Last week we announced the winners of our Sandbox Stories contest on Discord! Check out their stories and Sandbox Settings below!
ːcartel_loveː Gentlemen of Los Grandes by MinaBlack [expand type="details"] The Los Caballeros de los Grandes cartel originally assembled as a ring of kidnappers known as "Los Arañas" (The Spiders) was described having a higher social background than most other traffickers of the time. The group were implicated in numerous kidnappings and use the profits to fund their drug trafficking empire. The assembled group first involved itself in trafficking marijuana. Due to the product's low profit rate and large amounts required to traffic to cover resources, the fledgling group decided to shift their focus to a more lucrative drug, cocaine. In order to launder the incoming money of the trafficking operations, the cartel heavily invested its funds into legitimate business ventures like banks, as well as front companies to mask the money. Their goal is to control the world's marijuana and cocaine market and build a $7 billion a year criminal enterprise.
Early game: - Start in Los Grandes region - Choose a starting capo with kidnapping ability - Hire lieutenants with kidnapping ability only (even the ability is not yet activated) - Spend the starting dirty and legal money for anything except building illegal businesses. - Collect $70,000 thru kidnapping (starting legal money not included) - Once you collected the money, you can start building illegal businesses. - Traffic illegal goods: Marijuana and Cocaine only - Traffic legal goods: Anything - You can trade to villages and gangs anything for illegal and legal goods. - You must traffic your illegal goods by packaging it thru legal goods only. (Don't traffic the illegal goods without container)
Late game: - Must have banks to all cities acquired - Must leave good impressions with other gangs - Avoid violence as necessary and keep the terror low all the time - Must rely on discreet approach (e.g. assassination, burn character, recruit other gang leader etc.) to conquer other regions. - Must have $7 billion a year profit (sum of illegal and legal money per year) Hash:
ːcartel_loveː A Change of Heart by ma417rio [expand type="details"] ● The Story : Our story begins in Los Grandes , once known as the holiest city in the country , started to be not so holy after all . In the freezing Morning of December 23rd 1989 , a shocking article hit the newspapers like a thunder , claiming to know the real sources of income of the Patriarch . The public didn't make anything of this not believing a word of what was said in that article , the journalist that wrote the article posted on La Boz newspaper said he had a lot more information to divulge . After 2 days the journalist was found dead in a river near Amado , and the bombing of La Boz really raised some eyebrows . Soon after people started pointing fingers at José the Country Patriarch to be the guy in charge of these events . The head of Ejército Nacional couldn't take much of this attention to risk his connection to the Pope , he decided to raid all his palaces and villas and track him down , but the Patriarch was a step ahead of the Policía , He moved his entire assets to Tensacá , and thought maybe it's a good time to rethink all of this and change for the better , all while laying low and preaching in the newly constructed Cathedral trying to gain people's trust back , building shelters for the homeless and helping the one's in need so that in the event of him getting caught by the Ejército Nacional , the people may help him out..
