Cheats

[MAR06] When starting a new colony if you name it "Charlotte", you can look at all maps, ports, and other countries' statistics. Also your bank account balance will be increased by $50,000.00. When you access the other countries' European ports, you can spend all their money by recruiting lots of people, or buying anything you want.

If you now rename your colony to something else and abandon it, you can then start another colony called "Charlotte" and get another $50,000 (e.g. start and abandon ten colonies and you can start the game with $500,000.00.

Move an empty ship through the same square as one in which a ship resides that's carrying men and material, and goods will be transported to the empty ship!

[MAR06] Cheat Link "There are 3 ways the game ends in Colonization...

  1. ...if you have NOT declared independence. The game will end automatically in 1800 and your colony score will be tabulated.
  2. The 2nd endgame happens if you have declared independence, but have not won as yet. The game will then end automatically in 1840. This is a detriment because once you declare independence you cannot found any more cities/colonies. And a long protracted war drains your resources and ultimately your score.
  3. So.. the 3rd and best way to maximize your colony score is to declare independence on or before 1776 and win before 1800. Further discussion on this is as follows..."

cheat_FAQ05.zip (6Kbytes), 'Your Guide to Cheating at Colonization'
Version 1.61, January 17, 2005, by Dan Simpson


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Colonization Cheats, written by Kristian M„enp„„, kmaenpaa@finlink.net.

Some of these cheats have been discovered by me, some are from different sources. I'm not in any way responsible of any damage to anything, due to hex editing etc. For more cheats, or corrections, e-mail me!-)
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Write with ALT pressed down W I N and you'll get a cheat menu. Press ALT W again, and it will go away. (At least version 3.0, see the readme.txt for further details, it comes with the update at least).

On older versions, one of these should work :
Edit MENU.TXT, find the part @PEDIA, and add "C" in front of it.
The other way is to swap the places of @PEDIA and @CUP.

Hex editing :

Start a new game with easiest or easy, and save the game instantly.
Load you're save (colony0x.sav, where x is the number of you're save) to a hex editor, and find the figures F4 01 (Easiest) or 2C 01 (Easy). (Usually on sectors 4,5 or 6). Write them over with FF FF, and after that FF 7F. Save, load you're game and you should have a nice amount of cash..

Others :
The file names.txt contains some interesting things to change, such as the units, terrain, the cost of master colonists at Europe etc... Other text files in the Colonization directory contain easy-to-change things too. Some of my changes have made parts of the game to malfunction, though.

When you're at the country selection screen, move the mouse cursor a bit below Spain and press the button. Then press enter and in the game you can control all of the countries.

When starting a new colony, name it to Charlotte, and you'll get the whole map visible, get 50000 cash, see other countries stats and their ports(in which you can spend their money!).


[JUN00] Pioneer Cheat by Dustin Chalker

If you really want to cripple other European powers send a pioneer or two to destroy their forests. Without lumber they can't build docks, a stockade, or other vital buildings. If you're rich, go to Europe and buy a fleet of Caravels (cheaper) or Privateers (more useful) and man them with pioneers. Send them throughout the New World to wreak havoc on your enemies, without picking a fight.

[FEB05] and [MAY00] Version 4 Upgrade Cheats

The Version 4 Upgrade is available from the downloads section. Here are the cheats it provides:

Hold Alt and type WIN to access Cheat Mode. Now enter the following codes...

At the Colony screen:

Shift + 1	Finish all buildings in city    
Shift + 2 	Town Hall disappears  
Shift + 4  	Get $1000  
Shift + 5 	100 more of selected cargo   
Shift + 6 	100 more of selection    
Shift + S 	Promote colonist  
Shift + T 	Add more colonists to city   
Shift + Space 	Turn elapses instantly   

At the Map screen:

Shift + F1 	Make colonists  
Shift + F2 	Show debug info
Shift + F4 	Full map  
Shift + F5 	Set human player  
Shift + F6 	Kill natives   
Shift + F7	Advance revolution status    
Shift + F8	See strategy    
Shift + F9	See colony site ranking    
Shift + F10	Test routine

"To turn on cheat mode:
While you are playing the game and the main map is visible, press Alt-W, Alt-I, Alt-N, in succession. The "CHEAT" menu should appear on the menu bar.

