Colonization has many similarities to Sid Meier's previous Civilization, but the differences are also quite marked.[1]
The game begins in 1492. The player is asked to select to control either England, France, The Netherlands, or Spain, the other powers are then played by the computer. This profoundly affects gameplay, since each uses different strategies. There is a choice between a historical map (America) or a randomly generated map; the randomly generated map shifts the focus of the game toward exploration -- in this mode the game has considerable replay potential.
The journey begins with two units traveling on a ship to the new world; as the ship moves into the unknown, the map is revealed. Subsequently, the new world is discovered, the Indians are met, a colony is built, colonists begin to change the land to be more productive, the ship is sent back to Europe to collect more colonists, any superfluous items are sold and the exploration of the world begins. The game revolves around harvesting food and manufacturing and trading goods. Resources gleaned from the land are converted into commodities and either used or sold (usually back in Europe). The prices of commodities fluctuate depending upon supply and demand. The more of a commodity you and the other three colonial powers sell, the less the markets will be willing to pay for them. With money, a player is able to buy goods, recruit new colonists, or buy ships or artillery. While maintaining an income, the player is also required to protect his colonies from potential invasion through employing soldiers. Moreover, the player is required to manage his citizens effectively, educating the populace in various skills to increase their productivity in areas such as farming, gathering of resources, or manufacturing. There are three areas of employment in the Colonization world, primary resource gatherers, secondary resource manufacturers, and the more specialized units such as soldiers, statesmen, pioneers, Jesuit missionaries, and preachers. The geography of the land determines the productivity of a colony. For instance, some squares produce great amounts of food, while others may produce greater amounts of ore or silver. Thus it becomes necessary to link various colonies together via trade roads (roads grant increased mobility of units) or sea trade routes, to transport goods from colonies where there is excess to those where there is demand.
Specialist buildings and special squares, as in Civilization, have greater output. Specialists, who produce more per turn, can be trained or recruited. Indentured servants and criminals are as good as ordinary colonists in primary production but not so good at manufacturing or statesmanship; but they can be transformed into improved unit types by education or experience. Missions established in Indian villages eventually encourage converts to join a colony; they are better than ordinary colonists at most outdoor pursuits, but not industrial ones.
Horses can be bought and sold, but they also multiply in any colony that has two or more of them and a food surplus. They help any colonist move further in a turn, add to military strength, and allow Scouts to be created to meet with native settlements or foreign colonies.
Ships of several types (Caravel, Merchantman, Galleon, Privateer, Frigate and Man-O-War) can be purchased or built ( Man-O-War can only be recruited during the War of Independence). They move goods, horses, and colonists around, and some can attack. Wagon trains (which are built in colonies) move goods and horses on land, and can be used to trade with the native tribes.
Relationships must be carefully maintained with Indians and other colonial powers, from waging war and maintaining strategic defenses to offering tributes or "recruiting peacemakers" (Benjamin Franklin and Pocahontas). Destroying native settlements yields a quick profit and makes land available, but prevents the substantial long-term gains to be made by friendly bargaining and trading. Destruction of native settlements also counts against your final score.
The king of your home country meddles in your affairs from time to time, mostly by raising the tax rate. Occasionally they might force you into wars with your rivals. The player must also pay attention to political developments and the recruitment of Founding Fathers (roughly corresponding to the Civilization Advances of Civilization), to ensure the best possible chance of success.
On the easiest level, the action essentially takes place at the speed in which you want it to. You are left to your own devices, learning the mechanics of the game. With each increase in difficulty level, the restrictions that bound successful endeavors become more pronounced. The game is eventually won by seceding from the motherland, signing the Declaration of Independence and defeating the armies which are sent to usurp your ‘unalienable rights’. Successful navigation through the game requires the player to strategize and to effectively make use of what resources are provided, to explore and cultivate the land and to negotiate between rivals.
While the military aspect of the game is important, it is less so than in the Civilization series, focusing more heavily on aspects of trade and the inter-relationships between peoples and colonies, which make up the New World community. In doing all these things the player is required to develop certain fundamental notions which influence both the game world and the real world, such as: infrastructure restrictions and requirements, methods for increasing productivity, the importance of economic and civic growth, the centrality of trade, that some natural resources are more useful and more valuable than others, the importance of education, that newspapers and diplomats influence public opinion, that religion can affect people's allegiances, even that it’s more sensible to use those members of your population who aren’t proficient in a trade or profession as soldiers, the influence of historical figures on colonial New World societies, and the list goes on.
- From Wiki-
Sid Meier님의 문명이란 게임으로 숱한 밤을 보내다가 어느 날 Dos 시절에 하던 Colonization이란 아주 재미있는 게임에 다시 접하게 되었습니다.
이 게임은 4 나라 중에 한 국가를 모국가로 선택을 하여 마을을 짓고 결국엔 독립전쟁을 한다는 게임으로, 안타깝게도 인구 및 마을의 건설 제한이 있어 미국 땅 전체에 마을을 지어 보겠다는 야심찬 계획을 물거품을 만들게 했던 게임이 있었습니다.
최근에 다시 Colonization이란 게임을 다시 하다가, 패치나 버그가 업된 것은 없나 찾아보다가 GPL GAME에 FreeCOL이란 게임을 찾게 되었습니다.
FreeCol is a turn-based strategy game based on the old game Colonization, and similar to Civilization. The objective of the game is to create an independent nation.
You start with only a few colonists defying the stormy seas in their search for new land. Will you guide them on the Colonization of a New World?
www.frecol.org
지금 게임을 시작한지는 이틀이 지났는데, 확실히 버그가 많더군요.
중간중간 다른 플레이어를 컴퓨터가 계산(AI)중에 멈추는 경우도 많고, Indian이 기하급수적으로 늘기도 하는 좀 이상한 상황이 많이 펼쳐지더군요.
하지만, Freecol은 턴도 무한, 인구도 무한이라고 하더군요. 이번에는 Colonization에서 못했던 꿈(?)을 이루어 볼 수 있을지 모르겠습니다.