Nowadays the Patriarch uses the service he provides for the people to mask out the newly discovered drug trade that he created . He may have left some stuff to perish in the past but new sins come forth. Now it's up to you if he's a killer or not . | ● The Main Quest : Total Face Swap - After what felt like an eternity our Capo decided he doesn't want to play the bad guy anymore and left corrupción to rot in the desert , or did he? It's your choice! But beware choosing how you complete the story may have consequences . Try and stay under the radar and don't attract too much heat , make some friends and less enemies 1) The calm after the storm - Lower the terror bar to zero and raise the loyalty a little 2) Pure people don't exist - Create a new production chain within 30 days 3) Cleared for takeoff - Sell 30 goods at aeropuerto using lieutenants 4) The Snitch | Members of your association found the snitch , good thing we still have connections with the warden back at the prison , time to introduce him to his newest friend - choose a lieutenant to surrender to the Los Grandes Prison 5) Dirty Hands I | Get in contact with the rest of the cartels - talk with all 8 rival cartels and leave a good impression 6) Dirty Hands II | Friends do business with each other - complete 4 deals with rival cartels , by buying from some and selling to the others 7) Dirty Hands III - Open a Casino in Tensacá using dirty money and run a donation 8) Dirty Business - Launder 40,000 $ at the casino 9) Dirty World - Subjucate 2 rival cartels 10) Cleansed Soul | With all the sins I have caused , would the money that I gave away pay for my debts? Will all the lives I have changed pay for the ones I took? Oh help me dear god , I know I made some bad decisions, that's why I'm trying to make them right, please guide me! What should I do next? I know! I need to turn myself in to the authorities and tell them all I know about my Cartel , thank you God for guiding me! - surrender your capo to the authorities (I know it's not possible but just go along with it 🙂 ) Spoiler ahead : If you got the good ending the capo will not die , if you got the bad ending the capo will die and you'll lose a part of your empire Endings : - A change for the better | 🔵Finish the main quest while having high loyalty without drawing too much attention to you're organization - The change never came | 🔴Finish the main quest without changing and sticking to the same old brutal ways of raising terror amongst people
● Secondary objectives - The man of the people | Raise your loyalty bar to the fullest (Achievements) - The preacher becomes the other thing... | Have one of your lieutenants killed - Old Habits | Preach at least 10 times in any building using José - What a wonderful donation! | Donate to the Cathedral's funding box - Private Goons | Hire 5 lieutenants - Private Militia | Reach terms with the Guerillas - Different Perspective | Establish your reign over 5 Regions - Holy Monoply | Have 5 churches built in 5 different cities
🟢 MAKE SURE - to start - as José María Casadevall (The Abilities are up to you , but Preaching MUST be selected) - in Tensacá - to build a cathedral in Tensacá
- to name your Capo as " The Great White " {easter egg to a Romanian High Priest that is corrupt} - to name your Cartel " The Great White Clan " - to paste in the hash 😄 🟢 The Hash :
ːcartel_loveː Breaking Mad by casasa viruz [expand type="details"]Story: A Chemistry professor of Tensaca HS, Javier Gutierres has just recently got diagnosed with the horrible disease of Cancer, he was never an important person and that reflected on his poor paycheck. He had no way of paying his debts and he was too Honorable to beg, after seeing a documentary on meth he decided that was his answer as he had 3 years to make 1 million of cash to pay for his medical bills. He got in contact with and ex student who knew about the streets and how they work, Took out all of his savings (50k) to invest in his new "business" and started cooking.
The Quest is to get 1M Clean cash in 3 years (Jan 1, 1993) only by cooking meth and selling them to gangs (don't export). Also you shall only build enough to start producing meth and use sand roads (no warehouses, residences, hotels or anything else) everything must be manual and dont research anything else
Start as"EL PADRE" in Tensaca Check all the deals with the gangs and make sure that at least one buys meth if not start again. Hire one of the 3 available LT's and don't hire anymore in the whole game change the LT nickname to Pinkguy/Pinkgirl, demolish the hotel, Build a set up for meth in the Desert of tensaca (again no warehouses everything must be manual). And build a Single Casino for money laundering (only have this one Casino) and only sell the meth trough gang deals.
We congratulate the winners and can't wait to check out more of your unique settings and stories in the future!
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Development Update
We're working hard on the next update for Cartel Tycoon!
We're working on optimizing the logistics, saving time, expanding Enemy Gang interactions, and a lot more changes and additions.
We aim to release the update on the Steam Beta Branch first, so we can gather your feedback on it before releasing it on the Main Branch!
More information about the update is coming soon, and we can't wait to share it with you!
Have a good day, Capos! And, by the way, what's your **** for today?
We're back!
Hola Capos!
We're back from our vacation as of yesterday, and we missed you ːcartel_loveː
We're already hard at work, and we'll discuss what's next for Cartel Tycoon soon! We're going through your feedback, comments, and reviews to set the best course!
And if you want a chance to win the Cartel Tycoon Supporter Bundle, check the contest right here, you still have time left: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1220140/view/3405303823658999904
We're so excited to resume our work, and we hope you're excited too! See you soon, Capos!
We're going on a vacation + Contest
Hola Capos!
On July 26th we released Cartel Tycoon 1.0, and 3 updates since then. We’re proud of what we managed to deliver for 1.0 and grateful to you, our awesome community, who helped us at every step of this journey. We’ve got a lot of plans for the rest of 2022 and the first content update is coming in September!