To turn off cheat mode:
Press Alt-W

Useful cheat functions available on main map:

In "view mode", the disband function (shift-D) can be used to disband foreign units as well as friendly units. It can also be used to "disband" a friendly or enemy colony, or even an Indian village.

Shift-F1: Create a unit. Select a unit to create. By default, units will be of your own nationality. To create a unit of another nationality, select "Foreign Unit" from the menu first, then create the unit of your choice.

Placing units of different nationalities in the same square, or placing units in the same square as a colony of a different nationality, or an Indian village, may cause significant problems in the game.

Shift-F4: Reveal map. Reveals the current map for any nationality, or reveals the entire map. Select "No special view" to return the map to its normal state. You may also see into another nationality's colonies.

Shift-F5: Set Human Player. Allows you to "switch sides" and play a different nationality. If you select "None" the computer will play all sides. In this case, you can also tell the computer to "automate the game", in which case the game will play continuously without waiting for user input. To stop automated play, hold down the mouse button continuously; at the end of the Dutch turn, you will be given a chance to issue commands.

Shift-F6: Kill Indians. Kills all Indians of the tribe you choose.

Shift-F7: Advance Revolution Status: if rebel % is not yet at 50%, advances it to 50%. If rebel % already 50%, starts the revolution. If revolution has already started, forces foreign intervention. If foreign intervention has occurred, causes an immediate player victory in the war of independence.

Useful cheat functions on colony screen:

T = Add a colonist to colony.
S = Change currently selected colonist's specialty to his current profession (so if he is farming, he becomes a master farmer).
$ = Add 1000 gold to treasury.
% = Add 100 of currently selected commodity to stockpile.
^ = Take away 100 of currently selected commodity from stockpile.
! = Give colony all possible buildings.
Space = Give the colony a "free turn" (i.e. run a full production cycle, without advancing time in the outside world). This can occasionally cause bizarre graphic events to occur, but these can be corrected by exiting the colony screen.

Useful cheat functions on Europe screen:

$ = Add 1000 gold to treasury
[ = Lower tax rate by 1%
] = Raise tax rate by 1%"

[OCT99] Avoiding the Boycott

If a commodity is boycotted in Europe you can't unload it by hand but the 'U'nload command still works. Thus you can still trade in boycotted goods.

[AUG99] Names.txt by Jeff Lindequist

This is one of Colonization’s many .TXT files but this one is the best by far. While looking through it one day I found many of things that can really help you in the game. Like wouldn't it be nice to be able to support a whole colony with only one Fisherman on a fishery. Well you can change the value of a square like a fishery, or a silver mine (Don't make the fishery's value too high or you will get a new colonist every turn which gets annoying). How would you like an Elder Statesman or a Veteran Soldier cost only 2-3 dollars, well you can change the price on any unit that you can train in Europe. You can also change the countries name, color, or the leader’s name. With the Names.txt anything is possible, but if you decide to screw with the Name.txt make a backup just in case.

[JUL99] The Pioneer Tool Selling Scam by Sharkman

There is a bug in the game (at least in Version 3 anyway) that will let you amass THOUSANDS of gold for very little effort and it will not go on the record as cheating. Simply equip a colonist with 20 tools and ship him back to Europe. Once the pioneer is on the docks click on him and then select "Sell Tools". Regardless of how many tools the pioneer has, you'll recoup the cost of a FULL 100 tools! This is really great when the price of tools has skyrocketed to 9/10 as it often does, very quickly, on the harder levels. The fact that you don't pay any tax on the tools sold is the icing on the cake. Obviously extensive use of this makes the game too easy, but if the obscene production bonuses the computer players get on Governor and Viceroy proves irritating, using this will help even out the playing field...

[This trick can also be used for selling Muskets and Horses without having to pay tax even if they are boycotted. On higher levels Muskets sell for 19 each towards the end of the game so this can make you a lot of money particularly if you have Iron Works and Armories or capture Muskets using you Privateers.]

