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welcome
to Eco Tycoon
Everyone knows that something has to be done to minimize the effects
of global warming, climate change and rising sea levels. Carbon
dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse
gases trap the sun's warmth inside the atmosphere like a blanket,
and slowly but surely the Earth's temperature has been rising!
This could spell disaster! Rapid changes in weather patterns, extreme
weather, ice-caps melting, massive flooding and more.
Its time to take charge and change the way the planet is run! It
will be up to you to lead the way and set the example for others
to follow. Clean up your act for a cleaner, greener future!
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launch
screen
Once you have installed Eco Tycoon it will be added to your Start
Programs Menu. Click Start on the Windows Task bar and then select
Programs, Eco Tycoon to start the game.
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play
|
Click this to
launch the game. |
manual
|
Click this
button to bring up a manual for the game. (You are reading it
now). |
quit
|
Exit back to
Windows. |
| setting display
driver |
In the top left
of the screen is the display driver settings where you can select
your display driver and screen resolution. The display driver
normally does not need to be altered unless you have more than
one video board installed. The screen resolution allows you
to choose from a selection of resolutions to play the game in. |
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| main
menu
The first screen in the game is the Main Menu screen. There are
5 menu items to choose from:
From top to bottom: Start Game will take
you to a new game via the continent selection panel, Load Game loads
a previously saved game, Options will open the Options Screen, High
Scores will show a table of high scores and Quit will exit Eco Tycoon.
location
Choose from 1 of 7 major regions: North America, South America,
Europe, Africa, North Asia, South Asia or Australasia.
Each region has its own natural resources in varying quantities,
but no single region is entirely self sufficient in all of them.
This means that you may need to trade with your neighbors during
the game. It also means that gameplay will vary depending on your
chosen location.
options
The features
on the Options Screen are as follows: Toggle Sound Effects on/off;
Toggle Music on/off; Toggle Bloom Shader (globe render effect) on/off,
Toggle Cartoon Outline Shader on/off and Toggle Info (in-game tutorials)
on/off.
Whilst you are in-game, the Options
button on the side panel opens a small pop-up panel. The icons presented
in that panel correspond to exactly the same functions on the options
screen and also includes the load and save game functions, as well
as returning to the Main Menu.
high scores
Shows the top 10 scores based on your CO2
levels, your funds and the popularity of your leadership after 50
turns (game years) have elapsed.
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| the
game
The object of the game is to prevent the
impending ecological catastrophe by making sweeping changes to the
wasteful and harmful way we produce and consume energy, fuel and
other resources. You have a maximum of 50 years to reduce CO2
levels to a point where global warming no longer threatens the ecology
of the planet.
 moving
First of all you need to know how to navigate your way around the
interface. You can move around the 3D globe using the mouse. Grab
the globe with the left mouse button, hold the button down and drag
to rotate the world left and right or up and down. If you have a
wheel on your mouse you can use it to zoom in and out. It is also
possible to navigate around the globe using the control buttons
in the bottom left corner of the screen. |
| statistics
On the left hand side of the screen
is a long panel containing various buttons and colored bars that keep
you up to date with progress of your region. The top half of the sidebar
concerns your regional statistics. From top to bottom your statistics
are as follows: energy, water, food, money, CO2
levels, waste, population and popularity.
Each statistic has its own pair of colored bars: red bars show the
demand you need to satisfy, green shows your current level. When the
green bar has turned yellow, that indicates that you have amassed
a surplus. In the case of your CO2
levels, a surplus is what you start the game with. Naturally, your
aim is to reduce greenhouse gases as much as possible.
 Clicking
on any of the statistic icons will open a panel displaying a detailed
breakdown of factors which influence the statistic. Use the left and
right arrows at the top of the graph panel to cycle through the data
for all 7 regions to compare your progress with that of your fellow
leaders.
 At
about half way down the main sidebar is a running total of both the
planet's CO2 levels and its temperature.
Keeping an eye on this as you play, will help you spot when things
are getting better or growing worse.
The lower half of the main sidebar contains a number of buttons that
access the major elements of the game: building and research.
A group of 3 smaller buttons (to the left of the building and research
buttons) open the message history panel, the fuel consumption panel
and the options panel respectively.
Eco Tycoon is a turn based game. What that means is that there is
no clock ticking away the seconds of the game as you play. It means
that once you have made your decisions and are ready to set things
in motion, click the "Next Year" button, immediately below
the navigation controls on the sidebar.
In game terms a turn equals a year and each game consists of 50 turns.
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building
cities
The first man-made features you will notice on the globe are the
cities. Right clicking on one of them will bring up a small information
panel. The most significant info on the panel will be the quantities
of energy, food and water that the city demands from the region
it is in. These demands are based on its population and their lifestyle.
 supply
and demand
In order to place buildings on the landscape, click on the build
icon (looks like scaffolding). This will open a column of icons
representing the different categories of building. Each category
opens a row of icons at the top of the screen showing each available
building type. More are added to these categories as you research
new technologies. As your cursor moves across each image a small
panel will appear beneath the icons. This shows the impact, both
positive (green) and negative (red), the structure will have on
your statistics.
