Monopoly Tycoon: Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ (English)

0 Introduction



This section is for "what the FAQ is about" and things like

that. Feel free to skip this section.



If you like the FAQ, please send me a dollar. :-) See [0.3]



This FAQ is primarily about the single player game, though

it has some references to the multiplayer game. However, I

don't much on the multiplayer aspect as there is a MUCH more

comprehensive guide to it, "Tomes of Knowledge", that covers

the stuff much better than I can.





0.1 A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR



I don't see a FAQ for Monopoly Tycoon, so I wrote one.



This is a FAQ, NOT a manual. You probably will not be able

to learn how to play the game with this document. Besides,

there's a copy of the manual on the CD!



This USG only covers the PC version since that's the only

version that I have (and existed).



Some of you may recognize my name as the editor for the XCOM

and XCOM2: TFTD FAQ's, among others.





0.2 TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION



This document is copyrighted by Kuo-Sheng "Kasey" Chang (c)

2003, all rights reserved excepted as noted above in the

disclaimer section.



This document is available FREE of charge subjected to the

following conditions:



1)This notice and author's name must accompany all copies

of this document: "Monopoly Tycoon Unofficial Strategy

Guide and FAQ" is copyrighted (c) 2003 by Kasey K.S.

Chang, all rights reserved except as noted in the

disclaimer."



2)This document must NOT be modified in any form or manner

without prior permission of the author with the following

exception: if you wish to convert this document to a

different file format or archive format, with no change

to the content, then no permission is needed.



2a) In case you can't read, that means TXT only. No

banners, no HTML borders, no cutting up into multiple

pages to get you more banner hits, and esp. no adding

your site name to the site list. [Small exception: a

"small" toolbar with no banners embedded is okay. See IGN

or Neoseeker for examples.]



3)No charge other than "reasonable" compensation should

charged for its distribution. Free is preferred, of

course. Sale of this information is expressly prohibited.

If you see any one selling this guide, contact me (see

below).



4)If you used material from this, PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE the

source, else it is plagiarism.



5)The author hereby grants all games-related websites the

right to archive and link to this document to share among

the game fandom, provided that all above restrictions are

followed.



Sidenote: The above conditions are known as a statutory

contract. If you meet them, then you are entitled to the

rights I give you in 5), i.e. archive and display this

document on your website. If you don't follow them, then

you did not meet the statutory contract conditions, and

therefore you have no right to display this document. If

you do so, then you are infringing upon my copyright.

This section was added for any websites that don't seem

to understand this.

For the gamers: You are under NO obligation to send me

ANY compensation. However, I do ask for a VOLUNTARY

contribution of one (1) US Dollar if you live in the

United States, and if you believe this guide helped your

game. If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00

check or $1.00 worth of US stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang",

and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA

94118 USA".

If you don't live in the US, please send me some local

stamps. I collect stamps too.



0.3 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION



Gamers who read this guide are under NO obligation to send

me ANY compensation.



However, a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar would

be very appreciated.



If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or

$1.00 worth of stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to

"2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA".



If you don't live in the US, please send me some local

stamps. I collect stamps too.



For the record, out of ALL the FAQs I wrote (36 at last

count) over the past nine years or so, I've received exactly

7 dollars and 2 sets of stamps, as of release of this guide.

So I'm NOT making any money off these guides, folks.





0.4 HOW AND WHEN TO CONTACT ME



PLEASE let me know if there's a confusing or missing remark,

mistakes, and thereof... If you find a question about this

game that is not covered in the USG, e-mail it to me at the

address specified below. I'll try to answer it and include

it in the next update.



Please do NOT write me for technical support. That is the

job of the publisher.



Please do NOT ask me to send you a list of controls, the

manual, etc. If you borrowed the game without borrowing the

manual, blame your own stupidity. If you bought the game

without a manual, blame your own stupidity. If you copied

the game without copying the manual, you're not only scum,

but STUPID scum.



Please do NOT ask me to answer questions that have already

answered in this FAQ/guide. It makes you REALLY idiotic.



I will NOT answer stupid questions like the ones above

unless I'm in a really good mood. If you send questions like

that, do NOT expect a reply.



The address below is spelled out phonetically so spammers

can't use spambots on it:



Kilo-Sierra-Charlie-Hotel-Alpha-November-Golf-Seven-Seven AT

Yankee-Alpha-Hotel-Oscar-Oscar DOT Charlie-Oscar-Mike



To decipher this, simply read the first letter off each word

except for the numbers and the punctuation. This is

"military phonetics" or "aeronautical phonetics" in case

you're wondering.



