Is there a mechanism to see how happy or unhappy your lieutenants happen to be? This is sounding more and more like Crusader Kings!jztemple2 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:29 amNothing the capo did, it was a case of a disgruntled underling going postal. Now I know why some lieutenants has an assassination trait, you can use that to get rid of potentially dangerous subordinates before things like this happen. As I've said, there's a lot of depth to the game.
Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
Moderators: LawBeefaroni, Arcanis, $iljanus
- gbasden
- Posts: 7672
- Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:57 am
- Location: Sacramento, CA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
Yes, when you bring up this display, you can see their allegiance over on the right side, those circles. There's a scroll bar on that display so you can see the entire list. That info is also available when you select an individual lieutenant. Mousing over that circle will show all the possible icons and their meanings.gbasden wrote: ↑Fri Jul 29, 2022 2:53 pmIs there a mechanism to see how happy or unhappy your lieutenants happen to be? This is sounding more and more like Crusader Kings!jztemple2 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:29 amNothing the capo did, it was a case of a disgruntled underling going postal. Now I know why some lieutenants has an assassination trait, you can use that to get rid of potentially dangerous subordinates before things like this happen. As I've said, there's a lot of depth to the game.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
I just had another assassination. This guy, who apparently because he's always getting unhappy because the terror level isn't high enough, just killed another one of my lieutenants . It happened very fast, which is probably the way it is intended that someone suddenly goes postal and kills another lieutenant. It has negatively affected the allegiance of all my lieutenants, not surprising when they probably realize they could have been the the target. I boosted the lieutenants with the weaker allegiance with bigger salaries. Damn, it's expensive to run a business!
I tried to fix the situation by assassinating the loose cannon, but the event dragged down the allegiance of everyone. I do have the option to send him to the prison to surrender which will (hopefully) keep him isolated, but I'll wait as he has a lot of combat power which might come in handy. I'm sure Al Capone's boss went through these same deliberations.
I tried to fix the situation by assassinating the loose cannon, but the event dragged down the allegiance of everyone. I do have the option to send him to the prison to surrender which will (hopefully) keep him isolated, but I'll wait as he has a lot of combat power which might come in handy. I'm sure Al Capone's boss went through these same deliberations.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
In the meantime I now have an open Sicario slot on my organizational chart .
As I mentioned before, promoting someone unlocks a new trait and sometimes there is a choice between two traits. For instance, Arvin here, if promoted, can gain the kidnapping trait, or add +2 power to his strength. I'll have to see if someone else in my organization can do kidnapping.
For Rodrigo here, on the other hand, a promotion would either give me access to the Tier II Plantation, which I can research myself, or gains the trait Researcher which increases the research speed by +15% once I build a University. I already have someone who can do kidnapping, so that +15% increase in research would be an asset. I'll promote Rodrigo and start thinking about how I afford a University
As I mentioned before, promoting someone unlocks a new trait and sometimes there is a choice between two traits. For instance, Arvin here, if promoted, can gain the kidnapping trait, or add +2 power to his strength. I'll have to see if someone else in my organization can do kidnapping.
For Rodrigo here, on the other hand, a promotion would either give me access to the Tier II Plantation, which I can research myself, or gains the trait Researcher which increases the research speed by +15% once I build a University. I already have someone who can do kidnapping, so that +15% increase in research would be an asset. I'll promote Rodrigo and start thinking about how I afford a University
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
Couldn't resist posting this achievement from the game, I just got it a little while ago
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
For those who might have the game (anyone? anyone? Bueller?) the first hotfix patch has been released. They are planning a bug-squashing update on Tuesday for those with rig related issues.
Patch Notes - Cartel Tycoon v 1.0.0.3933
Changes:
Temporarily removed 2 tracks from the soundtrack that were being claimed on YouTube and Twitch. We're investigating the issue and will add the tracks back as soon as we can.
Bug Fixes
• Fixed: The dollar sign is missing in menus of Laundering Buildings and Smuggling Points.
• Fixed: Destroying the university locks all the researched buildings and upgrades the university was used for.
• Fixed: Tier III of Research is unavailable if one of the multiple Universities.
• Fixed: "Make a Deal" with Lyova Fainherz was using an incorrect drug.
• Fixed: In-game music turns off after loading a save made in Tutorial.