But for that to happen we need a little bit of time to rest. We’ve been working on Cartel Tycoon non-stop for a looong time, and our team needs a breather to recharge and come back swinging - making Cartel Tycoon even better with every update.
We’ll be taking a two-week vacation until September 1st, and will be back with more news…. Right now!
While we’re on a vacation, we want to start a contest! Lots of you’ve been sharing your Sandbox Settings (Hashes)… So why not win something for it?
1. Share your hash in the #hash-sharing channel on our official Discord Server. 2. Create a short story description for it (5 sentences max). 3. Our team members will choose 3 winners with what we think are the most gripping and interesting stories explaining the Settings!
To share and create the Sandbox Settings go to Advanced Settings for Sandbox Mode, create the Settings, and at the top of the screen - copy the Hash!
All 3 winners will get keys to the Supporter Bundle of Cartel Tycoon! (Cartel Tycoon + 2 Soundtracks + Artbook + Lieutenants Pack - Guerillas)
Your time starts now! We will choose the winners on September 15!
Join the Discord here:
Have a good August and have fun, Capos! See you soon! ːcartel_loveː
- Moon Moose
Patch Notes - Cartel Tycoon v 1.0.0.4078
Bug Fixes
Multiple localization fixes ːcartel_loveː
Fixed: tinyBuild Launcher doesn't display the current game version
Patch Notes - Cartel Tycoon v 1.0.0.4067
Hola Capos!
Thank you for your overwhelming support and enormous amounts of feedback in the past weeks! As we said before, we’ve already started working on everything that needs improving and will present a big update in September.
But today we have a minor update with some of the changes you asked for! And bug fixes, of course (more of those coming next week). We rebalanced up Events from Lieutenants, updated the Transport Company interface, and added the ability to stop Lieutenants when they’re moving. On the topic of moving - we fixed several bugs with Lieutenants not always choosing the most optimal paths!
We feel that these changes will make your life in Cartel Tycoon better! Read them below!
Changes:
ːcartel_loveː Lieutenant Events timing rebalanced. We’ve adjusted their frequency in the early, mid, and late game - they will happen less frequently. Players will also have more time to complete them. In the early game, players will get easier events that will help them build a stronger Empire! Also, a symbol that represents the nature of the event was added to the Telephone Call graphic for easier distinction!
ːcartel_loveː Players can now stop Lieutenants' movement! The Lieutenant will go to the nearest Friendly/Neutral building when stopped. Some Lieutenant actions (Assassination, Burn Character, Burn/Demolish Building, Release Seized Building) still can’t be stopped, but the changes are in the works.
ːcartel_loveː Updated Transport Company interface. “Additional Connections” are now called “Export Connections”, and we’ve added a warning message that informs you if the Transport Company isn’t exporting anywhere at the moment.
ːcartel_loveː Repeated Event dialogues are skipped, and players will be presented with the choice from the start.
ːcartel_loveː tinyBuild Launcher will now close automatically after you exit the game. Note: If a window asking for your feedback pops up, you will need to manually select one of the choices, and the launcher will close automatically next time.
ːcartel_loveː Added a tooltip to the Lieutenant XP scale - learn which activities can help them level up.
ːcartel_loveː Updated game credits
ːcartel_loveː Tutorial estimated playtime was updated
ːcartel_loveː Renamed "Release Arrest" Lieutenant Ability to "Release Seized Building" for clarity.