This document was produced on Microsoft Word 97. Some

editing was done with Editpad (editpadclassic.com).





0.5 THE AUTHOR



I am just a game player who decided to write my own FAQs

when the ones I find don't cover what I want to see. Lots

of people like what I did, so I kept doing it.



Previously, I've written Unofficial Strategy Guides (USGs)

for XCOM, XCOM2:TFTD, Wing Commander, Wing Commander 2, Wing

Commander 3, Wing Commander 4, Privateer, Spycraft, 688(I)

Hunter/Killer. Mechwarrior 3, MW3 Expansion Pack,

Mechwarrior 4, Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, Need for Speed:

Porsche Unleashed, The Sting!, Terranova, Fallout Tactics,

Starfleet Command Volume II, DS9: The Fallen, DS9: Dominion

War, Driver, and a few more.



To contact me, see 0.4 above.





0.6 DISCLAIMER / COPYRIGHT INFORMATION



Deep Red created monopoly Tycoon. See them at

www.deepred.co.uk



Infogrames published monopoly Tycoon in the US. Find them at

www.infogrames.com



This USG is not endorsed or authorized by ANY of the

companies mentioned above.



There is an official strategy guide (ISBN: 0-7615-3141-6)

published by PrimaGames at www.primagames.com



The information compiled in this USG has been gathered

independently through the author's efforts except where

noted otherwise.



This document is based on the V1.4 patch, and thus

information listed here may NOT apply fully to earlier

versions.





0.7 HISTORY



09-FEB-2003 Initial release







1 Monopoly Tycoon General Info





1.1 THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS



Q: Can you send me the game (or portions thereof)?

A: No.



Q: Can you send me the manual (or portions thereof)?

A: It's on the CD, you *****!



Q: Can you tell me how to play the game?

A: Read the manual.



Q: Can you help me get the game working?

A: That's the publisher's job, isn't it? (www.ina-

support.com)



Q: How about a patch?

A: There are 3 official patches and 1 semi-official patch.

Officially the game is patched up to V1.3. However, a semi-

official V1.4 patch is also available.



Q: How about Expansion Packs? More missions? User-created

missions and campaigns?

A: There are some custom scenarios available for download at

Tycoon Resource (www.tycoonresource.com, part of MGON

network). There's supposed to be an editor out there as

well. Some "extras packs", which contains patch and extra

scenarios, are available as well. Check the official site

for details.



Q: How about a sequel?

A: No idea.





1.2 MT HISTORY



Those who have played family-style board games should have

at least HEARD of Monopoly, where you buy blocks in a city,

charge rent, and generally through a bit of luck and

management, own the board. There is also a random events as

your piece moves through the city base don dice roll.



Monopoly Tycoon takes most of the mechanics, applied it into

a Tycoon setting (started by Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon),

and created a fun mix of a game, great for single or multi-

player.





1.3 MT HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS



Excerpt from the official website, recommended specs are:



Operating System: Windowsr 95/98/Me



Processor: Pentiumr 266 MHz or higher



Memory: 64 MB RAM



Hard Disk Space: 200 MB Free



CD-ROM Drive: 8X Speed



Video: 16 MB Windowsr 95/98/Me-compatible video card*



Sound: Windowsr 95/98/Me-compatible sound card*



DirectX: DirectXr 8.0 version (included) or higher



* means the device should be compatible with DX8





1.4 HOW DOES THE GAME PLAY?



Monopoly Tycoon is basically a management game. You start

with a set amount of money. You can build living spaces, day

retail, or night retail. You then stock the retail spaces

with items to be sold (done automatically). By analyzing the

people's needs (and build the right stores), you hope to

make a lot of money, with which you'll build more

businesses, buy land, buy utilities, buy railroad stations,

and so on.



The actually "objective" may vary. See [9] for a full list

of game objectives, ranging from largest empire value by a

certain date to be voted mayor by winning 5 elections.



The game is in full 3D view, with individual citizens and

cars visible on the streets, and they will walk about as

they simulate buying things for their needs. However, a lot

of the information is seen in the 2D "map" view.



There are a lot of small details that makes the game deeper

than it first appears. You can adjust prices of individual

stores (down to 0.1 dollars). You can lease utilities and/or

train stations to reduce overhead (for example, if you

leased the water utility, then all players must pay their

water payment to you, and your business's water becomes

essentially free). New store types becomes available as time

marches on, and the city slowly transforms from small houses

to skyscrapers.



There is also bidding for various properties' lease rights.

If you managed to obtain lease rights for all properties in

the same color block, you obtain monopoly. With monopoly,

you can force other owners to sell their business on those

blocks to you at a reduced price (below market price).