The aim in building structures is
to fulfill the demands made upon the region by its populace, while
avoiding (where possible) adding to the global burden of CO2
in the atmosphere. Initially this is going to be difficult. Newer,
cleaner technologies and government policies must be researched
before they become available. To begin with, you will have to manage
with fossil fuels for coal and oil powered power stations.
When you select a structure, the available building sites will highlight
within your region on the surface of the globe. These sites are
indicated by a ring of pulsing blue triangles. Place the building
by clicking on the building spot of your choice. It should be noted
that while the building appears immediately it won't begin working
until next turn. If a site is already occupied by another building,
the indicator will still appear, but it will be red instead of blue.
If you still want to build there, you will need to demolish the
existing structure.
Once you have placed a building you can right click on it to bring
up its information panel. At the bottom of that panel the commodities
produced and/or consumed by the facility are displayed as red or
green segments. In the example (to the left) the power output of
the power station is in green while its CO2
output, water consumption and running costs are all in red because
they are negative factors.
In the bottom right hand corner of the building pop-up panel are
two small buttons. One, resembling a lever, will deactivate / reactivate
the building. This may be helpful at times when you need to conserve
energy. The other, resembling a hammer, will demolish the selected
building.
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| research &
development
 In
order for you to achieve your goal, your scientists are going to
need to put their thinking caps on. Leaving things as they are or
hoping that someone else will come along and fix it will not do!
The R&D panel has lists of available topics in 5 separate categories:
power, agriculture, resources, industry and waste management. Unlocking
one secret may well lead to others and to ultimate success. Many
of the advancements involve innovative upgrades to existing methods
but some will lead to entirely new power sources or cheap renewable
fuels! |
| annual report
 When
you end the current game turn you will be presented with the annual
report. The report shows you this years progress by comparing your
stats this year with your stats last year. Up and down arrows beside
each statistic show, at a glance, whether it has increased or decreased.
The color of the arrow indicates whether the change is a good thing
(green) or a bad thing (red).
There are 2 buttons available here that will allow you access to
the Trade panel and the Politics panel (see below).
The bottom half of the panel has a line-graph displaying the same
information, but over the entire duration of the game so far. The
lines on the graph are color coded to match the color key displayed
beside each region. |
| trade
 The
trade panel enables you to import and export a number of vital commodities:
energy, food, water, coal, oil, gas and uranium. The import / export
feature only works if you have a deficit / surplus of that commodity.
To change the amount you are importing / exporting click on the
"pie-charts" next to each commodity. These cycle through
0% to 100% in 25% segments with each click.
The effect of your trading on your budget is displayed at the bottom
of the panel.
NOTE: While it is possible to mine gold, diamonds and ore in Eco
Tycoon, they do not appear on the trade panel because they are automatically
sold providing you with bonus income. |
| politics
 It
is often the case that before a significant change can take place,
even when it is something to the benefit of all in the long term,
steps have to be taken to educate the masses as to why this change
is necessary. When a new age of cleaner, greener fuels is on the
way and you want them to part with their gas-guzzlers it isn't going
to happen over night.
Your politics panel has lists of debate topics, legal changes, and
public guidelines in the following categories: public, industry
(and commerce), transport and ecology. |
| disaster!
 Quite
without warning a catastrophe can occur anywhere in the world and
at any time! These range from natural disasters such as earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions and extreme weather phenomena like tornadoes,
to man-made problems like oil and chemical waste spills.
It may also draw your attention to longer term environmental concerns,
such as habitat loss, species extinction and issues caused by global
warming.
The disaster report will be accompanied by a plea for aid from the
official most directly effected by the event. This will usually
be one of your fellow regional representatives, but could just as
easily be a spokesperson for a public interest group voicing their
concerns.
You can choose to send aid or ignore the plea, and what you decide
to send is up to you. |
| eco-summit
 Every
5 years (5 game turns) you will attend a summit meeting with your
fellow delegates.
Here you will learn what they think of your efforts, discover what
they have been doing to reduce their own emissions, set a new reductions
target to be met over the next 5 years and offer financial aid to
your neighbors.
The "pie-charts" above the shoulders of the delegates
show how great a reduction in CO2
they are willing to commit to. You can encourage other regions to
increase their efforts by offering financial support. Click on each
delegate to see what they have to say and offer aid where possible.
If you have met your previous reduction target, and / or aided your
fellow delegates, either with financial contributions towards their
eco-efforts or humanitarian aid during an unexpected regional disaster,
they will be more inclined to support your lead in setting the next
CO2 reduction target.
By default the CO2 reduction target
for the next summit will be 1%. As this is not a very ambitious
goal you will probably want to increase it. To do this, adjust the
"slider" in your representatives speech bubble. Your target
can be as high as 20% if you feel up to the challenge! |
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