Visuals:
Size adjustments to character portraits
Bug Fixes
[Reported by players]
Fixed: Unoptimal and inconsistent Lieutenant pathfinding (Cantora)
Fixed: Farms change products when upgraded (gbgopher)
Fixed: Ability "Release Arrest" wasn't working correctly (mlsmith45)
Fixed: Unable to Take Control of Amado if the River Pier in this region was upgraded to Tier III (Maze)
Fixed: During the quest "The Bigger One II" in the "That Sinking Feeling" campaign players were able to obtain legal money that was frozen (Rouhmann)
Fixed: Lieutenant goes to nearby City and stays in "Smuggling" Mode if the Smuggling Point was destroyed (Emofrannie)
Fixed: Lieutenants sometimes don't use toll-free Enemy Cities when transporting goods (qreel)
Fixed: Achievement "Spreading Fear" sometimes was given with incorrect conditions (Rowan)
Fixed: Quest "Control IV" in the "Needs and Fears" campaign ended when Salsa Club was built in any region, not Amado (bryanheffner)
The Turkish Language renamed correctly in Settings
Multiple localization and technical text fixes
Fixed: "Additional Connections" for Residences sometimes disappear if players reload the game while researching Passive Effects
Fixed: Filters for City Buildings weren't working correctly (KlausK)
Fixed: When opening the Research Tree, unobtainable Research Bonuses were displayed. (Gardy)
Fixed: DEA teleports to the sea if they can't reach the building they want to arrest. (Flow)
Fixed: Incorrect packaging interval was displayed in information for Workshop II and III (Portok)
Fixed: Several inconsistencies in City Buildings descriptions (KlausK)
Fixed: Warehouse II trucks could carry more of some products than Warehouse III trucks (Zugnuger Motrax)
Fixed: Car upgrades were available when Collectors Residence was under construction. (Xellos)
Fixed: Information about Dirty Money stored in the building wasn't updated during Lieutenant Delivery (ComradeOurs)
[Reported by QA team]
Fixed: Mayor Quest "Art of Diplomacy" can't be completed if the building upkeep is 0
Fixed: In Story Mode, Volatile Lieutenants were able to assassinate Story Characters that weren't on the map
Fixed: Incorrect portrait displayed during the dialogue with Gerardo Batista
Fixed: River Pier II and III were missing from the Sandbox Mode Advanced Setting for Starting Research
Fixed: Tier III of Research Tree was displayed as locked if players unlocked it in Additional Settings for the Sandbox Mode
Fixed: Statistics for money spent on special events in City Buildings weren't displayed on the Economics screen
Fixed: Guerillas teleport to the sea when government forces attack them. No more swimming!
Fixed; Economics Screen didn't display money earned from kidnappings and robberies
Fixed: Incorrect money penalty for failing the "Demolish Buildings" Event
Fixed: Lieutenants sometime could move to Enemy Buildings and Cities if the Delivery was canceled.
Known Bugs
Multiple localization and text issues
Multiple issues with gamepad controls
"Raise upkeep" button in Lieutenant Menu can be clicked when multiple Lieutenants are selected
Global Unlocks aren't synchronized between Stores
Buildings appear to be connected to roads when they aren't
In the "That Sinking Feeling" campaign players can access Story Characters through Lieutenant Menu when they shouldn't
DLC Lieutenants appear as new unlocks every time players open the game
Lieutenants' nickname isn't updated in the Lieutenant list
Incorrect upgrade animation for Aerodrome I
Preplaced buildings grow products not consistent with their production chain.
Quest "Go To Ground I" in the "That Sinking Feeling" Campaign can't be completed if there are no Enemy Gangs left
Animation spam after consecutive Lieutenant re-roll
"Cultivator" Ability is triggered when there are no Opium Farms or Plantations in the vicinity
Visual collisions between region borders and River Pier boats
In the "That Sinking Feeling" campaign Seized Radius remains even if seized buildings are destroyed
US Army War bar appears below other UI elements
When Lieutenant becomes Volatile their previous destination remains as a connection
The dollar sign is missing on the Laundering Buildings statistics screen
Additional Timer graphics missing for some quests
Lieutenants with Coordinator Ability start attacking buildings in their radius without command.
Mayor Quest's objective for Kidnapping/Robbery doesn't state that you can use Guerillas in this Quest
Have a good day, Capos, and leave your impressions in the comments! ːcartel_loveː
Tycoon or Survival?
Back in 2019, we were brainstorming the name of the game. One of the proposed variants caught our attention immediately - Cartel Tycoon. Catchy and Self-explanatory, right? Yes, but…
As we've found out later on, for some of you, it was somewhat misleading, as the Tycoon genre is so broad and versatile. Our primary inspiration sources were Tropico and Frostpunk, not exactly Tycoons, more like Survival games.
So let's find out, are we more Tycoon than Survival or vice versa?