1.5 BUGS AND FIXES



For a full list of bugs, please check the specific patch

"README" file.





1.6 EXPANSION PACKS? SEQUELS? RELATED TITLES?



There are no expansion packs, sequels, or related titles to

Monopoly Tycoon.



On the other hand, you could argue that the entire "tycoon"

genre is related. Try the big names, like Zoo Tycoon

(Microsoft) or Railroad Tycoon 2 (GOD Games). The smaller

ones are mainly junk.





1.7 NOTES ON ORGANIZATION



This guide is organized as similar to the actual manual as

possible, mainly acting as a supplement.







2 The Citizens



See page 18 of your manual for details on the citizens.



TIP: Low-income citizens tend to live in the low-income

districts (1 star and 2 star), medium-income citizens live

in the 3-star and 4-star districts, and the high-income

citizens live in the 5-star districts.



TIP: Citizens want to shop in buildings build to similar

quality. Low-income citizens like low-quality buildings,

while high-income citizens demand high-quality buildings.



Think of it this way: the low-income districts would have

the Wal-marts and Targets, while high-income districts would

have Nordstroms and Saks Fifth Avenues. The mid-income

districts would have the Macy's and JC Penney's and

Mervyn's.



TIP: In general, the low-income district needs cheap prices

and high stock quantities, while high-income district needs

expensive shops with low-stock quantities.







3 The Passage of Time



0000 night-retail stops operating



spoilage occurs (half of remaining stock is lost)



bank checks for solvency. If you're insolvent, you

have until next midnight to turn that around or

you will be ejected from the game

NOTE: your "cash" icon will flash red in this 24-

hour "warning period".



0000 - 0900 Best time to build day retail and adjust

stock levels and prices



0000 - 1800 Best time to build night retail and adjust

stock levels and prices



0600 your stores are restocked with items. This can be

a significant drain on your cash, so beware that

you don't overspend during the day



utilities and railroads pay their owners (so if

you own utilities you get a big bonus)



0900 day retail start operating



1700 day retail stop operating



1800 night-retail start operating



voting occurs if election scenario is on







4 Leasing a City BLock



TIP: As building rights are suspended during bid countdown,

forcing a bid on a block your opponent is building on will

temporarily stunt his growth. Even if he wins the bidding,

you'd have held him off for a significant portion of a day.



TIP: Only one block can be up for bid at a time, so one

possible tactic is force auctions of strategic blocks so

others use up the cash, while you keep building.



TIP: Leasing a city block can use up significant amount of

cash during the bidding process. Check the amount of rent a

block can generate before making the investment, and see how

much of that can you REALLY afford. In general, you need to

recuperate at least 50% of the bid amount from "one-day's

rent" to make a bidding worthwhile, unless you need to

squeeze out competitors with "Monopoly".



TIP: If you successfully control all blocks of a particular

color, you can use this Monopoly to force businesses on

those blocks to be sold to you for a discount. This even

includes city-owned businesses. This can be a significant

way to increase your empire value.



TIP: If you control the utilities, you gain a LOT of extra

income, the more the better. However, it will take several

game days to successfully bid all four, as well as a lot of

cash. Analyze what utilities are most used by businesses

already on the map, then make your move.



TIP: Controlling the train stations can mean a good income,

though less than utilities, esp. in mid-late game. You're

looking at about 3500-3900 nightly if you control all four

railroads. However, the bidding can drive prices WAY UP into

the 3000 range per station.



TIP: If you need money, sell the lease LONG BEFORE midnight

to raise money. Figure 6 hours before midnight. Selling

means another bidding war. You will probably lose money.

Still, it's better than being ejected from the game

altogether.







5 Auctions -- a bidding frenzy



TIP: Consider the potential income of a block, utilities, or

railroad, before you start a bid. You need to make that

money back in a day or two, unless you have a lot of cash

reserves and can afford a bidding war.



TIP: If a block is mostly empty, let the opponent have it.

He may have that exclusive period, but unless he's got

CHUNKS of cash, he can't build enough buildings there to

cover up the whole lot until AFTER that 24-hour period

expires, then you can join in there and build any way. Just

make sure you don't let him get monopoly to force you out.



TIP: Prevent other players from achieving monopoly if

possible. Usually the AI don't go for monopoly that much.

Remember, all blocks must go through auction, so if you can

just buy up ONE block out of 2 or 3 needed for monopoly, you

can prevent the monopoly.



TIP: On the other hand, sometimes, price is no object when

you need monopoly yourself. Dip into your cash reserves and

your 10000 credit when you need it. Just make sure you make

that back before end of next day.



