Capo de Tutti Capi - IV [Thoughts and Recommendations]

[Reenk Roink]

I'd plan on playing Capo 4 and I'm pretty sure the chat people would come along, dunno when will be the best time for you to start it but late summer sounds nice as Mafia might be a bit more fresh by then too.

Maybe I've been playing too much GTA4 but I think a good idea would be to have families of different strengths at the start. Say one family would be weak with just a don and a made and another would have two mades to start killing immediately. One of the best things about the original Capo was the family solidarity. Unlike Capo 3 where families worked together, the Barzini's steamrolled the other two families first.

Also, for the recruitment, if I understand it, the incorruptible townie was placed in Capo 3 to stop the mass recruitment that happened in the previous game, but what ended up happening is that barely any townies converted, so the reverse situation occurred. Perhaps you might consider a townie/wiseguy who is already affiliated with a family. They are only townie/wiseguy in detective results and ability, but they essentially work for the family as delayed mades, they have to get experience to become deadly. This might be the way to go to differentiate family strength as well, a strong family would have several townie members where a weak one would have nobody.

Of course, one of the beauties of Capo is the normal townie who has a choice on whether to help the town, join a family, or do a bit of both. I generally support the idea of unwilling conversion because it is simpler to manage and doesn't open up a box of other problems, but if there's one game that should do willing conversion, it is Capo.

Also, I don't understand the resentment towards the town network. It is an integral part of Capo, which was the first game to bring it in a large way. It makes the game as a townie a lot more fun and engaging. I wouldn't change a thing, except perhaps take GH's way of protection in PSM where one protection group blocks one and only one kill attempt.

The town network in itself is not at all the reason the Mafia had a tough time in Capo 3, it was the many Mafia deaths early in the game way before the town network was fully consolidated. Add that to the fact that recruitment was thin and the Mafia simply did not have the manpower to defeat the town network.

The families obviously had infiltrated the town network badly and then outplayed it, and that is why the game lasted as long as it did and ratted out people survived for so long, but what could they do with only 1-2 kills per night? How do you bring it down even if you've got the info, if you don't have the manpower?

It takes 3 or 4 townies to do a single action, so a town network can only work when the town vastly outnumbers the Mafia. Given how Seamus sets the initial ratios, it seems quite balanced that way, the Mafia just can't get killed so fast like they did in Capo 3, it made all their good play in the later stages worthless.