Tycoon: Build your production chains
Survival: But… Production requires periodic tweaking and micromanagement, and Buildings can and will be seized, burned, or destroyed
You, as a young and naive Capo, start small and plan a grand success for your Cartel. At first, all goes well; money starts to flow in. And here problems begin! Government starts to notice you and enemy gangs as well. And at this moment, you know… real Cartel started its journey.
Tycoon: Generate resources and profit
Survival: But…Lose it due to federals confiscating your warehouses and residences as there is no silver bullet to avoid all the negative events
Time passes, and you expand your empire, but there's always this struggle - how to get rid of all these excess resources and dirty money piled up all around your residence, warehouses, and smuggling points?
Expand! You expand, build more, and now all looks good, but not for long, as now you have even more money you need to deal with! Hyperprofit that's one of your enemies in our game. Maybe it's time to burn the excess, but we don't have a crematorium in-game 😃
Tycoon: Personnel management
Survival: But…Deal with all their needs, meltdowns and personal quests, and greed for money, of course
New lieutenants - loyal, working for free cause they idolize you. They grow, become powerful, and at the same time, greedy. And you, as a leader, harsh but fair, decide how to deal with those who want to dethrone you. Maybe it's a jail that will cool them off, or some accident with a gas stove will get rid of them, who knows. Or maybe… money, money can solve many problems but not all of them.
Tycoon: Do business with the competitors (Enemy Gangs)
Survival: But… Fend off their constant attacks while trying to lower a Terror
The whole world is against you, there are no friends to rely on. You're alone. And the burden of responsibility grows with every new farm, every new region. You fight your way with everything you have: Bribes, Takeovers, Assassinations, Wars against enemy gangs, and government with their infinite law enforcement capabilities.
That's the experience we're trying to share with you, show you the other side - Building your empire against all the odds and challenges the world throws at you. By the way, "Narconomics" by Tom Wainwright was one of the inspiration materials for Cartel Tycoon.
And our main goal and challenge are to present this experience as enjoyable to you, our players as possible, so we continue to add QoL, balance changes, and fixes to the game for a better experience with every update.
We hope you enjoyed this little reflection on the topic.
Are we Tycoon or Survival? or something else…
Please Let us know in the comments what you think.
Show 'em what you're worth, Capo! ːcartel_nothing_personalː
Soundtrack Vol. II - Digital Release
Hola Capos! ːcartel_loveː
You can now get the full Soundtrack Vol. II on all the major platforms! Check the links below:
Last week we left Early Access. We’ve been working non-stop to make our 1.0 Release as packed as it can be - some of the features like Enemy Gangs and Special Buildings were beta-tested out by all of you on Steam, but we packed the release with lots of other additions and reworks.
Since the 1.0 Release, we’ve made 2 patches, and aim to deliver the third one next week. We’ve also got a lot of feedback, and are already working on ways we can improve the player experience in Cartel Tycoon further, and we aim to release these changes along with new content in September.
With the 1.0 Release comes a slight price increases for the game that, of course, won’t affect those who already got the game during its' Early Access phase. The game now is twice as big as it was the last year, and we don’t only mean the file size.
Since starting in EA, we’ve made a new campaign, completely reworked Sandbox and Survival, made a Tutorial, a myriad of changes to the game, and a whole lot of additions.
We want to provide even more, and we already have plans for the upcoming FREE content updates, one of which is coming out this September along with a roadmap for our future plans!
The game will be priced at 29.99$ starting from August 12, and the regional price will be adjusted to reflect this change. The prices will change after the tinyBuild sale ends on August 12, so now you have a perfect opportunity to buy Cartel Tycoon 1.0 not only for the Early Access price but with a 30% sale discount!
We’re so excited to watch the vision for Cartel Tycoon that we have crafted come to life during and after the Early Access period. “We” means both us and you, the players, because you helped so much. We once again want to thank you for your support and assure you that the game will be becoming better and larger (again, not just the file size) with every upcoming update.
- Moon Moose
Patch Notes - Cartel Tycoon v 1.0.0.3972
Changes:
Temporarily removed 2 tracks from the soundtrack that were being claimed on YouTube and Twitch. We're still investigating the issue and will add the tracks back as soon as we can.