TIP: Know the maximum price you can afford to pay before

entering the auction. As soon as the counter starts, you

should figure out how much can you afford to pay. Sometimes,

money is no object. At other times, you may need to let

someone else take the prize.



TIP: Use "pass" instead of "pull out". Pass keeps you in the

bidding (unless the other bidders have pulled out).



TIP: You may want to keep bidding small amounts just to make

your opponent spend MORE money on the block than he

originally planned to. On the other hand, know when to stop

so you don't end up holding a block that is of no use to

you.



CHEAT: see [12.2]







6 Building Successful Shopping Centers



See [3] for the time chart. You need to know this by heart.



TIP: Note which types of business has a minimum width of 1,

and which ones have minimum width of 2. This helps you plan

the size of each business, which affects the stocking levels

and building costs. See "Fact File 2" in your manual for

full list of retail shops.



TIP: Note that many shops, esp. later, can be built-higher,

to fit more stock, instead of more footprint. If you are

building a high volume low price store like newspaper, you

may need to build up in order to squeeze more stores on the

same block.



NOTE: Restocking happens at 0600 or by construction (if

after 0600). Therefore, do NOT construct stores just before

midnight, or you'll lose a LOT of the stock due to

'spoilage'. Instead, build day retail just after midnight

(between 0000 and 0900), and build night retail before 1800.



It is hard to use the "special restock" card if you get it.

Basically, it's best to use it on a store that has ran out

of stock, but there is still significant amount of the

retail period remaining. Also, the price should be high on

the item.



For example, let's say your newsstand is already out of

paper, and your jewelry store is also out of jewelry. The

day is only 11AM, and you have a special restock card.

Assuming both stores are equal capacity, it would probably

be better to restock the jewelry store, as that has better

margins overall.



TIP: Check ALL of your business before 6AM every day on

stock level, prices, and so on. Lower prices and/or stock

level if necessary to sell things out.



TIP: Keep day and night retail on separate blocks. Citizens

who shop on the block will tend to browse the rest of the

block, so you want to put the maximum number of shops on the

same block.



TIP: Refurbish existing stores when they no longer serve the

right clientele or provided the wrong commodities. Remember,

only the same footprint type can be done.



TIP: Rule of thumb: keep selling price AT LEAST twice the

cost, higher for lower cost items. Also see [10.5] for more

pricing tips.



TIP: If you can't maintain the profit margin or make the

store profitable, TEAR IT DOWN. You don't want the store to

drain your cash.



TIP: The default prices are NOT always right. In case of

tools, clothing (esp. in mid or high quality buildings),

electrical, travel, and such, the default prices may be much

too high to let you sell out, unless you are building a VERY

small store.



TIP: Some stores NEED to be small, while others need to be

BIG. Know the difference, study the manual.



TIP: Build stores higher whenever possible, so you can fit

more stores on the same block.







7 Apartments



TIP: Most scenarios have multiple apartments already on the

map. So usually, you don't need to build any unless you see

a district with NO apartments and have extra cash around

ready to invest.



NOTE: you can only survey blocks with an apartment on it,

and only after people have moved in.



TIP: You can see the apartments flashing on the city map if

you click on the survey button on the toolbar.



TIP: Build shopping center around the BIGGEST apartments, as

it's easier to anticipate the "needs" of residents there

(less margin of error).



TIP: In certain scenarios, you may need to build your own

apartments to give the citizens places to live.



TIP: Build your apartments first, if you need to, to attract

more citizens. The larger the apartment, the more people

will be enticed to shop on the same block (or nearby).







8 Utility Companies and Railroads



TIP: Own all four utilities to get a LOT of money. If you

have a long game ahead with lots of cash, buying out the

utilities can almost guarantee you a win. If you go for one,

you may as well go for them all (if you have enough cash

reserves).



TIP: Owning the railroads are less lucrative, but can

generate near $1000 per day per railroad. Of course, you'll

need to grab more than a few railroads to get all that

money.



TIP: If you own all railroads AND all utilities, you will

get a HUGE profit at the beginning of the day. They generate

an incredible amount of dollars.







9 Game Objectives





9.1 SALES TARGET



Make certain number of sales before anybody else.



TIP: Start in the cheap districts, and build those high-

volume stores like newspaper and so on. You can make a LOT

of sales like newspapers and such. You probably won't make

too much money, but you'll sure make lots of sales.



TIP: Stay out of the high-rent districts. You can't afford

the expensive buildings there.