• Fixed: City Building menu isn't locked
• Fixed: After-death screen for Cesar doesn't show any money or drug types.
• Fixed: Technical text shown in some Event dialogues.
• Fixed: Incorrect pronouns for female Capos used on some occasions.
• Fixed: Non-existent Capos are shown on the Starting Capos screen.
• Fixed: Incorrect text shown in Enemy Gang leader menus. They're not actually managing any farms.
• Fixed: Players get Addam Gomez as Starting Capo instead of Armando Cruz
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- gbasden
- Posts: 7672
- Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:57 am
- Location: Sacramento, CA
- Unagi
- Posts: 26561
- Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
- Location: Chicago
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
I’m also a new member.
Played (probably) about half the tutorial last night and will likely start my own sandbox game today.
Played (probably) about half the tutorial last night and will likely start my own sandbox game today.
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
This is probably a good time to give some further impressions of gameplay. I've completed 25 hours on my first Sandbox Campaign. I used the default settings which I have since found out started me in an Easy location. That's fine, it's a better way to learn the game.
At this point I control three regions on the map. Those are at the bottom right of the map with white borders. The regions with yellow borders are not under the control of any gangs, while the three remaining regions with red borders are controlled by rival gangs.
These are my capo and lieutenants. I have no more open slots so this is the max size of the gang you can have. See that number "45" in the upper left? That indicates the total "power", which is basically combat strength of all the gang members combined, to be used in fights with rival gangs, police and the federales. That's important because when I try to take over a region from another gang I'll need to muster a power larger than theirs. Since power comes from lieutenants and you have a limited number of lieutenants on your roster, that "45" is the most power I'll be able to use. So far I haven't seen a rival gang with strength over 25.
I control three regions which means I control three cities. Cities are important, they allow you to build buildings that can launder money, raise the loyalty of the people plus a few special functions. The more cities means more buildings which means I can launder more money and have more opportunities to raise the people's loyalty. Also, each city has a mayor. That mayor can be asked (for a price) to lower the Terror value to zero, to loan clean money and a couple of other things. Once you ask a mayor to do something for you there's a cool down period, so having multiple mayors gives you more opportunities.
These are the game's drug processes. There is no basic requirement that a player use any particular one or all of them. However, there will be quests given by mayors you are trying to control or quests given by your lieutenant that might require some amount of the various substances, so if you don't produce them yourself you'll have to go hat in hand to try to buy them from rival gangs. Therefore it is worthwhile to diversify. Also, some processes give you a much better cash result, although they are more complex to set up and operate.
Finally, let's talk about how you win a Sandbox campaign. I'm not actually sure . I thought at first that it was by eliminating rival gangs, but now I think it's by establishing control over all ten of the regions. Now that I have that "45" power I ought to be able to crush the remaining three gangs. Then it's just a matter of convincing the remaining seven mayors to let me control their cities. But even then, why stop? Maybe like a true Sandbox campaign, there is no endgame.
Happy to answer any questions. I'll post more as I continue my Sandbox campaign.
At this point I control three regions on the map. Those are at the bottom right of the map with white borders. The regions with yellow borders are not under the control of any gangs, while the three remaining regions with red borders are controlled by rival gangs.
These are my capo and lieutenants. I have no more open slots so this is the max size of the gang you can have. See that number "45" in the upper left? That indicates the total "power", which is basically combat strength of all the gang members combined, to be used in fights with rival gangs, police and the federales. That's important because when I try to take over a region from another gang I'll need to muster a power larger than theirs. Since power comes from lieutenants and you have a limited number of lieutenants on your roster, that "45" is the most power I'll be able to use. So far I haven't seen a rival gang with strength over 25.
I control three regions which means I control three cities. Cities are important, they allow you to build buildings that can launder money, raise the loyalty of the people plus a few special functions. The more cities means more buildings which means I can launder more money and have more opportunities to raise the people's loyalty. Also, each city has a mayor. That mayor can be asked (for a price) to lower the Terror value to zero, to loan clean money and a couple of other things. Once you ask a mayor to do something for you there's a cool down period, so having multiple mayors gives you more opportunities.
