) Video game series

Half-Life is a series of first-person shooter (FPS) games created by Valve. The games combine shooting combat, puzzles and storytelling.

<i>Jagged Alliance 3</i> 2023 video game

Jagged Alliance 3 is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Haemimont Games and published by THQ Nordic. The game was released for Windows on July 14, 2023. The game was also released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 16, 2023. It is the first mainline entry in the Jagged Alliance series since Jagged Alliance 2 (1999).

<i>Tropico 3</i> 2009 video game

Tropico 3 is a video game developed by Haemimont Games and published by Kalypso Media. Like the previous games in the series, Tropico 3 is a construction and management simulation as well as a political simulation game, with emphasis on city building. As a thematic sequel to Tropico, the game attempts to return to the roots of the series, which puts the player into the shoes of "El Presidente" – a ruler governing over an island banana republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalypso Media</span> German video game publisher

Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Claymore Game Studios, and Nine Worlds Studios. Kalypso is best known for publishing Tropico, Sudden Strike, Dungeons and Railway Empire series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limbic Entertainment</span> German video game developer

Limbic Entertainment GmbH is a German video game developer based in Langen. The studio was founded in 2002.

Nacon is a French video game company based in Lesquin. It designs and distributes gaming accessories, and publishes and distributes video games for various platforms. In 2020, Bigben Group was consolidated to form Nacon.

<i>Surviving Mars</i> 2018 video game

Surviving Mars is a city building survival video game initially developed by the Bulgarian studio Haemimont Games, and later by Abstraction Games, and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released on Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 15, 2018. The player serves as an overseer who must build a colony on Mars and ensure the survival of the colonists. A spiritual successor, Surviving the Aftermath, was released in 2021.

<i>Dungeons 3</i> 2017 Construction and management simulation video game

Dungeons 3 is a video game developed by Realmforge Studios and published by Kalypso Media. It was released on October 13, 2017, for Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and for Nintendo Switch on September 15, 2022. It is the sequel to the 2015 video game Dungeons 2 and the third installment of the Dungeons series.

<i>Stranded: Alien Dawn</i> 2023 video game

Stranded: Alien Dawn is a survival simulation video game developed by Haemimont Games and published by Frontier Foundry. The game was released for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S in April 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Brent (October 10, 2001). "Postmortem: Poptop Software's Tropico". Game Developer . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Tropico Interview". IGN . June 12, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  3. ↑ Ajani, Amer (April 26, 2000). "PopTop Announces Tropico". GameSpot . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  4. ↑ Chau, Anthony (April 12, 2001). "Tropico For Dreamcast Gets Ousted". IGN . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Moss, Richard (November 10, 2015). "From SimCity to, well, SimCity: The history of city-building games". Ars Technica . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Tropico Expansion". IGN . October 27, 2001. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  7. ↑ Simons, Tood (June 28, 2002). "Tropico: Mucho Macho Edition". IGN . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  8. ↑ Walker, Trey (May 17, 2006). "Tropico 2: Pirate Cove announced". GameSpot . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ Parker, Sam (January 14, 2003). "Tropico 2: Pirate Cove Preview". GameSpot . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  10. ↑ Thorsen, Tor (March 7, 2006). "PopTop folded into Firaxis?". GameSpot . Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  11. ↑ Walker, Trey (May 17, 2006). "Tropico 2: Pirate Cove announced". GameSpot . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  12. ↑ Walker, John (November 17, 2018). "Tropico 3: Dictate Your Thoughts". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  13. ↑ Park, Andrew (September 22, 2009). "We Just Played Tropico 3". GameSpot . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  14. ↑ Sayed, Rashid (March 4, 2014). "Tropico 5 Interview: Gameplay Changes, Multiplayer, Campaign And More". Gaming Bolt. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Starting From Scratch: Haemimont Games' Tropico 5 postmortem". Game Developer . March 17, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  16. ↑ Sliwinski, Alexander (July 15, 2016). "Tropico 5 launch most successful in series history" . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  17. ↑ Kamarli, Luke (September 3, 2014). "Tropico Dictator Pack Bundles Together Tropico 1-4". IGN . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  18. ↑ Peel, Jeremy (July 17, 2017). "Making it in Unreal: how new developers rebuilt a banana republic for Tropico 6". PCGamesN . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  19. ↑ Vega, Sin (April 28, 2021). "What 20 years of Tropico has left me wanting". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  20. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (December 3, 2020). "Kalypso Media fully acquires Realmforge Studios". Gameindustry.biz . Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  21. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffery (October 1, 2021). "Kalypso announces new studio in Munich". Gameindustry.biz . Retrieved October 21, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.