TIP: Build at least one or two stores daily, as you need to

keep expanding. Make smaller stores and make sure they sell

out. Build 1, 2, or 4-unit stores.



TIP: Build both daily and nightly business to fit the

demands. Frequently one gets fixated on building only day

retail. Remember, night retail has higher profit margins.



TIP: Lower prices to make sure you sell out (or get close to

selling out) all the stock in each and every store.





9.2 EMPIRE VALUE



Get Empire value up to a specific value before anybody else,

or by a specific date.



TIP: Grow in medium-value districts, 3-star and so on. Cheap

districts have almost same amount of overhead so you make

less money. Expensive districts cost too much so you grow

slower.



TIP: The strategy will differ slightly depending on how much

time you have. If the time is short, don't bother auctioning

anything, just build, build, and build, while force auction

on someone else (esp if two or more build on the same

block). You don't need to buy it, you just need to freeze

the block for quarter of a day. If you have more time, then

buy up the blocks with the best stores, force monopoly, and

buy out the enemy stores at below market to boost your

empire value.



TIP: Keep building new stores every day. Use up more land to

get more value.



NOTE: Don't overspend too much. If you overspend and can't

make back the money, you lose due to bankruptcy.



TIP: Empire value is NOT directly related to cash. Empire

value has more to do with the stores, the land they use, and

how much revenue they generate. It's better to make smaller

stores that are profitable than to make big discount stores.



SPECIAL TACTIC: "final day crunch" -- build up a large cash

reserve by the final day. Look for a group of blocks

(preferably 3-star or below) with a LOT of opponents'

businesses. Just before the final day starts, force that one

of those blocks into auction. The idea is the auction starts

JUST AFTER midnight, so you don't go into the red just yet.

BUY THE ENTIRE neighborhood at ANY COST. You MUST achieve

monopoly. Once you achieved monopoly, go HEAVILY into debt

(remember, you have 10000 credit) and BUY OUT ALL of the

stores on those blocks. Your empire value will skyrocket,

even if you're heavily in debt, due to all these "hostile

takeovers", as you can pay LESS than market value for them.

This should be enough to win unless you never kept up with

the rest.





9.3 VOTING FOR MAYOR



Each citizen votes each "day" for each player that best

enhanced his/her life at 1800 hours. There's two days before

the voting starts. The first player to collect multiple wins

(rosettes) win as mayor.



TIP: Satisfy the needs of the citizens. Build stores that

satisfy as many "needs" by the polls as possible. Check the

polls constantly and build more stores nearby. This is

similar to sales target, except you need to keep this day to

day.



TIP: As voting is at 6PM, it's the DAY RETAIL that will earn

you more sympathy points. However, you still can't ignore

night retail as it's more profitable.



TIP: Build on the BIGGEST apartments first. You're going for

quantity, not quality.



TIP: Build in the cheap districts, so you can build MORE

stores.



TIP: Build a lot of small stores instead of few big stores,

to satisfy more needs.



TIP: Lower prices to make more sales. More sales, more

votes.



NOTE: Don't lower prices too much that you're not making a

profit. You need money to keep growing and maintain your

margin.





9.4 LAST MAN STANDING



Similar to "Voting for Mayor", except the lowest scoring

person is kicked out, until only one remains.



TIP: Same tips apply, except you don't need to be the very

top all the time.



NOTE: the loser forfeits his or her properties to the city.





9.5 FIRST TO DAILY PROFIT X



Make more profit than any one else, and reach the target, on

a daily basis.



TIP: Build medium-sized businesses. You can't afford to keep

all that stock around to spoil, yet if you go too small you

don't make enough money.



TIP: Build businesses with higher profit margins. Jewelry

has higher margin than newspapers, for example. On the other

hand, if you can't sell enough of them, you don't make money

either.



TIP: Go for medium-rent districts. Low-rent districts are

easier to start, but their profit margins are lower as well.

High-rent districts are too expensive to get in.



TIP: Control utilities. They minimize your operating costs

(you don't pay yourself) and gain you extra income.

Controlling utilities will give you a lot of income right

about 6AM, offset-ing a lot of the restocking charges.



TIP: Once you control utilities, go for the railroads. The

more you control, the more money you make at the beginning.







10 More hints and tips





10.1 INTERFACE



TIP: Use TAB key to switch between city and block view, sure

beats clicking the "switch view" button.



TIP: Use the "adjust price" button to call up the price

viewer. Use the "business scroller" there to flip through

your businesses. It's much easier than click from block to

block then business to business.





10.2 WHERE TO START BUILDING



TIP: Pick the block with the largest apartment, if there are

apartments on the map. You get more initial customers that

way.