These are the game's drug processes. There is no basic requirement that a player use any particular one or all of them. However, there will be quests given by mayors you are trying to control or quests given by your lieutenant that might require some amount of the various substances, so if you don't produce them yourself you'll have to go hat in hand to try to buy them from rival gangs. Therefore it is worthwhile to diversify. Also, some processes give you a much better cash result, although they are more complex to set up and operate.
Finally, let's talk about how you win a Sandbox campaign. I'm not actually sure . I thought at first that it was by eliminating rival gangs, but now I think it's by establishing control over all ten of the regions. Now that I have that "45" power I ought to be able to crush the remaining three gangs. Then it's just a matter of convincing the remaining seven mayors to let me control their cities. But even then, why stop? Maybe like a true Sandbox campaign, there is no endgame.
Happy to answer any questions. I'll post more as I continue my Sandbox campaign.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
It's three game hours after my last update. After I posted one of my buildings was attacked by a rival gang. Since I had more combat "power" than that gang I decided to destroy that gang, which is done by attacked the home city of the gang. And once I had sent enough lieutenants there so my power was greater than theirs, it was just a matter of time till the blue bar wiped out the red bar. And the gang is wiped out.
I then decided that since I had my guys assembled I might as well just attack the last two gangs. The mechanism that inhibits this continuous combat is that the Terror level increases whenever there is fighting. However, my counter to this is to ask a mayor to reset the Terror Level to zero. That costs me a level of loyalty of the people and that mayor then goes into a long cool down period. However, with three cities with a number of building, I just held charity events to build back up the loyalty rating. It was expensive in clean money but now I have lots of clean money . And with three mayors I could keep resetting the Terror level. So I destroyed the last two gangs.
So, it that some kind of bug or weakness of the game? No, because it came to me that the gangs were just obstacles to achieving cartel status. I now am not just the biggest bad guy in the country, I am the only bad guy in the country . The real meat of the game is still ahead, and that is being a Cartel Tycoon! And like so many tycoon games, my challenge is to build up my business. Once I've gotten pass the point of possible failure, now it's just seeing how creative I can be in the illicit drugs field. Sort of like having a working zoo in Planet Zoo and then to keep playing to see how big you can make it.
And this is the kind of businesses I'm running. It's a little hard to see, but I have several cannabis farms sending their product to a warehouse. Another warehouse sends trucks to collect the cannabis and send it to drying rack buildings. When it's ready, another warehouse sends trucks to pick up the dried cannabis to bring it back and then bring it to a workshop. That workshop then packages the drugs with some vegetables which, you guess, were being kept in yet another warehouse. Finally that warehouse sends the vegetables with the hidden pot to a transport company which carries it to a seaport. The reason for hiding the pot in the vegetables is that inspectors look at the outgoing cargo so I have to conceal the product.
It sounds complex but when you actually can see it running in-game it's a lot easier to understand. In the image above you can see some of the trucks running around, watching the trucks helps understand the flow. Each building can be adjusted to what good(s) it will receive so you can manage the operation. Since each warehouse has only a limited number of trucks it's important to have several warehouses involved.
I then decided that since I had my guys assembled I might as well just attack the last two gangs. The mechanism that inhibits this continuous combat is that the Terror level increases whenever there is fighting. However, my counter to this is to ask a mayor to reset the Terror Level to zero. That costs me a level of loyalty of the people and that mayor then goes into a long cool down period. However, with three cities with a number of building, I just held charity events to build back up the loyalty rating. It was expensive in clean money but now I have lots of clean money . And with three mayors I could keep resetting the Terror level. So I destroyed the last two gangs.
So, it that some kind of bug or weakness of the game? No, because it came to me that the gangs were just obstacles to achieving cartel status. I now am not just the biggest bad guy in the country, I am the only bad guy in the country . The real meat of the game is still ahead, and that is being a Cartel Tycoon! And like so many tycoon games, my challenge is to build up my business. Once I've gotten pass the point of possible failure, now it's just seeing how creative I can be in the illicit drugs field. Sort of like having a working zoo in Planet Zoo and then to keep playing to see how big you can make it.
And this is the kind of businesses I'm running. It's a little hard to see, but I have several cannabis farms sending their product to a warehouse. Another warehouse sends trucks to collect the cannabis and send it to drying rack buildings. When it's ready, another warehouse sends trucks to pick up the dried cannabis to bring it back and then bring it to a workshop. That workshop then packages the drugs with some vegetables which, you guess, were being kept in yet another warehouse. Finally that warehouse sends the vegetables with the hidden pot to a transport company which carries it to a seaport. The reason for hiding the pot in the vegetables is that inspectors look at the outgoing cargo so I have to conceal the product.