[JUN99] Unlimited Expert Farmers by Dandy Dan

Web Site: http://www.btinternet.com/~DandyDan/ ICQ: 10763235

For unlimited Expert Farmers, go to the colony screen and move a free colonist to the fence. Specify the colonist to be a colonist so he is on the fence. Then double-click on the colonist to bring up the jobs menu. Right-click on "expert farmers" to bring up the colonipedia, and then left-click on that screen. This will return you to the jobs menu. From here, left click on "distiller". If it works, an expert farmer is formed in the distillery. By the way it does work sometimes, and not others. I haven't worked out why it does sometimes and doesn't others but it really does work - try in different colonies - bring up a saved game where you have 10 colonies and try it in all of them - I bet it will work.

[I have been unable to get this cheat to work so would be grateful if some people try it and Email if they can get it to work.]

Win Battles Cheat

Colonization is deliberately programmed to prevent cheating. Most people save before attacking, so if they loss they just reload and try again until they win. Colonization knows which unit is active when you save and IF IT'S A MILITARY UNIT YOU ALWAYS LOSE after trying once and losing!!! It took me a long time to work this out. However IF THE CURRENT UNIT IS A SCOUT you nearly always win. So save when the scout is flashing before attacking. The fight mechanics for Colonization are deeply flawed and seldom reflect the abilities each unit is meant to have and they are most definitely NOT random.

Founding Fathers Cheat

I especially liked the cheat where you hit "escape" when offered a choice of 5 founding fathers and you get a new choice of five different ones. I used to do that to get de Soto first so I could run around amassing wealth from treasure.

Privateer Cheat by Dave Gearhart

When attacking (with a privateer) a ship carrying 3 cargoes or more, the game asks you which cargo you want to carry. If you choose one cargo and then nothing, you will get a load of muskets equal to the load of the cargo you chose. If you choose nothing for both cargo holds, you will get two loads of muskets, equal to the smallest cargo on the other ship. Usually what I do, especially if there is a full cargo, is take that one and then "nothing," giving me, for instance, a full load of cotton and a full load of muskets. This really helps when you are short on muskets and/or you are fighting a war.

The SPRING Power Cheat by Howard Train

This is underneath the bottom-left panel on the power select screen. Click on Spain and press the down arrow. The screen goes funny but you can now play as all four powers.

Colonization Cheats by Kristian Menp ?

Some of these cheats have been discovered by me, some are from different sources. I'm not in any way responsible of any damage to anything, due to hex editing etc. For more cheats, or corrections, e-mail me!-)

Write with ALT pressed down W I N and a cheat menu will appear after the trade menu. Press ALT W again, and it will go away. (At least version 3.0, see the readme.txt for further details, it comes with the update at least).

On older versions, one of these should work : Edit MENU.TXT, find the part @PEDIA, and add "C" in front of it. The other way is to swap the places of @PEDIA and @CUP.

Hex editing :
Start a new game with easiest or easy, and save the game instantly. Load you're save (colony0x.sav, where x is the number of you're save) to a hex editor, and find the figures F4 01 (Easiest) or 2C 01 (Easy). (Usually on sectors 4,5 or 6). Write them over with FF FF, and after that FF 7F. Save, load you're game and you should have a nice amount of cash..

Others :
The file names.txt contains some interesting things to change, such as the units, terrain, the cost of master colonists at Europe etc... Other text files in the Colonization directory contain easy-to-change things too. Some of my changes have made parts of the game to malfunction, though..

When you're at the country selection screen, move the mouse cursor a bit below Spain and press the button. Then press enter and in the game you can control all of the countries.

When starting a new colony, name it to Charlotte, and you'll get the whole map visible, get 50000 cash, see other countries stats and their ports(in which you can spend their money!).

Mega-Cheat by PJCW256@aol.com ?

(This cheat works for Version 1 and 3.0 only)

When you are in the windows with the map showing, press ALT and type W+I+N to activate the cheat menu. Then you can get free Units, Gold, etc... You might not want to activate the cheat-menu, because it will always be on record on the score sheet.

Master Teacher Cheat by Gary and Jeff Lindequist

Start a Colony, and get to the cheat menu. Get several Colonists and put them to work in the Colony. Press the 's' key, and the Colonists will become a specialist at whatever he is doing. If you build Schools, College's and Universities, it will work even better.

Save First by Gary and Jeff Lindequist

One of the best things that Colonization has that Civilization [I] does not is the in-game save and load feature. This is really good because when attacking or anything else that might cost you a Colonist, save and if something bad happens just reload. This trick has saved me a lot of Colonists.