TIP: If there are no existing apartments, start in the low-

rent districts, as the rents there and building costs are

cheaper. Build apartment there, then expand your business.





10.3 WHAT BUSINESS TO BUILD



TIP: Use a LOT of polling. Check every single block with an

apartment building (flashing blocks in the city view, poll

mode) in the districts you want to target. However, it'll

take several hours for the apartments to get their tenants.



TIP: If there's no residents yet, build bakery and newspaper

stands. Those are the usual needs. Some will also want

clothing store.



TIP: In general, food items are good sellers, though they

generate minimal profit. You need to be pretty big to sell

enough of those to make big money.



TIP: Balance between day and night business. Remember to

have night retail ready before 6PM comes along.



TIP: Day business should be small to medium size, as there

would be MORE of them, except the stuff in HEAVY demand.

Stuff like meat, fish, fruit and veg, bread, and such are

usually in demand.



TIP: Night business tends to be large. Indeed, the smallest

Ballroom and Theater is size 8. Initially, you may want to

stick to the smaller night business, like Bar, Restaurant,

and Cinema. Those are usually hot sellers, and most of your

profit (if you priced them right). Indeed, don't build

Ballroom and Theater until you see more than 15 demand for

each.



TIP: Some businesses do NOT generate profit (at least for

me). Businesses like furniture, clothing, books, hardware,

jewelry, and such don't generate much profit, as they are

high priced and any sales variance is bound to affect them

severely. Spoilage is a major issue with these high-cost

businesses. You may want to avoid those initially and

concentrate on the businesses that you can just plop down

and expect to make money (i.e. the ones with default pricing

set right).





10.4 WHAT SIZE BUSINESS TO BUILD



TIP: Read the poll and consider how many people from THAT

BLOCK needs. Use that as a general guideline. Multiple that

by 1.5 or 2. That's the size you should aim for as stock

quantity.



For example, say 24 people at this apartment want a bakery.

I would probably build a 36 or 48-capacity bakery, just to

make sure I can handle all requests.



For cheaper / smaller stuff, I would go for 2x. For

expensive items like furniture, jewelry, and such, I may

just go for 1x.



Read the store description in the manual, look for the

"stock capacity". Divide the stock quantity by stock

capacity will give you the store size.



If you're not sure, just build small, a 2 space, 3 space, or

4-space store is sufficient for day retail. Not all stores

must be Walmart-sized. Later, you'll know what size to

build.



TIP: While extra stock do spoil at midnight, you don't NEED

to stock a store to full capacity, whereas if you have a

small store to start with, you do sell out, but you can't

make enough money! Cut down the stock to prevent losing lots

of money!



TIP: Consider, if possible, "down-the-road" consequences.

You can only refurbish a store to one that has the same

footprint.





10.5 PRICING



TIP: Use the graph to judge profitability. Ideally, you

should make money the first year, and every year. This may

not always be possible, due to special circumstances like

competition, chance cards, and so on.



TIP: Remember the old joke that goes like this, "I know

we're losing money on every sale, but we'll make it up in

volume"? Before you adjust prices, first calculate how low

of a price CAN you set.



For example, let's say you have a clothing store with daily

cost of $200 (rent, utilities, etc.), averages 15 sales a

day. That means you need to price the clothes at 200 / 15,

or 13.4 (rounded up) to break even. If you tried 13.5 and

you STILL can't increase sales enough to make a profit, it

may be time to close the store.



TIP: Don't lose money in a store. You lose the time spent

building it, the construction cost, the demolition cost, the

actual money lost, AND the lead it gives to your opponents!



TIP: Pricing strategy is simple. If the store did not start

at 9AM, ignore the sales that day as it does not reflect a

full day's sales. Check how many you sold vs. how many you

stocked. Calculate the sales to stock ratio. For example,

say you have a 24 stock newsstand, and you sold 20. Your s-t-

s ratio is 83.3%



100% Well done! Try raising prices 5% and see how the

market reacts



90-99% Nice, drop price 5% and get that full 100% sellout

again.



80-89% Reduce prices another 10 to 15%, you're getting

close.



50-79% Not good, reduce price by 30% to 50%, you are

getting SIGNIFICANT spoilage and you need to reduce that

ASAP.



0-49% This is really bad, reduce prices DRASTICALLY,

right near the break-even point, then start up from there.



TIP: The default price is NOT necessarily the right price.

In fact, for a lot of the stores the default prices are

simply TOO HIGH. For things costing less than a dollar,

figure you need to sell it at 5x to 10x the cost to be

profitable. For things costing more than a dollar each,

figure 2x-5x the cost.