It sounds complex but when you actually can see it running in-game it's a lot easier to understand. In the image above you can see some of the trucks running around, watching the trucks helps understand the flow. Each building can be adjusted to what good(s) it will receive so you can manage the operation. Since each warehouse has only a limited number of trucks it's important to have several warehouses involved.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
So, next issue to think about... I've got three recruits available, but no slots in my organization in which to put them. They are Novato rank (entry level) so I need to either remove one of my existing novatos or take away someone further up the pyramid and do some promoting.
I've got two options. I can send someone to prison, freeing up a slot, or I can assassinate them. All except my capo, who can't be send to prison. And right now I have no one who has the assassination trait active. I've got some dissatisfied employees (the red skull in the blue circle to the right of their name) and since the only way to keep them happy is to give them more money I might use that as a decider.
I'm going to send this guy to prison (obstensibly to "lower the heat" but whatever) since he isn't that valuable and getting rid of him frees up a slot so I can promote a guy to unlock his assassination trait. By the way, I can only send my guys to prison once I've gained control of the warden, yet another nuance to keep track of.
And he's in prison.
I've got two options. I can send someone to prison, freeing up a slot, or I can assassinate them. All except my capo, who can't be send to prison. And right now I have no one who has the assassination trait active. I've got some dissatisfied employees (the red skull in the blue circle to the right of their name) and since the only way to keep them happy is to give them more money I might use that as a decider.
I'm going to send this guy to prison (obstensibly to "lower the heat" but whatever) since he isn't that valuable and getting rid of him frees up a slot so I can promote a guy to unlock his assassination trait. By the way, I can only send my guys to prison once I've gained control of the warden, yet another nuance to keep track of.
And he's in prison.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
And so I assassinated my capo, and there's now a vacancy at the top. Note that everyone has a little circle under their right ear. Some are full blue, which means their allegiance is good. Some are partial blue and partial red, which means they are discontented.
Now I've promoted a new capo. Notice how everyone's little circle is now blue. Seems that knowing promotions are available makes people happy!
Now I've promoted a new capo. Notice how everyone's little circle is now blue. Seems that knowing promotions are available makes people happy!
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- baelthazar
- Posts: 4395
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:12 am
- Location: Indiana
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
I'm pretty close to picking this up! Keep these AARs going!
My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CythUulu/videos
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
I'm probably going to take a break from the game until at least when the patch comes tomorrow. I've put in 42 hours in six days and I think I'll burn myself out if I play too much longer. Nothing says other folks can't post some of their experiencesbaelthazar wrote: ↑Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:43 pm I'm pretty close to picking this up! Keep these AARs going!
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- Kasey Chang
- Posts: 20751
- Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 4:20 pm
- Location: San Francisco, CA
- Contact:
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
Sorry for the derail, but wasn't there a "Narcos" game sort of a tie-in for the TV series?
My game FAQs | Playing: She Will Punish Them, Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, The Outer Worlds
- Max Peck
- Posts: 13761
- Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:09 pm
- Location: Down the Rabbit-Hole
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Tue Aug 02, 2022 10:53 am Sorry for the derail, but wasn't there a "Narcos" game sort of a tie-in for the TV series?
"What? What? What?" -- The 14th Doctor
It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
- Unagi
- Posts: 26561
- Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
- Location: Chicago
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
OK- so I passed the tutorial (up to the point where it said it was done teaching me), and I'm playing my first Sand Box game (well 2nd, after a quick fail).
A few comments and questions (eventually)...
I'm under the normal starting settings, and I started in Soledoso - it's a Normal difficulty starting region, but didn't and doesn't look any harder than the few Easy positions.
My Capo is Felix Vijo, aka El Granjero, and one of his skills is the "Coordinator" ability. Oh boy, this had me so confused - but more on that in a bit.
In this region to the northeast of the city, you could grab about 7 Cannabis farms (Tier II farms) along with a Village (which could be a source of vegetables) on a small peninsula that eventually leads to this region's Seaport.
To the south of the city, there was a nice Plantation (also set to growing Cannabis), a Drying Rack facility, and a Warehouse.
