Monopoly Tycoon

[connorkimbro]

(from the creators of RollerCoaster Tycoon)

I saw this game at EB today. . i was there to get something else, but i noticed this game, and it looked interesting. I havn't heard of it before, so i don't know much about it yet though. Has anyone played it? What do ya'll think about it?

[Zkribbler]

I saw it too. Roller Coaster Tycoon is a really good game. --But Monopoly Tycoon?? I dunno.

[General Ludd]

Re: Monopoly Tycoon

Originally posted by connorkimbro
(from the creators of RollerCoaster Tycoon)

I don't believe it is. (Doesn't sound like a chris sawyer game, though I suppose it could be) just about every publisher in existance has made a 'tycoon' game at some point in history, I don't believe anyone has a copyright on it.

[John-SJ]

It's funny, I have heard a couple of times that MT is "by the maker of RCT", but now that I look for the info I can't find it.

Anyway, I haven't played the game but I did read the Gamespot review, sounds like an interesting game. I might check it out sometime.

John-SJ

[Grumbold]

Monopoly Tycoon as it was previewed last year sounded fascinating but it then disappeared back into design land for a rebuild just when it was due for release. I'm definitely waiting for plenty of reviews before buying it just in case - not that I've seen it on the UK shelves yet anyway.

[connorkimbro]

I don't believe it is.

Well, put it this way. On the front of the box, they had this little bubble with the words "From the makers of Roller Coaster Tycoon!" in it. So you tell me what that means. .

[Zkribbler]

Yup, it was on duh box. I saw it too.

[Zkribbler]

Here's the review from Gamespot:

8.5
great

Requirements: PII 233 or equivalent, 64 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, 8MB VRAM, 90 MB disk space, mouse, sound card, DirectX v8.0. More Tech Information »
Difficulty:
Medium

Learning Curve:
about 1 hour

Stability:
stable

Version:
Retail

Most previous PC games based on Monopoly have gone in one of two directions: They either combine the classic property-trading game with another popular license, as in Monopoly Star Wars Edition, or they use the strong Monopoly brand and distinctive graphics to spruce up another type of game, as in Monopoly Casino. Fortunately, Monopoly Tycoon breaks the mold by using the popular board game as the base on which to build a strong and innovative, and great-looking, real-time game of business management and city building.

It's a completely new approach to the classic board game.

Monopoly Tycoon is the kind of game you might have imagined as a kid while you played the real board game. The game includes all the familiar Monopoly elements, such as buying and selling properties and utilities, collecting rent, and managing your money, but it expands on the idea by letting you build a variety of retail and residential buildings and then manage your businesses by setting stock amounts, prices, and rent. If you've ever wanted to see what an expensive Boardwalk hotel would look like up close, this is your chance. While Monopoly purists may be wary of the numerous changes and additions that have been made to the classic game, the end result is a pleasing and challenging blend of city building and economic management, all created in the familiar, lighthearted style of Monopoly.

You begin the game with a set amount of money in 1930, at which point the game's virtual city is only sparsely built. You can proceed to invest in property, utilities, and railroads, as well as build businesses. The game's easy-to-use research and analysis functions help you choose where to build different types of structures--for instance, a poll conducted on a specific city block may reveal that the various inhabitants want more bread and meat, indicating that a butcher shop or bakery would do well at that location. It's important to do some research before building, since there are more than 40 types of potential businesses, and some will be more profitable than others. The game also provides statistics on what types of people live in or commute to the city, which helps you figure out what kind of residential structures to build.


You can auction off and bid on various properties.

The property-management portion of Monopoly Tycoon comes into play when you want to lease an entire city block. You compete against up to five other business owners during the game, and at any point, one of you can flag a city block for auction, and all the others then have a chance to bid for that property. Once you've leased a block, you become the landlord and collect the rent from the businesses on that block for a period of time. If you lease all of the blocks in a color group (which represents a district or neighborhood, as in the board game), you gain the right to build hotels, along with other advantages such as lower buyout costs. As the years pass in the virtual city, new businesses become available, such as ice cream parlors, bowling alleys, and nightclubs, and eventually supermarkets, video stores, and computer stores.

Monopoly Tycoon has a wide variety of single-player scenarios with goals that range from building the largest empire by a certain year, to gaining the most popular votes to become mayor of the city. There's even a Survivor-style last-man-standing scenario, where the city inhabitants vote players out of the game one by one. The game runs in real time through day/night cycles, each of which represents five years of game time, and time can also be accelerated to speed through the occasional slow period. Most scenarios last between 30 minutes and an hour or so as the game progresses from the 1930s up through the 1990s. The game includes three difficulty levels, which adjust the strength of the opponents' artificial intelligence as well as your starting funds, and even the easiest level should provide plenty of challenge and entertainment for most players.

[General Ludd]

I just tried it out, not a particularily great game, but not bad either. Don't get it if you are expecting anything more exciting then the board game was, though.

[tishco]

right... shall i copy out 3 or 4 articles on this from strategy player... no!
it is made by deep red. as far as i knpiownothing to do with islometirci or chris sawer. it isnt out. as far as i know there is no demo. i dont think there is a box. that may be something else.

monloploy tycoon is comopletey different from monopoly.
it had a full 3d engine. it covers the entire 20the century. it is real time. it is NOTHING like monolpioly.

any more?


edit=
no hang on, its out!
stupid USA first!

[General Ludd]

There are only scenarios and multiplayer (which I haven't tried) The map is always exactly the same, the only difference between scenarios are the objectives and buildings that the city starts with, aswell as the number of opponents.


Once in the game, you go through day cycles (lasting about 10 minutes, with out time acceleration) once a day ends, the game progresses 5 years (starting at 1930) the only difference the years have, is they bring different music, allow you to build new buildings and are sometimes a part of the objectives (have the largest empire value by the begining of 1945, for example)

Although somewhat interesting, it's not a very exciting game, and the games you play will be very short. Not something to get if you are looking for a deep and involving game.

[uglyduck]

You *should* try the multiplayer!
If you elect to play against Computer opponents then the game does last a lot longer.