Here's a list of prices I found to work so far:



Bakery: default price



Book store: $8-$10



Butcher shop: default price



Cafe: default price



Clothes Store: $9-$15



Dairy Store: default price



Diner: default price



Doctor's office: default price



Electrical Store: $20-$25



Fish Market: default price



Furniture store: $20-$30



Grocery store: default price



Hardware store: $20-$25



Jewelry store: $30-$35



News stand: default price



Souvenir Shop: default?



Toy store: $10 - $15



Ballroom: default



Bar: default



Cinema: default is okay, but may need reduction to as low as

$8



Restaurant: default



Theater: $10-$12



Antique store: $30-35



Ice Cream Parlor: default



Night Club: no data



Pool Hall: a little HIGHER than default is fine, unless you

have competition



I have no data yet on further businesses. If you have them,

feel free to submit them.



TIP: If you sell out of a commodity, consider raising price

by about 5% for next day, and see how the market reacts. If

you stop selling out, return the price to normal, and then a

dime less ($0.10 less). If you still sell out, consider

raising it another 5% or so until you stop selling out.





10.6 ADJUSTMENTS



There are two things you can adjust for a business... you

can adjust the price, or the stock level.



First thing you need to do is calculate the breakeven point.

At your present price, multiplied by the daily sales, are

you actually making a profit? What is the lower price you

can set to match your daily costs?



The stock level should only be adjusted if you cannot sell

out the stock, even if you have lowered the price right near

the break-even point. This basically means you built a store

too large for the local market. . .



The price... is obvious. Usually, the lower you set the

price, the more you sell. However, this may not be always

true in MT. There may be a limit after which you STILL can't

sell more, as there are no more residents nearby needing

that commodity. See above for more pricing tipsl.





10.7 WHAT BUSINESS TO KEEP



TIP: If a business is NOT making money, you have three

choices: fix it (change price and such until it can make

money), refurbish it (so it sells something else), or

demolish it (so you don't lose any MORE money).



TIP: A business that loses money should be demolished or

refurbished ASAP. Adjusting stock level just means you're

losing LESS money.



TIP: In general, if you can't make the business profitable

by end of THIRD day (15 years), that business should be

"recycled".





10.8 AUCTIONS



TIP: Watch for auction's timing. The 120 seconds warning

period in real-time means almost 5 hours in game time. If

this occurs just around the important times, like 0000 or

0600, you can have a problem. For example, if the auction

happens just before midnight, you may go into red in the

wrong time, or use up capital before you need it.



TIP: Against AI, there's really no point in using $500

instead of $50 or $100. AI seems to choose randomly between

follow, or not. If it is set to exceed your bid, it doesn't

matter if you added $500 or added $50. Just keep adding $50.



NOTE: You CAN use up to 10000 dollars of credit. However, if

you go that far into the red you probably lost... Unless

you're doing the "last day crunch" tactic. see [9.5].





10.9 BUYING LEASES



TIP: Buying the lease on a full block has the following pros

and cons



Pros: * you get the rent

* if you have businesses on there, you don't pay the

rent (they cancel out)

you lock the block from further development unless you

open it again (in which case, you get 24-hours of

exclusive building)

* you can sell the lease for $$$ (though it'll go

through the auction again)

* you have a chance for monopoly, esp. in long games



Cons: * you pay a big chuck of money immediately

* the rent isn't that much, esp. in low-rent districts

* you may block yourself from building there (esp. when

you don't want your enemies to build there either!)

* if you sell the lease, you may lose a lot of money

* you need to buy up ALL blocks of same color to get

monopoly, which can easily be blocked and REALLY drain

you of cash.







11 Campaign Mission Notes



Here is a list of all the missions in the single player

campaign. See [10] for some generic advice.





11.1 STARTING OUT



You need to make 100 sales total. Some apartments are in the

city already...



There is no competitor, so this one is quite simple. Build a

store or two that satisfy the needs of the biggest

apartments, and watch the sales counter click upward...





11.2 A HOMELY CITY



You need to make 100 sales total... But there are no

apartments in the city. Build some apartments, THEN build

your businesses to make the sales.



As the briefing says, build some apartments. Build one big

enough for 25-50 tenants. Then build the normal shops like

clothing and bakery, and a night business on the next block.





11.3 COMPETE FOR SALES



You need to make 200 sales, more competitors.



Still pretty simple, but this time you get more competitors.

The game will last a little longer. Still, make the simple

shops, fit the needs of those citizens, and you should rack

up those sales in no time.