Just over the southern border of my region, very close to the Warehouse mentioned above, are a few other facilities: 1 more Drying Rack installation, 2 Cannabis farms, and a Transportation facility in the region called Cerro Tacarina - controlled by another gang.
Obviously, I needed the Warehouse and so I sent my entire cartel (just myself and a couple of lieutenants) down to grab it - grabbing the Plantation and Dry Rack on my way. When we got to the Warehouse - a second turf war erupted just over the border. I wasn't sure what was going on but eventually figured out that it was my Capo's coordinate power automatically kicking in, and he was starting a fight in more than just the building I sent him to. This did not sit well with the gang to my south and they came to attack my region (I believe it was the Warehouse on the border). This fight didn't end well. I wasn't sure how losing a fight would work (never lost one in the tutorial), but in this case, it was a game-ender. I'm sure it was because all my lieutenants and my Capo were in the failed fight that the game just wiped the whole cartel.
I -restart- with all of the above, even the Capo w/ Coordination.. - but keep him from joining the lieutenants in my start-of-game seizure of facilities in my starting Region.
So this game progresses. hold back on the 7 Cannabis fields to the NE because I don't need them in addition to the Plantation I own yet, as I've also started to grow a field of Vegetables in order to open a Workshop and start building out fake crates of Veggies with Cannabis packed inside. I get this started and I -finally- open up my Seaport and start shipping out Cannabis packed inside crates of Veggies.
Anyhow - time passes and I've grown a bit, but I believe I delayed too long to build a 2nd Workshop. Packing Cannabis became a bottleneck (vegetable stocks started to overflow) and also a number of gang raids raised the terror level... I started to run into a pinch on cash of all types.
I first build a Church, and next (and finally as the City is now at its personal limit) a Casino to launder money. That was maybe a problem as well... As these two facilities sucked up all my Dirty Money (in storage, in preparation for future runs of laundering) so my Hotel/Residence actually had Zero dirty money. This then led to me having a bit of a logistical problem paying off certain Upkeeps and Salaries by way of Dirty Money... So I had to start juggling.
In any case, I had my Seaport limited to only selling these fake crates of Veggies/Cannabis... And it seemed to be going well for a little while... slow - but sorta moving along... I seemed to be overproducing Veggies, so I switched the farm I had built to make the Veggies (a Tier I farm) and told it to just make Coffee Beans instead... That assignment (I actually re-set it soon, but you can't until the crop is done) produced one yield of coffee resources (I think maybe 7 units?)... that I really had no plans for. So, I eventually sent a lieutenant to personally take it to the port and see it off.
I believe this was a mistake. It seems that transporting coffee beans at the time (which seems to be a condition that can befall a Seaport?) can raise terror. I didn't see it at the time, but I sold those units of Coffee I had produced and not soon after - my precious Seaport has a condition on it called: "CONFISCATION", and it tells me that and 'Vegetable Crate' will be searched and confiscated for something like 35 days.
That was not something I had a plan for. So - now I'm thinking maybe I need to just start selling un-smuggled crates of just Dried Cannabis -- but I am pretty sure that would send my Terror through the rough, so I haven't even listed that as an approved resource on the Cargo list for the Seaport.
I am kinda treading water right now... well more like slowly sinking. I have 25 days left on the Confiscation situation. I actually went and took over the weed fields to the NE of the City, built an additional Warehouse up there, and took over the small village. Somewhere in all that I seem to have gotten a mysterious source of Chicken ?? (that's a question) but I don't look a gift chicken in the beak, so I actually export about 50 units over the Seaport and made a few Clean dollars from it. I can't really figure out where the chickens came from right now, but I think they came from the Village.
I feel like the ol' cartel is circling the drain. I turned off the Casino because I'm too poor to justify the running costs, I think I briefly turned the Curch off too. The local population's Loyalty is at a mid-level of 'Acceptance', so not a lot to play with there... The Terror Level is at 'outrage' which is OK, but I do have the two Star that comes with that... but nothing "in play" from that right now. But the point being here, I fear getting that up any higher.
Also, over the course of time - I have taken a few of the locations that were just over the border (although it's still a Region held by an enemy gang)... So I have 1 more Farm I (growing Cannabis) and the 2nd Drying Rack facility.