Visual
- Optimized Seaport model
Bug Fixes [From players, Reported]
FIXED: Game wasn’t displayed in a native resolution in fullscreen after the first boot-up, leading to incorrect mouse positioning.
FIXED: The tinyBuild launcher process wasn’t fully terminated in rare instances.
FIXED: The mouse is moving when a controller is connected (Xellos).
FIXED: Promoting a Volatile Lieutenant to Capos crashes the game (Doug-le-Guedin).
Multiple localization fixes and changes, including quest mistakes in French and Chinese languages.
Fixed: Some Sandbox settings prevent players from capturing the Los Grandes region. (Rowan)
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 is destroyed. (Xellos)
Fixed: "Make a Deal" with Lyova Fainherz was using an incorrect drug (CamaradeOurs)
Fixed: In-game music turns off after loading a save made in Tutorial.
Fixed: City Building menu isn't locked during the Tutorial.
Fixed: After-death screen for Cesar Garcetti in the “Needs and Fears” campaign doesn't show any money or drug types.
Fixed: Incorrect pronouns for female Capos used on some occasions. (Xellos)
Fixed: Non-existent Capos are shown on the Starting Capos screen. (LORSOLT)
Fixed: Incorrect text appears when clicking an Enemy Gang leader descriptions showing they’re managing a farm.
Fixed: Players get Addam Gomez as Starting Capo instead of Armando Cruz. (SavageLurva)
Fixed: Reloading a game while Research is in progress, will automatically complete Research. (Tyronis)
Fixed: Capos can meet their doppelgangers leading Enemy Gangs. (Obiwan)
Fixed: Lieutenants don’t get experience after the player finishes the Tutorial and continues playing.
Fixed: Incorrect recipes in Manual (TaterTot)
Fixed: Area Depot doesn’t have an on/off button in a menu. (CoatMcMutton)
[From Team]
Fixed: In Survival Mode players control the Amado River Pier from the start of the game.
Fixed: Incorrect visual positioning of enemy cars during fights in River Piers and Indigenous Territory.
Fixed: Steam Achievements localization.
Fixed: A tooltip explaining why players can’t construct buildings in Enemy and Neutral regions wasn’t displayed.
Fixed: Old map was displayed in the Region Selection screen at the start of the game.
Fixed: Lieutenant Quests for kidnapping and robbery were completed successfully if players canceled them.
Known bugs
Technical text in Tutorial Quest Descriptions in some languages.
Missing localization in some instances.
Animation spam when re-rolling lieutenants multiple times.
No player feedback on why some answers are locked when talking to Gang Leaders.
New Capo displays the same status he had when he was a lieutenant.
in the “That Sinking Feeling” campaign, certain characters are accessible through the Lieutenant Menu when they shouldn’t be.
Lieutenant remains inaccessible in a nearby City if the aerodrome was destroyed before he arrived there.
Lieutenants don’t always choose the fastest routes to get to a location.
Players can research bonuses that aren’t in the Research Tree. Spooky...
Incorrect portrait displayed in some dialogues.
The Casino isn’t specified as a Loyalty building in city building filters.
Hotfix and our plans for the Logistics system!
Hola everyone!
A patch with bug fixes and updated localization arriving today, Capos. Don’t miss it!
With the influx of new players, we’ve got a lot of feedback - both positive and negative, thank you! We read all your reviews and feedback, it helps a lot to make the best possible game for all our players. As we processed it, we saw a lot of mentions of the current Logistic system flaws and suggestions on how to fix it.
The good thing is - we’re already working on fixes and improvements to the Logistics system, so it feels and performs better, matching your expectations! These, of course, will need excessive testing, so they’ll arrive later.
We aim to release an update this September, Logistics system improvements will be a part of it. As it’ll take some time we wanted you to know our short-term plans and that we’ve already got things in motion to make that area of Cartel Tycoon better.
Thank you for playing Cartel Tycoon! We’re committed to making the game as best as possible, and we’re not planning to stop! We will share more specific info about the upcoming update and our further steps at a later date.
If you want to talk to us and share your feedback and knowledge with other Cartel Tycoon members, don’t forget to join our official Discord.