11.4 $3000 DAILY PROFIT



Make $3000 daily profit.



You can do this the hard way: build lots of shops and make

sure you make a lot of money, or you can do this the easy

way.



Easy way: bid for all four railroads or all four utilities.

That should be enough to push you over the $3000 daily

profit... Even if you are in the red. If you can grab ALL

FOUR railroads before end of the day, you should win almost

immediately. Else, build a shop or two...





11.5 FIRST TO BE WORTH $20000



Be first to be worth $20000 total empire value.



This one can be a problem, if you grow wrong. It is

difficult, even on easy level, to maintain the constant

growth in the medium district to sustain the growth and keep

your empire value on the top. If you over-expand, you may

kick yourself out of the game due to bankruptcy. It is a

delicate balancing act.





11.6 GREATEST EMPIRE VALUE BY 1945



Have the highest empire value by 1945.



This one can be a problem, if you grow wrong. It is

difficult, even on easy level, to maintain the constant

growth in the medium district to sustain the growth and keep

your empire value on the top. If you over-expand, you may

kick yourself out of the game due to bankruptcy. It is a

delicate balancing act.





11.7 FIRST TO BE MAYOR



Be elected mayor (get 3 votes).



Think of this as the "sales target" job, and you can do it

easily. Make lots of sales, keep the populace happy. You

should be able to win 3 rosettes in a row.





11.8 SELL, SELL, SELL!



Make 3000 sales before any one else.



This game will last into the 1960's and perhaps longer.

Build low-price stores like newspaper, records, etc. While

stores like electrical, travel agent, and such make more

money, they also sell less. Therefore, on sales target

scenarios, make Walmarts, not boutique stores.





11.9 LAST MAN STANDING



Establish your presence in the city, similar to "voting for

mayor".



The best part about Last Man Standing is the last place

person is kicked out, and their store becomes city property.

So as less and less people remain, you usually win more and

more votes. Stay out front, and you'll win handily.





11.10 $6000 DAILY PROFIT



This one will be difficult. You will need to be in control

of the utilities and/or the railroads to do this, but first

you need to generate enough daily profit to be able to

acquire all these stuff. That will be the difficult part.



Controls the utilities ASAP. Not only it minimizes your

overhead, it also provides extra income. Even if you can't

control all of them, controlling some of them still helps.



Use the bidding cheat to control everything. When you do,

your daily income should be 6000 or very near so right at

6AM... Just make a few sales after that, and you're done.





11.11 GREATEST EMPIRE VALUE BY 1960



This is a longer game, so you have chances to go after the

utilities, if you can make enough money-generating

businesses. I would suggest avoiding businesses like

furniture, clothing, jewelry, and such, as those are very

hard to price properly and still make a profit. Stick to

simpler stuff like ice cream, bakery, butcher, and things

like that.



Use the bidding cheat to control the utilities and you've

got the game pretty much won. Build only the most profitable

businesses.





11.12 FIRST TO BE WORTH $25000



Standard technique... except you now have a chance to get

Monopoly over certain districts. You can significantly force

up your Empire Value that way. Remember, it doesn't matter

about your debt... As long as your empire value goes up that

high, you win.





11.13 WIN MAYOR, 5 ROSSETTES



This one is a tougher version of mission 7. This time, you

need 5 rosettes, not just 3, to win as mayor. There's more

competition, and longer period of time. You need to know

when to refurbish old businesses to newer ones to fit newer

needs.





11.14 FIRST TO BE WORTH $40000



Same as Mission 12, except you get to play even longer...

This game may run into the 60's and 70's.





11.15 LAST MAN STANDING 2



Ah, this is the OTHER last man standing game, and this time,

things are tougher, as the game starts a bit later, with

more buildings available.





11.16 GREATEST EMPIRE VALUE BY 2000



Ah, the ultimate game... What can I say? Remember to re-

evaluate and refurbish businesses, bid and buy utilities...

You need to know EVERYTHING and use EVERY trick to win this

one. good luck.







12 Miscellaneous





12.1 SCENARIO EDITING



All the scenario scripts are stored in the under scripts

subdirectory.



Put your stuff under "custom" subdirectory.





12.2 CHEATING



There are NO known cheat codes for Monopoly Tycoon.



There is an "exploit" (or two, depends on how you count).



If you save the game when it is your turn to auction, then

reload the game, all the AI competitors will give up. (If

one of them do not, just reload one more time), thus

allowing you to control the block for a pittance.



If you reload a saved game, the AI will likely do something

completely different. If you save and reload the game

multiple times per "game day", the AI will likely be

paralyzed and confused.



--THE END--