All of the pot farms (Tier-II) are off right now. The Plantation is running, as is the Veggie farm (Tier I), Drying Racks, Warehouses, 2 Workshops, and 1 Transportation Company. Church and Seaport are also up and running.
My total portfolio of property list is as follows:
1 City w/ Hotel, Casino, Church
1) Plantation II
1) Farm I (Vegetables)
8) Farm II (Cannabis) - all off
2) Warehouse II
2) Drying Rack
2) Workshop I
1) Transport Company
1) Village
1) Seaport
So I guess a couple of questions.
First, after reading that - any thoughts?
Next, should I be exporting dry cannabis out of the Seaport (this whole time)? I felt like that would gather way too much of a Terror level if I did that so in the open. Also, I was shocked they would discover my hard-earned Veggie-Crates. Would I have been better off never bothering with that, and just selling dried cannabis?
Any tips on paying lieutenants with dirty money? I've found that if they are stationed at a location that is in the network of a Residence with Dirty Money, vans will be sent out to supply that location with Dirty Money as needed... However, when a laundering facility has a storage area for Dirty Money - you are forced to adjust for that lack of Dirty Money (where you need it to make payments to Upkeep and Salaries).
I don't enjoy all the random lieutenant side-quests that pop up. I feel like they are too out of touch with your situation in the game. I had just completed a 2nd Warehouse when I got a call from a lieutenant suggesting that I had better build a Warehouse or a Transportation Company or else everyone was going to think I was a loser. I've had a couple of them like that, where it seemed like the request was out of touch. I think I was once told that "I should give them all raises because morale was getting low"... when in reality I had managed to make them all Zealous just before that. They seem to be almost Tutorial in nature, but also seem a little like an annoying mechanic that is forcing me to spend money THIS way or suffer! ha HA!!
Terror increase seems a little high for the sake of balance, I know I can 'Mayor-favor' to have it reduced, but population Loyalty is the cost and that is also something that comes at a price to acquire.
Any tips on cash-flow, laundering 'control', & terror level control, ?
Any info on chickens?
Do you smuggle drugs in crates or just send em exposed?
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
It's all a bit much to follow, but I'd say primarily, in the beginning don't attack buildings owned by another gang. Getting into fights with another gang early on is dangerous until you have enough lieutenants to always win fights. If a gang does attack one of your properties, it's best to not even oppose them. They really don't care if you fight back or not. And once a fight starts, unless you are going to win it, move all your lieutenants and capo away from it. The game is about business, not combat.
And just so I don't forget, I've found that the Cartel Tycoon Discord site is pretty good on answering questions quickly using the player-tips-eng channel.
You'll find in the in-game manual that seaports and border crossings are bad places from which to export, sending illegal goods raises the terror level, hell, even sending out coffee raises the terror level. And even sending out dried cannabis in vegetable crates risks confiscation. I played my first (and so far only) sandbox game in the southernmost region where I have a river pier. River pier and airports/airdromes are the best places to use. Also, contact the guerrilla camp down in the southwest. Once you are able to complete their quests and control them there is an airfield from which you can send goods.Unagi wrote: ↑Tue Aug 02, 2022 10:02 pm Next, should I be exporting dry cannabis out of the Seaport (this whole time)? I felt like that would gather way too much of a Terror level if I did that so in the open. Also, I was shocked they would discover my hard-earned Veggie-Crates. Would I have been better off never bothering with that, and just selling dried cannabis?
That southernmost region (Amado) is also rated Easy and should be the one any newbie should start on.
This is an area that's somewhat confusing until you have played the game a while. Early on you're going to be hurting for money, then you'll develop more dirty money resources but be short clean money, then eventually you'll have plenty of both. You'll want early on to build a residence whose radius covers your work buildings (farms, warehouses) so you can pay them with dirty money. Then make one of the connections from that residence to a smuggling point (river pier, airport, etc) so any money that point makes flows into the residence. Then make another connection from that residence to a money laundering building. That way dirty money vans automatically travel to replenish the laundry building. Anytime a lieutenant isn't actually doing something, put them at the residence and switch their salary to dirty money. If you need them somewhere else and can't pay them with dirty money, switch to clean.Unagi wrote: ↑Tue Aug 02, 2022 10:02 pm Any tips on paying lieutenants with dirty money? I've found that if they are stationed at a location that is in the network of a Residence with Dirty Money, vans will be sent out to supply that location with Dirty Money as needed... However, when a laundering facility has a storage area for Dirty Money - you are forced to adjust for that lack of Dirty Money (where you need it to make payments to Upkeep and Salaries).
