Tropico 2: Pirate's Cove
(under construction)
I am NOT tech support. If you have problems getting your game to run, check one of the official sites listed at the bottom.
There are enough Tropico 2 pages out there that'll give you hints on gameplay, etc. What I'll try to focus on here is the game editor, and creating your own scenario.
"Pirated Merchandise" (201K zip file) - an easy T2 scenario I've done up. Simply unzip both files into your Tropico2/Maps directory, and in the game, select "Single Games", "Scenarios", "Pirated Merchandise".
I've included a few comments in the script file to let you know what is what.
various hints & tips
- Brigantines make the best cruising ships. Late in the game when you've got the various European nations pissed at you, send out your ships in pairs, or even trios - one set for Boarding, another for Pounding, etc.
- Schooners (not Sloops or Snows) make the best settlement raiders.
- Anything and everything can be renamed - just click on it, then click on the name.
- You should really have 1 Corn Farm for every 20 working captives (wealthy captives and pirates eat elsewhere), and 1 Chuck Tent for every 40 working captives. Add to that another Corn Farm for your Brewery.
- To keep your pirates well rested and entertained, wait three months before sending a ship out again. If their ship returns from a cruise in February, don't send out the boarding call until June, etc.
- Any type of education takes three months... so any pirate in school will need another three months of rest after that.
- Skeletons are Skilled Haulers - they don't complain, they don't eat, they don't rest. But they can be expensive to raise from the dead, and ones that aren't working take up valuable space in your Stockade. Don't raise a Skeleton until you need it.
- You can select pirates (for education, edicts, accoutrements, etc) anywhere except on ships out at sea.
- The more experience a Captain has, the more likely that they will bring back Skilled workers as captives. Ships will also get Cannons as plunder.
- Keep your pirates happy - if their happiness dips below 50%, they might rebel, mutiny, or just plain refuse to work. Keep a close eye on your Log and try to pay attention to their needs.
- All entertainment buildings radiate Anarchy... good for your pirates, not good for your captives. Place a few Order structures near your entertainment areas, but not many - Order should never go beyond orange in those areas.
- Keep your pirate housing in a separate area, not too far from the Docks... make sure there's plenty of Anarchy and Defense structures around the housing.
- One skilled Bird Handler can produce birds just as quickly as two skilled Carpenters can produce a Peg Leg, or two skilled hatters can produce a Hat. Just remember that birds raise a pirate's courage, which might make them brave enough to mutiny if they're unhappy.
Scripting
Creating a map for T2 is easy... just keep playing with it until you get what you want. But a map is only half the battle - the other half is the script. Once you get used to writing them, they're easy enough, especially if you remember a few simple rules. Scripting in T2 is much like writing a quick C++ program... except you don't need to compile it. Scripts are formatted - which means you need indents, etc.
Before you play around with creating your own script, read through the "documentation.txt" file in your Maps directory, and read through the "player sample.txt". They will give you the basics for writing your own script. You might also want to read through the "T2GameTypes.txt" file, which gives you all the abbreviations you need.
- all lines - with a few special exceptions - must end with a ; character.
- a comment line is something that won't be read by the program - it's not actually part of the script. Comment lines are just what they sound like - comments to whomever reads the script, for various reasons. Maybe you want to tell the player exactly what is being done, or why.
Support / Official Sites
PopTop Software - creators of "Railroad Tycoon II", "Railroad Tycoon 3", "Tropico", & "Tropico 2: Pirate's Cove"
Gathering of Developers - publishers of all the above
Take 2 Games - tech support for all of the above
FrogCity Software - writers of "Tropico 2: Pirate's Cove"
© 1997/2008 - MasterWolf, Inc. tm