The lieutenant quests if fulfilled make all the lieutenants happy, so that's the benefit. But feel free to ignore them if you don't have the ability to satisfy the requirement easily. You can always keep lieutenants happy by paying them more. And once you control the prison, you'll be able to send lieutenants there to be incarcerated. Once in the clink they don't have to payed and you free up a slot.Unagi wrote: ↑Tue Aug 02, 2022 10:02 pm I don't enjoy all the random lieutenant side-quests that pop up. I feel like they are too out of touch with your situation in the game. I had just completed a 2nd Warehouse when I got a call from a lieutenant suggesting that I had better build a Warehouse or a Transportation Company or else everyone was going to think I was a loser. I've had a couple of them like that, where it seemed like the request was out of touch. I think I was once told that "I should give them all raises because morale was getting low"... when in reality I had managed to make them all Zealous just before that. They seem to be almost Tutorial in nature, but also seem a little like an annoying mechanic that is forcing me to spend money THIS way or suffer! ha HA!!
Terror will slowly decrease on its own, so the idea is to not have so much continuous combat that it breaks through the various thresholds and becomes an issue. You can use the mayor to remove all Terror, but as you note, it comes at a price. Be aware that you can also raise loyalty by buying from villages, although that will take clean money. And you can switch to buy different item types from villages, including ones you can use to package illicit goods.
I've mentioned a few tips above, but overall remember that you'll need clean money for research and for buying from the villages. So use it very sparing early on. Various lieutenants will unlock parts of the tech tree for you without having to research so be sure to note those traits when looking to employ someone. Your first buildings should be ones that combine laundering with loyalty increase ability. And I've mentioned Terror Level control above, but ultimately sometimes it's better to just not get into fights and let the terror level go down on it's own.
They are nothing to squawk about . Producing legal goods for shipping through your seaport is a good way to make a small stream of clean money, but it is slow. Later on it will not be worth the bother.
As I've mentioned, you only need to use crates at seaports, otherwise it's not worth the trouble. Oh, and border crossings. You'll need crates there. But try to avoid using seaports and border crossings early on unless you can't avoid it.
Some final tips...
- Go for the simpler operations early on. Opium requires no processing and unless you're trying to take it through a seaport or a border crossing there's no hassle.
- Put all your operations under the radius of a residence early on to simplify paying with dirty money.
- Keep your lieutenants at the residences and paid with dirty money whenever possible.
- Use the overlay tool at the bottom right that lets you highlight the presence of various items on the map. Keep track of where your dirty money is and how it is being delivered.
- Do NOT let you residences run out of money if they are paying building upkeep, lieutenant salaries or shipping to laundering facilities.
- Use the special skills of your lieutenants whenever possible. More than one lieutenant has an opium growing skill that can significantly speed up production.
- Use the other overlay tool that can highlight caution and warning locations to keep track of problem areas.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- Unagi
- Posts: 26561
- Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
- Location: Chicago
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
Thanks for the quick reply!
I do understand the rule of keeping things inside the Residence ring of influence (the Hotel for me) and then making additional connections to add something that was outside that range. My problem with the Dirty Money was mainly that my two laundering facilities (Church & Casino) were the 2 other buildings in the city. So, they were automatically draining my Hotel of its stored Dirty Money, making it so that I couldn't pay for anything in Dirty Money.
Obviously, if I was more flush with Dirty Money, I would not have noticed it.
Also, I do understand not to attack an enemy gang right away... Mine was a cautionary tale of using a Capo/Lieutenant with the Coordinator ability. They will (without asking) just start a war in any contested location near them at the same time as the fight you sent them to. So, really I was just trying to warn other people: Be careful about where you send someone that has the Coordinator ability.
It's kinda disappointing that crates are not more 'powerful' at the Seaport... But perhaps it's just because I sold a little Coffee, and I could have kept going with the Crates. From what you are telling me, it sounds like it was always just a matter of time before the RNG caught up with me and I got a Confiscation tag on the Seaport.
I would be happier with the Lieutenant quests if they didn't seem to be so entirely unconnected to the state of my game. I don't want to be told my Lieutenants are all upset with me and I had better give them all raises if I had just gotten everyone maxed out on their loyalty. Or that I had better build a new X building when I had literally just built a new X building 2 minutes before.
I think that this Region is bumped up from "Easy" to "Normal" because of the Seaport and the push of Cannabis production.
Instead of researching the Workshop early on, I think I would have been better off with an Aerodrome since my Region only has the Seaport - and taking over another region (with a River Dock) wasn't in the cards at the start of this game.
Also, I still don't understand how I came into possession of Chickens. They are not an option in the Village (which I suspect strongly is the source), as it will either produce Veggies, Opium, or Coffee.
I do understand the rule of keeping things inside the Residence ring of influence (the Hotel for me) and then making additional connections to add something that was outside that range. My problem with the Dirty Money was mainly that my two laundering facilities (Church & Casino) were the 2 other buildings in the city. So, they were automatically draining my Hotel of its stored Dirty Money, making it so that I couldn't pay for anything in Dirty Money.
Obviously, if I was more flush with Dirty Money, I would not have noticed it.
Also, I do understand not to attack an enemy gang right away... Mine was a cautionary tale of using a Capo/Lieutenant with the Coordinator ability. They will (without asking) just start a war in any contested location near them at the same time as the fight you sent them to. So, really I was just trying to warn other people: Be careful about where you send someone that has the Coordinator ability.
It's kinda disappointing that crates are not more 'powerful' at the Seaport... But perhaps it's just because I sold a little Coffee, and I could have kept going with the Crates. From what you are telling me, it sounds like it was always just a matter of time before the RNG caught up with me and I got a Confiscation tag on the Seaport.
I would be happier with the Lieutenant quests if they didn't seem to be so entirely unconnected to the state of my game. I don't want to be told my Lieutenants are all upset with me and I had better give them all raises if I had just gotten everyone maxed out on their loyalty. Or that I had better build a new X building when I had literally just built a new X building 2 minutes before.
I think that this Region is bumped up from "Easy" to "Normal" because of the Seaport and the push of Cannabis production.
Instead of researching the Workshop early on, I think I would have been better off with an Aerodrome since my Region only has the Seaport - and taking over another region (with a River Dock) wasn't in the cards at the start of this game.
Also, I still don't understand how I came into possession of Chickens. They are not an option in the Village (which I suspect strongly is the source), as it will either produce Veggies, Opium, or Coffee.
- Unagi
- Posts: 26561
- Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:14 pm
- Location: Chicago
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
Going to answer a couple of my own questions here.
However, the group of farms up there are Tier II, which doesn't allow me to switch to chicken. Perhaps they were simply in storage when I took over one of the buildings.
Oh, and something I discovered... The lieutenant ability Cannabis Cultivator also extends to another Tier II crop, avocados. So by putting someone with that skill in the village that is surrounded by Tier II farms, I'm getting a bonus on all the avocado farms I'm running. I haven't checked if applies down-tier.
Under the logistics of the Hotel is a toggle where you can turn off the logistics service for the Church, Casino, etc.Unagi wrote: ↑Wed Aug 03, 2022 8:27 am My problem with the Dirty Money was mainly that my two laundering facilities (Church & Casino) were the 2 other buildings in the city. So, they were automatically draining my Hotel of its stored Dirty Money, making it so that I couldn't pay for anything in Dirty Money.
I'm still not sure where mine came from, but I see that eventually, my Farms will make them (I thought I had checked there before) .
However, the group of farms up there are Tier II, which doesn't allow me to switch to chicken. Perhaps they were simply in storage when I took over one of the buildings.
Oh, and something I discovered... The lieutenant ability Cannabis Cultivator also extends to another Tier II crop, avocados. So by putting someone with that skill in the village that is surrounded by Tier II farms, I'm getting a bonus on all the avocado farms I'm running. I haven't checked if applies down-tier.
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
- jztemple2
- Posts: 11632
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:52 am
- Location: Brevard County, Florida, USA
Re: Cartel Tycoon - survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade
Does Cartel Tycoon seem to take a long time to upload to the Steam cloud at the end of a session? Mine does and it's only that game.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold